Despite clanking in just 1 of 23 three point attempts; going 3 of 8 from the charity stripe in the last four minutes, and being outrebounded by 6 at home last Saturday, Charlotte only lost by six points to Richmond (64-58). Now the āNiners are flying off to Dayton, Ohio to tangle with Wooden, Naismith, and Cousy awards finalist, Brian Roberts, and his Flyers.
Charlotte will shut down Roberts and expose a Flyers team that is still on the mend. Look for Coley to draw enough early attention down-low, opening up the āNiners perimeter game (including, a nice contribution from Anderson off the bench), while the deeper team swipes one on the road with Goldwire and Mack leading the way. Coach Lutz ties Jeff Mullins with 182 wins at Charlotte.
Iāll admit that Iām pessimistic about this game. I think our guys probably get up for it and play with a lot of energy, but Dayton plays sound defense, particularly at home (with one of the better homecourt advantages around) and shouldnāt have much trouble limiting Lee to bad shots with Marcus Johnson (6ā3") or London Warren. However, that does mean Roberts has to cover either our point or Wilderness/Dewberry, not a good defensive matchup for them (can our guys make them pay though?). Can we keep Roberts from burying us on the other end? If he plays like he did against Pitt, weāre in trouble. Who covers him? Lee? If Little isnāt 100% yet, Mack might be able to give him trouble, assuming Mack is actually taking smart shots. I think Mack has a height advantage, right? One good thing is that their other guards (Binnie, Warren, Sandoval, ?) have been shooting poorly from outside, allowing teams to key on Roberts (sound familiar?). Hopefully the scourge of the last couple years doesnāt return and one of their role players doesnāt have a career game against us. Actually, our teams sound really similar, except that Roberts takes better shots than Lee and is more well-rounded offensively, and Coley is way more athletic and quick than their big men.
Best case scenario, Roberts gets in some foul trouble or the mysterious illness returns, Lee hits a few tough shots, and someone else steps up on offense. Weād better bring our A game though, despite Wright being out for them they are still quite good at home.
I like our chances if we make our āFreeā Throws (Charlotte 66.7% UD 66.2%). We have a slight edge over Dayton (Steals Per Game 8.1% vs. 4.2% and Block Per Game 4.3% vs. 2.5%).
who is the brain surgeon in the A10 office that scheduled this game the night of UNC-Duke? Even if we win tonight, it will be on the back burner to the media.
