Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

Brian Swartz · 04-04-2008, 09:09 AM

Avery Foster(Mississippi Valley State)

11.16 Mississippi Valley State(0-0) @ North Carolina Central(0-0) – L 70-62
11.19 Mississippi Valley State(0-1) @ Yale(2-0) – W 67-65
11.23 Central Arkansas(1-1) @ Mississippi Valley State(1-1) – W 73-70
11.26 Jacksonville(2-1) @ Mississippi Valley State(2-1) -- W 77-65

A lot of the same craptastic garbage that sent them to 11-18 last year was on display tonight. Turnovers, lack of effort defensively, general lack of consistent play. Thanks to some good shooting the Delta Devils somehow managed to trail only by six at the half, then proceeded to fall behind by almost 15 points, only to make a nice comeback and make a game of it – sound familiar? As one would expect, they fell short.

Lydell Jones had 19, Tre Roe had 14 and 6 boards, and you could barely tell Josh Cravens(2 points, 4 rebounds in 31 minutes) was alive. That kid is the biggest waste of talent I’ve ever seen, I swear it. Oh, and twice as many turnovers as the opposition(17-8) generally won’t get it done.

They looked doomed against Yale as well, as the Bulldogs shot 60% for the first half. They cooled off late though, and a three by Jones got them even with 1:15 left. Yale turned it over … then MVS passed it around a while and threw it out of bounds … then the Bulldogs gave it right back. A minute passed with neither team so much as attempting a shot! Lydell Jones got past his man and put up a mid-range jumper … it missed, but Maurice Radford put it back in for the lead! Yale missed at the other end and a nice win for the Devils. Jones had 20 points, and Cravens had 17 on 7-9 fg, almost all of it in the first half to keep them close.

Despite taking three of their first four, Mississippi Valley State doesn’t look like it feels particularly good about it. Despite an overall poor start from Jones(14.8 ppg, 35% fg), there has been good balance with Tre Roe(11.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Josh Cravens(10.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg) both scoring inside with incredible efficiency – they are both shooting over 65%! Nate Spann has been electric off the bench(8.8 ppg in 16.3 minutes, 50% fg) and while he isn’t scoring a ton at six points a game and his shot still isn’t reliable, Jason Barlow has become an outstanding playmaker at forward(team-leading 3.5 assists, along with 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks). Certainly it is hopeful at least that MVS is playing a much more consistent brand of basketball – even if they aren’t a great team, they do actually look like a team again.

Weston Cattley(Texas-San Antonio)

11.15 Louisiana-Monroe(0-0) @ Texas-San Antonio(0-0) – W 70-50
11.18 Marquette(1-0) @ Texas-San Antonio(1-0) – L 75-74
11.22 Texas-San Antonio(1-1) @ Maine(1-1) – L 82-68
11.25 Texas-San Antonio(1-2) @ Iowa(2-1) – W 60-55

Coach Cattley is really loosening the reins compared to last year’s experienced bunch – they’ll be doing a lot more running and a lot less set offenses with all the new starters still needing to get acclimated. It worked in the opener, as they thrilled the home crowd by ending the first half on a 7-0 run to break open a relatively close game. The Warhawks hit on only 2 of 11 from long range, and you’ve got to make jumpers to beat their zone if you want to score. On the other end, the only starter who DIDN’T have at least five points was Tyrone Lane. I wouldn’t have taken that bet at tipoff(he scored twice early in the second half to rectify that situation).

ULM never recovered from that run to end the first half, and the Roadrunners coasted. It was only one game, and at home, but it sure doesn’t look like Texas-San Antonio is in as much trouble this year as I feared. The biggest reason is that Derek Lewis looks a lot more like a guy who was a highly ranked recruit than he does the disappointing pre-season evaluation he was given. He led the team with 18 points(7-13 fg), Lane added 14 and 7 boards, and Will Myles(9 points, 10 rebounds) had a strong debut as well. At the point, Steven Billips had 7 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds – everybody really pitched in.

They played well again in the second game, giving a superior Marquette team fits for most of the game, then gamely coming back after surrendering the lead in the second half. A dunk by Tyrone Lane(19 points) with 35 seconds left gave them life, down only by a single point, but they couldn’t quite finish. Derek Lewis(18 points, 5 rebounds) and Will Myles(8 points, 12 rebounds) showed their performances against ULM weren’t flukes – this team is better than I gave them credit for.

After a bad loss in which both Billips and Hill fouled out with more than ten minutes left, the Iowa game was almost an instant replay of the Marquette loss. The Roadrunners trailed but had the ball down only 55-54 with a minute and a half left – a chance to grab a win against a superior major-conference team. They got a perverse three-point play as Billips was fouled, made the first, and then Will Myles got the board and put it back in for a two-point lead! After a turnover, the Hawkeyes showed what they were made of, playing great defense for 32 seconds … and then fouling Blake Land 30 feet from the basket. Regardless of the fact that it was practically gifted to them, this was a big win for TXSA.

Derek Lewis has gotten his Division 1 career of to a flying start, leading the team through the early going with 16 points a night at a respectable rate of accuracy. Tyrone Lane(14.3 points, 6.0 rebounds) has shown remarkably improved free-throw shooting, and ball pressure is much improved over previous years. The biggest concern right now is foul trouble in the backcourt – both Steven Billips and top backup Robert Hill have spent way too much time on the bench, and there isn’t much depth … it’s a big dropoff when they aren’t available. Freshman Will Myles(7.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) has been a weak point defensively, but is a battler and not many players come in and record 22 combined rebounds in their first two games.

04-04-2008, 09:09 AM	#59
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Avery Foster(Mississippi Valley State) 11.16 Mississippi Valley State(0-0) @ North Carolina Central(0-0) – L 70-62 11.19 Mississippi Valley State(0-1) @ Yale(2-0) – W 67-65 11.23 Central Arkansas(1-1) @ Mississippi Valley State(1-1) – W 73-70 11.26 Jacksonville(2-1) @ Mississippi Valley State(2-1) -- W 77-65 A lot of the same craptastic garbage that sent them to 11-18 last year was on display tonight. Turnovers, lack of effort defensively, general lack of consistent play. Thanks to some good shooting the Delta Devils somehow managed to trail only by six at the half, then proceeded to fall behind by almost 15 points, only to make a nice comeback and make a game of it – sound familiar? As one would expect, they fell short. Lydell Jones had 19, Tre Roe had 14 and 6 boards, and you could barely tell Josh Cravens(2 points, 4 rebounds in 31 minutes) was alive. That kid is the biggest waste of talent I’ve ever seen, I swear it. Oh, and twice as many turnovers as the opposition(17-8) generally won’t get it done. They looked doomed against Yale as well, as the Bulldogs shot 60% for the first half. They cooled off late though, and a three by Jones got them even with 1:15 left. Yale turned it over … then MVS passed it around a while and threw it out of bounds … then the Bulldogs gave it right back. A minute passed with neither team so much as attempting a shot! Lydell Jones got past his man and put up a mid-range jumper … it missed, but Maurice Radford put it back in for the lead! Yale missed at the other end and a nice win for the Devils. Jones had 20 points, and Cravens had 17 on 7-9 fg, almost all of it in the first half to keep them close. Despite taking three of their first four, Mississippi Valley State doesn’t look like it feels particularly good about it. Despite an overall poor start from Jones(14.8 ppg, 35% fg), there has been good balance with Tre Roe(11.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Josh Cravens(10.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg) both scoring inside with incredible efficiency – they are both shooting over 65%! Nate Spann has been electric off the bench(8.8 ppg in 16.3 minutes, 50% fg) and while he isn’t scoring a ton at six points a game and his shot still isn’t reliable, Jason Barlow has become an outstanding playmaker at forward(team-leading 3.5 assists, along with 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks). Certainly it is hopeful at least that MVS is playing a much more consistent brand of basketball – even if they aren’t a great team, they do actually look like a team again. Weston Cattley(Texas-San Antonio) 11.15 Louisiana-Monroe(0-0) @ Texas-San Antonio(0-0) – W 70-50 11.18 Marquette(1-0) @ Texas-San Antonio(1-0) – L 75-74 11.22 Texas-San Antonio(1-1) @ Maine(1-1) – L 82-68 11.25 Texas-San Antonio(1-2) @ Iowa(2-1) – W 60-55 Coach Cattley is really loosening the reins compared to last year’s experienced bunch – they’ll be doing a lot more running and a lot less set offenses with all the new starters still needing to get acclimated. It worked in the opener, as they thrilled the home crowd by ending the first half on a 7-0 run to break open a relatively close game. The Warhawks hit on only 2 of 11 from long range, and you’ve got to make jumpers to beat their zone if you want to score. On the other end, the only starter who DIDN’T have at least five points was Tyrone Lane. I wouldn’t have taken that bet at tipoff(he scored twice early in the second half to rectify that situation). ULM never recovered from that run to end the first half, and the Roadrunners coasted. It was only one game, and at home, but it sure doesn’t look like Texas-San Antonio is in as much trouble this year as I feared. The biggest reason is that Derek Lewis looks a lot more like a guy who was a highly ranked recruit than he does the disappointing pre-season evaluation he was given. He led the team with 18 points(7-13 fg), Lane added 14 and 7 boards, and Will Myles(9 points, 10 rebounds) had a strong debut as well. At the point, Steven Billips had 7 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds – everybody really pitched in. They played well again in the second game, giving a superior Marquette team fits for most of the game, then gamely coming back after surrendering the lead in the second half. A dunk by Tyrone Lane(19 points) with 35 seconds left gave them life, down only by a single point, but they couldn’t quite finish. Derek Lewis(18 points, 5 rebounds) and Will Myles(8 points, 12 rebounds) showed their performances against ULM weren’t flukes – this team is better than I gave them credit for. After a bad loss in which both Billips and Hill fouled out with more than ten minutes left, the Iowa game was almost an instant replay of the Marquette loss. The Roadrunners trailed but had the ball down only 55-54 with a minute and a half left – a chance to grab a win against a superior major-conference team. They got a perverse three-point play as Billips was fouled, made the first, and then Will Myles got the board and put it back in for a two-point lead! After a turnover, the Hawkeyes showed what they were made of, playing great defense for 32 seconds … and then fouling Blake Land 30 feet from the basket. Regardless of the fact that it was practically gifted to them, this was a big win for TXSA. Derek Lewis has gotten his Division 1 career of to a flying start, leading the team through the early going with 16 points a night at a respectable rate of accuracy. Tyrone Lane(14.3 points, 6.0 rebounds) has shown remarkably improved free-throw shooting, and ball pressure is much improved over previous years. The biggest concern right now is foul trouble in the backcourt – both Steven Billips and top backup Robert Hill have spent way too much time on the bench, and there isn’t much depth … it’s a big dropoff when they aren’t available. Freshman Will Myles(7.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) has been a weak point defensively, but is a battler and not many players come in and record 22 combined rebounds in their first two games.