2012 Season Preview – Part 1

There are people who look at a glass as half-empty, and people who look at the glass as half-full.  The half-empty people will tell you that UNC Asheville Men’s Basketball ended their season by losing to a #1 seed after going cold in the second half against one of the best defenses in college basketball.  The half-full people will tell you that UNC Asheville almost became the first 16 seed in history to beat a number 1 seed, went to back-to-back NCAA tournaments for the first time in school history, set a school record for season wins, won the Big South regular season and tournament titles for the first time in school history, and graduated six seniors in four years.  It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’m a glass-half full person.

It will, however, surprise some that Asheville has a solid chance to return to the NCAA tournament this year.  I’ll get to that over the course of the next month, but I wanted to start with a recap of what’s been happening this summer as well as offer a preview of where UNCAFanBlog will head in the 12-13 season.

• After a few months of hints and clues from coaching staff and other schools’ schedules, Asheville announced the 2012-2013 schedule on Friday.  Highlights:
• The Bulldogs will open the season at home against Western Carolina, a game which has rightfully moved to a prominent position on both team’s schedules rather than occurring during the middle of winter break when students and fans are out of town and/or focused on the holidays.  Asheville and WCU already have what passes for a rivalry, and this should be amplified with more student and local media attention.
• For the second year in a row, the Asheville Bulldogs will be participating in an invitational tournament.  This year, the tournament is the Puerto Rico invitational, a step up from the Battle 4 Atlantis which will feature N.C. State, Tennessee, and five other schools (mostly from major conferences).  Asheville will play three games in Puerto Rico before playing State in Raleigh on the 23rd.
• In an epic three-game roadtrip, Asheville will play Ohio State, Northeastern, and St. John’s during winter break.
• Due to the new divisions in the Big South, Asheville will only play teams from the “Northern” division once, while playing teams from the “southern” division twice.  This could either be viewed as a positive or a negative, since the best teams in the conference (historically and recently) are in this division.  It’ll make for a fun January/February, no doubt.
• Finally, the Big South moved to a “neutral site” home court, with Coastal Carolina hosting the tournament for the next three years.  This amounts to giving a team home-court advantage and is a highly questionable decision.  No doubt the influence of the Myrtle Beach visitors bureau and sponsorship money had a lot to do with it.  While Coastal has a new arena, it pales in comparison to Kimmel or any of the other proposed sites (Asheville, Rock Hill, Winston Salem).  It’s nice to be able to book travel more than one week in advance, but it gives one team a massive advantage over the other teams and shows poor judgment on the part of Big South Conference leadership.  I also really don’t like Myrtle Beach.
• The Athletics Department, trying to build a brand after a tough start to the year (remember Kimmelgate?) went on a roadshow of sorts with the Coaches Caravan, making stops in WNC as well as Durham and Charlotte.  Credit where credit’s due: this was a great idea by the Athletics and Alumni departments to get students, fans, and alumni excited for the upcoming season.

Now, some home news.  Last season, this blog focused primarily on game previews and recaps, as well as serving as a link repository for media coverage of the team.  This year, we’re going to do that (on a more reliable basis) and also include additional features such as interviews with players and coaches, podcasts, and more live-tweeting of games.  Looking forward to a new season and a new(ish) team.

Season Recap

I’ll spare you my thoughts on the Syracuse game.  I’ll simply say that, while the officiating had a lot to do with the nature of the outcome, Syracuse’s defense had more of an impact.  The Orange held Asheville to 0 field goals for almost 5 minutes late in the second half.  Attribute this to losing one’s “legs” or simply an increased intensity on the part of a more athletic team who realized that they didn’t want to be the first 1 seed to lose in the round of 64.

That being said, the Syracuse game served as a thrilling end to an incredible season.  If there was a theme to this season it was this: Turning a new page.  

Asheville’s long been plagued by problems common to many mid-majors: lack of funding, poor facilities, an apathetic student body, an inattentive fan base, and the difficulty in creating a true program that comes with playing at the margins of NCAA Division 1 basketball.

Thanks to the University and a group of private donors (who I can’t thank enough), two of those problems were alleviated in a huge way this year by the opening of Kimmel Arena.  It’s one of the nicest venues in College Basketball.  The seats put you right up next to the court without the feeling that you’re squeezed in.  The amenities (ranging from improved ticket booths to local food options) are designed to appeal to both the diehard Bulldog and the casual fan.  And it gets loud, especially when 3,500 people are packed in there.  After the UNC game, Roy Williams said that the important thing Asheville needs to do is make sure that Kimmel is packed for as many games as possible.  When it’s only 1/4 full, it can feel dead and empty.

Fortunately, this year’s team, building on last year’s successes, did a lot to make that job easier for UNCA by having what the best season in university history.  That’s true by multiple measures: Overall record, conference record, end-of-year RPI, individual awards, attendance numbers, revenue, media coverage (both good and bad) and profile visibility.  Heck, UNC Asheville even trended nationally on Twitter.

Full credit for this has to go to the players and coaches, especially seniors JP Primm and Matt Dickey.  More so than any other players (including, yes, Kenny George), Primm and Dickey became synonymous with UNC Asheville, if only because they played on a level that surpassed anything that came before.  Primm and Dickey ran with the best guards in college basketball – Kendall Marshall, Lorenzo Brown, Shabeez Napier, Scoop Jardine – and matched them every step of the way.  Whereas before Asheville’s claim to fame was based on notoriety (as in, “did you see Tyler Hansbrough dunk on that tall guy” notoriety), these players – roommates, teammates, friends – earned their respect with their on-court performance.  Their jerseys belong in the rafters of Kimmel Arena.  Quinard Jackson and Chris Stephenson deserve praise as well, especially in their senior year when both stepped up to fill a front-court void vacated by the injured D.J. Cunningham.  These four seniors played as one, demonstrating how fun and exciting college basketball can be when it’s played unselfishly.  And this team was FUN to watch.  They were the 5th highest scoring team in the nation (PPG), and were not afraid to both launch the three and run the ball.  A lot of this had to do with size (a half-court offense won’t get you far when your starting “center” is 6-5) but it also had to do with the tenacity and hustle of a team that stole the ball, forced turnovers, and dished out perimeter scoring like none other.

All of that on-court production has revolutionized the nature of UNC Asheville Basketball.  Last, week, JP Primm tweeted that he got a round of applause when he walked into class. That would NEVER HAVE HAPPENED when I was at UNC Asheville (2004-2008).  I had class with some pretty good players, too – Bryan Smithson, for one – and the overall student and community interest in the team was for the most part nonexistent.  That began to change in 2007-2008, when the Bulldogs went to the NIT on the backs of Smithson, Garland, and George – but it really didn’t take full effect until last year, when the Bulldogs broke out of the Big South to go to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history.

Now, the Bulldogs will have to sustain the momentum that last year’s team created by playing a tough out-of-conference schedule (and competing in those games) and remaining in competition for the Big South regular season and tournament titles.  With three starters (DJ Cunningham, Jeremy Atkinson, and Jaron Lane) returning, the loss of 4 seniors is not as bad as it could be.  Add in experienced guards in Trent Meyer and Keith Hornsby, and you have the makings of a third trip to the dance in 2013.

Next week, I’ll take a look at where the Bulldogs will go next season, but it’s important to savor this season.  It may not come around again for some time, though hopefully our rising seniors and juniors will work to change that.  It was a great journey, guys.  Thanks for taking us there.

Preview: Asheville vs. Syracuse

Where: CONSOL energy center, Pittsburgh, PA
When: Today, 3:10 P.M.
Media: TruTV, WWNC 570

When you’re a 16 seed in the NCAA tournament, there’s one statistic that always comes up.  No 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed ever since the field expanded to 64 teams.  With that knowledge, a team and their fans can often go into a game with a “lambs to the slaughter” mentality.  Not this team, and not this fan.

I was going to type up a preview essentially saying that Syracuse will win today, and Asheville can keep it close if they play really well.  But then two things happened.  The first, of course, is Fab Melo, who didn’t do his homework and will miss the entire tournament as a result.  As Matt Dickey said, Syracuse can just replace him with another McDonalds All-American, but it’d be folly to say that Melo’s loss doesn’t impact today’s game.

Without Melo, Syracuse loses their tallest starter and a good 4 inches on Asheville.  Their tallest starter is now 6’9″, which is to say 4 inches taller than Quinard Jackson.  Melo was also the Big East Defensive POY.  What does this mean for the Bulldogs?  The 2-3 zone, which Boeheim is famous for running, loses a bit of its potency without a long athletic center in the middle.  Chris, Q, and Jeremy Atkinson will have to use this to Asheville’s advantage and drive to the hoop without fear.  This may also open up Matt and JP for more perimeter shots and pullup jumpers.  This lessened height difference will also allow the frontcourt to crash off boards against a bigger team like we’ve done all year.

The second thing that popped in my mind is the success this team has had against “major” teams this year.  Granted, the record is not there, but Asheville has played every single major conference squad very close this year (heck, even in 2011, where we gave Pitt quite a scare).  Asheville needs to get out and play even with Cuse from the get go, not letting them get ahead and deliver a KO in the first 5 minutes.  In the UConn game, that’s exactly what happened and while we outplayed the Huskies in the last 15 minutes, of the game, Connecticut’s massive run at the start ensured that they always had breathing room.  Given the focus on defense this team has had over the past month, I think the Bulldogs will work to minimize such an occurrence.

It’s never happened before.  Why not Asheville?  If the Bulldogs bring their “A” game, then it’s a definite possibility.

Asheville 82, Syracuse 80

Thank you, Fab Melo.

You will not be traveling with Cuse to the Tournament.  I can only imagine why.  Asheville’s chances of beating Syracuse just increased.

Guest post: belated BSC recap.

Yes Sir, they did it again. Anything but a Big South tournament championship after this season would have been a disappointment. This game seemed like destiny.

The Bulldogs got off to a quick start with J.P. getting two easy buckets, but VMI scrapped back. After trading 3s with the score 16-11, Trent Meyer came off the bench for a quick two and a 4-point lead before the Keydets (what’s a Keydet? MS Word doesn’t even recognize it as part of the English language) came surging back to bring it within one (24-23) with 7 minutes to play in the first half. After some hard fouls, assistant coach Nic McDevitt got the crowd going and UNCA forced a few quick turnovers but were unable to capitalize on all of them.

VMI closed the half out with a 3 to bring the game back within one, Bulldogs up 36-35. This half was a little too close for one’s liking. Eddie had the guards pressuring up court and the forwards gambling in the passing lanes, so most of Asheville’s points were coming off turnovers here, but when the forwards got beat it was almost an automatic score for VMI. The Bulldogs’ offense was not helping the cause either, too many forced shots and very little rhythm kept them from opening this game up a little more. But never fear; Eddie got the boys going in the locker room, came out for the second half, and never looked back.

The second half got a little out of hand (Big South refs just aren’t up to snuff), but UNCA didn’t let it affect them as they got the offense going and started rolling. The lead got to around 10 early on as the Bulldogs began capitalizing off VMI mistakes. Around the 8:30 mark with Asheville up 9, VMI called a timeout. This is when things started to snowball. Unforced errors on the Keydets and terrific rebounding from Chris Stephenson, Jaron Lane, and Jeremy Atkinson increased the lead to 16 with 3:30 left to play. The crowd and the players started to realize the Dogs were going dancing again. JP Primm took over the last 3 minutes of the game sealing his Big South Tournament MVP and the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs rolled to an 80-64 victory of the VMI Keydets.

Players of the Game:

• JP Primm- 16 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals
• Jeremy Atkinson- 18 point (7-11), 6 assists, 5 rebounds

Other Interesting Tidbits:

• -Bulldogs only shot 21% from three. Had you told me this stat before the game, I would have predicted a loss. A testament to solid defense and rebounding against a bigger team (what else is new?)
• -All Tournament Team: JP Primm, Jeremy Atkinson (well deserved), Chris Stephenson. Plus two VMI players.
• -Tournament MVP: JP Primm
• And before I say goodbye, I just want to shout out to the students, fans, and community members at the Kimmel today. The place was rocking, I was getting reports that it looked great on ESPN2, so props to Bulldog Nation.
• And finally, big ups to the players, they’ve played with so much heart all year and deserve to be dancing.

-Peter Carpenter

Asheville’s going Dancing.

This:

Home News; Preview: Gardner Webb @ Asheville

When: 7 PM
Where: Kimmel Arena
Media: WWNC 570/Big South Sports

First, some home news.

As you may have noticed, the frequency of postings here has been up and down.  To be succinct, the more law school work I have, the less gets done at UNCAFanBlog.  To remedy that, I’m bringing on a second contributor.  Hopefully, he’ll be starting with a preview of Saturday’s Winthrop game.  This will allow me to reduce my work load and concentrate more on bringing you the best in UNC Asheville Basketball news and features.  We may even be able to start doing weekly long-form articles on the team, including player profiles, interviews, etc. . . .

Anyway, on to tonight’s game.  Asheville is coming off its worst game of the season, a 21 point blowout loss to an Ohio team that should not have been as bad as it was.  Some of that was due to the absence of Chris Stephenson, who will be back in the lineup in some capacity tonight.  Still, the Ohio game exposed some key weaknesses of this year’s squad, including our lack of size, our reliance on the perimeter game, and our tendency to start slow and catch fire about 10 minutes into the game.  Asheville cannot afford to let that happen tonight.

Gardner Webb is not Coastal (and not even close to being Ohio), but the Running Bulldogs will be a test for Asheville to get back in the game and get ready for the Tournament next week.  The Bulldogs are back in Kimmel and will not play another game on the road until the post-season tournament, be it the NCAA or NIT.  It would be a great time for a five-game win streak, and it needs to start tonight.  This team has been around for 4 years or so in various forms and knows what it needs to do to win: run the ball, force turnovers, and create open shots on the perimeter.  It’s something they’ve done a lot of this season, and if they play like they have for much of this year, they’ll do it again.

Preview: Asheville at Coastal Carolina

Where: Kenny Powers Conway, South Carolina
When: Tuesdasy, February 14, 7 P.M.
Media: WWNC 570, Big South Network (online)

First, just a reminder of what happened last year in Conway:

 

This week is going to be a tough one for the Bulldogs, as they face two very good teams on the road. Fortunately for us, Asheville is also very good (and by very good, I mean undefeated in conference) on the road.

Last time, Asheville won by playing smarter against a much bigger team.  The game plan for tomorrow needs to be the same.  The Bulldogs can’t let off the gas pedal just because they’ve won the regular season.  If anything, Coastal is going to come out strong knowing that it’s still battling for 2nd place and playing a team that it genuinely dislikes.  Come to think of it, I don’t like Coastal either, but then again I don’t like many things from South Carolina (looking at you, Clemson). This is going to be a very physical, nay ugly game, and Asheville needs to make sure that they (a) avoid injury, and (b) don’t let themselves be provoked by lesser players like Anthony Raffa, leading to (a).

Coastal will likely be without Nieman tonight, but even if they’re a man down Coastal will be a challenge.  I won’t be watching the game due to prior engagements with Ms. UNCAFanBlog but I may get a few tweets in.

Playing out the rest of Asheville’s Regular Season

If you’re playing in the Big South, the regular season has one primary purpose: to determine seeding for the conference tournament.  Asheville took care of that over the weekend, clinching the #1 seed in the tournament as well as a guaranteed postseason bid to the NIT.  So what do the next four games have to offer Asheville?

First, they offer an opportunity to improve the team’s seeding in either the NCAA or NIT tournaments.  All four games are important here, but the biggest by far is the one out-of-conference game at Ohio.  Ohio’s RPI has been harmed by two losses over the past week or so, but they’re still ranked higher than the Bulldogs and a win in Athens would go a long way towards putting the Bulldogs out of “First Four” purgatory and, in the same vein, out of one-and-done territory.  The same goes for the NIT:  further victories will only help Asheville with the selection committee for either tournament.

These games also offer an opportunity to give players who aren’t Matt Dickey or JP Primm more playing time.  We saw this on Saturday when Corey Littlejohn, Trent Meyer, and Keith Hornsby got big minutes.  Asheville will not be as talented next year, but Coach B can mitigate that impact by ensuring that a core group of returning players comes in next year with more than marginal conference experience.  This isn’t necessarily an issue for the frontcourt (Jaron, Atkinson, DJ) but the issue of replacing Matt and JP is a big one and should result in some exciting competition among the three reserve guards.  This can also help rest starters to get ready for what will be an intense week in March.

Having said that, Asheville needs to be careful that they don’t let off the gas and lose the well-earned momentum they have gained by going 13-1 in conference play, a school record.  I’m not ready to call this the best team in school history, but check back with me in 3 weeks.  My answer then will be based in large part on how these guys play at Kimmel on the 29th, 1st, and 3rd.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011-2012 Big South Regular Season Champions.

I guess we got our swagger back.  Not that it ever left.