SB Nation - Austin Kenon

BtB 2009-10 Big South Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:39:42 -0000

It was a relatively quiet offseason in the Big South. High Point and Liberty were the only two schools to change coaches. Scott Cherry replaced the fired Bart Lundy as the head coach of the Panthers, while former Colorado State head coach Dale Layer (who was actually working as a Marquette assistant) replaced another former Ram head coach, Ritchie McKay, as the leader of the Flames.

The other big news of the offseason is the decision of several promising youngsters to try their luck out of the league. The most famous case is that of Seth Curry, who left Liberty for the big time, Duke. Brolin Floyd also left, though he has yet to decide on a destination. Steadman Short left High Point for Marshall. Omar Carter, formerly of Charleston Southern, will suit up for Appalachian State next year. Tovi Bailey also left the Bucs and will play at Division II Lander. And that's just a start, as several other key performers went looking for greener pastures this offseason.

The Big South teams has several incoming transfers eligible this season. More on them and their impacts on their new teams after the jump.

Let's first take a look at what last season's Big South standings looked like.

Big South Conference Standings

(updated 3.24.2009 at 12:08 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Radford Highlanders	15	3	21	12
Virginia Military Keydets	13	5	24	8
Liberty Flames	12	6	23	12
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs	10	8	15	16
Gardner-Webb Bulldogs	9	9	13	17
Winthrop Eagles	9	9	11	19
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	5	13	11	20
Charleston Southern Buccaneers	4	14	9	20
High Point Panthers	4	14	9	21

Now, here are my picks for the 2009-10 Big South campaign, presented in reverse order.

Presbyterian (last NCAA: None) The Blue Hose didn't fare too badly in 2009-08, their first season playing a Big South schedule. However, they'll be hard-pressed to repeat their 9-9 league record this time around. With an eye on gaining the automatic bid in their first season of eligibility in 2011-12, head coach Gregg Nibert is going to redshirt his core players this season. Center Al'Lonzo Coleman and guards Josh Johnson and Pierre Miller will sit and come back next season with two years of eligibility left. In the meantime, the Blue Hose will be the youngest team in the league, so expect them to take their fair share of lumps.

Liberty (last NCAA: 2004) The Flames did a nice job last year, winning 23 games overall and acting as a factor in the conference race. However, the coach of that team and three starters are gone, as Curry and Floyd transferred and F Anthony Smith (17.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) graduated. Dale Layer's team is now woefully short on experience. 6-4 guard Kyle Ohman is the leading returning scorer (13.9 ppg), but no other returnee averaged more than 6.9 ppg. The Flames' two 6-9 forwards, Tyler Baker and Austin Smith will be expected to boost their output, and Layer will also lean heavily on his crop newcomers, led by 6-2 guard Evan Gordon, brother of LA Clipper Eric.

Charleston Southern (last NCAA: 1997) The Buccaneers looked like they were going to be a serious contender for their second-ever NCAA bid. That was until Bailey and Carter decided to leave. The good news for CSU is that Jamarco Warren (17.8 ppg, 2.8 apg) is back to run the show and that forward Kelvin Martin is due to improve on his averages of 9 points and 7 boards per game as he returns from a knee injury. 6-10 C Billy Blackmon also returns after breaking his forearm early last season. However, the transfers will really affect the depth of Barclay Radebaugh's squad.

VMI (last NCAA: 1977) The big question in Lexington, VA this year is can Duggar Baucom's system be just as effective when three key pieces move on. The Keydets will be without the Holmes twins, Chavis and Travis, who averaged more than 41 points combined, and Willie Bell who accounted for nearly 9 points and 6 boards a game. Guards Austin Kenon (16.3 ppg) and Keith Gabriel (13 ppg) are back, so they'll continue to do their part. How well last year's bench players and newcomers Joe Carr, a 6-2 guard, and Stan Okoye, a 6-5 swingman, fit into their new roles in Baucom's offense will dictate whether the Keydets can rise above this prediction.

High Point (last NCAA: None) The Panthers actually return four starters, but losing Steadman leaves a substantial hole in the frontcourt. 6-7 junior forward Jourdan Morris could be an adequate replacement as he averaged nearly 7 points and 3 rebounds per contest. 6-11 C Cruz Daniels will have to improve his offense this season. Last year, he averaged nearly 8 points a game, to go along with 8 boards. The backcourt is in good shape, however, as double digit scorers Nick Barbour and Eugene Harris return and sophomore PG David Singleton (4.8 apg) is back to run the offense.

Winthrop (last NCAA: 2008) The Eagles, dynasty of the Big South, thanks to 7 NCAA appearances in this decade, fell hard last season. The 9-9 Big South record wasn't too bad, but recording only 2 wins in 12 non-conference games hurt. It's miraculous that the Eagles managed to win as many games as they did, as no one averaged in double figures in scoring. 6-7 F/C Charles Corbin was the team's leading scorer, averaging 9.5 points a game to go along with almost 6 rebounds. Randy Peele's team will have to find some scoring punch, otherwise they will sink further down the standings. 6-9 F Matt Morgan, a transfer from St. Bonaventure, should be a helpful addition.

Gardner-Webb (last NCAA: None) Rick Scruggs' backcourt could be among the best in this league, if they improve their scoring output. If they do, the Bulldogs should improve on the 9-9 mark earned in their inaugural Big South campaign. Point guard Grayson Flittner (14.5 ppg, 3.8 apg) is a contender for Big South Player of the Year, and his numbers should improve as he suffered from knee issues throughout last season. However, with the graduation of 14 point per game performer Aaron Linn, no returnee other than Flittner cracked double digits last season, though C Auryn MacMillan should increase his production this year. Last year, he averaged only 9.4 ppg while shooting over 61 percent from the floor last year, Flittner's backcourt-mate, Jonathan Moore should also improve on his average of 9.1 ppg in Linn's absence.

UNC Asheville (last NCAA: 2003) The Bulldogs were young last year, but very competitive, winning 10 games in the league. With that year of experience, Eddie Biedenbach's squad should be ready to challenge for a conference title. Senior G Sean Smith (10.8 ppg) will provide leadership, and he'll team with sophomore G Matt Dickey (10.9 ppg) to provide a consistent perimeter threat. Junior F John Williams will provide inside scoring and rebounding (12.9 ppg, 6.6 ppg). while sophomore PG J.P. Primm (9 ppg, 4.5 apg) will run the offense.

Coastal Carolina (last NCAA: 1993) Cliff Ellis has all five starters back, as 6-5 F Joe Harris (15.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg) decided to stick around for his senior year. That means the Chanticleers are the team best equipped to challenge Radford for the league crown. Ellis also gains the services of South Carolina transfer Chad Gray, a 6-7 forward, who will join Harris and 10 point/6 rebound man Anthony Breeze in what could be one of the more formidable frontcourts in the league. The Chants' growth as a team may depend on how well the backcourt of Dexter Moore (7.2 ppg), Mario Edwards (9 ppg), and swingman Logan Johnson (6.9 ppg) builds on some solid performances at the end of last season.

Radford (last NCAA: 2009) The Highlanders already had a frontcourt that is the envy of most teams at this level of Division I, and they likely will be even better down low this year. You already know about 6-11 Art Parakhouski, who averaged better than 16 points and 11 boards last season. You may also have heard of PF Joey Lynch-Flohr, who scored 14 while grabbing almost 6 a contest. Now, you can add Binghamton transfer Lazar Trifunovic (and don't you think he's glad to have left that mess), a 6-8 forward who will likely step right in and contribute for Radford. The Highlanders will likely miss G Kenny Thomas (14.7 ppg, 5.8 ppg) and 6-5 Chris McEachin, who averaged almost 9 points a game in a reserve role left school over the summer (HT to e-mailer Tom Raschke for alerting me to this). He would have slid in beside Amir Johnson (9.6 ppg, 5.2 apg) to form a pretty good backcourt tandem. Now RU has a bit of a hole. In this league, when you can put together as impressive a frontcourt as Brad Greenberg has, you might only need a passable backcourt to cut down the nets in March. (And in selecting Johnson for my preseason All-Big South team, I think they could be really good back there.)

So, thanks to their prospects inside, the Highlanders are my preseason pick to repeat in the Big South. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Big South team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Big South Team

Player of the Year: Artsiom Parakhouski, 6-11 C, Sr. (Radford)

Remainder of the Team
Grayson Flittner, 6-0 G, Sr. (Gardner-Webb)
Joseph Harris, 6-5 F, Sr. (Coastal Carolina)
Amir Johnson, 5-9 G, Sr. (Radford)
Joey Lynch-Flohr, 6-8 F, Sr. (Radford)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the Big South this season? (Note that Presbyterian is not an option as they are ineligible for the postseason.)

Charleston Southern

1 votes

Coastal Carolina

0 votes

Gardner-Webb

1 votes

High Point

0 votes

Liberty

1 votes

Radford

6 votes

UNC Asheville

1 votes

VMI

3 votes

Winthrop

0 votes

13 votes | Poll has closed

Virginia Military Institute @ Kentucky: Stats, facts, and analysis

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:29:14 -0000

The Keydets of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) march into Lexington on Friday for a tilt with the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena at 7:00 PM. This represents the official launch of the 2008-09 season and the first game on the schedule that counts. Obviously, VMI is a relatively weaker team designed to help Kentucky round out their form before mixing it up with the big boys, but we have had bad experiences with so-called "easy" games before (the most famous of which will go unnamed and unmentioned here).

Here is a little background on VMI:

Location: Lexington, Virginia
Enrollment: 1400
Mascot/Colors: Keydets/Red, Yellow and White
All-time record: 754-1344 (36%)
UK was the last Keydet NCAA tournament opponent in 1976-1977, a Kentucky victory
Head coach: Duggar Baucom
Conference Affiliation: Big South
Returning 4 starters and 9 lettermen from last year's 5th place Big South team

A look at the Keydets

Impressive facts

The VMI Keydets are one of the highest-scoring teams in college basketball, and averaged over 100 points per game in the 2006-07 season. Over the past two seasons, the Keydets have scored in triple digits on 25 separate occasions. The Keydets have lead the nation the last two years in 3-point shots made. Defensively, the Keydets have led the nation for the last two seasons.

The bottom line is, the Keydets play basketball at a relentless pace. To give you an idea of how relentless, their adjusted pace numbers from Kenpom.com for the 06-07 and 07-08 are 90.9 and 79.7 respectively. Compare that to Kentucky's numbers of 67.6 and 65.5. If UK continues to run the floor like they have for the two most recent exhibition games, this could turn into an amazing track meet where any score is possible.

A few more items of interest from the VMI Media Guide -- Record last year when:

Leading at the half -- 10-3
Opponent shoots less than 50% -- 11-3
Scoring 90 or more -- 11-2
Scoring less than 80 -- 0-6
Scoring less than 90 -- 3-13

Statistically speaking

We are going to look at last years stat comparison. It isn't all that valid this year, particularly since Kentucky is such a different type of team. The Keydets, however, return mostly intact from last year, and I think the stats comparison from last year will illustrate a few things. Statistics courtesy of StatSheet.com:

	Kentucy Wildcats		VMI Keydets		Comments
School Information
Conference	SEC		Big South
State	KY		VA
Founded	1865		1839
School Type	Public		Public
Enrollment	26545		1400
Rankings
Conf Standing	2		5
AP Rank	0		0
RPI	0.57		0.43
RPI Rank	57		274		No comparison in comp last year.
SOS	0.57		0.44
SOS Rank	19		321
Wins & Losses
Overall	18-13	(58.1%)	14-15	(48.3%)	None of this is particularly relevant this year.
Home	14-4	(77.8%)	8-6	(57.1%)
Away	4-6	(40.0%)	6-7	(46.2%)
Neutral	0-3	(0.0%)	0-2	(0.0%)
Conference	12-4	(75.0%)	6-8	(42.9%)
Top 25	2-5	(28.6%)	0-0	(0.0%)
Blowout (> 19)	5-1	(83.3%)	6-2	(75.0%)
Close (< 6)	6-4	(60.0%)	4-5	(44.4%)
Overtime	1-2	(33.3%)	1-3	(25.0%)
NCAA Tourney	0-1	(0.0%)	0-0	(0.0%)
Scoring		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Points	2124	195	2649	28	VMI can really score.
Points Per Game	68.5	180	91.3	1	Yikes!
Shooting		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
FG Made	735	205	945	23
FG Att	1566	293	2125	17
FG Pct	46.9	40	44.5	142	These guys don't mind missing a lot.
FT Made	472	125	423	196
FT Att	644	173	611	204
FT Pct	73.3	51	69.2	163	Not as good as you would expect.
3pt FG Made	182	246	336	4	Wow. Now, UK has had trouble with mad bomber teams before this one. This will really tell if UK has improved their 3-pt. Defense
3pt FG Att	493	294	1045	1
3pt FG Pct	36.9	91	32.2	280
Rebounds		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Rebounds	1107	248	1238	124	Lots of rebounds available for this team.
Reb Per Game	35.7	252	42.7	19	Really good offensive rebounding.
Off Rebs	301	281	433	41
Off Rebs Per Game	9.7	281	14.9	11
Def Rebs	737	166	683	236
Def Rebs Per Game	23.8	117	23.6	135
Assists, Steals, & Blocks		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Assists	395	212	518	40	Good passing team, but lots of shots.
Assists Per Game	12.7	202	17.9	5	Good passing team, but lots of shots.
Steals	206	184	369	1	Best stealing team in the nation last year.
Steals Per Game	6.6	171	12.7	1	Best stealing team in the nation last year.
Blocks	149	47	77	260	Short guys can't block shots.
Blocks Per Game	4.8	35	2.7	227	Short guys can't block shots.
Turnovers & Fouls		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Turnovers	490	91	463	153
TO Per Game	15.8	72	16	65
Fouls	584	178	521	298	Wow. Lots and lots of fouls for both teams.
Fouls Per Game	18.8	149	18	206	Another hack-a-thon?

Players

The Keydets return four starters, but the one player who did leave is two-time Division I leading scorer Reggie Williams, who averaged 27.8 points/9.7 rebounds per game for the Keydets last year. I think that might ... matter a bit, don't you?

Anyway, here are the main guys expected to see time against the Wildcats.

Player	YR	P	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	Per Game Averages
Player	YR	P	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	Comments
C. Holmes	Jr	G	29	27	44.4	36	70.9	30.9	18.3	4.3	2.5	2.1	2.4	0.4	All-Big South
T. Holmes	Jr	G	29	15	41	27	77.3	27.5	15.6	5.9	2.8	2.7	2.2	0.6	Leading Rebounder
W. Bell	Jr	F	28	22	54.5	41.4	67.1	26.4	8.2	5.8	1.8	2	1.6	0.6
A. Lonon	So	G	28	27	51.1	18.2	64.9	22.8	4.2	1.4	3.5	2.5	2.1	0	Assist leader
C. Josey	So	G	27	9	45.9	21.4	43.8	10.6	1.6	2.8	0.4	0.9	0.2	0

Returning Starter

In addition, the Keydets return sophomore guard Austin Kenon, who averaged 12.3 points last year. All other returners averaged in single digits. The Keydets also have five new freshman players, some of whom had impressive high-school careers, including Michael Sparks from Lexington Tates Creek. An interesting side note is that Sparks surpassed Darrin Horn of South Carolina (nee Western Kentucky) as the leading scorer in Tates Creek history, so this kid is liable to be good.

The tallest player the Keydets have on the roster is 7'0"/245# center Stephen Sargent, who was red shirted last year. I don't know if he will be in the starting lineup for the UK game or not. The Keydets have a couple of other players who are in the 6'6-6'7 range, but generally they are a smaller team than Kentucky.

Analysis

This team, in many ways, is the ideal warm-up for North Carolina -- very high possession team, constant pressure defense, very up-tempo. The Keydets are kind of like a North Carolina team on fast-forward, and their constant 3-point shooting will provide all kinds of opportunities for the Wildcats to prove how well they have mastered defending the 3-point shot.

Lest you think this is just a run-and-gun team, take note of their assists last year. VMI averaged almost 18 assists, and are a very unselfish team. What they are not is a particularly skilled team other than at shooting the 3, and they don't shoot a good percentage from there. For example, Liberty, who Kentucky beat convincingly, wiped out the Keydets 103-88. The Keydets later got revenge, but this team is not really as dangerous in reality as they appear on paper, although they are more athletic than you might think. VMI plays the kind of style that will provide an interesting test for the Wildcats and should provide an entertaining game for the fans. If Kentucky can hold them under 60 points, it will reflect very well on UK's defensive intensity.

VMI really tested Winthrop, which was a pretty good team last year, early in the season. So this style can produce some drama, even though Winthrop throttled them in the return engagement. The rebounding statistics look more impressive than they are, because VMI plays at such a high pace, there are more rebounds available.

In the final analysis, there is really no reason why Kentucky should not handle the Keydets easily. The 'Cats are much longer, more athletic and skilled. The Keydets will give us trouble with their three-point shooting and fast-paced style, and with Kentucky's deeper roster, there will be no more attempts to really slow down games other than to generally manage the pace to keep the defensive intensity high. The transition from a very deliberate style to a more up-tempo style looked easy against the much weaker Division II teams we faced, but the Keydets are used to playing nothing but this style and Kentucky must be mindful of the pace and stick to their knitting on defense.

There should be little the Keydets can do to stop Kentucky from scoring on offense other than using ball pressure to create turnovers. Alas, the 'Cats have proven susceptible to turnovers again early this year, and you can bet the Keydets will not be unaware of this tendency. Patterson, Stevenson, Harrellson and even Carter should be too much for the Keydets inside, and that figures to be where UK goes to get most of thier work done against VMI. There are also likely to be a high number of fouls called in this game as both teams tend to foul liberally.

In the end, this is a game which could be a blowout or one of those games where the Big Blue Faithful are wringing their hands, much like the OBU game. Hopefully, Billy Gillispie will have the Wildcats much more prepared for this one, and we'll see a return of the impressive play we saw against Missouri-St. Louis.