Topic: SHR- - -Easy to see why UAB . . .

[coalherd]

. . . was picked as the favorites to win the CUSA basketball title this season.

Andy Kennedy's Blazers just defeated a good New Mexico squad by 13 out in a tournament in Vegas, shown on Fox 1 this evening.  They will play the winner of the following game, Towson vs. San Francisco, tomorrow night, also to be shown on FS1.  NM was also a pretty overall athletic team, and had a decent big, a 7'0" transfer from Kansas.  IMO, some sharp overall shooting and superior team quickness on both ends of the floor was the difference for UAB.  Coach Kennedy noted that while his team had a season high number of turnovers, their shooting and winning the rebounding battle were the keys.

Blazers have a super quick guard, "Jelly" Walker, only about a 6 footer, but gets his shot, including 3 pointer, off very quickly.  Had another decent, but smaller type, guard named Ertyle, or Hertle.  Marshall will have to play quicker game on both ends of the floor, and will have to minimize mistakes, turnovers, etc.  Can't get beat badly off the dribble on the D end of the floor, as Blazers are equally adept at both pushing the ball quickly or then running sets in the half court.  Loose outside D can mean a lot of open treys from a team with some shooters who can make them!

UAB now 5-1 has upcoming games with ETSU, Grambling, St. Louis, among others.  Coach Kennedy and his team will host his former boss's team, Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers, to Birmingham for a late Saturday afternoon game on Dec. 18th.  Blazers keep winning, including the game versus the EERS, and they very well could be ranked in the Top 25 heading into CUSA play.

Could be a real old fashion "barn burner" when UAB rolls into Huntington on Saturday, Jan. 29th!  Would be a great time to have a packed CAM Henderson Center "Hot and Hoppin" on a cold, Huntington winter night!!

[MicDrass1]

If they are quick no chance

[whf]

Watched a good deal of that game too, they are already, early in the season, one of the best C-USA teams I've seen in our history in the league, just below those great Memphis teams of old.

[herdfan129]

Watched a good deal of that game too, they are already, early in the season, one of the best C-USA teams I've seen in our history in the league, just below those great Memphis teams of old.

Seriously? How long has the coach been there? I thought it took 10 years to get your own players in and teach them a complicated system?

[whf]

Andy Kennedy is an accomplished NCAA coach, many successful stops, returned a couple years ago to UAB; pretty sure his alma mater or he coached there before.

He has more connections for recruiting than DD will ever have from years and years of doing it for big time programs. I'm not saying I think he is a better coach, just way more connected for the college game than DD is.

[pembrook burrows III]

They have scored 4 points over the first 7 minutes against USF and look eminently guardable. Hardly vintage Memphis.

[pembrook burrows III]

UAB loses 63-61 to the Dons.

That?s 2 losses in the last 4 games to decent but not great teams. Neither South Carolina or San Francisco will be serious championship contenders in their respective leagues. Kennedy has the Blazers playing like his old boss Huggins taught him. They use lots of pressure defense. But even though they turned the Dons over 23 times, UAB could still only manage 61 points. They don?t take many threes and play a big guy in the low post. As a result, their spacing is not great with players often jammed together inside the arc. The lane gets pretty clogged at times, and they never found any sustained offensive chemistry. Like a Huggins team, UAB is not ?pretty? to watch.

Don?t get me wrong, the Blazers are good enough to contend in CUSA, and could win it. But there are no NBA talents and they have flaws on the offensive end. If you can handle their pressure defense, they are beatable. They are even beatable if you don?t as San Francisco demonstrated.

[MUonium]

For what its worth, Kenpom ranks Indiana (5-0) at no. 32.  San Francisco (8-0) at 36.  UAB (5-2) at 51.  Marshall (4-1) at 115. 

Once again we appear to be solidly in the top half of CUSA.  i don't care when in the season it's considered best to be peaking, i would still love to be seen as dominant for a change and undefeated prior to CUSA play.  I badly want to beat Indiana.

every year there are teams we don't match up well against, for whichever reasons.  so far, what bodes well is the overall energy being led by Killen and George who are bringing it every game.  There are a few/several, besides Kinsey, who might consistently/incrementally get better and be difference makers in the W-L column. 

The staff has more PT options and maybe a bit more ability to strategize for 40 min.  i also think thoroughly scouting teams is very important although coaches seem to downplay it with "we work on ourselves and don't worry much about the opponent".

[The E-Man]

For what its worth, Kenpom ranks Indiana (5-0) at no. 32.  San Francisco (8-0) at 36.  UAB (5-2) at 51.  Marshall (4-1) at 115.

No way we're the 115 team in the country. Beating Indiana tonight will help proving this site wrong..