Monday, March 16, 2009

UAB Preview

We've gone over the season a few times already. Win the next five games and this season seems a little less depressing. Lose, and well it can't really get any worse than this, can it?

UAB-
Pomeroy Ranking- 42nd
Record- 22-11 (11-5)
Quality Wins- @ Arizona
Bad Losses- None
Common Opponents- Beat South Florida 78-77 OT, Lost @ Cincinnati 87-80, Lost @ Louisville 82-62
Pomeroy Prediction- ND 76-71

Key Players-
#24 Robert Vaden- 6'5", 205 lbs.- 17.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 34.1 3PA
#4 Paul Delaney III- 6'2", 200 lbs.- 16.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.5 APG, 37.9% 3PA
#21 Lawrence Kinnard- 6'8", 210 lbs.- 14.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 30.8% 3PA

Scouting Report-
Don't turn the ball over a lot (9th).
Don't allow offensive rebounds (40th).
Don't let opponents shoot a lot of free throws (43rd).

In short, the Blazers play pretty good D (39th) with a decent offense (67th). We should beat them with a good game, but a cold shooting night and sluggish defense will almost certainly lead to our demise.

On a personal note, I'd like to ask anyone in the South Bend area to attend tomorrow's game. It's St. Patrick's Day and possibly your last chance to watch four seniors who have had a tremendous impact on the program and have at least been great ambassadors for the University during their short time here. This isn't Chris Thomas and Dennis Latimore tanking against Holy Cross in '06. I'm not certain if we will win tomorrow or not, but I know for damn sure that these guys will play their hearts out. Let's send them off with more than just a couple thousand people in the stands.

2 comments:

MJenks said...

I dunno if I'd worry too much. If there's one thing that Mike Davis knows well, that's how to lose in the NIT opening round.

BlackandGreen said...

I'm counting on a strong IU fan showing to give him (and Robert Vaden) hell.