Ritchie's Pregame - St. Louis

Coach Soderburg brings his surprising Billikens (92 RPI, 9-4 A10) into Halton Arena on Saturday to face the equally surprising Niners. After going 1-3 to start the season and scoring only 9 points in half vs Miss. St, Charlotte has gone 16-6 and on a 6 game A10 win streak to hold sole possession of 2^nd place, 3 games behind George Washington and 1 game ahead of Saint Louis. The Billikens were preseason 13^th in the Atlantic 10, predicted to finish ahead of only the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure. Saint Louis has definitely earned its right to battle Charlotte for 2^nd place in the conference after snapping an 18 game Win-Loss-Win-Loss… alternation by winning six of their last seven. A10 Freshman of the year Tommie Liddell (winner of 5 A10 Rookie of the Week Awards) and Senior center Ian Vouyoukas have this team on a late season run that the Niners will hope to stop on their home court.

The Niners are 9-9 vs. the Billikens all time with both teams losing only once on their home courts. In 2005 when Saint Louis traveled to Halton, Mitchell Baldwin was injured in a physical battle but when Charlotte traveled to the Billikens home the Niners picked up their first win ever at the infamous Savvis center in an OT thriller, 83-78 where Withers scored his career high 39 points. The reason for those 39 points: size advantage. If the Niners have one major advantage over the Saint Louis Billikens its size. Besides 6-10 Center Vouyoukas, the Billikens have a serious height disadvantage at every position. Look for the Niners to pound it inside with Coleman, Williams, Nance, and Withers after opening up the lane with the three from Lee and DA.

But most importantly, what’s a Billiken?

From Saint Louis’ Athletic Webpage:

One of the truly unique mascots in college athletics, the Billiken is a symbol of good luck that became a national craze in the early 1900s.

In 1908, Florence Pretz, an art teacher and illustrator in Kansas City, Mo., received a patent for her version of an ancient Asian figure – a chubby character with pixie ears, fat cheeks and an ear-to-ear grin. A year later, the Billiken Company of Chicago adopted the likeness, giving it its eventual name. Initially manufactured as a bank and statuette, the Billiken reached its peak of popularity in 1911, when it was widely recognized as a universal symbol of good fortune.

Legend has it that the Billiken has three kinds of luck – good, better and best. To buy a Billiken gave the buyer luck. To have one given to you is better luck. The best luck came if the Billiken were stolen.

I’d show you a picture but according to the website all pictures of the Billiken are copyrighted and can only be used with permission from the Saint Louis athletic department.

Second Half Stars

By Ritchie

In the 2nd half of the last 5 games we've played, we might have a team worthy of a top 10 ranking.

Look at these stats for Niner scoring by half over our last 5 games:

v Fordham 2nd half - 53 1st half - 28
v Richmond 2nd half - 37 1st half - 27
v Wake 2nd half - 38 1st half - 18
v Temple 2nd half - 39 1st half - 27
v Dayton 2nd half - 41 1st half - 21

The only game we've lost of that stretch is Wake, and that is only because we were exceptionally bad in the 1st half. 18 points in one half will not get the job done.

Averages: 2nd half - 41.6 points 1st half - 24.2

That results in a 17.4 point disparity between halves!

We've always knocked Coach Lutz for being a bad in-game adjustment coach. After two particularly bad blown leads last year, vs Alabama and vs NC State, we thought Lutz was the worst halftime coach ever, but we might need to think differently now.

Here are numbers for the FG% by half for our last 5 games for the Niners' opponents,

First the 2pt shooting percentage:

v Fordham

1st - 47.6
2nd - 45.2

v Richmond

1st - 38.9
2nd - 47.6

v Wake

1st - 41.7
2nd - 36.0

v Temple

1st - 54.2
2nd - 28.6

v Dayton

1st - 37.9
2nd - 23.3

Not too much of a difference there,

Avg 1st half - 44.06
Avg 2nd half - 36.14

an average 7.92% improvement in defense for the Niners in the 2nd half

But here is the shocker, 3pt percentage:

v Fordham

1st - 54.5
2nd - 33.3

v Richmond

1st - 36.4
2nd - 11.1

v Wake

1st - 14.3
2nd - 50.0

v Temple

1st - 71.4
2nd - 7.1

v Dayton

1st - 31.3
2nd - 12.5

Average 1st - 41.58
Average 2nd - 22.8

That's an 18.78% difference, and that is including a 1 of 2 performance from Wake in the 2nd half, removing that statistic,

Niner opponents have shot an average 16% from 3pt range in the 2nd half!! That is unbelievable. Once again removing Wakes 14.3 percent 1st half shooting, the average 1st half shooting for Niner opponents is 48.4%.

That is a difference between halves of 32.4% in the last four A10 conference matchups! Wow!

Not only is the 2nd half offense better, but the 2nd half 3-pt defense is stifling. If the Niners can keep this up during conference play, look for strong finish and maybe even a tourney championship for Bobby Lutz's squad.

Ups and Downs of Conference Play

By J Felt

Since the last 49erUpdate, after the Dayton game, the 49ers have gone 3-3 in conference play, leaving us with a record of 12-8, 5-3 Atlantic 10. If one had put this record on Ninernation.net prior to this season, many of us would have scoffed at that possibility, but since the team had already suffered losses to such powerhouses as Mississippi State, Valparaiso, and Wyoming, the losses do not have the heart-stopping effect last season's loss to South Florida had. Instead of dropping into depression and giving up on the team, most Niners have come to accept a loss as just another reason to drink. Even after driving all the way to Richmond to watch a game more boring than Calculus II, our spirits were high by the end of the night, and most of us had forgotten the loss by the time we got back to watch the Lady Niners.

So what if we are not the top of the conference standings with George Washington?

As of the writing of this article Charlotte is still tied for third with Temple, Rhode Island, and St. Louis all at 5-3. This means the Niners still have a chance to be in top four and receive a bye in the first round of the A-10 Tournament. Once we have one that, it's on to the NCAAs with the National Championship as our final goal. Maybe thats a little lofty, but there is still so much season left to play and all this losing makes every game more unbearable, er, EXCITING.

After dispatching The Sally and Steven Smith, the 49ers came home to take on the Xavier Musketeers. The only thing worse than the officiating in that matchup was our execution on offense and, as usual, defense. Every time the Niners were able to bring it close, and start to swing the momentum, either Xavier would score another bucket or a foul would be called. The Niner Nation faithful in the lower level will most likely never forget the spur of the moment screaming to copy the Xavier player who had just hit another clutch basket. Many Xavier fans were in attendance for that game, so there was an element of "walk of shame" afterwards, but hey!, we got a new scoreboard!

That new scoreboard is so nice isn't it? The intro video, "49er Pride" was full of 'tingle' moments, especially the 3 pointer to take Chapel Hill to OT, Eddie's steal against Memphis, and all the incredible dunks. The video showed us younger Niner fans some of the best moments that occured before our time. The experience in Halton Arena now feels more upscale and less "mid-major" thanks in big part to RBC Centura.

The Niners than travelled to Philadelphia for the second time this season to take on St. Joseph's. The usual constintuent gathered at Picasso's to watch the game, and as it was this author's first time at Picasso's, it was relieving to have the 49ers win. The team came out and performed poorly through the first half, and as was the norm this season, the Niner faithful were disheartened knowing that our team had done a horrible job coming from behind at the half.

Then the threes started raining, and when Antwon Coleman slammed it home, we left our seats and got up and cheered. The Hawk did not stop flapping, but it probably felt ready to.

Speaking of the Hawk, does anyone else feel that flapping one arm at a time should be considered breaking the sacred rule? For those who do not already know, the Hawk of St. Joseph's is not allowed the stop flapping his wings from the time he enters the court before every half. When the Hawk came to Halton for the women's game, there were many times where he (or she?) only raised one arm at a time. The only thing lazier than that may have been our men's team against Richmond.

When the Xavier game ended, the only positive to be thought of was that in no possible way could a game ever be more poorly officiated than that one. We were wrong. The referees for the game against the Colonials were downright disgraceful. According to other members of Niner Nation, this is the standard of A-10 play, so we have to get used to it. When it comes to the game though, our Niners once again showed some incredible sloppy offense and lackluster defense. At points Charlotte would make run and bring the game close, but the team could not get an important defensive stop, and the Colonials survived another upset bid. Worst part of that game though would have to be the lady at halfcourt in a Colonials jersey. She was on the FRONT ROW! How does that happen? And that flag, how did that get in there?

Following George Washington, Charlotte had the week off to think about what they had (or hadn't) done. One would think that Bobby would spend the week preparing the guys for the Princeton offense of Richmond. Maybe he did and the team did not listen, who knows. What is known is that our performance against the Spiders was pathetic and completely lacking of any heart and intensity. Officiating was once again poor, and it resulted in a pissed off Lutz, which of course means a technical or two. Being at the game, you could hear Lutz's angry screams across the arena, so the ejection was not surprising. Only one positive came from this game, and it was Nance's fast break dunk. Came out of nowhere, and as Curtis said, he "practically fell over trying to finish it."

Following this game I came up with a list of ways to defeat any Bobby Lutz coached team:
1. Princeton Offense.

Tonight St. Bonnie took on De'Angelo Alexander and lost. Alexander torched the net once again for 34 points, and showed us once again why he, not Curtis, should be the focus of the offense. Withers did a stellar job tonight doing what he does best, rebounding, bringing in double teams to pass out of, and getting garbage points. Hats must go off to Lutz for finally garnering the courage to bench Mitchell and put in Jerrell Lewis. Baldwin has not been playing with any passion, and many Niner faithful have been calling for action to try and light the spark once again. Despite only winning by sixteen points, it was nice to put another notch in the win column.

Next up is Dayton, for the Homecoming Game. We handled the Flyers at their place, and despite our horrible record at home, the 49ers will do the same here.

My Prediction:

The Good Guys: 87, Dayton: 71

By the way, this blog is now listed on yocohoops.com

A Rivalry for Charlotte?

By Justin Ritchie

Since Cincinnati was our “pseudo-rival” for seemingly no other reason than that we hated them because we had no other team to hate, we need to find some other team to hate with a passion. Why not Richmond, George Washington, or Dayton? Because of the Atlantic 10’s schedule, Charlotte is scheduled to play these teams twice every season. This means there is a chance for revenge if you happen to lose and there are reasons to hate each of them. Let’s break it down one team at a time.

Richmond Spiders
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Last Meeting: Richmond 63, Charlotte 56 (Jan. 28, 2006)

This could grow into a good one based on location alone, if only their fans were as rabid as ours. Maybe this is due to the fact that Richmond is rebuilding and they really suck this year. But give them a break, their top players got declared academically ineligible at the beginning of the season and first year coach Chris Mooney has the team looking like they might even be NIT worthy. Plus, Coach Lutz’s Achilles heel is clearly the Princeton offense. If one compiled our record vs. the Princeton during Lutz’s tenure, we would be close to winless. In the 05-06 season alone, Richmond, Northwestern, and Wyoming have destroyed us with the slow and patient play they are so.. uh… bad at executing. It could grow into a rivalry simply because it transcends the Spiders and Niners, its about clashing philosophies.

George Washington Colonials
Location: Washington, D.C.
Last Meeting: George Washington 83, Charlotte 69 (Jan. 21, 2006)

Ah yes, the Colonials. They are really good this year, cracking the Top 10 in the Coaches and AP polls for the first time since the late 50s. Perhaps they will be good in the future as well. I think Hobbs is doing a pretty good job with the team and they might just be good in the future. Hobbs and Lutz run similar systems. The Run-N-Gun style can be especially fun to watch if both teams are having good seasons, and the games might attract national TV exposure, so why not?

Dayton Flyers
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Last Meeting: Charlotte 73, Dayton 65 (Jan. 7, 2006)

The Birthplace of Aviation VS the First State in Flight. It is a rivalry that would date back to the early part of the 20th century. Why not extend that wondrous fight between Ohio and North Carolina on to the basketball court when the Niners take on the Flyers on a regular basis.

Hopefully we’ll love to hate someone in the A10. But outside of the conference we’ve got great material for hatred like Davidson and Wake Forest. Public schools love to hate on private schools, and vice versa. In pre game talks, academics are bashed, backgrounds are hated, and the true result is decided upon the basketball floor. Charlotte will find a rival eventually. Finding a rival takes history, and if Charlotte basketball lacks anything it’s just that, history.