Pilchard
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The competitive game portion of the Steve Forbes era starts Wednesday afternoon as the Deacs take on the Delaware State Hornets out of the MEAC.
2020-21 Hornets:
Delaware State is among the worst teams in a weak conference, MEAC (ranked #31 out of #32 conferences). Last year, Del. State went 6-26 losing all 12 of their OOC games against D-1 teams. The average margin in those 12 OOC games was 18 points. DSU played one ACC team last year, VT, and Hokies dominated: 100-64. The Hornets have not won an OOC game since beating Delaware 73-71 on December 19, 2018. That's 14 straight OOC losses against D1 teams. The Hornets did win 3 of their last 5 games to end the 2019-2020 season
This year's Delaware State team should be improved with 6 of their top 7 in minutes returning. Also, Delaware State adds 6-10 U of Tennessee transfer Zach Kent and 6-0 Niagara transfer Dominik Dragala. The Hornets top returning player is Pinky Wiley. Wiley is a point guard who averaged 10 ppg and 3 apg. Last year, DSU was among the smallest teams in the country starting 3 guards, and no starter taller than 6-8. Delware State will be bigger this year as they add the 6-10 Kent and 7-3 Chris Sodom (a Georgetown transfer) who missed all but 10 games last year due to injury and transfer rules.
Coach Eric Skeeters leads DSU, and in his 2 full seasons as head coach, he likes to push tempo. They play fast. Last year, the Hornets ranked #5 in tempo. Unfortunately for them, the Hornets played crappy defense (#347). An accelerated tempo plus bad defense means giving up lots of points. Last year, the Hornets gave up 80 or more points, in every OOC game, but one, and three teams hit the century mark against them.
Score Projection: KP's opening rankings place Delaware State at #350 in the country (there are 357 D-1 teams, including the Ivy League, who are not playing this year); while not saying a lot, if they stay healthy, Delaware State should improve on their current ranking, given the returning players and infusion of transfer talent. KP rated the Deacs #127 to open the season (WF finished last year at #103). With not a lot of background data to go on, KP projects an 84-63 Deacon win. While reports from practices and scrimmages are spotty, seems like Forbes teams have not pushed tempo in recent years (ETSU was #201, #203 and #281 in tempo the past 3 seasons; last year, WF was #79 in tempo), and Delaware State may slightly slow down the tempo with a larger lineup. So, depending on what the total on the game is (guessing it will be in the high 140s), under may be the play. Regardless of the style of play, looking for the Deacs to cruise to an easy win in Coach Forbes' first game.
2020-21 Hornets:
Delaware State is among the worst teams in a weak conference, MEAC (ranked #31 out of #32 conferences). Last year, Del. State went 6-26 losing all 12 of their OOC games against D-1 teams. The average margin in those 12 OOC games was 18 points. DSU played one ACC team last year, VT, and Hokies dominated: 100-64. The Hornets have not won an OOC game since beating Delaware 73-71 on December 19, 2018. That's 14 straight OOC losses against D1 teams. The Hornets did win 3 of their last 5 games to end the 2019-2020 season
This year's Delaware State team should be improved with 6 of their top 7 in minutes returning. Also, Delaware State adds 6-10 U of Tennessee transfer Zach Kent and 6-0 Niagara transfer Dominik Dragala. The Hornets top returning player is Pinky Wiley. Wiley is a point guard who averaged 10 ppg and 3 apg. Last year, DSU was among the smallest teams in the country starting 3 guards, and no starter taller than 6-8. Delware State will be bigger this year as they add the 6-10 Kent and 7-3 Chris Sodom (a Georgetown transfer) who missed all but 10 games last year due to injury and transfer rules.
Coach Eric Skeeters leads DSU, and in his 2 full seasons as head coach, he likes to push tempo. They play fast. Last year, the Hornets ranked #5 in tempo. Unfortunately for them, the Hornets played crappy defense (#347). An accelerated tempo plus bad defense means giving up lots of points. Last year, the Hornets gave up 80 or more points, in every OOC game, but one, and three teams hit the century mark against them.
Score Projection: KP's opening rankings place Delaware State at #350 in the country (there are 357 D-1 teams, including the Ivy League, who are not playing this year); while not saying a lot, if they stay healthy, Delaware State should improve on their current ranking, given the returning players and infusion of transfer talent. KP rated the Deacs #127 to open the season (WF finished last year at #103). With not a lot of background data to go on, KP projects an 84-63 Deacon win. While reports from practices and scrimmages are spotty, seems like Forbes teams have not pushed tempo in recent years (ETSU was #201, #203 and #281 in tempo the past 3 seasons; last year, WF was #79 in tempo), and Delaware State may slightly slow down the tempo with a larger lineup. So, depending on what the total on the game is (guessing it will be in the high 140s), under may be the play. Regardless of the style of play, looking for the Deacs to cruise to an easy win in Coach Forbes' first game.
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