MBB Game 7: Hampton Pirates - Saturday 12:30 pm - ACCN

[Pilchard]

Happy Thanksgiving! On Saturday afternoon, amidst the World Cup and college football rivalry weekend, the sports world will be transfixed on our Deacs against the Hampton Pirates. Here's a quick take on the opponent:

Coach Edward Joyner Jr.: Winston-Salem native EJJ brings his Hampton Pirates back to his old-stomping grounds to face the Deacs. Joyner's played college hoops at Johnson C. Smith, and then coached both the women's and men's teams at his alma mater before taking the Hampton job. This is Joyner's 14th season at Hampton, and he's the winningest coach in school history as he has led the Pirates to three NCAAT appearances since 2011 (more than WF). Hampton has also climbed the conference ladder as the Pirates moved from the MEAC to the Big South in 2019, and then moved up to the Colonial Conference this year.

2022-3 Pirates: #336 Hampton is 1-4 with its sole win over non-D1 Regent (not sure what Regent is). The Pirates opened the season with a 48 point loss to JMU, and since then, Hampton has developed the habit of blowing leads. Last time out, played its most competitive game of the year, losing to #323 North Alabama (Hampton blew a 4 point lead with 19 seconds left). Hampton also blew a 17 point second half lead in a 82-73 loss to ECU. Hampton is poor offensively (#330) and defensively (#325). The Pirates struggle to shoot the ball ranking #346 in 2 PT FG% and #334 in FT% (61%). On defense, the Pirates don't force TOs (#339). nor do they defend the paint (54% 2 PT FG%). Perhaps, not the best strategy for an under-talented team, Hampton plays up tempo (#50 in pace).

Roster:

Last game against N. Alabama, the Pirates started (stats against D-1 teams only):

G 6-2 Tre Thomas: Frosh; 7 ppg; shoots better from 3 (40%) than from the line (29%)
G 6-5 Marquis Godwin; ODU transfer, leads team in minutes; 9 ppg
G/F 6-5 Russell Dean; 4 year player at Hampton, no transfer!; 18 points in last game; 42% from 3;
F 6-6 Jordan Nesbitt; Memphis transfer; 25 points and 14 boards in last game; shot 16 FTs; leads team in assists, rebounds and TOs
C 6-10 Luc Therrian; Canadian; no threat from 3; 61% from 2; leads team in O rating (114)

Off the bench:

G/F 6-5 Raymond Bethea: Howard transfer; started 4 games; 3 ppg; 3 rbg
C/F 6-7 Kyrese Mullen: frosh; 4 ppg; 6 rpg
G 6-1 Amir Nesbitt: 11 points in the JMU opener; 6 points since;
G/F 6-5 Daniel Bannister: 11 points on the season

Score Projection: KP projects a 85-64 WF win in 73 possessions; Tovik -- a 84-65 WF win. Given Hampton's habit of pushing pace and giving up easy looks, expect this to be a higher scoring game than projected. Against a slightly more incompetent defense, WF scored 105 against SC State on Wednesday. Think the Deacs will flirt with 100 as WF routinely punishes weak teams under Forbes. Among their many weaknesses, Hampton struggles to defend the paint; so, would expect solid scoring games from Marsh, Klintman, Hildreth among others. After this romp, the schedule gets real as WF's next 8 opponents are:

@ #41 Wisconsin (will be higher after the tight loss to Kansas)
@ #65 Clemson
#44 LSU on a neutral court
#215 App State (well coached team)
@ 41 Rutgers
#9 Duke
#30 VT
@#17 UNC

Except for App State, WF will be a dog in each of those games. Grab the easy win, and then the grind begins. By the end of December, we will know if this team has any NCAAT shot.

 

[PhDeac]

Pretty sure Regent is Regent University, the Christian College started by Pat Robertson.

 

[MichDeac25]

Wake's going to the tourney this year. More talent on this team than people are realizing. And it's a deep team. We haven't this much good height in years. Carr, in particular, is probably the most fundamentally big man we've had in a decade.

 

[Strickland33]

Anybody looking to unload some tickets for Saturday's game? I'm looking for 4 if you've got 'em.

 

[atldeac23]

Wake's going to the tourney this year. More talent on this team than people are realizing. And it's a deep team. We haven't this much good height in years. Carr, in particular, is probably the most fundamentally big man we've had in a decade.

Finishing under .500 is more likely than making the NCAAT

 

[Strickland33]

Wake's going to the tourney this year. More talent on this team than people are realizing. And it's a deep team. We haven't this much good height in years. Carr, in particular, is probably the most fundamentally big man we've had in a decade.

That’s an outrageously hyperbolic statement. We had a big man drafted in the lottery last year who was 1000000000x more fundamentally sound than Carr.

But yea, this team is intriguing. Whether it comes together remains to be seen.

 

[BacktoBack]

Wake's going to the tourney this year. More talent on this team than people are realizing. And it's a deep team. We haven't this much good height in years. Carr, in particular, is probably the most fundamentally big man we've had in a decade.

I love your optimism. But you must have been watching different games than I did. We squeak by Utah valley and then lose to Loyola. And look really ugly doing both. The D has been solid enough. But we struggle to score especially if Appleby or Daivion are having slow games. This team needs a year of improvement before a tourney bid seems at all possible

 

[Deaconblue]

I love your optimism. But you must have been watching different games than I did. We squeak by Utah valley and then lose to Loyola. And look really ugly doing both. The D has been solid enough. But we struggle to score especially if Appleby or Daivion are having slow games. This team needs a year of improvement before a tourney bid seems at all possible

We haven't seen this team with all its guards healthy. NCAA basketball is guard controlled. Once Williamson, Appleby, Ituka join Hildreth as healthy players, Wake will look different. Wake bigs are better than just "serviceable." Klintman and Keller are developing nicely for freshmen. Monsanto can get get hot and erase a deficit or bury an opponent quickly. Marsh looks like he is figuring out the big guy in the post thing. He has good hands and is huge, if not the most mobile guy. Wake will need some breaks but can make the big dance.

 

[BacktoBack]

There are some good and developing parts, no doubt. But one blowout of a terrible team shouldn't be grounds for tourney talk

 

[DCDeac]

That’s an outrageously hyperbolic statement. We had a big man drafted in the lottery last year who was 1000000000x more fundamentally sound than Carr.

But yea, this team is intriguing. Whether it comes together remains to be seen.

Interesting team to watch in person. My takeaways watching them were that Appleby is even quicker than he seems on tv (ie. he is lightning), Carr has a lot of good qualities but he kinda pushes his jumper and is pretty damn skinny. Hildreth is a little bigger, stronger, quicker, and more skilled than I thought, and Monsanto is sneaky tall plus he has a serious wingspan - borderline unguardable when he's hot unless a team has a freak athlete. Everyone else seemed just as advertised.

Sure, we've had some good and bad to this point, but those focusing on the bad must not have watched much Duke or UNC much. Narrow wins over bad opponents is the norm even for top 10 teams. It's basketball. We've looked really good at times and we can really defend. We feel worse than last year because of the offense, but I'm not sure how much worse we actually are with the depth and better defense.

It'll be really interesting to finally see Appleby/Daiven/Monsanto/Carr/Marsh playing with heavy doses of Cam/Bobi/Ituka/Keller mixed in. And you still have Bradford/Taylor for matchups or foul issues as options. Obviously we have plenty of flaws and question marks, but if we got the Duke and Carolinas that I watched play today... There's reason for optimism.

 

[Strickland33]

Important to note, too, that this team has no chemistry yet. With the exception of Daivien, the guys who were around last year were relatively minor rotation players (Damari, Cam, Matthew, Lucas). The new guys are either extremely young (Bobi, Zach) or fairly raw (Davion, Andrew, Jao). Tyree is in a very different system with a completely new group of teammates.

It's gonna take some time, but that's also why I'm not too worried yet. We won't see the best version of this team for a little bit and that has to be okay. When you start from scratch, you just can't be surprised that some lineups come out flat, some players take time to get confident, and there are a ton of mistakes.

 

[deacdixieboy]

Interesting team to watch in person. My takeaways watching them were that Appleby is even quicker than he seems on tv (ie. he is lightning), Carr has a lot of good qualities but he kinda pushes his jumper and is pretty damn skinny. Hildreth is a little bigger, stronger, quicker, and more skilled than I thought, and Monsanto is sneaky tall plus he has a serious wingspan - borderline unguardable when he's hot unless a team has a freak athlete. Everyone else seemed just as advertised.

Sure, we've had some good and bad to this point, but those focusing on the bad must not have watched much Duke or UNC much. Narrow wins over bad opponents is the norm even for top 10 teams. It's basketball. We've looked really good at times and we can really defend. We feel worse than last year because of the offense, but I'm not sure how much worse we actually are with the depth and better defense.

It'll be really interesting to finally see Appleby/Daiven/Monsanto/Carr/Marsh playing with heavy doses of Cam/Bobi/Ituka/Keller mixed in. And you still have Bradford/Taylor for matchups or foul issues as options. Obviously we have plenty of flaws and question marks, but if we got the Duke and Carolinas that I watched play today... There's reason for optimism.

I’m not so sure that Cam shouldn’t be starting over Daivien.

 

[DeacDaddy]

There are some good and developing parts, no doubt. But one blowout of a terrible team shouldn't be grounds for tourney talk

Particularly not when that same win succeeded a loss to LMU. Black and gold glasses. But here's hoping.

 

[thatguy2016]

John Collins and Jake were, without question, more skilled offensive players than Carr is this year. He’s a nice piece to develop for this year and hopefully next.

 

[MichDeac25]

That’s an outrageously hyperbolic statement. We had a big man drafted in the lottery last year who was 1000000000x more fundamentally sound than Carr.

But yea, this team is intriguing. Whether it comes together remains to be seen.

LaRavia was more athletic and skilled but Carr is more fundamentally sound. He is a very efficient player and keeps the ball high. He's also 3 inches taller than Jake so slightly different positions.

 

[MichDeac25]

Don't get me wrong. I loved LaRavia very early on. I'm a sucker for a guy with pivot moves. Carr doesn't have all that or the bounciness from 15 feet out. But he's taller and plays very tall. He finds a man to box out and doesn't dominate the ball to get points.

Last year our big men were Jake at 6'7 or 6'8, Mucius, Sy, Walton, and Marsh. I'll take Carr, sophomore Marsh, Bobi, Keller, and Bradford and be pretty happy with that. It's closer than you might think. Jake was great but Carr, Keller, and Bobi are all longer and more nimble than last year's group collectively.

 

[Strickland33]

LaRavia was more athletic and skilled but Carr is more fundamentally sound. He is a very efficient player and keeps the ball high. He's also 3 inches taller than Jake so slightly different positions.

Dude

Take the L, ya donk

 

[SkyDivingDeacon]

Not sure tourney talk is warranted, but I do agree that we have more talent than most people realize.

 

[IamThunderbolt]

I’ve only watched a couple of games, so can y’all who are really high on carr fill me in on what you see? I see someone who plays a little soft, isn’t a stretch, and needs to gain a lot of weight to be a good big man.

 

[SkyDivingDeacon]

I’ve only watched a couple of games, so can y’all who are really high on carr fill me in on what you see? I see someone who plays a little soft, isn’t a stretch, and needs to gain a lot of weight to be a good big man.

Carr is a less skilled big man than a Levy, but shoots the three like Ellis.