Friday, December 08, 2017

The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas: Day Three

On the third day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me

Three balls a-rainin'
Two more automotive wormhole websites
And a bald guy and some random hor-seys

This is hard for me to admit, but I may have been wrong.

Once. You doubted me once. Don't do it again.
At the beginning of the college basketball season, with 64% of its scoring and 55% of its rebounding gone to graduation and transfers, I told you that our Tribe wasn't going to be very good. I said, in fact, that a ten win season would represent one of Tony Shaver's great coaching jobs. I lamented the squad's lack of experience, and more importantly, of depth.

That same team I dismissed four weeks ago just went on the road, made up a double-digit second-half deficit, and beat a decent George Mason team, 77-70. What made that win all the more noteworthy was that it was played entirely according to Mason's tempo and style. The Tribe had been more accustomed of late to rolling into the triple digits, having topped the century mark three times in their previous four games.

At 6-2, with at least one more highly winnable game left before conference play begins at the end of the month, this team will almost certainly top ten wins. And while I still think there are reasons to doubt the Tribe's chances in the league, they'll certainly be competitive.

How in the hell did this happen?

For starters, let's talk about some ungodly shooting. At press time, W&M was second in the nation in three-point shooting percentage, making 47.3% of their triples. The Wrens' 12.3 made threes per game ranked third in the country. Shaver's boys are fourth nationally in true shooting percentage, a robust .646, and third in effective field goal percentage at .612. Hell, they're even fifth in free throw percentage, making 80.9% of their freebies.

The dagger that capped the win over Mason on Wednesday came from senior guard Connor Burchfield, who drove to his left before rising and firing a three-pointer from the top of the key. Your humble blogger was sitting courtside courtesy of FOG:TB Clifford, close enough to call out to Burchfield in a conversational tone and give him some verbal dap during a break in the action. He reciprocated with a gleeful thumbs up. We kinda bonded.

My pal Connor
Burchfield has always been a dangerous stationary shooter. He led the nation in three-point percentage as a sophomore, making 56.3% of his attempts. But his lack of defensive ability and overall game limited his minutes and his impact. He never averaged more than 5.4 points or 14.4 minutes a game in his first three seasons in green and gold. This year, thrust into a starting role out of necessity, he's continued to shoot the lights out, making 54.7% from deep (he's fifth in the nation in true shooting percentage, and seventh in three-point percentage) and scoring 13.1 points per game. He'll get exploited on defense by quick, athletic guards this season, but the fact that he's holding his own is a big part of W&M surprising (to me) start.

Sophomore transfer Matt Milon's also knocking down better than half of his threes, at 54.0%. He's the team's most effective offensive player, 17th in the nation with a 139.5 offensive rating. He's sixth nationally in effective shooting percentage, and seventh in true shooting. With 15.0 points per game, he's second on the team in scoring.

David Cohn's recording 7.1 assists per game while scoring 10.9 points on 47.6% three-point shooting. Sophomore wing Justin Pierce is also making 47.6% of his threes, tallying 14.4 points, and pulling down 9.5 rebounds per game. All told, six players in the regular rotation are making more than 50% of their shots, which is preposterous, and probably unsustainable.

Tony Shaver told the Daily Press's Dave Johnson, “This is the best shooting team I’ve coached here. We’ll be a fun team to watch.” He knows a lot more about basketball than I do, it turns out.

We're all the way down here in this post, and I haven't even mentioned the Tribe's best player. One of the reasons all those shooters get decent looks is the danger represented by Nathan Knight in the post. The 6'9" Syracuse native went for 27 and 7 against Mason, making 10 of 15 from the floor and seven of eight from the line. He's averaging 20.3 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, good for 18th in the nation in Player Efficiency Rating.

After seeing him in person for the first time, he's even more impressive. He's a very smart player, with a great feel for the pick and roll, which he and Cohn ran several times to get layups. He uses his body effectively, sealing defenders to create easy baskets, and finishing well at the rim. For a big man, he's got a great touch, knocking down 80% of his free throws. It is no exaggeration to say that he's got a chance to be the best big man in my time as a Tribe fan, with much respect for the great Tim Rusthoven - Beasthoven never averaged close to 20/8, nor did he have Knight's skill.

There's a dark cloud to all this silvery-lined offensive excellence. Teams that live by the jumper tend to die by it on nights when it doesn't fall. But the bigger issue to me will be W&M's depth. Nine guys got time against Mason, but two of them got fewer than five minutes of run. When Knight picked up his third foul in the first half, the Wrens found themselves with five guards on the court, effectively. 6'7" reed-thin Paul Rowley guarded the post. They got away with it last night, largely because Knight managed not to pick up his fourth foul, but that's a narrow margin for error for our guys.

The Tribe goes to Columbus, OH to play Ohio State tomorrow, then takes a breather against D-III Milligan before heading to Fort Worth to take on 20th-ranked TCU in their final non-conference matchup. They're going to lose both road games, so they'll likely take a 7-4 record into CAA play.

If you'd have given me that after W&M's 100-64 loss to High Point to open the season, I'd have signed for it and never asked twice. I might've even called that a Gheorghemas miracle.

46 comments:

  1. Here's to hoping the team continues the run! Nice post. All of them actually.
    And I'm writing to get car advice...seems y'all (or atleast one of you!) have some worth hearing -- here's the situation - we own a small pick-up that's 24 years old. And while relatively low mileage for that age (144,000), everything else is bad. The other car is a minivan, 6 years old, and while decent, at 135,000 miles now.
    We need a car. Maybe two.
    Seriously.
    So, can you buy two cars from the same dealer and get a really good deal. Should we look for two vehicles with less than 50,000 or 40,000 miles or so. Should we buy one new and one used?
    We don't have money (relatively-speaking - pastors/teachers ya know) so we'll be financing this purchase...what ought we do.
    Advice. Go!
    Also, I want a minivan, pretty much - family of 5 and a dog. But the other vehicle...we're open to suggestions. I really want an old mercedes station wagon or volvo, but my husband doesn't see that as practical. I also suggested going to Sweden to choose a new Volvo and have them ship over, but again - lack of money for such an adventure.
    Thanks!!!

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  2. Car advice is not my specialty - sorry.

    What is my specialty is having opinions on the NBA. And I have a strong one on the Okafor trade. Another savvy move by Brooklyn. Okafor is still 21 y/o (for another week). His offensive skills are obvious. Any efforting on the defensive end will make him a valuable asset.

    D’Angelo Russell was quietly in beast mode this season until he hurt his knee: 21/6/5 thru his first 12 games. He’s also 21.

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  3. donna just entered zman's...wheelhouse. that'd be a good name for a blog.

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  4. Indeed. In a nutshell, yes, you can probably get a good deal buying two cars at once although the sales guy still has a floor on each car that he can't drop below. To pull this off you need to go to a dealership that sells two cars that you want. Buying two Volvos is not a cheap undertaking. I have a Volvo wagon and I'm likely never buying another Volvo. I like the car but hate the dealers, the only worse dealership network in my experience is Ford, and Ford used to own Volvo so maybe that's the problem (I said that to a Volvo dealer recently after they sent me a letter asking why I haven't brought my car back for service, it was highly cathartic).

    Your minivan options are, in my view, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. The Honda is allegedly more fun to drive but the Toyota is available with AWD in the event you ever see snow.

    Clearly you're smart because you want a wagon. Unfortunately, neither Honda nor Toyota sell a proper wagon but the Prius V is close.

    As always, I suggest you go with a CPO if you want to buy and hold the cars until they die.

    If you really want a cool older wagon, check out the BMW 530xiT. Or the 535xiT if you can find one (that's the twin turbo version of the 530xiT). It doubt you'll find one locally at a Honda or Toyota dealer but you never know.

    If you want a more reliable wagon option, look for a CPO Subaru Outback. They're indestructible and supremely capable in bad weather. And the trunk is bigger than that of many five-passenger SUVs.

    The sanest option is probably to get a CPO Odyssey and a CPO Accord. Try and wait until February and go on the 28th, ideally there will be snow so no one will be car shopping.

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  5. I fully agree with TR on Okafor. A great buy low move. He’s good, if somewhat ill fitted to the modern NBA. He gets buckets though and that’s always useful. He and Russell are two good young pieces that their respective organizations gave up on far too early.

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  6. I'm a big fan of the outback, and will be looking for a used one in the next 18 months for my wife to drive once our oldest is street legal.

    We expect our kid will be one of few his age who can drive a manual transmission vehicle.

    I like to buy used cars from private sellers who are meticulous enough to keep all of the service records. My van had 125K when I bought it.

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  7. No mention of the man from Orange. He could find some sweet deals on cars. But he is a weenie.

    Zman is correct Volvo wagons are great but the dealerships suck ass. If you can find a good repair shop they will last forever like a Subaru.

    Side note, took today off to drive to Maine to buy a shitload of beer for the holidays. Who wants some?

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  8. I too would gladly accept a fraction of your shitload of beer. And you should check www.reynoldsgmsubaru.com if you're in Virginia. Find a car you like then call and ask for Weenie and tell him you know us. Seriously, I check their inventory once a month or so hoping that a low mileage Cadillac CTS-V wagon will miraculously appear.

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  9. Weenie may start big-timing us now that he’s our generation’s Bobby Heenan.

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  10. I’ll happily take beer from Squeaky again.

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  11. weenie's got a mini in his inventory that i would've already bought if not for zman trying to crush my dreams.

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  12. The Marls clan has two Subarus from Reynolds. Very happy with the price.

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  13. i have a 2008 toyota sienna. amazing car. i have kick the shit out of it every day and have driven it cross country twice. highly recommended. never heard good things about the AWD, the car is heavy enough and has front wheel drive, so we just put snow tires on for the winter and never had a problem. i have it in sporty gunmetal gray, just like everyone else on the planet. you need to put bumper stickers on it so you can find yours in the lot. i am a big fan of buying a car that is ubiquitous because it means that it lasts and there are parts for it.

    we also have a honda crv. basically the cheap subaru. very popular with lesbians.

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  14. I've always heard Subaru is the lesbian car of choice.

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  15. I’m sort of a lesbian with a penis.

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  16. Me too Marls. I own a Subaru AND I went to an indigo girls concert once. Didn't take long before the men's room was coed. Urinals were wide open all night.

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  17. zwoman: We need to make our Christmas card.
    zman: Ok, send me some photos and I'll log into Minted.
    zwoman: Ok. [Sends seven photos.]
    zman: Thanks. Here's my laptop with Minted all ready to go.
    zwoman: You can pick the card and photos.
    zman: Really?
    zwoman: Yeah.
    zman: Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?
    zwoman: Merry Christmas.
    zman: OK.
    [Five minutes later.]
    zwoman: That's what you chose? Did you consider all the options?
    zman: You do it.
    zwoman: No it's fine.
    [Three minutes later.]
    zwoman: Let me work on this.

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  18. JMU on the tv...Weber State hanging tough. Got a bad vibe on this one.

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  19. Trevor Matich...looking larger than normal.

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  20. nice footballing by james madison, though fortune definitely smiled upon their purple asses

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  21. Very fortunate. Win and advance!

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  22. Big win for the Dukes tonight.

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  23. At this very moment, one of the local news channels has its Storm Tracker vehicle cruising about town to keep us informed on the incoming...COLD FRONT! Riveting. Putting up the Cold Front Shutters later. No chance taking here.

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  24. Feel a little bad for our Winc friend whose son is the starting field-goal kicker for the Dukes, but out w/an injury. He's the guy that helped them clinch the game against NDSU last year.

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  25. Glad to see dukes getting some love here, as it is unquestionably the best mayo. Good finish to last night's game as well.

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  26. Ric Flair Drip is fucking great. The production on it is tremendous and the chorus is catchy as hell.

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  27. Nice post Rob. I'm trying not to get too optimistic about Tribe Hoops this year, but the last few weeks sure have been fun, so it's getting tough to ignore that little voice in the back of my head saying "maybe THIS is our year"

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  28. Roots took relish in writing that pun.

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  29. now you're just being a hot dog, z

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  30. not really the tribe's day in columbus. the curse of gheorghemas lives.

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  31. I had a delicious wagyu hot dog wrapped in bacon today.

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  32. i just successfully completed a minor toilet repair. i'm a man. i'm 47.

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  33. I also picked up a bottle of Stone Enjoy By Christmas at my local brewpub. I may have too many bombers for the holiday season.

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  34. Army-Navy game in the snow. I’m in.

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  35. who's writing the definitive gtb bitcoin guide?

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  36. I’m with you, Mayhugh.

    I also follow Haralabon Voulgaria for all my bitcoin advice.

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  37. Good on you, Rob. I’m in no way handy but the combination of being a homeowner and not wanting my wife and kids to think I’m a pathetic man has forced me into similar situations over the last few years. Fixed up a toilet this summer, in fact. There’s something to be said for the sense of accomplishment that comes with these minor repairs. Also something to be said for knowing your limits when it comes to household repairs.

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  38. Haralabob Voulgaris. Not sure what autocorrect thought it was doing.

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  39. i donated to doug jones' campaign a few days ago, and holy shit are those fuckers blitzing my email inbox now. i've received 12 messages today alone. i hope their thirst translates to electoral energy.

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  40. No good deed goes unpunished rob.

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