This Week in Wrenball: Muppet Babies Take Manhattan

I'm generally aligned with the pessimists in my sporting fandom. Years of fruitless Red Sox and Tribe hoops rooting will do that to a fellow. With a 1-4 start to W&M's basketball season, one might expect me to fall into the 'same old sorry ass Tribe' camp. Not me. Not this year.

Oh, I have no illusions about Tony Shaver's squad. The out of conference schedule is going to bring some pain. Starting Saturday, W&M's remaining non-con run goes St. Joseph's, at Marshall, George Mason, at ODU, at Hampton, William Peace (I don't know what that is any more than you do, but I'm guessing it's a D-III cupcake), and at UVA. If the Tribe enters CAA play better than 3-9, that'll be a surprise.

But even if they don't, the foundation being built as the squad suffers gives me reason for optimism.

These guys are coming...

The current 1-4 mark has been built on equal parts injuries to key players and the inexperience of their replacements, with a soupçon of Nathan Knight foul trouble that allowed Illinois-Chicago to top the Tribe. Those injuries (to juniors Justin Pierce and Matt Milon, W&M's top rebounder and second- leading scorer, and best outside shooter, as well as senior Paul Rowley, a consistent deep stroke who brings useful post depth - the three have missed a combined eight games) and the concomitant need for young ballers to play significant minutes are a blessing in disguise.

Through five games, freshmen have played 46.3% of W&M's minutes, scored 31.1% of the team's points, grabbed 33.9% of the rebounds, and tallied 50% of the squad's assists and blocks. First-year guard L.J. Owens is W&M's fourth-leading scorer, averaging 10.6 points on 42.1% three-point shooting. Fellow frosh Thornton Scott is second in assists, while Chase Audige averages 6.8 ppg, 2 boards, and 1.2 assists in 24.4 minutes per game. All told, four freshman average more than 13 minutes, with 6'9" big Mekhel Harvey getting 8.8.

...but we need these three

When you play that many kids, you get predictable results, but W&M led Notre Dame in South Bend with fewer than nine minutes to play, took Big South defending champ Radford to the wire, and narrowly lost in overtime to Illinois-Chicago (in a game Knight played only 14 minutes due to foul trouble and Pierce sprained his ankle in the extra period).

Knight's junior season, UIC loss excepted, has started as expected. The 6'10 junior from Syracuse is averaging 19 points and 7 boards, shooting 59% from the floor and 84% from the line. He'll be the focus of every defense the Tribe plays. Which will be a good thing for Pierce, once he returns from injury. The junior wing is leading W&M in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double in the three games he's played (22.3 points and 11.3 rebounds). As good as Knight is, Pierce might wind up the best player on the team.

Eventually, after all those years of rooting in vain, the Red Sox broke through. This may not be the Tribe team that does the same, but don't let the early season fool you. These kids are (gonna be) alright.