St Joe's looks big, tough.. do we have any answer?

[BillyX]

I don't like looking ahead, especially past SLU on the road, but St. Joe's looks tough.

Winners of 11 of last 12, and smacked Nova by 20 last night.

We have shown we can lock down good guards, but can we lock down 3 solid big men in Calathes (6'10"), Nivens (6'9") and Ferguson (6'8")? I am concerned.

Roster/Stats (per game)
PLAYER POS PTS REB AST
Pat Calathes G-F 18.3 8.1 2.5
Ahmad Nivins F 14.2 6.5 0.5
Rob Ferguson F 11.5 5.4 1.1
Tasheed Carr G 10.9 4.8 6.3
Darrin Govens G 10.0 2.0 2.2
D.J. Rivera G 5.7 1.9 0.6
Garrett WilliamsonG-F 5.6 2.4 3.0

[flatspat]

I don't like looking ahead, especially past SLU on the road, but St. Joe's looks tough.

Winners of 11 of last 12, and smacked Nova by 20 last night.

We have shown we can lock down good guards, but can we lock down 3 solid big men in Calathes (6'10"), Nivens (6'9") and Ferguson (6'8")? I am concerned.

Roster/Stats (per game)
PLAYER POS PTS REB AST
Pat Calathes G-F 18.3 8.1 2.5
Ahmad Nivins F 14.2 6.5 0.5
Rob Ferguson F 11.5 5.4 1.1
Tasheed Carr G 10.9 4.8 6.3
Darrin Govens G 10.0 2.0 2.2
D.J. Rivera G 5.7 1.9 0.6
Garrett WilliamsonG-F 5.6 2.4 3.0

I thought they looked very good as well.IMO, not much of an inside game. It looked to me like Calathes and Ferguson hang around the perimiter but they can shoot. Lets get past the Billikens and then let our home court take care of the Hawks.

[CarlosTheJackal]

I was ready to start a "Fear the Hawks?" thread after watching last night's game, but thought maybe I will wait until after St Louis. But here we are, so here we go...

I think there are three keys (aside from the obvious rebounding key) to controlling that height: guard play, neutralizing Calathes without leaving the post -- or Furgeson on the wing --wide open, and fouls.

The Hawks guards are getting better, but they still are vulnerable to pressure and pickpocketed turnovers. This may be one game where Stanley doesn't have a scoring scalp to take, but rather pressure to keep the guards out of their comfort zones and making longer passes for the entry, as well as shooting for steals in the passing lanes.

Calathes is the real trouble spot by my observation. He is really a 6-10 point when he takes the ball at the arc. You have to get up in his face to negate the open 3, but he can put the ball on the floor and go to the lane. If we can trap him and cut off that lane before he gets into position to dump off to the two post guys, we will be well served.

Fergeson is prone to foul, and Nivens has had some problems as well. I would be watching the matchup of Anderson on Fergeson in our offense. If CJ can get Fergeson off his feet and draw fouls in the lane with his quickness, and not get a boatload of blocked or altered shots. Love on Nivens is a tricky matchup, but I dont see Nivens as a guy who can create his own shot. The key is denying the entry pass into the low post. See guards, supra.

[CarlosTheJackal]

This just in from the A10 board, Nivens out of the Duquesne game tomorrow with ankle sprain, questionable for Sunday.

[flatspat]

This just in from the A10 board, Nivens out of the Duquesne game tomorrow with ankle sprain, questionable for Sunday.

I saw him do something to the ankle during the game last night but at the end the announcers said he was fine w/ no ice and to look at him jumping up and down. Lappas never did know anything.

[BillyX]

Must be some truth to the Nivens injury thing. I didn't see much of the game last night, but box score only has him down for 19 minutes when he averages 35 minutes, and he was not in foul trouble (2 total).

[Justin Cage]

I know Carlos talked about it a little but how do we match up on defense with their 3 big men. Calathes likes to stay out on the perimeter but is their best overall player without a question. With Nivens being out it could be a different story but let's just say he will start for the sake of the argument. The way I see it...

Calathes - D-Bag
Nivens - Love/ Duncan
Ferguson - CJ/BJ

What do you guys think?

[Smooth]

I think you should come back and guard Calathes.

[mhettel]

Calathes is alot like Doellman was. He does a little bit of everything, scores every way, is solid on defense, can handle the ball, rebounds, hits FTs, etc...............

Key to me is taking the ball inside. Our bigs need to pound it in, and our guards need to drive it and force them to play some interior D.

Get some fouls on the inside guys, open up the middle, then start launching the 3's.

SLU first, and thats gonna be an UGLY game, but we'll get the W.

[X Communicator]

Nivins' ankle sprain kept him out of the Duquesne game, and he didn't travel with the team. If he won't be at 100% Sunday, X's chances to win increase significantly.