Today, along with Selection Sunday, is my favorite day of the college basketball season. It's finally here. It's FINALLY OPENING DAY! Everyone from Savannah State to Indiana, from Maryland Eastern Shore to Kentucky,
everyone is tied in the standings, and everyone has an undefeated record. It's time to get the 2012-13 season underway!
The Charlotte 49ers open the season tonight, November 9th at 6:00pm, by hosting Charleston Southern of the Big South Conference. CSU has a pretty solid squad. The Bucs were picked to win the league by most every pundit, analyst, and news outlet. As 49er fans, we are conditioned to expect a sputtering start to the year, so this matchup has worried a lot of us. We almost always start out the season with an early season loss to a "lesser" opponent. The Gardner Webb debacle of 2010 sticks out painfully in our minds. Many 49er fans are claiming this will be an dangerous match-up and many are even saying they fully expect a loss tonight. Well, let's step back from the ledge a second.
The season opening loss to Gardener Webb a couple years ago was a special scenario. We were playing with six, yes SIX scholarship players, and two walk-ons that game. One of those walk-ons had been with the team for less than two weeks. He was a late addition due to the fact that we were so decimated by injuries and suspensions. We had essentially sent out a glorified intramural team.
Tonight we will be without starting small forward Demario Mayfield, and rumors are swirling around that Chris Braswell will be sitting this one out as well. So let's say we do take the floor tonight without those two upperclassmen leaders. It definitely hurts, but we will be OK. Here is what we have left.
The starting lineup will likely be the same as it was for the Pfeiffer exhibition:
PG - soph. Pierria Henry
SG - soph. Terrence Williams
SF - soph. E. Victor Nickerson
PF - fr. Darion Clark
C - fr. Willie Clayton (would not be surprised to see rs-fr Mike Thorne get the start here)
That is a young, but very talented, and very athletic lineup. We also have senior VA Tech transfer JT Thompson coming off the bench, along with sharp shooting guards Denzel Ingram and Ivan Benkovic.
Here is why I feel very confident in a Niners win tonight. CSU is a good team, but their strength lies in their backcourt. Like any other Big South team, they are very small, and their frontcourt players' sizes resemble our wing guards and small forwards. Freshmen Darion Clark and Willie Clayton absolutely abused the small Pfeiffer frontcourt, and Mike Thorne showed some flashes as well. Granted Charleston Southern is notably better than Pfeiffer, it still remains that our young PF's and C have proven that they can take care of business against smaller players.
That leaves the heralded Buccaneers backcourt to take care of. While they do have some speedy sharpshooting guards, I think Charlotte fans need to step back into reality and remember what we have. Pierria Henry is possibly the single best on-the-ball defender the 49ers have ever had. Scoff and call that an exaggeration if you'd like, but the kid was
sixth in the nation in steals last year, as a freshman. He will absolutely take care of business on the defensive end. Those Big South guards won't see a matchup nightmare like him for the rest of the year. At shooting guard, we have uber-athletic Terrence Williams. This kid just gets better and better every time he takes the court. On offense and defense, his combination of speed plus a 6'4 200lb frame will prove too much to handle. Then off the bench comes All-State, All-Everything superguard Denzel Ingram. Ingram went 4 of 5 from behind the arc against Pfeiffer, and I expect a solid game from him tonight.
I know we are jaded. I know we have been conditioned to expect early season disappointment but this is the not the same Niners team from the past couple years. The rebuilding is over. Major has assembled his troops, and it's time to WIN.
Final score prediction:
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 60
CHARLOTTE 76
