ht
NooB Bear
Posts: 3
|
Wofford
Feb 3, 2017 15:13:23 GMT -5
Post by ht on Feb 3, 2017 15:13:23 GMT -5
They can win this game (as Mercer could have won most, if not all, of their other conference games), if they just rely (trust) their big men to take care of defense in the paint to free up more defenders to closely contest Wofford's perimeter game. Mercer's Achilles heel all year has been allowing opponents to shoot "three's" virtually unguarded. This might work against teams that are weak shooting "three's", but three-point shooting is what the Southern Conferences specializes in, not strong inside play. Ironically, Mercer has one of the stronger set of big men in the conference, yet doesn't play to that advantage.
|
|
ht
NooB Bear
Posts: 3
|
Furman
Feb 3, 2017 15:05:38 GMT -5
Post by ht on Feb 3, 2017 15:05:38 GMT -5
Yet in spite of the height mismatch, Mercer collapsed its defense to focus on Furman's inside game. It seems there is a paranoia, or lack of trust, paid Mercer's interior defenders (even though they are very impressive by SoCon standards). This has seemed to be a consistent theme, leading to Mercer having virtually no outside perimeter defense, allowing its opponents to score three's almost at will throughout the season.
|
|
ht
NooB Bear
Posts: 3
|
Post by ht on Feb 2, 2017 11:25:52 GMT -5
Mercer has Furman mismatched inside. They should slow the pace down, work the ball inside, and play tenacious defense against the three. If Mercer does not commit a lot of turnovers, focuses on defending against the 3 (particularly Sibley), and takes advantage of their significant size advantage, Mercer should easily win this game.
|
|