Predictions for MD games on Jan 31.

[RiverRat24 274]

Battle @ GC

 

I think GC wins this one by 20-25. Devils still won't have it all together but I think they will play better than they did against the Buffaloes and the Warriors. I think George sees even more playing time now and has an impact on the game. One of either McClung or Ervin will have a big game and go for 30+....Hopefully both of them. I'll say 78-54

 

Central @ Lee

 

I think the Warriors win this one by 25+. McAmis will score his 20-30 pts and Central cruises to an easy W.... 68-40

 

Ridgeview @ Union

 

Union continues to roll and names the score on the Pack. Something to the tune of 83-41. Slagle plays at most 3 qtrs and is pulled and so is Mitchell. Both these guys combined will probably have 45-55 pts.

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

Gate City 79 John Battle 70:

 

Battle is just one of those teams that just won't go away. We won't be able to stop Felty, so I expect him to drop about 25 points. I'm sure JSB will come out guns blazing just like everyone else has this year vs us. But GC pulls away late if they can knock down shots at the stripe.

 

Central 65 Lee 50:

 

McAmis and Mullins lead the way with a combined 35 points to help the Warriors cruise to victory.

 

Union 76 Ridgeview 41:

 

The Slagle and Mitchell show. Mitchell continues to be a beast with rebounds and assists while adding a nice 17 points while Slagle ends posts a game high 24 points. I say Moore pulls the plug mid-3rd.

[Soccer_Dad 29]

Battle's best rebounder is likely still out with the concussion he received courtesy of getting kneed in the head against Central while trying to get up after diving for a loose ball a week and a half ago. His Dad said he probably won't be back until the Union game this Friday.

[RiverRat24 274]

Tonight GC played a little bit more like they were at the beginning of the season. Still not much defense and rebounding but when they did play a speck or two of defense good things happened. Taking nothing away from Battle and Felty....He's a darn good player and very hard to stop and Battle has several good players. Still too many easy layups though. Battle lived off the give-n-go and backdoor cuts in the first half. If GC would clamp down on D the sky is the limit... Especially when the deep ball is falling along with the dribble drive.

 

McClung exploded with another impressive game and Zac was lights out too. Dean was cold early on but transitioned his game to the dribble drive and made some nice plays. If he can get back to early season form on his shooting GC will be hard to handle.

[swva_havok_fan 1,261]

Lee High Boys just beat Central 58-56. Awesome job Generals!

[swva_havok_fan 1,261]

Union 76, Ridgeview 29. Final. Ouch.

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

Lee High Boys just beat Central 58-56. Awesome job Generals!

This makes everyone in the CMC a winner.

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

I thought GC played extremely well tonight. Battle is not a pushover. Like Rat said, we looked the way we looked at the beginning of the season. I thought the rebounding and defense on GC's part was far better than what we've had as of late. Battle hung for the first quarter then it was pretty much over after that. We played with some urgency and acted like we wanted to be there with a lot of hustle. I like that Scotty experimented with the full court press as well, it seemed to throw JSB off to force some turnovers. All and all, tonight eased my mind. I was getting a tad worried.

[swva_havok_fan 1,261]

This makes everyone in the CMC a winner.

Yep, also means the Ridgeview/Lee game next week all of a sudden has meaning as the winner in all likelihood avoids Union/GC in first round of the CMC tournament. Lol

[RiverRat24 274]

There's times the ball movement is outstanding for GC and they showed flashes tonight of just how extremely good they can be. I feel better about the post season after what I saw tonight. When GC decided to play D they forced turnovers and made some nice plays in transition. If Dean can get back on track and get dialed in from deep to really spread teams out it's gonna get interesting.

 

Spoke to the ol' ball coach and hes been dishing out some serious chewings at practice over the lack of defense and rebounding. I honestly think it would make a world of difference if the guys would just stretch their arms out when they are on D.....Take up alot of the passing lane space and cause some disruption. I think they will turn up the intensity these next few games though and finish the season strong.

 

Also.... Definitely was not expecting Lee to pull off the win against Central. That's a pleasant surprise. Congrats to the Generals. Also figured Ridgeview might score a few more points than they did against Union....The Bears are rolling. Gonna be a showdown at Union (or at UVAWise)

 

Scoring tonight for GC:

 

McClung 41

Ervin 23

Dean 14

Collier 4

George 4

Kimbler 3

Compton 1

[Great City 210]

I also feel a little better after the game last night. Still believe we are going to have to focus on rebounding or the post season may be short. The number of second chance points we give up is amazing. Think we may need to give George more playing time, and sit Kimbler some. George just needs some experience and confidence. He does not need to score. Just play some interior defense, and get some rebounds.

 

Was good to see 3 freshman on the floor last night (Dean, Compton, & George). Not sure Ervin and Dean are 100%, but they are getting close.

 

I didn't think we really pushed the ball up the floor for large portions of the game, and still scored 78 points through three quarters. That is also encouraging.

 

The last several games it seems like the bench has gotten much more playing time. They have not scored much, but they have gotten a lot of minutes. I hope that partially accounts for some of the sloppy play we have been seeing.

 

The more I see Mac play, the more I believe he cannot be guarded one-on-one. He scored 47 against arguably the best athlete in 2A (Mitchell). His first step is fast. His second may be faster. He can take the ball to the basket anytime he chooses, and gets great elevation on his shots. If the defender backs off him, he can knock down the 3. I would guess that he leads the team in steals and probably assists. Believe he could also lead in rebounding if he chose to do so. The improvement in his game from last year to this year is outstanding. Expect he will be the 2A Player of the Year.

 

 

Lee over Central was amazing. After I saw the first half Lee played at GC, I could not believe they had not won more games.

 

Union is on fire. Looking forward to (and kind of dreading) the game at Union (or UVA Wise). They have a great rebounder (Mitchell), and a kid who can light it up from outside (Slagle). Is the kind of team GC will have trouble with.

 

Read where Miami offered Mitchell. Impressive.

[GoBearsGo 142]

I just can't wrap my mind around Lee beating Central. I've only seen Lee play once this year (at Union) and it was rough. I mentioned in another thread that Central had declined more this season than I have ever seen a team decline. They played Union very tough early (at UvaW tourney, then again at Union) but when Union went there and now this one, I'm not sure what's happening. Maybe it's karma.

[Soccer_Dad 29]

Lee High Boys just beat Central 58-56. Awesome job Generals!

That's awesome. Glad to see them get a Conference win.

[BigWinners 1,643]

I am SO happy for Lee, a family friend's son starts for Lee (Watson) and I'm glad they got the W.

 

 

And Wise losing to Lee? LOL that is hilarious. Everyone point and laugh at Central LOLOL

[Great City 210]

Saw some unofficial stats for the GC - Battle game.

 

Rebounds    GC 27   Battle 26

Assists         GC  24   Battle 9

Steals          GC  12   Battle  3

FG%            GC 61% Battle 45%

FT%            GC  86% Battle 71%

3-pg FG%    GC 33% Battle  29%

 

Again........unofficial. Just sharing. 

[RiverRat24 274]

I saw those stats too Great City....But I also seen where it showed that Battle scored 59 pts and they actually scored 60. So I wasn't sure how legit those stats were.....I'm gonna guess they are still pretty close.

[BigWinners 1,643]

Anyone know how many PPG McClung is averaging?

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

Anyone know how many PPG McClung is averaging?

28.65 ppg. It actually went down due to him only scoring 16 vs Floyd. He was at 28.94 before the Floyd game but then he dropped 41 vs Battle which helped it stay about the same.

 

And Ervin is averaging 25.82 ppg.

[BigWinners 1,643]

28.65 ppg. It actually went down due to him only scoring 16 vs Floyd. He was at 28.94 before the Floyd game but then he dropped 41 vs Battle which helped it stay about the same.

And Ervin is averaging 25.82 ppg.

I figured at least 30 PPG.

 

Union did a great job on Ervin, I'd assume we stick with same strategy. Don't double McClung, just clamp down on everyone else.

[Great City 210]

No offense BigWinners, but Ervin was at about 10% against Union. He prob should not have even been on the floor.

 

When GC is healthy, doubling McClung is a risky gamble. You have to leave someone open. If Ervin or Dean is left open, GC will attempt about 30 3s.

 

Not sure who Union should put on McClung. Pretty obvious Mitchell can't guard him. Don't think you risk putting Slagle on him. Union can't afford Slagle to get in foul trouble and miss large parts of the game.

 

Union did not double McClung, but they dropped whoever was guarding Kimbler down in the paint to try and limit McClung's penetration.

[The U Bear 59]

no one can guard mcclung! hes jus that good

[BigWinners 1,643]

No offense BigWinners, but Ervin was at about 10% against Union. He prob should not have even been on the floor.

 

When GC is healthy, doubling McClung is a risky gamble. You have to leave someone open. If Ervin or Dean is left open, GC will attempt about 30 3s.

 

Not sure who Union should put on McClung. Pretty obvious Mitchell can't guard him. Don't think you risk putting Slagle on him. Union can't afford Slagle to get in foul trouble and miss large parts of the game.

 

Union did not double McClung, but they dropped whoever was guarding Kimbler down in the paint to try and limit McClung's penetration.

We will take our chances. Ervin will have to deal with Back or Sharitt, he won't be left wide open.

GC doesn't have an answer for Wes either, so it'll be interesting.

 

And it goes both ways, Jenkins was maybe 25% for that game, battling leg injury.

[RiverRat24 274]

It does work both ways.....However I don't think Jenkins was averaging right at 30 ppg when he was only 25% for that game. I may have figured it up wrong but I think Ervin was on the doorstep of 30 ppg when he went down...maybe a few points higher than McClung during that time frame

[BigWinners 1,643]

It does work both ways.....However I don't think Jenkins was averaging right at 30 ppg when he was only 25% for that game. I may have figured it up wrong but I think Ervin was on the doorstep of 30 ppg when he went down...maybe a few points higher than McClung during that time frame

I figured this was gonna be the narrative so I'll just bow out until game is over.

 

When MM scores 47 points, of course the rest won't score much. Sure he may have been ill, but that doesn't mean Union can't play w GC esp at home. I've said what I'd do if I was Moore, I'd make McClung do it single handedly.

 

Maybe we get Slagle for 40 minutes this game instead of 35 and that could be huge.

 

Jenkins wasn't averaging 30 but he isn't a scorer. His value is on D and passing the ball.

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

I figured this was gonna be the narrative so I'll just bow out until game is over.

 

When MM scores 47 points, of course the rest won't score much. Sure he may have been ill, but that doesn't mean Union can't play w GC esp at home. I've said what I'd do if I was Moore, I'd make McClung do it single handedly.

 

Maybe we get Slagle for 40 minutes this game instead of 35 and that could be huge.

 

Jenkins wasn't averaging 30 but he isn't a scorer. His value is on D and passing the ball.

Why make McClung beat you? He's already proved he can do it once already.