Troy vs App, Boone, NC, 6:30 pm EST ESPN+ 29 degrees

[hapapp]

Meanwhile WBB is 2-0 in conference play after a terrible OOC run.

[app97]

I took my my two boys up to see this one tonight. The comments about just good enough to hang with mediocre teams might be somewhat accurate, but I think Troy could be better than mediocre in the sun belt this year. I feel like Scott Cross is one of the better coaches in the league and he has somehow managed to get essentially all of his big contributors back from last year’s 20 win team. I don’t think he’s ever coached a sun belt team that finished outside of the top half of the conference, both at Troy and when he was at UTA. He just hasn’t been able to achieve a conference title or ncaa tournament bid. His teams are always tough to beat though.

[Bigdaddyg1]

It’s got to be near impossible for a team at our level to essentially lose an entire roster and then restock. Anyone who genuinely enjoys this garbage now is insane.

[AppFan11]

Let’s remember that last year’s group of players that went 27-7… their first season ‘22-‘23 they went 16-16…… this group is new and has talent but is just figuring it out… much like the group did in ‘22-‘23……. We need to support them…..

[boonetodd]

I have tried to watch them but it is not very entertaining. I hope they improve but rough to watch right now.

[APPdiesel]

Maybe the best we can hope for (until someone with sense and power gets control of NIL and the portal) is what we just experienced…a 2 year run with the same core of players…a good first year where guys learn to gel together but the team is a little rough around the edges and not quite good enough that the entire roster leaves, then a great second season before they all start getting NIL offers to bigger programs.

It’s a tough place to be as a mid major.

[APPdiesel]

Truthfully, such a sad part of all this is some of these guys who transfer out are chasing money to go to a worse basketball situation.

Justin Abson should be having another monster year for us instead he's barely getting any playing time and averaging 1.6 points per game. His minutes, FG%, rebounds, blocks, and points are all down at Georgia and...not that this really matters...ESPN.com's player card for him at Georgia doesn't even has his photo attached. Talk about stud to dud.

On the other hand Tre'von Spillers is averaging just under 10 points and 10 rebounds per game at Wake, relatively on par with his numbers in 2023-24 for us.

[hapapp]

Let’s remember that last year’s group of players that went 27-7… their first season ‘22-‘23 they went 16-16…… this group is new and has talent but is just figuring it out… much like the group did in ‘22-‘23……. We need to support them…..

That '22-'23 team didn't have Spillers, Tate, or Marsh. Plus last year benefitted from Donovan returning. I'm not sure the comparison is accurate.

[hapapp]

Truthfully, such a sad part of all this is some of these guys who transfer out are chasing money to go to a worse basketball situation.

Justin Abson should be having another monster year for us instead he's barely getting any playing time and averaging 1.6 points per game. His minutes, FG%, rebounds, blocks, and points are all down at Georgia and...not that this really matters...ESPN.com's player card for him at Georgia doesn't even has his photo attached. Talk about stud to dud.

On the other hand Tre'von Spillers is averaging just under 10 points and 10 rebounds per game at Wake, relatively on par with his numbers in 2023-24 for us.

Spillers is averaging those numbers against much better competition as well. Harcum is at 11.5 at Murray, Marsh is 14.5 at UNCA, Mantis is at 8.5 at Maine, hitting 43% of his threes. Really, only Abson is not a vital part of his new team.

[CharlotteApp05]

Let’s remember that last year’s group of players that went 27-7… their first season ‘22-‘23 they went 16-16…… this group is new and has talent but is just figuring it out… much like the group did in ‘22-‘23……. We need to support them…..

That '22-'23 team didn't have Spillers, Tate, or Marsh. Plus last year benefitted from Donovan returning. I'm not sure the comparison is accurate.

Yep and extending that out, we won’t have many from this team on next years. I really like Kerns, but don’t understand what happened last year. Why did those guys think he was leaving? Where did he think he was going? Will he attempt to leave again after this year? All I ever hear is his family is close so he wants to be here. That rumor/speculation killed an entire year.

[Stonewall]

That’s a stretch. Money drove Spillers, Abson and Harcum. Period. Marsh was leaving whether there was a coaching change or not. He decided that early. He wants to be the focus and he got that at UNCA. If we had $500,000 to spend on those three , on top of what Tate and Huntley wanted….a million bucks would have gone a long way.

[CharlotteApp05]

Thanks…. That makes sense, was just repeating what I’ve seen others post here.

[appfanjj]

If I remember correctly Marsh was a huge factor in our NIT game at Wake. Correct me if I'm wrong but had a huge first half and barely saw the floor in the second half? Or at least down the stretch?

Believe Spillers got 150,000 from Wake. How much did Abson, and Harcum get?

[app97]

Let’s remember that last year’s group of players that went 27-7… their first season ‘22-‘23 they went 16-16…… this group is new and has talent but is just figuring it out… much like the group did in ‘22-‘23……. We need to support them…..

That '22-'23 team didn't have Spillers, Tate, or Marsh. Plus last year benefitted from Donovan returning. I'm not sure the comparison is accurate.

True. Spillers was a giant asset last year. Always seemed to be in the right place at right time. Has great length and hands. Tate is just a winner who hit tons of clutch shots, usually off the bench. Marsh also stepped up during big moments.

The 22-23 team had a former D2 player as point guard and seemed to have weird chemistry after hearing about the Zocko/Pearson situation and the Dibaji Walker situation. Also had Teasett who seemed to be suspended or in the doghouse as often as he played. From the outside it seems like our current group works well together, but it feels like Kerns is still trying to figure out personnel. Threadgill didn’t play a ton last night after starting most of season. Dodd has provided a little more aggression on offense and allowed Tate to move off the ball some. Muttilib is the guy I thought could be really good, but there seems to be a confidence issue. He needs more time to adjust to our system. It’s pretty apparent that the interior defense that Spillers and Abson provided was huge. We miss that, although last night it was open threes from a team who had been shooting 25% from deep that killed us.

[APPdiesel]

Truthfully, such a sad part of all this is some of these guys who transfer out are chasing money to go to a worse basketball situation.

Justin Abson should be having another monster year for us instead he's barely getting any playing time and averaging 1.6 points per game. His minutes, FG%, rebounds, blocks, and points are all down at Georgia and...not that this really matters...ESPN.com's player card for him at Georgia doesn't even has his photo attached. Talk about stud to dud.

On the other hand Tre'von Spillers is averaging just under 10 points and 10 rebounds per game at Wake, relatively on par with his numbers in 2023-24 for us.

Spillers is averaging those numbers against much better competition as well. Harcum is at 11.5 at Murray, Marsh is 14.5 at UNCA, Mantis is at 8.5 at Maine, hitting 43% of his threes. Really, only Abson is not a vital part of his new team.

Regardless, I’d love to see Justin transfer back next year if he’s unhappy at Georgia.

[MrCraig]

Truthfully, such a sad part of all this is some of these guys who transfer out are chasing money to go to a worse basketball situation.

Justin Abson should be having another monster year for us instead he's barely getting any playing time and averaging 1.6 points per game. His minutes, FG%, rebounds, blocks, and points are all down at Georgia and...not that this really matters...ESPN.com's player card for him at Georgia doesn't even has his photo attached. Talk about stud to dud.

On the other hand Tre'von Spillers is averaging just under 10 points and 10 rebounds per game at Wake, relatively on par with his numbers in 2023-24 for us.

Spillers is averaging those numbers against much better competition as well. Harcum is at 11.5 at Murray, Marsh is 14.5 at UNCA, Mantis is at 8.5 at Maine, hitting 43% of his threes. Really, only Abson is not a vital part of his new team.

Regardless, I’d love to see Justin transfer back next year if he’s unhappy at Georgia.

That ain’t gonna happen.
Abson’s stats aren’t great, but his playing time has gone up almost every game, and to me, the team plays better with him on the floor. Today, Ole Miss was beating UGA by 12. Abson was put in and played about ten minutes. During that time they got within 2. They took Abson out and immediately went back down 9 and lost the game.

[Saint3333]

He chances the half court defense so much, against slower tempo teams he’s a nightmare for opponents.

[hapapp]

9 minutes to go but WBB in position to go 3-0 in conference play.

[app97]

That’s a stretch. Money drove Spillers, Abson and Harcum. Period. Marsh was leaving whether there was a coaching change or not. He decided that early. He wants to be the focus and he got that at UNCA. If we had $500,000 to spend on those three , on top of what Tate and Huntley wanted….a million bucks would have gone a long way.

Marsh had 29 pts, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds today in their win against High Point. He’s been putting up big numbers for unca lately. Seems to be a good fit for his style of play.

[311neers]

Truthfully, such a sad part of all this is some of these guys who transfer out are chasing money to go to a worse basketball situation.

Justin Abson should be having another monster year for us instead he's barely getting any playing time and averaging 1.6 points per game. His minutes, FG%, rebounds, blocks, and points are all down at Georgia and...not that this really matters...ESPN.com's player card for him at Georgia doesn't even has his photo attached. Talk about stud to dud.

On the other hand Tre'von Spillers is averaging just under 10 points and 10 rebounds per game at Wake, relatively on par with his numbers in 2023-24 for us.

Spillers is averaging those numbers against much better competition as well. Harcum is at 11.5 at Murray, Marsh is 14.5 at UNCA, Mantis is at 8.5 at Maine, hitting 43% of his threes. Really, only Abson is not a vital part of his new team.

Regardless, I’d love to see Justin transfer back next year if he’s unhappy at Georgia.

That ain’t gonna happen.
Abson’s stats aren’t great, but his playing time has gone up almost every game, and to me, the team plays better with him on the floor. Today, Ole Miss was beating UGA by 12. Abson was put in and played about ten minutes. During that time they got within 2. They took Abson out and immediately went back down 9 and lost the game.

Based off his play v Ole Miss, he should see more minutes tonight......V Kentucky. We will see if he can handle it. While less skilled than the other 2-3 options, he seems to be the least risky. Pair the least risky guy with the 5* PF and he might be okay moving forward.