May as well kick this off, as the madness starts Tuesday.
My alma mater's Big South is one of the tournaments that starts on 3/3. My Winthrop Eagles started off 12-0 in conference, but faltered down the stretch, going 3-3 in their last six games. As a result, Radford (shout out to Javonte Green) is the #1 seed and will host the quarters and semis. Hopefully somebody else beats them and Winthrop makes the final, because the highest remaining seed will host the championship game. As the #2 seed, Winthrop can only host if Radford loses.
Winthrop had their best regular season victory in school history earlier in the year, winning on the road at St. Mary's way back in November. The Eagles go a legit 9-10 deep, have a ton of youth (only one Senior), and generally play a fast-paced, small-ball, fun brand of basketball.
Probable Big South Freshman of the Year D.J. Burns can get run off the court, and Winthrop's offense can slow down a bit too much when he's in the lineup, but the transfer from Tennessee can also look like a Baby Z-Bo at times. So, it's a trade-off, and they sometimes pick their spots with him. He can be a problem for opponents. If he can get in better shape and overcome his maturity issues going into next season (the Z-Bo comparison doesn't end on the court), he's got some real potential to be a force in this conference.
Of course, Radford has a guy who is already a force in the Big South, Carlik Jones, and are the complete opposite of Winthrop in terms of experience. Radford is one of the oldest teams in the country and are probably the deserved favorites. As Winthrop was going 12-0, Radford just kept winning too. Then they took out Winthrop on road (nearly blowing a huge second-half lead), which started the Eagles' tailspin.
Gardner-Webb, last year's surprise conference tournament champion, is a dark horse who is capable of making another run this season. G-W went 2-2 against Winthrop and Radford, while the rest of the Big South went 4-28. The two losses were by a combined 7 points, with the loss to Winthrop coming in triple OT, after some miraculous shots by the Eagles. It's probably going to be either Winthrop or Radford who wins this thing, but if there is a cinderella, it's probably Gardner-Webb.
My alma mater's Big South is one of the tournaments that starts on 3/3. My Winthrop Eagles started off 12-0 in conference, but faltered down the stretch, going 3-3 in their last six games. As a result, Radford (shout out to Javonte Green) is the #1 seed and will host the quarters and semis. Hopefully somebody else beats them and Winthrop makes the final, because the highest remaining seed will host the championship game. As the #2 seed, Winthrop can only host if Radford loses.
Winthrop had their best regular season victory in school history earlier in the year, winning on the road at St. Mary's way back in November. The Eagles go a legit 9-10 deep, have a ton of youth (only one Senior), and generally play a fast-paced, small-ball, fun brand of basketball.
Probable Big South Freshman of the Year D.J. Burns can get run off the court, and Winthrop's offense can slow down a bit too much when he's in the lineup, but the transfer from Tennessee can also look like a Baby Z-Bo at times. So, it's a trade-off, and they sometimes pick their spots with him. He can be a problem for opponents. If he can get in better shape and overcome his maturity issues going into next season (the Z-Bo comparison doesn't end on the court), he's got some real potential to be a force in this conference.
Of course, Radford has a guy who is already a force in the Big South, Carlik Jones, and are the complete opposite of Winthrop in terms of experience. Radford is one of the oldest teams in the country and are probably the deserved favorites. As Winthrop was going 12-0, Radford just kept winning too. Then they took out Winthrop on road (nearly blowing a huge second-half lead), which started the Eagles' tailspin.
Gardner-Webb, last year's surprise conference tournament champion, is a dark horse who is capable of making another run this season. G-W went 2-2 against Winthrop and Radford, while the rest of the Big South went 4-28. The two losses were by a combined 7 points, with the loss to Winthrop coming in triple OT, after some miraculous shots by the Eagles. It's probably going to be either Winthrop or Radford who wins this thing, but if there is a cinderella, it's probably Gardner-Webb.
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