[TDDance234]

Let's forget the nasty losses at the BYU classic and Florida and move on to Big South play as we open up on the road against UNC-Ashville. We need a few guys to really stepup and get this monkey off our back, most specifically, Alex McLean.

Anyway, we haven't had a Fire Dunton thread in a long time, let's keep it that way.

[jmdickens]

I was thinking the same thing

[thepostman]

I know the last 2 games looked bad, but they played decent against Seton Hall and I think they will finally get a road win...I know a lot of people are saying they will lose this game, but I just can't seem them losing this game....

[jmdickens]

I am pretty sure we will win.....Asheville is terrible.....I might be a hater, but it is hard to believe we will lose to them. It would be our worse loss this season

[TDDance234]

UNCA is coming in at 4-10, with 5 straight losses.

The majority of their damage is done on the wing with their top two leading scorers are gaurds. They do have the two 7'footers, Kenny George and CJ Walker, both of whom have been a non-factor. It's going to be a tough matchup for us, hopefully Alex can use his quickness to get some easy baskets beating them down the floor.

If our wing guys, Blair/Brew/Smith can shut down the perimeter, this should be a win for us and we'll snap our streaks -- both losing and on the road.

[jmdickens]

I think it is more centered around us outscoring those guys....We HELD Caleb Green to 19 points....we have to score against other people and not just try to shut people down. Alex also needs to have 18 and 10 to help us out

[WWJFD]

One of the staff told me that LU needs to run run run, use their athleticism to beat UNCA

[jmdickens]

well, we might be athetic; however that scheme is designed for a different type of team. Can our team play full court press for a majority of the game and still rebound and get on the fast break??? This level of college basketball has a different dimension when it comes to that philosophy....and only a few teams can succeed in doing that

[Fumblerooskies]

First off, there is no hyphen in UNCA. Secondly, there are two "e's" in Asheville.

This is possibly one of Eddie's weaker looking teams. They have the transfer that can score and Garland is back, though. That being said...
...The Justice Center (SuperJon, can you name WHO the JC is named in honor of?) is a tough place for visitors, but their students won't be back, either.

[bigsmooth]

what a dump the justice center is, but indeed a tough place to play. i was encouraged by out first two games on the roadie, the ORU game a big disappointment, and florida....well they are the national champs, and we hedl our own, and i was very enouraged by smitty's play. we need to get this road win and get that monkey off our back!

[LUconn]

the whole city is a dump, with few bright spots. The mountains are pretty though. UNCA is just not good. If we want any chance at getting a home game in the tournament, we've got to win a few road games at least and this is our best shot. We will win, because we have to.

[Hold My Own]

On the road is tough against anyone with any record...this would be a good win

[LUconn]

so do you think any road game from here on out would be a good win? And does that mean that any loss at home would be a bad loss? Afterall, the other team is on the road.

[jcmanson]

This would be a great way to get off to a good start in conference. However, if we were to lose it could really cause us to lose any confidence we had. IMO, this game is very critical.

[PAmedic]

so do you think any road game from here on out would be a good win? And does that mean that any loss at home would be a bad loss? Afterall, the other team is on the road.

YES

[Chris Lang]

Road wins, especially in conference, aren't easy to come by. Liberty has lost 19 straight on the road and got run off the floor last year in Asheville. The only home loss for LU that would be acceptable, in my estimation, is to Winthrop. There are a handful of "winnable" road games on the schedule in league, and UNCA fits into that category. (I'd say Radford, CSU and VMI also fit there.)

I'm making the long down-and-back tomorrow for this game. Better get my sleep tonight ...

FYI - We'll have a full-page look at the Big South in Saturday's fishwrap, for those of you in town. We'll also have a full-page ACC conference season preview in there as well.

[givemethemic]

Cheap plug, you coming to the game tonight?

[Chris Lang]

Yup

[SuperJon]

(SuperJon, can you name WHO the JC is named in honor of?)

If you asked me that this time last year then I would've been able to answer you. Now I have no clue. I haven't been to Asheville since we went to the Biltmore House in 10th grade.

[paradox]

One of the staff told me that LU needs to run run run, use their athleticism to beat UNCA

I love this strategy for this game and for the remainder of the season: Go up-tempo with Brew-Blair-Smith-Hubbard-McLean. And sub: Jenkins-Baker-Porter-Holland.

[Fumblerooskies]

(SuperJon, can you name WHO the JC is named in honor of?)

If you asked me that this time last year then I would've been able to answer you. Now I have no clue. I haven't been to Asheville since we went to the Biltmore House in 10th grade.

Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice. One of the all-time great football players at Carolina...
...finished 2nd one year in the Heisman...
...is from Asheville.

[Stevev]

If we loose to these guys I think we can restart the ole "Fire Dunton" thread. Ashville is terrible!

[Sly Fox]

OK, all the Choo Choo and Biltmore talk was fascinating. But here's a little preview of tonight's game:


University of North Carolina-Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina

Audio Stream

Live Stats

Big South Video Stream - Costs $3.99



Official UNCA Site

UNC Asheville (4-10) has been very successful in Big South Conference openers under head coach Eddie Biedenbach. The Bulldogs are 9-1 in league lid-lifters after downing Radford on the road last season, 87-80.

http://uncabulldogs.cstv.com/sports/m-b ... 07aaa.html

The Bulldogs only legitimate victory was at Furman back on December 2nd. But they have faced some extremely tough teams on the road this year including UVa, Charlotte, UNC, South Carolina and Louisville. So they are battle-tested while perhaps low in confidence from all the losing (sound familiar?).


#10 Bryan Smithson
6' 0" Junior Guard
Leads Bulldogs with 15.3 Average after trasferring from Middle Tennessee State



#2 K.J. Garland
6' 1" Junior Guard
Averaging 10.9 Points & Leads Team with 40 Assists



#45 Kenny George
7' 6" Sophomore Center
Should be making home debut
Averaging 4.3 Points & 3.1 Rebounds

[bigsmooth]

would a moderator please fix the spelling of ASHEVILLE??

[Realist]

Bryan Smithson is white? I don't know why, but I didn't think he was.