[Sly Fox]

Delaware State University
Dover, Delaware


DSU Hoops Official Site



Stan Waterman
1st Season as DSU Head Coach


2021-2022 Schedule/Results

NOV 09 - CAIRN ................................................... W 80-41
NOV 12 - SALISBURY ............................................ L 78-91
NOV 14 - @ RIDER ................................................ L 53-63
NOV 16 - REGENT ................................................. W 84-30
NOV 20 - NORTH CAROLINA-WILMINGTON .......... L 63-67
NOV 27 - @ LIU-BROOKLYN .................................. L 65-99
DEC 02 - DELAWARE .............................................. L 48-59
DEC 04 - @ LONGWOOD ........................................ 3:00 PM
DEC 06 - @ LIBERTY .............................................. 7:00 PM


Key Player


#23 Myles Carter
6' 1" 190 lbs Senior Guard
Thru 7 Games: Averaging 16.9 Pts, 7.0 Rebs & 1.2 Assists + 8-of-30 (26.7%) on 3-Pt Attempts + 84.2 FT%

[olldflame]

I spent some time looking at our stats for the year to date, and discovered some things I found interesting. I understanding some may beg to differ, and I get it that not everyone is a stats geek like me. I really like the way they have the stats now with everything on a one page PDF spreadsheet:
https://www.liberty.edu/flames/wp-conte ... -Stats.pdf

I won't say much about Darius, because it's obvious his offensive efficiency has suffered due to the focus opponents place on him, and that has in fact benefitted his teammates.

Keegan McDowell is among the nations leaders in true shooting %, and his hitting almost half of his 3s. He has been the player who has benefitted most from opponents McGheemania.

While Shiloh has been terrific the last couple of games, prior to that his offense was pretty woeful. He also has an assist/turnover ratio of 2/10. Of course, his strong point is on the defensive end, and that is why he needs to be on the court, even if he cannot continue putting up those recent offensive numbers.

Now we get to a player who for some reason unknown to me is underappreciated, but with the *possible* exception of Keegan has been our most effecient player both scoring and rebounding. Forget looking at per minute numbers, where he is off the charts. Playing only 13 min/gm, Blake Preston is leading the team or among the leaders in multiple categories:

5.1 rebounds/gm
.667 shooting %
1.000 3pt % (Yeah, I know it's just 1-1)
4th in scoring at 6.4 ppg, despite the low minutes.
7/4 assist/turnover. (*a post player with a plus a/t is RARE) 2nd on the team, and the leader is not a starter, but Isaiah Warfield, who is 8/1. (More about him later.)
He is not the defender Shiloh is overall, but will be invaluable if we play teams with a big post presence. He deserves more minutes, and Ritchie said as much after Thursday's game. I really hate to say where I think those minutes should come from.

Isaih Warfield has only taken 6 shots all year (3-6) but he has 8 assists to just 1 TO, and is second to Darius in steals with 8. That's 8 possessions gained and only 1 given up while he is on the court. Add to that the infectious energy he brings every time he steps on the floor, and he has made an impact way beyonf the scoreboard

On the negative side:

Dobbs has been awful. Poor shooting and negative assist/turnover as a PG
Jackson is non-existent. He has not been the same player since his bout with mono last year.

Now we come to Kyle Rode.
I sooooooooooooooo badly want Kyle to succeed. Despite being a mediocre athlete, he has a really versitle skill set, and is capable of so much more than he has shown this year. Add to that the fact that he is an elite leader and role model, and I so much want him to produce................... but.

4.4 ppg in 28 min
35% shooting overall
29% from 3
Leads team in assists, but is also 2nd in TO
4 rpg (less than 6'3" Venzant in way more minutes.
Add to that the fact that he is not an elite defender, and the bottom line is, I think until he starts producing, some of Kyle's minutes need to go to Preston.

[Cider Jim]

[The] bottom line is, I think until he starts producing, some of Kyle's minutes need to go to Preston.

Couldn't agree more, olldflame, but do you play Shiloh and Preston at the same time?

[olldflame]

[The] bottom line is, I think until he starts producing, some of Kyle's minutes need to go to Preston.

Couldn't agree more, olldflame, but do you play Shiloh and Preston at the same time?

Sometimes. Shiloh can guard 4 positions, so it would present no problem on defense (probably an improvement). Keegan and Venzant would need to take on more of a role ball handling and playmaking.

[paradox]

This is essentially a one-guard offense, especially going against aggressive man D. Most of the time, four guys outside the arc, optimizing spacing for Darius. In general, Princeton-style. Kinda like the Darius variation of the Princeton motion. He's creating and attacking within this structure. It played out well the other night. Guys are really buying-in team-wise. Seems like they are working hard and having fun. It's great to see. Hopefully, it's sustainable.

[olldflame]

The Hornets start a 7'3" center. Looking at his numbers he is not much of a scoring threat, but does pull down a healthy 7.4 boards. The rest of the lineup is on the small side. Might be the perfect opportunity to try Preston and Shiloh together.

[olldflame]

Blake and Shiloh in the starting lineup. Imagine that.

[aredd33]

My goodness Brody Peebles…
Looks like a pretty good crowd tonight too.

[LU Grad 11]

Flame still hot! These freshmen are pretty good at basketball. As you can clearly see, we don't have to be the McGhee show on offense.

[stokesjokes]

Maybe the Liberty Arena was a good idea

[Sly Fox]

[LU Grad 11]

Good team win! Go Flames! This is how we should look against inferior competition. Every player got a chance to score. Really impressed with Abii (11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers). Am I blind, or does Abii look better than Preston on both ends?

[stokesjokes]

Preston plays within himself and doesn’t make mistakes, but Abii’s ceiling is twice as high. He needs to be more consistent and less sloppy, but when he figures it out he’s going to be a big deal.

[LU Grad 11]

4 turnovers and 0 assists for Preston.

[PAmedic]

Preston plays within himself and doesn’t make mistakes, but Abii’s ceiling is twice as high. He needs to be more consistent and less sloppy, but when he figures it out he’s going to be a big deal.

Abii and Venzant have me pumped for this team’s future

Really really like these two kids

[stokesjokes]

Don’t forget Peebles, 18 pts in the first half tonight.

[LU Grad 11]

DJ with 6 assists and 0 turnovers.

[olldflame]

Preston plays within himself and doesn’t make mistakes, but Abii’s ceiling is twice as high. He needs to be more consistent and less sloppy, but when he figures it out he’s going to be a big deal.

I think that's a good assessment, but would add that I don't think Abii will ever be quite as good a rebounder as Blake. His rebounds per minute are ridiculous.

[olldflame]

Hard to find fault with a performance like that, but a couple of things. They shot 10-21 from 3. I didn't have video, so I don't know if they were just making tough, contested shots, but generally that's not good. Even though we outrebounded them by a bunch overall, they had 11 offensive boards. I have a feeling that will come up in the next practice. Oh yeah, Shiloh added to his growing collection of missed dunks.

[ballcoach15]

Good to see Abii get some minutes, he might be 2nd best player on team

[flamehunter]

Hard to find fault with a performance like that, but a couple of things. They shot 10-21 from 3. I didn't have video, so I don't know if they were just making tough, contested shots, but generally that's not good. Even though we outrebounded them by a bunch overall, they had 11 offensive boards. I have a feeling that will come up in the next practice. Oh yeah, Shiloh added to his growing collection of missed dunks.

The missed dunk was on a fast break where he got the ball kind of late and really didn't have a good run-up to the hoop. He should have just laid it in rather than attempt the dunk. On the plus side, he was 6-6 from the line. Oh, and their 7-3 center also missed a dunk which was far more embarrassing IMO.
The 3's were a mix, some open a few contested. I'm impressed with the fact that we held them to 9-37 from inside the arc.

[olldflame]

Hard to find fault with a performance like that, but a couple of things. They shot 10-21 from 3. I didn't have video, so I don't know if they were just making tough, contested shots, but generally that's not good. Even though we outrebounded them by a bunch overall, they had 11 offensive boards. I have a feeling that will come up in the next practice. Oh yeah, Shiloh added to his growing collection of missed dunks.

The missed dunk was on a fast break where he got the ball kind of late and really didn't have a good run-up to the hoop. He should have just laid it in rather than attempt the dunk. On the plus side, he was 6-6 from the line. Oh, and their 7-3 center also missed a dunk which was far more embarrassing IMO.
The 3's were a mix, some open a few contested. I'm impressed with the fact that we held them to 9-37 from inside the arc.

That last figure is extremely impressive, and that is the strength of the pack line defense. Every shot inside the arc is highly contested. Yeah, it was great to see Shiloh make his FT's. As far as his missed dunks are concerned, I don't think I mentioned his first 2 of the year. Stuff (or in this case non-stuff) happens. I think this is his 5th of the year. Doesn't hurt in a blowout, but in a close game it's something that can be a huge momentum changer.

[paradox]

Nice to see Ritchie switch gears a little here, and open up his options offensively.

Not much of a stats guy personally, but there is one worth paying attention to IMO. It's mostly an NBA thing. But it still holds as a metric for shooting performance in NCAA. The 50-40-90 Club. Matt Hildebrand is the only Flame who holds this distinction. The season is early, but Keegan McDowell is on pace. Not sure of the last LU player to flirt with this.

[thepostman]

One thing I always appreciate about RM lead teams, they almost always get better as the season goes on. I didn't expect it to improve this much. The level of competition is part of it of course, but it is nice to see.

On a side note, I guess the attendance last night (2,634) was a good indication as to why a smaller arena was the way to go. I didn't even realize the crowd was so small when watching it last night.

[ballcoach15]

2634 for attendance is pitiful.