The Byrd Cage

Posts Tagged ‘Rivalry’

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Speaking With The Enemy

In Game Posts on March 15, 2012 at 8:32 am

We’ve got everything covered here at the Byrd Cage for you leading up to the big game tomorrow.  We even took some time to get some answers from the enemy.  Below are our questions to Georgetown’s blog, The Casual Hoya.

Let’s cut to the chase, what in the world is a Hoya? Really?

CasualHoya: Yes.
BelmontByrdCage: What?
CH: That’s correct.
BBC:  What’s correct?
CH:  What is.
BBC: A Hoya is a what?
CH: Exactly.
BBC: What’s exactly?
CH: What is.
BBC: I don’t know what is.
CH: I don’t know is third base.  A Hoya is what.
BBC: What?
CH: Exactly.
BBC:  Look, let’s say I want to start a blog about a Hoya.  I go down
to my mother’s basement, start up my computer, get on the internet and
start a blog about what?
CH: Exactly.
BBC: I start a blog about exactly?
CH: No, you start a blog about what.
BBC: THAT IS WHAT I AM TRYING TO FIND OUT.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Bruins To The Finals In Another ETSU Nail-biter, 69-61

In Game Posts on March 2, 2012 at 7:22 pm


If you watched tonight’s semi-final, you know that you really watched two games; the first half, and the second half.

In a disturbingly cold defensive effort by the Bruins in the first half and an on fire Adam Sollazo, Belmont gave 8 easy points to him in the lane, and responded by shooting a measly 8-22.  The head hangs were all around the blue and white jerseys, after being pummeled inside time and time again.  Out-rebounded 38-28, the Bruins walked to the locker room in silence and the Bruin faithful nervously shuffled in the seats.

But the second half was a different story. The Bruins came out on fire with an 18-4 run, silencing not only Sollazo’s inside game, but defending the perimeter with pressure and intensity.  And in what might be the major story here, Trevor Noack and Reece Chamberlain both made key three point shots in critical times of the game, showing confidence in their playing time and tough defensive resolve.

With under 10 minutes left, some costly turnovers brought the game from a 12 point lead by the Bruins to within 6.  It was a back-and-forth for here on out.  In an impressive feat of speed and agility,Kerron stole an ETSU inbound, but his pass to Ian Clark ended up a missed three opportunity.  In the customary ETSU-Belmont tournament fever, the game was a nail-biter until the end. ETSU brought it to 5 points with 30 seconds left, but the Bruins’ second half start was too much for an energized and very motivated Buccaneer team that was eventually worn down by a second-half motivated Rick Byrd team.

Ian Clark led the Bruins in points with 19, showing the abdominal injury was nothing worse than what Coach Byrd let on.  Our big men scored 9 points with 10 rebounds combined, and Kerron also put up 12.  All in all, it was the classic nail-biter.  The Bruins did enough to get the win with some huge offensive spurts, but also showed they could come out flat at the beginning.  Belmont will face either Mercer or Florida Gulf Coast tomorrow and will do well to remember what can happen if they think March Madness is a given.

The Championship game starts tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET.

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The Blake Jenkins Effect

In Features on February 9, 2012 at 5:41 pm

Monday night Bruins fans were treated to another magical Belmont performance, led by our usual combination of 3 point shooting (10-25) and strong Center play by the Hedgepeth/Saunders duo (combined for 31 points).  The thought I had leaving the Curb Event Center was, ‘they’re baaaaack.’

As I have mentioned in a previous article, the 2012 Bruins are not the 2011 Bruins.  Granted, this team is still a solid mid-major team, but, we shouldn’t expect last year’s 30-win magic from this squad.  However, I may stand corrected. The Bruins looked the best I have seen them all year and not just because they were playing one of the worst Austin Peay teams in recent memory.

There have been many games this year where the Bruins have had double digit wins, where we at the Byrd Cage have felt uneasy about team chemistry.  The fast paced run and shoot team of Bruins past have been replaced by a team that has shown a lack of confidence with bad passing, poor shot selection, and an overall lack of fire in the belly. So what has changed? Brandon “The Bakery” Baker has been almost non-existent during this five-game win streak, playing an average of 6.8 minutes per game (as compared to his usual 15.2 minutes).

We have mentioned in earlier articles that one of the biggest differences in this squad from last year’s was the inadequate replacement of Jon House and Jordan Campbell.  For most of the season Byrd has tried to make Baker that replacement but his 34% shooting and 3 rebounds per game are hardly the makings of a true starting Power Forward. Enter Blake Jenkins, whose “boomshockalocka” dunk Monday night set the building on fire, has been the x-factor during this win-streak.  He is averaging 21.8 minutes a game (13.9 for the season), 12.6 points per game (compared to his usual 4.7 points per game), and 5 rebounds per game (doubling his season average), during this streak.  Oh ya, he’s also shooting a whopping 64% from the field. If the Bruins are going to win it’s final A-Sun tournament it’s going to be done properly utilizing Blake Jenkins.

Granted, there have been other factors to this win-streak as well, namely Kerron Johnson finally getting his leadership role and shooting percentage under control, but Blake Jenkins has certainly been the unexpected gem that has put Belmont back in the NCAA tournament discussion.

-Steven Lefebvre

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The Deep Cut

Okay, so we have seen Blake Jenkins’ affect on the floor.  We see the intensity, we see the hustle, the dunks, the scoop-ins, the rebounds, the overall defense, and finally, we have seen his impact on the team in wins, (5-0) when he is a starter.  But what does this look like on paper, you ask?  Well, you’ve come to the right place.

What you will see when you look at our Field Goal Percentage (FG%) pre-Blake Jenkins is a team ranked around 220th in the NCAA.  Our 3-Point Percentage is around the 160th mark in the NCAA.

What about when Blake Jenkins starts?

Our FG% jumps to 53.2 and our 3P% jumps to 42.3.

This, by all accounts is huge.

Now, you can say the sampling size is smaller, and the opponents are easier, but a five game sampling with averages of that nature is still very impressive.  It is the reason Belmont is now ranked 20th overall in the NCAA in Field Goal Percentage.  

Blake has proven to be the X-Factor, as Drew Hanlen mentioned in our exclusive interview.  His range of abilities has made opponents rethink the attack, has made them delve deeper into their reserves, and has left us more open on the perimeter.

And, we all know, an open Belmont perimeter is a good thing.

In Blake Jenkins we trust.

-bMm

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The Third Third: Analyzing The Rest Of The Season

In Features on February 8, 2012 at 5:52 pm

I read a quote from Ian Clark once, and I’ll paraphrase it liberally, that basketball is a game of runs. One team will do well for a time then the other will do well for a time. The trick to being successful is in understanding how to capitalize fully on the times your team is doing well, and how to manage effectively when your team is not.

The same strategy can be used in evaluating a season. With six games left in Belmont’s regular season, it appears that the Bruins have righted the ship from some mid-season struggles and are poised to finish the season on a winning streak heading into the conference tournament. However, not every run in Belmont’s season has been so rosy.

Let’s look back at the season, breaking it down into thirds. Belmont has 31 games on its regular season schedule so I’ll break it down to 10-10-11.

The first third included Belmont’s three toughest opponents (Duke, Memphis & MTSU) as well as the current ASun front-runner Mercer. From November 11th through December 15th Belmont was 7-3, splitting a series with MTSU (both on the road) and losing to then-#6 ranked Duke and then-#10 ranked Memphis in the first two games of the season. In my opinion, Belmont played its best basketball in the first ten games highlighted by wins over Middle and Mercer and an average margin of victory of 16 points in the season’s first seven wins.

 The second third of the season is where things began to break down. From a December 17th loss to Miami (OH) to an inexplicable loss to South Carolina Upstate on January 21st, Belmont managed a 6-4 record. On the surface, this doesn’t seem that bad as compared to the record in the first third of the season, however, the four losses, including Marshall and Lipscomb, came at the hands of much worse teams.  But during this stretch, Belmont played 6 games away. It’s also important to note that both Christmas and New Year’s occurred during the second third. The highlights of this portion of the season would be a win at Austin Peay, a soon-to-be OVC rival, and a win at home against Marshall, setting the series back to 1-1.

Ultimately, the middle-10 games have served to dictate the overall opinion of Belmont’s season so far. But five games into the final eleven game stretch, the Bruins may well be on the way to righting the ship. With five straight victories over ETSU (Belmont’s favorite road venue), Jacksonville, UNF, Lipscomb and Austin Peay Belmont goes into its second to last road trip of the season with an aim of reminding the Atlantic Sun why its crew has won four of the last six conference championships and why it deserves to jump to the OVC next season. I look at the six games, in order of importance as follows:

  1. Mercer (Feb 25) – The final game of the season in the same venue as the ASun tournament against the current conference leader. If Belmont and Mercer are still tied for the lead at this point, it could go a long way in determining how Belmont’s ASun tenure will be remembered.
  2. ETSU (Feb 18) – The Bucs always play tough in Nashville and a loss to ETSU would set Belmont way back.
  3. Upstate (Feb 20) – Another must win. Belmont can’t lose twice to any ASun opponent and expect to win the tournament.
  4. Stetson (Feb 13) – We already noted that Stetson is Belmont 2.0. The Bruins handled the Hatters once this season but still can’t sleep on the rematch.
  5. FGCU (Feb 11) – Should be a walk-thru game, but then again, Upstate should have been as well.
  6. Kennesaw (Feb 23) – The poor owls of Kennesaw. I expected this team to be better this year. Belmont should win easily.

Let’s also quickly look at Mercer’s remaining five games in order to try and ascertain where they might be on Feb 25. Mercer beat 1Kennesaw in Macon by 30, beat 2Jacksonville and 3UNF by 10 and 11, respectively, beat 4Lipscomb in Nashville by 7 and lost to 5Belmont in the Curb by 4.

If past performance indicates future performance, Mercer should wrap up 4-1. But this is the ASun we’re talking about. Mercer will have to be ready for Lipscomb – the Bison(s?) may decide to play well that day. The Bears should also watch out for Jacksonville and UNF. Both of those teams are improving greatly and judging from Belmont’s past, it’s tough to win in Florida late in the season.

-Matt Sherrill

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Agree?  Disagree?  Leave it in the comments for a good old-fashioned, Oxford-style debate.

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The Battle of the Boulevard: The Last A-Sun Battle

In Game Posts on February 3, 2012 at 6:03 pm

You may have seen this guy’s awful dunk on the Byrd Cage Facebook page or even here.  I guess it doesn’t even count as a dunk, because it didn’t go in, but defining Jordan Burgason on that one clip alone is simply not fair, I hate to say.

Now understand this, I hate Lipscomb.  As far as journalistic integrity goes, I post the truth- but you need to understand that the truth is going to be a bit biased here.  This fact is unavoidable.  I love the Bruins and I hate the Bisons.

All that being said, Jordan Burgason needs to be talked about.  He is currently ranked fourth in the entire NCAA in 3-Point Field Goal % Per Game.  He also averages 16.9 points per game.

So, it isn’t like he is just playing a few minutes and shoots a few threes.  The guy is clutch, and the fact that we held to him four attempts (making two)  is an admirable goal in and of itself.

So what went wrong last time?

PART ONE: LOSING AT HOME

Belmont’s defense allowed double-digit points from every starter and one bench player against Lipscomb on January 6 putting together a total of 85 points against us in total.  We have only allowed three other teams to score 80 points or more against us this year, and those teams were; Memphis,  MTSU, and Marshall.  We even kept Duke below 80.

So what was the deal with Lipscomb?  That always seems to be the question.  Drew Hanlen, in our exclusive Byrd Cage interview, even said the same thing- and he didn’t have an answer.  But to not look at last game as two separate halves drastically changes the story.

In the first half, Belmont and Lipscomb were evenly matched.  Ian Clark had 14 by halftime, Drew Hanlen and Clark were a combined 6-9 from the three, and our bench even had five steals.  We walked into the locker room at half-time up, 39-36, feeling hopeful about the outcome of the game.  But things were going in for Lipscomb as well.  Shooting over 50%, the Bisons obviously didn’t feel too bad about their position coming back out.

This is where things changed.

J.J. Mann made 1 out of 7 three-pointers.  Kerron missed all four of his three-point attempts.  In the second half we shot 5-19 at the 3 point arc.  A miserable 26.3%.  Of course they out-rebounded us in the second half.  Our post players scored 7 total, with only 6 total rebounds.

We fell apart.  They made 15 of 16 free throws.

I felt sick.

Lipscomb took the game 85-74 and proceeded to stand in the middle of our court in a huddle after the game.

“Get off the floor!” some yelled.  ”Isn’t it curfew?” others screamed.  Others stood silently, holding up 4 fingers.  You may have won the battle, but we always win the war Bruin fans seemed to pronounce without words.

Defeat at home, in the worst way.

But now it is February, after-all, the Bruins favorite time of the year.

Tonight we will come in swinging.

PART TWO: THE THREE PART COMBO FOR WINNING AT ALLEN ARENA

1.  Blake Jenkins.  Blake has steadily risen to the top of the Bruins lineup, proving he can score below and stand tall as a strong arm defender in both the passing and shooting lanes.  Jenkins’ success tonight will be a deciding factor in tonight’s game.

2.  Controlling the ball.  Drew Hanlen leads the tempo of the game in explosive bursts.  His expert footwork, skilled ball-handling, speed, and minimal turnovers give Belmont the edge in the A-Sun when it comes to controlling games.  But I would like to see what the Bruins can look like as a controlled, composed, and in-charge squad at the end of games.  I haven’t seen that this year.  Hanlen’s last minute lob down the court at the end of their last game against UNF gave Hanlen an ear-full from Coach Byrd when we were up and needed to control the clock.  We’ll need to be focused down to the last-minute of tonight’s game with a quiet confidence to win at Allen Arena.

3.  Shutting Down Jordan Burgason.  The man has averaged 21.5 points a game since the first meeting with Belmont.  He is, frankly stated, on fire and this must be squelched.  While their team has only gone .500 since our last meeting, their inconsistency as a team cannot be counted upon at Allen Arena tonight.  Hands must be in Burgason’s face during every shot attempt.  An open Burgason equals a losing Belmont squad.

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Now, if you will, a moment of silence for the last A-Sun conference rivalry game between these historic squads.

Tip-Off is at Allen Arena tonight at 6.   Tickets may still be available here

-Brett McReynolds

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