Apologies, travel day for me mixed with real life job makes this an abbreviated preview.
The Miami Heat are currently shooting 37.4% from three point range this year.
Dragon opponents in the last three games have hit 43.6% from three.
The University of North Carolina Wilmington is 351's in three point percentage in NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball.
This game is just what the doctor ordered.
Recently documented struggles with the Dragon zone have been part of the problem for the Dragons suddenly porous defense. If Bruiser is serious about playing zone and wants to fix it prior to March, that needs to start with this game. Go out and play it for forty minutes. There is not a single team in Division I that should be worse against a zone. What better place to learn then?
The good news is that while the defense is off, the offense is clicking along just fine. Noted in my last post is the Dragon's three game average of 1.11 points per possession. Until this 1-2 stretch, the Dragons had been 50-3 in the last 6 years when they put up those kind of points. Keith Rendleman ain't walking thru that door for the Dub. Brett Blizzard and his mom (whose biggest fan is a member of the Athletics Dept staff) isn't walking through that door. Nope, Freddie Jackson is walking through that door, and the Dragons should lay out the red carpet for him. Senior Tanner Milson has taken a step back as well, and Chris Dixon has completely lost his deep ball that made him such a threat last year.
This is a game for the Dragons to fly south, get warm, and keep up the offensive efforts that they have been showing of late. Coming off of the rough home loss to Towson the focus should be on their next game, which will keep the eyes off of the upcoming quick turnaround home contest vs now CAA favorite Delaware. Look for Chris Fouch to spend less then 40 minutes out there and keepup the groove he's been in (39% from deep the last three games) and for Major Canady and Rodney Williams to continue to get long minutes to get their feet wet. This is a chance to get right, and the Dragons need to use it.
The blog didn't forget: Happy Birthday to Philadelphia's Frantz Massenat and Benjamin Franklin. They're electric!
Prediction: Drexel 70, UNCW 56
Vegas Line: Drexel -4
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