College of Charleston (CAA Tourney) - Postgame

Final:  Charleston 56, Drexel 48
Player of the Game:  Freddie Wilson
Key to the game:  They were done
Next Game:  Friday November 13, 2015, Location TBA

There's only one way that this can start:  They got it right.

Some view these pages as a fan taking an opportunity to bash the team and the program.  They see the post all season on the four guard, the missed substitutions or the flat out failures, like the lack of adjustments from the first Hofstra debacle to the second.  They see the tweets about how empty the DAC VIP area is, and they feel my frustration when the building feels flatter than pita bread.  They ignore the recognition that is posted here when things are made right, when the team clicks, and when Tavon catches fire.  That's ok.  Part of that is my frustration as a fan and a writer showing through and creating a tone, and that's on me.  The larger part of it is that the program - all parts of it - simply hasn't been very good since this blog started in the fall of 2013.

The purpose of that last paragraph was to ensure no one misses this one: The coaches got it right in Baltimore.

The offense ran through the post.  Rodney Williams received a ton of touches, well beyond what the four field goal attempts noted in the box score insinuates.  It wasn't the Charleston defense that stopped the Dragons when the ball was in the post, it was more the Dragons themselves.  Rodney Williams' four turnovers and 50% free throw shooting were a disappointment and given the guards heavy legs, it was a very bad time for Drexel's best forward to have a bad game.  When the Dragons twitter account and Bruiser himself were talking about the guards fatigue in the first half of the game, coming off of a weeks rest, you knew the cavalry wasn't coming for the Drexel forwards.  So did the coaching staff, who continued to challenge Charleston in the post, running isolation play after isolation play for Rodney & Co in the second half.

The defensive game plan wasn't bad either.  Until the end of game foul shots, Charleston was held under a point per possession.  The pace of the game was in Drexel's favor.  But with Charleston crushing Drexel on the boards (they grabbed the offensive board on an alarming 42% of their shots) once again it was the frontcourt that let down the Drexel staff.  Rebounding  specialist Tyshawn Myles looked like he could help stem the tide, but with bogus fouls called on him for his 3rd and 4th fouls, the refs kept him out of the game just as much as Bru did,  When Austin Williams stepped in to help out, he proved again that he needs to further develop before he will be an effective part of this team.

With the forwards letting down the exhausted guards, maybe the calls for the four guard this year weren't warranted.  More likely, changing the entire offensive system in March with a team that can't practice to install it was the uphill battle that couldn't be overcome.  It sure seems the correct call to make, but fans have to wish it had been made well before March, so the team would have been ready to play a hard nosed defense, knock you around on the blocks style of game.  A Bruiser style of game.  But it was refreshing to see the return of a once great defense, something that will hopefully carry forward.

And so begins an off-season with more questions than answers.  The Dragons could return Bru and the whole team less Freddie and Sooren.  Less likely, but possible, we will see some program altering changes.  Come back here for thoughts along the way, and analysis whenever news hits the wire.

Thanks to all of you who have read all season long, your doing that allows me to continue enjoying this.  Our record is 0-0 again now.  Let's go Drexel.