Samford Preview

BG is playing Samford in Men's Basketball tomorrow.  If you don't know very much about Samford--like me--here are some basic facts.  First, it is located outside Birmingham, AL.  They are the Bulldogs and the University was founded in 1841, which is, you know, a really long time ago.  They have about 2,800 undergraduates, but a number of graduates schools.  Famous graduates include Bobby Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, Tony Hale, and Deidre Downs who was Miss American 2005.  Pictured at right, she is now a physician.

They were 11-19 last season, which got their 15 year coach fired.  Their new Coach, Bernie Seltzer, was an assistant for Tom Crean at Indiana for six seasons.

Samford is have a rough start to their season.  They play in the North Division of the Southern Conference, where they were picked to finish 4th out of 6.  College Basketball Prospectus had them 8th overall in SoCon.

They are 2-8, with one of those wins being a non-D1 win.  Their sole D1 win is over Georgia Southern by 9 at home.  They lost to Kentucky, Memphis and Louisville, but have some less attractive losses against Austin Peay, Alcorn State, Toledo, and Texas Arlington.

Based on early RPI, they have played the #247 schedule with an RPI of 329.

They are struggling to score the ball, getting over 59.8 PPG.  That is .93 points per possession on a relatively slow paced game, though nothing like what we saw from Wright State.  Their effective FG% is 47%, which is 232nd in D1.  They like to shoot a laaaaaaht of 3s...they are 13th in the country in that category, though they are shooting 31% which is not good.

They turn the ball over on 22% of their possessions, which is not good and are also not effective on the offensive boards, getting only about 27% of the available shots.  They are 206th in D1 in terms of the rate they get to the line but shoot 63.8% which puts them in the 280s rank wise.

Sometimes you see a team that struggles on offense but is a defensive specialist.  They are giving up 69.8 per game, which is slightly inflated by the Kentucky and Louisville games, but their schedule hasn't been that tough.  Remembering the slightly slow pace, which is 1.09 points per possession, which is not very good.

They allow an effective FG% of 51.6% and force turnovers on 19.6% of their possessions, both of which are about what you'd expect for a team giving up 70 a game.  They are among the 20 worst teams in the country at defending the offensive boards and give up a slightly above average rate of free throws.

NCAA Basketball

Their best player is a FR, 6'8" Tim Williams.  He is scoring 15 PPG, shooting 54% and getting 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, which are eye popping numbers for anyone, much less a FR.  He's from Chicago (where he attended the same HS as Freddie Barnes) and had a huge 2-spot career.  He originally was committed to FIU, but when "Coach" Thomas was fired, he switched to Samford.  Frankly, his numbers at Samford are better than his HS numbers.

Raijon Kelly (6'4") is also scoring 13.5 PPG and is a 40% shooter from 3 and averages 3.2 assists over 35 turnovers.  Freshman Clide Greffrard Jr, also a FR, is shooting 46% from beyond the arc.  They have a couple other guys with a lot of 3-FG attempts who don't actually make very many.

So, they have some weapons.  For the second straight game, BG plays a team with no seniors.  Their roster includes 9 FR and SO.

On our floor, this is a game you'd like to think BG will win and they probably should.  Having said that, I don't think BG is in a position to have any sure wins, and for that reason, I'll keep my fingers crossed.  We'll know we're in trouble if the Bulldogs are scoring with ease, but BG should be able to win on both ends of the floor.