Game 2: Georgia Southern

Tipoff: Thursday, 7PM @ Toso
TV: WCCNetwork link: https://wccsports.com/watch/?sid=493901
Line: Broncos -8 and 77% win probability on Torvik; 87% win probability on ESPN.

Georgia Southern: 13-16 last season. Lost to San Jose State 63-48 tonight. Starters vs. SJSU:

  • 6-8 Forward - Johnny McFatten (injured last season)
  • 6-7 Forward - Andrei Savrasov (11pts, 5 rebs)
  • 6-2 Guard - Tai Strickland (Temple transfer, 8.4pts, 2.5rebs)
  • 6-1 Guard - Jalen Finch (Jacksonville St transfer, 9pt, 4assists, 3 rebs)
  • 6-7 Wing - Kaden Archie (7.6pts, 2.4rebs, played at UTEP earlier in career).
    All of the above are 4th or 5th year players so no shortage of experience. Savrasov led them in the SJSU game with 14pts and 6 rebounds.

Last season GaSouthern played a slower pace (240th in tempo) and were OK on D (middle of pack in the country) but poor on O…all in all, appear to be a grinder, ugly-it-up style of play…think Pacific under Stoudamire. Will be important for the Broncos to rebound at the defensive end and get out and run and get some fast break buckets; play at faster tempo that fits Stewart, Podz, Marshall. And not a very big Georgia Southern team so hopefully we beat them on the glass and maybe get a little post scoring from Braun/Bediako and/or their backups when matchups are favorable.

For the Broncos, hoping to see a more cohesive half court offense and improved overall D. As mentioned in other threads I still see the rotation/roles/PT as being unsettled. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a different starting lineup or different initial subs off the bench (ie- Tongue instead of Holt as 1st big off the bench).

Prediction: Broncos 74-59

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Current line: Broncos -12.

PODZIEMSKI. Just wow.

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55 points in 60 minutes to start his career. Who’s been our last good lefty?

I’m at the game. Decent crowd for a Thursday night with the quality of opponent.

Sendek seems to be giving the whole squad some run tonight. Gotta see some substantial offense from players other than Podz, though, especially the big men.

Re big men: tillie seems to put himself in the right spots but needs to hold onto the ball and finish strong

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Not sure… but I do know the single game record is Bud Ogden for 55 at Pepperdine. Tho Foster and Brownridge could really score, Pods seems capable of getting really, really hot. I’m sure there might be some really cold mixed in there too. But this is fun to watch.

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Game Note: Ensminger dealing with a right arm injury (doesn’t sound serious) so that could be another exciting piece we see this year.

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Will be interesting if he’ll be a potential redshirt if it lingers… we’re already pretty deep at guard even with Giordans injury

From the transfer portal, no less. :wink:

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Two bad shooting nights in a row for Justice. With some mean reversion, Broncos should average 80+.

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Agree on Justice…1/19 shooting in his 1st two games. Need to get him untracked; the secret is out on Podz, teams will scheme to stop him and will need others to step up.

A little surprised that Tongue barely played after playing well on Monday.

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Yes. Very FRUSTRATING to watch! He brings energy, toughness and disrupts things for our opponents and got three rotations only. Why not give him some court time to get more acclimated for the bigger games when we need more bodies? Especially when all those in his position and on the rotation ahead of him were not on any type of hot streaks? First half Sendek was rotating bodies and the game was fast paced and exciting. Went back to keeping a select few on the court the entire second half. It was like watching paint dry with some of our players looking like they did not even want to be on the floor. Up by 20 and not comfortable putting Cam in? Am I missing something?

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Solid game…great observations all around as it relates to Podz, Tongue, Justice, and Tilly.

The question about the last left hander to have such an impact. I am sure that I am missing someone here, but rather certain Travis Niesen is a lefty, and Nick Vanos prior.

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The next opponent will be a real test: Utah State in Logan. Utah State already got a pretty good win over a decent Utah Valley squad (that allegedly got the better of Portland by double digits in a secret scrimmage).

I would expect that the defense around Podziemski is going to make another 30 point performance really tough. But that may leave room for Justice to make a big comeback, Stewart to continue with his own very solid numbers, and Marshall, Jr. to show more of his skill set.

Win in Logan, and the Broncos will be getting some serious attention as a WCC contender.

Wasn’t Nate Kratch a lefty as well? And going back to Nash era…John Wollery. I suspect there’s a few others we’ve forgotten.

John Woolery is correct, and Kratch is too I believe.

Towards end of Davey era…I want to say off guard Scott Dougherty was left handed too. However, I may be wrong on that one.

It was tough to see Justice in such a funk. It was like the rim was made of titanium or the hoop was two sizes too small. He had some great looks within a couple of feet of the basket and even those didn’t go down.

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I agree. But that the shots almost all seemed to be on-line and then just rimmed out makes me believe that he’ll be on fire in the near future. Bad stroke of luck for two games but we didn’t need Keshawn to be on in the last two. The Broncos will need Keshawn to be as good as ever in the next three.

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