Post by Commissioner on Feb 2, 2021 23:32:46 GMT -5
Purdue Fort Wayne
When: Friday, February 5, 6:00 p.m.
.............Saturday, February 6, 5:00 p.m.
Where: Calihan Hall (no fans)
TV: ESPN 3
Radio: WLQV 1500 AM & 92.7 FM
As Ernie Banks would say, "Let's play two!"
This week-end, it will be two at Calihan against league newcomer Purdue-Fort Wayne, our chief conference rival for branding confusion.IPFW Fort Wayne Purdue-Fort Wayne. The Titans have played PFW twice, losing both ends of a home and home during the Bacari years. This will be the first meeting as conference opponents.
PFW comes in to Calihan on a 4-game losing streak, dropping the Mastodons to 5-9 in conference, but they're not going to be a pushover. The HL preseason poll had the Titans 9th and the Mastodons 11th, and the consensus of polls had the two 8th and 9th. The current 4-game losing streak, to Green Bay and Oakland, comes on the heels of a 4-game winning streak over two first division Horizon teams, Milwaukee and UIC. They also played Cleveland State to within a single bucket.
PFW has used the same starting five in every game save one, in which they substituted out one regular, so there's not a lot of scouting guess work. The tip of the Mastodons' tusk is 6-5 junior guard Jerrod Godfrey, who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and minutes played. Two other good-sized guards, 6-4 Deonte Billups and 6-4 Jalen Pipkins, a transfer from Loyola, play alongside Godfrey. Bobby Planutis, a 6-8 forward who was a teammate of Matt Johnson last year at St. Bonaventure, starts at forward, and fifth-year senior Dylan Carl, a product of Alma, is the center.
Fort Wayne is a dangerous opponent for the Titans. Three-point defense has been a weakness for the Titans all season, and PFW is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country: 6th, to be precise, at 40.1 percent. Carl won't shoot the three, but everyone else in the Mastodon lineup will, and shoot it well. Planutis and Pipkins are both at 47% on the season, Godfrey at 40%, and Billups at 38%. Guard Demetric Horton, the first man off the bench, will also chuck it up, and hits threes at a 34% clip.
PFW and Detroit rank 2nd and 3rd in the conference in scoring, and first and third, respectively, in overall field goal percentage. With the Titans ranking a very healthy 56th nationally in three point percentage, and 33rd in three pointers per game (PFW is 77th), this could quickly become a long ball shootout. Take the over.
Fort Wayne also has a positive rebounding margin on the year, and they've got good free throw shooters, with Godfrey leading the league. Like the Titans, they are a mature team, with juniors and seniors, carrying most of the load. The big problem for the Mastodons has been taking care of the ball. They are turning it over almost 19 times a game. In the entire country, only Central Arkansas averages more turnovers.
Ultimately, a good shooting team like Fort Wayne is always a threat. It's very possible to imagine them shooting the Titans right out of the zone, getting second chance points when they miss, and running our guys out of our home gym. But that said, I think the Titans match up pretty well. The top of our zone has the size to match PFW's big guards, and Kuol and Waterman--assuming he is ready to go--have the height and length to harass Planutis, a stretch 4 who likes to play along the arc. PFW commits more fouls than any of our conference opponents to date, and that plays to a Titan strength.
The Mastodons have two Michigan kids of note. Carl is one, and the other is freshman Jarvis Walker of Muskegon, who's likely to play 10-15 minutes off the bench.
The Titans need to close out the threes in the corners, force turnovers, and score in transition. I expect high-scoring games in which no lead will be safe. It's time for the Titans to make a move into the first division.
Probable Fort Wayne Starters:
G: Jerrod Godfrey, 6-5 Jr. (16.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 50.0% FG, 39.7% 3Pt; 89.8% FT)
G: Jalen Pipkins, 6-4 Sr. (12.6 ppg, 2.9 apg, 50.7% FG, 47.1% 3Ptl 82.9% FT)
G: Deonte Billups, 6-4 Soph. (8.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 37.7% 3Pt)
F: Bobby Planutis, 6-8 RS Jr. (10.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 47.1% 3Pt)
F/C: Dylan Carl, 6-11 RS Sr. (6.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 74.1% FG)
Bench
G: Demetric Horton, 6-5 Jr. (8.9 ppg, 33.8% 3Pt)
G: Jarvis Walker, 6-2 Fr. (4.5 ppg)
G: DeMierre Black, 6-0 Sr. (3.3 ppg)
F: Ra Kpedi, 6-9 Jr. (3.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
F: Cameron Benford, 6-8 Sr. (1.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
When: Friday, February 5, 6:00 p.m.
.............Saturday, February 6, 5:00 p.m.
Where: Calihan Hall (no fans)
TV: ESPN 3
Radio: WLQV 1500 AM & 92.7 FM
As Ernie Banks would say, "Let's play two!"
This week-end, it will be two at Calihan against league newcomer Purdue-Fort Wayne, our chief conference rival for branding confusion.
PFW comes in to Calihan on a 4-game losing streak, dropping the Mastodons to 5-9 in conference, but they're not going to be a pushover. The HL preseason poll had the Titans 9th and the Mastodons 11th, and the consensus of polls had the two 8th and 9th. The current 4-game losing streak, to Green Bay and Oakland, comes on the heels of a 4-game winning streak over two first division Horizon teams, Milwaukee and UIC. They also played Cleveland State to within a single bucket.
PFW has used the same starting five in every game save one, in which they substituted out one regular, so there's not a lot of scouting guess work. The tip of the Mastodons' tusk is 6-5 junior guard Jerrod Godfrey, who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and minutes played. Two other good-sized guards, 6-4 Deonte Billups and 6-4 Jalen Pipkins, a transfer from Loyola, play alongside Godfrey. Bobby Planutis, a 6-8 forward who was a teammate of Matt Johnson last year at St. Bonaventure, starts at forward, and fifth-year senior Dylan Carl, a product of Alma, is the center.
Fort Wayne is a dangerous opponent for the Titans. Three-point defense has been a weakness for the Titans all season, and PFW is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country: 6th, to be precise, at 40.1 percent. Carl won't shoot the three, but everyone else in the Mastodon lineup will, and shoot it well. Planutis and Pipkins are both at 47% on the season, Godfrey at 40%, and Billups at 38%. Guard Demetric Horton, the first man off the bench, will also chuck it up, and hits threes at a 34% clip.
PFW and Detroit rank 2nd and 3rd in the conference in scoring, and first and third, respectively, in overall field goal percentage. With the Titans ranking a very healthy 56th nationally in three point percentage, and 33rd in three pointers per game (PFW is 77th), this could quickly become a long ball shootout. Take the over.
Fort Wayne also has a positive rebounding margin on the year, and they've got good free throw shooters, with Godfrey leading the league. Like the Titans, they are a mature team, with juniors and seniors, carrying most of the load. The big problem for the Mastodons has been taking care of the ball. They are turning it over almost 19 times a game. In the entire country, only Central Arkansas averages more turnovers.
Ultimately, a good shooting team like Fort Wayne is always a threat. It's very possible to imagine them shooting the Titans right out of the zone, getting second chance points when they miss, and running our guys out of our home gym. But that said, I think the Titans match up pretty well. The top of our zone has the size to match PFW's big guards, and Kuol and Waterman--assuming he is ready to go--have the height and length to harass Planutis, a stretch 4 who likes to play along the arc. PFW commits more fouls than any of our conference opponents to date, and that plays to a Titan strength.
The Mastodons have two Michigan kids of note. Carl is one, and the other is freshman Jarvis Walker of Muskegon, who's likely to play 10-15 minutes off the bench.
The Titans need to close out the threes in the corners, force turnovers, and score in transition. I expect high-scoring games in which no lead will be safe. It's time for the Titans to make a move into the first division.
Probable Fort Wayne Starters:
G: Jerrod Godfrey, 6-5 Jr. (16.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 50.0% FG, 39.7% 3Pt; 89.8% FT)
G: Jalen Pipkins, 6-4 Sr. (12.6 ppg, 2.9 apg, 50.7% FG, 47.1% 3Ptl 82.9% FT)
G: Deonte Billups, 6-4 Soph. (8.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 37.7% 3Pt)
F: Bobby Planutis, 6-8 RS Jr. (10.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 47.1% 3Pt)
F/C: Dylan Carl, 6-11 RS Sr. (6.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 74.1% FG)
Bench
G: Demetric Horton, 6-5 Jr. (8.9 ppg, 33.8% 3Pt)
G: Jarvis Walker, 6-2 Fr. (4.5 ppg)
G: DeMierre Black, 6-0 Sr. (3.3 ppg)
F: Ra Kpedi, 6-9 Jr. (3.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
F: Cameron Benford, 6-8 Sr. (1.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg)