UNCG opens key four-game stretch at home against Wake Forest
UNC-Greensboro's basketball team is off to its best start in Wes Miller?s five-plus seasons as head coach.
And now comes the hard part.
The Spartans (7-2) open an intriguing four-game stretch before Christmas by hosting Wake Forest (7-2) at the Greensboro Coliseum Friday.
Next up is a weakling, a home game Wednesday against Division II Southern Wesleyan (2-5). But then come back-to-back road games at UNC-Asheville (6-3) and at Georgetown (5-4) to complete UNCG?s Southern Conference preseason.
Right now, though, it?s all Wake, all the time, heading into the 1,000th game between ACC and Southern Conference teams since the ACC was born in July 1953.
?We?ve done a better job this season of trying to approach the next game on the schedule without looking ahead,? Miller said. ?? That said, this is going to be a tough stretch, but it?s going to be really good for us. We?re going to learn a lot about our team.?
What we?ve learned so far is it?s good to be healthy.
UNCG played long stretches last season without key players lost to injuries and illnesses, among them guard Demetrius Troy (mononucleosis) and forward Jordy Kuiper (left knee).
So far this season, the lineup has remained intact and the Spartans have won six games in a row. It?s the second-best start in school history, trailing only the 1994-95 team that opened 12-2.
?You?ve got to have your best guys,? Miller said. ?It?s certainly been nice to be healthy. We?ve had depth, and that?s a byproduct of being healthy. We?ve been able to go nine or 10 deep for the first month of the season, and that?s given us something we haven?t had in the time I?ve been the coach.?
Guards Francis Alonso (13.0 points) and Diante Baldwin (12.6 points, 4.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds) have made the offense go, but the Spartans have also been deceptively good inside.
R.J. White, a 6-foot-8, 255-pound All-Southern Conference senior center, is a capable scorer and the team?s leading rebounder. Versatile forward Marvin Smith and a healthy Kuiper are both off to good starts.
?Jordy is our blender,? Miller said. ?He makes everything come together on our team. Defensively, he?s our best communicator and has won our defensive award in over half our games so far. Offensively, he makes the plays that don?t show up on the stat sheet but make an offense work. He?s always in the right spot. ? He?s really important to this team.?
But Wake is still Wake, an ACC team that is 9-0 all-time against UNCG.
The Deacons starters are taller than UNCG at every position, led by 6-10 center John Collins, who averages a double-double (18.1 points, 10.6 rebounds).
?When you?re playing a Power Five (conference) school, there are lots of challenges,? Miller said. ?The first thing is you can be in the right place and do the right thing, and their size and athleticism can still overwhelm you. We have to match them with effort and physicality.?
That?s easier said than done.
But that?s also what makes this stretch of UNCG?s schedule so intriguing, particularly those games at Asheville and Georgetown. If the Spartans come through this stretch 2-2, or even a competitive 1-3, it bodes well for the league schedule.
?We?re still in the process of becoming a more mature basketball team,? Miller said. ?? If we focus on the task at hand, this team can do some really cool things. I?m more concerned with what we do in January, February and March than what we?re doing right now.?
UNC-Greensboro's basketball team is off to its best start in Wes Miller?s five-plus seasons as head coach.
And now comes the hard part.
The Spartans (7-2) open an intriguing four-game stretch before Christmas by hosting Wake Forest (7-2) at the Greensboro Coliseum Friday.
Next up is a weakling, a home game Wednesday against Division II Southern Wesleyan (2-5). But then come back-to-back road games at UNC-Asheville (6-3) and at Georgetown (5-4) to complete UNCG?s Southern Conference preseason.
Right now, though, it?s all Wake, all the time, heading into the 1,000th game between ACC and Southern Conference teams since the ACC was born in July 1953.
?We?ve done a better job this season of trying to approach the next game on the schedule without looking ahead,? Miller said. ?? That said, this is going to be a tough stretch, but it?s going to be really good for us. We?re going to learn a lot about our team.?
What we?ve learned so far is it?s good to be healthy.
UNCG played long stretches last season without key players lost to injuries and illnesses, among them guard Demetrius Troy (mononucleosis) and forward Jordy Kuiper (left knee).
So far this season, the lineup has remained intact and the Spartans have won six games in a row. It?s the second-best start in school history, trailing only the 1994-95 team that opened 12-2.
?You?ve got to have your best guys,? Miller said. ?It?s certainly been nice to be healthy. We?ve had depth, and that?s a byproduct of being healthy. We?ve been able to go nine or 10 deep for the first month of the season, and that?s given us something we haven?t had in the time I?ve been the coach.?
Guards Francis Alonso (13.0 points) and Diante Baldwin (12.6 points, 4.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds) have made the offense go, but the Spartans have also been deceptively good inside.
R.J. White, a 6-foot-8, 255-pound All-Southern Conference senior center, is a capable scorer and the team?s leading rebounder. Versatile forward Marvin Smith and a healthy Kuiper are both off to good starts.
?Jordy is our blender,? Miller said. ?He makes everything come together on our team. Defensively, he?s our best communicator and has won our defensive award in over half our games so far. Offensively, he makes the plays that don?t show up on the stat sheet but make an offense work. He?s always in the right spot. ? He?s really important to this team.?
But Wake is still Wake, an ACC team that is 9-0 all-time against UNCG.
The Deacons starters are taller than UNCG at every position, led by 6-10 center John Collins, who averages a double-double (18.1 points, 10.6 rebounds).
?When you?re playing a Power Five (conference) school, there are lots of challenges,? Miller said. ?The first thing is you can be in the right place and do the right thing, and their size and athleticism can still overwhelm you. We have to match them with effort and physicality.?
That?s easier said than done.
But that?s also what makes this stretch of UNCG?s schedule so intriguing, particularly those games at Asheville and Georgetown. If the Spartans come through this stretch 2-2, or even a competitive 1-3, it bodes well for the league schedule.
?We?re still in the process of becoming a more mature basketball team,? Miller said. ?? If we focus on the task at hand, this team can do some really cool things. I?m more concerned with what we do in January, February and March than what we?re doing right now.?
