Let's breakdown some College of Charleston basketball!
It all begins on the defensive end for the Cougars, who are the best defensive team I saw live this year when they're locked in. Issue has been that they have started slowly a lot lately and allowed their opponents to build sizable leads, which I'm guessing won't work against Bruce Pearl and Co. Cameron Johnson and Marquise Pointer are two excellent on-ball defenders, who get overlooked because they don't pick up a lot of steals or blocks.
On offense, Grant Riller is that ice-in-the-veins shooter who has hit numerous clutch shots for the Cougars, including the winner against JMU at the Convo. He's the one guy on the team who could take over a game if you let him, and if he hits those first few shots, he'll start hitting almost anything if you give him an inch of space. I love Joe Chealey's floor game a lot because he understands his teammates so well and puts them in excellent positions to succeed. He can score the ball a bit, too, if you leave him too open. The other major offensive threat is Jarrell Brantley inside. Much like Cacok for UNCW last year, he feasts on teams working too hard to slow Chealey and Riller and dominates the one-on-one matchups on the interior.
In terms of role players, Nick Harris is a rebounding fiend who helps solidify the paint for CoC. Pointer hit a few key 3s as well against Northeastern at the end of regulation and in OT to spur the CAA title win. Also, Charleston doesn't turn over the ball very much, so any pace will need to be added off rebounds in transition.
It all begins on the defensive end for the Cougars, who are the best defensive team I saw live this year when they're locked in. Issue has been that they have started slowly a lot lately and allowed their opponents to build sizable leads, which I'm guessing won't work against Bruce Pearl and Co. Cameron Johnson and Marquise Pointer are two excellent on-ball defenders, who get overlooked because they don't pick up a lot of steals or blocks.
On offense, Grant Riller is that ice-in-the-veins shooter who has hit numerous clutch shots for the Cougars, including the winner against JMU at the Convo. He's the one guy on the team who could take over a game if you let him, and if he hits those first few shots, he'll start hitting almost anything if you give him an inch of space. I love Joe Chealey's floor game a lot because he understands his teammates so well and puts them in excellent positions to succeed. He can score the ball a bit, too, if you leave him too open. The other major offensive threat is Jarrell Brantley inside. Much like Cacok for UNCW last year, he feasts on teams working too hard to slow Chealey and Riller and dominates the one-on-one matchups on the interior.
In terms of role players, Nick Harris is a rebounding fiend who helps solidify the paint for CoC. Pointer hit a few key 3s as well against Northeastern at the end of regulation and in OT to spur the CAA title win. Also, Charleston doesn't turn over the ball very much, so any pace will need to be added off rebounds in transition.
