SoCon Media Day--Pre Season Picks

[CharlieFU]

http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle. ... EM_ID=4000

Furman picked 3rd by both coaches and media.

[apaladin]

Hard to argue. Just goes to shows you how much others think MR meant to the team. Of course ETSU should be loaded with more transfers. Not sure about UNCG.

[DungeonRealm]

My prediction - Daivien Williamson of ETSU won't be anywhere close to all SoCon, that's a very questionable pick, and Gurley or Mounce will take his spot on the all SoCon team for the SoCon champ Paladins

[CharlieFU]

My prediction - Daivien Williamson of ETSU won't be anywhere close to all SoCon, that's a very questionable pick, and Gurley or Mounce will take his spot on the all SoCon team for the SoCon champ Paladins

I just tweeted my prediction that Lyons will not be the only Paladin on 1st or 2nd team All SoCon.

[PaladinPower]

Not sure about the Williamson pick either... I would take Alex Hunter or Storm Murphy much before him at pg.

[tya1]

Not sure about the Williamson pick either... I would take Alex Hunter or Storm Murphy much before him at pg.

All three had somewhat similar stats.

Hunter had more rebounds, fewer turnovers, the best assist/ turnover ratio,more steals, and played the most minutes. He averaged 9 ppg.

Murphy had the best three point shooting percentage and free throw percentage and most assists (slightly more than Hunter.) He averaged 8 ppg.

Williamson wasn't really a point guard like Hunter or Murphy. He was second on the ETSU team in assists but had about 30 fewer assists than the either Hunter or Murphy. OTOH, he went to the FT line 35 more times than Hunter and Murphy combined. Also, he had a worse A/TO ratio than the other two. He averaged 9.5 ppg in only 22 minutes a game.

Some of it is team styles in action. ETSU doesn't depend on a point guard so much. They had six players with 60+ assists last year; Furman had four; and Wofford had three.

I think the voters in the poll picked ETSU and then decided they needed to give them the most all-conference players. Kind of a justification. ETSU actually has four players returning who averaged more points than Williamson and a guard - Tisdale - who lead the team in assists (with the best A/TO ratio) and averaged 8.8 ppg.

He isn't a point guard ( the all-conference team doesn't specify position) but Clay Mounce was a better scorer than Williamson, better shooting percentages from the floor and the three point line, had three times as many rebounds, a good assist total, more steals and 37 times as many blocked shots (37-1.) Not good enough for the voters, I suppose.