Blog with Bryan Smithson

Playing Winthrop this past Saturday was the most anticipated game in the Big South in a couple years.  Also, it was labeled in the Asheville Citizen Times as possibly the biggest game in the history of the Justice Center.  I don't know about all that but I do know that there was a buzz in previous days leading to the game.  Students and fans filled the Justice to capacity and from what I understand it was the best turnout for a basketball game in the history of UNCA.  The atmosphere was great and as a player, motivation was not hard to find.

Before I talk about the game I wanted to first recognize someone that goes a ways back with me, he was a role model both on and off the basketball court in our home of Cobb County, GA, and started to really make some noise in Rock Hill, SC before he was rudely interrupted.  Deandre Adams #24.   This is my 3rd year at UNCA, 2nd year playing and each and every year that we have played Winthrop, the first thing I do is go greet Dre at halfcourt and show him some love.  It wasn't the same this year with him missing and seeing all the Winthrop players wearing his number on their jerseys.  It makes you think a lot deeper than basketball and what life is really about.  I just wanted to make sure that everybody knows that not only is Dre missed in Rock Hill, SC or Smyrna, GA but he has a spot here in Asheville as well.  RIP Dre. 

As for the game- all through the first half it was neck and neck as we traded baskets.  The biggest lead anybody had was 8 and Winthrop held the advantage.  I hit a pair of threes and a lay- up and KJ was finding success driving baseline and laying the ball up.  We went in at halftime trailing 33-27 after not playing our best basketball.  At halftime we talked about a few things to improve on the defensive end and we also talked about pushing tempo.  Kenny George sat this game out, which allowed us to play a bit faster than we usually do.  I'm not sure how much Winthrop prepared for a "Kenny George" type game, but if they did it might have haunted them a bit considering he never checked into the game.  The second half was totally different than the first as we pushed tempo and really turned up the pressure on defense.  We held Winthrop without a field goal until around the 12 minute mark.  KJ caught fire and devestated Winthrop with a 9-11 shooting night.  Everybody else played extremely well and within themselves.  I finished with 14 and 5assts and a season high 5 steals.  The final score was 71-54 in our favor. 

I am very proud of our team for a number of reasons.  The first being that we played without Kenny George and everybody picked up the slack in different places.  The second is the way we handled ourselves after the win.  Although it was a big win for the program, it was only 1 win in a 14 game conference schedule.  Our team felt good after the win but our focus immediately went to Liberty, which is going to be a tough road game on Saturday.  Every game gets tougher the second time around and we have to be even more focused on specific gameplan.  We definitely want the Conference tournament to be at the Justice Center.  Our fans are UNBELIEVABLE and we can't imagine playing in the tournament without them.

18-4 overall 7-0 in conference.  #12 in the Mid Major Poll.  We just recieved 1 vote for the AP's top 25.  This is the first in the history of the school.  All these things are great and you can't help but to pay attention to them, however, its important for us as a team to focus on the task at hand and leave the celebration to the fans.  ITS GREAT TO BE A BULLDOG

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