For the second time in three days, the Delaware Blue Coats fell to the Greensboro Swarm. Following their 133-126 defeat on Thursday night, the two teams once again took to the court at the Chase Fieldhouse. It was an off-night for the Blue Coats’ offense, but more of the same from a defense that has not been able to stop a sneeze through the first three games of the Tip-Off Tournament.
The Swarm picked up right where they left off on Thursday by taking the lead early on against the home team. Playing with intensity and passion, the Swarm gave up nothing easy to the Blue Coats' offense, reminiscent of what the Detroit Pistons did to the main roster 76ers last night.
Greensboro was showing high on defense and swarming (pun very much intended) to the ball, and Delaware was having trouble finding their way past it early. Drew Peterson and DJ Rodman- son of NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman- got off to a hot start for the Swarm, combining for 19 points in the opening frame.
The Blue Coats started finding answers when the ball started finding Jared McCain’s hands. 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said he wanted to use these two games in Delaware as a means for McCain to keep up with his conditioning and have a chance to play in longer stints, so when he comes back, he is ready to help the main roster win basketball games. He tallied a quick 13 points by knifing through the Swarm’s defense at the point of attack and finding his spot in the mid-range for consistent jumpers that he had no issue knocking down.
Malcolm Hill and DeAndre Williams came off the bench to combine for four long balls and 16 points in the first to keep the game close for the home team in what was otherwise a very sloppy display of basketball, capped off by Williams committing a flagrant foul with under two seconds left that gave Greensboro a 39-36 lead after the opening quarter.
The Swarm’s offense continued their hot start out of the gates in the second. The Blue Coats' defensive rotations were pretty abysmal, and it led to wide-open three-balls seemingly every time down the floor. DJ Rodman continued lighting up the nets, scoring 11 more in the quarter and canning three more shots from distance. Drew Peterson and Brandon Slater added in another three buckets from deep as the Swarm started to create a substantial lead.
Jared McCain played nearly another 10 minutes in the second quarter, but his magic touch from the first had left him. He would only score two more points before the break, and usual reliable offensive sparkplug, Kennedy Chandler, did not deposit his first bucket until there was less than a minute left in the half. The two teams entered the locker room with Greensboro commanding a 74-57 lead.
When they retook the floor for the beginning of the second half, Jared McCain had been replaced by Malcom Hill, signaling the end of his night and possibly his stay with the Blue Coats for the time being. This game might have been over after the first quarter if not for his contributions to the team, sans MarJon Beauchamp and Marcus Bagley, two of their main rotation pieces.
Asked how he is feeling after two games in the G League, McCain said, “I feel great. Definitely getting back to my normal self. Getting used to playing without the brace, just a smaller little thing [sleeve] on my leg. I feel a lot better, just getting to play up and down.” He went on to say that he fully trusts his knee, is pain-free, and the Incrediwear brand sleeve that replaced the bulky brace is allowing him to be more mobile.
On a night where basically nothing was going right for the Blue Coats, the exact opposite can be said for DJ Rodman. Through three quarters, he shot 7-9 from deep and totaled 30 points in just 17:40 minutes of playing time. The Blue Coats had no answers for him, and even if they did, it may still not have mattered. He was that spectacular, cooking with gas. Give him all the ‘heat check’ and ‘microwave’ badges on 2K. The Swarm entered the final frame with a 111-86 lead, and it was all cardio from there.
Johni Broome did all he could and Kennedy Chandler finally found a rhythm in the second half, but it was too little too late. The Blue Coats shot 45.5 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from deep, hitting only one more shot than the Swarm on 18 more attempts- just a poor showing all around. The Greensboro Swarm are going to leave Wilmington after three days with two wins, an undefeated record, and a good foundation to build on.
The Blue Coats are giving up an average of over 130 points per game through the early portion of the season. Asked how he plans to address the defensive struggles before the team hits the road, head coach JP Clark said, “Clearly got to be better on that end. Give Greensboro credit tonight, they made 19 threes, they really shot it well and they put a lot of pressure on us. But that is definitely going to be an area of focus for us next week, we don’t play again until Friday. Definitely taking the defensive challenge, sitting down, guarding, one-on-one defense, that’s where we have to start.”
