UNCW Has Gone Extreme

Wake Forest's 120-88 win over UNCW yesterday piqued my curiosity since that kind of scoring suggests an extremely up-tempo game. And that it was: 93 possessions. Turns out this is all part of the plan for Wilmington, which is undergoing a major stylistic change:

The demands bounced around Trask Coliseum this preseason.

"Push it!" "Run!" "Go!"

Benny Moss’ piercing whistle blasts halted practice, and the UNC-Wilmington men’s basketball coach implored his players to go faster, attack, attack, attack, sprint downcourt – never walk.

"Run! Quit jogging!"

The Seahawks are a small team, so Moss decided it was in their best interests to run like hell. The paces of the three games they've played so far: 86, 89, and 93 possessions. They're averaging 21.6 more possessions per game this season than they did in 2008. That's crazy. It's also defensive suicide.