from a rivals writer, russ wood. i haven't seen them personally, he has. here you go:
"Elon returns an experienced squad of 14 players and four starters from a team that finished 16-16 (7-11) in 2015-16 -- seniors Luke Eddy (10.5 ppg) and Christian Hairston (8.6 ppg), as well as junior Dmitri Thompson (9.9 ppg) and sophomore Tyler Seibring (9.8 ppg). The Phoenix have 11 players who saw action in 16 or more games and six players who averaged over eight points a game last season.
"When Elon came to Tampa they had defeated Division III opponent William Peace in its season opener, 101-68 but fell to in-state rival Charlotte 100-95. Although they had only played two games, they ranked 16th in the NCAA with 98.0 points per game at that point.
"The Phoenix are fun to watch because of their style of play and their ability to make threes, but in the Charlotte game they were not consistently good enough on defense to get stops when they needed to.
"Elon runs a three-point heavy motion offense that had the fastest tempo in the CAA last season. The Phoenix has attempted 55 three-point shots in their first two games. Sophomore shooting guard Steven Santa Ana has deep range he will not hesitate to take 25-footers if a defender is more than two feet away from him -- he had 32 points against Charlotte.
"A bit of a volume shooter, expect senior point guard Eddy to find Santa Ana and sophomore forward Tyler Seibring – who likes to run the baseline for corner threes -- for open looks. Off the bench, lefty sophomore point guard Dainan Swoope also has deep range. Like Santa Ana, Swoope squares up quickly to shoot.
"One of the things I noticed while scouting Elon ahead of the USF game was none of their “shooters” were able to beat a Charlotte defender off the dribble. Santa Ana could create space, sometimes, but typically Elon runs high ball screens to get the ball handler an open jump shot and they make good use of pin down screens to get off the ball shooters open to receive passes where they can score.
"The Hoyas should give Elon some different looks on defense. When Charlotte went to a 2-3 zone, they were able to slow down Elon’s offense and generally make the Phoenix look uncomfortable.
"They have two bigs who move well, block out very well and have some offensive skills. Brian Dawkins, a 6-foot-8, 240-pounder slides from center to power forward depending on whether Elon wants to have a big or small lineup. When they go big 6-foot-11, 240-pound Karolis Kundrotas steps into the post.
"Defensively Elon stays in a low risk man-to-man defense throughout the game. They never applied any full court pressure and they didn’t double down when interior players received entry passes. With the exception of Eddy, who had five steals against Charlotte, Elon seldom gambled for steals or really got inside the man with the ball".
"Elon returns an experienced squad of 14 players and four starters from a team that finished 16-16 (7-11) in 2015-16 -- seniors Luke Eddy (10.5 ppg) and Christian Hairston (8.6 ppg), as well as junior Dmitri Thompson (9.9 ppg) and sophomore Tyler Seibring (9.8 ppg). The Phoenix have 11 players who saw action in 16 or more games and six players who averaged over eight points a game last season.
"When Elon came to Tampa they had defeated Division III opponent William Peace in its season opener, 101-68 but fell to in-state rival Charlotte 100-95. Although they had only played two games, they ranked 16th in the NCAA with 98.0 points per game at that point.
"The Phoenix are fun to watch because of their style of play and their ability to make threes, but in the Charlotte game they were not consistently good enough on defense to get stops when they needed to.
"Elon runs a three-point heavy motion offense that had the fastest tempo in the CAA last season. The Phoenix has attempted 55 three-point shots in their first two games. Sophomore shooting guard Steven Santa Ana has deep range he will not hesitate to take 25-footers if a defender is more than two feet away from him -- he had 32 points against Charlotte.
"A bit of a volume shooter, expect senior point guard Eddy to find Santa Ana and sophomore forward Tyler Seibring – who likes to run the baseline for corner threes -- for open looks. Off the bench, lefty sophomore point guard Dainan Swoope also has deep range. Like Santa Ana, Swoope squares up quickly to shoot.
"One of the things I noticed while scouting Elon ahead of the USF game was none of their “shooters” were able to beat a Charlotte defender off the dribble. Santa Ana could create space, sometimes, but typically Elon runs high ball screens to get the ball handler an open jump shot and they make good use of pin down screens to get off the ball shooters open to receive passes where they can score.
"The Hoyas should give Elon some different looks on defense. When Charlotte went to a 2-3 zone, they were able to slow down Elon’s offense and generally make the Phoenix look uncomfortable.
"They have two bigs who move well, block out very well and have some offensive skills. Brian Dawkins, a 6-foot-8, 240-pounder slides from center to power forward depending on whether Elon wants to have a big or small lineup. When they go big 6-foot-11, 240-pound Karolis Kundrotas steps into the post.
"Defensively Elon stays in a low risk man-to-man defense throughout the game. They never applied any full court pressure and they didn’t double down when interior players received entry passes. With the exception of Eddy, who had five steals against Charlotte, Elon seldom gambled for steals or really got inside the man with the ball".