Early Season Growing Pains for Price, 49ers Basketball

CONCORD, NC (WCCB Charlotte) — Despite a win-less trip to the Bahamas, it wasn’t such the bad Turkey Day tournament for Mark Price and the Charlotte 49ers as one would think.

Charlotte lost games to Syracuse, Michigan and Washington to fall to 1-5 for the season.

“We had the one bad game against Michigan (Loss, 102-47), but other than that we competed really well,” Price said. I learned that we do have a lot of resiliency with our guys. We bounced back the next night and really had a chance to win against Washington (Loss, 71-66).”

Price thinks his young team will continue to grow and cut down on mistakes. As a coach, it was a learning experience for him to adjust to different styles of play.

“We have played against zone, man and different styles,” Price said. “At the pro level, to an extent, most teams play in a similar fashion.”

Price is six games and one win into a rebuilding effort with Charlotte. It’s a far cry to where the 49ers next opponent’s head coach, Davidson’s Bob McKillop, has brought his Wildcats program. McKillop hit the 500-win milestone at Davidson (4-0 this year) this past Saturday in a 83-70 win over Dennison College.

“Any time you build a system, you have to find the right players to fit that system,” Price said. “(McKillop) has done a really good job of fitting that. We are in the beginning stages of that for us. We are trying to find the right guys to fit and that will be year to year as we continue to grow and add pieces to the puzzle.”

About the rivalry between Charlotte and Davidson, one which Davidson has one the last two, Price has been informed of bragging rights that stem from this Queen City Showdown.

“The only thing I know is the Charlotte folks would really like to beat Davidson,” Price said with a chuckle.

Charlotte holds a 28-13 advantage in the all-time series. The game is Tuesday, 7pm at Halton Arena.

Young Team Growing

Mark Price said he likes the play of his freshman but would like to see more consistency out of them. Price pointed out the emergence of 6-10, forward Joseph Uchebo. Uchebo averaged 10 points and 13 rebounds per game in the three games in the Bahamas.

“He is a physical presence inside that we didn’t have,” Price said. It was a nice surprise and glad to see him play well.”