Back to basketball. Central Florida comes to town tomorrow at noon. They have a win over a bad major conference team to their credit (Auburn) and only one loss, so they could provide decent competition.
The Knights have a reasonably deep bench, playing eight guys for 17 minutes per game or more and none more than 30. Last season, almost all of their scoring came from Jermaine Taylor, who scored 26.2 a contest. #11 Isaac Sosa is the highest returning scorer, averaging 8.2 last year in only 19.7 minutes per game. His playing time has increased significantly and he now boasts the most points on the team. A terrific shooter, he is 16th in the country in three point percentage (51.3%).
#15 Dave Diakite will give Jonathan Peoples trouble. At 6'6", 215 lbs., he has a height advantage over our third guard and likes to crash the boards. He has two double-doubles on the season and has pulled down three or more offensive rebounds in over half his games. The Irish better be careful or this guy will single-handedly lead to a bunch of second-chance points.
There are a bunch of other role players in the rotation, with no one really sticking out. #12 Taylor Young and #3 A.J. Rompza are both reliable point guards who see significant playing time. #25 A.J. Tyler and #33 Keith Clanton are their main guys in the post, but look for #13 Jakub Kusmieruk in spurts. He is 7'4" and has played in every game this season but clearly is not polished enough to merit significant playing time (only 6.9 MPG).
Michael's son Marcus Jordan comes off the bench. The only real thing he has accomplished so far this year was wearing his dad's shoes.
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5 comments:
Did anyone else find Brey's comment about LH being a screen setter and rebounder at other schools peculiar? I found it to be a bit self-serving and gratuitous. I believe that there are lots of schools where LH would have had similar success. Never heard Brey crowing about the awesome development of Zeller or Ayers over their years at ND.....
The entire tone of the article - how great the BE teams are doing in cupcake, directional school season - seemed to be a subtle message to not expect too much this season.
You understate Jordan's accomplishment. The uproar led Adidas to cancel their deal with UCF, on breach of contract grounds. Not insignificant, that.
Let's give credit where credit is due. Luke was a regional recruit who didn't get a sniff from most major programs. Coach Brey saw something special in him and turned him from a guy who thought he'd never play in college to a potential national player of the year. He has had one of the most impressive developments I have ever seen.
Luke Zeller is the complete opposite, a five-star Mr. Basketball who never got even close to playing to his potential. Part of his issues stemmed from a complete inability to gain a center's mentality. He always wanted to be a shooting guard in a seven foot body.
That's not to say we don't have plenty of examples of players who never developed. Torin Francis, Chris Thomas, Zach Hillesland, and Ayers all come to mind.
As for your other comments about the article, I can't really argue with those.
Do you really believe that Luke thought he would never play? It was obvious from his first exhibition game his freshman year that he would be a special player.
Maybe Brey's comments irritate me because he seems to downplay the importance of setting picks, rebounding and playing defense - the things that win games in the big boy tournament in March.
So when do we go for the cycle - there has got to be an East and West Florida Tech University out there somewhere! We have played North Florida, Central Florida and will play South Florida soon.
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