Perhaps no
single player in last year's NCAA tournament had a more sudden and surprising
impact than Kyle O'Quinn the former Campus Magnet star who led Norfolk State to
a first round upset of Missouri. With
O'Quinn moved on to the Orlando Magic they figured to take a step back but
instead kicked their season off with a win at Rhode Island, spoiling Danny
Hurley's debut as Rams' coach A pair of
New York area players figured prominently in the win: Brandon Goode a junior
center from James Monroe High in the Bronx picked up the slack in the paint
left by O'Quinn's absence in the paint with 13 points and 13 rebounds. On the perimeter former Xaverian standout
Jamel Fuentes had a terrific all around game with 11 points 7 boards 5 assists
and 2 steals. The Spartans, handled the Rams 67-55. In other news:
St. Peter's Upsets Rutgers
Former
Archbishop Molloy HS and Upsala College standout John Dunne has quietly done (pun
intended) a great coaching job in Jersey City, keeping them competitive in the
MAAC and winning it two years ago. Like many successful mid major coaches he
has done it with a veritable hodge podge of transfers and "diamonds in the
rough. In Friday's win two local transfers, Blaise Ffrench of Holy Cross High
in Queens contributed just 4 points but added 9 assists with just 3 turnovers
to help set a slow and steady tempo that Rutgers never got comfortable with in
the 56-52 loss to the Peacocks. That said don't think for a minute that St.
Peter's stalwart defensive effort had was completely due to the slow pace. Few
teams are better prepared defensively than Dunne's teams and on Friday they
held Rutgers to just 36% shooting overall and 15% from 3 point distance.
Offensively the Peacocks had 14 assists on their 22 field goals and just 9
turnovers. All of that good work allowed
them to overcome a 40-19 reboundhg def8c8t f9r a great win.
Padgett Plays Well in First "home" Game Former Lincoln High star James
Padgett became the first Brooklyn native to play a college game in Brooklyn's
new Barclay's Center. The Maryland
senior played well scoring 10 points and grabbing 5 boards in the Terps 72-69
loss to Kentucky.
Wright Stars in George Mason Upset of Virginia It was great to see that former Mt.
Vernon star Sherod Wright finished with a team high 15 points as the Patriots
beat the Cavs 63-59 . Wright lost his
sophomore season to a knee injury to years ago has battled back diligently and
now as a redshirt junior appears poised for good things Also in that game former Christ the King
standout Corey Edwards, who had an injury plagued freshman season contributed 4
points and 2 assists in just 8 minutes.
Nets Complete Weekend Sweep The Nets' weekend sweep of Orlando included a
dominant win on Friday and a closer win at Barclay's center on Sunday. It was
important for the Nets to get back on track following a bad loss to Minnesota
and an expected loss at Miami but it remains worth remembering that especially
without Jameer Nelson the Magic may be the league's worst offensive team. It's
clear the Nets still have a ways to go before becoming a really good club. While Padgett became the first local college
guy to play at Barclay's Center former Forrest Hills High and St. John's
standout Moe Harkless became the first local pro to do so. He struggled in
limited minutes as he continues to work his way back following a sports hernia
injury that caued him to miss much of the summer and pre-season.
D'antoni Takes Over as Coach of Lakers: Much of the chatter surrounding
former Knicks' coach Mike D'antoni's appointment to that position with the
Lakers has focused on the fact that he will be reunited with point guard Steve
Nash, with whom he enjoyed his greatest coaching success with the Suns. That's
both the easiest and most optimistic talking point for the Lakers. There are
still some pressing questions even though the Lakers will almost certainly be
more comfortable in the more quickly paced offense that D'antoni will install
once he arrives. Can the Lakers, led by
Kobe Bryant be accountable defensively even as their new coach will not hold
them to a very high standard?? The pick and roll/pick and pop style of offense
will certainly help Nash, Bryant and Gasol but will it help the most important
part of their future Dwight Howard??
Although his running is well suited for what they do his skill level may
not be. And they may not be able to space the floor properly for the new
offense with both Howard and Gasol on the floor together. Time will tell if
this works but the feeling here is there's a greater chance fir failure than
success
.
No comments:
Post a Comment