Off The Boards By Jack Scheuer – December 21, 2016 Edition

Off The Boards

By Jack Scheuer

December 21, 2016 Edition

Okay, raise your hand if you thought that  Kyle Lowry would be the most productive NBA player to come out of the Big 5 in quite some time. When he went to the pros after his sophomore season, (2005-06), many people thought he should have stayed in school for at least one more year.  After all, he was on a team loaded with guards like Randy Foye, Allan Ray, and Mike Nardi, and though he was impressive, I don’t think anyone saw a future NBA star.  Well, that’s exactly what the former Cardinal Dougherty grad has become.  Now in his 11th season in the league, he has been an All Star, was a prominent member of  the Olympic team, and is highly regarded around the league.  His career average is 18.2 points per game, along with 5.7 assists, and this season he’s increased those numbers to 22.6  and 7.4 per contest.  And, as everybody knows, he plays very tough defense.

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The item above leads into this week’s Trivia Time: Who is the last Big 5 player before Lowry to play in an NBA All Star? Answer at the end of the column.

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Princeton not only produces presidents, it turns out college basketball coaches.  Mike Brennan, (American), Sydney Johnson, (Fairfield), John Thompson III, (Georgetown), Chris Mooney, (Richmond), and Mitch Henderson, (Princeton), are all ex-Tigers now in the coaching profession.

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Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari, Roy Williams and Tom Izzo get tons of publicity, and deservedly so , but it’s my opinion that Bill Self should be ranked right up there with the big boys.  His Kansas teams have won 12 straight Big 12 titles, and that’s in a league that includes Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas St, Oklahoma St., Baylor and West Virginia. His Jayhawks were also National Champions in 2008.

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This and That:  Doesn’t it seem like VCU’s strong man Mo Alie-Cox has been using that effective big body for about 6 years…Among Joel Embiid’s many talents is his free throw shooting.  I can’t remember any other seven-footers who were that good (75%) from the line…..Penn’s shooting guard Caleb Wood is the son of David, who bounced around the NBA with 8 teams….It’s time to include Saint Joe’s 6-7 Charlie Brown, (George Washington H.S.) among this year’s top Big 5 rookies….Funny how new hoop terms come up from time-to-time For instance, a shot-blocker is now  a “rim protector.”….Upcoming: Streaking Villanova has American tonight, while Drexel is at Quinnipiac; Tomorrow, Temple hosts Yale, La Salle visits Mercer, and Saint Joe’s welcomes Lafayette, who unfortunately, is facing its fourth Big 5 team.

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Answer to Trivia Time:  Playing for Charlotte in 2000, Temple’s Eddie Jones was an NBA All-Star.

 

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Merry Christmas and A Happy Hoop Year to All!

 

1 Comment

  1. Jack, you didn’t mention that there’s a little trick in your trivia question since Jameer Nelson was named to the team in 2008-09, but suffered a season-ending injury right before the game & was a DNP.

    Hope you’re doing well, send the gang my hellos!

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