Off The Boards
By Jack Scheuer
November 19, 2014 Edition
Good news for all of you purists out there, including this one, as there seems to be a return of the pure point guard, something that has been missing for a few years. Among the top ranked teams in the country, 3 of them have point guards actually running the offense as opposed to the “combo guards” who have dominated the sport recently. At Kentucky, there is Andrew Harrison, twin brother of the Cats’ shooting guard; Arizona has T.J. McConnell, who is definitely a pass-first operator, while Wichita has Fred VanVleet, who in my opinion, is the number one lead guard in the nation. My next 4 choices, in order, would be O’Connell; North Carolina’s outstanding sophomore Marcus Paige; Monte’ Morris from Iowa State, who set a new NCAA assist/turnover record last season (134-28); and Nic Moore, who runs the show for Larry Brown at SMU, so you know he plays the right way. There are several other top ball-handlers who bear watching such as South Florida’s Anthony Collins, Pitt’s James Robinson, and Duke’s highly touted freshman Tyus Jones. Hopefully, the pure-point trend will continue, and bring much joy to the purists.
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Speaking of good guard play, probably the best backcourt in the area is right up on North Broad Street where Aaron McKie and John Linehan have joined Fran Dunphy’s staff. We all know what an outstanding player McKie was, and Linehan, from Chester High, used his great quickness to have an excellent career at Providence.
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This could be a big-time year for the Philadelphia area Jeffersons. Amile, is a 6-9 starter at Duke while the 6-7, Rondae is being counted on to play major minutes for Arizona. Amile played at Friends Central, Rondae at Chester High..
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Trivia Time: Who holds the NCAA Division One record for most career steals? Answer at the end of the column.
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This and That: LeBron James and Kevin Durant are considered 1-2 as the best players in the world. After those 2, the next best player to start a team with could very well be Anthony Davis. At 6-10, this guy is a true star who does every thing at both ends, and is only 21 years old. Playing for New Orleans, he just doesn’t get the proper recognition…. Another player who goes unnoticed is Memphis’ Mike Conley, an outstanding point guard year after year….Talk about making the rounds: Trey Ziegler, a big time high school prospect several years ago, has landed at TCU after stints at Central Michigan and Pitt…. Sam Cassell Jr., son of the former NBA veteran, is a 6-4 guard at UConn….Great to see Damion Lee back at Drexel, and there’s no doubt the hard-luck Dragons need him to stay healthy. Drexel goes from a tough loss to St.Joe’s to meeting a very good Miami team in the Charleston Classic on Thursday….. Speaking of tough games St.Joe’s is at Gonzaga on Wednesday, and Temple plays Duke in Brooklyn on Friday. Hopefully Jaylen Bond will be back for that one.
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Answer to Trivia Time: Tried to sneak one in on you. The very quick John Linehan has the record with 385 steals.
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