Jack Scheuer’s Off The Boards – January 28, 2015 Edition

There was some uncertainty for a while, but right now there doesn’t seem to be much doubt that DeAndre’ Bembry is the best player in the Big 5.  The St.Joe’s sophomore leads his team in six offensive categories, including scoring, despite seeing all kinds of defenses. In addition, he is averaging a conference-leading 21 points in A-10 play.  In his last 4 outings, Bembry has averaged  24.5 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals while playing 38 minutes a game.  The 6-6 swing-man is also ranked 6th nationally in minutes played.  Even more impressive, he plays the game at a maturity level far beyond his years.  St.Joe’s is 8-11 on the season.  Without Bembry the record could easily be twice as bad.

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Great to see those sellouts at the Palestra these past two Saturdays.  You can understand why the Villanova-Penn game, featuring the 4th ranked team in the country would fill the place, but the St.Joe’s- Penn crowd was a nice surprise.  I think it shows that there are plenty of true basketball fans out there who would just want to watch a game in that great old building.

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Trivia Time: Coming into this season, which Division 1 coach had the best winning percentage? Answer at the end of the column.

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More and more Wisconsin’s Frank (The Tank) Kaminsky is showing why he’ll be a high lottery pick.  The logical Sixers draft pick is averaging 17 points, pulling down 8 rebounds a game and blocking shots.  In addition, the seven-footer has made 21 of 52 three-pointers.  Just the fact that coach Bo Ryan allows him to shoot that many 3’s tells you something.  The Analyitics have got to select The Tank.

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This and That:….B.J. Stith, son of Bryant, Virginia’s all-time leading scorer, and Isaiah Wilkins, step-son of Dominique, are bench players for the Cavaliers…..Former Owl Anthony Lee is still having trouble getting playing time at Ohio State, averaging only 11 minutes a game….The Clippers DeAndre Jordan is a great rebounder, but a poor free thrower.  He’s 66 for 161 at the line, 40.9%….Meanwhile, ex-Sixer Nik Vucevic continues his fine play for Orlando, averaging 19 points and 11 boards….North Carolina looks like they’ll be a tough out in the tournament.  Freshman Justin Jackson, a 6-8 shooter, and one of the least publicized of the one-and-doners,  keeps improving for the Tar Heels….Drexel’s Damion Lee  continues his excellent play.  He leads the city in scoring average, 20.6, and foul shooting, 111 for 128, (86.7 %)….Villanova  is off until Saturday when the 7th ranked Wildcats visit DePaul in what could be a tough game.

 Answer to Trivia Time: Gonzaga’s Mark Few had 403 wins-100 losses, 80.1 %, coming into this season. N.C.’s Roy Williams was next at 79.2%.