Jack Scheuer’s Off The Boards – February 25, 2015 Edition

There seems to be no doubt that big men will dominate the NBA draft, and there is a good possibility that the first five picks will all be centers.  Duke’s Jahlil Okafor seems to be the heavy favorite to be the number one choice, although Frank Kaminsky might impress a team more because he has some outside shooting ability, and played four years at Wisconsin as opposed to Okafor’s only one season.  Both are 7-footers; Willie Cauley-Stein, 7-0, doesn’t have great numbers, mainly because of Kentucky’s platoon system, but is a terrific defensive  player, runs the court well and is very active; His teammate ,Karl-Anthony Towns, at 6-10, will certainly be in the mix, as will local product Rakeem Christmas,  6-9-250, who has  improved greatly at Syracuse,and has impressed several scouts that I’ve talked to; Freshman Myles Turner, 6-11,240, a shot-blocker for Texas, has 83% of his free throws, and could also sneak into the mix.  That’s a lot of size out there which should be of help to someone.

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Drexel’s filled-with-injuries season has reached its peak what with Damion Lee now out for the year with a broken hand.  A terrible blow for the team, and especially for the multi-talented Lee, certainly one of the top players in the city, who also suffered a torn ACL early last season.  Hopefully the Dragons can bounce back  from their latest misfortune when they host Delaware tomorrow night.

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Temple’s melt-down against Tulsa saw the Owls shoot 14 for 57. (24.6 %). What’s even more interesting was they had only three assists in the game, which  might sound like a record low but probably is not.  It would be tough to beat a game played on December 15, 1973 when  host Tennessee defeated the Owls, 11-6.  The heavily favored home team was among the best in the country, so Temple played stall ball.  For some reason, the Volunteers did likewise.  Note: Evidently records for least assists are not kept.

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Trivia Time: Who is the last Penn player to play in an NBA game ? Answer at the end of the column.

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This and That: St. Joe’s DeAndre’ Bembry is in a virtual tie with 4 other players for most minutes played this season (38.58)… I’m starting to worry about John Giannini’s blood pressure ….After Temple’s must win against Houston tomorrow night, the Owls are off until March 5 when they visit East Carolina….Meanwhile, streaking Villanova is at Xavier on Saturday, and at Creighton next Tuesday.  Both will be before very loud  packed houses….Great to see a class act like Kyle Korver having the year having a great season…. Also nice to see, and hear, that Happy Bob Knight, now 74-years old, is as warm and fuzzy as ever. (Just don’t stand up in front of him)….I wouldn’t be surprised that five years from now, a book will come out about a very bright pro coach who had bosses that were not only content with the team losing, but seemed to prefer it.

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Answer to Trivia Time: Ira Bowman played in 3 games for the 2001-02 Sixers. (Went 5 for 7,10 points).