Off The Boards By Jack Scheuer – December 14, 2016 Edition

Off The Boards

By Jack Scheuer

December 14, 2016 Edition

Here’s the first All America team of the year composed of all little guys, because being prejudiced, I think little guys are the most  important players on the court.  So, here they are, five giants of the hardwood:  Frank Mason, the 5- 11 senior who leads Kansas’ high-powered offense, averaging 20 points and 5.5 assists a game; Georgia’s  J.J. Frazier, a senior, who at 5-10, puts up 14.4 points per game, along with 4.4 assists; Monmouth’s 5-8 dynamo Justin Robinson, another senior, who gets 16 points and 5 assists an outing; At California, Charlie Moore, 5-11 and just a freshman, averages 17.6 points and 3 assists and finally, Philly’s own Maurice Watson, Jr. (Boys Latin ) a senior,who scores 13 points per game, and hands out a whopping 9 assists per contest for the undefeated Creighton Blue Jays.

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Here are some pretty interesting numbers: Villanova, after its  victory over Temple last night, has now won 17 straight games.  The last loss was to Seton Hall, 69-67, on March 12.  And if that’s not impressive enough, since the 13-14 season, the Wildcats have won 108 games with just 13 losses

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Trivia Time: What Saint Joseph’s player has the school record for most points in one season: Answer at the end of the column.

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Getting tired of watching so many reviews? Me too.  For the good of the game, the powers-to-be should soon come up with a better idea.  Maybe only go to a replay in the last two minutes of play?  Meanwhile, we’re seeing  delays entirely too often, constantly interrupting the flow of the game.

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Lots of ex-NBA guys are now coaching in college.  Danny Manning at Wake Forest; Mark Price, Charlotte; Damon Stoudamire, Pacific; Donyell Marshall, Central Connecticut, and Terry Porter is at Portland.

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This and That: Right now the Big 5’s Most Improved Player would seem to be St. Joe’s Shavar Newkirk, while heading the top Rookies are Penn’s AJ Brodeur, and Quinton Rose from Temple…..Kudos to Drexel coach Zach Spiker who has his Dragons playing much better than was expected….Big hoops day at the Palestra on January 7, when Penn State, with four former Roman stars, meets Michigan State….Nice to see Sam Hinkie featured in Sports Illustrated, full page picture included.  He should have posed in a Tank top ….Upcoming games: St. Joe’s at Princeton tonight; and Drexel visits Rider on Friday.  On Saturday, La Salle hosts Florida Gulf Coast, and Temple welcomes NJIT.

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Answer to Trivia Time: During the 2000-01 season, the pride of Simon Gratz, Marvin O’Connor, scored 706 points, averaging 22.1 per game.