Off The Boards
By Jack Scheuer
January 31, 2018 Edition
Losing Phil Booth is obviously a tremendous loss for #1 Villanova, and hopefully the hard-luck junior from Baltimore will be back in the lineup for the important stretch run. Booth was a major part of the potent Wildcat lineup that is the only Division 1 school with six players averaging double figures. Donte DiVincenzo, who would be a starter anywhere else, will move right in, and impressive freshman Collin Gillespie’s playing time will increase. Time will tell how much missing Booth will hurt, but at least the next four games ( Creighton, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Butler ) are all at the Wells Fargo Center.
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Virginia, now ranked #2, and coached by the underrated Tony Bennett, was picked to finish 7th in the ACC according to a pre-season poll. The Cavs had only 5 turnovers in their win at Duke, the first time in 23 years they came away with a victory at Cameron. And, as usual, Virginia leads the nation in defense allowing just 52 points per game.
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Trivia Time : Who is the last La Salle player to win the Big Five MVP Award?
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No luck of the Irish here: Notre Dame has lost All American candidate Bonzi Colson (foot) basically for the season; top reserve D.J. Harvey (knee) not expected play for 4 weeks, and floor leader Matt Farrell (ankle), who has missed the last 3 games and will very likely be out for a few more.
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This and That: Strange year for Kansas center Udoka Azubuike. The 7-0 sophomore leads the nation in shooting percentage (76.4) but is 26 for 69 from the foul line (37.7 %)…. I’m wondering how up-and-down Temple will do against Wichita tomorrow night? My guess is it will be close….Also tomorrow, Drexel will be going for it’s 3rd in a row hosting James Madison….Those two impressive Penn sophs, Ryan Betley and AJ Brodeur, are helping Penn stay undefeated in the Ivy….Saint Joe’s is tops in the country in fewest turnovers, averaging just 9.2 per game….Michigan State is tops among the assist leaders nationally, averaging 20.5 a game…. Oklahoma’s freshman whiz Trae Young has calmed down a little, but he certainly is something special….And finally, are you a little disappointed about the lack of coverage the Eagles are getting?
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Answer to Trivia Time : La Salle’s Randy Woods was the Big 5’s Outstanding Player (Geasey Award) during the 1991-92 season.
Losing Booth…is bad from Nova, but getting the freshman real minutes in his place is going to be good in the long run. If Booth comes back around tourney time, that will give Jay 8-9 players to draw from for the NCAA’s.
I am worried about depth, but since then the Cats have scored in the 90’s.
Great trivia question…my guess was Donnie Carr