Sometimes I find myself talking about a lot of the same players on this blog. So, I wanted to take a post to talk about some of the more "under the radar" guys on a few clubs, and take a look at their games. No real rhyme or reason, just some guys that don't get a lot of mentions, but could be interesting to take a look at.
- Tim Huskisson (Northern Colorado) - After starting the first two years of his career, he is unexpectedly UNC's sixth man so far this year, but has responded by playing his best per-minute basketball so far. Huskisson has always been a big talent, with some of the best athleticism in the Big Sky, along with a good outside stroke. He has always been efficient inside the arc, but this year he is 25/37, shooting 68% on twos. One aspect to his game that he has added is the ability to get steals, as he has a 4.5 Steal percentage, third in the Big Sky. He also has the best assist rate, and lowest turnover rate of his career. He is really developing in an all-around solid player, and that is a big reason why UNC has to be considered contenders this year. The key for him, as always, is consistency, but when he is playing well, he can be one of the best players in the Big Sky.
- Casey Oliverson (Southern Utah) - Oliverson is a sophomore in his first year with the Thunderbirds, and should have a nice career as a rotation guy for them. So far, his best skill is his offensive rebounding, with a 9.9% OR%, ninth in the conference. He has also flashed a little bit of skill as a shot-blocker, as he had three blocks against UC Riverside. He hasn't been a huge offensive threat so far (though he had a career-high ten points against Northridge), but he could be a nice fit for them as a rebounder.
- Brandon Gfeller (Montana) - He was too good for Montana to redshirt this year, and he is proving himself to be a reliable weapon off the bench. At this point in his career, he is just a shooter - but that is valuable for them right now. Gfeller is 11/24 from three-point range so far this year. He has only taken three twos (made all three), and he doesn't get many assists or add much defensively, but his range will be a nice asset for them this season.
- Max Jacobsen (Northern Arizona) - Don't look now, but Jacobsen has been the best post scorer in the Big Sky. He was one of the most improved players in the conference last season, and is showing that that improvement was no fluke. He has shot an astounding 63% on two-pointers (and it's not a sample size fluke - he is averaging almost 10 attempts per game), up from an already excellent 59% last year. He is not a great rebounder or defender, but if you get him the ball, he'll get you buckets. In a league without a lot of post scorers, that is huge.
- Andre Hatchett (Idaho State) - Hatchett is a guy that simply slots in for the Bengals wherever he is needed. In past years, he played a lot at the four spot. This year, he has been able to play a little more naturally at the three thanks to the addition of Jeffrey Solarin. While he has struggled this year offensively (only shooting about 40%), he has been a great defensive rebounder, which has been key for a team that struggled in that area last year. Still, like Gaellen Bewernick from NAU two years ago, I have a soft spot for undersized who do whatever the team needs. Hatchett is that guy.
- Cody Demps (Sacramento State) - Demps is an interesting player. He is 6'4'', but starts at the three spot for the Hornets, and does a lot of the little things for them. He rebounds 17.2% of available defensive rebounds, which is 11th in the Big Sky, and best on the team among guys that play at least 40% of the team's minutes. He is a solid passer and defender. However, there are still a lot of holes in his game. He turns the ball over way too much, with a 29.4 TO Rate. He is also still finding his way offensively. He is 14/28 on two-point attempts, but 4/15 from downtown, meaning he takes over two threes a game. For someone that is 9/35 in his career, that is way too many threes to take. He is a talented guy that can do some things, but until he finds a way to take better shots and take better care of the basketball, he is really holding the Hornets offense down.
- Terrell Brown (Montana State) - Brown has quietly been one of the better newcomers in the conference this year. While he is not shooting the three ball well so far this year, he has otherwise been efficient offensively. He has made 24/27 FTs, and 50% on two-point attempts. He doesn't turn the ball over. While he could be a better rebounder, if his outside shooting improves (and I think it will), he is an excellent complementary offensive weapon for the Bobcats.
Anyone else deserve a mention that doesn't get talked about much?
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Showing posts with label Andre Hatchett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andre Hatchett. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Idaho State Upsets San Francsico
These aren't the Idaho State Bengals of last season. Last year, it took the Bengals until January to score at least 60 points against a Division I opponent. On Monday night, they broke the 90 point mark - with a 93-90 OT victory over San Francisco.
In the process, the Bengals got career high totals from Chris Hansen (33 points) and Tomas Sanchez (24 points), while Andre Hatchett (20) tied a career high. Hansen was 5/11 from downtown, while Sanchez and Hatchett combined to make 21 free throws. It was the best offensive effort we've seen from ISU in a long while.
As well as they played, it almost ended in a disappointing manner. With the score tied at 90 with 24.5 seconds left, the Bengals had the ball with the chance to take the final shot. Sanchez was handling the ball up top, but seemed to panic a little bit when he got closer to a five second call. He fired a shot early, and then committed a foul on the putback, sending the Dons to the line. However, USF missed the front end, and Ayikaburo Preh swatted their putback attempt. Sanchez got the ball, and amazingly he got fouled with 2.2 seconds left. He calmly knocked down both freebies, and USF was unable to score. It was a big Bengals win.
ISU played lots of zone defense, as you can probably tell by the fact that the Dons fired 46 threes (making 17 of them). Often, it looked like USF was content to simply pass the ball around the perimeter and take a three. They hit a lot of them and got a lot of good looks, but they did ISU a favor by not trying to penetrate the zone.
By every measure, the Dons were favored to win this game. At times in OT, it looked like they had it under control. But ISU kept at it, and kept attacking. They were the aggressor, and it showed, as they took 35 FT attempts to 12 for USF. They got rewarded with a great road victory over a solid WCC team. It's the biggest sign yet that Bill Evans is on the verge of doing nice things with this program.
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In the process, the Bengals got career high totals from Chris Hansen (33 points) and Tomas Sanchez (24 points), while Andre Hatchett (20) tied a career high. Hansen was 5/11 from downtown, while Sanchez and Hatchett combined to make 21 free throws. It was the best offensive effort we've seen from ISU in a long while.
As well as they played, it almost ended in a disappointing manner. With the score tied at 90 with 24.5 seconds left, the Bengals had the ball with the chance to take the final shot. Sanchez was handling the ball up top, but seemed to panic a little bit when he got closer to a five second call. He fired a shot early, and then committed a foul on the putback, sending the Dons to the line. However, USF missed the front end, and Ayikaburo Preh swatted their putback attempt. Sanchez got the ball, and amazingly he got fouled with 2.2 seconds left. He calmly knocked down both freebies, and USF was unable to score. It was a big Bengals win.
ISU played lots of zone defense, as you can probably tell by the fact that the Dons fired 46 threes (making 17 of them). Often, it looked like USF was content to simply pass the ball around the perimeter and take a three. They hit a lot of them and got a lot of good looks, but they did ISU a favor by not trying to penetrate the zone.
By every measure, the Dons were favored to win this game. At times in OT, it looked like they had it under control. But ISU kept at it, and kept attacking. They were the aggressor, and it showed, as they took 35 FT attempts to 12 for USF. They got rewarded with a great road victory over a solid WCC team. It's the biggest sign yet that Bill Evans is on the verge of doing nice things with this program.
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Friday, December 14, 2012
North Dakota Wins; Idaho State Needs Offensive Answers
There were two Big Sky games on Thursday night, and the losing teams of the two games combined to score 85 points.
First, North Dakota took down Presentation College by the score of 74-32. Just a few stats, since gaudy numbers are to be expected in a game like this.
At the half, the score was 28-10, as Presentation was just 4/18 from the field. UND shot 55% from the floor for the game, led by Alonzo Traylor scoring 17 points on 8/8 shooting. Amazingly, there were only 13 fouls called in the game, and Presentation was 0/2 from the stripe. From that standpoint, that was about as clean of a game as you could get.
One area of concern for UND continues to be the turnovers of Jamal Webb. He committed six of them in this game, and the starting guard now averages 4.6 giveaways per game.
Now, the important thing.... who is Presentation College? Their nickname is the Saints, and they are now 4-6 on the year with losses to teams like Minnesota-Morris, Trinity Bible College, Valley City State, and Oglala Lakota College. It appears they compete in the D3 ranks. In other words, this probably won't do wonders for UND's RPI, but it is a win.
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In the other game of the night, Idaho State went to play Cal State Fullerton and lost by a score of 66-53. The loss drops them to 1-7 on the year.
As has been the case all year, their struggles were mostly with putting the ball in the basket. They shot 38%, including 4/14 from downtown. Tomas Sanchez was their only real threat, as he scored 17 points on 6/10 shooting. He also had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Apart from Sanchez and Andre Hatchett, the rest of the team shot 7/27 from the floor. Starting PG Melvin Morgan was 1/9 from the floor, with one assist to three turnovers. Guard Chris Hansen was supposed to provide long-range shooting, but he is just 16/44 from downtown this year. The team as a whole is shooting 27% from three-pointers on the young season. If they are going to be more than a bottom Big Sky team, that number has to improve.
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First, North Dakota took down Presentation College by the score of 74-32. Just a few stats, since gaudy numbers are to be expected in a game like this.
At the half, the score was 28-10, as Presentation was just 4/18 from the field. UND shot 55% from the floor for the game, led by Alonzo Traylor scoring 17 points on 8/8 shooting. Amazingly, there were only 13 fouls called in the game, and Presentation was 0/2 from the stripe. From that standpoint, that was about as clean of a game as you could get.
One area of concern for UND continues to be the turnovers of Jamal Webb. He committed six of them in this game, and the starting guard now averages 4.6 giveaways per game.
Now, the important thing.... who is Presentation College? Their nickname is the Saints, and they are now 4-6 on the year with losses to teams like Minnesota-Morris, Trinity Bible College, Valley City State, and Oglala Lakota College. It appears they compete in the D3 ranks. In other words, this probably won't do wonders for UND's RPI, but it is a win.
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In the other game of the night, Idaho State went to play Cal State Fullerton and lost by a score of 66-53. The loss drops them to 1-7 on the year.
As has been the case all year, their struggles were mostly with putting the ball in the basket. They shot 38%, including 4/14 from downtown. Tomas Sanchez was their only real threat, as he scored 17 points on 6/10 shooting. He also had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Apart from Sanchez and Andre Hatchett, the rest of the team shot 7/27 from the floor. Starting PG Melvin Morgan was 1/9 from the floor, with one assist to three turnovers. Guard Chris Hansen was supposed to provide long-range shooting, but he is just 16/44 from downtown this year. The team as a whole is shooting 27% from three-pointers on the young season. If they are going to be more than a bottom Big Sky team, that number has to improve.
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Saturday, November 19, 2011
Northern Arizona and Idaho State Take Care Of Business
Picture from Idaho State website.
Northern Arizona and Idaho State had a couple of easy ones on Friday, and thankfully they went out and took care of business in games they should have and did dominate.
The Lumberjacks got their first win against Arizona Christian, winning 103-42. The game was never in doubt, as the Lumberjacks took a 27 point lead into halftime and dominated the second half even more. It is not a game that will boost any resumes or look impressive, but sometimes it is good to just get that first win and to experience playing well to boost confidence. Five players posted double figures, including Stallon Saldivar (with a career-high 17 points and 9 assists) and freshman James Douglas (with 18 points).
They should have another easy win on Tuesday as they take on Northern New Mexico, an NAIA team that has been throttled by both Weber State and Montana State this season.
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Meanwhile, Idaho State took out Colorado Christian 93-66, though it was only a 9 point game at halftime. The Bengals had 6 guys in double figures, led by 16 points from Andre' Hatchett. It was a very nice offensive performance, but Coach O'Brien wasn't super pleased with the first half defense:
“The first six minutes we played like we had been practicing and played with a lot of intensity on the defensive end of the floor,” O'Brien said. “That resulted in some running and easy shot opportunities. They were really frustrated with what they were going to do offensively. They were having a hard time handling Chase, Kenny and Andre's pressure. The last 12 minutes of the half we backed off defensively and started lining up between the ball and the rim. All we did was give up lay ups and commit fouls.”Still, they figured it out in the second half and coasted for an easy victory. The win improves them to 1-2.
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