EC Matthews -- (Formerly) Cousy and (now) Jerry West List

[MrRamsDen76]

http://zagsblog.com/articles/kentucky-d ... atch-list/

[ramster]

Only one of the 35 others named are on an opponent who URI is scheduled to play against

Briante Weber Virginia Commonwealth University

Interesting that Senior Kendall Anthony of Richmond was not named yet this PG was named by the A10 Coaches to the A10 First Team Preseason. EC being named to this prestigious listing brings even more questions to his not having been named to the A10 First Team.

[SmartyBarrett]

E.C. slides off the PG list and slides into the SG list. One of 16 finalists for the Jerry West award.

http://www.hoophallawards.com/west.php

[TruePoint]

E.C. slides off the PG list and slides into the SG list. One of 16 finalists for the Jerry West award.

http://www.hoophallawards.com/west.php

The difference betweem EC being a very good player and a great one is turnovers. He turns the ball over due to both ball handling issues and court vision issues. His entire offseason should be devoted to those things. He is an elite scorer for college basketball, just needs to clean up the ball security stuff to take the next step as a player.

[Iggy1979]

Also needs to work on his drives to the basket. He rarely scores on those plays now. He either misses badly, gets fouled or turns it over. He's become much more of a long-range shooter.

[Blue Man]

The one thing that has helped us this season is that everyone has accepted roles - whatever they are.

TJ is an emotional leader, defensive wunderkind, big time bench guy.

Biggie comes in to spell Jarvis, keep him fresh, make a couple of plays.

Reischel comes in and is an offensive spark plug - he's also greatly improved his defense.

Earl comes in, plays a very tough and key 5-10 minutes of inside defense.

Jarvis runs the offense, makes shots when he needs to.

Hass gets put backs, blocks, rebounds, and owns the inside.

Terrell is an emotional fire starter. Leads the team with confidence. Makes big shots. 2nd scoring option.

Gil is needed for rebounds and for key points in the paint.

EC is having trouble adjusting to the fact that he isn't THE guy. He doesnt need to do everything, but he's still trying to. He's not a PG. He doesn't have the instinct, the handle, or the mentality to be a PG - at any level. Not that that's a bad thing. He's our best scoring threat - he just needs to pick his spots, and play to his strengths.

He shouldn't be handling the ball, bringing it up, or running the offense. He's at his best off the ball. With other scoring options emerging, he's going to start to find it a lot easier when he's dealing with people 1 on 1, rather than double teams. There's few people that can stop him from getting to the rim and finishing if he has them alone. It's a rare ability.

If he can hone his 3 point shot, lock down his free throws, and make the extra pass when he's in traffic - he will become an NBA 2-guard.

He just needs to accept that he's not a PG, and fall into the leader on this team from the 2 spot.

If he does that, there is absolutely no stopping this team; this year or beyond.

[Rhodyhooopz]

Well said Blue man

[rodfromcranston]

Agree 100%. Actually, EC should ideally be a 3.
He can rebound, and jumps well.
He's just not a ball handler, in any sense.
5-7 turnovers a game kills us on an already shaky offense.
I'm sure this isn't lost on the staff.

[gorhody89]

Last year he was soo soo smooth to the bucket and seemed to get there with such ease....maybe it's scouting (only goes left), his injury, trying to do too much with NBA scouts, or some kind of combination....still very lucky to have him as he does a lot of things very well and has the ability to take over the game

[Blue Man]

Last year he was soo soo smooth to the bucket and seemed to get there with such ease....maybe it's scouting (only goes left), his injury, trying to do too much with NBA scouts, or some kind of combination....still very lucky to have him as he does a lot of things very well and has the ability to take over the game

No doubt. He's a leader on this team - and he needs to be. It's probably a combination of everything - but he's young. He's a 19 year old sophomore. He will make adjustments and have growing pains.

The best thing about this year, beyond the success, is that it seems like EC is going to be a 4 year guy, based on what he needs to work on.

Can you imagine trying to play this team with Jarvis and Jared as juniors, and EC, Iverson, and Hass as seniors? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

[RAM67]

Blue must be in love. I am actually enjoying your posts this year. (well at least lately)

[SGreenwell]

I made a minor topic title change to reflect the position change for EC in the awards consideration.