Archive - 2012

Dundrecous Nelson was dismissed from the Ole Miss basketball program on Thursday after being arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia less than 48 hours earlier. The 5'11 sophomore was leading the team in scoring at 11.6 ppg and was a big part of running the Rebels offense. Coach Andy Kennedy was searching for leadership even with Nelson on the team for the 10-5 Rebs. Looks like SEC play just got a lot tougher for this Ole Miss team.

Michael Jordan's eldest son, Jeff, has decided to leave the University of Central Florida basketball team, citing personal reasons. Jeff Jordan had previously played on Illinois and transferred to UCF, playing with his younger brother Marcus. The younger Jordan leads UCF in scoring, averaging 17.2 ppg this year as a junior. Jeff had seen his role diminish slightly since the reinstatement of PG AJ Rompza into the Knights line-up. Nonetheless, the elder Jordan had been a key bench player for UCF and averaged 2.7 ppg in 21.2 mpg through 13 games.

Player of the Week

Thomas Robinson, Kansas

Thomas RobinsonThe monster season continues for the dominant power forward. The junior is without a doubt the leading candidate for National Player of the Year honors. His ability to dominate games is impressive. He is a player who uses his physical strength and tremendous motor to impose his will on the opposition. In his past two games, he has accumulated a mind-boggling 45 points and 34 rebounds! He also leads the Big 12 in double-doubles with 10. His best game this past week was in an 84-58 romp over North Dakota. He scored 30 points and grabbed 21 rebounds while shooting 10-14 from the field for a blistering 71%. Maybe ever more impressive was his marksmanship from the line, knocking down nine of his 12 shots. He even dished out four assists.

Who's Hot

Rodney McGruder, Kansas State

The junior swingman is the type of player who "quietly" fills the stat sheet. The 6'4" guard/forward is very adept at slashing to the basket, as well as rebounding the basketball and being a force on the defensive side of the floor getting steals or deflections. In an 82-46 blowout of Howard, he scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had five steals. He is showing improvement on his jump shot as well, nailing 4-4 from behind the three-point line. In a 67-49 loss to rival Kansas this week, he scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had another three steals. However, his jump shot wasn't falling at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. If it had been, you could see what type of monster game performance he is capable of having. He is an extremely skilled player who, when clicking on all cylinders, can carry his Wildcat team to victories.

Player of the Week

Cody Zeller, Indiana freshman

Cody ZellerZeller looked like a freshman in his Big Ten debut at Michigan State, looking lost the majority of 40 minutes with a few exceptions. The Hoosiers bounced back with two impressive home wins since then, knocking off No. 2 Ohio State 74-70 on Saturday and No. 16 Michigan 73-71 on Thursday. Both games displayed the Hoosiers’ tendency to allow games to become too close at the end, and Assembly Hall won’t be around to bail them out all season. But Zeller looked good in both games, making all the right moves down low to get open, high-percentage shots. He averaged 16 points and four rebounds in the Hoosiers’ two wins, making 14-of-19 shots from the field despite fouling out of the Ohio State game.

Who’s Hot

Aaron White, Iowa freshman

The 6-foot-8 freshman forward certainly helped the Hawkeyes to one of their best weeks in years. It started Saturday in Madison, Wis., when White came off the bench to score 16 of his 18 points in the second half as Iowa took down No. 11 Wisconsin 72-65 on the Badgers’ home floor, breaking a 23-game winning streak against unranked teams. White’s dunking and spot-up shooting abilities remained on display Wednesday in a 64-62 victory at Minnesota, when he put up 10 points including a dunk down the stretch that extended the Hawkeyes’ lead to five. He’s a mismatch for slower forwards but still can go down low, averaging five rebounds in the two games. He shot 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the field in the pair of games, including 2-of-3 from long range. White, from Strongsville, Ohio, now is firmly in the discussion for Big Ten freshman of the year.

Matt Gatens, Iowa senior

The senior leader put up 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals at Minnesota on 7-of-11 shooting. The 6-5 Iowa City native is one of the Big Ten’s leading rebounding guards at 4.3 per game this season; this week he more than doubled that at nine per game, including 12 at Wisconsin. He shot just 2-of-9 against the Badgers for six points but was key defensively along with Devyn Marble on the perimeter against Jordan Taylor and the Badgers.

Player of the Week

Gerardo Suero, Albany, SG, Junior, 6-4 205 lbs.

Gerardo SueroThe Dominican Republic-born Suero has led Albany to a 10-6 record on the season, including three consecutive victories. For the season, Suero is posting a respectable stat line of 22.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.1 SPG and shooting 50.7 FG%, 35.3 3P%, and 81.7 FT%. In Albany’s most recent game against a clearly inferior opponent, UMBC (2-12), Suero finished with 22 points (8-14 shooting) and 7 rebounds. Prior to that game, Suero posted 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists against another inferior opponent, Hartford (1-13). Earlier in the season against Syracuse (currently ranked #1 in the nation), Suero finished with 31 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Who’s Hot?

Temple Owls (10-3)

Temple beat #3 Duke this week, 78-73, led by Khalif Wyatt’s 22 points (8-12 shooting, 3-5 three-pointers), 4 rebounds and 5 steals. The Owls played efficiently on offense (56.4 FG%) and held Duke’s freshman phenom, Austin Rivers, to 12 points on 3-11 shooting. Temple has won four consecutive games and currently ranks 27th in the nation for APG (15.8). Although this team does not dominate games, it shows efficient offensive strategies and plays solid defense.