Knight Rider

Player of the Week

Brandon Goodwin, Central Florida

The performance pretty much came entirely out of nowhere. On Tuesday, Brandon Goodwin, the 6’0” sophomore shooting guard for the Knights, went off for 30 points in a thrilling overtime victory over Houston.  Goodwin, who is well behind his own teammates, BJ Taylor and Adonys Henriquez in scoring with a modest 9.9 per game average, came into this week off a 2-point performance in a loss to Tulsa on New Year’s Eve.  But he opened with 12 points in a loss to Temple, followed by his massive game (he shot 12/17 from the floor) against Houston, one of the better performances of anyone in the conference this season.  Goodwin also chipped in 5 assists and 7 rebounds in each game, giving him averages of 21 PPG, 7 RPG, 5 APG, and 1 SPG on 68% FG shooting and 70% 3-point shooting for the week.  

Goodwin combines with Henriquez and Taylor to form one of the more dangerous offensive backcourts in the conference, but they give up a lot of points.  This is a fun, perimeter-oriented, deep-shooting team that will be fun to watch and, when complementary options like Goodwin get it going, they may be in position to pull off some upsets.

Who’s Hot

Jaylen Bond, Temple

The Temple Owls have been the surprise team for the AAC thus far, and a huge reason for the turnaround has been the influx of transfer students.  The midseason additions of Jesse Morgan and Devin Coleman were great and keyed the Owls to a win over Kansas.  But Jaylen Bond, the former Texas big man, has been doing work for Temple all season.  With double-digit rebound performances in four of his last 5, Bond has taken ahold of the lead in rebounding for the entire conference.  An excellent offensive rebounder, Bond uses his wide frame and tenacity to get in position on the offensive glass.  This week, Bond scored a career-high 21, with 14 rebounds, against UCF, then had another double-double of 10 and 11 against Tulane.  Lots of players are coming on strong of late for Temple, and they’re riding a wave of six straight victories.

Austin Nichols, Memphis

 Expectations were pretty high for both Memphis and its highly touted sophomore power forward, Austin Nichols, coming into the season.  Many of the conference’s best players had graduated and the landscape appeared to be wide open for Memphis to fight for the top spot and for Nichols to potentially earn conference POY honors.  Thus far, the team has been a bit underwhelming, probably putting up about a C-grade resume so far.  Nichols himself has been good but not great.  But in the Tigers’ lone game this week, he stood out.  Though the Tigers dropped a tough one at home to Tulane, who likes like they could be better than expected, Nichols scored 28 on 13/19 shooting, eclipsing his previous season-high of 16 and establishing a new career high as well.  Prior to that, he had earned his second double-double of the season with 15 and 11 against Houston in the conference opener.  Nichols has really developed as a rim protector, swatting at least 3 shots in 8 of his last 9 games, putting him at first in the conference, well ahead of Amida Brimah of UConn.  Memphis needs to get it in gear after losing to Stephen F. Austin and Tulane, games it probably should have won.  If they can continue to utilize Nichols effectively, they can ride one of the league’s most efficient players to many more wins and perhaps a conference title.

Who’s Not

Caleb White, East Carolina

It’s been a solid season so far for the sophomore forward.  White averages 12.5 PPG, one member of a trio of Pirates who score over 12 PPG, and he’s been very effective shooting from deep (40% from 3 on the year).  But his performance of late has been shaky, and the Pirates find themselves at 0-3 in AAC play, still searching for their first ever win in the conference.  This week, White averaged a mere 5.5 PPG and shot 4/17 (24%) from the field as the Pirates lost to Cincinnati and South Florida.  Those were two of his worst shooting performances of the season.  But he’ll thaw out, and the Pirates have a good chance to get that first conference win when they host Houston on Wednesday.

Top 5 Seniors

1.Ryan Boatright, Connecticut

No room for argument here.  Boatright is a stud, the best player in the league, senior or otherwise.  He averages 16.8 PPG, 4.1 APG, 1.8 SPG, and 1.5 3PMPG, good for 2nd, 5th, 2nd, and 12th in the conference, respectively.  He’s quite possibly the best player on the best team, he might just be the key to a little more Huskies postseason magic.

2.Will Cummings, Temple

The smooth scorer for the Owls currently sits at sixth in the conference in points per game.  Before the season, I thought he would put up gaudy numbers, but he’s actually meshed pretty well with his other volume-scoring teammates such as Quentin DeCosey and Jesse Morgan, and that’s why the Owls find themselves as one of the better teams in the league thus far.

3.Yanick Moreira, Southern Methodist

Moreira was pretty good last season.  But in the offseason at the FIBA World Cup, he was dominant.  Playing for Team Angola, he averaged 17.6 PPG against bigger, better competition and appeared to be primed for a great senior season.  He’s averaging 12.3 PPG and 6.5 RPG and was huge in non-conference play while frontcourt mate, Markus Kennedy, was suspended.  He’s perhaps the best big man in the conference and could have an NBA future ahead of him.

4.Corey Allen, South Florida

Allen has made a big leap in his second year for the Bulls following his JUCO career.  His scoring average has risen from 9.p PPG to 15.7 PPG, good for 3rd in the conference.  And while his team has struggled Allen had been super efficient, shooting 48% from the field, a great number for a shooting guard.  With 31 against Florida St. and 29 against Jacksonville, we’ve seen what Allen Jr. can do when he’s on his game, so even though the supporting cast around him hasn’t been great, he can slay some giants in conference play with his play alone.

5.Jay Hook, Tulane

One could make the argument that Jay Hook is the best outside shooter in the AAC.  His 39% sits at 8th in the conference, and the top 7 players haven’t attempted as many 3’s as he.  Though it’s unlikely he’ll end up getting many postseason accolades, he’s been a big part of Tulane’s highly respectable 11-4 start in their new conference and should continue to rain 3’s.