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DeAaron Williams with 15 points as ICC beats John Wood 83-67--
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I saw the game, and for anyone who didn't or didn't read the writeup, I can add a few observations.
ICC really does have a LOT of individual talent.
They were light years more talented than John Wood, but really struggled on their own home court until well into the 2nd half.
Two main thoughts on this.
--one is that they have had a long layoff, so maybe they were "rusty".
In the first half there were lots of bad plays, turnovers, badly missed shots and passes. They definitely looked better in the 2nd half, but if they play like that against a good team they are going to get beat. John Wood is a 6-6 team coming in last night. I hope I am wrong and they win it all.
But I have seen enough of ICC's games to say that this sloppy/reckless style (ICC had 24 turnovers) some times causes the opponent to play out of control, but also causes more turnovers than you'd want your team to have.
If they ever put together a really good, low turnover game they could beat some D-I, 4-year colege teams.
-- the other thought......... from what I saw is that ICC is playing way out of control at times. I don't want to use terms that are too negative, but I saw a lot of fancy dribbling, no-look passes, terrible shot selection, matador defense, and failure to do the fundamentals, and especially fancy-but-risky passes that if they click get the ooooohs and aaaaahs of the crowd--- but more often they don't connect and look silly at times.
This ICC team TRULY has the talent to be blowing these mediocre opponents out from the start, every single game.
The difference in athlticism between the two teams last night was reminiscent of watching that old Reebok commercial in black & white with Scottie Pippen skying and dunking over a bunch of guys who appeared to be short, flatfooted, horn-rimmed glasses 1950's characters and dominating with his physical abilities.
ICC plays way too much like a bunch of individuals trying to pad their own stats or create a highlight play.
As for the individual players, no denying that DeAaron Williams is the best player they have.
He has clearly improved his ballhandling and his jump shooting.
Matt Nicholson, Brandon Lee, and a couple other players were sitting out, presumably due to academic work.
I didn't see Jeff Wires, but he was probably out for the same reason
Wendell Mardis has D-I PG skills. He is a sophomore, but look to hear some word on him getting a D-I offer somewhere. Mardis had 10 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals, and only played about 1/2 the game as he shared the PG duty with Tad Sterling.
Ping is very active under the basket, but still never seems to get as many rebounds as Billy Baptist who is 3-4 inches shorter.
Too bad Baptist isn't a few inches taller, as he'd be getting D-I looks. Baptist plays like a 3 or 4 but is only 6-4.
Ping always seems to step out and shoot a couple mid-range jumpers, turnaround jumpers, and even a 3-pointer occasionally, but never looka good doing it.
He needs to stay put under the basket where is most effective, and he does nail a pretty high pct. of his close-in shots.
The stats confirm this as he hits 56% overall but at the arc he hits only 28%.
His personal stats on the year -- 10ppg (tied for 3rd best on the team with Jones and behind DeAaron & Baptist), 5rpg (sl. better than DeAaron for 2nd best on the team), and 0.3 assists per game (tied for 13th best on the team) have you wondering why Big XII powers were battling for his services.
LaMarcus Anderson is a crowd favorite.
He's a Woodruff guy and always seems to have bunch of his own fans in the crowd, but he is either hot or cold.
One game I saw earlier in the season (vs. Carl Sandburg), Anderson hit for 18 and was on fire from deep. He had 8 two nights later against Olivet JV. Last night he was scoreless and he was also scoreless in the prior game vs. Forest Park, but he always seems to have fun playing and does make things happen with his quickness.
The only other guy that I was impressed by was Will Jones.
Will is a transfer sophomore from Lewis & Clark.
He doesn't stand out but he is solid.
Handles the ball well, is not selfish, passes well, and hits the shots when he's open.
His season stats show he's getting about 10ppg, hits 74% on FT, and 50% on his FG's as well as his 3-pointers, and doesn't turn it over too much.
It is possible he might get a D-I offer as a SG. He drained 3 long ones from beyond the arc last night.
As noted, Brandon Lee didn't play, but he is not having a good year, and will not get D-I looks. Not sure what's happened, but in the 6-7 games of ICC's that I have seen this year, he only plays a few minutes each half, rarely scores, and isn't as aggressive as most of the other players. He still has D-I PG/ball handling skills, but he isn't going to get noticed on a D-II junior college team when he's being used as the 4th point guard option behind Wires, Mardis, and Sterling.
Prediction: Even though they struggle at times, they won't lose another game this season, as they play all their conference opponents, and I don't think any of those teams has the ability to keep up with ICC any more than John Wood did last night, and by the 2nd half ICC's depth and talent simply wore John Wood down.
But when they get into the post season playoffs, their talent will get them to the Juco Nationals where they will get some pretty tough opponents. I think they'll finish in the Elite Eight Nationally, and they are #1 ranked right now, so they'll be seeded favorably and likely to get all the way to the semis or finals.
I'd love to see them win the National Title but I think inconsistentcy will cause them to have a bad game somewhere along the line and I preict they'll finish 2nd. -
I watched the game and thought Babtist looked like
he had the most potential for D-1. Too bad he isn't
bigger. As for Williams, he plays in spurts. He will be
heavily challenged for playing time at BU. I hope that
he picks up his effort to prepare for the grueling D-1
competition. When he turns it on, he really is fun to
watch.TODASKY!Comment
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