It is that time again, just wanted to check in on player rankings thoughts. This set of rankings is more like Power Rankings in that it’s how they’re playing right now combined with overall importance to the team.
One last caveat to say that we have 9 guys and each one of these guys is a dawg. Each one scraps and each one is super valuable to this team so even the 9th ranked player is of significant value to the Dores.
1) Devin McGlockton - 10.9 ppg, leads the Dores at 8.1 rpg, adds 1 assist, .7 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. Once again, this guy proves his worth without having the ball in his hands. Think about that… he averages 11 and 8 without ever dribbling the ball. Simply amazing superglue guy. His two tap steals to Tanner and his offensive rebound to give the Dores a 5 pt lead Saturday were epic.
2) AJ Hoggard - This will confuse some and some will disagree but AJ continues to take all the tough defensive matchups and somehow he still has enough to help us on offense. He made huge plays down the stretch to beat UK Saturday (dish to Nickel, drive to set up Glock)). He could shoot it better but he still brings a lot to this team.
3) Jason Edwards - He continues to just plug in scoring when we need it. Most games we need 18-20 from him for us to win so that’s what he does. Had 4 huge assists Saturday to help beat UK.
4) Tyler Tanner - Hard to imagine a freshman averaging 6.4 ppg is the 4th ranked player for us but it’s trending that way. Tanner is a top 5 in the country on ball defender as it stands today and that’s a weapon. He makes good decisions and moves faster than the pace of the game, which is crazy considering he’s a freshman….
5) Tyler Nickel - Nickel’s 3 is warming up at the right time. At 10.6 ppg, that’s about what we need from him. 11 or more per game and 3 triples is about right. His rebounding is ass for a 6’7 guy and that almost cost us against UK as he gave up a 4 point play late after he missed a box out on a free throw and UK got the rebound and hit a 3. I was pissed at him BUT, 2 possessions later he made up for it with a 3 of his own. He’s growing up before our eyes.
6) Jaylen Carey - Hard to believe this guy’s at 6 because he’s flashed a few games where he’s been THE GUY. Carey has to tighten up his ball handling and his free throw shooting but he has that sexy body and that fancy footwork on the block. His energy is fierce when he plays well, very intimidating guy.
7) Chris Mañon - The glueiest of glue guys, Mañon’s game saving block vs UTjr defines what he brings night in and night out. He takes tough defensive matchups, rebounds on defense and gets on the floor every game. At the end of practices, my old coach used to put us in two lines and toss the ball out on the floor. You’re going one on one diving for the loose ball. Winner gets water, loser runs suicides. Mañon would have always been drinking water.
8) MJ Collins - MJ has run through a little rut but has had some nice dunks and provided enough to help us continue to win. I’d like to see MJ get set on his jumper, get the ball to his “shot pocket” quickly and go from there. His release is very good, it’s all the stuff he does prior to that that leads to misses. MJ is going to do something special for us soon.
9) Grant Huffman - Grant Theft Auto has been on the mend since Mizzou where he got the flu. He’s still the guy we all fell in love with but has been a bit off since his illness. As a backup point guard and 2nd or 3rd ball handler on the court, he always has value. As a defender and rebounder, he always has value. GTO is lurking, beware of the guy that’s lurking….
Love all of these guys and love this team. Keep fighting, boys! We have a long way to go but it’s been fun so far. Remember, we could lose out as we’re going to only be favorites in 3 of the remaining 11 and just barely (UT, Miz, Ark) but we could also win several too. We’re going to be in a lot of close games so the leadership and coaching will be our biggest weapons.
LFG!!!
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