Über das Forum » hots, eight turnovers, 10 for 12 from the f

If you dropped UCLAs squad at a random pickup game on a Saturday, TJ Leaf might get picked last.He doesnt look like a baller. And he doesnt rise above the rim like some of his teammates or steer college basketballs new Showtime act on fast breaks. Thats Lonzo Balls job.Leafs only sin is playing efficient, productive basketball without the flair others on the UCLA roster boast.And thats why the potential lottery pick is also one of the games most overlooked players.Ball, arguably the front-runner for the Wooden Award, turns every player on the court into Ethan Hawke in Training Day, an overshadowed best supporting actor. Ball has a presence now. Hell always speak on the postgame dais. Win or lose, observers will scrutinize his statistics. College basketball fans want to know what hes thinking or plotting.Hes not a player. Hes the player right now.So within the games annals, Leafs contributions might get lost if this UCLA revival continues. He is, however, a critical element in Steve Alfords operation.He has made 48.8 percent of his jump shots, per hoop-math.com. The Bruins have made 45.6 percent of their shots inside the arc with Leaf on the floor, compared with 37.5 percent when hes on the bench, according to hooplens.com. Hes ranked 41st with a 134.2 offensive rating on KenPom.com. And Leaf was two assists shy of a triple-double in a win over UC Santa Barbara (25 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) last week, a good day for the freshman.Hes certainly on the NBAs radar.Hes skilled, knows how to play and has a feel for the game, said one NBA scout. Plays with urgency. Limited athletic ability but good enough to rebound and finish. ... His stock is on the rise because of his overall production.Added another NBA scout: I think hes good. Should be a solid NBA player.With 16 minutes, 44 seconds to play in his teams win over Ohio State on Saturday, Leaf stood on the left block, called for the ball, caught the pass, turned and scored on a hook shot in a seamless sequence straight from the Kevin McHale handbook. Nothing fancy about it.But it was an effective move.The?Lonzo Ball shadow, however, is wide. And if the most gifted collegiate passer since Chris Paul at Wake Forest continues to evolve, well hear even more about Ball and maybe less about his peers.But dont forget about Leaf.Pay attention to these overlooked players, too.Charlie Moore, California Golden Bears: Ranked 61st in the 2016 class by ESPN.com, the Chicagoan is averaging 17.1 PPG and shooting 80 percent from the free throw line and 45 percent from the 3-point line. Hes a tough defender (1.5 steals per game) who leads Cuonzo Martins most impressive defense at Cal (No. 8 in KenPom.coms adjusted defensive efficiency ratings). He picked off a pass and finished a smooth fast break in the first half of his teams win over Cal Poly on Saturday. Early in the second, Moore trailed on a fast break, found space in the corner where Grant Mullins found him for the 3-pointer. Hes versatile, and hes evolving. Hes a young talent, but hes also a building block for a program that will likely lose Ivan Rabb after this season. Hes also a young leader of a team that leaned on his production as Rabb and Jabari Bird dealt with injuries earlier this season.Ethan Happ, Wisconsin Badgers: Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana seem destined for a three-way fight in the Big Ten race, which will start soon. To win the conference title, Greg Gard will need Bronson Koenig, Nigel Hayes and Happ to battle every night. He has maintained the momentum he accrued with his 24-point, 13-rebound effort in his teams win over Syracuse in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The 6-foot-10 sophomore keeps it simple. He uses his size and underrated strength to muscle into the post and get easy buckets. Nearly 90 percent of Happs shots have been attempted at the rim, per hoop-math.com. He has made 72.2 percent of them.Justin Patton, Creighton Bluejays: Greg McDermott has a team with the talent to reach heights that the squads his son Doug once led did not achieve. Marcus Foster anchors one of the nations strongest backcourts. He has veterans around him. Patton is 7 feet tall, but hes agile and fluid, which allows his guards to run a lot of pick-and-roll action with the big man and create matchup problems for any team that overcommits, which Oral Roberts did multiple times in its recent loss to Creighton. Patton has made 79.7 percent of his shots inside the arc, the fifth-best mark in America. Lineups that feature Patton allow just .91 points per possession on defense. Creighton has better athletes and more refined talents. By seasons end, however, Patton could mature into the most significant player on the Bluejays roster.Jordan Mathews, Gonzaga Bulldogs: Mathews deserved a spot on this list last season when he played next to Jaylen Brown, Ivan Rabb and Tyrone Wallace at Cal. Now, hes assisting a Gonzaga squad with as much potential as any team Mark Few has assembled in recent years. Hes not putting up SportsCenter-worthy numbers, but hes avoiding the mistakes and errors that could hurt his team. Yes, he has made just 25 percent of his shots inside the arc, but he has connected on 86 percent of his free throws and 39.7 percent of his 3-pointers. He has recorded nine assists and committed just two turnovers in the past five games. Hes the perfect veteran for this West Coast Conference powerhouse.Jordan McLaughlin, USC Trojans: After Andy Enfield led USC to the 2016 NCAA tournament, the schools first berth since 2011, everything seemed to crumble. Julian Jacobs and Nikola Jovanovic turned pro. Four other players transferred. But Enfield kept McLaughlin, who has improved from last season in every category but 3-point shooting (numbers through Sunday night), including offensive rating (125.4 on KenPom.com), assist rate (26.1 percent), free throws (77 percent) and shots inside the arc (66 percent). Enfield asked McLaughlin to lead after this offseasons turmoil. He has answered that call and helped a USC team that should enter Pac-12 play undefeated.Yante Maten, Georgia Bulldogs: The biggest issue right now for Matens hype is he plays for a Georgia squad that looks like a team that will again struggle to reach the NCAA tournament. Still, the 6-8 forward dropped 30 points and snatched 13 rebounds against Kansas. He had 24 points and four blocks against Marquette. According to hooplens.com, lineups that feature Maten average 1.12 points per possession. When hes off the floor, Georgia records just 0.96 PPP. Thats a dramatic decline that showcases Matens importance.Historic game organized by Frank Martin and Orlando Antigua for second consecutive seasonMartin and Antigua have faced challenges this season. Antigua leads a South Florida squad thats 5-4 and recently parted with the coachs brother and assistant after an NCAA investigation surrounding allegations of academic fraud. Martins South Carolina squad hasnt had the same fire since the coach suspended star Sindarius Thornwell, who was arrested in May.But their troubles were secondary to the significance of their matchup in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday. The game featured two of Division Is three Hispanic-American coaches (Miamis Jim Larranaga is the third). Both coaches have worked hard to enhance the pipeline and help other Hispanic coaches emerge and find a path in college basketball.And Saturdays game, much like last seasons matchup, is a pivotal component of that effort.20th anniversary of a perfect season at the free throw lineDuring the 1996-97 season, Division II star Paul Cluxton established an NCAA mark that might last forever. The Northern Kentucky standout made all 94 of his free throw attempts, an NCAA record at all levels. How hard is that? Oklahoma States Phil Forte made 42 of his first 43 free throws this season. Appalachian States Donald Sims missed just eight of his 170 free throw attempts during the 2009-10 season. But perfection? Seems impossible. Cluxton, however, shattered that idea two decades ago.San Francisco Giants Store . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Stitched Giants Jerseys . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Wholesale Giants Jerseys . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Fake Giants Jerseys . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well.ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Dennis Smith Jr. scored a career-high 24 points and N.C. State held off Saint Josephs for a 73-63 victory Monday in the third-place game of the Paradise Jam tournament.Torin Dorn added 19 points, Terry Henderson 15 and Abdul-Malik Abu had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack (4-1), who overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half to lead by as many as 14 points.I think we just started really slow, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. I dont know if it was because of last nights game (a 112-94 loss to Creighton in the semifinals Sunday). We didnt have a lot of zip early. But around the 12-minute mark of the first half, we really started to play. We got going, started to execute and our defense was better. Our guys really responded.Shavar Newkirk scored 23 points and Charlie Brown added 14 for the Hawks (3-2), who shot just 32.9 percent from the field (24 of 73) including 5 of 22 from 3-point range.Still, Saint Josephs managed to make N.C. State sweat in the closing minutes. Down 57-43 with less than 11 minutes remaining, the Hawks pulled to within six points three times, the last at 69-63 wiith 2:29 remaining.ddddddddddddBut Smith connected of a pair of free throws less than a minute later, followed by a Henderson dunk that pushed N.C. States lead back to double digits.We had some terrific numbers -- 22 offensive rebounds, 73 shots, eight turnovers, 10 for 12 from the foul line, Saint Josephs coach Phil Martelli said. Just terrific numbers. We just didnt have enough guys making shots.BIG PICTURESaint Josephs: Sophomore guard Lamarr Kimble struggled in Mondays game, missing his first 10 shots. He finished with three points on 1-of-15 shooting, including 1-of-7 3-pointers.N.C. State: Smith showed why he was voted the ACCs preseason rookie of the year and put on the leagues preseason first team. While not particularly effective shooting (6 of 15 from the field, 3 of 6 on 3-pointers), he made 9 of 10 from the free throw line and added eight assists.UP NEXTSaint Josephs: Takes a few days off, then hosts Temple on Nov. 30.N.C. State: Hosts fellow Paradise Jam participant Loyola-Chicago on Saturday. ' ' '