RichZ
Fort the ead!
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 5,250
- Reaction Score
- 22,318
The difference between October Castle and March Castle is astounding. I recall that Stephon came to us very highly regarded, except for his 3 ball.
I also remember 5 - 6 months ago, when I first watched him play, wondering what all the hype was about. He seemed hesitant.
Hurley gave him a quick hook when he made a bad play or seemed to have a mental lapse. But Hurley and staff sure must have been working with him a lot. Perhaps there was a sense of urgency, knowing they had but one season to reap the rewards of recruiting him, and getting him in a position to live up to the hype on the BIG stage of the Big East and NCAA tourneys.
Some of his drives through traffic the last half dozen games have been amazing. Play it over and over in your head kind of amazing. The combination of power and grace in some of drives is incredible.
It seems like he reaches into his bag of skills and brings out something different each game. Last night, it was rebounding and ball hawking. 6 boards and 4 steals. Not to mention three dimes. A week ago, it was scoring, when he went for 21 on 75% shooting against Seton Hall.
He's also a way better defender than I ever anticipated.
And, under the tutelage of our staff, his supposed weak link -- the 3 ball -- is no longer an issue. He's not Spencer or Alex, but he's hitting it with regularity, and appears willing to take it in a big moment. I'd hazard a guess that someone on the staff, or perhaps one of his teammates invested a lot of time with him working on it.
The improvements in his game bode well for his future, as well as for ours over the next 9 games.
I also remember 5 - 6 months ago, when I first watched him play, wondering what all the hype was about. He seemed hesitant.
Hurley gave him a quick hook when he made a bad play or seemed to have a mental lapse. But Hurley and staff sure must have been working with him a lot. Perhaps there was a sense of urgency, knowing they had but one season to reap the rewards of recruiting him, and getting him in a position to live up to the hype on the BIG stage of the Big East and NCAA tourneys.
Some of his drives through traffic the last half dozen games have been amazing. Play it over and over in your head kind of amazing. The combination of power and grace in some of drives is incredible.
It seems like he reaches into his bag of skills and brings out something different each game. Last night, it was rebounding and ball hawking. 6 boards and 4 steals. Not to mention three dimes. A week ago, it was scoring, when he went for 21 on 75% shooting against Seton Hall.
He's also a way better defender than I ever anticipated.
And, under the tutelage of our staff, his supposed weak link -- the 3 ball -- is no longer an issue. He's not Spencer or Alex, but he's hitting it with regularity, and appears willing to take it in a big moment. I'd hazard a guess that someone on the staff, or perhaps one of his teammates invested a lot of time with him working on it.
The improvements in his game bode well for his future, as well as for ours over the next 9 games.
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