The Fans Speak: Point Guard Palooza

Often the Poll of the Week results get rolled into some post or another, but this week I think the voice of the fans deserves its own space. We asked, "Who should start at point guard?", and the results are close indeed:

Steve Luptak: 13 (25%)
Daniel Munoz: 7 (13%)
Nick Hendra: 16 (31%)
Blake Jolivette: 15 (29%)
Total Votes: 51 (100%)

Hendra leads with 16 votes, which on one hand is surprising as he is the least like a true point guard of the four. On the other hand, he is definitely the biggest offensive spark and leads the team in assists, although is ball-handling skills and knowledge of the offense from the one spot might not be as great as the others.

Neck-and-neck with Hendra is Blake Jolivette, who has only seen about a minute and a half of play time this season. We've speculated for months as to why he's been riding the pine for about a year now, as last season he shared the starting spot with Danny Munoz up until late December. A fantastic 3-point conversion at West Virginia gave fuel to the "Let Blake Play" camp, although others are quick to point out that it was in the final seconds versus WVU's scrub team. Still, with a dearth of dribble penetration from our other guards, it still holds merit.

Following closely behind Jolivette is Steve Luptak, the first candidate to actually see significant play time at the point guard position this season. He's probably the best defender of the bunch, but the weakest on offense. His ball handling skills are not as tight as Danny's, but his bigger frame helps him hold onto the ball better in tight situations, and his experience as a Senior and accompanying leadership skills get him the starting spot as of now.

Last, surprisingly, is Danny Munoz. I think Steve and Danny coming in 3rd and 4th place respectively speaks to fans' collective disappointment with how weak this position is for us right now, but I didn't expect Danny to fall behind the rest of the pack quite so much. As stated, Danny probably has the best ball-handling skills of the bunch, can hit the occasional three, and against softer teams can make it to the basket every now and then. While I think he should be higher, that's just my opinion, and if my opinion was the only one that mattered then why take a poll?

Last, I do want to mention option #5, Wayne Simon II. As he's new to the team and stands little chance of starting this season, he wasn't included in the poll. This being said, in the years to come we will likely see a lot of him. He's tiny, but quick, and from what I've seen can drive to the basket and pick much larger defenders like it's nobody's business. He has the opportunity to get a bit bigger this summer too, and the cleanup minutes he's been seeing so far have hopefully been helping him adjust to the college game. When we lose Nick and Steve to graduation after this season, we'll likely look to Wayne to step up and contribute much more, along with fellow freshman Tony Wroblicky. This team has a bright future, and Wayne will definitely be a part of it.

Thanks to everyone who voted. AUHoops only gets better when there's more voices being heard. If you have further thoughts on the point guards (and I'm sure you do), share them with us in the comments, then vote in this week's poll, "Which Patriot League opponent will be our greatest contender for the title?" We'll be back shortly with a preview of tomorrow's UMBC game.

Pro Deo Et Patria and GO EAGLES!
Josh

Monday Eagles Update (Sweet Clawed Z. Eagle, It's Actually Monday! Edition)

I hope everyone has caught their breath after the flurry of exciting recruiting news that hit us late last week. Now with the largest roster in recent Eagles history and so much fresh optimism that we're sure to be the 2011 NCAA Champions, things are looking up. They're looking so up, in fact, that this week's Monday Eagles Update is actually being posted on a Monday! If I had a nickel for every person who thought that would never happen...

First on the docket today is an update on how we're doing over on The Mid Majority's Top 100 countdown. As of today, they've hit #71 (Illinois-Chicago), with 38 points, and no sign yet of the Patriot League. At least in this case, that's a good thing, as we're sure to have at least three teams in the top 70.

Next up is this week's Poll of the Week. Last week we asked which point guard(s) would see the most play this upcoming season, with the opportunity to vote for multiple players. Unfortunately, the poll was created before we knew of Warren Flood's arrival on the team, otherwise he would have been up there as well. Sorry Warren! Over on the message board, user turtleguts very astutely stated "[Flood] seems like he will be our version of 'Rudy'." Definitely can't disagree there. So let's see how the rest of the guards stack up:

Daniel Munoz: 12 (40%)

Blake Jolivette: 9 (30%)

Steve Luptak: 5 (16%)

Wayne Simon: 12 (40%)

Jordan Borucki: 2 (6%)

Total Votes: 30

Danny and Wayne are locked in a solid tie for first. It's interesting that so many people already think Wayne is going to seriously compete for playing time, and I for one cannot wait to see how that pans out during the non-conference portion of our (yet to be released) schedule. Of course Blake is no slouch in our poll either, commanding almost a third of the votes as well. Senior Steve Luptak falls in fourth, although I do believe he's a bit underrated in this poll. Coach Jones has a healthy respect for experience and leadership, as he should, and Luptak had some real shining moments last season. Finally Jordan Borucki's supporters seem to have been on vacation last week, which is the theory I'm going to stick with. 

This week's poll question is, "Who is your preseason pick for Patriot League Player of the Year?" Since there's nothing more fun (or substantive) in August than a healthy dose of speculation, why not get the ball rolling early? 

Next up, let's check in to see how the team's summer went. In his summer update, Coach Jones stated that although we have the makings of a great team, its success will depend on how well the players work together. He goes on to point out that this summer they seem to be "spending time together, hopefully developing some chemistry." I'd be inclined to confirm that there's no lack of chemistry on this season's squad, based on the following:

If this amusement park ride was Holy Cross, it would be losing by double digits

Here we have freshman forward Tony Wroblicky, sophomore guard Danny Munoz, and junior transfer Charles Hinkle (who will be eligible to become our new defensive powerhouse this December) kicking back and enjoying the off-season to its fullest. Not much more to say here, other than Danny's smile alone can stop a full-court press dead in its tracks. You heard it here first.

Finally, I want to give huge props to AU officials for helping to build up tradition with this year's Opening Convocation this past Friday. For those who haven't been around campus recently, last year President Kerwin committed to making Convocation a true bookend to Commencement. The incoming class marches in a parade through the Glover Gate, around the Quad, and into Bender Arena to officially open the academic year. This year, they decided to throw in some great Class of 2014 t-shirts. Why is this so cool?

That's right, they have the AU Fight Song on them UPSIDE DOWN so that it can be referenced at a glance by the wearer. How sweet is that!? If anyone knows how I could snag one of these, let me know! No excuses for not belting out the fight song in Bender this year, I tell you!




That's all for this week, folks. Barring any more breaking news, check back next Monday for another update so good that will make you say "Oh, sweet Clawed Z. Eagle!"

Pro Deo Et Patria and GO EAGLES,
Josh