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August 30th,
2006
By Joel
Welser
Broadcast Basketball
Rice Owls
Overall Rank:
#72
Conference
Rank: #3 C-USA
2005-06:
12-16, 6-8, 6th (t)
2005-06
postseason: none
 Morris Almond
and Lorenzo Williams provide a great 1-2 combination at
Rice.
The problem is nobody behind them are proven quality players.
If a few players can step up and become more productive, Rice
has a decent shot at ending in the top two of the conference.
Who’s Out:
J.R.
Harrison and Jamaal Moore leave some questions in the
frontcourt. Harrison averaged 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds
during his senior campaign, while Moore added on 8.0 points and
4.0 boards. Seldom used Arthur Culver and Jason Bridges have
also graduated.
Who’s In:
Coach Willis
Wilson’s group of newcomers will add some depth to the Owls
roster. Lawrence “Cliff” Ghoram can help out immediately at
both guard spots. The 6-5 Baton Rogue, Louisiana native is a
great scorer and can get to the basket and finish. Chris Hagan
is the heir apparent to the point guard spot and will spend the
year as one of the backups to Williams. Hagan is a great passer
and a proven winner and should be a solid option as a freshman.
Small forward Charles Belton redshirted last year and will add
some depth on the wings. Power forward Marius Craciun is just
the third junior college transfer to head to Rice during Coach
Wilson’s 14 year tenure, which can imply all sorts of things.
The most extreme being Coach Wilson is not happy with the
frontcourt or Craciun is too good to turn away. The truth lies
somewhere inbetween. Craciun can score inside and out and, with
his experience, will battle for a starting job. At the least,
the 6-8 Romanian should be a major contributor off the bench by
mid-season.
Who to Watch:
All-America Candidate Almond and point guard Williams are fun to
watch and will have to carry on their shoulders. Almond
averaged a team high 21.9 points, which was good enough for
first in the conference, and tied for team highs with 5.8
rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He will be the team leader in
every sense of the phrase. Williams is a solid point guard who
averaged 10.5 points and 6.1 assists as a junior. With that duo
of seniors on the floor, Rice can win those tough games down the
stretch.
Final
Projection:
How successful
the Owls can really be depends on the other returning players.
Patrick Britton, Paulius Packevicius and Matt Hagen have
starting experience up front and Aleks Perka showed promise as a
freshman. In the backcourt, sophomores Rodney Foster and Cory
Pflieger will need to step up. Foster is a solid back-up point
guard and Pflieger, with a little more consistency, can become a
threat from long range. It appears that the top of Conference
USA has moved down and the bottom has moved up. There shouldn’t
be too much separating second place from eighth place. With
senior leaders like Almond and Williams, Rice has the experience
to make a nice run in the conference.
Projected
Post-season Tournament:
NIT
Projected
Starting Five:
Lorenzo
Williams, Senior, Guard, 10.5 points per game
Cory Pflieger,
Sophomore, Guard, 3.3 points per game
Morris Almond,
Senior, Forward, 21.9 points per game
Patrick Britton,
Junior, Forward, 5.6 points per game
Paulius
Packevicius, Junior, Forward, 2.7 points per game
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