One Bright Shining Star: December 10th
by Andy Force
"Give me the ball!" It is the call permeating throughout college
barns this winter. Sometimes it is, "Ok, give me the ball." Either
way the words come from the mouth of one phenom, one star
player…alone. He is the only legit talent featured and his help is
non-existent. Several teams have this situation in place and their
success utterly hinges on one guy.
It is not a new phenomenon by any means, as teams have long struggled
with building a team with one player so clearly head and shoulders
above his peers. Team does not mean that everyone scores 10 points
and gets 5 rebounds. A team is a group that includes players who each
know their role. Some teams have one guy who scores while everyone
else crashes the glass. The shot charts reflect his forced
selfishness. Let's take a look at some examples across the land.
Marcus Moore handles point guard for
Washington State. He
plays scoring guard. Moore runs the offense and rebounds. Marcus
Moore is Washington State. You will not hear a word about Washington
State this season unless Marcus scores 40 points. Last season he
dropped in 24% of their scoring, and this year Moore posts 22% of the
Cougar output. Moore has had one eye on the draft for two years now,
and with the abysmal play of his Cougars (58 ppg against the fluffs)
there is no reason to keep the other eye on Washington State. Player:
B-, Team: D-.
Darius Rice leads Miami (Florida)
in ppg, rebounds per game (6.2), and nearly leads the team in blocks
(1.4 per) and steals (1 per). From the forward spot Rice does
everything well and some things great. Looking at a Miami statsheet
brings to mind a new cartoon to pitch, Darius and Friends. Like
"Garfield and Friends," there will be other characters in the show;
you just wont know their names.
Darius Rice does not run the offense though as the ball begins
elsewhere. That said all the big shots come his way, and the
Hurricanes go to great lengths to give him every important heave. His
skill level far surpasses his teammates and he belongs just below
first team All Big East. Player: B+, Team: C-.
Ike Diogu leads the Arizona State Sun
Devils into battle. As a freshman in 2002-2003, Diogu collected
Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and AP All-American (honorable mention)
honors. Like his favorite athlete Ben Wallace, Diogu bangs like a
warrior. He pounds the glass but offers an uncanny soft touch for a
player of his girth. Slimmed down to 250 lb's this year, Ike has a
wide array of post moves at his disposal.
Diogu bears the weight of ASU's expectations, which are at a 10-year
high following his sparkling debut season. His numbers soar skywards
as he now posts 23 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks a game. With a good
win over Temple, 70-66, Arizona State should enter Pac-10 play at
7-1. How they fare in-conference is entirely reliant on Diogu's
ability to smash inside. He can and will make opponents look like a
6th grade gym class. The guy is a mammoth yet refined. Player: A,
Team: C+.
These three teams are clearly dependent on their star. There are
reasons why one great player does not often equate to success. Teams
will go to a zone without hesitation. A cramped zone can smother a
great player out of the game and change the entire focus of an
offense. In college, the gap between the star and the rest is smaller
than it is in high school. The talent base is raised while the stars
are pulled slightly towards the pack. Another shortcoming of
star-based teams in the college ranks is players' lack of court
awareness. Frequently a player will hit three shots in a row and
simply not get the ball for five minutes. It is not only the coach's
fault, but also the teammates have to feed the hot hand. NBA players
understand this principle better. Alas, college hoops is about the
team, the coach, the crowd, the band, and the passion. Stars have a
place, but the team concept includes them rather than revolves around
them.
