April 2011 American Athletic Conference Wiretap
Khem Birch, who has yet to decide where he will transfer after leaving Pittsburgh, said he's in no rush to turn pro.
"I'm not in a rush to get to the NBA," Birch said. "I know I have a lot of work to do."
Birch indicated that he’d like to play in an up-tempo system where he can develop his power forward skills.
"I want to play more four," Birch said. "That's one of the main reasons I went to Pittsburgh in the first place. I know I don't have the four-man skills yet, but I want to develop them."
NBA scouts want to see Syracuse center Fab Melo be more consistent before they consider him pro ready.
“[The] biggest issue with him is can he consistently look like a first round pick night in and night out for them,” one NBA scout said.
“Until and unless he can do that he will be considered as simply a player who came in with great hype but hasn’t lived up to it.”
Melo seems well aware of the criticisms against him and promises that there will be more nights like Wednesday.
“No, there will be more for sure,” he said. “I am going to work a lot and my game is going to get better.”
Pittsburgh is an average plus-13.9 on the glass.
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon’s usual goal had been for his team to outrebound opponents by 10 per game. This season, Dixon has upped the ante, setting different goals before every game. Sometimes, the goal is 15, sometimes, it is 20.
"We're trying to challenge the guys with the numbers," Dixon said of the new goals. "It's something we talked about last year. We ended up second. We're first again this year. It's something we've done year after year. It's our strength, and we need to continue to play to it and continue to build off it and not be satisfied."
Andre Drummond said he declined redshirt freshman Michael Bradley’s offer to give up his scholarship.
“I’m thankful for what Mike was trying to do for me,” Drummond said.
“I told Mike, `Don’t do that, man. I’ll pay my way and take a scholarship next year. You don’t have to give up a scholarship for me.’ ”
UConn already had reached its scholarship limit when Drummond, a gifted 6-foot-10 center from Middletown, shocked college basketball by making a late commitment in August, just days before the start of the fall semester.
The Naismith Hall of Fame announced that North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft, and Kentucky’s Marquis Teague are among 64 point guards nominated for the 2012 Bob Cousy Award.
The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes college basketball's top point guard.
See below for the remaining list of 2012 Bob Cousy Award candidates:
Khem Birch is being led in the wrong direction by advisors who do not have his best interests in mind, according to Ryan Hurd, the head coach at Notre Dame Prep, where Birch played last season before signing with Pittsburgh.
"Khem is a great kid," Hurd said. "This situation is painting him as something he is not. The problem is he is being led down a road by so-called advisors. It's going to end poorly for Khem, and that is sad for me because I care about the kid. This is not going to end well for him."
Hurd indicated that Birch had a hard time adjusting to the physical nature of major-college basketball.
"Khem is still probably going to play in the NBA someday," Hurd said. "Some of this is about an adjustment to a high level of college basketball. Here he was 20 pounds lighter than anyone he was going against, and he got some bumps and bruises. If he thinks it's bad now wait until he gets to the NBA, and he is playing against men every day."
Former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony is impressed with this year's team and thinks it has the talent to win a national championship.
“I think they can win it all,” Anthony said. “I’m biased, you might not agree with that. They have the talent, they have the team.”
Anthony spoke to the team after its 72-68 win over then-No. 10 Florida.
“I went up there to the game they played Florida, talked to them, tried to send some positive energy toward their way and it seems like they’re all on board, all on track,” Anthony said.
Anthony led Syracuse to the NCAA title in 2003
Despite having an offense that does look disjointed and stagnant at times, the Huskies aren't far off last year's Kemba-fueled offensive performance.
They're currently 14th in Division I in offensive efficiency, per KenPom.com, at 113.1 points per 100 possessions, which is only 2.1 points behind last season's rate. Where the Huskies are struggling a bit, somewhat surprisingly, is on the defensive end.
With Andre Drummond pairing with returning junior Alex Oriakhi and others inside, the Huskies continue to block shots at an enormous rate, which is supporting their two-point field goal defense.
UConn is about three points worse in defending opponents from behind the arc, though, which has dropped its overall defensive efficiency to 54th nationally -- a far cry from last season's final ranking of 14th and the second-worst mark of any team in KenPom's current top 25.
Last season, Fab Melo took on a complementary role and often found himself on the bench due to foul trouble.
But in his second year as a starter, the 7-foot center has cut his foul rate significantly and is blocking shots with more regularity.
Syracuse ranks 11th in points allowed per percentage and Melo’s defensive presence at the rim is allowing his teammates to gamble and force turnovers. Syracuse leads the country in steal percentage and ranks second in percentage of turnovers forced.
Melo ranks 9th in the nation in block percentage and sits 44th in offensive rebound percentage.
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