By Morey Hershgordon
Nothing has been easy for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team this season. Its opener in the Connecticut 6 Classic against Sacred Heart was without star guard Giovanni McClean. Its second game was a brutal road test against a senior-laden Vermont Catamounts team. A strong start followed by a second-half push was not enough as the Bobcats fell to 0-2 for the first time in the Tom Moore era; but they are not alone. They are one of seven teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to start the year 0-2. Now, the team finds itself in familiar confines at the TD Bank Sports Center. Sunday’s matinee is the first of a three-game home stand during the next 10 days before MAAC play begins in Buffalo. The first foe? The Holy Cross Crusaders. Below are my three things to watch:
1. Dimitri Floras
Last year he had three points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals in the MAAC tournament after not playing extended time. He played limited minutes behind five guards, but with three gone he’s taken advantage of every opportunity. The sophomore point guard has done everything he can to earn himself a starting role. He’s logged the second most minutes behind only James Ford, Jr., leads the team in assists, and connected on 40 percent of his threes. With offensive weapons in McClean, Ford, Jr, and Daniel Harris floating around the perimeter, Floras, a scoring point guard, can also focus on attacking the rim and deferring to shooters and playmakers on the wings. This involvement will open up scoring chances for him during the latter stages of games.
2. Patience with the bigs
The raw materials and god given talent are there, but it’s still early to expect Chaise Daniels and Donovan Smith to put up eye-popping numbers like recent Quinnipiac bigs. Even the best in the past half-decade, Ousmane Drame, Ike Azotam, Jamee Jackson, were never number one options in their respective sophomore seasons. Chaise Daniels showed glimpses last year that he has what it takes to be the next great Quinnipiac big, however, being thrown into the fire as the top dog down low is a major responsibility. Continuing to work on his game while learning to play alongside of Smith and six other new faces is quite a tall task. (Not to mention that Smith began playing basketball in junior college a mere two years ago. He never played high school basketball.) Daniels and Smith have potential. In the first two games, the duo has blocked 14 shots and made 7 of 11 free throws as well as worked tirelessly to sprint back on defense to anchor the paint. On the flip side, they have turned the ball over 18 times and shot a combined 35.7 percent from the field. Holy Cross, N.C Central, and Albany will provide Tom Moore’s staff with a sample size of what to expect for the season. Averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds together will put the Bobcats in great position to tally up wins on a regular basis.
3. Does depth matter?
Although Tom Moore has played ten men over ten minutes per game and the eleventh is averaging eight minutes, don’t be too surprised if he reels that back. In the preseason, Moore admitted that the depth situation was a glass half-full, glass-half-empty situation. Multiple bodies mean fresh legs and the ability to pressure full court and staying out of foul trouble. Moore also knows it means limited touches and minutes that disables shooters from getting into a rhythm. He’s going to have many situations over the course of the next 10 days to figure out what he wants to do. But it’s a good problem to have, right?
