The issue for SLU against St. Bonaventure tonight is, as it is for every team, how do you deal with Andrew Nicholson? He's the 6-9, 250-pound forward for Bona who is one of only two players in the top in the league in both scoring (15.6) and rebounding (7.2). (Chris Gaston of Fordham is the other.)
SLU coach Rick Majerus said Nicholson has his vote for student-athlete of the year ("Anyone who's a physics major you have to tip your hat to," he said) and expects him to have a long career in the NBA. "He's a perfect four," Majerus said. "It's hard to find a good four and he has the size. He'll be playing for a living in the United States in the NBA. For no other reason, fans should come out for that."
So how do you stop him? "We'll try to give him a couple different looks," Majerus said, "but basically someone's got to man up and try to take him. He's a really smart player, unselfish. There's a reason why he'll be player of the year, and why a variety of NBA teams are coming to the game. He's a physicall specimen, he's smart, he's unselfish, he's tough. Every attribute you want to ascribe to a player, this kid's got in spades. He's a phonemonal player."
Expect Brian Conklin to get Nicholson a lot of the time, though SLU's other bigs will all get a chance. Conklin said his philosophy on stopping Nicholson was: "The key is getting him in foul trouble, really. He will make fouls. If he's on the bench, they're a whole different team."
Expect to see an emphasis on defense tonight. Both Conklin and Kyle Cassity agreed Saturday's UMass game was a terrible defensive effort, and all of Monday's practice was devoted to Bonaventure's offense, what they do and how they get the ball to Nicholson.
Both the Loyola Marymount and UMass games were ones where SLU had shorter practices going into the games because of the schedule. After SLU won three games in four days at the 76 Classic, the coaches wanted to rest the players before LMU, so they didn't have a full on-court practice. And with the UMass game coming after the Xavier game and with two plane flights in between before a Saturday afternoon meeting, the practices again were a bit lighter. The practices the past two days have not been lighter.
Elsewhere in the A-10, it will Charlotte at La Salle, Duquesne at Dayton, Fordham at Temple, UMass at Rhode Island, Xavier at George Washington, and St. Joseph's at Richmond. All start at 6 p.m. St. Louis time and all have some impact on the league race.
SLU coach Rick Majerus said Nicholson has his vote for student-athlete of the year ("Anyone who's a physics major you have to tip your hat to," he said) and expects him to have a long career in the NBA. "He's a perfect four," Majerus said. "It's hard to find a good four and he has the size. He'll be playing for a living in the United States in the NBA. For no other reason, fans should come out for that."
So how do you stop him? "We'll try to give him a couple different looks," Majerus said, "but basically someone's got to man up and try to take him. He's a really smart player, unselfish. There's a reason why he'll be player of the year, and why a variety of NBA teams are coming to the game. He's a physicall specimen, he's smart, he's unselfish, he's tough. Every attribute you want to ascribe to a player, this kid's got in spades. He's a phonemonal player."
Expect Brian Conklin to get Nicholson a lot of the time, though SLU's other bigs will all get a chance. Conklin said his philosophy on stopping Nicholson was: "The key is getting him in foul trouble, really. He will make fouls. If he's on the bench, they're a whole different team."
Expect to see an emphasis on defense tonight. Both Conklin and Kyle Cassity agreed Saturday's UMass game was a terrible defensive effort, and all of Monday's practice was devoted to Bonaventure's offense, what they do and how they get the ball to Nicholson.
Both the Loyola Marymount and UMass games were ones where SLU had shorter practices going into the games because of the schedule. After SLU won three games in four days at the 76 Classic, the coaches wanted to rest the players before LMU, so they didn't have a full on-court practice. And with the UMass game coming after the Xavier game and with two plane flights in between before a Saturday afternoon meeting, the practices again were a bit lighter. The practices the past two days have not been lighter.
Elsewhere in the A-10, it will Charlotte at La Salle, Duquesne at Dayton, Fordham at Temple, UMass at Rhode Island, Xavier at George Washington, and St. Joseph's at Richmond. All start at 6 p.m. St. Louis time and all have some impact on the league race.
