Who is the Mocs Most Important Player as they head into this year? It's a little bit of a complex question.
You could easily go with Keegan Bell and his 3 of 13 three point shooting in an exhibition game. Bell is a point guard and needs to make plays as a point guard. His eagerness to shoot sometimes bothers me a bit. But Bell is probably the most talented player on the floor.
Omar Wattad and Troy Cage might be the two most athletic players. Ricky Taylor and Josh Odem might be the two best potential "scorers." When they are on, they can fill up the basket. Chris Early has as much potential as anyone. Jahmal Burroughs had as good of a night as anyone in the exhibition game.
But at this point, there is one player who seems to stand above the others. DeAntre Jefferson is apparently going to be the man in the middle for the Mocs. He needs to BE the man in the middle. If he could consistently get a double-double, then that would be golden for the Mocs. If he gets a double-double, the Mocs should be able to win that game. If he doesn't, the Mocs could be in real trouble.
The Mocs need that presence in the middle. It could be Jeremy Saffore, but based on the Tennessee Wesleyan game, he will not be playing nearly as much as Jefferson. That makes Jefferson all the more important to this team. Watch and see how the Mocs do when he collects a double-double. That will probably be the most important individual statistic to watch.
Without Ridge McKeither and the other Mocs that left, hopefully the team will play more as a team. THAT is the real key to making the whole difference in winning and losing this year. THAT is the most important thing. The players need to stop caring about themselves, and care more about the team. If that doesn't happen, the Mocs will struggle to win the games necessary to advance to the NCAA Tournament this year and Shulman may be done. If they come together and play as a real team, they could have a surprisingly good season- maybe even winning 20+ games.
GO MOCS!
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