On and off the court, to say the last month has been a disappointment for Big East basketball as a whole is an understatement. With the ugliness of the Cincinnati-Xavier brawl and the highly questionable stewardship of John Marinnato in regards to the conference realignment mess, there hasn’t been much positive buzz around the conference lately. From a fantasy perspective, while the majority of players have either met or exceeded expectations, there have been a few high profile names that have not lived up to their advanced billing. Like the rest of the CFHI writers, I’ll remind you it is still early and to not drop a player too hastily, but it’s still worth considering dropping any of these players if the circumstances warrant.
Augustus Gilchrist, center, South Florida
In July, I rated Gilchrist first in my preseason Big East top ten list. While he certainly hasn’t been bad, he hasn’t been that good either. Gilchrist got off to a good start, but then missed three games after suffering a shoulder injury against Penn State. In the two games since his return, he has shot just 8-for-22 from the floor. His shooting percentages overall are down and his points per game have dropped to 11.1 from 13.4 a season ago. Rebounding has never been a specialty of his, and that has continued this season as Ron Anderson and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick do most of the heavy lifting on the glass. The Bulls run a slow paced offense with Gilchrist using the majority of the possessions, so he is still a useful fantasy center, but I wouldn’t expect a huge boost in production with Big East play around the corner.
Scoop Jardine, guard, Syracuse
While it’s been a great start to 2011-2012 for Syracuse basketball (on the court anyway), those of you who own Jardine have to be wondering what’s going on? The senior guard is only averaging 8.3 points and 4.1 assists over just 20.4 minutes per game. It looks like Jardine has been squeezed out (pun unintended) for now due to the Orange’s depth- more specifically because of the improved play of Dion Waiters and Brandon Triche. When Jardine has been on the floor, he has been fine. His shooting numbers are up, his assist rate is virtually identical to last year, and he has been active defensively averaging two steals per game. I would be patient and hold on to Scoop. You have to think as we get closer to March, Jim Boeheim will want his senior guard on the court for more than just 20 minutes a night.
Scott Martin, forward, Notre Dame
With the season ending injury to Tim Abromaitis, the senior captain was expected to step up, but he hasn’t. Martin has averaged a mediocre 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds over 30 minutes per game. Martin is only shooting 35% from the floor and has failed to reach double figures in scoring in the Irish’s last four out of five games. That includes an ugly one-point performance on 0-for-6 shooting against Gonzaga. It’s clear he is becoming a secondary option behind Eric Atkins, Jerian Grant and even an emerging Jack Cooley. Feel free to drop him and look elsewhere.
Dane Miller, forward, Rutgers
As a team, Rutgers has struggled to begin the season going 5-5 over their first ten games. With a predominantly young team, the junior forward was expected to have more of an impact than he currently has. He is only averaging 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. Curiously, he has been passive offensively taking considerably less shots than he did a season ago. However, he has been effective with the few shots he has taken as evidenced by his offensive rating (108.0) and he did perform well in the Knights ‘last game against Monmouth posting 13 points, 11 rebounds, and seven blocks. Miller is still Rutgers’ most talented player, so if he channels that assertiveness for the rest of the season, he is worth keeping around on your roster.
Alex Oriakhi, forward, UConn
Like Jardine, Oriakhi (6.7 points and 5.8 rebounds) is another guy seeing fewer minutes than he did a year ago. Due to UConn’s depth, he is averaging 20 minutes a game down from 29 a season ago. With higher usage guys like Jeremy Lamb, Ryan Boatright, and Shabazz Napier around, it’s doubtful the junior will ever see a healthy portion of shots consistently. Oriahki is probably a guy who is more valuable in real world basketball than he is in fantasy. He defends and rebounds well and was an important cog on the Huskies’ championship team last season, but there are better options elsewhere for fantasy production.