With the football season coming to a close that means the college fantasy hoops playoffs are rapidly approaching. In the Big East version of Hot and Not: I’ll try to help you start to prepare for those playoffs with a couple names that could give your squad a much needed boost in the next month, I’ll tell you to hang to in there with one of the conference’s best players, and I give some love to one of the conference’s perennial doormats. Also, it is with heavy soul searching, I finally give up on the two guys with perhaps the best names in the conference. I realize this will break the heart of CFHI’s Lithuanian and Nigerian readerships, but alas, I must stay true to my convictions.
HOT
Bryce Cotton, guard, Providence Friars
If your team needs a little scoring punch, look no further than Cotton. He is a dynamic scoring guard with six games of 20+ points including a 26-point performance against Marquette on Saturday. Due to Providence’s lack of depth, Cotton logs a ton of minutes. He is averaging 38 minutes and ranks second in the nation in percentage of minutes played (94.9%). He won’t help you much with rebounds or assists, but averages over one steal per game and has solid shooting percentages across the board. Cotton is worth picking up in your league provided he doesn’t drop dead from exhaustion.
South Florida Bulls
Don’t look now, but South Florida has won three in a row, and sits at 5-2 in the Big East. It looks like the Bulls have a found a point guard in freshman Anthony Collins. He is averaging a little over five assists in conference play. USF has gotten more scoring with the return of Jawanza Poland and solid rebounding numbers from Ron Anderson and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick. They are playing stingy defense allowing under a point per possession and holding teams to just 27% shooting from three. With a somewhat favorable schedule down the stretch, I was probably a little hasty in giving them no chance to make the NCAA Tournament.
Otto Porter, forward, Georgetown Hoyas
The Georgetown freshman forward is averaging 8.3 points and leads the Hoyas with 7.1 rebounds. He has had four games in conference play in which he registered 10+ rebounds with his season high (15 rebounds) coming last week at DePaul. While he won’t light up opposing defenses, he still makes 60% of his twos. That’s good enough to be worth a spot in leagues where you have to start freshmen or if you’re a little light on the glass.
NOT
Gilvydas Biruta, forward, Rutgers Scarlet Knights
It’s been a disappointing season for the sophomore from Lithuania. After being largely productive in the non-conference portion of the schedule, he has failed to post double figure scoring in Rutgers’ last six games. He has seen his two-point FG% and FT% numbers drop, and still struggles with staying out of foul trouble. His rebounding numbers have largely stagnated as well. He is averaging just a little over four rebounds in conference play. I was optimistic on him coming into the season, but there is little reason for him to still be on your roster.
God's Gift Achiuwa, forward, St. John’s Red Storm
On the surface, 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds doesn’t look that bad. The problem with Achiuwa is you never know what you’ll get night to night. Is it the guy who put up 18 points and ten rebounds in Rupp Arena or the guy who scored two points and fouled out in 22 minutes against St. Francis (NY)? That consistent inconsistency has carried over into conference play. After a solid game against Marquette January 11, he has averaged 5.6 points and four rebounds in the Johnnies’ last three games. That includes a line of two points and one rebound in 32 minutes last Saturday against Villanova. His advanced stats are ok, but I would drop him and let someone else deal with the headache of trying to guess when to start him.
Brandon Young, guard, DePaul Blue Demons
I’m still a huge fan of Young’s game, but this is Hot and Not, and he has struggled in his last four games. In that time, he is averaging 13 points while shooting just 32.5% from the floor. He hit rock bottom last Sunday after a 0-for-13 shooting performance against USF. Unlike the two guys above, I wouldn’t advise dropping Young. He is far too skilled to be posting numbers like this for an extended period of time.