Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Anything's possible, but…
Despite Gregg Doyel’s estimate, it is quite unlikely that Connecticut's Rashad Anderson will accomplish what both Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor were unable to achieve: averaging 20 points a game.Anderson may have a “breakout season,” but if so, he’ll succeed as a result of demonstrating an elevated level of maturity and leadership, not as a result of scoring more points or gathering a few more rebounds per game. The former will be much more important to Connecticut’s fortunes than the latter. Will Anderson help Rudy Gay, Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva mature into double-digit contributors? Or will he horde the ball on offense and selfishly shoot his way to a high average?
Indeed, the focus on the quantitative rather than the qualitative is the central weakness of Doyel’s latest column. Many of the players he names, among them Oregon’s Aaron Brooks, Charlotte’s Martin Iti and Michigan’s Courtney Sims, should have more productive seasons. But beginning with Salim Stoudamire, others he forgets could make significant progress on a qualitative level as they lead their teams onward and upward.
