12/18/12 Games To Watch

Richmond at Kansas 7pm ESPN2

Richmond has been playing good ball this season and has Derrick Williams down low - who is an absolute load. How will Jeff Withey and company fare against his physicality? Ben McLemore has scored at least 17 points in his last three games, besting his scoring average each time. Travis Relaford has been the best perimeter defender for Kansas and has created many easy baskets. And he is also much improved at the free throw line this year. He was the Jayhawks glue guy last year and has turned into a major player this year. Kevin Young has done a nice job taking over as the new glue guy. Elijah Johnson has scored over 8 points twice in his last 6 games and has actually taken less shots this year than the previous season.

Stanford at North Carolina State 9pm ESPN2

North Carolina State gets their first test since the edged out UCONN early in the month. TJ Warren has taken over the scoring lead for the Wolfpack, with Richard Howell surprisingly the #2 guy. Both have been ultra efficient. For Lorenzo Brown, he will have another tough matchup against a point guard - this time seeing Chasson Randle. He's already been bested by Marcus Smart, Shabazz Napier, and Trey Burke this year. Randle doesn't get much exposure on the West Coast, but he's a big time player. He played great in Puerto Rico and is now looking to get back on track on a national stage.

Oral Roberts at Arizona 9pm Pac-12 Network

After an emotional victory over Florida that saw their upperclassmen step up, Arizona looks to continue their winning ways against Oral Roberts. Nick Johnson has been their best player early on - leading the team in assists and points while managing less turnovers and better efficiency than Mark Lyons. Lyons change of teams and positions has gotten off to a shaky start. Also look out for Oral Roberts' Warren Niles, a senior who is averaging 21 points per game. He has scored 21 in each of his last three contests and has been deadly from three.

UC Santa Barbara at California 11pm Pac-12 Network

For the night owls, there are two good games over on the west coast. I'm really looking forward to seeing  sophomore Alan Williams who has appeared to be an absolute beast this season. He's 25-40 from the field over his last 3 games, including a 29 point performance in a win over Santa Clara. He also rebounds the ball well and seems pretty nimble for a 6-7 240 pounder. He will need to stay out of foul trouble against Cal - something he has been unable to do. He has acrued at least 4 fouls in 6 of his 7 games against D1 opponents. For Cal, they look to end their 3 game losing streak. Allen Crabbe was 6-26 against Creighton but has been otherwise pretty solid this season.

Long Beach State at UCLA 11pm Pac-12 Network

This game offers two physical and athletic small forwards going against each other. James Ennis is the senior and could very well get the better of freshman Shabazz Muhammad. Long Beach State is battle tested and ready to pull off an upset after losing to North Carolina, Syracuse, Arizona, and Ohio State already.

Johnny Dawkins Has Found Himself A Guard

After spending 10 years coaching at Duke from 1998-2008, Johnny Dawkins has spent his last few years on the west coast trying to emulate some of the success at his alma mater. It has been a rough process as Stanford has had marginal success in his four years, finally posting a respectable 69 RPI last season after a strong finish that resulted in the NIT Championship.

Part of the strong finish had to do with freshman guard Chassan Randle, who scored 15 points on 6-11 shooting in the championship game against Minnesota, a good defensive team. Randle is a different guard than what Stanford is used too - maybe the most dynamic since Brevin Knight - a guard who can score with ease and also play some point guard.

He is the kind of player that Dawkins has been after since coming from Duke. A top 100 recruit from outside of Stanford's recruiting grounds in Chicago. A change of pace from the laid back California guards who act as floor generals and floor spacers.

Ever since Dawkins witnessed Randle first handle dropping 34 points in high school in the sectional finals for the win (Randle's Rock Island HS was a major underdog), Dawkins knew this could be a kid who could instill in the rest of the players what he wants his team to be about.

Randle displayed that killer instinct, swagger, and competitiveness that Dawkins had been missing since his days at Duke. At Duke, Dawkins had witnessed plenty of those types of guards run through his system - from Chris Duhon up to Nolan Smith - and Randle is a guy who could definitely play under Coach K.

Its funny, because the first player I thought of while watching Randle was Daniel Ewing. Both are scorers who can man the point. They both play like slashers, but also have a great shooting touch. Both have similar body types and that winning attitude.

Looking back and comparing their numbers - they are nearly identical.

Take Ewing's junior season and compare it to Randle's season last year. Ewing took 6.3 2-pt shots that year and 6.2 shots from behind the arc. Randle took 6.5 2-pt shots and 6.6 3-pt shots. That incredible balance and all around ability is what makes them both great scorers. They also both went to the foul line about 4 times (4.0 and 4.3 to be exact), while hitting at a solid clip (74% and 76%), but not as much as their 3-pt % would suggest (41.1 and 43.8).

The similarities are stunning to be honest. Rebounds, turnovers, and assists are also all nearly identical.

Randle mimics Ewing's game as well. Randle is like a Duke guard in that he can run the point, but has a lot of free will to score from his position. After playing mostly shooting guard last year for Stanford, Randle has been the point guard officially a lot more this year, but as a guard in the system, he is still free to do the same things. Just like how Nolan Smith and Ewing did in their days at Duke.

Randle is also a solid athlete with good size for the point guard position. His athleticism won't blow you away in the freakish sense, but he has plenty of quickness to get into the lane when he wants too. Randle isn't a true point but plays very smart and is saavy in the pick and roll game. He can turn the corner with long strides and has a great handle in the lane. Once he gets to full speed, he is a tough guy to get in front of.

Finishing the ball, Randle's long arms come into play. He is a good finisher because of his arms, but also because he can finish creatively with either hand. He can even put up a floater from both sides.

Defensively, he is a competitor and brings intensity. His length, lateral quickness, and smarts give him the potential to be an above average defender in the NBA.

Randle looks like a four year player and his potential isn't super high, but he could be a late first or early second rounder when he chooses to come out. And I like his chances to have a better NBA career than Daniel Ewing. But like a lot of scoring guards, it depends on the kind of situation he finds himself in.

(all stats used are from Draftexpress.com and based on 40 minutes of play adjusted for pace)