Central lost 2 high scoring players to graduation, but return their other High scorer in 6-1 Kyle Vinales. Besides Vinales, they will have a tough time scoring.
Central Connecticut In his 17 years at Central Connecticut (13-16, 10-8 NEC), Howie Dickenman has presided over three NEC championship teams and generally kept the Blue Devils at or near the top of the league standings. His ability to seamless transition from one era to the next may be unmatched in conference annals. Dickenman and his program will certainly be put to the test in 2012-13 as they adjust to life without CCSU all-time great Ken Horton and 1,500-point scorer Robby Ptacek. Horton, a former NEC Player of the Year who ranks fifth on the league’s all-time scoring chart with 1,966 points, will go down as one of the most multi-faceted players in conference history.
Dickenman is aiming for more balanced offensive production this coming year as those two, along with sophomore guard Kyle Vinales (Detroit, MI/Phelps School) accounted for over three-quarters of CCSU’s points last season. There is no question, however, that Vinales will be CCSU’s go-to weapon. The 6’1” Detroit native was named NEC Rookie of the Year and matched the league record with eight NEC Rookie of the Week honors. He was the leading freshman point producer in the nation with 17.9 ppg, hit 71 three-point shots and averaged 3.6 apg. Backcourt-mate Malcolm McMillan (Baltimore, MD/John Carroll) also comes off a solid freshman campaign. He led the NEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.02) and paced the Blue Devils with 4.0 apg. Sophomores Adonis Burbage (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian Prep) and Shelton Mickell (Queens, NY/Cardozo), along with junior De’Angelo Speech (Oak Park, IL/Lee Academy), all contributed last season as part of a deep guard core. Up front, Joe Efese (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional) (3.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg), a chiseled 6’6” senior forward, could be primed for a breakout year, and junior Terrell Allen (Virginia Beach, VA/Cape Henry) has shown promise as a low post scorer. At 6’7”, freshman forward Brandon Peel (Forestville, MD/Riverdale Baptist) is expected to make an impact both on the boards and as a shot blocker.
Post by nashvillestag on Nov 5, 2012 14:43:41 GMT -5
I saw Vinales play last season. He is indeed the real deal, a tremendous scorer from all spots on the floor. But there is no question that they will miss Horton and Ptacek big time. So really there are a lot of question marks as to where they will get points from after Vinales. But I will say this. Dickerman is usually a master at getting the most out of what he has, and the Blue Devils always play tough and physical, and apparently from a couple of these articles they have some very good athletic and fast newcomers, and they want to play a full court game with a lot of pressing. Therefore the Stags have to handle the ball much better than they did against UB. But if they can get the ball inside it sounds like there might be points available near the rim (Barrow, Mathews, Mikulic, Sidibi) as Central is not very big as a team. And please, always have someone in Vinales face! Let's face it, given the nature of the games that follow this one, this contest becomes extra important that the Stags do indeed have to win not only for their confidence, but also to us the fans who want very much to believe that this can be a good season. Therefore a loss would be quite a letdown (no matter how temperarily) as the year gets underway. Go Stags!
Here is my preview of the game. CentralCT lost a lot of scoring, so I agree with Nash that as long as we have a defender with help covering Vinales, we should be fine. The only way we lose this game is if Central CT goes crazy from the arc. I think Sydney goes with 4 of our 5 returnees as starters, and we will platoon Mikumadou at center. I see us with 7 starters right now.
The Mikumadou (mih-KUM-a-doo) combo ended with 11pts, 8 rebs, 5 blocks, 1 assist, 1steal and 5-10 shooting against Bridgeport ...... in 31 minutes of play. That's very good numbers for the Frosh's first game. My guess is that 30 minutes is about right for their PT. Matthews would probably get the other 10mpg...... until Van Nes gets back on the court
