By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Two seasons ago, La Salle fans were swept away on an exciting whirlwind of a postseason run, ultimately culminating in a loss to an ascending Wichita State program in the Sweet 16. Understandably, with all the main components from that team returning last season aside from Ramon Galloway, expectations in northwestern Philadelphia were high for a repeat appearance in the Big Dance. Sadly, life rarely works out the way the script appears to be written, as the Explorers suffered one of their more disappointing seasons in recent memory (at least when weighed against preseason aspirations). Coach Giannini’s squad jumped around in fits and starts to an underwhelming 15-16 record, with a 7-9 A-10 mark leading to a first round loss to St. Bonaventure in the conference tournament.
Now, the window on recapturing that magic of the spring of 2013 appears to have closed, as La Salle lost its top three guards to graduation in Tyreek Duren, Sam Mills, and Tyrone Garland. Duren, in particular, is a huge rock as he’s been the bedrock of the program while starting at point guard the last 4 seasons. Last season, he led the team in scoring (15.2 ppg), assists (3.5), and steals (1.6), while also stretching the defense by shooting an outstanding 40.8% from behind the arc. Those numbers don’t even account for the steadying hand with which he directed the offense or the leadership he brought to the floor. In addition to Duren, Mills’ departure leaves the Explorers without their best three-point shooter (41.5% last season), and while Garland was never an efficient scorer, he was someone who could create his own shot when the offense broke down.
With all that experience at the guard position leaving, the focus of the team will shift to the frontcourt, where La Salle has arguably the best unit in the A-10 in seniors Jerrell Wright and Steve Zack. The 6’8″ Wright was the team’s second leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and rebounder (6.6), and will serve as the focal point of the offense with his highly-developed post game. The 6’11” Zack has a very nice mid-range jumper for a man his size, which nicely complements Wright’s game down on the block. Zack nearly averaged a double-double last season at 8.8 points and 9.5 boards per game, while also anchoring the back line of the Explorers defense with 1.9 blocks per game. Wright and Zack were named to the preseason all A-10 second and third teams, respectively, with Zack also on the preseason all-defensive team. The big man tandem is the largest reason (both literally and figuratively) the Explorers will continue to be competitive despite the loss of Duren and the other senior guards.
While the returning seniors in the front court should ensure the Explorers don’t experience too much of a drop off, it’s the new faces who will ultimately determine whether the team can make any actual noise in the A-10 this season. The most intriguing of those new faces is a transfer, 6’5″ redshirt sophomore Jordan Price. Price comes to Philadelphia by way of Auburn, after being a 4-star recruit and ranking top-100 nationally out of high school in Georgia. He’s an excellent outside shooter, evidenced by one 3-game stretch in December of his freshman year where he went 11-11 from behind the arc. Price is almost certain to be the most reliable scoring option on the perimeter for the Explorers, and there’s a strong chance he could push Wright for the team lead in that department.
Another redshirt sophomore transfer at the wing could do some damage for La Salle, as the 6’5″ Cleon Roberts will be with the Explorers this season after a year at Georgia Southern. Roberts started for the GSU Eagles as a true freshman, recording a couple 20-point games and making 4 threes in a game on multiple occasions. While the 6’6″ senior D.J. Peterson may start initially for Coach Giannini simply due to experience, his ceiling is fairly low and Roberts makes for the more exciting alternative to join Price on the outside.
Of course, without Duren, the question of who will run the offense still remains the question and the answer appears to be 6’2″ redshirt freshman Amar Stukes. Stukes is a local kid from La Salle HS, a slashing scorer for whom outside shooting was always seen as a weakness. Hopefully, Stukes learned some things from Duren in practice during his redshirt season; his being overwhelmed at the point during his first collegiate season is the biggest cause for concern this year for the Explorers.
Aside from Stukes, a couple other young guys round out the projected rotation. 6’10” redshirt freshman Tony Washington looks to be the first big man off the bench. He’s very quick and athletic for a guy his size, and hopefully filled out enough during his redshirt year to also start battling with the wider bodies on the interior. True freshman Johnnie Shuler will back up Stukes at the point and could eventually work his way into a larger role. Like Stukes, the 5’11” guard from D.C. is also seen as a weak outside shooter, really putting the pressure on Price and Roberts to keep the defense from collapsing into the paint.
The main non-conference challenge for the Explorers lies in their trip to New York as part of the Barclays Center Classic, where they’ll face Virginia in addition to either Rutgers or Vanderbilt. Then, aside from the usual heated slate of Big 5 games, La Salle travels to Drexel to complete a full City 6 schedule. Back in the A-10, the Explorers were picked to finish 7th in the preseason conference standings. Playing within a conference that received 6 NCAA tournament bids a year ago, it’s tough to argue with the boys from West Olney falling just outside that range during the upcoming season. There’s some talent there for La Salle, but too many things as far as instant chemistry and rapid maturation of the younger players on the roster would need to go right for the Explorers to find their way into serious postseason play.
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