So that awesome big man named Riley saw some playing time and got owned. Buzz would not give him much time even if he were an Eagle this year.
Quote from: ErickJD08 on February 19, 2010, 05:07:17 PM
So that awesome big man named Riley saw some playing time and got owned. Buzz would not give him much time even if he were an Eagle this year.
Not sure about that. I believe that Riley is more game ready than Mbao, Ewill, or Otule!
I don't understand how Ewill's name keeps coming up in when we talk about Marquette post players. Mbao is 7' 2" and Otule is 6' 10", Ewill is 6' 7", so is Jimmy Butler. If we are saying we need taller players in the post, having Ewill would be a lateral move...
Washington, D.C. – DaShonte Riley sensed it was coming.
As Syracuse University's experienced post men – Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku – kept accumulating fouls, SU coach Jim Boeheim wandered down the bench to suggest to Riley that he should pay attention to particular phases of the game. There was a chance, Boeheim told his freshman center, that he would be summoned to play.
"Honestly, I still didn't think I was going in," Riley said. "I thought he'd go with Scoop or maybe Mookie Jones. But I was real nervous. The legs were real heavy. Just tried to get in there and rebound."
Riley, the 7-footer from Michigan, had not played since Jan. 10, when he entered the game against the University of South Florida. And then suddenly, he was asked to step into a heated game to defend perhaps the Big East's most skilled big man in Greg Monroe.
"It was hard checking him because he's a left-hander. And he's so left-handed," Riley said. "I've never really played anybody besides Rick (Jackson) who was left-handed. I just tried to force him right as much as possible. And then just try to block out the fact that he's one of the better post players in the country."
Jackson and Onuaku, who would each foul out, kept supplying tips to Riley during breaks in the action. Monroe, who would finish with 20 points, had his own foul trouble to worry about.
"I told him just to get in there and stay physical with him," Jackson said. "I told him to just wall up, don't give him nothing easy. I think he did a great job in there."
His teammates joked in the post-game locker room about the perfect pass he delivered to Kris Joseph in the lane. Riley, who is a skilled passer, failed to register an assist on the play because Joseph missed the lay-up.
---The Syracuse message board, in general, thinks they "have something" in Riley after one more year of riding the pine.