[Rosiak's Blog] A closer look at Derrick Caracter

[ToddRosiakSays]

A closer look at Derrick Caracter

Less than a week after facing perhaps the Big East's best post-up player, Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, MU is now preparing to face another one of the best in Louisville's Derrick Caracter.

At 6 feet 8 inches and 265 pounds, Caracter is actually bigger than the beefy Harangody, not to mention much more athletically gifted. Through 15 games so far this season he's averaging 10.9 points and 6.9 rebounds, despite playing just over 22 minutes per game. He also ranks sixth in the Big East in field-goal percentage, shooting 56.1%.

The Golden Eagles got only a brief look at Caracter the last time they visited Freedom Hall; he played just five minutes and scored two points. In the teams' last meeting he made a much bigger impression, scoring 14 points in 27 minutes while starting center David Padgett was saddled with foul trouble.

In scouting Louisville and Caracter this week on tape, MU coach Tom Crean said he's been impressed with what he's seen of the sophomore.

"I think he's better because his conditioning's better," he said. "His strength is better, he can play for longer stretches. We did not do a good job against him in our game (in Milwaukee). When we were down there he was just working his way back into the lineup. So it wouldn't be fair to give him an assessment from that game. But the Derrick Caracter you see on film right now is capable of scoring in the post on anybody, and our post defense has got to be much better than what it was the other day.

"We caused some turnovers and did some good things, but anytime a guy walks out with 29 points from one position you're not going to feel very good about the way you defended it. We have to be much better right now."

The Golden Eagles, interestingly enough, feature a player in Lazar Hayward who knows Caracter well.

The two played together at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. a couple years ago, and lived next door to each other in the school's dorms. Hayward, also a sophomore, counts Caracter as a friend with whom he still texts about once a week, and is well aware of the big man's travails in Louisville.

Caracter has been suspended three times by coach Rick Pitino during his time with the Cardinals, including once this season for one game after he missed a curfew. He battled weight problems as a freshman, but seems to, as Crean noted, have his weight under control.

Hayward said that in his experience Caracter is not a bad, well, character.

"He's a really good person. If you met him, you would like him," said Hayward, who roomed with Syracuse's Paul Harris at Notre Dame Prep.

"I think he just has to mature a little more and make better decisions. I think that comes from maybe the people he hangs around. And I don't know everybody he hangs with, just like he don't know everybody I hang with. He just has to make good decisions and just be around the right people. I feel like if you're always around good people, you're always going to make good decisions.

"But he's a real good person, a real good person."

Hayward, who said Caracter never had any disciplinary issues at Notre Dame Prep as far as he knew, said Caracter's physical talent is undeniable. He also believes he's got a future in the National Basketball Association, assuming he remains on the right track.

"He's really talented. He's really athletic," Hayward said. "He's so big and he uses his body so well. He's got a nice touch. He's got a good all-around game. He's physical. He does all the things that coaches like. He has a lot of skills.

"I feel like if he continues to work hard and he remembers that he doesn't know everything and that he can always get better, I think the sky's the limit because he's just so talented. But he has to just keep on working. Keep that instilled in his heart. Just become a hard worker, and I don't think bad things will happen."

http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/01/16/a-closer-look-at-derrick-caracter.aspx