Ok, that was the sarcastic title I had queued up before the UCF/Marshall game televised on CBS College Sports. As predicted, the analysts spoke of him nearly exclusivly in the intro (after mentioning Keith Clanton though, which showed they had at least seen a UCF box score before showing up to broadcast), the him being the bespectacled heir to his Airness; Marcus Jordan.
I intended the title not as dismissive towards Jordan but rather to poke fun of the coverage of some midmajor games that are at best shoddily researched (my usual example is Greg Anthony covering "Ex-zayvier" games while their play-by-play guy talks about the need to get it inside to Love. He's not a clear out post-up guy, he hasn't been for three seasons and he isn't option one now. Seriously watch some game film!)
Yet I digress. Last night Marcus Jordan turned in the best game if his young college career and showed flashes of what he can become; a very good mid-major college basketball player. Were his surname not Jordan that would actually be one heck of a compliment, and it is intended to be. He was actually meritorious of the top billing he recieved before the game.
The announcers, especially Gillen, did a nice job of talking about the two much more relevant stories; one, UCF is a good, young team. I probably sound like a homer, but if Jermaine Taylor were still there, they could have contended in a good, but not top heavy, C-USA. The new gym is beautiful and they put 9,700 in it last night. This program is a sleeping giant.
The second story is the potential greatness of Marshall seven-foot freshman Hassad Whiteside. He recorded his second triple-double of the season, both included blocked shots. He was averaging more than five a game heading in to the contest, good enough to lead the nation by a comfortable margin.
It would be easy to dismiss Whiteside because of Marshall's light early schedule. However dismiss him and the Herd at your own peril. The Herd are 14-2,(3-0) and Whiteside is clearly more developed than shot-blocking sensation Hasheem Thabeet at the same age. Is this feeding the about-to-exist hype machine a little early? Perhaps. But I have a funny feeling Whiteside is a first-rounder in two seasons. As Al Maquirre famously quipped, "you can't teach height.". But you can teach turn around jumpshots. Once Hassad adds that, he will be pretty lethal.
All in all, it was a good game last night between two middle of the pack teams from Conference USA. To me, just another great example of the depth of college basketball in 2010.
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