Backcourt JOE
Blue Chipper
Enter your message here...
Posts: 1,804
|
Post by Backcourt JOE on Mar 6, 2017 14:12:04 GMT -5
|
|
78friar
6th Man
Posts: 1,218
Member is Online
|
Post by 78friar on Mar 6, 2017 16:24:08 GMT -5
Well deserved. Congratulations
|
|
|
|
Post by TheInfoMan on Mar 7, 2017 8:58:13 GMT -5
For comparison, last season, Kyron averaged 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and four assists per game. This season, Cartwright is averaging 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.  |
|
|
|
Post by dex on Mar 7, 2017 9:23:15 GMT -5
PROVIDENCE — The Big East’s Most Improved Player just happens to be on the Big East’s most improved team.
Kyron Cartwright, Providence’s sparkplug guard, is the personification of a team that’s come out of nowhere to the brink of a fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth. Known as Kris Dunn’s understudy for two seasons, the junior is fourth in the country in assists (6.8 per game) and may just be the Big East’s top point guard heading into the postseason.
“I don’t know who’s playing better, as far as leading their team,” said coach Ed Cooley.
C a r t w r i g h t ’ s M o s t Improved Player award, announced on Monday, marks the second year in a row and third in Cooley’s six seasons that a Providence player has earned the honor. Ben Bentil won it last season and Kadeem Batts enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2013.
“Our players get better,” said a proud Cooley. “Our staff does a good job with that. It goes to Kyron’s credit and I’m very appreciative of the other coaches awarding him.”
Cartwright was not at PC’s practice on Monday to comment about his award. He’s mourning the sudden death of his grandmother in Los Angeles and will rejoin the team in time for Thursday’s Big East Tournament game against Creighton. If he were around, the 5-foot-11 guard would admit to some long, lonely hours in the hot, sweaty Alumni Hall gym, 3,000 miles from his home in Compton, Calif.
“The coach’s main thing is to get us better,” said Jalen Lindsey, a classmate of Cartwright’s. “It’s more than just basketball. They make sure we come out and work and work out hard. You saw it with Ben last year and Kyron this year.”
From the moment Cartwright stepped on PC’s campus he was under pressure to improve.
“Anytime you go head-to-head with someone with Kris’ talent for two years, that in itself is development.... That was Kyron every single day,” Cooley said.
Lindsey pointed out that Cartwright helped the Friars win plenty of games the last two years playing alongside Dunn. He had 13 points in a road upset of No. 4 Villanova in January 2016 and came up huge (10 points, 6 assists) in PC’s last-second NCAA Tournament win over Southern California. But as his minutes jumped from 24.2 to 33.1, so did his opportunity to stand out.
“He’s worked so hard and proved he’s one of the best guards in the country, in my opinion,” Lindsey said. “He’s worked extremely hard, but it is opportunity, too. Everybody needs opportunity and he’s taken advantage of that.”
Lindsey has seen his production steadily rise through three seasons at PC but it hasn’t come easily. Of the work ethic that’s passed down from Batts to Bentil to the current crop of players, Lindsey says “It’s a lot of work. It’s not easy.”
Five of PC’s current eight regulars are in their first year in the lineup and from junior college addition Emmitt Holt to George Mason transfer Isaiah Jackson to freshman Alpha Diallo, everyone seems to be improving by the week. Cooley says winning breeds confidence and that added poise is showing.
“Two guys who have really emerged are Alpha and Isaiah Jackson. They’ve gotten so much better,” Cooley said. “I think they’re more comfortable. The players are trusting them more on the floor and I credit our staff. We’ve put them in a good position to be successful.”
The key is Cartwright. He’s started all 31 games, is averaging 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game, and is a joy to play with.
“Kyron finds everyone,” Diallo said. “He gets his own [points] but he’s a good distributor, too. He’s very unselfish. He knows what his players are good at and he finds us. I feel he’s the fastest point guard in the country.”
Cooley said he’s talked with his players about their present spot in the NCAA tourney race and said, “Are we in? I don’t know, but we can control our own destiny. I think if we can win on Thursday for sure we’re in. We can control that.”
And if he has one request of Cartwright as the big games of March arrive, Cooley says, “I want him to play faster. We don’t want to slow Kyron down one iota.”
— kmcnamar@ providence-journal.com
|
|
|
|
Post by bigsnoop on Mar 7, 2017 14:01:57 GMT -5
Kyron and Rodney were named to the USBWAA District 1 (New England) team, and Kyron was selected as their player of the year.
Congrats to both.
|
|
|
|
Post by wtm97 on Mar 7, 2017 16:05:37 GMT -5
His improvement has been steady all along. His Senior Year holds promise for Kyron to bring it to yet another level along with more than a few others...
BUT
We have ball to play NOW...
|
|
