If you’re an avid fan of BIG EAST basketball, you tune in to or show up at games expecting to see the unexpected. Is Marquette’s Markus Howard going to explode for another 50-plus point night? What do Myles Powell and Shamorie Ponds have planned to wow the crowd? How about Creighton’s rising star Ty-Shon Alexander? Is one of the conference’s more lethal long-ball threats going to fill it up again?
The answer is you never know, which is why, if you’re a real die-hard fan, you watch. And you watch.
But what about the players themselves? Who do they enjoy watching? If they had a night off and could watch anyone else in the BIG EAST ply their trade, who would that be, and why?
BIGEAST.com polled a selection of BIG EAST players during the the last month or so to see who they would pony up money to see on a night off. Someone they could watch perform while scarfing down a couple of hotdogs and without the worry of having to play defense.
Here’s what they had to say.
“Man, I love watching Phil Booth,” said Creighton’s Alexander. “He just plays smart and knows what he needs to do to help his team win and get better every single day. It’s just amazing watching him play on a national-level team and being coached by one of the best coaches in the world as well. He knows exactly what he needs to do and he’s doing a terrific job doing it, too.”
Booth’s Villanova team swept the season series from the Alexander”s Bluejays this season with the Wildcats winning 90-78 in Omaha on Jan. 13 when Booth scored 28 points to Alexander’s 22. The second matchup in Philly on Feb. 6 needed overtime before Nova took a 66-59 decision. Booth had 14 in that win while Alexander was sidelined with an injury.
But in the first meeting, Alexander said he got a chance to chat some with Villanova’s savvy senior and came away all the more impressed.
“We talked a little bit at the free throw line during the game and I pretty much just asked him how it was playing at Villanova and what he was thinking about doing as far as next year and stuff,” Alexander said. “He told me he loves playing at Nova and it was the best learning experience. It was a quick talk but I enjoyed it a lot.”
Georgetown’s Jessie Govan mulled the question for 15 seconds or so and then came back with a player who has terrorized the BIG EAST all season - Marquette’s Howard.
“Do I have to pay money to see him?” Govan said laughing. “Well let’s see. I guess I’d have to say Markus Howard. The way he scores and just makes an impact on the game is ridiculous. He shoots from well beyond the three-point line with a lot of confidence and a lot of the time it’s going in. When you look up at the scoreboard at the end of the night and you see he has 30 (points) you’re like, ‘Man, how did he do that?’”
Ironically the Hoyas have not been victimized by Howard as much as the rest of the BIG EAST. Howard missed all but three minutes of Marquette’s first game against Georgetown with lower back stiffness and did not score. But the Hoyas will be in Milwaukee to face Howard and the Golden Eagles in Saturday’s regular-season finale. Plenty of time for Howard to do some damage.
“I just think he’s one of the best players in the BIG EAST and he’s someone I’d enjoy seeing play - but after his collegiate career is over,” Govan said laughing again. “When I don’t have to play him twice a year.”
Villanova’s Collin Gillespie didn’t need to think things over, choosing his senior teammates Booth and Eric Paschall as those he’d love to watch. (Technically Gillespie would have to sit out the game because he’s supposed to be watching, but hey, who are we to argue with his choice?)
Gillespie has had an up-close vantage point to watch Booth and Paschall all season and he has seen plenty in that time. Booth has posted 12 games in which he’s scored 20-plus points and has bagged at last four three-pointers in a game on eight different occasions this season.
Paschall, who escaped college basketball Siberia when he left Fordham for Villanova after his freshman season, has logged 11 games of 20 or more points, posted a pair of double-doubles and three times this season has had five or more three-pointers in a game.
Kind of an easy pick for Gillespie.
“I’d have to say my teammates, Phil and E,” Gillespie said. “I feel like they do everything. They’re able to get shots and even when they’re not hitting shots they’re defending, they’re rebounding, they’re doing whatever it takes to win.”
Xavier’s Naji Marshall was born in Atlantic City and played his high school ball in Maryland. So he didn’t venture too far from his roots when he chose a certain St. John’s product as the one he’d pay to see.
“I’d probably have to say I’d like to watch Shamorie Ponds,” Marshall said. “He’s an East Coast guy and being from the East Coast he has a great handle and all that. I really like to watch that.”
Naji said all that before Xavier had yet to play St. John’s this season. And when the two schools did meet for the first time on Feb. 28, Marshall not only bested Ponds, scoring 31 points to Shamorie’s 13, but he helped Xavier post an 84-73 victory.
Ponds will have his chance at redemption against Marshall and Xavier when the two teams meet Saturday in the regular-season finale at the Cintas Center.
Much like Gillespie, Seton Hall’s Mike Nzei didn’t have to think long and hard about his player. He states a strong case for the guy wearing No. 13 in Pirates blue and white.
“I’d have to pick my teammate Myles Powell,” Nzei said. “I’ve been around him a long time. I played with him in AAU since about five or six years ago and he has come a long way from being the player I knew then to the player he is now.”
But it’s not just about all the scoring Powell does (and he does a lot of that, currently second in the BIG EAST at 22.3 points per game). What Nzei admires most about Powell is his never-say-die attitude.
“I see him out there everyday and I see that he never gives up,” Nzei said. “I just feel like anytime we need him and we call upon him he shows up for us. I just see a guy with a lot of toughness and he just leads and when we call upon him he just answers. When I’m in the game with him I enjoy playing with him. He’s out there doing a lot of amazing things. Playing with him is a great experience. It just amazes me the kinds of things he can do on the court as a player.”
L.J. Figueroa has been the unsung hero for St. John’s this season, playing in the shadow of Ponds and Mustapha Heron while currently being a top 15 scorer and top 10 rebounder in the conference. And while both Ponds and Heron have put on quite a few shows themselves this season, Figueroa’s choice of player to watch works down the turnpike from St. John’s.
“I’d have to say Eric Paschall,” Figueroa said of the Villanova senior. “He’s explosive. He can shoot the ball and the elevation on his jump shot and the way he gets to the basket is very impressive. He’s aggressive and he can dunk on you. I just really like watching him play.”
Figueroa got to see Paschall drop 25 on St. John’s in their first meeting with the Wildcats, a 76-71 victory on Jan. 8. But Figueroa - and the Johnnies - got the upper hand in the rematch on Feb. 17 when both Paschall (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Figueroa (22 points, 12 rebounds) logged double-doubles but the Red Storm came away with a 71-65 at the Garden.
Finally there is Marquette’s Howard. He leads the BIG EAST in scoring (25.5 ppg) and has knocked down 107 three-pointers this season. To put that in perspective, Creighton’s Alexander is a very distant second with 86 treys. Howard has scored 45 points twice in a game this season and set a Marquette and BIG EAST-record with 53 points in a win over Creighton. So who could possibly entertain someone who is so entertaining himself?
“I’d probably have to say Myles Powell,” Howard said. “He’s an exciting player. The way he leads his team, the way he can score and impact the game and also just his team in general. They’re a team that if they’re down in a game they always fight their way back. But the way he’s able to impact a game is really impressive so he’s the person I’d pay to see play. Myles is my guy.”
Howard won’t have to pay to see Powell Wednesday night as he’ll get in free when the Golden Eagles meet Powell and the Pirates at the Prudential Center in their second meeting. Marquette won the first meeting 70-66 on Jan. 12 when Howard poured in 26 points to Powell’s 21.
So what do you suppose they have in store for an encore?