ECU @ UCF: Post-game Review (W 74-71)

Last night was Senior Knight, and anyone watching the game could tell. Our eldest members of the team, Jermaine and Kenrick, were clearly the leaders both emotionally and in the stat books. Jermaine played his best defensive game I've seen all year; perfect timing with the Charlotte Bobcats scout that was in attendance. I took down at least half of the notes that Mr. Scott Howard wrote down, and I'll list those at the end. Jermaine stuck with his man far better than I have ever seen him do, coming off screens well and getting a hand up on just about every shot. He shot much better from the field in the second half, and finally started to drive the open lane instead of looking for threes.

Will Weathers greatly impressed me as well with some lockdown defense on Brock Young that no one else seemed to provide without being called for a foul. I loved his vision as well, especially when he was able to see the lane and be confident enough to take it to the hole. PJ Gaynor also showed some ability off the bench tonight, knocking down a couple of inside shots and layups.

Zondervan came up with an incredibly heads-up game saving play with 3 seconds left. As Sam Hinnant (the Pirates leading scorer and hot hand all night) drove to the lane, he drew AJ Tyler as a defender, but didn't seem to notice Z slip into his lane and plant his feet to take a charge. Simultaneously Kenny and the crowd were electric. A perfect ending to a great Senior Knight, and a great beginning to what promises to be a riveting post-season tournament.

Notes from Scott Howard:

Excellent body
Outstanding confident athlete
Moves well without the ball
Very good rotation on jumper
Oustanding stepback move
Nice change of pace dribble
Involved others early in the game
Aggressive offensive rebounder
Uses body well to seperate from defender
On defense, closes out
Good defensive feet
Can stay with a driver

This guy had some of the smallest handwriting I've ever seen on his shot charts, but thankfully he had his laptop and constantly wrote notes on that large enough that I could read them. He also added center Chad Wynn from ECU to his potential draft prospects, and took down a few notes about him that I was unable to see. Wynn is only a sophomore, so I have to assume he was just preparing for future drafts.

Soap Box Talk

Jermaine Taylor’s number should hang from the rafters on Senior Knight.

Jermaine Taylor is the truest definition of a student athlete. When all is said and done, Jermaine will solidify himself as one of the greatest athletes to step on to UCF’s campus, but more importantly, he will graduate with a degree he has worked so hard for. That is the purpose of college, is it not? In fact, Jermaine Taylor’s number should be hanging up well before #24 ever receives immortal status. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll love Kevin Smith for all he did for UCF, but he does not represent what a student athlete is. He dropped out. Plain and simple.

Jermaine, more than likely, will win the CUSA Player of The Year Award, and he will graduate as UCF’s #1 career scoring leader at the Division I level, and may pass Bo Clarks DII record before the season ends. He’ll be on an NBA roster next year, and he’ll have his college education; one that he earned. Kevin Smith can’t say that. Call me crazy. I probably am. But that doesn’t change the fact that Jermaine Taylor, and his jersey number, should be immortalized at UCF. Put it next to NCAA Tournament banners, or better yet, place a giant banner on that eyesore of a wall behind the student section.

The UCF Arena will always be known as the house that Kirk built, but somewhere inside, the legend of #1 should live on forever.

Make it happen, UCF.