2007-2008 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 12) DEPAUL

Septmeber 30, 2007


DEPAUL BLUE DEMON ESSENTIALS:

Official Website of the DePaul Blue Demons

Official 2007-2008 DePaul DePaul Roster & Bios

Meet Coach Jerry Wainwrigth

Allstate Arena

2007-2008 DePaul Blue Demon Schedule


OVERVIEW:

When Dave Leitao left DePaul for Virginia and the ACC, Jerry Wainwright embraced the call to return to his roots as suburban Berwyn native Jerry Wainwright returned to Chicago and became DePaul’s 11th head men’s basketball coach on April 28, 2005. With the acceptance of the position, Wainwright was in charge of bringing DePaul basketball into a new era as a member of the Big East Conference.

The transition has not been the easiest to make. In their first campaign, the Blue Demons were not one of the 12 teams to qualify for the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden following the 2005-2006 campaign. Despite that disappointment, a solid returning core had several pundits pointing towards the Blue Demons as a dark horse in the conference race last season. Despite improving to 9-7 in conference play last season, you never got the sense that DePaul was able to put things together to be able to make that charge.

Over the last two seasons, consistency has been a major stumbling issue for the Blue Demons. On one night, DePaul can look like world beaters and has beaten ranked opponents in surprising fashion in both 2005 (Wake Forest) and 2006 (Kansas) only to turnaround and lose to Old Dominion by 44 (in 2005) and a short time later to weak UAB team (in 2006). The lack of consistency knew no bounds as it spread from their point guard play to their post players and even their stars like Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler could disappear at any time for long periods.



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Now, DePaul heads into their third season in the Big East with a highly regarded recruiting class. These talented newcomers are going to be under the microscope out of the gates as the Blue Demons must replace 57% of their scoring and 59% of their rebounding from last season. They have been hit the hardest from the perspective of loss of production through graduation and Chandler’s decision to enter the NBA Draft.


2006-2007 SEASON:

The disappointment started quickly for DePaul last season as the Blue Demons got out of the gate losing their first two by double digits to in-state rivals Bradley and Northwestern. Things began looking dimmer when the Blue Demons dropped two of three in the Maui Invitational (Kentucky and Purdue) and returned home for a date with nationally ranked Kansas. True to their form of not knowing what to expect from them, the Blue Demons rebounded from a 17-point 1st half performance to stun Kansas. The up and down nature continued into the Big East as they opened with an anemic performance in a loss at St. John’s only to bounce right back and surprise Villanova on their campus. Later, they lose three straight barely breaking 50-pts each game and then a 3-game win streak with impressive showings against Notre Dame and Marquette. Can anyone figure these guys out?

The Blue Demons won five of their last six conference games (and six of their last 8) to salvage their season with a 9-7 conference mark and earn a trip to the NIT. Of course, they took advantage of their softer late season schedule with two wins over USF and a win over Cincinnati, but at least some consistency had developed. Although inconsistent at times, Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler were the constant performers for the Blue Demons throughout the season. However, when Draelon Burns established himself as a legit third option offensively, the Blue Demons became a better club. In those last eight games, Burns averaged over 15 PPG, well above his 11.6 season average. Will Burns keep up that production this season as a possible go-to scorer?

THE BACKCOURT:

The biggest thorn in the side of the Blue Demons since their entrance into the Big East has been finding someone, anyone to take the reigns as the program’s point guard. Two years ago, it looked like a safe bet that Cliff Clinkscales could assume the role. Clinkscales complete inability to be a threat offensively and his wide open style of play never has meshed with Wainwright’s intricate system. Last season, it was hoped that Will Walker would assume the reigns of the offense once the highly touted freshman got his feet wet in the Big East. Again, inconsistent play never allowed that to happen. Both seasons, Jabari Currie was forced to handle the majority of the time at the point and the offense ran through Sammy Mejia. Last year the trio of Currie, Walker and Clinkscales averaged 37 minutes a game and 8.4 PPG and 6.2 assists against 3.6 turnovers a game. Not horrible numbers, unless you factor in their 30% 3-pt shooting number, but the point guard by committee seemed to prevent anyone on the team from finding a rhythm for any prolonged period of time. This season, another player adds to the mix as Munster (IN) native Mike Bizoukas joins the mix. Bizoukas IS a true point guard who excels in the role as a savvy distributor and coach on the floor. The best situation for the Blue Demons is for the sophomore Walker to mature into the player getting the bulk of the time with Bizoukas logging minutes as his back-up with Clinkscales as a change of pace. Having Currie work into the mix at the off-guard with Burns and in a three-guard look might be a source of improvement this team needs to help with their consistency.

Towards the end of last season DePaul found the missing third offensive option to complement Chandler and Mejia in Burns. This year, Burns will be asked to be much more than a third option, and until their touted incoming class gets their feet under them, the junior guard might be the #1 option. That is a role I am not comfortable with for Burns. He will need both wing players, senior Karron Clarke and freshman Dar Tucker, to be consistent threats to score the basketball. Both players are elite-level athletes, unfortunately for Clarke, not a 5th-year senior, he has yet to augment that supreme athletic ability with a skill level to excel in the Big East. The 6’6 NYC native averaged just 6.6 PPG last season, a significant drop from the 10.0 he averaged the previous season. Tucker is one to watch this season, he has the strength and athletic ability to make an impact right away as one of the most physical wing players in the conference. As he improves his perimeter skills, he becomes more dangerous and an elite player in this conference. How quickly will he do this? DePaul fans will hope it is MUCH quicker than Clarke has in his three season on the floor since transferring from Miami.

Another freshman, Mario Stula, rounds out the DePaul backcourt. An exceptional shooter that hails from Croatia, the 6’7 Stula is still adapting to the American game and the physical demands of it. Shooting is an area the Blue Demons are very suspect with, so he fills a definite need on the club, however, it might not be of much of an impact this season.


THE FRONTCOURT:

The only returning member of the Blue Demons frontcourt that received any meaningful time last season is senior Wesley Green. At times, Green shows some enormous potential from his 6’9, 300 lb frame. Other times, he looks out of shape and dis-interested. Injuries have also seemed to slow Green down just as he begins to realize some of his potential. So, again, now as a senior, what will you get from Green? In reality, nobody knows as every year it seems to be about 10-15 minutes a game with 3-5 PPG and a handful of rebounds. Some games of 14 pts and a few of none.

Joining Green in the frontcourt are two recruits that will be asked to do a lot in their first action at the Division 1-A level. Freshman Nyal ‘Mac’ Koshwal and JUCO transfer Matija Poscic could find themselves as the starting combination from the get-to. Koshwal is not your average freshman as he will be celebrating his 21st birthday around the time DePaul opens their season with Creighton. Powerfully built and with the athletic ability to get up and down the floor, Koshwal has the maturity to understand the importance of positioning when battling for post position on both ends of the floor. Poscic also brings size and maturity after averaging 10.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a sophomore and 9.7 points and 7.9 rebounds as a freshman at Highland CC (IL). Another native of Croatia, Poscic brings a game that might resemble that of Wilson Chandler’s and could step in and be nearly as productive for the Blue Demons. However, having Koshwal producing as expected will help Poscic’s production more than anything.


Rounding out the frontcourt are two more members of Depaul’s ‘United Nations’ in African imports Thijin Moses and Kene Obi. Moses is still a rail-thin forward (6’8 and 175 lbs) who obviously needs to add strength in order to utilize his versatile skills. Obi is 7’2 and 260 lbs and needs to improve his conditioning and skill level, but a prospect that size is always worth taking a chance on.


2007-2008 PREDICTION:

The two major questions that need to be answered before you can expect DePaul to move up the ladder this year in the standings are: Who will assume the role of point guard and will the talented newcomers excel in the Big East from day one? Those are tough questions to answer because you can never full get a grip in the preseason on how these things will play out until the real action starts. Big men always seem to take longer to adjust to the new level of competition and DePaul’s season might hinge on Koshwal and Poscic being able to not just hold their own, but establish themselves in the post as top players in this conference. Over time, I see this team improving quite a bit, but they will need to be ready early in the Big East season as they start off with a three game stretch in five days, all at home, against Villanova, Providence and Georgetown which will tell us a lot about the Blue Demons. I expect them to be on the bubble for the Big East Tournament throughout the season, getting off to a good start with those three home games could make or break their chances.


BIG EAST PREDICTION: 6-12