NCAA Men: The stock report (11 Feb)
Every Thursday, ZOOM provides The Stock Report for the previous week in college basketball, where we analyse three players whose stock has risen over the week and three whose stock has fallen. Of course, the only players who can be featured are Aussies!
Stock Rising
Peter Hooley
This weeks games:
Feb 4th @ UMBC (W, 79-73)- 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Feb 7th vs. Vermont (W, 75-71)- 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Feb 9th @ Binghamton (W, 69-56)- 6 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Hooley continued his extremely impressive senior season with Albany, as he helped them to go 3-0 this week, as the Great Danes improved to 20-6.
Despite a night where he put up numbers under his averages against Binghamton, it doesn’t take away his previous two outings, where he was terrific. Hooley also combined with fellow Aussie Mike Rowley to create some Australian magic.
https://twitter.com/ECoastBias/status/696131304040091648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The South Australian is averaging 13.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this season but he has only shot 24.2% from three-point land. This makes Hooley’s 2-of-5 three-point shooting against UMBC and his 3-of-7 effort in the Vermont match-up noteworthy. Despite being in his senior season, it is clear Hooley is still working his butt off and the results are showing, as his stock continues to rise.
Isaac Humphries
This weeks games:
Feb 7th vs. Florida (W, 80-61)- 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
Feb 10th vs. Georgia (W, 82-48)- 0 points, 3 rebounds, 4 blocks
It isn’t necessarily the numbers that makes Humphries stock rise this week- although a combined 6 blocks in two games is mightily impressive. The fact that Kentucky coach John Calipari, one of basketballs most well respected coaches of all time, took notice of Humphries is a major confidence booster for the freshmen.
https://twitter.com/CoachCalDotCom/status/696833612726079488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Humphries has struggled to get minutes this season, averaging just 9.0 minutes per game this season in 12 games.
Although, two consecutive games of double-digit minutes shows a positive change occurring. Humphries has been a force on the defensive end when he has been given the chance this season and it seems like those chances will be becoming more frequent for the 7-footer.
Venky Jois
This weeks games:
Feb 5th @ Northern Arizona (W, 84-73)- 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal
Feb 7th @ Southern Utah (W, 81-67)- 11 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals
Jois has been simply terrific for Eastern Washington his season and this week was no different, as the Victorian native had two consecutive double-doubles in a couple of Eagles wins.
The Eagles praised Jois for his wonderful play as of late, awarding him the school’s Athlete of the Month award.
https://twitter.com/EWUAthletics/status/695755144688828418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Eastern Washington have won four games in a row and Jois has played a huge part in the streak. The Eagles are currently third in the Big Sky Conference, just two games behind top-placed Montana. If Jois continues his stellar play of late, expect Eastern Washington to make a late push for the crown.
Stock Falling
Jonah Bolden
This weeks games:
Feb 5th @ USC (L, 80-61)- 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
It is tough to say Bolden’s stock is going down, considering the sophomore played just one game this week.
In that one game though, a thrashing at the end of rivals USC, Bolden struggled, going scoreless in just 17 minutes of action.
Although, a positive for Bolden is that head coach Steve Alford stated in his press conference that he believes the Roswell native is a solid rebounder and has been defending well. Here’s hoping Bolden’s spot in the starting five helps him forget about his recent form slump.
https://twitter.com/BruinNation/status/697254920773361664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Emmett Naar
This weeks games:
Feb 5th @ BYU (L, 70-59)- 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Feb 7th @ San Diego (W, 60-43)- 9 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Saint Mary’s are in the midst of one of their best seasons in school history, currently boasting a 19-3 record, just half a game out of top spot in the WCC standings. As we explained Tuesday, the Gaels are almost a lock for their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2013.
https://twitter.com/Scoutbasketball/status/697104254453084160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Naar though, despite his adequate numbers, struggled with his shot this week, hence the drop in the Sydney product’s stock.
Naar is connecting on an extremely impressive 51.7% of his field goals this season, which makes his 40.0% performance against BYU and an abysmal 27.3% outing against San Diego disappointing. Naar was been tremendous this season, so don’t expect this cold streak to last for long.
Nick Duncan
This weeks games:
Feb 3rd vs. Utah State (W, 70-67)- 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals
Feb 7th @ Air Force (L, 61-53)- 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Similar to Naar, Duncan had a fairly solid week in terms of the numbers but the explanation for his stock going down is his poor shooting this week.
Duncan has struggled with his shot all season, connecting at just a 40.7% clip for the Broncos, as they sit third in the Mountain West with a 16-8 record. This week, the New South Wales product shot 33.3% against Utah State and 30.0% in Boise State’s shock loss to Air Force.
https://twitter.com/BSUsportsreport/status/696200901946552321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Duncan’s junior year has been an up and down affair, so let’s hope that the Aussie can find some consistent form as the season hits the stretch run.
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