ORU's Bluitt must be the workhorse - TW (3-16-06)

[ORUTerry]

ORU's Bluitt must be the workhorse

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/16/2006

Jonathan Bluitt is likely to feel the heat before anyone else.

Memphis uses the press to create confusion, turnovers and cheap baskets. The fourth-ranked Tigers try to frazzle and unravel the other team's point guard.

Bluitt has the job for Oral Roberts University. How he stands up to the pressure Friday could determine whether the Golden Eagles have a chance of beating the Tigers in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

"He has to take care of the basketball," said coach Scott Sutton. "They put so much pressure on you and are so athletic. They rely on their transition game, and if we have a bunch of turnovers, we aren't going to have a chance to win the game."

How many is a bunch? ORU averages 14.4 turnovers per game, down from a December high when it averaged 19 over the first nine games.

Memphis is 23-2 when forcing 15 turnovers. Huge and fast at almost every position, the Tigers average 9.8 steals per game. Think what Nolan Richardson's Arkansas and Tulsa teams did to opponents.

"(Memphis is) a great team, but you never find out how good you are until you play against good competition," Bluitt said. "So we're looking forward to the challenge."

The 5-foot-9 Bluitt will be the smallest man on the floor, but also one of the most experienced, with three starting seasons under his belt. The Tigers may be loaded with NBA talent, but five of their top 10 men were playing high school basketball last year.

Bluitt led the Mid-Continent Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6:1) for the second straight year in 2006 and has a career ratio of 2.3:1. A 2-to-1 ratio is considered very good. Bluitt is averaging less than a turnover per game, with 16 in his last 17 games.

University of Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik said Bluitt is likely to play a key role in more ways than one. Wojcik's opinion was sought because the Golden Hurricane was the only team to play both ORU and Memphis. Tulsa lost to Memphis 84-61 and 78-67 and to ORU 68-52.

Wojcik said Bluitt will have his hands full guarding 6-foot-2 Darius Washington Jr., Memphis' second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg). He gets to the foul line more frequently than any other Tiger.

One difficulty in playing the Tigers is that they have several players capable of getting to the basket on the drive. Although they prefer to run, they don't mind attacking from a halfcourt set.

"You have to be able to stop dribble penetration," Wojcik said.

ORU's 6-foot-7 Larry Owens will keep busy with Memphis' 6-foot-7 Rodney Carney.

"Carney is not only a world-class athlete who has size to him, but on top of that, he has experience from being a four-year starter," Wojcik said. "He can really shoot it from (3-point range), as well as finish at the rim. He's a problem for everyone, and that's why he's the Player of the Year in Conference USA."

Carney is also a lockdown defender who held Duke's J.J. Redick to 15 points in the final of the Preseason NIT. He will probably stalk ORU's sharpshooting Ken Tutt.

The best matchup could be between Caleb Green, two-time Mid-Con Player of the Year, and 6-foot-9 Shawne Williams, C-USA's Freshman of the Year and a Sporting News Freshman All-American. But Wojcik said it won't be a fair fight. Williams will get lots of help from 6-foot-9 starter Joey Dorsey and 6-foot-9 Robert Dozier and 6-foot-11 Kareem Cooper off the bench.

"That's four big, athletic kids," Wojcik said. "I have the utmost respect for Caleb. He plays with a lot of energy and skill. But what they can do is keep sending people at him."

[ORUTex]

Good article, but this comes straight from the worthless stat department:

Memphis is 23-2 when forcing 15 turnovers.

They are 30-3 overall, so that makes them 7-1 when not forcing 15 turnovers. Nothing magic about 15 turnovers.

These stats, however, are very interesting:

Bluitt led the Mid-Continent Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6:1) for the second straight year in 2006 and has a career ratio of 2.3:1. A 2-to-1 ratio is considered very good. Bluitt is averaging less than a turnover per game, with 16 in his last 17 games.

As much as he handles the ball, to have less than one TO per game is amazing.

[ORU Eli]

The Tigers may be loaded with NBA talent, but five of their top 10 men were playing high school basketball last year.

I always look for intangibles and Memphis having 5 freshman playing significant roles helps me sleep a little better at night prior to the game.