NBA Draft Profiles: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State

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Stats: 17.3 ppg, 14.5 rpg (5.7 off.), 2.3 bpg, 1.9 spg, 62.3% FG

Age: 21, senior

Size:

• Listed: 6'8", 225 lb
• Official: 6'6" (no shoes), 6'6.75" (with shoes), 7'0" (wingspan), 9'0" (reach), 225 lb

Strengths: You know what you are going to get with Faried. There may not be a harder worker in the country than Faried. He runs the floor, he dives on the ground for loose balls, he is a willing and capable defender (although this was tough to judge, Morehead State played zone), and -- most notably -- he is a voracious rebounder, setting the NCAA's all-time record in that category this season. While Faried feasted on OVC competition throughout his career, he had more than enough big performances against quality competition -- for example, the 20 points and 18 boards he had against Florida or the 15 points and 12 boards he had despite foul trouble against Ohio State -- for NBA-types to be comfortable in assuming that Faried's success wasn't just a manifestation of the level he played college basketball at.

Weaknesses: Faried is a sensational rebounder, but sensational rebounders and blue-collar heroes do not an NBA star make. Faried is under 6'7" with shoes on, which makes him closer to the size of a shooting guard than the size of an NBA post player. He's a very strong young man, but he still only checks in at 225 lb. That lack of ideal size can be overlooked given Faried's length, athleticism, and aggressiveness, however. What is more disconcerting is that Faried doesn't have much of an offensive game beyond dunking the ball. He's got a decent right-handed hook, but beyond that he doesn't have many post moves and he has almost no mid-range or face-up game.

Comparisons:

• Best Case Scenario: The obvious and glaring comparison is Dennis Rodman. The Worm was outsized every time he stepped on the floor, but he still ended up being one of the best rebounders and defenders at his position during his career. That's a high ceiling for Faried. A more realistic best-case is probably somewhere around a Udonis Haslem, an undersized four that does a lot of dirty work.


• Worst Case Scenario: A player of the Mark Madsen, Louis Admundson ilk. A hard-working energy guy off the bench that sees minutes in short spurts.

Outlook: Faried is already a success story. An under recruited prospect out of the hood in Newark, NJ, Faried ended up at Morehead State, which was one of the only schools to offer him a scholarship. All the success he has at at the Kentucky school has come while his mother is back home battling a bad case of Lupus with her wife. The fact Faried has made it from Newark to Morehead State to the first round of the NBA Draft is incredible in its own right. But don't expect this young man to quit while he's ahead. I've paid close attention to Faried the past three years, and there are few players I've seen that consistently play as hard as him. Yes, he'll need to add to his offensive repertoire to ever be more than role player, but there are not many players in the NBA willing and able to defend, rebound, and win the 50-50 balls.

Draft Range: Mid-to-Late 1st Round

And the experts say...

• Chad Ford: "For the past two years, we've listed Faried in the "sleeper" category. No more. NBA scouts know him well, and many believe he'll be a lottery pick on draft night. His energy and knack for grabbing rebounds is elite -- some go so far to say Dennis Rodman-esque."


• Draft Express: "Slightly undersized, limited offensively, and inexperienced defensively, Faried has a fair share of question marks. However, he has a clear NBA-level skill, and the type of motor coaches dream of, which can't be said for every prospect. Expecting him to come in and emerge as a major impact player early in his career is a stretch, but Faried certainly seems to have the tools to fill a Louis Amundson-type role for a team looking for a workhorse to infuse their team with energy off the bench. If he works on his weaknesses and adapts to the professional game, Faried could live up to the lofty expectations he's set for himself with his outstanding college career."


• Swish Scout: "Excellent combination of length, strength, athleticism, and motor that helps him excel on the boards and defensive playmaking. Undersized for an NBA post player and very raw offensively, but should be a solid hustle player in the league."

Highlights:




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VIDEO: Pitino succumbs to Morehead; Demonte Harper

Kenny Faried and Demonte Harper were struggling.

Down 61-59 with 20 seconds left on the clock, Faried and Harper were a combined 6-27 from the floor with just 17 points. If it wasn't for an 8-12 shooting performance from three and 36 points off the bench from Ty Proffitt and Terrance Hill, Morehead State would never have even been in this game.

And despite the cold shooting night, Morehead State head coach Donnie Tyndall put the ball in Harper's hands at the end of the game, and it paid off:



I have much more to say about this game, but it is going to have to wait until tonight's recap. Brandon Knight just hit a game winner.
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Dancing with the Stars: Morehead State Eagles

Conference: Ohio Valley

Record: 24-9, 13-5

Rankings: 97 (Kenpom), 111 (Sagarin), 77 (RPI)

Potential Seed: 15/16, possibly a play-in game

Best Players: Kenny Faried (17.4 ppg, 14.5 rpg, 2.0 spg, 2.4 bpg), Demonte Harper (16.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.4 apg), Terrance Hill (10.4 ppg)


Big Wins, Bad Losses: The Eagles knocked off a couple of notable non-conference opponents. They beat SoCon regular season co-champion Charleston in January and then took down the MVC's auto-bid winner Indiana State on Bracket Buster's weekend in February. MSU put up a fight at Florida and at Ohio State, but they also suffered bad losses to UNC-Wilmington, Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky, and Eastern Illinois.

Tendencies: We've all heard the saying "their best offense might be a missed shot". Well, that is Morehead State for you. They have the kind of size you don't often see at this level of basketball, led by potential first round pick and the NCAA's all-time leading rebounder Kenneth Faried. Demontez Harper, a 6'4" senior guard, is another big time scorer. The Eagles don't really have a point guard that can create, which is part of the reason they turn the ball over as much as they do and could cause a problem against a pressuring defense.

How They Got There: The Eagles started the conference season slowly, starting 4-4, before winning eight in a row to set up a defacto regular season title game against Murray State. The Racers won that battle, forcing Morehead State into the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament. But Murray lost in the semifinals, denying us a rubber match between the two OVC favorites, but giving the Fighting Farieds an easy path back to the NCAA Tournament.

Outlook: Generally, I would say that Morehead State is a candidate to pull an upset of a top team. They have size, they are experienced, and they performed well on the road against Florida and Ohio State. The problem with that? They are likely going to be locking horns with, at the worst, a two seed. Anything is possible, but the best case scenario may be that Faried gets matched up with someone like a JaJuan Johnson and dominates.
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Sunday's Madness

Seeing as championship week has officially started, we are going to be doing a new daily madness segment. Here, you can find the daily scores and schedules for every conference tournament game that day as Trizzle will once again be taking over BIAH. For a full schedule of the conference tournaments and a listing of the automatic bids, click here.

GAME OF THE DAY: Morehead State 67, Austin Peay 65 2OT

The Ohio Valley Conference championship game certainly did not disappoint, as the Eagles beat the Governors in double-overtime to go to their first tournament since 1984. Describing the action at the end of the game would do it no justice, so here are the video highlights:



Kenneth Faried had 15 points and 10 boards for Morehead State, including the dunk that gave them the lead at the end of regulation. I love that play call. I was listening to an interview with Donnie Tyndall, the coach of the Eagles, after the game, and he was saying that they run that play (they call it fist up) a lot. They must, because a game-deciding possession where you throw an alley-oop means that you need to have a ton of confidence in your players.

Back to the game, Steve Peterson, a seldom-used freshman, was the guy that hit the game winning shot for the Eagles, his only points of the game. The Governors were led by 16 from Drake Reed and Wes Channels, but did not hit a field goal in the second OT.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: John Bryant, Santa Clara

There were a number of players that put up outstanding performances on Saturday, but I have to give it to the big fella. Bryant led the Broncos to a 80-69 win over San Diego in the quarterfinals of the WCC tournament by scoring 24 points and grabbing, get this, 27 rebounds, a WCC tourney record. He had 17 boards in the first half and outrebounded San Diego as a team, 27-24. Bryant also added four blocks, while going 12-12 from the charity stripe.

John Bryant was too big for Rob Jones and the Toreros on Saturday.
(photo credit: Jae C. Hung/AP)

They were good too: Gerald Lee, Old Dominion - 30 pts, 10 rbs; Charles Jenkins, Hofstra - 27 pts, 6 rbs; Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford - 26 pts, 18 rbs; Stephen Curry, Davidson - 43 pts, 4 rbs, 3 asts; Darryl Proctor, UMBC - 33 pts, 11 rbs, 3 asts, 2 stls, forced OT with basket; Austin Kenon, VMI - 34 pts, 8 3's; Garrett Callahan, South Dakota State - 30 pts; Brett Winkelman, North Dakota State - 30 pts, 8 rbs.

TEAM OF THE DAY: South Dakota State and Towson

Garrett Callahan of SDSU was close to being player of the day. He scored 30 for the Jackrabbits, including the last five of regulation and the last seven of overtime. With 16 seconds left on the clock, Callahan had a three-point play that tied the game to force OT. Then, with 1:05 left in the extra period, he had another three-point play that gave the Jacks a 70-69 lead that they never relinquished.

Garrett Callahan of SDSU had 30 to lead the Jackrabbits to an upset of #2 Oral Roberts.
(photo credit: GoJack.com)

Towson, the #11 seed in the CAA tournament, reached the semifinals by knocking off third-seeded Northeastern. Junior Hairston had 14 and Troy Franklin added 13 for the Tigers, who will play #2 George Mason today.


Saturday's Results:

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Atlantic Sun Finals (Nashville, TN):
- #2 East Tennessee State 85, #1 Jacksonville 68

Big South Finals (Radford, VA):
- #1 Radford 108, #2 VMI 94

Ohio Valley Finals (Nashville, TN):
- #4 Morehead State 67, #2 Austin Peay 65 2OT


America East Second Round (Albany, NY):
- #7 Albany 56, #2 Vermont 52 OT
- #6 UMBC 79, #3 Boston U 75
- #1 Binghamton 73, #9 Hartford 65
- #4 New Hampshire 76, #5 Stony Brook 73

Big Sky Quarters (campus sites):
- #6 Montana State 56, #3 Montana 54
- #4 Idaho State 67, #5 Northern Colorado 60

Colonial Athletic Second Round (Richmond):
- #1 VCU 61, #8 Georgia State 52
- #4 Old Dominion 52, #5 Hofstra 51
- #2 George Mason 61, #7 James Madison 53
- #11 Towson 58, #3 Northeastern 54

Horizon League Semis (Indianapolis, IN):
- #1 Butler 62, #4 Wright State 57
- #3 Cleveland State 73, #2 UW-Green Bay 67

MAAC Quarters (Albany, NY):
- #5 Fairfield 68, #4 Manhattan 61
- #1 Siena 77, #9 Canisius 52
- #2 Niagara 79, #10 Marist 50
- #3 Rider 67, #6 St. Peter's 58

Missouri Valley Semis (St. Louis, MO):
- #1 Northern Iowa 76, #4 Bradley 62
- #3 Illinois State 73, #2 Creighton 49

Southern Conference Second Round (Chattanooga, TN):
- #1S Davidson 84, #4N Appalachian State 68
- #3S College of Charleston 67, #2N Western Carolina 48
- #1N Chattanooga 79, #5N Elon 78
- #3N Samford 76, #2S The Citadel 67

Summit League First Round (in Sioux Falls, South Dakota):
- #1 North Dakota State 83, #8 Centenary 77
- #7 South Dakota State 72, #2 Oral Roberts 69 OT

West Coast Second Round (Las Vegas, NV):
- #4 Santa Clara 80, #5 San Diego 69
- #3 Portland 69, #6 Pepperdine 45


Sunday's Games

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Missouri Valley Finals (St. Louis, MO):
- 2:05 PM: #3 Illinois State vs. #1 Northern Iowa


America East Semis (Albany, NY):
- 2:00 PM: #6 UMBC vs. #7 Albany
- 5:00 PM: #1 Binghamton vs. #4 New Hampshire

Colonial Athletic Semis (Richmond, VA):
- 3:00 PM: #1 VCU vs. #4 Old Dominion
- 5:30 PM: #2 George Mason, #11 Towson

MAAC Semis (Albany, NY):
- 6:00 PM: #1 Siena vs. #5 Fairfield
- 8:30 PM: #2 Niagara vs. #3 Rider

Northeast Semis (Campus sites):
- 2:00 PM: #5 Quinnipiac @ #1 Robert Morris
- 7:00 PM: #3 Sacred Heart @ #2 Mt. St. Mary's

Patriot Semis (Campus sites):
- 12:00 PM: #4 Army @ #1 American
- 4:00 PM: #6 Colgate @ #2 Holy Cross

Southern Semis (Chattanooga, TN):
- 6:00 PM: #1S Davidson vs. #3S Charleston
- 8:30 PM: #1N Chattanooga vs. #3N Samford

Summit Semis (Sioux Falls, SD):
- 7:00 PM: #5 Southern Utah vs. #4 IUPUI
- 9:30 PM: #6 IPFW vs. #3 Oakland

Sun Belt Quarters (Hot Springs, AR):
- 1:30 PM: #8 Florida International vs. #1 Western Kentucky
- 4:00 PM: #5 Middle Tennessee State vs. #4 North Texas
- 7:30 PM: #7 Denver vs. #2 Arkansas-Little Rock
- 10:00 PM: #6 South Alabama vs. #3 Troy

West Coast Semis (Vegas):
- 9:30 PM: #4 Santa Clara vs. #1 Gonzaga
- 11:30 PM: #3 Portland vs. #2 St. Mary's

Continue reading...

Saturday's Madness

Seeing as championship week has officially started, we are going to be doing a new daily madness segment. Here, you can find the daily scores and schedules for every conference tournament game that day as Trizzle will once again be taking over BIAH. For a full schedule of the conference tournaments and a listing of the automatic bids, click here.

GAME OF THE DAY: Creighton 63, Wichita State 62

March Madness is officially here people. Creighton built up a 47-25 lead with 15 minutes left in the game, but the Shockers would slowly chip away at the lead. They would get within six at 59-53 with under two minutes left on a three-point play, which set up a wild finish. I'll let gocreighton.com explain it:

WSU drew within six at 59-53 with 1:59 to play on a three-point play by J.T. Durley. Durley had eight baskets in the second half after a scoreless opening period. After a Bluejay turnover, Graham Hatch would miss a three-pointer from the left wing that could have made it a one-score game. Young would then hit both shots of a bonus to give CU an eight-point lead with 1:45 to play.

Durley answered with a three-point play with 1:22 left as WSU closed within 61-56. Another Bluejay turnover in the backcourt returned the ball to WSU. Durley would drive and be fouled. He missed the first foul before sinking the second as WSU trimmed the margin to four. Woodfox would miss the front end of a bonus situation, but Stinnett came up with a steal when he stripped Shocker guard Toure' Murry. Hannah missed a deep three-pointer and Murry a putback, but WSU retained the ball with 22 seconds left. Murry airballed a three-pointer on the inbounds, but Hatch grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sinking both.

Stinnett turned it over just past the midcourt line, and in the scramble for the loose ball Young tripped up Aaron Ellis with 12.2 seconds left. Ellis, an 68.8 percent shooter, missed the front end but WSU called timeout while falling out-of-bounds. The Shockers set up a play for star freshman Murry, and Murry drained what appeared to be his third game-winner of the season, when his trey splashed down with 7.1 seconds left.

CU hurried the ball up court, where Young's off-balance leaner went out-of-bounds with 1.9 seconds left with CU keeping possession. The teams traded timeouts before CU ran a play for its All-America candidate. Woodfox pump faked, took a dribble to his left and then sank the jumper as time expired. After a review, officials confirmed that it beat the buzzer and sent CU on to the semi's.

Here is a video of the shot by Woodfox (it is pretty bad, I'll keep looking for a cleaner one).



PLAYER OF THE DAY: Courtney Pigrim, East Tennessee State

Pigrim went for 30 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists as he led the Buccaneers to the finals of the Atlantic Sun tournament. ETSU beat Belmont, ending the Bruins three-year run in the NCAA tournament. Pigrim also broke the 2,000 point mark for his career.

They were good too: Charles Jenkins, Hofstra - 27 pts, 9 asts, 4 rebs; Alex Renfroe, Belmont - 9 pts, 10 rbs, 10 asts; Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin - 34 pts, 10 rebs; Shy Ely, Evansville - 29 pts, 5 rebs.

TEAM OF THE DAY: Morehead State Eagles

Morehead State took a six point lead at the half, and never trailed in the second half as the fourth seeded Eagles upset conference champion Tennessee-Martin and OVC player of the year Lester Hudson. Kenneth Faried led the Eagles with his 22nd double-double of the season, going for 22 points and 17 boards. The Eagles advance to the OVC title game with the win, with UT-Martin and the Lester Hudson show are destined for the NIT.

Kenneth Faried putting home 2 of his 22 points.
(photo credit: msueagles.com)

They were good too: #11 Towson upset #6 Drexel 73-62; #1 Jacksonville advanced to the A-Sun finals on #4 Lipscomb's home floor.


Friday's Results

Atlantic Sun Semis (at Lipscomb's Allen Arena):
- #2 East Tennessee State 88, #3 Belmont 74
- #1 Jacksonville 88, #4 Lipscomb 72

America East First Round (Albany):
- #9 Hartford 65, #8 Maine 56

Colonial Athletic First Round (Richmond):
- #8 Georgia State 54, #9 Delaware 41
- #5 Hofstra 79, #12 UNC Wilmington 66
- #7 James Madison 70, #10 William & Mary 48
- #11 Towson 63, #6 Drexel 52

Horizon Second Round (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis):
- #4 Wright State 80, #5 UW-Milwaukee 70
- #3 Cleveland State 67, #7 Illinois-Chicago 64

MAAC First Round (Albany):
- #9 Canisius 74, #8 Loyola MD 68
- #10 Marist 43, #7 Iona 40

Missouri Valley Quarters (St. Louis):
- #1 Northern Iowa 63, #8 Indiana State 59
- #4 Bradley 67, #5 Southern Illinois 55
- #2 Creighton 63, #7 Wichita State 62
- #3 Illinois State 78, #6 Evansville 68

Ohio Valley Semis (Nashville):
- #4 Morehead State 63, #1 Tennessee-Martin 55
- #2 Austin Peay 67, #3 Murray State 50

Southern Tournament (Chattanooga):
- #4N Appalachian State 86, #5S Georgia Southern 75
- #3S College of Charleston 69, #6N UNC Greensboro 56
- #5N Elon 62, #4S Western Carolina 55
- #3N Samford 57, #6S Furman 52

West Coast Tournament (Vegas):
- #5 San Diego 62, #8 Loyola Marymount 56
- #6 Pepperdine 93, #7 San Francisco 85


Saturday's Games

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Big South Finals (Radford, VA):
- 4:00 PM: #2 VMI @ #1 Radford

Ohio Valley Finals (Nashville, TN):
- 8:00 PM: #4 Morehead State vs. #2 Austin Peay

America East Second Round (Albany, NY):
- 12:00 PM: #2 Vermont vs. #7 Albany
- 2:30 PM: #3 Boston U vs. #6 UMBC
- 6:00 PM: #1 Binghamton vs. #9 Hartford
- 8:30 PM: #4 New Hampshire vs. #5 Stony Brook

Big Sky Quarters (campus sites):
- 9:00 PM: #6 Montana State @ #3 Montana
- 9:00 PM: #5 Northern Colorado @ #4 Idaho State

Colonial Athletic Second Round (Richmond):
- 12:00 PM: #1 VCU vs. #8 Georgia State
- 2:30 PM: #4 Old Dominion vs. #5 Hofstra
- 6:00 PM: #2 George Mason vs. #7 James Madison
- 8:30 PM: #3 Northeastern vs. #11 Towson

Horizon League Semis (Indianapolis, IN):
- 7:00 PM: #4 Wright State at #1 Butler
- 9:00 PM: #2 UW-Green Bay vs. #3 Cleveland State

Missouri Valley Semis (St. Louis, MO):
- 2:35 PM: #1 Northern Iowa vs. #4 Bradley
- 5:05 PM: #2 Creighton vs. #3 Illinois State

Southern Conference Second Round (Chattanooga, TN):
- 2:00 PM: #1S Davidson vs. #4N Appalachian State
- 4:30 PM: #2N Western Carolina vs. #3S College of Charleston
- 7:00 PM: #1N Chattanooga vs. #5N Elon
- 9:30 PM: #2S The Citadel vs. #3N Samford

Summit League First Round (in Sioux Falls, South Dakota):
- 7:00 PM: #8 Centenary vs. #1 North Dakota State
- 9:30 PM: #7 South Dakota State vs. #2 Oral Roberts

West Coast Second Round (Las Vegas, NV):
- 9:00 PM: #4 Santa Clara vs. #5 San Diego
- 11:30 PM: #3 Portland vs. #6 Pepperdine Continue reading...