| | By Jay Bilas
Special to ESPN.com
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Friday, Oct. 13
Tommy Amaker is perhaps the brightest young coach on the college basketball horizon, and he has done a remarkable job with the
Seton Hall program. Amaker's minor miracle in taking the Hall to the Sweet 16, combined with a top-rated recruiting class, have people talking about the Final Four.
Everybody take a deep breath, and give this team some space to grow. Seton Hall is a year away from being truly elite.
The Pirates are certainly going to have a terrific season, but it will be difficult to duplicate the overtime wins over Oregon and Temple, or the near upset of Oklahoma State. While Amaker will expect a lot from his new team, he will also want to bring them along slowly and teach them how to win. He also needs to teach them how to handle the responsibility of being a national target.
Amaker knows this team, with all of its new parts and minus two of its senior leaders, has not yet accomplished anything together. He also knows that, while the 2000-01 Pirates will be very good, the '01-02 Seton Hall team has the chance to be really special.
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Frontcourt
Head coach Tommy Amaker has some quality big men to build around, starting with his first high-profile recruit of a year ago -- 6-foot-11 sophomore Samuel Dalembert.
Dalembert put up nice numbers as a freshman (6.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.57 blks). He is an athletic big man who is the fastest member of the team. His long frame makes his a great shot-blocker, but he's still raw offensively. He did show a shooting touch (50 percent FGs) and can still blossom into a great player
because of his presence on both ends.
Dalembert needs to take the ball harder to the basket, improve his offensive rebounding and work on his free
throws (52 percent). But overall, he can be a true impact player for Seton Hall, and
allow his teammates to get out and defend with confidence.
Joining Dalembert on the frontline will be 6-9 freshman Eddie Griffin, the No. 1 high-school prospect in the nation last year. Griffin has the complete package, which means he can step out and hit the three, run the floor, post up, and
really rebound and block shots. Griffin has a smoothness to his game, and
reminds you of a mini-Tim Duncan with the way he plays, and the way he
impacts a game.
Dalembert and Griffin will form an intimidating tandem, and take Seton Hall far away from its status as the worst rebounding team in the Big East.
Greg Morton is a 6-7 sophomore who can run the floor with speed, is a terrific athlete and perhaps the hardest worker on the squad. Morton's work ethic caught Amaker's eye on his first day of practice, which Amaker
referred to as "the best first day of practice I've seen a kid have."
Morton (3.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 51 percent FGs) will pound the glass for Seton Hall, and with Dalembert and Griffin, he will get a lot of put-backs and tip-ins. Morton is also a solid defender that can guard more than one position.
Marcus Toney-El, a 6-6 freshman from Seton Hall Prep, is another good athlete who will run and defend, while attacking the basket off the dribble. Toney-El was the original recruit of Amaker's landmark class that helped to land Griffin and Andre Barrett. Al Harris, Kevin Wilkins and Charles Manga will provide frontcourt depth for Seton Hall, as well as some quality
competition in practice.
|  | | Remember this Ty Shine shot? Seton Hall and Temple fans sure do. The Pirates need more from Shine all season to repeat last year's success. |
Backcourt
Amaker lost leadership and experience with the graduation of Shaheen Holloway and Rimas Kaukenas, but has a quality corps of guards to build upon.
Ty Shine, who was absolutely brilliant against Temple in the NCAA Tournament when he scored 26 points and came up with some huge plays, can play either guard spot. Shine averaged a modest 7.8 points a game, but is a good handler, a good streak
shooter (32 percent from behind the arc), and is unafraid on the court.
Because of his experience, Shine is the favorite to earn the point guard job from the first day, but don't be
surprised if Amaker just hands the ball directly to Andre Barrett, a 5-8 point guard from New York City.
Barrett is a great floor leader, and, like Mike Krzyzewski did with Amaker when he played, Amaker may just give the ball to Barrett to see what he can do.
No matter what happens with the rest of the backcourt, Darius Lane (15.3 ppg, 40 percent FGs) is a true talent, and a scoring threat who demands attention. Lane hit nearly three 3-pointers a game, and
has the ability to break a game open.
UNLV transfer Desmond Herod is a good shooter, and could be a great addition to the mix.
Bottom Line
Amaker has already accomplished what was thought impossible: He made Seton Hall competitive in just three years, and
he's got them knocking on the door in 2000-01. The Pirates were fourth in the Big East in scoring, scoring defense and defensive field goal percentage. To be a really good team, Seton Hall must improve on its rebounding and free
throw shooting. The Pirates do all that and this could be a team to reckon with come March. | |
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