MT/FGCU observations: Part II

Right before the Thanksgiving holiday Middle Tennessee had a tough litmus test on their hands as they welcomed the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles to town. Despite having already played the likes of Belmont and Murray State, FGCU served as a good barometer to see where they were. MT passed that test with flying colors, winning 85-72.

The Blue Raiders did not even have to wait two weeks before seeing FGCU once again. Dunk City got back on track after their loss to MT, notching three victories in a row while MT was idle. They defeated Denver, Navy and St. Francis of New York.

The second matchup was much more competitive, but MT made it two-for-two against Dunk City Saturday night. MT was victorious 81-76, overcoming a deep hole early before holding off FGCU down the stretch. With the win MT improved their overall record to 5-1.

Here are my observations from the game:

It is always a positive to have a veteran laden lineup on the hardwood. You always hear about leadership on basketball clubs from the seniors. The Blue Raiders have a fantastic slew of upperclassmen for the season and four of them started against Florida Gulf Coast.

Giddy Potts and Ed Simpson flanked each other at the wing spots while Nick King and Brandon Walters were the anchors down low. Sophomore Tyrik Dixon held down the fort at point guard.

All of these guys have been around the block. Tyrik Dixon has a lot of mileage when it comes to playing experience and Nick King isn't green when it comes to experience.

I do not think that the four seniors are getting the starting nod simply because of their stature. I would bank on them having earned their stripes. Saturday three of those four scored double digits in points. Nick King had 32, Giddy Potts had 10 and big man Brandon Walters had 11.

It may seem like beating a dead horse, article after article, but it felt wrong not to give King kudos once again. If you have followed MT hoops in any capacity this season you know that forward Nick King is a dynamic two-way player.

Five games into the season he had put the entire conference on notice that he is a force to be reckoned with. One thought I had was whether he could consistently keep up this pace. I am beginning to think King can actually keep lighting up the scoreboard and stuffing the stat sheet at the highest level night after night.

On Saturday, King had a double-double with 32 points and eleven boards. He brought a little diversity to his rebound count with four off the offensive boards and seven defensive. Even while opponents are getting to see more film and notes on King, King just trudges along dominating opponents. King has a lot of tread on the tires. He played 37 minutes Saturday and stole the show. Call me crazy but I expect King to continue putting up absurd numbers despite opponents game planning to shut him down.

After combing through all the details in statistics on the newcomers prior to the season, I had David Simmons pegged as the second guy that could make an immediate impact. Nick King was number one but Simmons was a guy that struck me as a player who would carve out a role early.

In a previous article I mentioned him as a guy to keep on your radar. Simmons keeps sticking out to me and is making it hard for me not to mention him again. Against FGCU the second go around, Simmons had a clean and efficient game, posting 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and hitting a respectable 75 percent of his foul shots.

Simmons is seeing his role expand. For instance, against Murray State he played 16 minutes. Then against Belmont he played 21. Saturday he played 26. King is the headliner of all the newcomers but don’t sleep on Simmons going forward. Nick King drawing double teams frees up Simmons for catch and shoot opportunities.