Well folks, it's that time again. Time to take a player from the other side and analyze him statistically. This time, the subject of our feature is Glen Rice Jr., a versatile and dangerous player that seems to be all over the court this season for the Jackets. Any time I've watched them this year, Rice's name is one of the ones I hear most, and he's a really concerning player in terms of matchup. He's a real combo player, and can hurt us in plenty of different ways.
Read statistical breakdowns after the jump...
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6'5"/206About the same size as Tanner Smith, he's big for a guard but pretty darn small for a forward. Honestly, Rice plays some of both. A lot of that has to do with wingspan, I would imagine.
PPG:13.1
He's Tech's leading scorer, but he also does this taking between 5 and 11 shots a game, so he's not necessarily the most efficient player we'll run into.
eFG%: 52.3%
So his shooting is very strong, but it's also worth noting that he shoots the three with decent volume and not particularly well. Then again, his efficiency is a little better than Tanner Smith's. and we saw the kinda day he had against us. One potential bright side is Rice is only a junior and Smith is a senior, I believe a redshirt senior even, so Rice might not have the same level of composure.
FREE THROWS: 60% (on 2-3 attempts per game)
A pretty substantial weakness in his game, especially against a team as good at that as the Deacs. Hell, that's the one thing we are really good at, so I'm gonna ride that train until the wheels come off.
RPG: 6.6
This is where the forward aspect of his game really comes in. His percentages are middle of the road (18.3% defensively, 7.7% offensively), but he's clearly a tenacious rebounder who needs to be accounted for.
SPG: 1.4
I honestly would've expected a little more, but that might just be because I'm used to Paul Hewitt D, which seemed to almost be predicated on smacking at the ball at every opportunity.
THREE POINT SHOOTING: 32.6% on 86 attempts
Yeah, I don't think we need to worry about Rice's outside game too much. For comparison's sake, he's shooting about 5% better than TC.
APG: 2.4 (to 2.2 turnovers)
He's not a huge threat passing the ball, for a guy that spends plenty of time at the guard spot.
Really, Rice is a long, tough guard with forward tendencies with regards to rebounding in particular. He's really efficient offensively in short and mid ranges, but is pretty woeful outside as a general rule. He's going to keep our guys honest inside and on the glass, but if stats are to be believed, he's not much of a threat as far as stretching the D.
I think we've got them tomorrow. Call me crazy but I think our boys can rally and pull out a win. I'll say Wake by 7, 64-57. I think we'll get a hot shooting day from Chase Fischer, which will open things up more for C.J. Harris and the resurgent Travis McKie. Combine that with a much better day than Tech from the line, and everything comes up Deacs.
As always, questions/comments are appreciated. Go Deacs.