WKU Basketball: What Each Player Can Do to Help the Tops in Huntsville
Let’s break it down for you. What can each WKU Basketball player do to help WKU win a championship? We’ll start from the guys who don’t see much time and work our way up to the starters.
We know the team that wins is either going to have one or two players lose their minds, or they’re going to have all or most players step up and do great things. Well, what can each player do to maximize WKU’s chances?
Breaking it Down
The guys that will likely not play/play in garbage time
You know who I’m talking about. Fluff, Jaylen Dorsey, Fallou Diagne. Also, injured players if they’re still around the team. For the ones that could play, if they somehow end up in there, bring energy. But sometimes a player going crazy on the bench does just as much as a monstrous dunk in the game. You also never know. Sometimes a walk-on/bench rider could find their way into a game if tons of fouls are called, or if a game goes to double overtime or so. Things happen. Be ready!
BJ Marable
BJ may get five minutes of action in the tournament if he’s lucky. But they could be crucial. He generally only comes in when either Babacar Faye or Rodney Howard get in foul trouble early in the first half. BJ needs to come in and do his job. Don’t throw the ball away. Don’t get a technical. Play solid defense. If you can score, bonus! But take care of your job during those minutes.
Jack Edelen
Jack has really earned his minutes by being the lone player on the court that almost never screws up. He’s not six feet tall, but he’s quick enough to be annoying on both ends of the court. Jack needs to do a solid job, get a few assists, and if he could drop in a basket or more a game, I think that would make the most difference. He almost NEVER scores. Any offense in his 7-15 minutes per game would take pressure off of everyone else to pick up that liability.
Enoch Kalambay
I love his ability to drive and go get a bucket. I’d love to see him do that while not turning the ball over more than two times per game. If he could minimize his mistakes to two or less per game, he’d be a lethal weapon and not just an annoyance at times.
Teagan Moore
Teagan can be a lethal weapon and has potential to end up in the rafters at WKU. His biggest liability, though can be freshman mistakes. Sometimes silly passes, sometimes going too deep in the lane and losing it. Sometimes it’s a blown defensive assignment on a three. We’ll take 20, of course. But I’m good with 8 and good basketball.
Babacar Faye
Energy, energy, energy. Babacar is not necessary offensively. He’s necessary defensively, and he’s necessary on the glass. If he is the hardest playing player on the court, wow what a weapon! Be a presence, big dawg.
Dontaie Allen
Just be solid, man. I think everybody says, “Oh if Dontaie could only drop 30.” Maybe, but WKU needs stability from Dontaie Allen. If you’re off, you need to be doing something else, a la rebounding, diving on the floor, assisting, whatever.
Tyrone Marshall
Bro. You are 6’7” and quicker and more athletic than almost anyone. Get to the can and be aggressive! Tyrone Marshall is a stat stuffer. Be aggressive and produce.
Khristian Lander
I’m not sure where to put Khristian in the order here, but a healthy Lander is a top tier player on this team in importance. Lander may not be completely back mentally and physically from injury, but if he’s going to get minutes, he can’t be invisible. He can’t be scoreless. He can’t be without an assist. He can’t turn it over every other possession.
Rodney Howard
A late bloomer in the season, Rodney Howard didn’t hit his stride until late December into early January. However, once he did, he has proven to be a load that creates a guaranteed problem for the other team every time WKU can get it to him in the post. Rodney needs to make 2/3 of his easy buckets inside. And another thing: I want to see BIG Rod Howard. Be a freaking LOAD. Don’t be soft. Get angry.
Brandon Newman
Don’t disappear. Brandon is one of the better players on this team, but he can completely be absent some games. Get at least eight and five every game with a good shooting percentage, and that will go such a long way in making sure there’s no gaping hole offensively. Newman plays plenty of roles, so obviously he needs to play his roles in all areas, but I think as an older member of the team, stability is so important.
Don McHenry
Explode. Everybody else needs to be solid, and Don does, too. But a WKU without a locked in McHenry shooting well and being aggressive is a WKU that’s not as good. If I’m Steve Lutz, I’m running some token pressure using Don at the top. Let him man the point guard and see if he screws up. And I’m also putting him at the elbow/high elbow and I’m running picks to the left to try to open up a drive or floater for Don to drive left since teams have figured out he is completely left drive dominant. He can drive okay to his right, but overall it’s not an elite high percentage play and really does little for WKU’s chances if he shoots in the low 40s in percentage.
Overall
If you want to win, you’ve gotta lock in and have a special energy. And it doesn’t matter what calls you get, what adversity you face, or anything else. The team that wins is focused and all-in. At some point, it bites you if you are not consistently engaged. And that is the one thing WKU struggles with the most: Consistency. If the Tops can be elite in the engagement and energy department, this ring is ours.
For anyone that is not able to make it to Huntsville, the game will be on ESPN+ at 8:00 pm CT. You can also tune into @thetowelrackwku on Twitter/X for build-up, live tweets, and reactions. While you’re at it, go ahead and check out the RedOut Podcast on Twitter/X and on YouTube. Also, for Lady Topper live tweeting, follow RedOut, as RedOut will have live tweets when the men play at the same time. As always, we are your #1 source for unfiltered and honest WKU content!
GO TOPS!