Everytime I watch Tyrese Rice, I marvel. During the game last night I was thinking he was having an off night, but when all was said and done, he had 26 points, a bunch of clutch shots, and a great headfake to shake two defenders for a clean look at a trey to tie the game at the buzzer. Had he hit it, Rice would have almost single-handledy brought BC back from a double-digit deficit with 7 minutes to play. And have you thought about his free throw shooting? The guy is drilling 90% and hitting all the big ones.
I think we should all appreciate what we are watching here. Rice came to the program an undersized, underrecruited (sound familiar?) hotdogging tweener. But he has learned his craft and developed to the point where he may finish this year as one of the Top 5 point guards in the country. Think about it: who is measurably better? At the end of the season, I'll bet it will be a battle between him and Ty Lawson for First Team All-ACC (and I think most would agree Lawson has a little more talent filling the lanes around him). Who would've thunk it two years ago?
And to put it in historical perspective, I have been watching BC for over 20 years and I cannot think of a BC point guard a whole helluva lot better than him. Howard Eisley? Nice player, but not nearly as explosive. Duane Woodard? C'mon. Troy Bell and Dana Barros? Both were more scorers than point guards. John Bagley and Michael Adams? Close, but I'd take the whole Rice package over them any day. What do you think?
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it's funny -- at the game the other night, I was talking to my friend about Rice. We were just marveling about how he wasn't even a point guard in high school... the way he has developed and is able to manage an offense is unbelievable.
I'm not just impressed with his shooting range and his ability to drive to the basket almost at will. He seems to understand the game very well, in a dudley type way. If you just watch him sometimes, the way he anticipates plays and sees things before they develop is impressive.
I am most impressed when he somehow catches a pass in the flex underneath and gets a layup, or boxes a bigger man out and gets a rebound. Or when he gets switched onto a bigger man who tries to muscle him to the basket, and he sees to D up pretty well. These things only happen occasionally, but it's impressive.
I don't know how he made such leaps and bounds from that immature hot-dog that we saw two years ago. Quite the testament to not only him, but Skinner and Hinnant as well. I never saw skinner play, but I would have loved to....you can really feel his presence on the court through guys like Rice, with their calmness and composure.
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