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Junior
tandem shines in backcourt
The
bond of two talented junior guards has the Frogs confident
and looking forward to a bright future.
By
Brent Yarina
Corey
Santee has a bold message for the other 13 basketball
teams in Conference USA.
At 10-13 and 6-6 in C-USA, the Horned Frogs may currently
be sitting in eighth place, but Santee says there isn’t
a team in the conference with a better backcourt than
the one he and Marcus Shropshire form.
“I’m just gonna put it out there and say there
isn’t a better duo in this conference,” Santee
said. “There’s a lot of good backcourts, but
as far as playing together and playing under control,
I don’t think there’s a better 1-2 punch out
there.”
And the statistics back Santee up.
Together he and Shropshire combine for 27.7 points and
7.4 assists a game, a stat line that is more productive
than the backcourts of Memphis, Cincinnati, Charlotte,
Alabama-Birmingham, DePaul and Louisville.
In fact, there isn’t one team in C-USA that gets
more scoring production from their backcourt than the
Frogs, and only Memphis accounts for more assists a game
with 8.5 compared to TCU’s 7.4.
Head coach Neil Dougherty said it makes him excited to
hear his players have so much confidence in their abilities
and that he has enjoyed coaching the talented backcourt.
“Well, I like them, of course,” Dougherty said.
“I think that they definitely complement each other
very well. It goes a long way in them believing that they
really are the best tandem. That means a lot more to their
development than what (the media) tell them.”
Dougherty said the two junior guards represent what every
coach wants from his point guard and shooting guard.
“These two fit what everyone wants to see on every
team,” he said. “We have a ball handler and
a deadly outside shooter that every team wants. They can
also take care of the ball and defend the ball.”
Shropshire said he has become a better player since playing
with a pure point guard like Santee, who has the ability
to get him the ball at the right time.
“He improves my game a lot,” Shropshire said.
“He obviously looks for me a lot and he gets me good
looks because he such a great passer. With him at the
point, I have become a better shooter.”
Santee agrees that his game has also improved as a result
of playing along side Shropshire.
“Shrop brings a lot of energy to my game and we work
well together,” he said. “He’s so fast
off the screens that defenses have to pay attention to
him and not focus on me. That lets me pick my spots on
the court and allows me to do what I can do. And when
it’s time for a bucket, I know who to get the ball
to every time.”
The Frogs and their junior backcourt have a tough task
with Charlotte (17-6, 9-3 C-USA) coming in to town 7 p.m.
Wednesday night.
Santee said he knows what to expect from one of the conference’s
elite teams.
“I expect them to come in here and be cocky,”
he said. “They’re going to feel like they can
beat us on our home court. We got to be ready and bring
our ‘A’ game. We’re gonna bring it.”
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Ty
Halasz/Staff Photographer
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| Junior
guard Corey Santee boasts there is no better backcourt
duo in C-USA than he and junior guard Marcus Shropshire. |
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