I know it's a little late but worth the wait.  After a spectacular week that saw him lead the Orange to two wins in very different ways, Andy Rautins has earned the nod as this week's Can Ball Report's Player of the Week ...

Player of the Week

Andy Rautins (Jamesville, NY) – Sr., Syracuse

Well, well, well.  Andy Rautins is a player people.  And after his spectacular week to end of February, you can only be convinced that he has gone from a good one to a great one.  Over two games last week showing a Jekyll and Hyde personality, Rautins led the Orange to convincing wins over two tough conference teams averaging 20 points, two rebounds, six assists and two steals while shooting 15-of-28 from the floor, 5-of-8 from the line and a scorching 9-of-13 from the three to earn The Can Ball Report’s Player of the Week honors.

In the ‘Cuse’s thumping of an always tough Providence team 99-85 on Feb 23, Rautins put his shooting skills on full display.  Playing every minute of the game, he put up 28 points on a very good 10-of-16 shooting going an unconscious 8-of-12 from the three.  He also added two boards and four helpers and a steal for good measure.  In this game, his offense was on full tilt for sure and the win went to the Orange.

In the team’s game against a then 8^th ranked Wildcat team four days later, Rautins showcased the other parts of his game in front of the largest crowd to witness a college basketball game ever.  In the sound beating of Villanova 95-77, He put up 12 points, two rebounds, eight assists and three steals while going 5-of-12 from the floor hitting his only three attempt while hitting 5-of-8 from the line missing only two minutes of game action.  Even though his shots weren’t falling like the last game, Rautins helped to get his team the win showing just how good a player he has become. 

For the season, Andy is averaging 11.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 44.1 FG%, 80.6 FT% and 40.5 3 PT%.  He currently leads the Big East in steals while placing fourth in assists.  He is also in the top ten in 3 PT% (10^th) and 3 PT made (3^rd) while placing 12^th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.9

Honorable Mention:  Maurice Joseph, Vermont:  18.5 pts, 3 rbs, 11-of-27 FG, 8-of-18 3PT FG, 7-of-8 FT, 29.5 mins, two games.

Line of the Week

Andy Rautins (Jamesville, NY) – Sr., Syracuse

We will laud young Rautins again because this guy is just a lights out shooter and he proved it against Providence last week.  If you read above (and you should have) Andy put on a 28 point, 10-of-16 performance from the floor against the Friars but the stunner is that he was 8-of-12 from the three.  8-of-12 people!  The Orange for the game only made ten total threes so Andy’s eight should be impressive.  To give another idea of how big this stat is take this into consideration:  there are three teams in the Big East Conference that average eight threes per game and one of them is Providence.  Providence leads the conference in made threes a game so they would know how to defend against it right?  They hold opponents to just over 33% from the arc (33.4% to b exact) so they can defend the three even though that number sits them in ninth place in the Big East.  They play a lot of guards and combo wings so they are athletic enough to cover the perimeter.  Rautins has a rep as a shooter so you know that the defense was expecting him to be outside ready to fire away and played him accordingly.  And even with all this in his face, and the Friars were definitely in his face, he still put up 24 of his 28 points from behind the arc.  If people were looking for this year’s Stephen Curry, Rautins may be that limitless range rocket launcher.  His long distance shooting may have earned him an NBA look for sure.  And by the way, he didn’t take any free throws that game. 

Honorable Mention:  Willie Galick, Cal Northridge:  18 pts, 4 rbs, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3-of-6 FG, 12-of-14 FT, 26 mins vs. Cal Irvine Feb 27.