Though it was an abbreviated week in the NC-Double-Eh, it was still an exciting week filled with great players having great games. And with that, The Can Ball Report is pleased to give you the first of the many Player of the Week honors for this season and this first one belongs to Andrew Nicholson ...
Player of the Week
Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, ON), St. Bonaventure
Andrew Nicholson had two great games to start his junior season as the man in the middle for the Bonnies. In his two games last week, he averaged 24 pts and 9 rbs while shooting 64% from the field and 83.3% from the line while missing only four minutes of game action. In the Bonnies loss to Canisius on the 12th, Nicholson went for 23 pts and 7 rbs going 8-of-12 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the line. He even went 1-for-2 from the three in that game. Against Ark-Little Rock, Nicholson went off for 25 pts, 11 rbs going 8-of-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line to lead this team to victory. The pre season All A-10 Conference pick looks like he wants to establish early that he’s a top tier player.
Honorable Mention:
Olu Ashoalu (Toronto), Louisiana Tech
Olu, who will be taking the entire spotlight now that his talented teammates from last year have graduated, was nothing short of regular Olu this past week. In his season debut where his Bulldogs lost to Texas, Olu had 13 pts, 11 rbs and 2 stls in 26 minutes before he fouled out of the game with over five minutes left. In his second game, Ashoalu had 18 points and 11 rbs for his second consecutive double-double to go along with a career high 6 asts and 2 stls to lead his team to victory over Austin. On the season, Ashoalu is averaging 15.5 pts, 11 rbs, 3.5 asts and 2 stls while shooting 62.5% from the field in 27 minutes of action per.
Rookie of the Week
Tristan Thompson (Brampton, ON), Texas
There has been substantial hype surrounding Tristan Thompson for his debut as a Longhorn. Well, he showed glimpses of that talent that everyone’s been talking about last weekend and he didn’t disappoint. In two games, Thompson came off the bench to average 15.5 pts, 7 rbs, 1.5 asts, 2 stls and 1.5 blks in 25 minutes of action. In his first game against Navy Nov. 10, Thompson had 12 pts and 7 rbs in 25 minutes. In his next game against Grassroots Basketball alum Olu Ashoalu and Louisiana Tech, Thompson dropped 17 pts, 7 rbs, 2 asts, 3 stls and 3 blks in a very efficient 25 minutes of floor burn looking more comfortable on the floor and every bit the player everyone thought he’d be at this level. He looked so good in the games that commentators that had to say that they were impressed at how he played but we already knew that about him didn’t we.
Honorable Mention:
Melvin Ejim (Brampton, ON), Iowa State
Melvin Ejim, excuse me, 2010 New Hampshire Player of the Year Melvin Ejim busted out his first two games better than expected. Starting both his team’s first two games, Melvin showed that he wasn’t just a flash in the pan. In the Cyclones’ win over Northern Arizona Nov. 12, Ejim registered 10 pts, 4 rbs and 2 stls in 21 minutes. The next game two days later against Alabama St., Ejim put up a near double-double with 15 pts and 9 rbs. For the season he’s averaging 12.5 pts, 6.5 rbs and 1.5 stls in 25 mins while shooting 57.1% from the field.
Line of the Week
Hernst Laroche (Montreal), New Mexico State – 33 mins, 21 pts, 2 rbs, 8 asts, 2 stls, a blk, 6-of-6 FG, 4-of-4 3PT FG, 5-of-6 from FT. Laroche was one FT shy of being perfect on the night.