All season, the focus has been squarely put on Tacko Fall. The 7-foot-6 center does not have much chance of blending in to any defense or offense.
Fall though is also a player who still needs some strength training, as expected. UCF coach Donnie Jones knew this day would come when he faced Shaq Goodwin, the biggest test the Knights would face at center all season.
Justin McBride too has the same problem that Goodwin can exploit. His athleticism and versatility to go up for a shot, come down and go back up make it tough for these bigs to handle him. Their physicality can only do so much.
And so it was Goodwin setting the tone for a seemingly decisive 12-2 run in the first half that broke a 27-27 tie and gave Memphis control on the team’s way to a 97-86 win at CFE Arena on Tuesday.
It was Goodwin who charged everything, scoring 35 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. He had a career-high 24 points in the first half, stuffing the stat sheet and setting the table for open 3-pointers.
“The thing with Shaq more than anything that makes him double dangerous is you can feed him the ball and play out of the post,” UCF coach Donnie Jones said. “They were getting him the ball in the middle of that zone and as a five-man, he’s able to make plays. He really causes a problem there. We had a hard time with that.”
He chased Fall from the game, using his veteran wiles to take away Fall’s size advantage. Goodwin was crafty in the post. When Justin McBride came in, Goodwin drove past him more and drew him out to the perimeter.
McBride got his licks in, scoring 20 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting. But Goodwin had the advantage. The best center in the American Conference, and likely the best center UCF will see all year, had his way again and again.
Goodwin does that to everyone — he entered the game averaging 13.8 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game. Memphis, despite its three-game losing streak is still one of the favorites when it comes down to the American Conference.
What Goodwin exposed was some of the issues with UCF’s post players. The advantages Fall and McBride’s size give can also be turned against them with an athletic big who is smart attacking it.
Goodwin was racing past McBride down the floor and McBride was looking tired as he played 24 minutes, well past his 13.1 minutes per game entering the contest.
“I was legit dead,” McBride said, frustrated with himself.. “I had no legs, no nothing I was done. That was 10 minutes left in the game. Coach trusted me, my teammates trusted me. I am frustated with myself because I let my team down. I came a long way, but I still have a long way to go.”
McBride has improved plenty. There is no pinning the entire loss on him or on Fall. The team had the responsibility of defending Goodwin and did a poor job picking him up in transition.
Then again neither Fall nor McBride are particularly fleet of foot. The Knights often send them back to play defense rather than rebound free throws they take to try to set up the defense. As good as both those players are and can be, they ultimately limit what the Knights can do.
Particularly when the opposing center can combine speed and power so skillfully. That is just not something the Knights’ bigs can do.
So much of what UCF can do is limited by what their bigs can — or cannot do. That has been one of the major tasks Jones has had to work around throughout the season.
Tuesday, Goodwin was able to attack the Knights where they were weakest even against two of their strongest advantages.
“I was worried about that,” Jones said. “They are very athletic, they are very fast and they get out and run. Shaq Goodwin is one of the best guys from rim to rim probably in the country with how he can run. He gave Tacko problems early on. He’s a smart player as a senior to maneuver and run and stay away from Tacko’s height.”
The young Knights are having to learn these hard lessons. Their best post player and their most unique player certainly can still improve greatly in these important roles.
