Monday, April 20, 2009

Kevin Menner and Hawaii

Saw a couple of items linking 6-6 Kevin Menner to Hawaii (among other colleges).

Menner is an intriguing prospect. He seemingly possesses the best potential of any California JUCO prospect (we read this -- we haven't seen him play) but there has been concern expressed regarding his play.

For an overview of Menner, here's a Joe Curley/Ventura County Star feature on him.

Out of New York, Manner played his first season at Ventura College. Then the Ventura coach/AD got into legal trouble over student financial aid/residency laws and left the positions. So Menner departed from Ventura.

This past season, Menner was at Saddleback and (via the Saddleback site) averaged 19.3 points per game in 33 contests on 50% overall shooting. He made but two three-pointers on the season (out of 10 attempts) but got to the foul ine for 219 free throws. So it certainly seems like he is a slasher who takes the ball to the hole.

As for the aforementioned concern, one past article (which we couldn't Google) made mention that Menner doesn't increase the effectiveness of his teammates as he really likes to shoot. But hey, that's correctable and not necessarily an incorrigible trait.

The other concern is why aren't 'bigger' schools pursuing him, considering his talent level ? Iowa State took a look at him in September but we're unsure about any others. We don know this so do not take this as a given but are there academic concerns with Menner?

Actually, we have one more question: how will he play with Roderick Flemings? There would be enough shots to go around but Flemings should be the top shot-taker for the Rainbow Warriors. That is, if he returns to Hawaii and doesn't officially declare for the NBA draft.

Can anyone fill us in?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice write-up. Flemings actually needs a strong supporting cast to complement his game. During Wac play, Fleming's game was significantly hindered by the fact that most teams were double teaming him. Menner would be a great pick up for the sub-par UH offense that often times ran the shot clock down only to toss up a wild shot in despair. Dwain Williams and Jeremy Lay should shore up the point guard problems next year. In certain situations Nash can move Flemings to the 2 spot and have Menner hold down the 3 spot. Depth will be the key to Hawaii's success next year as Nash wants to press and run an up-tempo game.

The real story is that Saddleback CC has pumped out some of Hawaii's all-time great Juco transfers (Colt Brennen and Anthony Carter to name a few). If Menner is even a fraction as good as his predecessors, we'll take it in a heartbeat.