Against a potential future-NBA player, Panther’s Josh Micheaux unintimidated
Adam Stern
Executive Editor
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GAME PREVIEW
GSU (11-3) vs. GMU (10-3)
Patriot Center – Fairfax, Va.
7 p.m. – TV: Comcast Sportsnet
VCU senior forward Bradford Burgess didn’t have the best game of his storied collegiate career against Georgia State Wednesday night — and that’s putting it nicely. Burgess shot an abysmal 1-15 from the field versus the Panthers including 1-7 from behind the arc, with that only field goal coming with 36 seconds left in the game, though it was an important one.
Burgess– the unquestioned leader of this team who came in averaging a team-high 14.5 points per game– has had only one other truly poor shooting game this season, in the season-opener against St. Francis (Pa.) when he went 0-12 from the field. But, as much as some fans may just brush the game off to Burgess merely being “off”, the other answer, that his defender was “on”, may have just as much merit.
Georgia State senior forward Josh Micheaux — a 6-foot-5-inch, 222-pound bruiser of a power forward — worked exceptionally hard over the course of his team-high 37 minutes to work to shut down VCU’s most versatile player. Micheaux and Burgess match-up well, with VCU’s lone senior weighing in at a comparable 6-foot-6-inch, 225-pound frame.
The Panthers (11-3), who play tonight at George Mason (11-4), needed every point they could get, considering VCU shot 27 percent and still had a chance at the end to win it. So with that being said, Micheaux’s shutdown-job on Burgess as part of GSU’s perplexing, switching zone-defenses was vital.
After the game, Micheaux took the performance like a seasoned winner, not a player who has been on a losing squad since he’s come to the school.
“When I look at him, we’re the same size and everything,” Micheaux said. “So I just played my game: I’m a big defensive player, so I just did what (Hunter) said I need to do, which is rebound, (play) defense and run.”
Said Hunter of Micheaux’s performance, “He’s kind of a nightmare match-up because he’s a point-forward. When he makes good decisions like he did tonight, he’s a really good player, hard to guard.
“I got three point guards on the floor with him, (senior) James (Fields) and (sophomore) Devonta White, so pressure isn’t going to bother us,” Hunter said. “We’re a pressing team, so we press every day. We press in our sleep.”
Micheaux will be matched up against another potential future-pro tonight in GMU’s Ryan Pearson, who’s averaging a monster 18.7 points and 18.5 rebounds per game right now. That’s a match-up to look out for.
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