Knowing he had to stay out of foul trouble, with Hines out and after blocking a shot early, played magnificent! He's been very good scoring around the basket all year, but was great last night. With the Friars center Oswin E fouling out. His clutch FTs late were in my opinion the finishing touch that will earn him Big East Player of the week.
Payne was a monster!
- Thread starter Bluebeard
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Most of us were pretty ho hum when it was announced that this Jacksonville State transfer was bringing his pedestrian stats to Seton Hall. He’s been better than I guessed but I was still skeptical of how he would perform when conference play began. That was a hell of a debut.
Unbelievable game. 18 & 16 in 29 mins with only 2 fouls and 0 turnovers, 8/10 from the floor! Damn.
i was trying to think of the last center for us who had such a good game. Terrific on both sides and his rebounding was phenomenal. An awesome game on any night. To do this when his partner is out, on the road, in his BE debut, wow. That is a monster effort and performance
He rebounded like Angel Delgado and scored in the paint like Mark Bryant.
Awesome game by Payne. Great post Don. Providence had no answer for him and many of those rebounds were in a crowd of big guys and he came down with the ball most times. He was getting out positioned early in the game and he adjusted. Huge credit to him for adjusting and stepping up in the game and filling the void for both Najai being out and McCray having a bad scoring night. Has to be on the BE list this week.
A few posters said last year his numbers didn’t translate when he played against high majors. Not this year! And certainly not last night!!!
And 2 CLUTCH free throws after missing 2.
I was at the game. Amazing how physical it was despite the amount of fouls that were called; especially on the boards. Payne more than held his own. He's also a great finisher at the rim.
Very proud of this team. They could have folded numerous times but just kept on ballin'.
Very proud of this team. They could have folded numerous times but just kept on ballin'.
Hmm... Good question. I know Delgado did, but I think we had some sneaky games from Ndefo and Samuel maybe in there. I don't think Bediako ever had this kind of double-double despite getting many.
Bediako had 5 double-doubles and Tyrese had 6 but their highs in rebounds were 12. JB played his role really well and had a few really good games. Stat-wise his best game was the Triple-OT loss to Creighton when he had 15 pts, 10 boards & 5 blocks.
Last guys with similar lines were Yetna & Rhoden in Willard's last year. Yetna had back to back BE games of 15 points & 16 boards followed by 16 pts & 15 boards. That same year Rhoden had 18 & 18 vs DePaul.
Different players but Payne and JB were both excellent under the radar transfer adds. Both were veterans with a lot of games under their belts at mid-majors. Neither had very eye-popping stats or showed much skill on tape. They aren't guys with low post moves, they don't have shooting range, but they had some intangibles and skills that don't show much on stat-sheets. They are smart players who understand team play on both offense and defense and know where to position themselves, how to set screens, how to play with physicality and how to play hard. Both are team-first and know their roles. They are opportunistic scorers who get points without low post touches or plays run for them. They dive to the rim on pick and rolls and hit the offensive glass.
JB was bigger and stronger but moved his feet well and hustled. Payne is very fast and mobile and has thus far held his own physically. Would love if Godswill can get/remain healthy and become a Payne-type big man for us in future years.
One of most impressive things about Payne is he does not get tired. He was all over the court against Providence for extended minutes and never showed signs of fatigue.
There were posts about how well he was playing in practice. Kudos to them.
Yes, I was hearing he would be the starter with his younger teammate coming off the bench. But I would be amiss if I said I knew he would be this good.
Bediako I saw and expected it. But I did not see Payne in practice and he was pedestrian in the Blue/White scrimmage.
Bediako I saw and expected it. But I did not see Payne in practice and he was pedestrian in the Blue/White scrimmage.
I saw Payne play live last year when Jacksonville played @ Queens U. of Charlotte and he nearly had a double-double (I think), but he played on a guard-dominant team led by Robert McCray who went from Wake to Jacksonville and is now at FSU (averaging 14+ ppg and 6.8 apg). At the time, I was actually hoping we'd get McCray, but Payne's been a revelation offensively and showing more than he probably had the opportunity to at Jax.
I may have said ten times that Hines will be the starter, or will be soon. Like an old friend once said as we left Yankee Stadium and all the cars had Connecticut license plates, I was in the wrong agane lane. Cannot be happier with how our centers have looked.
And, Payne's performance is on my list of great Pirate moments. Lots of reasons to wonder if he was ready. He was ready to play twice as good as he ever played as a Pirate.
And, Payne's performance is on my list of great Pirate moments. Lots of reasons to wonder if he was ready. He was ready to play twice as good as he ever played as a Pirate.
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