If anyone ever doubted 5-10 (if that) guard Anthony Ireland* (Crosby), I can tell you he has put them to rest. A small guy at a small school proved last night that he is worthy of a Division I scholarship in any conference. I stayed up all night and watched every shot of the Loyola Marymount vs. Portland basketball game last night on ESPN 2. Let me tell you world, Anthony Ireland can play.
The freshman made three huge defensive plays down the stretch which led LMU on a 9-2 stretch in the final 2 minutes to send the game to overtime. Coach Max Good sat Ireland for a good 4 minutes and brought him back in with 3 and a half minutes left in the game and boy did he ever provide a spark. Ireland forced 3 turnovers in 30 seconds and that led to 7 Loyola points. Ireland then inbounded the ball to Drew Vinney with 6 seconds and Viney hit a cold blooded 3 right in front of the Loyola bench to put them up 2. The very next inbound was tossed down the floor by Portland to their best free throw shooter who ran behind all the Loyola defenders where he was fouled and sunk both free throws with 2.6 seconds to send the game to overtime. Not to mention Ireland was the one to shoot the desperation shot from half court that just missed.
In the second overtime LMU's seniors really hurt them. Teel, their leading scorer recorded a technical and was forcing shots like crazy. I was not impressed with him at all, he plays way too out of control. Ireland took control and made another sweet crossover and a great play at the bucket for two, then as the shot clock expired he hit a nice 3-pointer.
Ireland will be an All-WCC point guard in the next few years, he has great quickness and ball control. He showed glimpses of dominance like he did at Crosby. The announcers for the game could not stop praising him and were very impressed as was I with the play of Ireland. As a true point guard, and maybe it's cause he's a Freshman, scoring is a second option for the Waterbury native. Although it seemed he can score whenever he wanted to Ireland took a backseat and let the offense come to him. I can't wait to watch him in the next few years. He was very impressive. Please Max Good sit Vernon Teel he ruined this game and let ireland run the offense.
Anthony Ireland - 15 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
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