COLUMN: Trey Zeigler, men’s basketball team needs a big man

• Tweet
• 

Kobe and Shaq.  Stockton and Malone. Trey Zeigler and who?

All great teams have that guard/center combo.

That’s why the Central Michigan men’s basketball team is not great. It hasn’t won since Jan. 11.

If you followed CMU entering this season, you knew it was a guard-heavy team.

And with a month to go in the season, that’s exactly what it is.

It needs a dominant big man.

Zeigler leads the team in points and rebounding. And even though he can, he shouldn’t be doing it all.

Buffalo’s Javon McCrea and Mitchell Watt proved why big men matter in basketball on Wednesday night at McGuirk arena.

McCrea scored 16 points and hauled down 10 rebounds. Watt scored 15 points and had seven rebounds.

The Bulls had 14 offensive rebounds, resulting in 18 second-chance points and a 66-62 victory.

And that’s why Buffalo is 9-2 in Mid-American Conference play and the Chippewas are 2-9.

The CMU offense contains a lot of standing. There’s limited ball movement and each game contains a series of quick, contested jump shots.

Center Andre Coimbra has attempted almost as many 3-pointers (36) as free throws (50).

That’s not good.

A big man should be battling for garbage baskets, not forcing up 3-point attempts when the offense stalls out.

The Chippewas don’t have the luxury of dumping the ball down low.

Coimbra and forward Olivier Mbaigoto have shown the ability to be effective big men, but there’s no consistency.

Coimbra is out of eligibility after this season and Mbaigoto will be a senior.

The best advice I can give the CMU men’s basketball program: Go out and get a 6-foot-9 or taller big man that weighs 230-plus pounds.

Groom him into a low-post monster.

Big men create ball movement and help spread the floor. If the Chippewas had a viable scoring threat in the post, and Trey could have his Shaq.