SG Je'Kel Foster (official thread)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Congratulations to Foster.

Dispatch

2/7/06

BIG TEN PLAYER OF WEEK

OSU’s Foster, Iowa’s Horner share award

Tuesday, February 07, 2006




Ohio State guard Je’Kel Foster shared the Big Ten men’s basketball player-of-the-week award yesterday with Jeff Horner of Iowa after a week in which Foster averaged 21.5 points and made 10 of 13 three-point shots in wins over Florida A &M and Minnesota.

It is the second time this season that Foster was so honored. He also received the award Dec. 19 after scoring a career-high 28 points in a win over Iowa State.

"I know I’ve sung his praises all year, but when you have a young man like Je’Kel Foster who works as hard as he does and dedicates himself to his game and to his teammates the way he does, I couldn’t be happier for Je’Kel," coach Thad Matta said.

Ohio State (16-3, 5-3) is tied for fourth place in the Big Ten. It plays at second-place Michigan (16-4, 6-3) on Thursday and plays host to Illinois (20-3, 6-3) on Sunday.


— Bob Baptist

bbaptist@dispatch.com

[crazybuckfan40]

Well hopefully he puts up another good week and gets the honor again. There would be no bigger week than this one coming up.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

We need him to come up big this week. Huge week for the Buckeyes.

[EdDantes22]

I love Je'Kel but he doesn't have a very good chance of playing in the NBA. I don't think Dials does either; he's not big enough to be a pure center and he's much too slow for anything else. Sullinger and Lewis both have the athleticism, but Sullinger was never really able to put it all together until this year, and there's no way he can play the sort of SF spot in the league that he's playing this year. Lewis needs to diversify his offensive game a bit, because right now he only seems to be able to shoot 3's and drive baseline. If he added a mid range game to that, he'd be a deadly scorer and he'd have the best chance of any of the current Buckeyes to play in the league. Still, though, not good. The NBA is just tough; it's not like the NFL where they just need a bunch of warm bodies.

[vrbryant]

I don't think anybody here ever saw Kel making the league. Nevertheless, he has a nice professional career waiting for him overseas.

[ohiostate=life]

Originally Posted by crazybuckfan40

I also think there are outside chances on Lewis and Butler, as both of them still have time to mature.

Butler reminds me of a Jamir Nelson of St. John's a couple years ago (drafted by Magic). Although his role on the team isn't to score, I think if Butler became more of a threat in that area he could be a Nelson-like player. Excellent ball-handling/passing...exactly what you want from a true point guard.

Congrats Je'kel.

[BearBuck27]

Congreats J'Kel. No better time to keep your hot streak than this week.

[Golferdow01]

Originally Posted by BearBuck27

Congreats J'Kel. No better time to keep your hot streak than this week.

You can say that again...literally, say it again.

[NFBuck]

Damn I wish we could have Kel for one more year. Would be great for the Thad 5 to have him as a leader on the floor next year.

[indian4]

Anyone have a link to the play where he threw it off the backboard to Ron Lewis?

[crazybuckfan40]

Any chance Butler gets this award this week. I havent payed attention to who has put up stats from other teams in the big ten.

Butler went for an avg. of 21 pts in the two games and he had a nice number of assists and rebounds also. To go along with two big wins.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Ozone

3/9/06

* Je'Kel Working on his Shot: Ohio State guard Je'Kel Foster has been in a bit of a shooting slump of late. Foster is sure he can work his way out of it, and says he has seen some things on film that have given him some hints as to why he is slumping.

"I've just been getting extra shots in every day, trying to get my stroke back to where it was at first. It's coming along right now," said Foster.

"I watched some film and I found myself rushing my shot instead of taking my time like I normally do. A lot of teams haven't been giving me too many looks, so when I do get a look I find myself rushing. I have to take my time on the shot."

[jimotis4heisman]

hes "pushing" the ball ...

[Buckeye_Nate]

Hopefully Foster gets that much needed confidence back tomorrow...

As the game went on today you could see he had a few open looks that he would normally take that he passed on and was pretty hesitant. When he shot the ball, it was only because he was completely wide open and HAD to shoot.

I'm not gonna sit here and critique his stroke, but what I noticed today is that he was front rimming most of his shots...

To me though the key is just the confidence, when he shoots the ball he just doesn't look like he knows its going in...like he did for most of the season.

[Steve19]

Nate, I think you are right. It is a confidence and "head" thing. But this kid is running on empty. He needs to heal body and soul at this point.