Center Of Attention: A Changing Of The Guard In Saluki Nation

I'm not sure if I have ever seen someone climb a depth chart as quickly as Eugene Teague.

The 6-foot-9-inch, 290-pound center started the 2009-10 season as a project with role player minutes, but has grown to become the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team's go-to guy in the post.

Expect for the Missouri State Bears to get a heavy dosage of Teague tonight at the SIU Arena with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

The Salukis are struggling with a 12-9 record overall and 4-7 record in Missouri Valley Conference play, but are also in the midst of a change in ideology and game plan.

Through the team's 9-2 start, Southern averaged 76 points per game.  The Salukis resembled the Rich Herrin Era of Dawgs that scampered up and down the court, pushing the ball any and every time it had the chance. 

It was a stark contrast from the philosophy that earned SIU the "Floorburn U" moniker during Lowery's first three years as the head coach of his alma mater.

Since its 9-2 start, the team has gone 3-7 and has seen its points per game average drop to 63 points per game. 

Teague has seen an increase in minutes since Nick Evans got himself ousted from Southern Illinois' two-point loss at Creighton.  Evans had a stellar start to the season and looked to be rounding into form.  However, the 6-foot-11-inch redshirt sophomore regressed and reverted to some bad habits that include fading away  too much on his hook shot and settling for 15-foot baseline jumpers when he should be banging away in the post.

I digress.

For the sake of this post, we'll ignore the 2-point effort in the team's 81-80 overtime win against Illinois State because the Salukis went back to their run-and-gun game.

Again, without the Illinois State hiccup and the one-game self-imposed suspension, GT has taken advantage of the increased PT averaging 11. 8 points and 8.8 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game since taking center stage in Southern's loss in Omaha, Neb.

Southern hasn't had an inside presence like Teague since Randal Falker graduated in 2008.  And the thing Saluki fans should enjoy most about Teague is that he has moves as a freshman that Falker did not develop until his junior year in Carbondale.  With the proper coaching and a little bit of work ethic, Teague could be 15-point, 10-rebound guy in the Valley.

Most Valley teams have trouble handling one big guy, team Teague with Anthony Booker, and assuming Book tosses out the idea of shooting perimeter jump shots off the top of the Pulliam Clocktower, SIU has a distinct size advantage on the low block.

Southern has come a far way from the days in which I suggested running a four-guard offense in hopes of out-shooting opponents and breaking them down and blowing past them with quickness.

It is almost unprecedented that a team has changed its offensive philosophy midseason, but that seems to be the case with my alma mater. The development of Teague is crucial to this team's success over the rest of the regular season and in the next three years to come.

For Chris Lowery and his coaching staff, they have three simple tasks that I will assign.

1.  Keep Teague in the classroom.
2.  Keep Teague away from Jim Hendry and his Krispy Kreme donuts.
3.  Send Teague to a big man's camp for a summer.

Following those three steps would ensure that the round mound from Brooklyn is truly destined to become the next big thing in Carbondale.

Image Credit: Me.  Yeah, I got photo skills.