Teague, Brown-Surles Should Lead Salukis Down The Stretch

In a conference where senior leadership is the ultimate "X-factor" when it comes to winning championships, a pair of freshman could hold the fate of the Southern Illinois men's basketball team.

And even though the Salukis are playing to avoid a Thursday game in St. Louis, which would be nothing more than a moral victory to boost morale throughout Saluki Nation, we at TBDS are thinking outside the box.

We're entrusting Kendal Brown-Surles and Eugene Teague to lead Southern out of the cellar.

Prior to this year, we were convinced KBS could have a Bryan Mullins-esque impact on this team. 

With solid ball-handling skills, a steady hand for distribution and stout defense, we were sure the freshman point guard would be a lynch-pin for years to come, but right now, could be the kind of role player SIU head coach Chris Lowery could depend on.

The freshman from Evansville, Ind., committed only one turnover and had two steals in 22 minutes for the Salukis in the loss against Northern Iowa.  Meanwhile, sophomore Kevin Dillard was held scoreless for only the second time in his young career.  Dillard also committed five turnovers, compounding matters.

Let the record show that Brown-Surles was subbed out for Kevin Dillard at the 1:36 mark with the Salukis and Panthers deadlocked at 49-49.  Dillard had been struggling after getting smacked in the face on a foul call only a few minutes before that.  The final minute-and-a-half for KD wasn't pretty as turnover at the 1:19 mark and a missed 3-pointer with 26 seconds left capped Dillard's performance.

If Dillard was at all shaken up by the after-effects of getting smacked across the face, and you combine that with his general ineffectiveness, KBS should have been running the show.  Everyone knows we love Dillard, but you can't have a guy who is struggling down the stretch be the primary ball-handler in the guts of a game.

SIU should take advantage of what Brown-Surles brings to the table and run an offense that features a three-guard set with Brown-Surles running the show being flanked by Dillard and Freeman. 

And it is not as if Brown-Surles, who is Harrison High School's all-time leading scorer is a slouch on the offensive end.  Before you dismiss the accomplishment, note that the school has former NBAers Calbert Chaney, who was absolutely unstoppable from beyond the arc in NBA Jam and Walter McCarty, who was a pretty good player at the University of Kentucky.

No news on what kind of NBA Jam player he was.

Freshman center Eugene Teague went 6-for-9 from the field the last time Missouri State and Southern Illinois met, and I wouldn't mind if he even got more touches.  Mo. St. has no answer down low for the big fella and I think Teague could be in store for another monster performance.

UNI's Jordan Eglseder averages 11.61 shot attempts per game in contests he logs at least 20 minutes in.  If Southern can get at least 20 minutes out of Teague, he should be getting the same number of looks.  The more opportunities Gene gets on the block, the better the Salukis look on offense.

I'm looking for the man in the middle to stumble upon an 18-point, 10-rebound game one of these days.  And I think Wednesday would be a really good time to have one.

Teague is averaging 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds over his last five games and has really taken strides since his 14-point, 8-rebound performance against Creighton where he filled in more than admirably for (the recently departed) Nick Evans, who was ejected from the game in the first half.

SIU hasn't had a post presence like this since Randal Falker left, and before him, since Roland Roberts roamed the paint wearing maroon and white.  Southern needs to take advantage of a position where it holds a clear edge.  They need to do it early and they need to do it often.

And to think, coming into this year, SIU fans thought the strength would be in backcourt depth.  Here were are in the heart of the season and two of our biggest contributors down the stretch could be a freshman back-up point guard and a trimmed down freshman center.

My, how some things change.

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.