Friday, November 30, 2007

Harris emerges as solid threat at point guard

There's been a lot of talk about point guard Michael Gerrity, a transfer from Pepperdine who will join the 49ers next month at the conclusion of the fall semester.

By all accounts, Gerrity should make an immediate impact on the team and his arrival is much anticipated.

But Thursday night, long after Charlotte had handed Wake Forest its first loss of the season in a 63-59 victory at Bobcats Arena, the point guard most talked about was the one already on the court for the 49ers - DiJuan Harris (pictured at right).

Listen to the compliment from Wake coach Dino Gaudio: "The other young man who had a very good day and deserves a lot of credit for Charlotte's win is (DiJuan) Harris. Three of the games they've played I don't think he's attempted a shot. He's only averaging two points a game and he makes four of six and gets 10 points against us. Give that young kid credit."

And listen to Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz talk about Harris' play: "DiJuan was terrific. Defensively, he was really special. I think he did a great job of not allowing the easy baskets that Wake normally gets. Ish (Smith) is a terrific player and he still got fives assists, but he can easily get 10 or 12."

Harris, a sophomore who played one year at junior college, played a season-high 33 minutes, scored 10 points, had three rebounds, five assists, four steals and committed just two turnovers.

"It's about opportunity. The way the game flows, that's how I play," Harris said. "I give the team what they need me to do. If they need me to score, I score. I take advantage of opportunities the defense gives me.

"Tonight, (Wake Forest) sagged off a lot and I took advantage of it and knocked down some key shots when they were needed."

2 comments:

TheGruche said...

Good job Niners! Great to see some of the new talent stepping up. Gerrity should just add fuel to the fire. If 3-mire can get his percentage up, we will have quite a run.

Anonymous said...

I love the way Harris plays and hope he still gets plenty of time at the point when Gerrity gets here. He has shown that he leaves it all out on the court and is a great spark on defense. As Lutz said in the postgame last night "if AnJuan is 1a (player of the game), then Harris is 1b".