USA East Coast coach on how Syracuse's Kaleb Joseph's played on European tour
Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse point guard Kaleb Joseph found his offensive game during a four-game exhibition tour of Europe with the USA East Coast all-star team last week.
Joseph struggled to score during his freshman season at Syracuse University last year. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged just 5.9 points per game even as he started 30 of SU's 31 contests during the 2014-15 season.
But in USA East Coast's four games against foreign competition in France and Italy, Joseph averaged a team-high 15.2 points per game. Joseph was consistent, too. He scored in double-figures in each of the team's four games with a high of 23 points in USA East Coast's only win on the trip against a team of all-stars from the French pro league's second division.
"He was a scoring point (guard) for us,'' Guy Rancourt, the head coach at Lycoming (Pa.) College who guided the USA East Coast team for the ninth-straight year, said. "We used a lot of ball screens. He scored a lot on penetration. He didn't settle for jump shots. He attacked the defense.''
Joseph scored in 23 points in USA East Coast's 90-72 win over the French team in just 24 minutes of action.
The next night, USA East Coast suffered a 127-88 loss to the Nigerian national team, which featured Syracuse senior Michael Gbinije. Joseph scored 12 points in 21 minutes in the loss.
"Nigeria is a very good team,'' Rancourt said. "Their average age is 27 or 28 years old. Michael (Gbinije) is coming off the bench for them.''
After playing their first two games in Paris, the USA East Coast players and coaches traveled to Italy, where they faced China's national team in a pair of games. China won both contests.
In an 89-82 loss to China last Friday, Joseph scored 15 points. The next night, Joseph had 11 points and four assists in a 92-84 loss to the Chinese team. China's roster includes Yi Jianlian, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Jianlian had 29 points and nine rebounds in the second game.
"This is the happiest I've ever been, or probably ever will be, with 1-3,'' Rancourt said. "Nigeria and China are both gearing up for the (2016) Olympics. You could see the physical development of both teams compared to our guys.''
Rancourt said Joseph showed a lot of poise against the older pros.
"Kaleb did a good job,'' Rancourt said. "We were playing with a 24-second shot clock so he couldn't be reluctant. He did a good job of identifying how they defended our ball screens and he stayed aggressive.''
Source: USA East Coast coach on how Syracuse's Kaleb Joseph's played on European tour
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