Eleby's interesting comments in OTH

[Chuck]

Bonnies hold off LaSalle with 72-67 victory

By J.P. Butler
Olean Times Herald

ST. BONAVENTURE - Mark Schmidt spent the entire off-week stressing to his players that this game was one of the 'must-win' variety.

To Malcolm Eleby, it was more than that.

"Not only was it a must win," the sophomore point guard said, "I feel like it was a must-game to prove that I can play in this league."

The struggling Eleby took that feeling to the court and turned it into his best performance of the season, finishing with career highs of 14 points and nine rebounds to guide St. Bonaventure to a 72-67 victory over LaSalle on Saturday night in the Reilly Center.

The 6-3 guard, who had struggled mightily throughout January, added three assists and 6-of-8 free throw shooting for the Bonnies (12-10, 3-6), who won on Bob Lanier Court for the first time since mid-December.

"I came out here tonight and just wanted to prove that I could play and help my team," the Philadelphia, Pa. native said. "No matter if it was a must-win, I just wanted to play as hard as I could – not only scoring, but trying to play defense, trying to rebound. I just tried to do the little things and it worked out for me."

His coach, who has kept Eleby in the starting lineup despite all his struggles, agreed.

"I thought Malcolm played the best game he's played here maybe in his career," Schmidt said. "He turned the ball over a few too many times, but he gave us a lot of energy. He was one of the big differences tonight."

Here is rest of the article, which is review of LaSalle game
www.oleantimesherald.com/articles/2009/02/08/sports/doc498e6060138ab041498648.txt

[njbonnie08]

Remember this was a big game for Eleby, he was offered a scholarship by La Salle and being a Philly native, this had to be extra sweet.

Eleby struggles this year have been well documented, and he has taken heat that has been both fair and unfair. That said, it was great to see him have a quality game, hopefully he will stay hot during the final games of the season.

[mcspin]

He had an okay game - not spectacular and certainly not enough to "prove" he can play in this league. It's going to take improvement and consistency over an extended number of games to lose the label he's gained up to this point.

[brownwhitedelight]

Granted Eleby had 14 points and 9 boards it is important that we do not lose sight of his position. He is playing point guard the most important position on the basketball court. His job is to take care of the basketball by making smart decisions, and create shots for his teamates. He had 5 turnovers and 3 assists, a less than impressive ratio. It is good to see Eleby is working hard on the defensive end especially but lets not for a second think this is the point guard of the future for Bonnas.