I was impressed with LU transfer Maurice Kirby's 14.7 rp40m
(better than any returning MVC player), scoring (14.8 pp40m),
FG shooting (54%), and lack of fouling (1.1 fp40m),
but his shot blocking stats didn't seem to be out of the ordinary.

However, when I took a second look, I discovered that his performance
was solid, improving the more he played.

For his first 14 games of the 32 he played, he had only 4 blocks (0.5 bp40m).
But as he adjusted to the move from high school to junior college,
he had 18 blocks in his last 18 games (2.0 bp40m).

You can compare the 2.0 bp40m to the whole LU team last year that only
averaged 2.3 bp40m (all 15 players combined).

There are only 2 returning MVC players who averaged a block per game or better
(like Kirby did in his last 18 games). They are Evansville's 6'10" Mockevicius and
Missouri State's 6'11" McCullough.

Not only am I impressed with Kirby's shot blocking, but also his ability to learn and
improve the more he plays.

Its going to be interesting to see how Kirby fits in this year and if it changes our overall offensive approach. I am wondering if we see Milton Doyle go to a more additional 3 spot. Will we see Jeff WHite at the 1, Peterson at the 2. Doyle at the 3, James at the 4 and Kirby at the 5 with Peterson,Ingram, Knuth off the bench.