Greiner's emergence gives Lehigh a shot at the top
By Chris A. Courogen HOOP TIME EDITOR
Could the Lehigh Mountain Hawks be the team to beat when Patriot League play opens up Saturday?
At least one long-time beat writer thinks so and it might not take much for others to come around to his way of thinking.
Tom Housenick, who covers the Lehigh Valley's two teams for the Allentown Morning Call, thinks Lehigh, not Bucknell, is the favorite to win the league title. In a facebook exchange of comments on a story Housenick wrote about Lehigh forward Holden Greiner, Housenick pointed to Greiner as one of two reasons, along with point guiard Mackey McKnight, the Mountain Hawks will win it all.
Housenick doesn't need to do a whole lot to support his contention. Greiner has been busy doing that for him.
Through 15 games, the 6-7 junior from Traverse City, Michigan, has given Lehigh one of the things it lacked last year – a consistent third scoing option to compliment C.J. McCollum and Holden Greiner.
Greiner is averaging more than 13 points per game while knocking down almost half of his shots. His 49-percent shooting from the field ranks eighth in the league, pretty impressive considering almost half of his shots have come from outside the arc.
That shooting comes as a suprise to some since Griener hit only 27 percent of the 67 threes he put up his first two seasons in Bethlehem.It's no surprise, though, to folks who saw him in practice those first two years.
“Holden has always had the tools. He just needed the confidence and a chance to play,” says McCollum.
Much of that confidence came as a result of Greiner's summer workouts, countless hours spent in the gym working on his footwork, refining his shot, shaving precious fractions of a second off his release.
“I put a lot more emphasis on my jump shot, on my threes,” said Griener. “I could hit threes last season, but it wasn't where I needed to be, so I put extra emphasis on that. Knowing I can make shots gives me the confidence to do everything a little better.”
That includes his rebounding. Last season Greiner pulled down a respectable 4.3 caroms per game. That ranked third on Lehigh's roster. This season he is averaging 6.3 per game, tops on the team and fourth in the Patriot League.
Still, it is Greiner's offense that is drawing accolades.
“He is a tremendous offensive player,” said St. Francis (Pa.) coach Don Friday after Greiner knocked down five threes in the first half of the Mountain Hawks' early December blowout of the Red Flash. “He makes a big difference. You have to account for him.”
That has helped make McCollum, Lehigh's two-time first team all-league pick, even more dangerous.
“Greiner spaces the floor. It opens up things for C.J. McCollum to play his midrange game,” Friday said.
“It opens up a lot,” said McCollum, the 2010 league player of the year, who is averaging 20 ppg. “The second defender is heistant to come so it makes it easier to get all the way to the basket or to get open jump shots.”
It's also helped turn McCollum into a more complete player. After totaling 66 assists his entire sophomore season, McCollum has 51 already this year. His 3.4 dimes per game is tops on the squad and fourth in the league.
“(Greiner) changes our team tremendously,” said Reed. “You have another ballhandler. You have another shooter. You have another passer. You have another person with some athleticism and mobility out there.
“We still continue to have the anchor of (center Gabe) Knutson. We still have the excellent play of C.J. McCollum. But to add that third element and that third dimension, whewre he can impact the game with rebounding, scoring and even passing and playmaking, that makes us even harder to defend.”
That has been pretty obvious in non-conference play. Lehigh's average of 78.5 points per game ranks 27th nationally and leads the Patriot League by almost 10 points per game.
“Bucknell may be the top team in that league, but Lehigh is 1A,” said Friday, whose team has lost to both. “I like the pieces Lehigh has. They have size inside. They have toughness. They have really good guard play.
“That is a good team. That's a team that is going to make some noice in the Patriot League.”
UPON FURTHER REVIEW – In an interview after the St. Francis game, Greiner credited Reed's father, Lynn Reed, with helping his off-season development.
That came as quite a surprise to Brett Reed when he was asked about it later that night.
Turns out, Greiner may have gilded the lily just a bit.
Puzzled by the mysterious workouts that he hadn't heard about before being asked about them by reporters, Brett Reed made a call home later that night.
Turns out the elder coach Reed did indeed have a shooting session with Greiner. But it came the summer before his sophomore season, not last summer as Greiner seemed to indicate.
According to Brett Reed, his father, a longtime, highly-successful high school and junior college coach in Michigan, paid Griener a visit during a stop in Greiner's home town, Traverse City, en route to visiting relatives on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Lynn Reed, and one of Brett's nephews, went with Griener to a local gym to shoot a little, with Mynn offering a few footwork tips as they shot.
ON A ROLL – Lehigh enters Tuesday night's final non-conference game having won two in a row and five of its last six. The lone loss in that span was a 90-81 setback at then-No. 19 Michigan State.
Since dropping games at St. John's and at Iowa State top open the season, the Mountain Hawks have won 11 of their last 13. the only other loss was an 81-79 setback at Cornell.
The 11 non-league wins is already a school record. With a win Tuesday night over Maryland-Eastern Shore, the Mountain Hawks would be 12-4, which would be the school's best-ever record through 16 games.
AUDIO:
St. Francis (Pa.) coach Don Friday on Greiner
Lehigh coach Dr. Brett Reed on Greiner
Greiner, and teammate C.J. McCollum, on Greiner