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Friday, November 10, 2006
For three years, Jose Olivero has waited in the wings while others at Lehigh have been in the spotlight.
Like a perennial best supporting actor nominee who struggles to land lead roles, Olivero's performance has been outstanding. It has also been overshadowed.
As a freshman, Olivero played in 30 games, starting 18 for a Lehigh team that won the Patriot League Tournament and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Even though he was just a rookie, Olivero was Lehigh's second-leading scorer, behind league Player of the Year Austen Rowland, After averaging 11.6 points per game and hitting the game-winner in the league championship game, Olivero seemed poised to replace the graduating Rowland in the lead role in Billy Taylor's production the following season.
His sophomore season, transfer Joe Knight stepped into both Rowland's shoes at the point and Rowland's role as Lehigh's leading scorer. Even though Olivero had another strong season, averaging 13 ppg, it was clear that Knight was “the man” at Lehigh.
Even last season, when Olivero emerged as Lehigh's top scorer and a first-team all-league pick, averaging 17.1 ppg, the second-highest average in the league, he was still overshadowed. This time by Knight's absence more than his presence.
Knight's eligibility situation, which ended up costing him 16 games of his senior season. The situation garnered so much attention, it made it easy to overlook the job Olivero did while Knight was out.
“It was definitely a distraction. That's not an excuse,” Olivero said during a recent interview at the league's media day gathering.
Now, with the Mountain Hawks season about to tip off Friday night in Oregon, there are no distractions. No longer will Olivero be asked to play the supporting role. It is his turn in the spotlight, and have no doubts, the senior from Fairfax, Va. is ready to play the lead.
“I get a little more personal stamp on the team,” Olivero said.
To be certain, that stamp will be heavily influenced by offense. Despite his claims to the contrary, Olivero is, first and foremost, a scorer. Has been since arriving in Bethlehem three years ago. But Olivero knows if the Mountain Hawks are to be all the can be, they are going to need more than just scoring from him.
Freshman Marquis Hall is penciled in at the point, but Olivero will slide over to run the offense at times, too.
That is OK with Olivero, who played the point in high school and at times last season when Knight was out.
“Jose was thrown into (the point) last year. He had to learn on the fly,” Lehigh coach Billy Taylor said in a late summer interview.
Olivero's time at the point was not all good for the Hawks. With his scorer's mentality, at times Olivero was too busy looking for an opening of his own to notice his teammates. When he is at the point this season, Olivero has to get more people involved in the offense, Taylor said.
The coach has no doubt that improvement will come. After all, said Taylor, Olivero “has gotten better every year.”
Olivero also plans to improve his rebounded and is working to improve communications with his teammates. “I want to be getting them all on the same page,” he said.
“I definitely think I can make a difference. Not just as a scorer . . . I just try to go out there and create. I don't think of myself as a scorer,” Oilvero said.
Nonetheless, Lehigh will count heavily on Olivero to do a good share of the scoring. Taylor has made some changes to the Mountain Hawks offense. A lot of those involve Olivero.
“(Jose's) versatility and ability to score in different ways makes him a tough cover. We will try to move him around to make it difficult for teams to match him,” said Lehigh coach Billy Taylor.
“Jose has the ability to create and make shots late in the clock,” Taylor said. “He can get out and score in transition. He can hit jump shots. He can pull up for the jumper or take it to the hole. He moves well without the ball.”
Have no doubt, when the clock is running down, or when Lehigh is in need of a big basket, the ball will be headed Olivero's direction.
“When the game is on the line at the end of the game, I definitely want the ball in my hands to create. I have had that mentality all the years I have been here,” Olivero said. “I definitely embrace that role as a challenge.”
His coach recognizes Olivero's importance to the team, though he tries to downplay it.
“I am always reluctant, in a team sport, to say it is one person's tea,” Taylor said. “What if injuries, sickness or whatever come up?”
Well coach, if any of those scenarios happen to Olivero, our advice would be to start planning for next season.
Assuming reports are true that big man Jason Mgebroff has rebounded from his horrid junior season, the Mountain Hawks have a solid four-veteran core to build around. Kyle Neptune is a versatile senior swingman who averaged 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season. Junior forward Bryan White is a strong presence inside, especially on the boards, where he led the team with 5.4 rebounds per game last season.
After those four, though, the drop off in experience is drastic. As talented as some of Lehigh's sophomores and freshmen are reported to be, it would be tough to imagine any of them filling Olivero's shoes. Especially on offense.
With Taylor's devotion to defense, Lehigh does not need a lot of offense to be in most games in conference play. With Olivero on the floor, the Hawks will be a threat in every league game. Without him, the chances of Lehigh bumping off one of the upper echelon teams are slim and none, and slim has his pony saddled.
It's a lot of pressure on Olivero. He does not mind.
“I definite embrace that role as a challenge,” Olivero said. “I like having that pressure on me.”
Like a perennial best supporting actor nominee who struggles to land lead roles, Olivero's performance has been outstanding. It has also been overshadowed.
As a freshman, Olivero played in 30 games, starting 18 for a Lehigh team that won the Patriot League Tournament and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Even though he was just a rookie, Olivero was Lehigh's second-leading scorer, behind league Player of the Year Austen Rowland, After averaging 11.6 points per game and hitting the game-winner in the league championship game, Olivero seemed poised to replace the graduating Rowland in the lead role in Billy Taylor's production the following season.
His sophomore season, transfer Joe Knight stepped into both Rowland's shoes at the point and Rowland's role as Lehigh's leading scorer. Even though Olivero had another strong season, averaging 13 ppg, it was clear that Knight was “the man” at Lehigh.
Even last season, when Olivero emerged as Lehigh's top scorer and a first-team all-league pick, averaging 17.1 ppg, the second-highest average in the league, he was still overshadowed. This time by Knight's absence more than his presence.
Knight's eligibility situation, which ended up costing him 16 games of his senior season. The situation garnered so much attention, it made it easy to overlook the job Olivero did while Knight was out.
“It was definitely a distraction. That's not an excuse,” Olivero said during a recent interview at the league's media day gathering.
Now, with the Mountain Hawks season about to tip off Friday night in Oregon, there are no distractions. No longer will Olivero be asked to play the supporting role. It is his turn in the spotlight, and have no doubts, the senior from Fairfax, Va. is ready to play the lead.
“I get a little more personal stamp on the team,” Olivero said.
To be certain, that stamp will be heavily influenced by offense. Despite his claims to the contrary, Olivero is, first and foremost, a scorer. Has been since arriving in Bethlehem three years ago. But Olivero knows if the Mountain Hawks are to be all the can be, they are going to need more than just scoring from him.
Freshman Marquis Hall is penciled in at the point, but Olivero will slide over to run the offense at times, too.
That is OK with Olivero, who played the point in high school and at times last season when Knight was out.
“Jose was thrown into (the point) last year. He had to learn on the fly,” Lehigh coach Billy Taylor said in a late summer interview.
Olivero's time at the point was not all good for the Hawks. With his scorer's mentality, at times Olivero was too busy looking for an opening of his own to notice his teammates. When he is at the point this season, Olivero has to get more people involved in the offense, Taylor said.
The coach has no doubt that improvement will come. After all, said Taylor, Olivero “has gotten better every year.”
Olivero also plans to improve his rebounded and is working to improve communications with his teammates. “I want to be getting them all on the same page,” he said.
“I definitely think I can make a difference. Not just as a scorer . . . I just try to go out there and create. I don't think of myself as a scorer,” Oilvero said.
Nonetheless, Lehigh will count heavily on Olivero to do a good share of the scoring. Taylor has made some changes to the Mountain Hawks offense. A lot of those involve Olivero.
“(Jose's) versatility and ability to score in different ways makes him a tough cover. We will try to move him around to make it difficult for teams to match him,” said Lehigh coach Billy Taylor.
“Jose has the ability to create and make shots late in the clock,” Taylor said. “He can get out and score in transition. He can hit jump shots. He can pull up for the jumper or take it to the hole. He moves well without the ball.”
Have no doubt, when the clock is running down, or when Lehigh is in need of a big basket, the ball will be headed Olivero's direction.
“When the game is on the line at the end of the game, I definitely want the ball in my hands to create. I have had that mentality all the years I have been here,” Olivero said. “I definitely embrace that role as a challenge.”
His coach recognizes Olivero's importance to the team, though he tries to downplay it.
“I am always reluctant, in a team sport, to say it is one person's tea,” Taylor said. “What if injuries, sickness or whatever come up?”
Well coach, if any of those scenarios happen to Olivero, our advice would be to start planning for next season.
Assuming reports are true that big man Jason Mgebroff has rebounded from his horrid junior season, the Mountain Hawks have a solid four-veteran core to build around. Kyle Neptune is a versatile senior swingman who averaged 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season. Junior forward Bryan White is a strong presence inside, especially on the boards, where he led the team with 5.4 rebounds per game last season.
After those four, though, the drop off in experience is drastic. As talented as some of Lehigh's sophomores and freshmen are reported to be, it would be tough to imagine any of them filling Olivero's shoes. Especially on offense.
With Taylor's devotion to defense, Lehigh does not need a lot of offense to be in most games in conference play. With Olivero on the floor, the Hawks will be a threat in every league game. Without him, the chances of Lehigh bumping off one of the upper echelon teams are slim and none, and slim has his pony saddled.
It's a lot of pressure on Olivero. He does not mind.
“I definite embrace that role as a challenge,” Olivero said. “I like having that pressure on me.”
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