For 17 games now, the NCAA has dragged its feet and refused to clear Renardo Sidney to play for the Bulldogs. While this exemplifies an egregious double standard (see Kentucky’s John Wall), that is a subject for another day. The point I make now is that Sidney should immediately play a big role on the team the moment he is cleared by the NCAA (if that ever happens).
The Bulldogs desperately need another big man. All too often, opponents double-team Jarvis Varnado in the paint, making it difficult for him to score and get rebounds. We need someone to get in the paint and play rough, grab rebounds and foul some – someone to fill the role Branden Vincent played when we won the SEC in 2004.
Sure, forward Kodi Augustus is 6’8,” but he spends way too much time behind the 3-point line, and rarely goes to war in the paint (last Saturday’s 12-rebound performance against Ole Miss being an exception).
Sidney is that big man. He’s tough in the paint, great at scoring and rebounding, and can even back up and shoot the 3. Until this eligibility debacle, he was rated as one of the top NBA prospects for the 2010 draft.
There is little doubt in my mind the Bulldogs would have, at most, one loss right now if Sidney had been playing so far. Against Richmond, Varnado got into foul trouble and only played 23 minutes. Wouldn’t it have been great to have another top-notch big man in the paint?
Against Western Kentucky, the Bulldogs were down 1 in the closing seconds, and sure enough, the Hilltoppers closed in on Varnado, who was unable to shoot over all of them. Had Sidney been there, not only would we have had two solid options to take the last, the Hilltoppers would have had to spread out and guard both, giving us a much higher probability of making the shot.
I don’t know how well-conditioned Sidney currently is. He’s worked out with the team in the past, and now he’s working out alone.
If he were cleared and unable to go in for long stretches right away, then we’d need to put him in for a couple minutes at a time. He’s just too talented to sit him, if we ever get that chance.