Atlantic 10 Basketball: List of “All-Glue Guy” Team for 2022-23 season

Matt Grace, Richmond – 8.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg

Grace is one of the most well-rounded players that you will find and there is great value in his adaptability, moving into the starting lineup after four years coming off the bench and only getting to play a small segment of games at his ideal center position.  The Richmond teams of the past few years have typically been plodding down low but pairing Grace with Tyler Burton or Isiah Bigelow for the big man combination creates the quickest, most versatile, and best shooting lineups that the Spiders have had in years.  His shooting in conference play (40% from three) is often the only stretch to their offense with Burton and Jason Roche struggling as of late.

Grace won’t be on the all-defense team, but same as the other end, his ability to pair with Burton, Bigelow or Neal Quinn allows Richmond to mix and match to meet their opponent. And with another slower-footed center (Quinn) for the Spiders, it is essential for Grace to be able to guard big men across the full spectrum of skill sets at both positions, much like Nathan Cayo did for years.  The key to Cayo’s defensive value was that he played well against bigger centers, which is the lone skill that he possessed that his near clone replacement, Bigelow, doesn’t. (Seriously, compare Bigelow’s stats with Cayo’s last year and watch how they move on the court. It’s all eerily similar).  Grace critically fills that gap.

Ejike Obinna, St. Joe’s – 8.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg

St. Joe’s surrendered 80+ points in regulation four times in conference play, and it’s no coincidence that Obinna didn’t start in any of them. Two of those games came early when he was still coming off the bench and the others came immediately after he was lost to a February injury.  Obinna’s rim protection can’t be seen in traditional stats, as he’s actually 4th in the Hawks in blocked shots, behind even Erik Reynolds II, but he’s a deterrent at a higher level than any other big man of the Billy Lange era (although Rasheer Fleming is coming for that title).  His biggest contribution comes on the glass and the Hawks become a decent rebounding team anytime Obinna plays with Fleming or Kacper Klaczek.

Obinna’s contributions are mostly focused on the defensive end and St. Joe’s craters when he isn’t out there, but he’s found a way to contribute to Lange’s entirely three-point-focused offense despite somehow never taking one in his two seasons with the team.  He’s really the lone interior presence on the roster but has cleaned up in that role, leading the A-10 in two-point percentage and sitting 2nd in offensive-rebounding percentage.

Unfortunately, it looks like Obinna’s injury will likely keep him out of the A-10 Tournament, which is an absolute dagger for a team that went 7-4 in his starts in A-10 play.