Finally, after watching his San Diego State Aztecs score 60 or fewer points in regulation in five straight games, Steve Fisher is shaking things up.
The U-T San Diego's Mark Zeigler reported last night that Fisher will start fifth-year senior guard Aqeel Quinn tonight over fellow fifth-year senior Dwayne Polee II.
Polee will go back to his role as sixth man, where he thrived last year in the team's final 14 games. In those games, Polee averaged 11.1 points on 53 percent shooting -- 44 percent from 3-point range.
He hasn't looked like the preseason all-conference first team player the media voted he would be this season, scoring just 9.9 points per game on 33 percent shooting and 22 percent from beyond the arc.
Quinn, when healthy, has been strong on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense. We've all seen what Utah's Delon Wright is doing to his competition this season. The guy is averaging more than 16 points per game on almost 60 percent shooting while grabbing five boards and dishing out five assists per game. But when Quinn guarded him in early November, Wright looked like a different player, scoring just seven points on 2-13 shooting.
Quinn also turns the ball over very rarely -- just 0.7 times per game. The Aztecs as a whole turn the ball over 13.8 times per game, good for 215th in the country, so more minutes with Quinn handling the ball definitely won't hurt.
Now this brings up the question: Who will play point guard? Trey Kell or Quinn? Kell has shown flashes of greatness this year, but more as a scorer, not as a facilitator. Kell is a more natural two-guard, the position he primarily played in high school.
This team has shown a clear need for a true point guard to get the offense rolling. Maybe Quinn can be that guy. He averages less than an assist per game, but that's because he's been called on to be the energy guy this year -- the sixth man who scores points in bunches.
Let's see what he can do as the starting point guard.