Malesevic Hurts Rams Again
Thursday, December 22, 2011
With URI and PC about to square off in front of a ruckus crowd at the Ryan Center Friday night, Rhody will have to play the game without one of its starters Nikola Malesevic. The 6-7 junior will miss the next few weeks with a broken hand. GoLocalProv.com has learned from multiple sources that Malesevic broke his hand hitting a wall sometime after the Rams loss to Yale on Sunday.
Malesevic was supposed to be one of the team's leaders this season but, instead, has proved to be one of the more divisive forces on a team that has struggled to develop any type of chemistry and cohesion.
His latest actions are not the first example of a quick temper and explosive personality. In his team's loss to Cleveland State, Malesevic was benched by head coach Jim Baron late in the first half after he allegedly took a cheap shot at a Vikings player. Unhappy with his benching to start the second half, he openly pouted on the bench forcing Baron to tell him to head to the locker room with about 10 minutes to go in the game.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMalesevic and his fellow starters were benched at the start of the team's next game at Brown but didn't seem to repond well to Baron's motivational tactics losing to the Bears 65-56.
The native of Serbia is the team's leading 3-point shooter having drained 17 of his 51 attempts (33%). While those numbers aren't great, they are the best on a team that struggles to shoot the ball from the outside.
Souces close to the team believe that the Rams may actually benefit from Malesevic's absence because of his attitude. With the additions of transfers Billy Baron and Andre Malone to the line-up on Friday, Jim Baron will have some new options to explore.
In the meantime, the hope is that Malesevic will use his down time to reflect on the type of player and teammate he has been this season and that he will change his approach for the better when he is ready to return to the floor.
