Thanks for your insights. This is good stuff that the casual fan, like me, doesn't notice. When you explain it like that, it makes perfect sense.
Thanks. I’m always up for talking X’s & O’s. What I’m really excited about is that we led the SEC in scoring and 1) Weren't at full strength 2) Didn’t have his guys in designed for this system 3)Wasn’t even running his full system.
He wants guys that can pass, dribble, and shoot, not just guys that specialize at one thing. He also wants length at each position. It’s my easier to finish at the rim off the bounce when you are 6’6 or 6’7 rather than 6’2. Also, not a knock on Shack and Petty, but they really aren’t drivers. We need guys that can drive, shoot, and pass. Its ok to have one guy on the floor that can’t attack the rim at a high level, but not 3 at one time. Think about the lineups that we were having to throw out there some this season.
Let’s look at the roster and lineup combo’s we had.
-Kira (Can drive, pass, and shoot, at a high level. Plays average D)
-Petty (Shoots at a very high level, Average to Below average handles for a D1 {esp a 5 star player}, good passer, good defender when he wanted to be)
-Shack (Very High Level spot up shooter, good passer, above average handles and ability to get to the rim, {needs a little work at finishing and a little quicker first step}, pretty good defender but gets lost sometimes but is very coachable)
-Herb (Very below average shooter, very good passer when he stays under control, good ball handler and gets to the rim extremely well for his size, {again when he stays under control}, AMAZING defender, one of the best that I have ever seen. He locked down Trae Young his freshman year. I’m a huge Atlanta Hawks fan, and teams in the NBA can’t stop Trae)
-Reese (Good shooter for his size and position. Can be a very good shooter with focus and better shot selection. Average to above average passer {had some flashes of brilliance ex: the lob to Petty} Defense was almost non-existant.
-Beetle (Excellent shooter, when he took good shots, above average passer, good ball handler but lacked size to consistently finish in traffic, and got out of control too often. Good defender, what people like to call an irritant (get under the opponents skin) but lacked size to be a great defender, was also prone to getting in foul trouble. Was also never fully healthy. Like ever healthy!
- Galin (Awful shooter, can’t dribble, not really a good passer, too slow to play good D. Overall not a good system fit. He does give incredible effort and I commend him for that.
-Javian (Good touch around the rim and can shoot a midrange, above average passer out of the post, not a ball handler, Good defender, but he is really an old school PF and not really a center. He isn’t a rim protector on D at all. He is a good defender when he is guarding a guy that’s his same style. Not a great system fit, but works his tail off, and has made it work. as a bench contributor)
- Forbes (Was supposed to be a lights out shooter than just never materialized as one. Average to below average D1 Ball Handler. Lacked the burst to beat people of the dribble. Above average passer when spotted up, pretty decent defender, and again played hard. Just didn’t materialize to what he was rated. That happens sometimes Will do well at Tulane.
That was our main playing rotation this year. People that say this team was overly talented are just incorrect. When you look at our playing rotation and really break it down, I think it’s pretty amazing that we average 82 points a game. That is working magic to me. I know there are games that we should have won. Penn, Penn St, Florida, just to name a few. But break every player down individually, and this roster wasn’t as talented, as a whole, as most made it out to be.
I’m looking forward to the future.
