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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Apr 2, 2016 16:44:11 GMT -5
After thinking about the final four teams, I look at their guards. All 4 teams have great guard play especially Villanova and Oklahoma. Not only do they have great guard play, they have depth at that position. Syracuse won their game because of the performance of freshman guard Malachi Richardson. While North Carolina's Marcus Paige didn't have a great shooting game, he contributed in other ways. On the other hand we have exactly one true point guard (Tre). We have two shooting guards (if you include LJ Peak). We will be losing DSR and getting one 3 star point guard. For this reason, I am not particularly optimistic about next year. What do you guys think? Tre is a point guard that needs to play more like one. Decision making, clock management and ATTACKING the basket!!!
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Apr 2, 2016 16:46:42 GMT -5
Problem wasn't talent it was teamwork and communication. ESPECIALLY communication on defense. Just talking basketball I think this is an interesting debate because I think talent means different thing to different people. Many people would say Ike is more talented than say Josh Hart, or at least as talented, but Josh Harts status is based on the numbers he's producing now while Ike's is based on what he will be in the future. Since we're a College team that future projection means little. His "talent" says possible 1st rounder but his production currently says "no rounder" lol. Same goes for Jessie, his production hasn't caught up to his talent yet. When we describe a team as talented are we talking about them currently based on production, or what they could be doing in the future. That is the question We need to figure out how to turn our talent into production. If we do not obviously we will continue to be a poor team. That being said kids also progress at their own pace not ours so hopefully for our sake this is the summer when that jump happens. If Ike comes out next year playing at the level of a 1st rounder obviously we go to another level same for Jessie. One of a point guard's duty is to make his teammates better by giving them the ball when and where they want it at.
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rockhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,830
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Post by rockhoya on Apr 2, 2016 16:50:06 GMT -5
Malachi plays the position as LJ....I think you hit the nail on the head in the first few sentences. It's that we don't have good guard play, not guards. Sure we don't have the depth some of them have, but it's because we have depth in other spots. My point: it's not like we don't have the talent to have good guard play, they just didn't play well. And for as bleak as you think things are, our guard ply is more respected from outsiders than it is on this board. I still think this is the most talented team III had, and that was part of the problem (and injuries to that talent). We just played no defense, and it was more a result of low defensive IQ rather than limitations If you don't have good point guard play you don't have good guards. Our guards didn't play well because they don't have point guard skills/decision making. Are you talking about ability or performance? Tre has more PG tools than a lot of players, he just doesn't know how to use them. My point was that our production at the guard position was far from maximized. Sure we lacked depth in a major way but the NCAA landscape was down this year no need to over complicate things
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Apr 2, 2016 16:50:31 GMT -5
A lot of well thought out and well reasoned posts. However, I would like to go back to the question I posed. Looking at the guard play we have seen in the NCAA tourney, how much has our guard play (or lack thereof) contributed to our poor season?? A really talented guard can penetrate and then, depending on the situation, either pass off or finish. I am not sure we have a player on our roster who has those skills. LJ, almost never passes the once he penetrates. Fortunately, he is so talented, that he frequently can finish in spite of dribbling into a crowd. I would be interested in your view points on this. Our guard play contributed poorly/inconsistently to our poor season. We have Paul White that can penetrate, kick and dish. He's like a point forward. He's very versatile. He does so many things. We really missed him. It's the little things White does that add up to the big picture. LJ was put on the ball because he's an attacker. I would've keep starting him after I brought him off of the bench. I thought it was time for the young folks to take over and move DSR to the wing.
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Apr 2, 2016 17:04:36 GMT -5
If you don't have good point guard play you don't have good guards. Our guards didn't play well because they don't have point guard skills/decision making. Are you talking about ability or performance? Tre has more PG tools than a lot of players, he just doesn't know how to use them. My point was that our production at the guard position was far from maximized. Sure we lacked depth in a major way but the NCAA landscape was down this year no need to over complicate things ^^^you know he's right..we gotta get some more smart and tough guards. End of story!
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Apr 2, 2016 17:05:27 GMT -5
Follow me on Twitter it's game time! Peace & Hoya Saxa!
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 453
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Post by b52legend on Apr 4, 2016 12:02:34 GMT -5
Bottom line is that you need either (i) a great TEAM or (ii) a transcendent player (e.g., Buddy Heild) with a good team around them. We notice good guard play when watching the tournament because in most offenses, those are the guys who have the ball in their hands the most. But look at the rebounding from UNC, which ND had no answer for. Last year in the tournament, Townes and Kaminsky were dominant. Villanova, despite not having a typical frontcourt, has really skilled big men who more than held their own on the glass and defensively. Do you need good guards? Of course. You need good players at every position. That's a great recipe for success. But, in the case of Villanova, who is that transcendent player? There's another recipe for success in March and that is strong play and leadership by your upperclassmen and good overall balance. Wright has done a great job of continously feeding that balance and leadership. I would have put Nova in the great team category. The 5 they put out there can all play defense and all shoot the ball. Against a team dependent on one guy (who admittedly had an off night), they showed that a great team almost always beats a player every time (although to anyone who has ever been involved with basketball to any degree, that comes as no surprise).
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hoyainspirit
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
When life puts that voodoo on me, music is my gris-gris.
Posts: 8,394
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Post by hoyainspirit on Apr 4, 2016 12:59:05 GMT -5
'Nova had a great game against OU, but I don't place the "great" label on them, or any team this year.
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Apr 5, 2016 15:40:58 GMT -5
If you don't have good point guard play you don't have good guards. Our guards didn't play well because they don't have point guard skills/decision making. Are you talking about ability or performance? Tre has more PG tools than a lot of players, he just doesn't know how to use them. My point was that our production at the guard position was far from maximized. Sure we lacked depth in a major way but the NCAA landscape was down this year no need to over complicate things Tre has point guards skills, yes, but he has to know he's the key because last season he was suppose to be the key, especially if DSR would've gone pro. He failed at this in his sophomore year, and he knows this. Tre still hasn't developed a consistent "floater." This shot should be in every point guards repetoire big time. This shot should be "automatic," especially for smaller guards, but I've the big fellas shoot floaters as well. Any true point guard coming out of high school knows his job/skill 110. They know they are an extension of the coach on the floor. Tre should only get better. He'll be a junior. Would never "so called, over complicate anything." ..In high school Tre played on and off of the ball. Cowan ran the point as well. Tre did almost the same thing Chris Wright did when he went to St. John's, but Chris was more of a scoring point guard, but he learned how to play the position at a very early age. I know. My son was his brother's (dad coach) teammate 12 & under Rising Stars. Chris was only 8 years old and he was doing drills with 12 & under and even played in games! I have it on tape. lol
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