Andre as full-time PG?

[Incursio007]

He’s been playing great, has a decent handle & may be the best passer on the team. Would allow Cole to play off the ball more & get him cleaner looks at the hoop. He has calmed down considerably with respect to forcing things & has settled into the half-court offense well the past 5+ games.

I know Hurley predicted Andre would be taken in round 1 as a PG by some NBA team (whenever he ultimately declares for the draft). Coach was billing him as a smaller Ben Simmons type, although his outside shot (while still ugly) has improved considerably this season. He has some trouble staying in front of quicker guards, but he’s a strong perimeter defender overall. Any thoughts on this heading down the stretch?

 

[husky99]

His passes are regularly amazing an sometimes horrible.. wonder what his turnover ratio is

 

[imno1]

Not this year

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I want Cole with the ball in case there is pressure or the other team is changing defenses on the fly. The only reason Cole needs to play off the ball is because he is a much better shooter off the catch than he is off the dribble. So is just about every outside shooter. Cole can get enough jump shots off the second and third and fourth pass that we don't need to play him off the ball.

 

[husky429]

His passes are regularly amazing an sometimes horrible.. wonder what his turnover ratio is

2.7 ast, 2.4 TO

 

[husky429]

He’s been playing great, has a decent handle & may be the best passer on the team. Would allow Cole to play off the ball more & get him cleaner looks at the hoop. He has calmed down considerably with respect to forcing things & has settled into the half-court offense well the past 5+ games.

I know Hurley predicted Andre would be taken in round 1 as a PG by some NBA team (whenever he ultimately declares for the draft). Coach was billing him as a smaller Ben Simmons type, although his outside shot (while still ugly) has improved considerably this season. He has some trouble staying in front of quicker guards, but he’s a strong perimeter defender overall. Any thoughts on this heading down the stretch?

I think he should be a facilitator but not an initiator outside of transition, if that makes sense.

Without Cole in--he should always be PG.

With Cole, I think we should rely on Andre for the initial push to try to get a quick bucket, but he and Cole can and should split PG duties when they are in together.

His dynamism is really important for the team. But he's a bit too reckless at times. I think letting him have part-time duties gets him plenty of experience for next year without the TO concerns hemorraghing us. On days he's passing well, we let him be a PG more. On bad days, we dial it back. I don't think it is prudent to PLAN on him being a PG every night.

 

[ucp990411]

I think we are gradually moving in this direction and like it. Next year, full time PG for AJ in order to prepare him for the next level. Isn't that part of playing in college?

 

[AZHuskiePop]

He’s been playing great, has a decent handle & may be the best passer on the team. Would allow Cole to play off the ball more & get him cleaner looks at the hoop. He has calmed down considerably with respect to forcing things & has settled into the half-court offense well the past 5+ games.

I know Hurley predicted Andre would be taken in round 1 as a PG by some NBA team (whenever he ultimately declares for the draft). Coach was billing him as a smaller Ben Simmons type, although his outside shot (while still ugly) has improved considerably this season. He has some trouble staying in front of quicker guards, but he’s a strong perimeter defender overall. Any thoughts on this heading down the stretch?

I’ve said this before , if I were Hurley I would convince him to come back to run the team next year. When he demonstrates that ability he will be a top 5 and a cornerstone for success of a NBA team. When you draft a guy like him it’s not just his individual talent but an ability to make the players around him better.
Ie. John Wall was a terrific PG but was frequently injured. I followed Emeka’s career closely. Near the end he was struggling , barely scoring until Wall came back , then his numbers immediately popped before he succumbed to his chronic back problems.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Elite teams need a wing/forward/big else besides their point guard to distribute well.

Baylor has Kendall Brown. Arizona has Mathurin. Houston has Edwards. Auburn has Smith. Purdue has Williams, Gonzaga has Timme.

Jackson is our elite wing distributor.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

ajax's only data proven superiority skill, thus far, is rebounding.
now, why would a team plan for success take a top of the food chain boarder and stick him continually farther away from the glass?
he passes pretty good, but he turns it over a lot too.
driving? im still waiting for one to the left side, and the right side drive has only demonstrated that, once in a while, he can actually get off some kind of scoop thing.
i've yet to see a pullup j or standing j from him.
so far, he has only 3 offensive tools at his disposal - dunk, open 3, and that sometime right side drive thing.
seems kinda limited for a pg, no?

 

[ucp990411]

The point guard starts the offense, use schemes that don’t have him stationary at the top of the key with the ball. You are too used to Jalen Gaffney doing that

 

[Kenny11]

He could be next season. It would be best if this was a part time role for him though. Hurley actually seems to be slowly drifting towards this.

 

[UconnU]

It would be interesting to play him at point. I imagine he would have some absurd stat line like 10 assists 9 turnovers

 

[RayRay19]

AJax will flourish in the league with the spacing and up and down tempo

 

[CONN78SEJ]

He’s been playing great, has a decent handle & may be the best passer on the team. Would allow Cole to play off the ball more & get him cleaner looks at the hoop. He has calmed down considerably with respect to forcing things & has settled into the half-court offense well the past 5+ games.

I know Hurley predicted Andre would be taken in round 1 as a PG by some NBA team (whenever he ultimately declares for the draft). Coach was billing him as a smaller Ben Simmons type, although his outside shot (while still ugly) has improved considerably this season. He has some trouble staying in front of quicker guards, but he’s a strong perimeter defender overall. Any thoughts on this heading down the stretch?

He needs to work on his handle, that’s where most of his TO’s originate.

 

[RichZ]

He needs to work on his handle, that’s where most of his TO’s originate.

I hate to keep pointing this out, but he often dribbles way to far out in front of his body. It makes it too difficult to maintain control if you have to make a sudden change in direction.
I'm beginning to wonder too, if his hands are on the small size for his body size. He looses control of the ball going up for highlight reel type dunks a little bit more often than "on occasion'.

 

[UconnU]

He needs to work on his handle, that’s where most of his TO’s originate.

His handle needs work namely he dribbles too high. But his turnovers are a mixed bag, he also makes a bunch of high risk passes.

 

[3rdbass]

AJ is not an intuitive PG. Yes he can make passes and I know he did play PG when he was smaller but until he can create offense for himself I just don't see it. His a good PF and someone to help RJ and Gaffney but not as a full time one. I feel a lot more comfortable with RJ making the right decision right now as he can create for himself too and seems to make smarter passes.

 

[3rdbass]

His handle needs work namely he dribbles too high. But his turnovers are a mixed bag, he also makes a bunch of high risk passes.

Yeah while his handle is way better than Hawkins he still has a loose dribble and is one of the reasons he barely beats his man off the dribble too.

 

[dogpause]

I think he'll need all four years to become a PG, but I'm impressed with his progress this year.

 

[Psolo12]

I’m perfectly fine with him flourishing as our secondary ball handler and a point forward.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think he should be a facilitator but not an initiator outside of transition, if that makes sense.

Without Cole in--he should always be PG.

With Cole, I think we should rely on Andre for the initial push to try to get a quick bucket, but he and Cole can and should split PG duties when they are in together.

His dynamism is really important for the team. But he's a bit too reckless at times. I think letting him have part-time duties gets him plenty of experience for next year without the TO concerns hemorraghing us. On days he's passing well, we let him be a PG more. On bad days, we dial it back. I don't think it is prudent to PLAN on him being a PG every night.

This. Let's not pretend that there are modern PGs that function like the PGs of old, pass first, ballhandlers who made everything go. Those are rare. UConn hasn't had one since Williams. Most modern PGs are scoring guards. Andre is a facilitator. At the NBA level, maybe he's a PG. But most teams need multiple facilitators in modern motion offenses, you can't just run everything through your PG.

Lately it seems that Hurley wants two of Cole, Jackson and Gaffney on the floor. Maybe Cole can manage with Martin and Hawk, but Gaff needs Jackson.

 

[UconnU]

I think he'll need all four years to become a PG, but I'm impressed with his progress this year.

His progress has been stunning. I don’t remember a player we had that went from an unknown playing spot minutes to a primary piece on a good team from freshman to sophomore year. He’s clearly been in the gym.

 

[mauconnfan]

If he’s our best option at the point next year huge trouble. He’s solid once in a while but by no means is would he be good full time as you say.

 

[jdb50]

Outside of RJ our whole team is dribble challenged to say the least. There were two occasions in the last few games where Gaffney was dribbling inside the arc and wound up with the ball so far away from his body that he lost the ball and fell down losing his balance reaching for it. Hawkins struggles mightily to control the ball either receiving a pass or against a defender. Martin can attack the basket but it is usually a slashing move not going one on one with a defender. This group is the most dribble challenged since our team with Marcus Williams at point. Andre Jackson has a bunch to work on but he really affects the game when he brings it upcourt quickly and is looking to distribute if players would be ready to catch the pass. Otherwise we are going to be relying on AJ Cole and no one else and we need points from AJ. He can't do it all. If Andre is going to be a fulltime PG it is 2 years away but he is having an impact now for sure. And you can tell how hard he is working to get better and limit mistakes. He's driven.