Bazz

[HuskyFan32]

Needs to start playing. Once again we get a double digit lead and now its down to 2. When is this going to end?

 

[HuskyFan32]

Ok this is getting ridiculous. Every time we get a lead he thinks its ok for him to play one on one and take awful shots. Its happened in every single game. Get up 16, dumb 3 by Bazz, they hit a three and a bucket and its 11. Bazz drives throws up a wild contested shot, now its 9. He needs to realize that he is a point guard; a role that includes getting others involved.

 

[Gurleyman]

He's had some bad moments in this game, yes (the three was a terrible shot - the force in the lane was at least near the end of the shot clock). But he's rendered Harvard's PG (Curry) a non-factor on defense, so I'll take that side of the ball tonight from him - he just needs to get better late in games.

 

[Gurleyman]

Well, Harvard was fighting their way back in it, and on four possessions, Napier fed Drummond for a dunk, Oriakhi for a dunk, Olander for a rhythm jumper, and Oriakhi for a foul to stop a layup. Our possessions that didn't work were Drummond on the low block (air ball) and a Giffey jumper in the corner.

 

[61cygni]

Yeah, what does he think he's doing being the game's assist leader.

 

[Gurleyman]

The original poster was correct that Bazz made some mistakes to help let Harvard back in it. But he did a good job this time at settling things down after Harvard got it down to single digits. Just what he didn't do against Central Florida. So we'll take the progress.

 

[aceboon]

Might as well sticky a Bazz thread so you guys can air out your grievances for each game.

 

[superjohn]

My main gripe with Shabazz is he still dribbles too much in the halfcourt offense and the ball sticks on one side of the court. We are a work in progress but getting better.

 

[TheChamps990411]

My main gripe with Shabazz is that he still dribbles to much in the halfcourt offense and the ball sticks on one side of the court. We are a work in progress but getting better.

1000% correct! it annoys me to no end.

 

[Gurleyman]

Thing is that we're not a great ball-movement, spacing, passing team 1-thru-5. We couldn't run a Princeton-style offense with 15 passes before a shot. When we have the three guards in, there's more potential for a little bit of a more multi-faceted attack. But for the most part we don't want the ball in our bigs' hands for very long - and that includes Roscoe and DeAndre. And at times even Jeremy has a loose handle under heavy ball pressure. So when Bazz is dribbling away the shot clock while we have the lead, we are keeping the ball in relatively safe hands. But there needs to be a better balance- he can't just dribble for 25 seconds without any movement off the ball.

 

[Prezidint]

I really would love to have the inside track on some of your relationships. Talk about never satisfied.

Napier was awesome. Appreciate that.

You have the most beautiful woman at the party on your arm. Stop commenting that her mascara doesn't quite match her lip gloss.

 

[Kitaman]

The simple answer is that Bazz is young and still developing. I never felt this would be his year to shine irrespective of pre-season accolades. He is also adjusting the most to post Kemba. When he is on he's one of the best, consistency takes time and experience for a pg. Watch his development because he will be special.

What can be said?.......................... youth equals frustration. Having children helped me to understand this.

 

[Giddyup5]

Yeah, what does he think he's doing being the game's assist leader.

See this doesn't mean anything. So what if he got 7 assists? Stats don't tell everything. Watching the game last night, and others in the season, Bazz still has things to improve upon as do all our players.

 

[Giddyup5]

I really would love to have the inside track on some of your relationships. Talk about never satisfied.

Napier was awesome. Appreciate that.

You have the most beautiful woman at the party on your arm. Stop commenting that her mascara doesn't quite match her lip gloss.

I appreciate Bazz, but he wasn't awesome. If people want to talk about Bazz as one of the best PGs in the country then he needs to start developing a better feel for the game and know when to look for his own and when to facilitate for others. He has the talent and basketball IQ to be that type of player. Its a work in progress but he is far from criticism.

 

[huskymagic]

My main gripe with Shabazz is he still dribbles too much in the halfcourt offense and the ball sticks on one side of the court. We are a work in progress but getting better.

Very true, but I think Boatright needs to handle the ball for us at crunch time because he makes good decisions and can penetrate at will. I dont trust Shabazz in late game situations in big games. He is a great shooter who plays well off the ball.

 

[Giddyup5]

I do want the ball in Bazz's hand at the end of the game. We know he has the balls to make the big shot and in time I think he will continue to make better decisions.

Don't get me wrong, I am hard on Bazz cause I probably have the highest expectations of him than anyone on our team. He is our PG, leader, and the key to our success IMO.

 

[BrassBonanza]

Serious Question - is Bazz hurt? He seems to be a few steps slower than last year and watching boatright out there with him makes Shabazz appear even slower. It seems like his knees/ankles are hurting him or something. I know he wears a knee brace but I have no seen any real injury report on him. He just looks old in the way he moves - gingerly at times - you can see it more if you watch him when he doesn't have the ball. I watched him closely while I was at the game last night, even when he was just jogging up the court something seemedoff with his stride.

Matbe someone close to the team has some insight here?

 

[Prezidint]

I appreciate Bazz, but he wasn't awesome. If people want to talk about Bazz as one of the best PGs in the country then he needs to start developing a better feel for the game and know when to look for his own and when to facilitate for others.

You're right that "awesome" is too strong, but with the rest I respectfully disagree.
Guy was 1 of 3 from 3, 7 assists, 4 steals, and managed heavy ball pressure extremely well. His % from 2 was off (2 for 7), but not horrid.

A lot of people on this board, when they see him dribbling, infer that he is "dribbling around" because that's what he wants to do.

I'd guess that that's incorrect. He's running the offense that Calhoun wants him to run. Does anybody doubt that? Does anybody think that JC is telling him to dribble twice and then pass and Napier is telling him to screw off?

So, if Shabazz is dribbling around, he's been told to do that. Perhaps JC wants the shot clock run down. Perhaps we're running screens but the guys aren't open enough coming around the screens.

I don't know.

But I know this. If Bazz wasn't doing what JC wanted, then he wouldn't be out there for 37 minutes a game.

Everybody imputes intention to Napier when there is zero evidence supporting it.

7 assists, 2 turnovers, ran the point or shared it for 37 minutes against aggressive pressure.

In my book, that's damn good.

 

[huskymagic]

Serious Question - is Bazz hurt? He seems to be a few steps slower than last year and watching boatright out there with him makes Shabazz appear even slower. It seems like his knees/ankles are hurting him or something. I know he wears a knee brace but I have no seen any real injury report on him. He just looks old in the way he moves - gingerly at times - you can see it more if you watch him when he doesn't have the ball. I watched him closely while I was at the game last night, even when he was just jogging up the court something seemedoff with his stride.

Matbe someone close to the team has some insight here?

No he is as quick or as slow as he has always been depending on how you look at it. Boatright is just a more superior athlete, and is quicker thats why Napier looks as slow as he does with Boatright on the court.

 

[HeGotGame]

Might as well sticky a Bazz thread so you guys can air out your grievances for each game.

Every year there is a player who is the message boards whipping boy, I guess its his turn this year.

His Assist/TO ratio is abysmal, but hes started what 9 games in his career? Growing pains, he'll learn and get better.

 

[Gurleyman]

If we are protecting a lead, and Napier gives up the ball, what do you think the other team is going to do, especially if Boatright isn't in the game? I'd almost guarantee that they will face-guard, hold, grab and do whatever they can to prevent him from getting the ball back. Then we're left with Jeremy probably having to come get the ball, which makes him unable to run off screens and our offense either bogs down entirely or we have to waste 10 seconds while Napier fights through the defense to get the ball and gets us back into a set. Late in games, we can't throw the ball in to Andre or Alex on the low block and let them just go to work, since they aren't those types of players offensively. Roscoe and DeAndre are good weapons in spots, but aren't great guys to run the offense through either. Tyler can sometimes be solid with the ball at the high post to alleviate some pressure, but he sometimes lacks ball toughess (he had the ball knocked out of his hands in the middle of the zone a couple times in Atlantis).

What Shabazz is doing now is similar to what Ben Gordon had to go through as a sophomore - he had to learn how to be the end of shot clock guy after being a wingman as a freshman. Ben had some rough games where we went through the same "poor decision-making" criticisms on the Boneyard, but he got better and better at it and we won a national championship with the basic strategy of build a lead, then give it to Ben and get out of the way (so Taliek, Emeka and Josh could stay away from the foul line). There are clearly times that Shabazz has gotten into the teeth of the defense and not made the right decision - or has settled for a contested three - but that's just the learning curve. He's also had times when he has made something out of nothing or found guys with alley-oops that you couldn't even see developing on TV. I think he made progress yesterday after the one bad stretch he had when he made two bad decisions and the lead went from 16-9. After that he got the bigs the ball right at the rim three times, found Tyler unguarded for an open jumper and drew a foul off his own dribble penetration. Seems like people got so honed in on that one bad stretch when the lead went from 16-9 that they ignored the rest.

 

[61cygni]

See this doesn't mean anything. So what if he got 7 assists? Stats don't tell everything. Watching the game last night, and others in the season, Bazz still has things to improve upon as do all our players.

What do you mean this doesn't mean anything? Stat's don't tell everything, but they surely tell something. This in particular means that he didn't jack up 30 shots and hand out 0 assists.

You can say all players can improve on something about every single team in history. That's the kind of statement that doesn't mean anything.

Bazz had a good game despite what some people are saying, and duh, everyone can improve.

@BrassBonanza - I think he was hurt or sick earlier wasn't he? Not sure about now.