Bouk as point guard

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't like this idea if we want Bouk scoring. Bouk bringing the ball up the court will make it easier for defenses to key in on him. If Cole is bringing the ball up, the defenses have to watch Cole and Bouk. If Bouk is bringing it up, they just have to watch Bouk. It makes it easier for the defense to trap or otherwise force the ball out of his hands, and if that happens, then he has to get it back to score. With a 35 second shot clock, he might not get the ball back until there are 15-20 seconds left, and that is not a long time to play defense. The shot clock effectively becomes a 6th defender around 10 seconds left.

Playing Bouk off the ball increases the chance of us getting him the ball with enough time to run a set to get him free.

You don't want your leading scorer bringing the ball up unless that player is a distributor too, which Bouk really isn't. If the leading scorer is a distributor, like Kemba or Shabazz, and they are as much a threat with the pass as the drive or shot, then you want the ball in their hands as much as possible.

Ray Allen is a first ballot hall of famer, but he always had Ollie or Scheffer bringing the ball up. Hamilton had KEA. Okafor and Gordon had Taliek. I like the scorer off the ball to start the offense rather than with the ball to start the offense. Whereas Chris Smith, who was a great college player, didn't have a point guard his senior year and the offense was kind of a mess.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Shot clock is 30 seconds

 

[superjohn]

I don't like this idea if we want Bouk scoring. Bouk bringing the ball up the court will make it easier for defenses to key in on him. If Cole is bringing the ball up, the defenses have to watch Cole and Bouk. If Bouk is bringing it up, they just have to watch Bouk. It makes it easier for the defense to trap or otherwise force the ball out of his hands, and if that happens, then he has to get it back to score. With a 35 second shot clock, he might not get the ball back until there are 15-20 seconds left, and that is not a long time to play defense. The shot clock effectively becomes a 6th defender around 10 seconds left.

Playing Bouk off the ball increases the chance of us getting him the ball with enough time to run a set to get him free.

You don't want your leading scorer bringing the ball up unless that player is a distributor too, which Bouk really isn't. If the leading scorer is a distributor, like Kemba or Shabazz, and they are as much a threat with the pass as the drive or shot, then you want the ball in their hands as much as possible.

Ray Allen is a first ballot hall of famer, but he always had Ollie or Scheffer bringing the ball up. Hamilton had KEA. Okafor and Gordon had Taliek. I like the scorer off the ball to start the offense rather than with the ball to start the offense. Whereas Chris Smith, who was a great college player, didn't have a point guard his senior year and the offense was kind of a mess.

I think Auror and others are talking about him initiating offense in the half court more as a pg/creator running more PnR with Whaley, not having him bring the ball up the court the whole game. Ray and Hamilton had the benefit of playing with great point guards. Bouknight has a better handle than Ray, Rip, and Gordon.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think Auror and others are talking about him initiating offense in the half court more as a pg/creator running more PnR with Whaley, not having him bring the ball up the court the whole game. Ray and Hamilton had the benefit of playing with great point guards. Bouknight has a better handle than Ray, Rip, and Gordon.

I think everyone agrees that Bouk is the best player on the team, but I like him off the ball.

I can't find a link, but one of the most articulate explanations for not having your best player bring the ball up the court that I ever heard came, shockingly, from Charles Barkley critiquing the Bucks' offense. He pointed out the defensive focus on the ball with having Giannis bring the ball up, and he was absolutely right.

Everyone UConn plays will know Bouk is going to score a huge percentage of the points, so putting Gaff or someone in the corner is not a credible decoy. The only credible decoy is the ball itself.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Shot clock is 30 seconds

My bad. I spaced that. It actually drive home my point even more though. There is not a lot of time for Bouk to give the ball up and get it back and still be a threat to score.

 

[superjohn]

I think everyone agrees that Bouk is the best player on the team, but I like him off the ball.

I can't find a link, but one of the most articulate explanations for not having your best player bring the ball up the court that I ever heard came, shockingly, from Charles Barkley critiquing the Bucks' offense. He pointed out the defensive focus on the ball with having Giannis bring the ball up, and he was absolutely right.

Everyone UConn plays will know Bouk is going to score a huge percentage of the points, so putting Gaff or someone in the corner is not a credible decoy. The only credible decoy is the ball itself.

I just said I don't think they were talking about having him bringing the ball up the court. It's more about him initiating offense and running PnR.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Our half court offense is Cole and Gaff handing the ball to eachother for 15 seconds until Bouk comes and gets it, then they watch him score, or he gets doubled and gives it back, and they chuck up a 3. Maybe with Bouk initiating things will go different?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Our half court offense is Cole and Gaff handing the ball to eachother for 15 seconds until Bouk comes and gets it, then they watch him score, or he gets doubled and gives it back, and they chuck up a 3. Maybe with Bouk initiating things will go different?

The pass to the forward flashing above the 3 point line is a waste of time too. It is usually a handoff screen that the defender will either a) simply go under so it accomplishes nothing, or b) result in a trap of the ball handler with the safety pass to Josh Carlton or Whaley 30 feet from the basket. I hate that action.

 

[ucp990411]

The pass to the forward flashing above the 3 point line is a waste of time too. It is usually a handoff screen that the defender will either a) simply go under so it accomplishes nothing, or b) result in a trap of the ball handler with the safety pass to Josh Carlton or Whaley 30 feet from the basket. I hate that action.

It's about getting the defense moving. If it is run with perfect timing it is tough to stop. Thing is you need other guys to be threats