Okay. Let's have the Adams discussion.
People were upset at his play tonight. And I think it's certainly justifiable. He missed a couple bunnies. He didn't hit any of his 3's. He fouled a 3 point shooter and had a few comical arms-waving contests.
But here's what I (and I think Hurley) will come back to. He plays hard. He cares. He tries to make plays. He plays great perimeter defense (almost always).
There was a play mid first half where Hartford had a fast-break. Adams stopped ball around the free throw line, read the pass to the wing and flew out and contested the shot. No one else on the team makes that defensive play.
In the 2nd half, Adams got a pass from Bouk on the left wing, sized up his defender and went by him and missed the contested runner. People were screaming to take him out, but I'm screaming "Nice take." We need guys that are dynamic. We needs guys that take their guy off the dribble when they have a mismatch or advantage. Even more, we need guys that GENERATE the advantage. The last few years we've had guys that don't actually do anything. They don't make the flashy bad plays so everyone thinks they're underrated or steady, when it's actually the opposite. They don't contribute to a high major D1 team winning. If you're not making a play, you're not contributing. The opportunity cost is someone else who is dynamic making a play.
I don't think Adams' offensive skills match up to his mindset yet. But I really like his mindset. I wish everyone on our team had his mindset and effort level. I think Jackson and Adams are similar in that way. Jackson has more physical talent and is better at playmaking for others, but his shot is even worse than Adams' and is still figuring out the team defensive concept. The team needs one of the two of them to take another step forward to play consistently alongside Bouk and Martin on the wing for us to be able to compete at the top of the Big East.
People were upset at his play tonight. And I think it's certainly justifiable. He missed a couple bunnies. He didn't hit any of his 3's. He fouled a 3 point shooter and had a few comical arms-waving contests.
But here's what I (and I think Hurley) will come back to. He plays hard. He cares. He tries to make plays. He plays great perimeter defense (almost always).
There was a play mid first half where Hartford had a fast-break. Adams stopped ball around the free throw line, read the pass to the wing and flew out and contested the shot. No one else on the team makes that defensive play.
In the 2nd half, Adams got a pass from Bouk on the left wing, sized up his defender and went by him and missed the contested runner. People were screaming to take him out, but I'm screaming "Nice take." We need guys that are dynamic. We needs guys that take their guy off the dribble when they have a mismatch or advantage. Even more, we need guys that GENERATE the advantage. The last few years we've had guys that don't actually do anything. They don't make the flashy bad plays so everyone thinks they're underrated or steady, when it's actually the opposite. They don't contribute to a high major D1 team winning. If you're not making a play, you're not contributing. The opportunity cost is someone else who is dynamic making a play.
I don't think Adams' offensive skills match up to his mindset yet. But I really like his mindset. I wish everyone on our team had his mindset and effort level. I think Jackson and Adams are similar in that way. Jackson has more physical talent and is better at playmaking for others, but his shot is even worse than Adams' and is still figuring out the team defensive concept. The team needs one of the two of them to take another step forward to play consistently alongside Bouk and Martin on the wing for us to be able to compete at the top of the Big East.
