Most of the board prob thinks stew is the obvious replacement in the starting lineup but Ross is actually averaging more mpg this season. Will be interesting how Liams 30mpg gets redistributed. This might also mean Nowell finally gets some PT. Rose colored glasses but if Liam truly is back by the end of the month maybe this could help us in the long run.
No player can duplicate what McNeeley has been doing on both ends of the floor. It will have to be a sum of the parts kind of thing.
A combination of Ross, Nowell and Mahaney driving the gaps and finishing or distributing or getting fouled. All have shown the ability to do so but none have shown any consistency in doing it. But then again McNeeley turned the ball over a whole bunch of times while trying to drive the paint last game. Normally he's been more successful than not doing so. Ross showed promise driving the gaps early in the season but has not been successful against the better teams we've been playing. He probably should be given the green light to do so to loosen the D, but pick his spots. Doing this too often can result in too many turnovers or missed shots.
As for creating and knocking down 3s for themselves, we have a bunch of players that need to step up in that category. Again few have shown the ability to do so consistently. Karaban has shown flashes of that. Most of the others are knocking down their 3s after being set up via a pass.
Defending big strong wings...hum...Stewart has shown this but done so inconsistently. He needs to do so and up his offense productivity. Ross can be a pest but needs to play more straight up and not take so many chances. He's still prone to being overpowered by stronger wings. Those two need to step up and improve their D. They don't have to be as good as McNeeley has been, but just do a better job of holding their own where the team defense doesn't completely break down.
Rebounding is more about effort and technique than size. The team just needs to show some discipline boxing out and the right players going after the rebounds. I think this might be the easier of the things that McNeeley has been doing well for the team.
Hopefully a number of players can step up and fill the gap until he returns. I posted in a earlier thread, before he was injured, that he and Diarra are the two most important players and most difficult to replace for this team. They both do things that none of the other players can do individually. It's time for players, especially the sophomores, to step up and help the team win.
