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I couldn't agree more. Last year Enoch rotted on the bench in favor of Brimah and Facey when we knew we were going nowhere. I argued myself electronically hoarse last year. Vance and Enoch handled badly by KO last year. This year KO is playing transfers and grad students instead of guys who we want to keep. I honestly believe that KO thinks the team is going to make a run to the tournament and he can't play the freshmen. That's how bad it has gotten.I felt the same way with Durham and Enoch's playing time last year averaging a combined 20 mins a game. Not as many blowout losses but season was over shortly after it started. Hopefully this situation doesn't end same way with both players transferring.
To think, if we played these dudes they’d still be hereI felt the same way with Durham and Enoch's playing time last year averaging a combined 20 mins a game. Not as many blowout losses but season was over shortly after it started. Hopefully this situation doesn't end same way with both players transferring.
I argued myself electronically hoarse last year. Vance and Enoch handled badly by KO last year. This year KO is playing transfers and grad students instead of guys who we want to keep. I honestly believe that KO thinks the team is going to make a run to the tournament and he can't play the freshmen. That's how bad it has gotten.
You missed the entire point of the article.This is a ridiculous blog.
Our freshmen essentially play 2 positions as none of them are guards. It's pretty hard to have more than two of Whaley, Carlton, Williams, and Diarra on the floor at the same time. People would demand that Ollie be fired immediately if he tried a lineup with 3 of the freshmen bigs on the floor at the same time. And, some of the lack of freshman playing time has to do with foul trouble. When they get 2 fouls in the first half, they sit. In the past 5 games, the freshmen are averaging ~62 minutes/game. In the Temple blow out, they played 85 minutes. I don't know how the freshmen could play that many more minutes given that none of them are ball handlers.
Here are Diarra's stats over the last 14 games: 8.9 fouls per 40 minutes and 6.1 rebounds per 40 minutes. He has more fouls than rebounds over the past 14 games! These are not good stats for a big. He played 8 minutes against USF and had 4 fouls.
Whaley is averaging 3.2 rebounds per 40 minutes over the last 14 games! And, he has been averaging 22 minutes per game over the time! How many more minutes can you play him?
Carlton has been playing major minutes as he has shown improvement and he is contributing.
He's fighting for his job man. What do you expect?
You are missing my point. You can only play 2 of Diarra, Carlton, Whaley, and Williams at a time at best. And, Whaley and Carlton have been playing major minutes. Over the past 10 games, Carlton is averaging ~22 minutes per game. He would have played more, but he was limited by 4 fouls in 3 of the games. Over the past 12 games, Whaley is averaging 23 minutes per game, which as I pointed out, is why we have been crushed on the boards as he is not rebounding.You missed the entire point of the article.
1) The article clearly states they're talking about the blowouts, so Diarra's stats over the last 14 games are meaningless. The author isn't arguing the stats are good, he's arguing these guys are better served in the future by playing more minutes now, when the game is out of reach.
2) Diarra had 2 fouls in the first half, but didn't play a minute in the second half according to the article. There's no arguing that he didn't play because of foul trouble. He didn't play because of the coach's decision.
Also, the suggestion that they aren't playing due to foul trouble would require that they're on the bench so that they don't foul out. What is he saving them for? Let them play, if they foul out so what? We're getting blown out anyway. It's just nonsensical to argue that a guy with 2, 3, or even 4 fouls shouldn't be played in the last 5 minutes of a game we're losing by 20 because he might foul out.
3) Ollie advocates "positionless basketball", and against a team getting whatever they want inside (like WSU) we could absolutely have Carlton, Diarra, Polley, Adams, and Vital on the floor.
This is a ridiculous blog.
Our freshmen essentially play 2 positions as none of them are guards. It's pretty hard to have more than two of Whaley, Carlton, Williams, and Diarra on the floor at the same time. People would demand that Ollie be fired immediately if he tried a lineup with 3 of the freshmen bigs on the floor at the same time. And, some of the lack of freshman playing time has to do with foul trouble. When they get 2 fouls in the first half, they sit. In the past 5 games, the freshmen are averaging ~62 minutes/game. In the Temple blow out, they played 85 minutes. I don't know how the freshmen could play that many more minutes given that none of them are ball handlers.
Here are Diarra's stats over the last 14 games: 8.9 fouls per 40 minutes and 6.1 rebounds per 40 minutes. He has more fouls than rebounds over the past 14 games! These are not good stats for a big. He played 8 minutes against USF and had 4 fouls.
Whaley is averaging 3.2 rebounds per 40 minutes over the last 14 games! And, he has been averaging 22 minutes per game over the time! How many more minutes can you play him?
Carlton has been playing major minutes as he has shown improvement and he is contributing.
Agreed he is. Won’t it do him better to say we’re losing but getting development for next year. Rather than going full out and getting blown out.
This is not a defense of Ollie. But Enoch is gone because his father thought he should be a showcase player. When he came in for 4 to 5 minutes, you could expect a missed layup, 2 or 3 fouls, a rebound and two blown defensive plays. THAT is why Enoch is gone. Durham was 1/2 step behind on every defensive play when he was in there.To think, if we played these dudes they’d still be here
You realize that Ollie is playing Anderson so that he can handle the ball and take the pressure off our two leading scorers, Adams and Vital, neither whom are point guards. You can't have Adams and Vital handling the ball all of the time and scoring half of our points per game. If we had a freshman guard or two or a freshman small forward that scores, they would be playing a lot over Anderson and getting plenty of minutes during blow outs.I'll make it simple. This team should never again play a 3 guard lineup with Adams, Vital and Anderson all three in at the same time, unless we are nursing a lead and need FT shooting and ball handling in the last two minutes.
It causes several problems, including a lack of rebounding, forcing Larrier to defend the 4 (which he is bad at), and dysfunction among the guards. It also means that those younger bigs are on the pine more than they should be. Two of Carlton, Diarra, Whaley and Polley should be in almost at all times (minus when we give DO a couple of minutes).
Polley has been given every opportunity to contribute and he has not delivered. He started 6 of the first 7 games and he seems to be lost right now. He has the second worst +/- among the regular players. He is averaging 3.7 rebounds per 40 minutes. In conference play, he is shooting 20%. He needs more practice, not game time to further erode his confidence.I wanted Polley to take more of Larrier’s minutes (because Larrier isn’t good at basketball), but even after getting into a lot of games, he still plays scared. It’s ok to play nervous and/or scared for the first few games of your freshman season. It’s a huge change from high school. But Polley looking scared on the court in February is not acceptable.
Normally this would make sense but feels like most of our games are essentially over at half-time so we could have played Carlton, Polley, Whaley, Diarra & Williams in some combination with 2 guards for the entirety of the 2nd half's until they foul-out.....it's silly for Jalen to be playing the 3rd most minutes in the entire country, who cares if we lose by 40, 30 or 20. In the few games we actually had a chance to win then Jalen & Vital can play the whole game otherwise what's the point.....play Larrier at some 2, shooting is the only thing he can do anyway.Our freshmen essentially play 2 positions as none of them are guards. It's pretty hard to have more than two of Whaley, Carlton, Williams, and Diarra on the floor at the same time. People would demand that Ollie be fired immediately if he tried a lineup with 3 of the freshmen bigs on the floor at the same time. And, some of the lack of freshman playing time has to do with foul trouble. When they get 2 fouls in the first half, they sit. In the past 5 games, the freshmen are averaging ~62 minutes/game. In the Temple blow out, they played 85 minutes. I don't know how the freshmen could play that many more minutes given that none of them are ball handlers.
Williams over Carlton is a good choice. I did watch the game and Williams seemed to know what he was doing. Great Hustle on defense. He was always eyeballing the the court. He seems to have some BBIQ.You are missing my point. You can only play 2 of Diarra, Carlton, Whaley, and Williams at a time at best. And, Whaley and Carlton have been playing major minutes. Over the past 10 games, Carlton is averaging ~22 minutes per game. He would have played more, but he was limited by 4 fouls in 3 of the games. Over the past 12 games, Whaley is averaging 23 minutes per game, which as I pointed out, is why we have been crushed on the boards as he is not rebounding.
As for the end of blowouts, Polley, Whaley, and Williams did play at the end of the Wichita State game. Carlton got his 4th foul with >10 minutes to go in the game and he wasn't playing well as he had 1 rebound. Williams played instead with Polley and Whaley at times. Anybody who watched the game would have said play Williams over Carlton based on how they were playing.
I get it how people are down on Ollie, but criticizing him for lack of playing time for the freshmen is absurd. In the blowouts against Wichita St and Temple, the freshmen played 65 and 85 minutes and it is hard to play more than 2 of them at a time.
You realize that Ollie is playing Anderson so that he can handle the ball and take the pressure off our two leading scorers, Adams and Vital, neither whom are point guards. You can't have Adams and Vital handling the ball all of the time and scoring half of our points per game. If we had a freshman guard or two or a freshman small forward that scores, they would be playing a lot over Anderson and getting plenty of minutes during blow outs.
There's no reason we can't play Whaley, Carlton and Diarra at the same time down 25. The notion that we can't have more than 2 of anyone in our front court when losing by 20-25 with 5-10 minutes to go is absurd.
Wait, our guys play in the paint? I thought their job was to set picks for Adams and then watch him go 1 on 3. Why do they have to stay in the paint? Are their feet stuck to the floor? Are they not allowed to move on offense? To create space and places to attack the rim by moving without the ball?But what's the point of that? To get them experience on the wing? They need experience in the post. You can't stick all three down there.