I meant to post this the other day but forgot. Remember during the summer Alex chose to stay in Storrs instead playing for one of the summer (USA teams?) teams? Well I wonder if that experience would have been better for his development compared to whatever he did during that time. Seems whenever our best players play for these types of summer teams they improve dramatically. Kemba and lamb are two such examples.
There's little argument that this team will be at their best if Alex and Roscoe can rediscover their 2012 post season form. The two brought it, especially during that Butler game. All three (adding Tyler here) bring different things to our front court, giving JC a lot of flexibility to match-up and keep the energy and level of play high. That can only happen if they're each doing what they can do best.
OA - What he does: Physical play on both ends of the floor. What he needs to do: Get back to doing what he does best. He also needs to work on squaring his body to the basket when shooting the ball. He still has the bad habit of throwing it up there off balance and with his body at bad angles to the hoop. You'll notice that when he's square, he's finishes more often. He seemed to do that early this season, but has gotten away from it again.
RS - What he does: Adds energy and length on D, some jump shooting and attacking the rim from the baseline. What he needs to do: Like OA, he needs to get back to doing what he does best at the level he did late last season. He's a better jump shooter than he's shown this season. He was very good in HS but seems to have lost confidence in his J. I wonder if he's a rhythm shooter who struggles now that his role doesn't give him the green light to fire away all game long. I'd like to see him improve his handle and be more aggressive catching the ball near the baseline and attacking the rim from there. He's a lot stronger now, but seems to have the guts or skill to catch the ball and if the space is there, drive it right to the basket, without running someone over or traveling along the way. He seems to get at least one bad traveling call each game that gets him a quick trip back to the bench. He and Alex need to do whatever it takes to improve their play around the basket. Both should be cleaning up the glass a lot better than they are. If they can add just a 2 to 3 more clean-up type baskets a game, this team will be all the more dangerous.
TO - What he does: Not as athletic as the other two, but makes up for it with how hard he works. He's not a bad athlete. He runs the floor well and is very good at finding the open space on the floor, catching the ball and shooting it. He's also the better passer of the 3. What he needs to do: He's shot the ball well most of the season. FSU game was clearly his worst game. Tyler needs to continue to work on his midrange shooting. IMO, AO and RS at their best can be more dominating players, but Tyler brings plenty to the court that deserves PT.
Having all 3 sharing time at the 4, plus Alex sliding over to the 5 and playing well there, is what this team needs to repeat at NCs. They need at least 2 of these 3 playing at a high level. Right now we're getting a lot of Tyler, but not much from the other two.
