Gilbert gives us the best chance of winning when he looks for his own offense as a last resort or at the very least within the flow of what they're running. The offense has looked the best when he's in the game and playing like a point guard, rather than a scoring guard. I don't know who runs the offense if it's not him. But I agree that his leash needs to be tighter (or exist).
Vital is a different story. Love the kid's moxie and his energy but sometimes I cringe when he hits a deep three early because it's usually a shot he could get with 2 seconds on the shot clock rather than 20 and I feel like it encourages him to keep looking for it. He's got a role to play, no doubt, but I agree with you that Hurley needs to do a better job of reigning him in when he sees that hero stuff creeping in.
Also, relatedly, I get that a point of emphasis is getting the ball in Carlton's hands because he's effective but we must have turned the ball over ten times trying to force entry passes that weren't there.
Agree with most of what you wrote. Disagree with Hurley's management of CV. Indiana's up 36-31 when Christian takes a quick 3 pt shot at 16:29 remaining. Hurley pulls him out and CV sits until 11:18 remaining with Indiana leading 38 -36 .
From 16:29 until 14:58 Indiana increases the lead to 38-31. CV is still benched.
Additionally for those making statements about Hurley's double standards with upperclassmen:
Tyler Polley takes a quick 3 pt shot at 13:42. Hurley subs him out for Bouknight at 13:40 with Indiana leading 35-31. Tyler is subbed back in with 7:51 remaining with the score 40-38 Indiana.
Gilbert takes a quick 3 at 11:20 and is subbed out at 11:18 for Christian with the score 38-36 Indiana. Alterique is subbed back in at 9:53 with the score tied at 38.
In spite of the same bad play Hurley only seats Al for one minute and 27 seconds. He recognizes, as do you and several of us, the critical need to keep Alterique in the game. Of those three players taking the type of shots that Hurley obviously emphasized not to take at halftime (and the type of shots that the brilliant Boneyarders point out but not so brilliantly observe Hurley's awareness and actions), Polley was kept on the bench the longest while CV was benched less than Polley and more than Alterique. I'm sure he would have preferred benching them all equally but chose to put them back based on relative contributions. It's an action by a coach trying to deal with the immediate situation of winning an important game with sending a long term message that things need to change.
