Perhaps it's time to ride the Boat

[huskymagic]

I am not the type to say "I've been saying this all along" and I am not going to say that here. However, after the WVU game I made a post saying that I wanted to see Boatright at the PG a lot more as he really knows how to distribute the ball and find the open man. He has the energy, toughness, ice in the veins attitude, and most of all he reminds me a lot of Kemba. I 110% think he should be running the point on this team for 25-30 minutes a game at least. Shabazz should be off the ball and should switch to the point to give Boat a break. Other than that, I feel that Boat has shown (in the small windows of opportunity that he has had to do so) that he is the superior leader and distributor.

Every time he came on the court today from the bench the camera showed him barking out orders, calling plays, etc. After Boat came down and made one of his few buckets you could see him get down low in the full-court defense, clapping his hands ready to punch ND back in the mouth. It's just hard to will your team to victory as a natural point guard when you aren't playing point guard! Shabazz took a couple very poor shots in crunch time, and honestly... I don't know if Boat would've hit those shots but I would've rather seen him take them.

I have NOTHING against Bazz, I've liked him since the day he came to UConn. He just isn't getting it done at the point for us and Boat has shown that he is a very, very good option for us as a leader, distributor, and pretty much everything you could want him to be at this point.

EDIT: I don't know how I could forget this point, but Boat is also clearly a significantly better on the ball/perimeter defender than Shabazz. I don't know how.. because Bazz was a FIERCE defender last year. Maybe he's just getting fatigued running the point and is making up for that by slacking on defense... but Boat is constantly harassing his man on the defensive end. All around, I am so happy he is back on this team! I just hope we utilize him the way he deserves to be, and in a way that will benefit the team the most.

Very well said as Boatright needs to get the nod at point guard. Calhoun must realize by now that Napier is not the guy needed to run this team. He needs to give the point to Boat in order to somehow salvage this season which we can still save if he is the starter at point. Also, Daniels also should not be playing this year and needs to work on his game and his body a lot. Boatright can do everything on the court while Napier is limited offensively, and is a liability on defense. It's time to right the ship.

 

[BlueMAB]

Drummond was probably placed in the middle of a zone defense most of his life. This is probably his first real man defense, and it's not easy to learn.

No, he wasn't.
No, it's not.
Drummond and his defense are not the problem.

We get beat off the dribble too much, we don't defend well off the ball, we go under too many picks on the perimeter on good shooters, and our guards get caught in the paint too often. And we don't box out...anyone.

All of that said, defense isn't the problem. It's the offense. And I have more faith in Boatright running it than Bazz. I think we should try starting them both with Napier at the 2, then Lamb, Olander, and Drummond.