Samuel and the mid-range jumper

[joober jones]

We all know TSam isn't a threat from long distance, but his mid-range shot has looked very smooth as of late. I'd like to see him getting some more looks from 10-15 feet out.

 

[W Coast UCONN]

I am all for shot improvement, but his strength is his ability to drive to the rim. He utilizes the hop step well and draws fouls, I like your idea but I would rather see TSam look to score by driving more often than he usuaully does.

 

[methodology]

Its disappointing how many times Samuel was passed the ball and was wide open but couldn't do anything. That is what is killing the offense. Samuel is not a good shooter so he refuses to shoot wide open shots that need to be shot so the defense is forced to run out on him which will in turn open lanes for cutters and the post men.

There were atleast 5 times a wide open shot was passed up because Samuel is not that guy. When you have a guy on the court the other team knows it doesn't have to guard on the perimeter it makes running the offense that much more difficult since the defense can pack it in.

He has shot the mid range shot better recently but he is still not someone the defense fears when he shoots. They would much rather him shoot the ball from anywhere on the court than drive it to the hoop.

 

[BoatShow]

He really is decent in the 10-15 ft range.

 

[pnow15]

I could never figure out how guys like TSam who have the size, speed and athleticism to get his name on that first NBA contract fail to take the ten thousand practice jumpers and hundreds of hours to get a good hard dribble and a decent crossover. Doesn't TSam get it that if Bazz
breaks a leg and never plays again, he still guaranteed more money than TSam will make in a lifetime of hard work. Same with Purvis.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Samuel's got a great 15 foot jump shot. His only problem is that he shoots it from 18 feet.

 

[Danzz]

I am all for shot improvement, but his strength is his ability to drive to the rim. He utilizes the hop step well and draws fouls, I like your idea but I would rather see TSam look to score by driving more often than he usuaully does.

He can get to the rim and finish if he has an open lane. The problem is defenders back off him because he is a poor outside shooter but I'd still rather see him try to drive to the rim because he has no chance from the outside.

 

[jibsey]

In today's game a guard not shooting the 3 is a nonstarter, even for a point guard. There's just no way to sugarcoat it. He can come in for stretches and give us a boost like last year and be very effective but if he's logging 30 minutes a game, I think we're in trouble.

 

[David 76]

Didn't think TSam was going to be the answer for us, but he certainly helped last night. Hey, we've done OK with a couple of PGs w/o a great outside shot. I'm for whatever helps.

 

[joober jones]

I don't think anyone is trying to argue that TSam is a threat from three.

 

[jibsey]

I just don't get it, on the ladies team there are at 8 players who can make a standing 3. TSam often passes on even those.

 

[CTBasketball]

I think T-Sam's ceiling is a Taliek Brown-type player. He has the traits to be a phenomenal pass-first college point guard. If he can knock down 15 footers with ease and consistency....icing on the cake.

 

[polycom]

I just don't get it, on the ladies team there are at 8 players who can make a standing 3. TSam often passes on even those.

This can't be a serious comment... you do realize we are the Kentucky of women's basketball.

 

[Danzz]

I think T-Sam's ceiling is a Taliek Brown-type player. He has the traits to be a phenomenal pass-first college point guard. If he can knock down 15 footers with ease and consistency....icing on the cake.

T

This can't be a serious comment... you do realize we are the Kentucky of women's basketball.

No, we are the UConn of women's basketball.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Its disappointing how many times Samuel was passed the ball and was wide open but couldn't do anything. That is what is killing the offense. Samuel is not a good shooter so he refuses to shoot wide open shots that need to be shot so the defense is forced to run out on him which will in turn open lanes for cutters and the post men.

There were atleast 5 times a wide open shot was passed up because Samuel is not that guy. When you have a guy on the court the other team knows it doesn't have to guard on the perimeter it makes running the offense that much more difficult since the defense can pack it in.

He has shot the mid range shot better recently but he is still not someone the defense fears when he shoots. They would much rather him shoot the ball from anywhere on the court than drive it to the hoop.

Samuels making a few Jumpers ,would be a quantum leap forward for this team as he is the seconary ball handler by default .
He has to force someone to play him. When you have to play him honestly, it not only gives RB more open looks but streches opposing defenses making it Easier to slash.

 

[huskyharry]

Instead of taking a three, the range for which is clearly outside his comfort zone right now, he should position himself a little closer in the spacing and take a confident dribble to take the 15 to 17 foot shot.
Clanking threes just increases the opponent's confidence...make a few 17 footers and the lanes for others open up a bit. That and do take 1000 jumpers a day after practice!

 

[mauconnfan]

I think T-Sam's ceiling is a Taliek Brown-type player. He has the traits to be a phenomenal pass-first college point guard. If he can knock down 15 footers with ease and consistency....icing on the cake.

"phenomenal" CT? That's a bit of a reach but if he can make a few mid rangers he becomes better. He proved that against ECU but he's still a 15 minute a game guy no matter.

 

[Danzz]

"phenomenal" CT? That's a bit of a reach but if he can make a few mid rangers he becomes better. He proved that against ECU but he's still a 15 minute a game guy no matter.

It is a huge stretch. Tsam is tough but if he is going to be a pass first PG he better learn to be a better passer. He has limitations because he isn't as athletic as many of his opponents. I like Tsam coming off the bench much better than giving him starters minutes but obviously KO had to shake things up. It would be wise not to be fooled by a couple of made mid range jumpers.

 

[3rdbass]

"phenomenal" CT? That's a bit of a reach but if he can make a few mid rangers he becomes better. He proved that against ECU but he's still a 15 minute a game guy no matter.

I think with a line up of Dham, AB, RB, RP or OC and Tsam we can have him start. There is no way we can have both him and Kelis Fisher in the lineup together though as that is when the offense really stalls. I do like that his 10-15 ft. jumper is coming around and I hope he keeps being aggressive taking it. Right now we don't have many options on offense this year. OC doesn't play defense well enough to warrant more than 15-20 minutes a game right now. Ollie definitely likes to keep his top defensive players in the lineup. That is why it boggled me that Kelis Fisher was playing so many minutes until recently. I guess he finally figured out he wasn't going to improve defensively this year. LOL!

 

[CTBasketball]

"phenomenal" CT? That's a bit of a reach but if he can make a few mid rangers he becomes better. He proved that against ECU but he's still a 15 minute a game guy no matter.

I like Samuel because he goes 110% all the time - I guess phenomenal was the wrong word

 

[Candyman]

Tsam doesnt have the handle of Talik. His handle is sketchy, dribbles too high and at least three times he dribbled off his foot this year. Just watch where he starts the offense, the defender presses him back to half court. Sooo far back. He is a servicable bench guy who can play hard D and give us a few points off the drive. 15 minute player.

 

[jibsey]

Tsam doesnt have the handle of Talik. His handle is sketchy, dribbles too high and at least three times he dribbled off his foot this year. Just watch where he starts the offense, the defender presses him back to half court. Sooo far back. He is a servicable bench guy who can play hard D and give us a few points off the drive. 15 minute player.

Yes, and last year that 15 was important in our run, giving us a different dimension when he was in there. He can do a lot of things, has pretty fast hands for stealing and disrupting opposing offenses.

 

[Danzz]

Yes, and last year that 15 was important in our run, giving us a different dimension when he was in there. He can do a lot of things, has pretty fast hands for stealing and disrupting opposing offenses.

Tsam is a solid defender, solid not great. Last years team had outside threats other than Boat so things opened up for Tsam to drive to the rim. He made important contributions last year in the stretch run but don't forget that he hardly played the first half of the season. As a PG I only like to see him get limited minutes. As much as I love his toughness, there really isn't anything he does on offefense that is above average.

 

[scotty0330]

His lack of any kind of shooting ability is a huge liability. Zone defenses
Know they do not have to close on him when he is wide open allowing for less holes in the zone. It truly is amazing that a kid playing on high level division 1 team lacks any evidence of this basic basketball skill.

I just hope he steps it up on defense since that is an area where he seemed to excel at last year that at times has been severely lacking this year. Guy needs to create more turnovers leading to easy baskets helping offset what he clearly does not bring in terms of offense

 

[Rico444]

I know I've been more bullish on TSam than most, and maybe too much so, but I think everyone writing him off as a 15-minute per game guy for the rest of his career is insane. He's already shown a good amount of improvement this season from where he was in November; still too many mistakes on offense, and I don't think he's ever going to hit the 3 consistently, but he's getting to the rack much better and playing lockdown D in spurts. Still loses his man at times, but there isn't one player on this team who isn't guilty of that. I think everyone's forgetting the great defense he played in a few games earlier this year; I would argue he was the biggest reason we shut Texas down in the 2nd half. His ceiling on the defensive end is enormous.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

It is a huge stretch. Tsam is tough but if he is going to be a pass first PG he better learn to be a better passer. He has limitations because he isn't as athletic as many of his opponents. I like Tsam coming off the bench much better than giving him starters minutes but obviously KO had to shake things up. It would be wise not to be fooled by a couple of made mid range jumpers.

I don't have to be fooled by him making some jumpers ,it's opposing scouts we have to fool. Him making any shots at all gives them one more thing to worry about.
Basketball is relational, by that I mean one small factor ,can effect multiple aspects of a game. TSam making jumpers might just be that small factor to get this team to the next level.