Shabazz

[mike40]

I think boatright is as quick as kemba, but he seems to have to gather and jump off two feet which allows defenders more time to react and contest his finishes around the rim. If he can work on that and a midrange pull up I think he can be right there with kemba, as a player. I for one think Ryan possesses the heart and moxie where he could develop into a leader like kemba. I know players like kemba are very rare and special, so that's a tough act to follow. I remember reading the story of when ryans friends and family were coming down to south bend to watch him play. Uconn found out Ryan was being investigated for the second time and JC was forced to sit him out. JC talked about how hard it was to tell Ryan and how he had to hug him and console him while Ryan was crying. When I read that for some reason I just thought back to that heartfelt, emotional embrace JC and kemba shared after beating Butler. I believe Ryan and JC can develop a similar relationship.

 

[mike40]

I think shabazz could be the Rickey Moore to Ryan's El Amin

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I think shabazz could be the Rickey Moore to Ryan's El Amin

Or vice versa, or something. The comparison only works in a very general way, as they are more alike than KEA/Moore were alike as players. But, I think that having 2 really good PG's together could go a long way in making the Huskies less vulnerable to zone defense. They both need to learn what Kemba learned going into his last year in terms of being able to create the space needed to get his shot off. Both Ryan and Bazz struggled at times in the Big East part of the schedule when it came to getting shots blocked and getting stuck in no man's land after penetrating too far. Just a thought.

 

[mike40]

Or vice versa, or something. The comparison only works in a very general way, as they are more alike than KEA/Moore were alike as players. But, I think that having 2 really good PG's together could go a long way in making the Huskies less vulnerable to zone defense. They both need to learn what Kemba learned going into his last year in terms of being able to create the space needed to get his shot off. Both Ryan and Bazz struggled at times in the Big East part of the schedule when it came to getting shots blocked and getting stuck in no man's land after penetrating too far. Just a thought.

That's why I think its so important for Ryan to probe the defense like he does but pick and choose when to attack the rim or simply pull up in the lane.

 

[Ed-D]

You are aware that roughly 43 percent of shots in college basketball are made?

And it was a key moment only in retrospect. Down 6, he misses off front rim, White hits one of two at line, and we have the ball back down by 7. We score on the next possession to cut it to 4 or 5, then get it down to 2 or 3 by 4 minute mark, and go down to the wire, then a missed shot with 7:30 to play is just an irrelevant blip in the course of the game. It just happened to be that we never got any closer than six, so that becomes the "key moment" of the game for people who want it to be -- to fit their preconceived opinions.

Well that's kind of the point, isn't it? Of course key moments of the game only become such in retrospect. So what? It doesn't change the fact that he blew it. More importantly, if we don't use that criteria in assessing situations, then why bother talking about it at all?

 

[husky711]

Well that's kind of the point, isn't it? Of course key moments of the game only become such in retrospect. So what? It doesn't change the fact that he blew it. More importantly, if we don't use that criteria in assessing situations, then why bother talking about it at all?

I tend to agree (though I'm not trying to knock on Shabazz at all... just referring to the points made on this sub-topic) with Ed-D here. Lol, "it was a key moment only in retrospect"... I don't know, when we were trying to pull off the comeback every single possession we had the ball was considered a "key moment" to me. Because that one missed 3-pointer that turns into 2 or 3 points for the other team can easily kill the comeback momentum and cause the game to slip away. Regardless, with the rationale that "it wouldn't be a key moment if the exact opposite happened" you could honestly negate the fact that any missed/made shot in a game is key/clutch. No clutch shots to keep an opponent from building a lead would ever be considered clutch, because if they don't take place then that possession becomes an irrelevant blip in the course of the game. Sounds stupid when you look at it like that huh?

 

[Gurleyman]

The point is that if you think a missed shot (not a boneheaded turnover to give the other team a breakaway, or blowing an uncontested layup, or something that could by nature cause a momentum swing) with 7:30 left was the pivotal moment in a game, it was only because of what ensued. Not every possession goes perfectly - to win a game, you certainly can overcome a missed shot with 15-20 more possessions to work with.

Think about last year against SDSU, we gave up a 3, threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, and gave them a layup and all of a sudden we were down by four, and the entire building was rocking full of SDSU fans. Huge momentum swing. Nobody remembers that now, because we overcame it. And that was a much more egregious mistake than missing a shot.

Or go watch the 1999 national championship game. We played hideous basketball for five minutes straight from the 8 minute mark to the 3 minute mark (careless turnovers, bad shot selection, etc.). For a while there, we couldn't get out of our own way, but we dug in and overcame it. We could have thrown away the national title in that stretch of basketball if Duke took advantage.

But the people who think Napier is the root of all our problems are going to pick a missed shot with 7:30 to go as the reason it all went downhill, when there was still plenty of basketball to be played, because they found the piece of evidence they needed to fit their conclusion. Same way people who think free throws are always the reason you lose will point to four missed foul shots in the first half.

It was also a simple missed shot by Bazz - a little deep, but on balance, in his range, and he front-rimmed it. Shots don't always go in. You say "shucks", go play D and try to get something on the next one.

 

[Ed-D]

Nobody remembers that now, because we overcame it. And that was a much more egregious mistake than missing a shot.

Exactly. Nobody remembers it because something else happened to negate its effect. Therefore it wasn't a key moment of the game. The ISU game, it could be argued, turned on that one missed shot. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. We can argue about that separately, but if you're saying it doesn't matter because every player misses shots then (in my opinion) you're kind of sacrificing the main point of being a fan in the first place.

I mean hell, Kemba hit some key shots in the BET last year right? Or did he? Every player hits shots at one point or another. So what does it matter? , if that's how we're supposed to think I don't know how long I'll last before I resort to playing Russian roulette for entertainment. With five bullets.