The PG situation seems clear going forward

[Peacefrog]

Martin has no feel whatsoever offensively but I like when he's on the floor. He defends, he rebounds, he's good in the open court, and he has a little but of a bully in him. I'll take the offensive deficiencies for everything else he gives you. Guys that are not bringing anything to the table offensively and don't do any of the above are the issue. Not Martin.

Agreed, and I think that is the conundrum right now in regards to Hurley trying to give Jackson more minutes. He struggles mightily with his shooting and that isn't going to change this season. Also, as Hurley described, he's totally "lost defensively". So currently, Jackson is unable to help on either end. Its too bad, in a normal season there would have been more warm-up games to help get him up to speed at least on the defensive end. With his length and athleticism it would be great to have him out there to lock up the opposition's best offensive player. But absent more cupcakes, how much can Hurley sacrifice right now? Honest question. The guy needs some burn to learn but how much risk should coach take at the moment?

 

[SubbaBub]

Bottom line is Bouk scored 40 and we lost. Had the game won and blew it by not being able to make baskets once Whaley fouled out and not making 1 lousy FT.

As much as I'm getting on Cole for jacking up bricks, that didn't lose the game. It's more of a sign something needs to change long term if he can't make them or stop taking them.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bouknight isn’t the PG. He‘s the facilitator. There’s a difference. Jordan was a facilitator, Larry Bird was, he’s the guy that makes the defense adjust to him, thereby creating opportunities.

This team is desperate for another one. Cole just isn’t that right now. Like Sterling Gibbs he’s an undersized scoring guard. Gaffney could be that, but he plays so slow, he’s completely gun-shy out there. This is where I don’t like Hurley’s short leash. I think Gaffney can be the guy we need with some confidence. The other guy that can do that, and one who isn’t overwhelmed by the speed of things, is Jackson. The short leash is keeping him from becoming that guy. He needs minutes. He could lead us in assists by February. God knows, nobody else is stepping up to do it so far.

Martin needs to stop acting like he’s Ray Allen and go inside and hit some people. Adams is another guy who can score inside and is instead launching these ugly 3 balls. Sanogo, Whaley, Carlton all need to receive passes in the box. We simply aren’t getting them the ball.

 

[Palatine]

Gaff played 28 minutes, was 1-8 from the field and 0-5 from the arc. He had 3 assists and 2 TOs. His biggest contribution was 7 boards. His defense was just okay. But he did not have an impact on the game.

 

[UCSouth]

Lol c'mon now. Stop being a clown. Jackson deserves more minutes, especially when the rest of the crew isn't contributing whatsoever.

These kids earn playing time at practice, why do so many of you assume that Jackson has earned more than he gets? His game play surely doesn't warrant anymore. It's a shame that the hype surrounding him is better than he is currently.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yeah. Hopefully the next thing that gets installed this week is counters to Bouk PnR adjustments. But we will definitely rise and fall as other guards make or miss wide open 3s. May be where Polley shows his value when he gets back.

I do like Bouk coming off screens and causing panic to the defense, too. We can definitely mix some of those in on motion or set plays. But we're both in agreement that Bouk needs to be attacking the defense with the ball in his hands as much as possible.

The counter to the PnR defensive strategy is to have a corner player attack the rim along the baseline. That gives Bouk the third option of taking it himself, kicking it out to a shooter, or throwing the alley oop lob.

 

[RF79]

Do college games keep +/- stats anywhere?

The B/R app keeps plus/minus
Gaff -11
Jackson -5
Sanogo -4
Carlton -3
Everyone else was in the plus range

 

[tennmike]

These kids earn playing time at practice, why do so many of you assume that Jackson has earned more than he gets? His game play surely doesn't warrant anymore. It's a shame that the hype surrounding him is better than he is currently.

This is a tired refrain. Why was it that Whaley never saw meaningful minutes last year until injuries pressed him into action? Was he not giving 100% in practice?

 

[UCSouth]

Give him the 27 minutes Adams played today and I guarantee he produces more. 10 minutes with a short leash, getting yanked after 1 mistake won’t prove anything.

Unfortunately he'd foul out long before the 27 minutes were played.

 

[auror]

It's best not to even bother with single game +/-.

 

[UCSouth]

The B/R app keeps plus/minus
Gaff -11
Jackson -5
Sanogo -4
Carlton -3
Everyone else was in the plus range

And that would include, many of the posters scapegoat, B Adams. Interesting

 

[Chin Diesel]

The B/R app keeps plus/minus
Gaff -11
Jackson -5
Sanogo -4
Carlton -3
Everyone else was in the plus range

The reason this is a bit misleading is if Gaff was the sub for when Bouk went out, he's going to have th worst +/-. Bouk scored over the half the points for the team yesterday. Outside of him, everyone else shot horribly so the scoring was going to suffer the most when Bouk was off the court.

 

[UCSouth]

This is a tired refrain. Why was it that Whaley never saw meaningful minutes last year until injuries pressed him into action? Was he not giving 100% in practice?

As is the take that Jackson deserves to be taking minutes from anyone at this particular time. As is the constant criticism on Hurley and his game management. Lord knows that some of the basketball savants on this board missed their true calling. Should have went into coaching. It's a process that needs to play out, so let it.

 

[NJHusky]

As is the take that Jackson deserves to be taking minutes from anyone at this particular time. As is the constant criticism on Hurley and his game management. Lord knows that some of the basketball savants on this board missed their true calling. Should have went into coaching. It's a process that needs to play out, so let it.

What's the harm in playing Jax more? It's been said he he is a good passer and has a decent handle for a guy his size. His negative was shooting....can he be worse than Cole/Gaff yesterday?

 

[UCSouth]

What's the harm in playing Jax more? It's been said he he is a good passer and has a decent handle for a guy his size. His negative was shooting....can he be worse than Cole/Gaff yesterday?

So you would suggest replacing one non scorer for another? Based on the starting 5 who does he replace? Carlton and slide Whaley to the 5 spot? Until we get some consistent offense from someone other than Bouk, we're kinda in a questionable situation.

 

[CL82]

Bouknight isn’t the PG. He‘s the facilitator. There’s a difference. Jordan was a facilitator, Larry Bird was, he’s the guy that makes the defense adjust to him, thereby creating opportunities.

This team is desperate for another one. Cole just isn’t that right now. Like Sterling Gibbs he’s an undersized scoring guard. Gaffney could be that, but he plays so slow, he’s completely gun-shy out there. This is where I don’t like Hurley’s short leash. I think Gaffney can be the guy we need with some confidence. The other guy that can do that, and one who isn’t overwhelmed by the speed of things, is Jackson. The short leash is keeping him from becoming that guy. He needs minutes. He could lead us in assists by February. God knows, nobody else is stepping up to do it so far.

Martin needs to stop acting like he’s Ray Allen and go inside and hit some people. Adams is another guy who can score inside and is instead launching these ugly 3 balls. Sanogo, Whaley, Carlton all need to receive passes in the box. We simply aren’t getting them the ball.

HH, if Tyler plays, is he that second guy? This game was tailor-made for him, IMO.

 

[NJHusky]

So you would suggest replacing one non scorer for another? Based on the starting 5 who does he replace? Carlton and slide Whaley to the 5 spot? Until we get some consistent offense from someone other than Bouk, we're kinda in a questionable situation.

I'm not saying make him a starter. I'm just saying maybe since he is so athletic maybe he can create/dish on a day when our 2 pg couldn't hit anything he should play more than 5 min... and see what happens?

 

[HuskyHawk]

HH, if Tyler plays, is he that second guy? This game was tailor-made for him, IMO.

No. Because he is about the furthest thing from a facilitator. He’s a spot shooter off the catch. He can’t beat anyone off the dribble and is a poor passer. He’s a guy that benefits from other people being from facilitators. He’s the guy standing on the 3 point line when someone like Bouk or Jackson gets the ball into the defense and forces them to collapse, then passes out. Polley is the definition of a guy who really only scores off of an assist. Most bigs also require an assist. We have few assists, so we have minimal scoring by our bigs.

Akok might be able to be a facilitator at times. It’s easy to lob in to him and he’s a threat to shoot, attack or pass.

 

[CL82]

No. Because he is about the furthest thing from a facilitator. He’s a spot shooter off the catch. He can’t beat anyone off the dribble and is a poor passer. He’s a guy that benefits from other people being from facilitators. He’s the guy standing on the 3 point line when someone like Bouk or Jackson gets the ball into the defense and forces them to collapse, then passes out. Polley is the definition of a guy who really only scores off of an assist. Most bigs also require an assist. We have few assists, so we have minimal scoring by our bigs.

Akok might be able to be a facilitator at times. It’s easy to lob in to him and he’s a threat to shoot, attack or pass.

Agree. I do think Tyler would have been a difference maker that would have forced them to come out of the paint to cover him.

 

[August_West]

From a guard standpoint (and actually Id extend that for 1 through 3 spots) Cole is our second best player game wise on the floor as it stands on 12/21. You may hate me saying that as much as I hate actually saying it. But its sadly true.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

jmoney is fine. and, coming from a show me perspective on rj, im starting to like him a bit more, so he's fine, too. the defensive effort by both in the 4th quarter was outstanding. now, everyone knows who we want at the line in big moments - jmoney. martin will settle in, as will the freshmen. toss in akok, and there's plenty of juice on this team to make an awesome smoothie come tourneytime. big fun.
yesterday's game was a good'un. more to come. mr. bouk? must see tv, cuz the ghost of naismith granted him big and special paws, along with a superior hoopbrain to use them.
oops, forgot a shout out to my guy big josh, who made another one of his skyscraper blocks. the announcers were all like 'you don't see that everyday.' they almost swallowed their mikes when they replayed that one.

 

[HuskylnSC]

As far as the point guards. We are currently playing two, cole and gaff, with different techniques. Gaff is pass first, which I prefer, and Cole is still in Howard mode of looking for his own shot. Somebody said make Bouk the pg/facilitator. That's an obvious no go from the beginning. I don't want Bouk wasting energy trying to give someone else a shot. I also don't want cole jacking up 25 foot 3's with 13 seconds on the clock. As the team is currently constituted, there are two guys in the starting lineup that are consistent when they can have a little room. Bouk and Whalley. Whalley has a good midrange that is very consistent and can also score inside. For me I want to see the off ball guard and the 3 setting multiple weak side picks or ball screens to get Bouk mismatches with option 2 being Whalley flashing to high quality shots for him. If they collapse on him then he is a good passer to find an open cutter because as he flashes up to midrange the middle opens up for weak side and back door cuts.

It is also my feeling that the reason we lost this game was not scoring, but defensive rebounds in the last 5 minutes. We gave them too many opportunities and tired our guys with sixty second defensive sets.

 

[3rdbass]

These kids earn playing time at practice, why do so many of you assume that Jackson has earned more than he gets? His game play surely doesn't warrant anymore. It's a shame that the hype surrounding him is better than he is currently.

Yeah he looks like a worst version than Sid minus the paasing ability which is pretty good.

 

[UCSouth]

I'm not saying make him a starter. I'm just saying maybe since he is so athletic maybe he can create/dish on a day when our 2 pg couldn't hit anything he should play more than 5 min... and see what happens?

I get that. I was just using yesterday's starting lineup as the example, for comparison.

 

[JB75]

Agreed, and I think that is the conundrum right now in regards to Hurley trying to give Jackson more minutes. He struggles mightily with his shooting and that isn't going to change this season. Also, as Hurley described, he's totally "lost defensively". So currently, Jackson is unable to help on either end. Its too bad, in a normal season there would have been more warm-up games to help get him up to speed at least on the defensive end. With his length and athleticism it would be great to have him out there to lock up the opposition's best offensive player. But absent more cupcakes, how much can Hurley sacrifice right now? Honest question. The guy needs some burn to learn but how much risk should coach take at the moment?

Still can’t understand why we are not sneaking in a game Wednesday against a scrub squad just to get some more reps in. What’s the possible negative? We are already probably 7-8 games short on the year to this date in a normal year. Are we really not going to play another game until December 30th? That’s nuts