This team still has no PG...

[pnow15]

What is being said is that we are taking away from Gibbs' game by forcing him to play point. And a combination of Gibbs and Adams that frees Gibbs from point guard responsibilities is good for the team.

 

[David 76]

What is being said is that we are taking away from Gibbs' game by forcing him to play point. And a combination of Gibbs and Adams that frees Gibbs from point guard responsibilities is good for the team.

And who do you sit? Our most talented player or our leading scorer?

 

[pnow15]

And who do you sit? Our most talented player or our leading scorer?

Nice choice. But that's what makes a good team.

 

[David 76]

Nice choice. But that's what makes a good team.

.
I give up. But this logic might be why you weren't named Coach.

 

[Pudge]

Having watched lots of basketball, my view is that Jalen Adams should be a far better shooter. Percentage - wise. It's a good stroke & he has some idea as to what is a good shot.

Stats are metrics for his production. But you can tell when someone COULD develop into better shooting. Or not. Samuel - IMO - has a funky release & never felt comfortable as a college shooter. I think we see dramatic improvement over Adams 19% Three Point %.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Having watched lots of basketball, my view is that Jalen Adams should be a far better shooter. Percentage - wise. It's a good stroke & he has some idea as to what is a good shot.

Stats are metrics for his production. But you can tell when someone COULD develop into better shooting. Or not. Samuel - IMO - has a funky release & never felt comfortable as a college shooter. I think we see dramatic improvement over Adams 19% Three Point %.

Phil Nolan also has great form on him jumper, we should probably get him some more minutes and run some sets for him to get him some more looks from behind the 3 point arc, right?

 

[PcketknfNiels]

Wow not sure about this thread after tonight. Just mind boggling to even concern yourself with a negative post about a guy who just got 26 or whatever and won the game?

He's talking specifically about his ability to perform typical PG duties. If Saturday's game didn't convince you that Gibbs is a 2-guard, I don't know what will.

I said the same thing a few games ago and got destroyed. If you watch the games with a knowledge of basketball, you can simultaneously think (a) Gibbs is a valuable guard for this team and (b) he hasn't been a good PG for our offense this season, mostly.

His best attribute is as a knock down shooter. Adams, for our offense, has the better traits, but isn't yet ready it seems to take the reins entirely.

But I really don't get why people can't differentiate between his PG play and his stat line/clutch 3s.

Bingo. Though I will say, I believe Adams would be a lot more ready by the time conference/ncaa tourneys roll around if Ollie would commit to him as a PG NOW.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

I do get the PG vs G point. But it is not like we have a better option at this point. Adams is getting minutes so he can learn. Gibbs is improving but he won't ever be the assist guy we'd like. We work around it.

Best option is to use DHam to bring the ball up the floor until JA is fully ready. I'd much rather see Gibbs being set up to bang 3's than see him struggle in a role he's not cut out for.

Everyone "gets" it. But no one has done anything to differentiate themselves as the lead PG now have they. Simply put for the rational posters, we don't have a great PG at his point and what Sterling has done is as good as we have for now. When Jalen turns the corner we will all obviously be better for it, especially Mr Gibbs who is a much better shooter with his feet set and his body square rather than dribbling into a shot. This is not rocket science boys, it's just facts for now. My point to all of this is last night was not the game to pick on Sterling at all. And to worry about his assist stats vs Taliek's is rather ridiculous. One you would rather shoot than pass the other you would rather never shoot unless it's a lay up. And this lends itself to the understanding of where we are, we have a 2G as our best PG option for now. Let's all hope it changes in a month or so with some confidence by our freshman.

Dude, I don't get it. Are you Gibbs' grandfather or something? If anything saying that he's not a true pg is more a comment of how Ollie is using him rather than being negative about the player in question. You're being too overprotective.

 

[Matt1010]

Starting Adams given the way he's been playing is quite simply not an option. Everyone here will agree that Gibbs isn't a true "PG" but he's easily the best option we have right now. If we throw JA into the fire we are going to lose more games than we can afford to and very likely not make the tournament at all. Never mind the major issue of who gets moved to the bench in order for him to start. If Adams starts to produce at a more efficient level I could see the argument, but until then this discussion is ludicrous.

 

[pnow15]

.
I give up. But this logic might be why you weren't named Coach.

Right now if the starters are not performing, the bench is Adams, Nolan and Calhoun.
If Adams starts along side Gibbs and Purvis and the offense bogs down, Ollie can bring in DHam as his sixth man and DHam can play four positions. Worth a try.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Right now if the starters are not performing, the bench is Adams, Nolan and Calhoun.
If Adams starts along side Gibbs and Purvis and the offense bogs down, Ollie can bring in DHam as his sixth man and DHam can play four positions. Worth a try.

No, it's not.

 

[jibsey]

We happen to be uniquely situated because we have DHam who is in effect a point guard, so whether Gibbs is or isn't doesn't matter as much. Gibbs has to be out there to score and he is starting to turn up his production. His long term numbers are going to be there for us. Adams shooting has been a disappointment to this stage but so have other players like Omar and DHam. Maybe it's nerves playing at this level but I hope he works it out. KO has confidence in the kid, keeps running him out there.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

He wasn't getting assists b/c he wasn't getting players off balance and putting our bigs in situations where the baskets come easy. All of his passes down low were standard entry passes getting the bigs in 1v1 post ups. ANYONE can do that. Nolan could do that. Not seeing anything coming from Gibbs pick and roll game, and its taking him way too long to bring the ball up the court and run some plays. We're half way through the season, and to someone else's point I know he is a brand new husky, but he better figure it out fast and take the lead on this or were going to have to start Jalen sooner than later so he has some confidence at the point moving into March.

This is Gibbs' 5th year in college ball, he's had a full summer of practice and half a season running point for this team. If he hasn't adjusted by now, it's more than likely he's not going to and he just is what he is.

What irks me is that if he, (and Purvis), don't shoot they way they did last night in future games (which is very likely), then where do we stand? It's so crucial that we have a natural PG on this team who can create for our bigs when shots aren't falling, especially on a Uconn team where our bigs need those setup passes b/c the majority of them can't create shots for themselves on the block (minus Miller).

We shot very well last night and only won the game by 3 points! It's very scary and hard to watch when our shots aren't falling. That's when true PG play has to come into play, which were strongly lacking and will lose us games moving forward.

This. Gibbs doesn't create enough easy looks when he has the ball in his hands.

The only person making cuts or moving hard without the ball is Adams, maybe purvis occasionally. How can Gibbs get assists when no one is moving? If miller finished those chances you wouldn't be complaining about Gibbs' assists. Has anyone else been watching adams play? There is no way he starts over Gibbs. None. Gibbs has his best complete game of the year by far, starts hitting his 3s and people still call for him to be benched by a freshman who as of now just handles the ball and hasn't been finishing or staying in front of his man on defense. People need to stop hating on Gibbs because his moves look lazy or methodical compared to adams

Gibbs best game came as a result of him being fed off the ball.

Read further up on this thread, particularly Mr. French's comments which were spot on. I am not criticizing Gibbs' stat line, clutch shots, or play in general. I am criticizing him as a PG! Running the offense efficiently, and getting others involved. I find myself repeating my points to people like you who are taking what I am saying out of context. I am not in the slightest saying to bench the kid, and have yet to say that this entire thread. Play him alongside Jalen as a SG.

This again.

No one said he's a great PG read along please. But have you seen Jalen playing, he's not ready. Everyone agrees we need JA to be better but he's not yet. Leave it alone, the guy had a great game, he's a 2 we know that but he was fine as the "PG" last night.

They even noted during the broadcast last night that Ollie had commented earlier yesterday that he had hoped Jalen would be further along than he is right now in terms of his development.

He didn't even really play as a PG Saturday night. Also, a lot of JA's time on the court isn't even as a PG, he's much better with the ball primarily in his hands collapsing the defense and being able to create open looks than he is playing off the ball when he's in.

You can keep repeating that he makes everyone around him better as long as you'd like but it's not going to make it any more valid. I think the kid is going to be a great player at UConn. I like having him on the court because he exudes confidence and plays with a chip on his shoulder. I'd like him to be further along at this point in the season but that's how it goes. But all that being said it seems like the Adams / Gibbs posts are informed more by what people's vision of what Jalen can be is, rather than what he's bringing to the table right now. I do think he's due for a breakout game, but we haven't seen it yet. Ultimately, I think this team has the most potential offensively when we can take Gibbs off the ball and let him be a shooter - I'm optimistic that he found his stroke - and that means Jalen running the show, but we're not there yet.

Pretty sure people like me wanting JA to run PG believe this is the move that makes this team the best version they can possibly be come March. JA can develop between now and then if given the opportunity, anyone expecting any sort of further development in terms of SG's ability to run the offense are just being silly.

Knock yourself out.

Step on a Lego.

JA averages 20 minutes a game. He has 31 assists and 23 turnovers.

SG averages 31 minutes a game. He has 43 assists and 24 turnovers.

Ollie has said he thought JA should be further along by now. He is definitely a more natural PG than Gibbs. However, Gibbs has actually outperformed him at the point. And the there's this, Jalen is shooting 39% from the floor and 19% from the arc. Basically at this point JA needs to improve every facet of his game.

There's not really much that can be changed. We need Gibbs to play and we need him to play some point. Jalen needs to keep getting minutes. Jalen just needs to improve. If he does, the whole team will get better. It would be so much much better if he earned more minutes rather than having Ollie force feed them to JA.

It would be better if every single minute JA plays comes with him running the offense. Too often, he's stuck out there off the ball which doesn't utilize any of his best skills at all.

Adams?

"Pretty bad"?

He's a Freshman. Sheesh. How long have you guys been watching college hoop? And ... there are lots of famous quotes from famous coaches on Freshmen. Kevin Ollie made a smart move getting Gibbs and NOT putting pressure on Jalen Adams. He can develop in normal development mode. Aren't we all glad that we aren't knocking the crap out of him because we are counting on him as our lead guard?

Thing is if people tempered their expectations for JA as lead guard in the short term, we'd all realize that come March, he'd most likely have developed to the point where he's clearly the best option on this team.

When we're talking about maybe starting him over Gibbs, he doesn't get graded on a curve. I didn't say he's a bust or that we should be recruiting over him. I said that he hasn't played well enough to warrant talk about him supplanting an All-Big East guard. In your quest to show how measured and reasonable you are, you might want to start with actually reading the posts you're criticizing.

He wouldn't be supplanting Gibbs other than moving him off the ball and allowing both guys to best utilize their skill sets.

I'll explain this again, and I'll try to go slowly, since you seem to be struggling.

At this point, Sterling Gibbs is our starting PG. Dissatisfied with his play, several posters have advocated making Adams our starting point guard. Still with me? Great.

My point was that Adams, at this point in time, is not an impact player, and has not played well enough to be the starting point guard yet. Do you understand what yet means? In other words, I'm talking about right now. Today. Not next season. Not after he's developed. So right now, Adams, whose play this year has been well-below average, is not good enough to be our starting PG. This season, his performance, from the perspective of offensive efficiency, particularly his shooting and his ball security, has been pretty bad. Bad for a freshman? No. But we don't get bonus points for playing freshmen.

I'm not saying he's a bust. I'm not saying he won't eventually be very good or even great. I'm saying that the idea that he should start over Gibbs is silly, since Gibbs has been a much, much better player this season. Did you understand it this time?

Gibbs clearly isn't the answer at PG, not for now, not for March. If Saturday's game didn't convince you of that, I'm not sure what will. He's not a primary ball handler, so why not turn the reigns over to somebody who could potentially make this team have a much higher ceiling by the end of the year?

Well I'd go as far to say Adams is our only PG. Gibbs is more a SG. As a freshman, it's normal that he has a high turnover rate. And he isn't known for his outside shooting. Adams always gives us a spark when he comes in that no one else can match. I love it when he's on the court.

This again.

Thank you. Only 4 games with an offensive rating over 100 (Furman, Gonzaga, Ohio St., Temple). His offensive rating for the year is 92.1. Of the players who get significant time, the next lowest is DHam at 106.9. All this means to me is that Adams is the X factor. If he figures it out come February/March and gets it going, I think we can be very dangerous.

10.6 PER (second-worst on the team, after Nolan), .452 TS% (worst), .414 eFG (worst by a lot), .083 WS/40 (tied with Nolan for worst). That's pretty bad. I see the talent, but it hasn't manifested as good play yet, and until it does, the idea that he should be taking Gibbs' run is absurd.

Statistics are a measurement of what actually occurs during the game. Usually they disprove biases based on false theories.

Oh hey Daryl Morey, I didn't know you posted here. Say, how's your strictly analytics-based Rox team been doing this year? Oh, you mean your purely basketball sabermetric team has a losing record? But stats dude, stats.

Advanced metrics work in baseball because the sport is a series of individual isolated events. Basketball is free flowing, and there are too many things that happen during the course of play that aren't accounted for by any current metric. There are too many good/bad decision moments during possessions that aren't reflected statistically.

What is being said is that we are taking away from Gibbs' game by forcing him to play point. And a combination of Gibbs and Adams that frees Gibbs from point guard responsibilities is good for the team.

This again.

And who do you sit? Our most talented player or our leading scorer?

Play JA, SG, RP, DH together more often, and reassess once Brimah is ready to play again. Playing small worked for the 2014 team because we were relying on our best players rather than making decisions purely off of traditional positional structure.

 

[David 76]

Wow!

Just a last reminder that if you start Adams and keep Gibbs in, you are cutting out Hamilton or Purvis, both of which-despite DHam's recent trouble- are playing better than Adams or even Gibbs.
As far as playing small, with all 4 perimeter players , we do that. It often doesn't work well

 

[Stainmaster]

PNiels I don't think you quoted enough posts.

 

[mauconnfan]

PNiels I don't think you quoted enough posts.

I want someone to break his replies down one by one now Stair

 

[imno1]

I want someone to break his replies down one by one now Stair

You gotta admit he got game.

 

[mauconnfan]

You gotta admit he got game.

The effort is there.

 

[Rico444]

I still haven't seen any of Saturday's game outside of the last two minutes, still have to watch it on tape. That being said, I'll echo what many in here have said and say I hope Adams gets used more at the point when he's on the floor. That would seem to be the best use of his skills; he's not really a catch-and-shoot guy. I've warmed up to Gibbs, and at this point right now it's clear he's better than Adams, but he's a better player off the ball, so when the two of them are on the court together, hopefully Adams has the ball in his hands.

 

[3rdbass]

I still haven't seen any of Saturday's game outside of the last two minutes, still have to watch it on tape. That being said, I'll echo what many in here have said and say I hope Adams gets used more at the point when he's on the floor. That would seem to be the best use of his skills; he's not really a catch-and-shoot guy. I've warmed up to Gibbs, and at this point right now it's clear he's better than Adams, but he's a better player off the ball, so when the two of them are on the court together, hopefully Adams has the ball in his hands.

I was at the game and I noticed further into the game that JA was starting the offense with both of them in at the same time. In the first half it was almost exclusively SG running the offense. I agree with most here when JA and SG are both in lets go with JA as the point guard since he can create shots for others and right now his own is very shaky. SG is great coming off picks and can really shoot the ball. Of course he is going to have to play point when JA is not in the game but other wise I hope he doesn't play it as much.