Is we need to ride or die with JQ leading the charge. No surprise that when he replaced JD at the point was when we went on a run to take the lead and extend it. Nothing against JD, but he's just a turnover machine and is playing like a true freshman. He might score 15 points in a game, but he'll likely give up that many or more in points off turnovers and being lost on defense. We're not a very good defensive team, so we're going to have to win in high scoring games and I think Q gives us the best chance.
Biggest takeaway from last nights game
- Thread starter BeastofBourbon
- Start date
Oats’ point about not playing hard defensively is a good one, but Q would not have been in the top 3-4 players on my radar there. In fact, the kid who started over him would’ve been culprit #1 or 2
Honestly I don't think it has much to do with the effort and how hard they play. I just think we're not a very good defensive team. Shack is just to slow to stop any dribble penetration. He's always at least one or two steps behind. I hate to keep beating up on JD, but I made it a point to just focus on him last night on the defensive end of the court. It has nothing to do with athleticism or effort, he's just flat out lost on that end. There were trips down court where he didn't even know who he was guarding, and by the time he figured it out that guy had probably taken a wide open shot. Ellis is about the only guy we can hang our hat on when it comes to defense.
Bottom line is this team grossly misses the defensive intensity that Herb and Petty brought last year. Especially Herb. He could single handedly take away the other teams biggest scoring threat no matter the position on the floor, 1 thru 5. We just don't have anybody close to that on this roster, which to my original post if we're going to win games they're going to be shootouts.
In general I agree with you on the effort thing. I’ve long took issue with the “effort” excuse after every loss. And I agree in many ways our guys just aren’t built to be great defensively. However, JD is extremely lazy and half hearted on close outs. Every time he kinda puts his hand up and shuffles over to semi-contest. Turn your hips and sprint to the shooter. The other thing is our guys just have a really hard time fighting through screens off the ball. We run into it every time which frees up shooters. It’s very frustrating to watch. All that said… we are a legit top 25 team and oats has this program in better shape than it’s been in the last 3 decades.
JD played in a low classification in high school which is hurting him now. He was the best athlete on the floor every game and is now having to learn how to play the correct way. He is not a point guard right now. He struggles vs pressure, he is much better off the ball.
Yep, he definitely looks like a deer in headlights most of the time. No doubt he's got loads of talent, but he's far from an elite college player right now. I'm hearing he's still projected as a first round pick this year. I just don't see it, but that's also probably why I haven't watched the NBA in close to 20 years.
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