We like to make fun of Joebird for always expecting the worse. Unfortunately, he's a serious person and makes serious points. With that in mind I want to take a look at some of our players, specifically our great group of guards.
We have two experienced guys, Reaves and Winborne, who seem to be talented lead/point/primary ball handlers. And three VG frosh, Wallace, Njie, and Menard, who I think will play off the ball. A coaches goal is to win but at the same time develop his players. Last year, TA refrained from giving the young guys PT, and that probably contributed to guys leaving. The other side of that is with added PT the freshmen will put up better numbers, and thus become targets for the bigger boys. Njie was a big breakthrough into the Hayes program and as a local guy he might be influenced to stay because his family can easily come to our games. The easy answer is you play your best guys, but I think coaches have to be more focused on keeping players happy.
Was it from The King and I, or a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, "It is a puzzlement."
P.S. And now back to the Draft,
I think you have things a bit in reverse. Winborne will play some PG. Reaves will be SG, as well as JoJo Wallace. Will be shocked if Njie isn't starting PG, and will go as far to say if he's not it's not a good sign, as the roster stands today. Menard, could play off the ball, but is primarily and recruited as a PG.
This FR class, with the exception of Njiw, will have much tougher competition for PT than last year's freshmen.
Can say the FR and Brice didn't leave because of lack of PT. They were all told its best to move on except for JQ and Aranguren. Brice was also told its best to move on Will add, Guy was correct from day 1, Aranguren was the best FR.
Aranguren is the only player, IMO, I wish would have stayed. He would fill a need, a 6'4 SG who could shoot 50/40/80
We like to make fun of Joebird for always expecting the worse. Unfortunately, he's a serious person and makes serious points. With that in mind I want to take a look at some of our players, specifically our great group of guards.
We have two experienced guys, Reaves and Winborne, who seem to be talented lead/point/primary ball handlers. And three VG frosh, Wallace, Njie, and Menard, who I think will play off the ball. A coaches goal is to win but at the same time develop his players. Last year, TA refrained from giving the young guys PT, and that probably contributed to guys leaving. The other side of that is with added PT the freshmen will put up better numbers, and thus become targets for the bigger boys. Njie was a big breakthrough into the Hayes program and as a local guy he might be influenced to stay because his family can easily come to our games. The easy answer is you play your best guys, but I think coaches have to be more focused on keeping players happy.
Was it from The King and I, or a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, "It is a puzzlement."
P.S. And now back to the Draft,
Why would you think Menard is a shooting guard? Last week he was compared to Steve Nash when he won tournament MVP last week
From the videos I saw (Reaves and Winborne) thought they looked like they were playing as PG's. I made the assumption (looks like I was wrong) that TA would use them as PG's, and in order to get Menard PT, I moved him to OG. So, as sharkey said I had it backwards, I'll ask this. With Njie and Menard as PG's, will there be any time for Wallace as an OG, since Reaves was anointed as our 'star' and Winborne, if healthy, is coming from a bigger program where he had some success? Bottom line, imo, we have a VG backcourt, but still a challenge for TA.
From the videos I saw (Reaves and Winborne) thought they looked like they were playing as PG's. I made the assumption (looks like I was wrong) that TA would use them as PG's, and in order to get Menard PT, I moved him to OG. So, as sharkey said I had it backwards, I'll ask this. With Njie and Menard as PG's, will there be any time for Wallace as an OG, since Reaves was anointed as our 'star' and Winborne, if healthy, is coming from a bigger program where he had some success? Bottom line, imo, we have a VG backcourt, but still a challenge for TA.
IC59, for the 2342343452454535124234th time, stop getting hung up on positions. The best guards will play the most minutes, regardless of whatever "position label" anyone chooses to put on them.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.
Guy, don't ask me to change my mind about labeling positions, try to get the media/coaches/scouts to stop talking about point guards, as they have going back to Cousey, McGuire and Slater Martin. Someone on the roster will assume the role as the primary ball handler, and for me, being too old to change, that will always be a PG.
But, call it what you like, I would like to hear your opinion on what coaches have to do to keep their players happy, and hopefully keep their players.
From the videos I saw (Reaves and Winborne) thought they looked like they were playing as PG's. I made the assumption (looks like I was wrong) that TA would use them as PG's, and in order to get Menard PT, I moved him to OG. So, as sharkey said I had it backwards, I'll ask this. With Njie and Menard as PG's, will there be any time for Wallace as an OG, since Reaves was anointed as our 'star' and Winborne, if healthy, is coming from a bigger program where he had some success? Bottom line, imo, we have a VG backcourt, but still a challenge for TA.
IC59, for the 2342343452454535124234th time, stop getting hung up on positions. The best guards will play the most minutes, regardless of whatever "position label" anyone chooses to put on them.
And it’s likely that 3 guards are on the court most of the time.
Guy, don't ask me to change my mind about labeling positions, try to get the media/coaches/scouts to stop talking about point guards, as they have going back to Cousey, McGuire and Slater Martin. Someone on the roster will assume the role as the primary ball handler, and for me, being too old to change, that will always be a PG.
But, call it what you like, I would like to hear your opinion on what coaches have to do to keep their players happy, and hopefully keep their players.
Reaves will have the ball in his hands more than any other guard will this upcoming season.
And he is not a point guard.
Re your question about keeping players happy, every player is different. It used to be that kids only transferred out when they didn't play a lot/didn't fit into the program, but now they also transfer out for money. So there's no way to know, and no formula for navigating it.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.
Agree about the no formula part, but I'm sure EVERY coach has a plan. When you get an opportunity to s/w TA, maybe you could ask him about it.
As for Reaves what would you call him? For instance, on lst year's team I think it fair to say that JQ had the ball in his hands the most.
I'm not sure what you're asking me to ask Tobin.
Last year, the only true "point guard" in your sense that we had on the roster was Brown. And yet, when JQ and Brown were on the floor together, JQ handled the ball more, especially as the season wore on. And this is also true despite the fact that Brown's assist-to-turnover ratio was FAR better than JQ's.
When Van Eyck was here, he handled the ball a LOT, and he was the damn "power forward" using your terminology.
Positionless basketball is becoming more of a thing. Even going back to Ruland, he always used to say his dream was to have five 6-6 kids on the floor who can all do a little bit of everything.
In short--and of course this is something that has always been true--the best players will play the most, regardless of anyone's perception of their role.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.
Knowing I59 the way I do, after seeing the above post I can already feel him asking "so who is your starting 5", which we've also discussed may not be the best way to phrase it as ideally the team will play 10 deep so "starting" is not as relevant as minutes leaders. Given that, here is my early guess (reminder: we have 2 spots open and no clue re the caliber of players who'll fill them) for the 5 guys who will play the most this year. This is NOT in a particular order, as in some cases it's hard to pinpoint based on need, but hey, all in good fun. Here's my 5, again, no particular order:
Njie Reaves Patterson Rupert Winborne
My assumption is based on the fact that I see us playing a "3 guard, 2 forward" look most of the time. I can throw a million "ifs" out here that would alter this, with the primary one being whether Patterson has the skill set to play more of the 3. Hard to tell based on film, but at 6-7 he'd have to guard smaller guys often and I'm not certain he can do that. So my guess is Biggie will be more of a 4 for us.
The other thing to remember is that there are still going to be "misses" in recruiting. Odds are 1-2 of the frosh won't see as much time, and the younger transfers may not play as much as the older ones. Hopeful we can go 10 deep when all is said and done though.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.
Guy, your list seems well-reasoned. I hope to see freshmen Wallace and Hogarth get involved early. With two spots open the roster already looks pretty solid. Never know until they tip it off for real, though.
Guy, two things: 1. Ask TA, is there any way we can keep our players, or is it just a question of money? 2. I wouldn't ask, yet, what is our starting five, at least until I see our Final Two recruits. But, looking at your 'guess', I agree with most, but would have Moundi instead of Winborne. Pretty sure our team will be better this year.
Guy, two things: 1. Ask TA, is there any way we can keep our players, or is it just a question of money? 2. I wouldn't ask, yet, what is our starting five, at least until I see our Final Two recruits. But, looking at your 'guess', I agree with most, but would have Moundi instead of Winborne. Pretty sure our team will be better this year.
tom, he looks like a center (post player) to me. Patterson looks like a wing, even if he can play multiple positions, wing looks like his best. Rupert should be a VG rebounder, and I think we need two big guys, that's why I think he and Moundi would be a good match. And, I'll defer to sharkey who said that Njie will start, and early on Reaves should be our leading scorer. And, naturally I'm basing everything on the posted videos.
Keep in mind, this opinion and $5 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
tom, he looks like a center (post player) to me. Patterson looks like a wing, even if he can play multiple positions, wing looks like his best. Rupert should be a VG rebounder, and I think we need two big guys, that's why I think he and Moundi would be a good match. And, I'll defer to sharkey who said that Njie will start, and early on Reaves should be our leading scorer. And, naturally I'm basing everything on the posted videos.
Keep in mind, this opinion and $5 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
I respect all opinions. Moundi didn't start at Panola I don't think and played about 26 minutes per game and he did well in that role . I would expect the same here. Just my opinion.