I posted this in the game thread, but not sure it'll get seen. Just wanted some others thoughts on this. It's not a bash
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Not a bash but it seems to me that Josh mismanages his team and games quite a bit. When the 3/4 guards are on it looks good, when 1-2/4 guards is on it looks really bad. I don't blame Josh for his players playing good or bad, but what I do blame Josh for is continuing to go with what isn't working. Some teams will hurt us BIG time if we play SMALL ball. Unless we are hitting 9-10 threes a game playing small is gonna hurt us against teams like Cincy.
It would have benefited us imo to play bigger today. Here's an example of what I am talking about.
What did he do with Angel Garcia? He was a 7 foot SF that was forced to play inside. He is doing the same thing with King. King is not a 4, he has never been a 4. He forces him to play the 4 against players who have played the 4. Who honestly expects him to come in and play to his full potential. King is a 2/3 let him play his position.
At the beginning of the season we were all excited about this team. Not many of us expected Josh to play small and stay small throughout the duration of a season.
We for the most part in our losses have put ourselves in bad situations. Last season we played 6'4 1/2 DJ at the 4 and it hurt us a lot defensively he got some good blocks and did a lot of good things but he was man handled inside. So what does Josh do? He put's a 6'4 player in that position by going small. A 6'4 player who doesn't have the quickness, the blocking ability or the hops that DJ had.
Instead of a lineup of:
Joe Jackson- 6'0
Michael Dixon- 6'1
Geron Johnson- 6'3
Chris Crawford- 6'4
Then Either Shaq/Pellom-6'9/6'7
What is so wrong with going bigger? Why does he refuse to do it? Did he promise the guards 25-30 minutes each and doesn't wanna break his promise or something? When 3/4 guards combine to go 8-36 we might need to change it up lol. We have had several games that have been much closer then they should have been because of this. We got Rolled @ Oklahoma State because our guards played Hero ball and Smart and that team went off. It didn't help that again our guards were a combined 10/50 or something crazy.
Against Florida Prather a 6'6 WING, scored the last 8 points for Florida by getting the ball and going OVER his guard defender. For the record I know we were in a position to win the game at the end but ONLY because Florida missed free throws.
I don't wanna hear facts against BAD teams. You can out athlete, and out talent most bad teams.
LSU who won us the game?
Oklahoma State Old Spice Classic rematch, who won us the game?
If you notice it'll be either Shaq and Nichols and 2 guards. Not all of the guards.
Our guards are not consistent enough to all be out there at the same time. Joe Jackson has been the ONLY one. Geron can have a good game, Crawford can have a good game, Dixon can have a good game. It will be rare for all of them to have good games at the same time. So why play them at the same time? It doesn't make any sense. He is creating HIS own problems and creating his own mismatch problems for opposing teams to take advantage of.
Again King is a 2/3. He is forced to play the 4 and it hurts us and it's a position he is not comfortable with. He shouldn't be playing there.
1. Jackson/Crawford
2. Geron/Dixon
3. King/Iverson/Wilson
4. Pellom/Nichols
5. Shaq/Woodson
We do not take advantage of our depth, we do not take advantage of our overall size, we create our own problems.
If you have this:
1. Crawford- 6'4
2. Geron- 6'3
3. King 6'7
4. Pellom 6'7
5. Shaq 6'9
Do you really honestly believe we'd have problems defending inside or rebounding?
Or how about this.
1. Jackson 6'1
2. Dixon 6'2
3. King 6'7
4. Nichols 6'8
5. Shaq 6'9
Or there?
You can mix and match it anyway you want too. We pulled out the rebounds today why? Because the 2 bigs we did have in the game got like 5 in 1 possession. Also we kept tapping it out so our guards were able to get a few more. We did not dominate inside to get those boards. We were limited to 1 shot per trip far to often and then gave up easy offense to Cincy on the other side. Due to what? WIDE OPEN Threes or EASY inside baskets.
We need to start using our advantages.
6'7 King - Guard/Wing
6'10 Iverson- Guard/Wing
6'6 Wilson- Guard/Wing
Nichols 6'8 -Forward- Most skilled offensive big. Needs to work on defense but he really can take over a game. He doesn't even play much anymore.
We are not using these guys right and we are not taking advantage of our opportunities.
On games where 3 of our 4 guards are hot, we're going to win. How often has that happened though? AGAINST REAL competition?
This is not meant to be a bash. This is meant to maybe get some sort of understanding from everyone else on why this is the way we play? Anything valid? Any facts you can give to support playing 3-4 guards?
Villanova is the only team in the last 10 years that I remember that played a 4 guard set and actually did something. They went to the Elite 8 as a matter of fact. Thing is all 4 of those guards went to the NBA and 3 of them still play in the NBA.
I understand some of our new players have issues, but I haven't seen any to the effect that they were fall asleep that much on defense and go 2-12 from the field or 1-10, 1-11 etc.. Josh has a TEAM full of good players. You don't have to play 10 a game but if your 4 Senior guards aren't playing well why keep them in? If 2-3 of them are playing like ass it's ok to go away from it and try something else.
Again don;t get butthurt this isn't a bash. I would love some good discussion on this, or for someone who see's something other then what I do.
Thanks,
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Small ball and players playing out of position discussion. Help me understand lol.
