(12-22-2022 07:31 AM)etsubuc Wrote: That said, I still believe that if King isn't able to change his approach he should be a role player off the bench. His best shots are mid-range pull up jumpers. However, he seems to think that he is Steph Curry throwing up garbage shots early in the shot clock from long range. He has been doing it since he has been here, and yes, perhaps that is the way that he has been playing since the playground and junior high. He showed last season that he can hit those types of shots, but overall they mess with the flow of the offense. In close games where each possession is critical, those poor shots are very costly. And, we don't need them! This season, our best players are in the post.
Hey, I don't disagree with you, really. Like I said, I wasn't defending either Oliver or King; only that one must realize it's a nuanced situation and a little bit of "take the bad with the good" kind of thing.
This reminds me SO much of the story of Timmy and bartow. We all know that in Tim's first year, he was able to be controlled/channeled and kept in check, by his older, wiser godfather-esque teammates Jerald and Zakee. And what a successful meld that was. Then after they graduated, from Tim's year 2 thru 4,he was (literally) a loose cannon, for better *and* for worse. And bartow couldn't control him - and gave up trying - leading to the infamous "Timmy's my guy". If he *could* have controlled him, ETSU would quite possibly have at least 2 more NCAA tournaments wins under it's belt.
Of course the difference is that King doesn't have an older mentor-type teammate because of how quickly teams (certainly including this one) turn over these days. ALSO...........and I probably should have made this another bullet point............who's Oliver's "coach on the floor"? There's not even any good candidates outside of King. Strothers would likely be choice #2, but we all know he's not fully ready for that role. We can wish that it were not so, but there's just no other option for now. And sometimes just *that* is a very critical piece of the puzzle. If Jancek was a guard and had the ball in his hands a lot, he would likely be good at it - but it's gotta be a guard - and we just don't have a good range of choices there. Ideally, yes, Oliver can do the channeling, or fine-tuning, or whatever we want to call it. We'll see. I just think that Oliver, without likely using those words, at least out loud, sees it as a "take the bitter with the sweet" scenario. Just my guess on it.
[addendum: Yes, King is probably trying to do too much. Last year, with Sloan running things, he could be a successful shooting guard. Is it too much for him to be both the point and shooter? Well, so far, it may be - but there are times when it can work. Again, we'll see......]