(05-15-2023 08:28 AM)Ranger1386c Wrote: [ -> ] (05-15-2023 07:34 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]If EG doesn’t return i don’t know if we see that scholarship used, or if we do it probably won’t go to any caliber player that would be playing useful minutes. I’d like to see it go to a promising high schooler. We are 2/3 deep at all positions
So who are the two that run point on this team, assuming Gaines doesn’t return? I don’t see any obvious upgrades, but have to admit not knowing much about our incoming transfers or JUCO guards. But as I look over next years roster that’s my primary early concern. Maybe it’s not an issue since I don’t see others asking that question.
We still don’t have an obvious answer at pg, even with Gaines in my opinion. Vazquez is probably an option; he definitely isn’t a typical pg, but he does pick up assists. Otherwise, I think we could run a pf with a couple of the bigs, assuming one of the guards can bring the ball up the court safely.
At PG I think the players that could/will be involved would be Ortiz, Satterfield, maybe Hargrove due to his size, and then EG. If EG doesn’t return sub in Butta there
From the videos i saw on Vasquez, he was a shooting guard not a point but i could be wrong since i watched so many vids of various players in the last couple months...
Satterfield looks like a longer armed Butta. it would be great to get the freshman some PT for the future. I hope Butta shows alot of progress from his freshman mins this season too..
2 weeks til the deadline on whether or not to stay in the draft
(05-15-2023 09:47 AM)THE_LEGEND Wrote: [ -> ]From the videos i saw on Vasquez, he was a shooting guard not a point but i could be wrong since i watched so many vids of various players in the last couple months...
Satterfield looks like a longer armed Butta. it would be great to get the freshman some PT for the future. I hope Butta shows alot of progress from his freshman mins this season too..
I agree, he is definitely more of a 2 than a 1.
(05-15-2023 09:09 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]At PG I think the players that could/will be involved would be Ortiz, Satterfield, maybe Hargrove due to his size, and then EG. If EG doesn’t return sub in Butta there
Ortiz is a definite no. If that’s the game plan, we are screwed. He didn’t have more than 3 assists in any game last season while regularly jacking up 15-20 shots. He also had numerous games with no assists. Touching the ball that many times a game and getting no assists means you aren’t looking to pass. That’s all fine and while, but he obviously isn’t creating for others.
Satterfield could be interesting. I’m not against that idea.
I’d be surprised if Hargrove cracked our rotation beyond maybe 5-10 minutes per game.
EG starts at pg if he’s here in my mind.
To be fair, we haven’t really had a true pg under Kennedy at any point, so he will make it work however he does.
(05-15-2023 10:45 AM)blazers9911 Wrote: [ -> ] (05-15-2023 09:09 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]At PG I think the players that could/will be involved would be Ortiz, Satterfield, maybe Hargrove due to his size, and then EG. If EG doesn’t return sub in Butta there
Ortiz is a definite no. If that’s the game plan, we are screwed. He didn’t have more than 3 assists in any game last season while regularly jacking up 15-20 shots. He also had numerous games with no assists. Touching the ball that many times a game and getting no assists means you aren’t looking to pass. That’s all fine and while, but he obviously isn’t creating for others.
Satterfield could be interesting. I’m not against that idea.
I’d be surprised if Hargrove cracked our rotation beyond maybe 5-10 minutes per game.
EG starts at pg if he’s here in my mind.
To be fair, we haven’t really had a true pg under Kennedy at any point, so he will make it work however he does.
Ok. That’s very close to what I was thinking also, with limited knowledge of incoming players. That leaves me unconvinced that this team has a reliable solution at the 1, and this makes Gaines return even more important, since he at least has a year of experience in this system. It looks like the potential Achilles heel of what is shaping up on paper to be a remarkably talented 2024 UAB team.
I think this board is very hard on Eric. It is understandable to some extent because we want him to live up to his potential. But I also don’t think we give him enough credit for how much he improved in the back half of the year. He was really coachable. He made a ton of great plays and great decisions but we tend to focus on the mistakes because we want him to be great.
The feedback is is getting is exactly what he needed to hear. I guarantee it reads a lot like the criticisms here — don’t rely on athleticism, make better decisions, improve court and situational awareness, etc. But coming from NBA I think he is going to take it to heart. His path to the pros is to be a point guard.
Surrounded by several great players without the need to defer to one guy a lot is going to help him. I don’t mean that as a criticism of Jelly either. We needed Jelly to be that guy most nights. This team should be a lot more balanced and I can see Eric going to another gear in that situation
(05-15-2023 11:57 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote: [ -> ]I think this board is very hard on Eric. It is understandable to some extent because we want him to live up to his potential. But I also don’t think we give him enough credit for how much he improved in the back half of the year. He was really coachable. He made a ton of great plays and great decisions but we tend to focus on the mistakes because we want him to be great.
The feedback is is getting is exactly what he needed to hear. I guarantee it reads a lot like the criticisms here — don’t rely on athleticism, make better decisions, improve court and situational awareness, etc. But coming from NBA I think he is going to take it to heart. His path to the pros is to be a point guard.
Surrounded by several great players without the need to defer to one guy a lot is going to help him. I don’t mean that as a criticism of Jelly either. We needed Jelly to be that guy most nights. This team should be a lot more balanced and I can see Eric going to another gear in that situation
Agree
(05-15-2023 11:57 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote: [ -> ]I think this board is very hard on Eric. It is understandable to some extent because we want him to live up to his potential. But I also don’t think we give him enough credit for how much he improved in the back half of the year. He was really coachable. He made a ton of great plays and great decisions but we tend to focus on the mistakes because we want him to be great.
The feedback is is getting is exactly what he needed to hear. I guarantee it reads a lot like the criticisms here — don’t rely on athleticism, make better decisions, improve court and situational awareness, etc. But coming from NBA I think he is going to take it to heart. His path to the pros is to be a point guard.
Surrounded by several great players without the need to defer to one guy a lot is going to help him. I don’t mean that as a criticism of Jelly either. We needed Jelly to be that guy most nights. This team should be a lot more balanced and I can see Eric going to another gear in that situation
This board is overly critical of Gaines, and I assume it is strictly based on the fact people know he can be better. That hasn’t been me, but I get the overreactions.
Anybody suggesting we are better off with juco and transfer guards than we are a seasoned D1 player like Gaines is a bit crazy in my opinion. I get the criticism, but Gaines did many great things last year. He definitely won some games for us, but nobody talks about those. I am still hopeful he comes back personally, and I think he’s a 30 MPG starter if he does. He made some elite passes, he has a good looking jump shot, he’s a plus defender, he is a good rebounding guard, and he has athleticism that cannot be taught. You are lucky to get a few of those things out most players, and he has them all. And I agree 100% about his improvement. Gaines day 1 vs gaines in the NIT were greatly different players.
I think when a players decision making can be so detrimental in-game and the coach refuses to sit him when he is throwing the game away… that it’s just easier to hope a player goes pro than to have him come back and have the coach ignoring it again on what should be a promising season.
Again, I’d start Ortiz at the 1. Make EG the defensive 6th man. If that means running point when Ortiz comes out, I’m cool with that. EG’s decision making isn’t good enough to start at the 1. Shooting not good enough to start at the 2. So, you use him as the energy guy off the bench, pushing the pace.
The fact that he’s testing NBA waters tells me he has the wrong folks in his ears.
(05-15-2023 02:16 PM)UABFAN23 Wrote: [ -> ]I think when a players decision making can be so detrimental in-game and the coach refuses to sit him when he is throwing the game away… that it’s just easier to hope a player goes pro than to have him come back and have the coach ignoring it again on what should be a promising season.
Again, I’d start Ortiz at the 1. Make EG the defensive 6th man. If that means running point when Ortiz comes out, I’m cool with that. EG’s decision making isn’t good enough to start at the 1. Shooting not good enough to start at the 2. So, you use him as the energy guy off the bench, pushing the pace.
The fact that he’s testing NBA waters tells me he has the wrong folks in his ears.
EG will start at point guard.
(05-15-2023 10:45 AM)blazers9911 Wrote: [ -> ] (05-15-2023 09:09 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]At PG I think the players that could/will be involved would be Ortiz, Satterfield, maybe Hargrove due to his size, and then EG. If EG doesn’t return sub in Butta there
Ortiz is a definite no. If that’s the game plan, we are screwed. He didn’t have more than 3 assists in any game last season while regularly jacking up 15-20 shots. He also had numerous games with no assists. Touching the ball that many times a game and getting no assists means you aren’t looking to pass. That’s all fine and while, but he obviously isn’t creating for others.
Satterfield could be interesting. I’m not against that idea.
I’d be surprised if Hargrove cracked our rotation beyond maybe 5-10 minutes per game.
EG starts at pg if he’s here in my mind.
To be fair, we haven’t really had a true pg under Kennedy at any point, so he will make it work however he does.
UNA started 3 guards who were all about the same size. Ortiz was - by far - the best 3-point shooter. The other two guys ran the point, for the most part. Ortiz is capable of playing point, it just wasn't what they needed from him at UNA. I definitely wouldn't say this team is screwed with Ortiz at the point.
To me, best case scenario with Ortiz at the point is some super light version of Jelly. I get that he’s a scorer, and that’s fine. I want my point guard to get other guys easy buckets. Averaging an assist a game over an entire season while touching the ball that frequently tells me all I need to know. I’ll eat my words if I’m wrong about this at the end of the season. It’s hard for me to see how a dude can go from 30 assists to 120-180, which is what I would like to see out of a pg.
I’m not going to focus too hard on that stat. Certain teams require certain plans and I bet Ortiz can adapt
Wanna have fun, run Coleman at point
The super fun lineup would be EG, Vasquez/whatever guard you want, then Coleman Yaxel Davis
(05-16-2023 08:47 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]The super fun lineup would be EG, Vasquez/whatever guard you want, then Coleman Yaxel Davis
This
IHMO,
I think Dunning and White are front runners to start and on minutes since they have SEC experience which AK cherishes.
If Gaines returns, I see Gaines/Dunning/White in starting lineup or some combination of these players subbing at at first media.