It was rhetorical…
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Okay, but I’d still point out that Frankie can have good games without us locking down the PG spot in November.
No question. In general, it looks like transfer guards are mostly struggling, so we really might just need to be patient on Jones, though it won’t shock me if we go to 3 guards in order to let him play off the ball, and we’re not getting a ton of defense from Houstan at the 3 anyways.
Bad stats: Carr, Pickett, Harmon, Marcus Williams, Walker, Young (not bad overall but the A/TO is ugly), Rocket Watts
Good enough that they’ll probably end up being starting quality: Adam Miller, Marreon Jackson (awful shooting, but good rebounds and assists) Akinjo (shooting poorly, but doing stuff), Askew (not playing a ton cuz of their depth but stats look good), Fatts, Pinson, Xavier Johnson
Starting guard level stats: Remy Martin, Wheeler, KD Johnson, Bolton, Myron Jones, Lykes
So yeah, it might just take time. Jones is probably in the 2nd category via stats since he’s a good rebounder and his numbers have been better than his play (basically middle category against weaker teams and first category against good ones so far).
Running through this list made me feel better. We know Marcus Carr and Harmon are quality high major guards and they’re struggling too.
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Smith was/is a quality PG on offense. I think if Jones was playing 2 guard he’d be looking a lot better.
If there were trades in college, we’d be looking to move Jones to a team with 2 point guards who needs some scoring and physicality at the 2 guard spot…
There is a delicate balance between destroying the confidence of two players and salvaging what appeared only a short time ago such a promising season. One major or humiliating defeat may be
that turning point.Leadership is not ever easy.Regardless we should continue to support Coach Howard.Go Blue Coach Howard!
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The biggest blunder in this entire situation is not taking a single true point guard as a recruit in the 2019 and 2020 classes, especially once DeJulius, the ‘18 PG recruit, left. That’s effectively three straight classes where you’re missing a point guard, which is crazy in college hoops today. If you put yourself in a roster building situation where all of your eggs are in the basket of an up transfer or true freshman, this is a distinct possibility. And more people here should’ve been mentally prepared for it after Simmons tbh. There is always a good chance these transfers don’t work out as well as expected.
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Wasn’t Zeb recruited as a Point Guard?
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My bad, dunno why I remember him being listed as a point guard by some recruiting services.
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I think JB recruited Zeb to be a PG
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He was considered a PG when he was still playing in Toledo, IIRC. That’s when he committed, as well.
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I am not ready to give up on Devonte but I am all for playing Frankie more minutes, and maybe trying Devante with slightly different role in offense. But he has to first cut-down his senseless fouls without losing his mojo. I hope that he is resilient and can come out of this a better player.
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I am willing to try Jones off-ball spelling Eli and/or next to him in a three-guard lineup. He is built to guard some 3s anyway.
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Does anyone know if Hassan Haskins has any guard skills? Just curious
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The shooting is a hard sell for me with off ball. I know he’s technically above 40%, but I think the attempts say more and he has fewer than even Brandon Johns.
Edit: are you referring just to defense? I might have misunderstood.
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Yeah Eli has shown more on ball than anybody expected, but he’s our best outside shooter and when he’s on ball the spacing around him is just awful. The best version of this team utilizes Eli primarily off ball IMO.
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Not recruiting a PG is not as catastrophic when you can pluck a PG of another team; sometime with multiple years of eligibility left. M has enough PG’s and a nice mix, with seniors Brooks and Jones and talented freshman Frankie Collins. Just need better performance on the court.
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Yeah just defense. I don’t think Eli running point and Jones at the 2 would fix anything offensively. Might actually make things worse.
Also willing to see Jones as Eli’s backup at the 2 with only one of them on the court. But not just swapping their roles together
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80 minutes of guards. Eli gets 38. Until Jan 1, split the remaining 42 evenly (14 each) to DJ and the freshmen. Sit em down together. Look to the left. Look to the right. Let ‘em know: love you all, but one of you ain’t playing in BIG10. They’ll figure it out.
(Actually DJ probably deserves a few more min, given he was the first choice. But I would like something like this.)
((Wow — we really need a game!))
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