Brian - I've heard you mention a couple of times on the podcasts (which I really enjoy listening to) that the portions of our fanbase that are concerned with PG play want to see more scoring from the PG position. As someone who has been concerned with our PG play, I want to ensure my concerns (which are similar to others here) are clarified.
We don't need our PG's to score. We need them to perform their role well. Their role is to defend, bring the ball up the court quickly, get us into our offense quickly, and score opportunistically (open shots/cuts). Kind of like how Gillis plays the PF position. He hustles, he rebounds, he doesn't turn the ball over, he finds space and makes smart cuts, and he hits open shots when defenses collapse on our centers or Ivey.
My concern centers around the fact that at least one of our PGs is not able to even bring the ball up the court without eating half our possession before making their first pass. Even the slightest amount of pressure results in 8seconds of our possession gone. It's an easy thing to scout and implement for our opponents and its slows the pace of the game and neutralizes our powerful offense. I'm concerned that at least one of our PG's can't be relied upon to hit 30% of their open 3's. At least one of our PG's can't be relied upon to make crisp passes that put the recipient in position to score. We've definitely seen improvement the past few weeks, and I understand their importance on defense. And our defense is a far bigger issue right now. But a good coach exploits a players strengths and hides deficiencies. I wouldn't trade Matt Painter for any other coach in the country and he knows a hell of a lot more about basketball than I do - but a lot of this could be solved by having Ivey or Morton bring the ball up with our struggling PG is on the floor. I'd be curious to get your thoughts. I'm pulling for everyone on the team and I am optimistic Painter will have this team peaking as we head into March, but this has been a big concern that I haven't seen addressed.
We don't need our PG's to score. We need them to perform their role well. Their role is to defend, bring the ball up the court quickly, get us into our offense quickly, and score opportunistically (open shots/cuts). Kind of like how Gillis plays the PF position. He hustles, he rebounds, he doesn't turn the ball over, he finds space and makes smart cuts, and he hits open shots when defenses collapse on our centers or Ivey.
My concern centers around the fact that at least one of our PGs is not able to even bring the ball up the court without eating half our possession before making their first pass. Even the slightest amount of pressure results in 8seconds of our possession gone. It's an easy thing to scout and implement for our opponents and its slows the pace of the game and neutralizes our powerful offense. I'm concerned that at least one of our PG's can't be relied upon to hit 30% of their open 3's. At least one of our PG's can't be relied upon to make crisp passes that put the recipient in position to score. We've definitely seen improvement the past few weeks, and I understand their importance on defense. And our defense is a far bigger issue right now. But a good coach exploits a players strengths and hides deficiencies. I wouldn't trade Matt Painter for any other coach in the country and he knows a hell of a lot more about basketball than I do - but a lot of this could be solved by having Ivey or Morton bring the ball up with our struggling PG is on the floor. I'd be curious to get your thoughts. I'm pulling for everyone on the team and I am optimistic Painter will have this team peaking as we head into March, but this has been a big concern that I haven't seen addressed.
