Langford leads the way as Indiana All-Stars split annual series with Kentucky
- Thread starter rikki-tikka-tava
- Start date
Just left the game a little while ago. They announced the attendance at more than 8,000.
Langford does everything well: shooting, passing, rebounding, driving, defense. He jumped center too. I didn't realize how athletic he was. He jumps to the moon. When he ran back to play defense you could see him looking all over the floor to note where all the other players were. A lot of effort for a game that some would call "meaningless." Buy your tickets now at the IU box office. It'll be quality.
Anderson played very well too but looked a little undisciplined (in a game that allowed a coach virtually no chance to install a team system and get the team to play it, so I may be too critical of him). But he was relentless on defense. Archie shouldn't have any trouble getting him to put forth effort in that pack line defense once he gets acclimated. I think he'll be very good on defense (plus he can hit some long jump shots and seems to like driving to the basket).
Phinisee was not flashy but clearly was in charge when he was out there. He played a really solid game and probably made no mistakes though I don't have the box score. He showed some shooting range too. But hIt the weight room as soon as they let you, Robert! You'd surely whip my butt, but players in the Big Ten are bigger.
Oh, and another Indiana all-star (either a Michigan or MSU recruit) also played really really well, kept stealing the ball, driving to the other end and dunking with metal breaking authority. Don't have a program and don't know his name. Henry maybe? Hope he doesn't hurt us next year.
Phinisee will never be a 15-20 ppg guy. He's a Mike Lewis, Chris Reynolds type of PG. Just very steady.
Early days. For all anyone knows he could become the deadliest 3 pt. shooter in IU history.
Phinisee averaged about 18 pts per game throughout high school and 28+ pts per game his last year of high school. I don't know how many of those came from jump shots and how many came from free throws and layups following steals, but he did hit 1-2 three-pointers in the Kentucky all-star game that I saw. I didn't see any reason to think he won't be a reliable shooter when we need him to be one.
He has said he’s excited to be more of a distributor than a scorer.
I don’t doubt that he can, just doubt he will
You may be right. If we have the other players produce enough scoring we won't need him to score a lot of points.
Hopefully he can concentrate on setting up the offense and any point he scores will just be gravy.
snowling
Hall of Famer
Does Anderson have a game similar to OG? I don't mean to compare him directly, but your description sounds like how I would describe OG. I saw glimpses that Smith could become a versatile player that could hit the open jumper and get to the basket with cutting and driving. Smith still needed to work on his defense, but maybe it was more of his inexperience than I've heard that Hunter has similar skills and may be more prepared to play right away.
Romeo's skill and athleticism will make a big difference right away. Phinisee wanting to run the offense and not have to score a lot is great for Romeo, Morgan, and Smith (my pick as the break out player of the year). We will need a post player that can rebound on both ends and defend. Scoring other than rebound baskets will be a bonus.
I hope to see the difference a true PG and an elite SG can make.
I think Jacque Vaughn averaged single-digit scoring throughout his career at Kansas. And he was a terrific college PG.
I think a good PG needs to be a genuine scoring threat, but not necessarily a first or second option. Taking good care of the ball, having great court vision, finding open scorers in great position, playing lockdown D on opposing ballhandlers....these are the makings of great point guards. And I think also helps immensely if they are effective at penetrating to create offensive opportunities.
Your description of what we need and what we hope to get is spot on. I might even agree that Vaughn is probably a decent comparison. However, in checking out Vaughn I noticed he set an NBA record for consecutive missed field goal attempts - 22 - to start a season. Yikes .... Let's hope we see nothing like that.
Oh man, I hope Jacque Vaughn turns out to be a decent comparison for Phin. If he turns out to be anywhere close to as good as Vaughn was, he'd be a home run.
I only brought the name up because he was an elite PG who scored some, but not much. Same goes for guys like Mateen Cleaves, Ed Cota, Aaron Miles, Steve Blake, etal.
None of these guys were the primary (or maybe even secondary) scoring options on their teams. But all of them were fantastic PGs.
If he can reach that level we'll have some very happy wings, post players, coaches and fans. From your mouth to God's ear ....
If he can shoot low-40's from beyond the arc and keep defenses honest we'll have a winner, winner, Chick-Fil-A dinner ....
I just noticed Sean East was in the box score and I didn't see the kid from Evansville Bosse. I didn't know East was an All-Star. Was he added to the roster? I still haven't heard if he has found a school. We speculated that he could walk on at IU, but most thought that he would find a place to play. It shouldn't be hard for a kid that played on an all star team to get a juco or D2 offer. He seems to be getting ignored.
Buckner was a great floor leader and point guard. He wasn't a good shooter and especially not a good FT shooter. He didn't need to score on that team and recognized there was usually a better scoring option than driving to the basket to hope for a foul
Those people mentioned weren't primary scorers but they could pick a team up when others weren't scoring. Archie mentions recruiting winners. A winning PG gets the ball to the players that are scoring or have a match up favorable to them. They see when a guard is trying to defend a PF on the block and gives them the ball instead of launching a 3. A winner can also put the ball in the basket when he needs to.
Buckner was a great floor leader and point guard. He wasn't a good shooter and especially not a good FT shooter. He didn't need to score on that team and recognized there was usually a better scoring option than driving to the basket to hope for a foul
