No Guard play!
- Thread starter ciggar_man
- Start date
There is no magic formula to get them to shoot better. As a result teams are bottling up our inside players making it hard to get the ball to the bigs. "Stepping Up" won't be an easy fix.
Archie is in a tough spot and you can blame him for how he got there but it doesn't change the facts. He only has 4 scholarship guards on the team. None of them are consistent at anything other than being inconsistent.
It's not for lack of trying. He started limiting Green's minutes of late. He's tried to force Rob back to relevance. He's give Franklin freedom to shoot. He's tried AD at point, which is brutal to watch. It's a group full of holes in their games.
The fact Rob only takes about 6 shots a game (40% of them from three) is hard to believe. He gets to the FT line less than twice a game. Compare that to other starting point guards in the conference - not close.
Before the season Archie made it clear they needed Rob to play. It hasn't happened. Why? Could be carryover injury. Could be he is punch drunk from last year's concussion. Nobody in the program is offering an explanation. But what we know is Rob is the only guard on the team that has the ability to turn this thing around. Green is what he is - undisciplined and unreliable. Al tries hard but he is no point guard and not a good shooter. Franklin is a freshman and does freshmen things. They all turn it over too much and none of them shoot well (Al is the only one with a FG % over 40%).
Other teams realize this. They are doing what we all said would happen without better guard play. Clog the lane, double the post, and dare IU to shoot it from outside.
It's not for lack of trying. He started limiting Green's minutes of late. He's tried to force Rob back to relevance. He's give Franklin freedom to shoot. He's tried AD at point, which is brutal to watch. It's a group full of holes in their games.
The fact Rob only takes about 6 shots a game (40% of them from three) is hard to believe. He gets to the FT line less than twice a game. Compare that to other starting point guards in the conference - not close.
Before the season Archie made it clear they needed Rob to play. It hasn't happened. Why? Could be carryover injury. Could be he is punch drunk from last year's concussion. Nobody in the program is offering an explanation. But what we know is Rob is the only guard on the team that has the ability to turn this thing around. Green is what he is - undisciplined and unreliable. Al tries hard but he is no point guard and not a good shooter. Franklin is a freshman and does freshmen things. They all turn it over too much and none of them shoot well (Al is the only one with a FG % over 40%).
Other teams realize this. They are doing what we all said would happen without better guard play. Clog the lane, double the post, and dare IU to shoot it from outside.
I believe that phrase is the trademark of Mike Davis and Mike Davis Coaching and cannot be used without the express written consent of Mike Davis.
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Actually there is: recruit good shooters and coach them up and get them to work on it all the time. There's not an instant fix, nor a magic formula, but we haven't addressed it with recruiting for a few classes now, and frankly, even though I have not seen them play, based on descriptions/reviews I don't believe we've addressed it for next year either. Over time Leal and Galloway might become adequate shooters, but I'm not expecting them to be the answer next year as freshmen. I've been saying it for awhile now, but we still have the following needs for next year: shooting, another PG and a post for depth and to develop. I know it's unlikely we can address all those at this point, but those are the needs I see on our roster next year. Still scratching my head why we have so much duplication of skills with 3 wings/2Gs and yes I know Geronimo might be able to play at the 3 with the others, but I don't see any of them helping us to the degree we need with shooting next year.
Does Phin ever get to play more than 5-6 minute stretches? I've read rumors about about him playing with a hernia. I'm sure if so it is painful but does that impact him playing long stretches. I'l have to go back and research some of the box scores to see when enters and exits the lineup.
Early in the season he missed some games and a ton of practices due to a "lower abdominal injury." That's where the hernia rumor comes from since that is the most likely injury from the description. If that is the case, he'll likely have surgery right after the season is over but until then will be putting up with it.
