Well in a quest for some positives it struck me that for all our complaining about the PT the kids are getting, we really don't have a lot of discussion of their actual games and how they are coming along.
So what I'm thinking here is a JOB COMPLAINT FREE zone. You enter this thread knowing the hard facts there and accepting them. No one is madder than me about it.
But the kids will get time here and there at least, and that time and effort is what I want to talk about.
Also I want real critical discussion, so let's take off the gloves and not get worked up about negatives. On the flip side, I'd like this discussion to not be full of "Rush sucks" or "Josh is so overrated" talk.
What I'd like to see is discussion of what guys are doing better, what they need to work on, and have all this stuff based on specific plays or moments from games.
There's not much joy left to the season, but I think most of us agree that following the kids is one of those joys. So let's focus on that.
The guys I have in mind would be Roy, Rush, Price, Josh, Tyler (when/if he returns)...and I think some DJones and Danny discussion fits a little too since they would appear to be part of the future too.
Here's one - I think Rush has an issue with "comfort shots". He's got plenty of moves to get places, but he looks very unsure of how to finish a lot of these plays. He had a couple of short arm jumpers vs PHX that looked just like this.
I'd like to see him get some really go-to moves. Does he have any now, situation where you see it coming? Maybe the 3 when he is catching it in rhythm, but off his dribble stuff?
Roy - his passing game is really strong, I like his lobs over the top from the high post.
His low post game needs some work. He's got moves but he tends to rush shots quite often. Not sure why, but I do think that's a youth thing.
Tonight he had an almost great play where he was low posted and dumped it to a cutter (Price I think) who then kicked it to the opposite wing. Roy used that to come across the lane and repost with the ball coming right back to him. So far so good, really smart ball. But then he just went quickly up with a rushed flip for no good reason rather than setting himself into a true shot move.
Price - I like his game, but I need to see his assist to FGA ratio come up.
His strength seems to be two man game. One thing Roy and Josh do is come to him well for PnR work. Both get off the PnR pretty clean usually so there is real potential there.
But at other times Price will just drive for his own mid-jumper. I hope this is more to do with JOB then AJ.
Josh - well I like his above the rim game. TJ tossed one over the top with Josh trying to pull a high post backdoor cut, but PHX was all over it and really it was a bad TJ choice. However Josh's vert and lateral quickness got him to the ball and actually drew a foul. That's why I'm enamored with prospects that have vert and lateral, there are so many spontaneous plays that require those skills.
He needs to always be the guy the guards look to for finishes on transitions because he does get out well and run.
Right now his weakpoint is awareness, especially on defense. He let Nash just come right in because he was worried about the pass going to his man. Gotta protect the rim first, even if it means getting burned behind. That falls on the next rotation guy.
On offense he has off and on moments. Pretty clearly to me he has a set number of things he's prepared to do, and if those aren't applicable then he kind of stiffens up. He needs to expand his comfort with more offensive situations.
Naturally ALL the players will require PT to improve these things. Like I said, I'm not faulting any of them for having bad points. But that doesn't make those problems go away.
Think of this thread as more like "what will the NEW coach think about these guys, and what will he have them work on".
Oh, btw, I think Danny badly needs to focus on his defensive play. He's become a slightly below average on ball defender this year.
So what I'm thinking here is a JOB COMPLAINT FREE zone. You enter this thread knowing the hard facts there and accepting them. No one is madder than me about it.
But the kids will get time here and there at least, and that time and effort is what I want to talk about.
Also I want real critical discussion, so let's take off the gloves and not get worked up about negatives. On the flip side, I'd like this discussion to not be full of "Rush sucks" or "Josh is so overrated" talk.
What I'd like to see is discussion of what guys are doing better, what they need to work on, and have all this stuff based on specific plays or moments from games.
There's not much joy left to the season, but I think most of us agree that following the kids is one of those joys. So let's focus on that.
The guys I have in mind would be Roy, Rush, Price, Josh, Tyler (when/if he returns)...and I think some DJones and Danny discussion fits a little too since they would appear to be part of the future too.
Here's one - I think Rush has an issue with "comfort shots". He's got plenty of moves to get places, but he looks very unsure of how to finish a lot of these plays. He had a couple of short arm jumpers vs PHX that looked just like this.
I'd like to see him get some really go-to moves. Does he have any now, situation where you see it coming? Maybe the 3 when he is catching it in rhythm, but off his dribble stuff?
Roy - his passing game is really strong, I like his lobs over the top from the high post.
His low post game needs some work. He's got moves but he tends to rush shots quite often. Not sure why, but I do think that's a youth thing.
Tonight he had an almost great play where he was low posted and dumped it to a cutter (Price I think) who then kicked it to the opposite wing. Roy used that to come across the lane and repost with the ball coming right back to him. So far so good, really smart ball. But then he just went quickly up with a rushed flip for no good reason rather than setting himself into a true shot move.
Price - I like his game, but I need to see his assist to FGA ratio come up.
His strength seems to be two man game. One thing Roy and Josh do is come to him well for PnR work. Both get off the PnR pretty clean usually so there is real potential there.
But at other times Price will just drive for his own mid-jumper. I hope this is more to do with JOB then AJ.
Josh - well I like his above the rim game. TJ tossed one over the top with Josh trying to pull a high post backdoor cut, but PHX was all over it and really it was a bad TJ choice. However Josh's vert and lateral quickness got him to the ball and actually drew a foul. That's why I'm enamored with prospects that have vert and lateral, there are so many spontaneous plays that require those skills.
He needs to always be the guy the guards look to for finishes on transitions because he does get out well and run.
Right now his weakpoint is awareness, especially on defense. He let Nash just come right in because he was worried about the pass going to his man. Gotta protect the rim first, even if it means getting burned behind. That falls on the next rotation guy.
On offense he has off and on moments. Pretty clearly to me he has a set number of things he's prepared to do, and if those aren't applicable then he kind of stiffens up. He needs to expand his comfort with more offensive situations.
Naturally ALL the players will require PT to improve these things. Like I said, I'm not faulting any of them for having bad points. But that doesn't make those problems go away.
Think of this thread as more like "what will the NEW coach think about these guys, and what will he have them work on".
Oh, btw, I think Danny badly needs to focus on his defensive play. He's become a slightly below average on ball defender this year.
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