Stats and stuff (UVA game)...

[ohio tarheels]

So do people want Marcus to take more shots??? If that is the case then Brice, Joel, JJ, Hicks and others are going to lose production and last year I believe people were saying that we need others to step up... Now do we don't want that to happen... Do I want to see Marcus make shots like before.. Yes but does it matter if he goes 8-15 for 21 pts or 3-9 for 11 pts and someone else scores the other 10... I just want him to take open shots when they are there and play for the TEAM and not individual stats..

 

[Bubspub88]

Wonder if Marcus had been playing point all season would Brice have had the year he has had?

 

[Archer2]

Do y'all not realize all this speculation flunks even the face validity test? Nothing in the position change is reponsible for Marcus's production. In fact it has produced 5 players (nearly 6) averaging double figures, a historically excellent team Assist/TO ratio, and the team not having to rely on one player. It has also gotten him to his healthiest since his Sophomore season. Marcus and the team were also better last season when he teamed with JB and played the 2, btw. He is getting more than enough good looks this season. This invented idea that he is unhappy and supressing it is also amusing.
Good grief

Agreed. When Marcus takes good squared up shots in rhythm and follows through with good form, he shoots a good enough % still. What hurts is that he seems to force shots a bit too much, and in those forced shots, he is closely guarded, drifting left / right, not squared up, double pumping, just not clean looking shots fundamentally. That, and he seems to have a lot fewer chances, and less success, driving and finishing at the rim. He hasn't gotten smaller obviously, but seems not big and strong enough to consistently prevail over the brutal banging that is allowed against him when he drives the lane. Doesn't help that the lane is often clogged, and we don't set enough picks for him and Berry going to the hole, as someone else said.

But to blame his decline in shooting / scoring on whether he plays the 1, 2, or any position number you want to pick, is crazy. Is he getting enough shots? Yes, but more should be driving to the hole. But he gets plenty of chances with the ball in his hands out on the perimeter, where you can think of him as a de facto second point guard if you wish. He can create his own shot or pass to whoever he wants, just like a PG. But I seriously doubt he's saying "man if I were PG I'd be getting more shots, better shots, I'd handle the ball more...... and my shots would go in more if someone called me a 1 guard vs. a 2 guard". That is crazy. The ball and hoop are the same size, either way. You're facing the same defenders too. People aren't going to guard him differently at the 1 vs. the 2.

Both posts are spot on. Marcus knows he is the key to this team and is forcing shots. Period! Whether he plays point or off guard is irrelevant in our offense. He needs to take higher quality shots. Too many of his shots are taken when he is moving laterally and are not conducive to shooting a high percentage. I realize he is the heartbeat of our team but he needs to quit pressing and contribute in other ways.

 

[imajericho]

You simply can't have that many TOs against them and expect to win

Whenever your turnovers are pushed from behind out of bounds or called.fot an offensive fouk when driving on a slant to the ft line to shoot a jumper on a defender bumping him.

What can you do?

 

[imajericho]

Need Marcus to take more efficient shots. Not necessarily more shots.

 

[coryfly]

So do people want Marcus to take more shots??? If that is the case then Brice, Joel, JJ, Hicks and others are going to lose production and last year I believe people were saying that we need others to step up... Now do we don't want that to happen... Do I want to see Marcus make shots like before.. Yes but does it matter if he goes 8-15 for 21 pts or 3-9 for 11 pts and someone else scores the other 10... I just want him to take open shots when they are there and play for the TEAM and not individual stats..

He has been playing for the team all year. He doesn't play selfish. The very fact he is playing off the ball illustrates this. I think what we want is to try and get him going because we realize we need that to make a deep run.

 

[DSouthr]

Marcus is a basketball player and to basketball players it does not, it should not matter where they play, just that they got to play. Marcus may be a PG in the NBA but on this team he is a combo and really he has always been a combo type of college player. With the way Roy prefers to play he prefers 2 PGs on the floor together and has stated as such many times. So no matter of Paige is technically the 2 he is one of the 2 Pgs on the floor together for us. I mean does it really matter who is in the middle up top, does it matter of Marcus attacks from the side or the top? It means we have 2 solid ball handles on the floor together and in this case one of them is a better shooter thou for a good bit of this season the better shooters shots have not dropped like they have in the past and the lesser shooters shots have fallen at more critical times.

Now maybe we can argue that the 2 PG on the floor together is a bit of to many head chefs in the kitchen, maybe we can argue that we could never see another PG on the floor with kendal for example. But that is the style Roy prefers and it is his call.

 

[coryfly]

If it matters to Marcus it doesn't really matter whether or not it matters to anyone else tbh. We aren't the ones playing. It is probably too late to go that route anyway but at the very least when Paige and Nate are in I don't think it would hurt to let Paige run the point to see if it makes a difference.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Marcus has used up all of his mojo juice. Some players have a limited supply and Marcus ran through most of his during his sophomore year. It's alright. No one is mad at him. But that year he played above his head and we all thought that was what we were going to get the following 2 years. It hasn't worked out that way. Do I believe Marcus would be performing better if he was logging most of minutes at the 1? Maybe. But he wouldn't be back to the form of his sophomore year. And how well would the other guys have adjusted had that been the case? Hindsight is 20/20. What we have is what we have. Cannot make the switch this late. So here's to Marcus simply finding the bottom of the net at a higher percentage as we move forward.

 

[coryfly]

Marcus has used up all of his mojo juice. Some players have a limited supply and Marcus ran through most of his during his sophomore year. It's alright. No one is mad at him. But that year he played above his head and we all thought that was what we were going to get the following 2 years. It hasn't worked out that way. Do I believe Marcus would be performing better if he was logging most of minutes at the 1? Maybe. But he wouldn't be back to the form of his sophomore year. And how well would the other guys have adjusted had that been the case? Hindsight is 20/20. What we have is what we have. Cannot make the switch this late. So here's to Marcus simply finding the bottom of the net at a higher percentage as we move forward.

I kind of agree except with the Nate pairing. The minutes they share aren't huge so wouldn't think there could be any adverse impact of rolling with it. It is certainly too late at this point to change things too much. I think he has also shown hints that he is coming out of it but just can't quite shake it. So it probably is what it is, which is ok. Like you said, any mad at Marcus is nuts anyway. He has given plenty in his time here.