Well... Koenig's a better shooter and quicker, but I'd take Bobby's play-making, defense and court awareness. Hard to go wrong with either though.
Woods-Robinson-Bradley
- Thread starter mikeirbyusa
- Start date
Well, I agree with the first part, but you can also be a scoring PG / "Lead" Guard like JB (or Phil or The Jet). The key, I believe, is that mindset you mentioned, i.e., that you're running the show to make everyone better and picking your spots to "take" --- and it's often a fine line and instinctive as much as learned.
Well D, as you know, I had no such misguided notions concerning Luke and Kenny.
Anyway...
as for 7th the reality is pretty clear, just as it was with say, Shammond or Dex when they were thrown out there as freshmen. Like 7th, neither was a natural PG (except for by size). Granted, they eventually got proficient enough to give decent backup minutes at Point as upperclassmen, but that was the extent of it. Shammond and Dex were both better off the ball and so it is with 7th --- if we get that backup PG contribution from him over time that will be a bonus.
If the past week has brought anything into focus, it's how vital the PG position is in the Carolina system. It's not something we can just get by with, it must be played a very proficient and efficient level. In an ideal world JB will come back (please!) and Jalek can ease into the successor role, but if Berry leaves Jalek needs to be the man right away. Hopefully 7th will progress to be able to give decent backup minutes there. And BTW: One piece of good news is Platek can play Point if needed ---- I watched him do it, and very well.
gary, we gonna have to agree to disagree on this one buddy, this kid has talent that goes way past Dex or Shammond. You darn right, he does need to work on his ball handles and that will tighten up, I have seen them tighten up since this season has begun, he is much less casual with his dribble and his passing than game 1, that was stuff he could get away with in HS that he now can see does not work at this level. The really big thing I see is him getting on the same page with his team mates, understanding who can catch the hot pass, who can get the tall pass, who is cutting one way or the other.
What I see is he is struggling to understand what his team mates responsibility is and understanding his team mates strengths and weaknesses. What I do notice is over the last few games he is attacking more in the half court, he is getting in to the lane almost at will, his mates are not always giving him the option to slip them a pass when he does, his mates do not seem like they see what he is doing and visa versa. That means getting on the same page in practice and on court communication in games.
That is what I mean when I say he has all the puzzle pieces but needs to figure out how to put them together. Shamond and Dex never really had all the puzzle pieces that 7th does. When I hear Roy talk about what he watches in practice, that 7th has that Ty Lawson ability of being a one man fast break, I stop and I listen to that. I see it at times, he just needs to listen to Kenny Rogers some, know when to hold em...In other words, pick his spots, every thing does not have to happen at warp speed, same thing Ty had to learn. That and tone back the risker passes for the safer passes, again pick your spots. Believe it was against Tenn, he gets the outlet and passes maybe 3/4 court to Meeks, great shot if that were Justin, but you don't pass it 3/4 court to your big center running the court. He isn't expecting it and big men on the dead run are not usually able to handle those, again, that is learning your team mates, he passed it to a jersey and not a person.
Yeah, unlike at Wisconsin, he wouldn't have to run the point here and he could slide over to his natural wing position and crush it. I'd love to have him here.
Ok. Thats a sweet thought but..who is he"crushing it" over here? I mean,what wing are you playing him over on last years team? where are his minutes coming from? Others see him as a backup PG in our system apparently.
He starts at the 2 this year for sure. Theo comes off the bench as an energy, do everything bench guy even if healthy with Bronson here.
Last year he eats into Theo's, JB's, and Justin's minutes as our 6th man. Justin sees 22 instead of 28 min. Theo sees 15 instead of 19. JB sees 25 instead of 30.
That's around 20 min for Bronson as a shooter we desperately needed. Sign me up!
Absolutely true, Wayne Ellington was never going to be a PG, Danny Green was not going to be a PG, JP was not, I can go on for days of kids that were never going to be PGs because they just did not have that mindset.
But let me ask this, do you see 7th as a combo guard or do you see him as capable of playing only 1 position? To me, Marcus was a combo, I liked him as a point, loved him as a 2, would have loved that more had he shot better last season (LOL). Playtek, see him as a PG only or a combo? I can't hear that ya see Playtek as a combo, able to play either 1 or 2 but 7th is nothing but a 2 similar to Wayne Ellington.
I don't see 7th as a gunner that is just looking for his and not looking for his team mates, I see a kid that feels he has a space to penetrate and takes that op, I want any PG we have to do that. I would kinda like to see his teammates be a bit more prepared for him to pass to them because that is not always the case. 7th is very much a kid that is trying to get his teammates involved, yes he does try to do to much at times but Ty Lawson drove Roy nutzs his freshman season trying to do to much.
Look, I am not turning a blind eye to the turn overs, not going to argue that he does not at times get a lil out of control, I am not saying he is ready right now, all I am saying is he will be.
It's not that complicated. I'll just put it this way, 7th played PG his entire final AAU summer and it never looked smooth... Andrew slid over when his team's starting PG tweaked an ankle in an AAU game and it looked like he'd been doing it his whole life (and this is a kid who had to play the 4 in HS before he transferred to a more talented program).
As for Ty, yeah he had a lot to learn and had to adjust to playing under control, but he had played PG at a high level in HS and AAU and even international tourneys. Apples and oranges, at least in that sense.
To answer your question, Dex eventually became a transition finisher and plus-defender 2 who could give us decent backup minutes at the 1 (a nice Combo) --- Shammond eventually became a knock-down shooter 2 who could give us decent backup minutes at the 1 (a nice Combo). While 7th compares more to Dex athletically, I think 7th's track will be similar to both in that his role will be a nice Combo who is better at the 2 who will eventually be able to back up at the 1 without giving Roy a heart attack.
I'll take that, as would Roy, I believe. I do believe 7th will be a very good defender, in time.
Well now we are getting in to the neighborhood of agreement, where we still bump heads a little is that I see MUCH more raw talent of PG ability in 7th than I did in Dex or Shammond. Have to understand that 7th in addition to trying the switch to PG this past summer was also battling coming back from a knee and a balky ankle. He was not able to move like he can 100% healthy so that slowed his transition down even further.
Roy has said on more than one occasion that we haven't yet seen the 7th Woods that he recruited, that is a completely healthy 7th. And I've seen enough flashes of potential, even not fully healthy, to be very excited about his future.
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I think Dex would have been an excellent PG with a little more time and if he had been injury free. Shammond , on the other hand, was a conscience free scorer. I see 7th in the middle of these two extremes. He is most likely better suited to the 2 in college BUT: He should become a good PG and will need to learn the position for the pros. 7th has the potential to be a star in college, but he is a lead guard who will never be a traditional set em up PG! He will be fun to watch eventually!
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