Agree. PG isn't going to be a strength but I don't think it is going to downright kill us. In some games it will be exposed and that is to be expected. That's just basketball. You just adjust and hope the rest of the guys can pick up the slack, and you make the most out of the good possessions. Sometimes you are going to take your lumps, it is what it is. Obviously it will be a work in progress but I'm not super worried at this point.EVCat wrote:You don't have to have traditional PG play to win, as long as the person playing at the point is not a liability who is forced to play the position because you have to have a ball handler. Point play hurts when you are playing your 9th best player just to have someone running point who has the requisite skills. If you have wings with handle, or a "point forward", or can start offense out of a few different sets, and are truly running some motion, the idea of a TJ McConnell at point isn't required. A TJ is nice and a luxury because you can rely on one clear leader and ball handler, but it isn't required. There were more than a few successful UA teams that did not have a "classic" PG...Damon was a scoring 1, Steve Kerr was vary rarely the initiator of offense, Mark Lyons (though he had other deficiencies, he still was successful), Matt Othick was more a shooter and shared the start offense with MM and a couple of small forwards with capability (Buechler, Mills).
I know TJ is seared into our minds. But if we have ball handling from all three wings, and some PF play with handle, we do NOT need to force the issue with a "true" or "classic" point.
Last year was a totally different beast. We had a lot of bigger guys. We had a freshman at one wing, Gabe was a mess with the ball in pressure situations, and we had big guys who couldn't dribble. We HAD to force PJC and Kadeem into that responsibility, and it showed in the Wichita State game badly...when they took Kadeem out of the game, there was no relief.
This year, we will have flexibility at the 4, Trier is a year older and will be able to take more of the ball duties, Kobi will be a scorer but can run point effective to be a part timer, and Smith and others can play 3/4 and provide release/handle in traps and at mid court, and can also initiate offense. It is a totally different situation. We can run true motion with an interchangeable 1-3 and sometimes 4.
A PG is important. But it doesn't have to be a traditional "100% start the offense" guy, especially if you have motion principles.
That is half of the struggle with the NCAA tournament anyhow, drawing the favorable matchup. That was why I hated the Wichita State draw and chalked it up to a loss barring a miracle before it happened (which I hate doing), because of their defense and their defensive pressure. We saw limited pressure during the year and only a few quality defenses, but certainly not to that level. I remember posting here after the game and asking Spliff about their pressure because I had not seen anything like that before- they took principals from several different presses/traps and made their hybrid version of it. TJ and a veteran point guard with plus skills and experience would be caught off guard, but they would figure it out fairly quickly and push us through. Hell, a guy like TJ wouldn't even need a timeout and CSM saying, "Here is what they are doing, here is what we are going to do," that discussion would be to get the other four on the court on the same page and let them know the attack. PJC and Kadeem weren't those guys and it killed us. Once they somewhat got a handle on just getting the ball across the timeline, then they were completely off their games and running the offense 10 plus feet back from where it needed to be ran (thanks in part to WSU's halfcourt D too). Zeus was the only guy on the court in the first half that looked both competent and like he wanted to be out there. But now guess what, they've both seen it and can grow from it.
