[Texas Tech (11/15/16)]

2 hours ago, Maduro said:

I'm not comparing those particular players and I think that all of my complaints have been geared towards this coaching staff's personnel management for a long time.  It's just me being an armchair point guard who's been watching every game safely from the stands for many years and seeing who produces results and who does not.  Brice appears to produce stats and mis-directed shots when he gets minutes along with a reasonable +/-.  I see Holston commit fouls, miss lay-up's, and the team lose ground when he's on the floor.  Personally, I'd rather see more Draper than Holston if you want me to identify someone on the bench that might need an opportunity to take his minutes... and that's with me only seeing him play less than a minute of mop-up duty against other 3rd stringers.

Do you think Holston has earned his minutes?  Brice is starting due to the Combs injury... do you think he should move back to a reserve role when the team is full strength? 

You made your comments after the first game- I get it, you just don't like Holston's game. Anytime you compare Draper to Holston, as far as value, I'm not sure I am having an unbiased debate. Do you even pay attention to defense or is offense your only baby?  As far as earning minutes, Johnson had a terrible 2 games after the good first game he had. Brown and Johnson had more turnovers and more fouls than Holston.  I'm not sure how minutes are earned, I assume practice, doing what the coach as you to do, and looking at both offensive and defensive match-ups is a factor.  I also assume you want your one of your best defenders on the floor to balance with your best scorers.

 

Forgot about Brice- Until Combs get's healthy enough to be the player we know him to be, I don't think he should play. He was leading the team in turnovers before he was removed due to injury.  Brice had 3 passes, go through his hands early in the Hartford game, so I'm not happy with either situation, but Brice has shown to be able to hit the open shot and has been rebound better lately. But he also can't stay out of foul trouble.  Some of that is his fault for not moving his feet to get around players, some of that is the fault of his teammates inability to stop their guys from getting to the rim, where Brice is waiting to defend.

[Texas Tech (11/15/16)]

1 hour ago, Army of Dad said:

Holston is playing front court defense right now in the Hartford game...

The Hartford guard tried to beat him to the basket, but his 6'7 frame blocked it out of bounds.  That's why you like his length on the floor.

 

[UNT / Sul Ross a Squeaker ??!??]

On 11/13/2016 at 11:09 PM, Maduro said:

I felt that the lack of a true point guard is what made us seem vulnerable.  I have no idea what the coaching staff was thinking allowing Holston to direct the offense for a good portion of the game.  That dude has serious issues putting the ball in the basket and is scared to death of taking a jump shot.  His dribbling and passing skills have always appeared sub-par to me.  It's as if the coaches were desperately trying to find any way possible to make him a usable player after they exhausted all other options.  I think the offense and ball movement will be substantially less sloppy when Reese is back on the floor. 

Brice is an absolute game changer and I feel that it's time for him to move to the starting lineup.  At the end of the non-conference schedule, I'd like to see the teams +/- when he's on and off the floor.  He's motivated, catches passes, is hungry to score, and the opposition is terrified of attacking the basket when he's in the lane.  Now that he's lost a few pounds and appears to be quicker, I bet he could start handling a few more minutes (assuming he can limit foul trouble).   Unless Jeremy is battling some kind of injury, I'm not worried about him at all (except for free throws... probably never going to be an improvement there, but whatever).

Brown is awesome, but I feel like he'll be best suited to come off the bench once Frazier is eligible.  After seeing him play last season and his performance on Friday, deckie is almost like having Tristan Thompson again.  Lawson (and maybe Green) also looks like he has a bit of talent to showcase.  I'd love to see this at the start of the games beginning in January...

pg - reese, sg - frazier, sf/sg - johnson, pf - combs, c - brice

Another interesting statement. I agree with the true PG statement, but let's look at why a coach would want someone else at Point, instead of Brown and Reese and any of the other guards available right now (Ryan should fix this issue). Lawson and Johnson are SGs period.  Brown has a scorers mentality and gets out of control if he's in the PG position too long. Plus, with his scoring ability, you should want him off the ball in position to score.  

Reese is a turnover machine- at least he was last year (Combs is leading this category this year- but Reese has been hurt).  Another thing, Reese slows the game down by dribble up the court instead of passing ahead. For a PG he does not see the floor well and does not pass well, in the flow of the offense (my analysis). When on, he is one of our best shooters/scorers. So to limit the turnovers at the PG position and getting your scorers in a position with the defense running at them is optimal.

Now, the reason to have Holston on the floor.  Holston at 6'7, is one of your best on-ball defenders (Brown is the other one), and only 1 of 2 guards on the team that can play D1 defense.  That's his main role (I believe) when he's on the floor.  Many times you will see him guarding the top scorers on the other team.  His length makes it difficult for players to shoot over him.  Watch how the other guards let guys go right down the lane and get our bigs in foul trouble or make easy layups.  

Last thing- let's not go crazy on Holston over the new roll. We all know he's not a shooter, but to me, Holston looks up the floor much better and doesn't have the turnovers of the other guards. He needs some work on breaking down the defense, but judging by the Hartford game, he looks to be natural around the baseline and in the Sul Ross game, he had 6 rebounds from the PG position. 

[Niagara (11/25/16)]

On 11/25/2016 at 8:35 PM, Andrew said:

Brown, Bruce, and Lawson are the real deal for underclassmen. 

Holston and Fuller are disappointments.

I read a lot, but don't comment.  But some of these statements are interesting.  How can Fuller be a disappointment when hasn't played a game this year?

 

1 minute ago, Andrew said:

He was supposed to be that big banger that grabbed rebounds last year and he never really lived up to that. I believe he can become that, but it was a disappointment last year. So far this year I guess I'm disssapointed he hasn't suited up to show me he can be that banger. I can't even tell if he is injured or what this year. 

Ok, I can agree with that. I believe he has a serious back injury, so he's out this year.  The team should do a better job communicating to the fans the reason players are out.

[Texas Tech (11/15/16)]

On 11/16/2016 at 7:49 AM, Maduro said:

Brice's stats looked fine for the 14 minutes he played (5 rebounds, 1 block, 3 points) and was far more significant than Holston's contribution during the same amount of time... even forced them to take a few lower % shots towards the perimeter.  He only had 2 fouls and barely touched the floor in the 2nd half.  Was there some kind of 1st half injury that I didn't notice?  If not, this just seems like another case of awful personnel management.  He's a far more imposing defensive presence than Combs currently is under the basket.

A couple of thoughts on this comment.  Why would you compare Brice a 7'1 center with Holston a guard? Two totally different roles on the floor.

[Niagara (11/25/16)]

On 11/25/2016 at 8:35 PM, Andrew said:

Brown, Bruce, and Lawson are the real deal for underclassmen. 

Holston and Fuller are disappointments.

I read a lot, but don't comment.  But some of these statements are interesting.  How can Fuller be a disappointment when hasn't played a game this year?