"I’ve got a freshman, sophomore and freshman on the perimeter."Looking at the stats, those guys are picking up in time played, sure. But to date, Mann is the only one getting more playing time per game than the older guys (specifically Vincent Williams and Sherrard Brantley). The sophomore is KCP and is playing 32+ minutes per game. One of his freshmen, Mann is now creeping towards 20 minutes per game. The other, Morris, is getting less than 14. In conference play, Mann is getting a ton more time, as he should.
A good example: Georgia had Morris, Mann and KCP on the floor at the tip. KCP got his 35 minutes. Mann had 29, and showed up by hitting 10 of his 13 free throws. And yes, he needs to be better than 2-7 shooting, but the 77% FT shooting is huge for a guy that should be a dribble drive player. Morris...only played 12 minutes. He scored 5 points (3-4 from the FT line) and only had one TO.
Brantley played 25. Scored zero. 0-5, with 4 of those being 3pt shoots. He also had a TO. He did not go to the line, either. Is Brantley substantively better than Morris, such that he should get double the playing time? It was clear from the first minute of the game that Mississippi State started playing tight man and rolling help on KCP. At that point, any shot that doesn't involve at least a drive to the basket, either with a kick out/dish/floater/pull up play is a wasted possession. That is purely numbers basketball.
However, Coach Fox wants to put some of the blame for poor post production on Mann,
The lack of interior scoring isn’t all on the post players, Fox said. Freshman point guard Charles Mann has to do a better job of getting the ball inside.
“We’re missing some opportunities there that I think we could get,” Fox said.What opportunities? Someone taking a dribble from 4 feet when they get the ball above their head? Weak fade shot from layup range? Mann is leading the team in assists. He is feeding the ball to post players that have 64 TOs on the season, while shooting below 40% from the field, yet only going to the line 64 times all season? Not that getting to the line is money, as they are shooting 63.6% combined from the FT line.
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| John Cannon (georgiadogs.com) |
Of course, there was no mention of John Cannon in the article, either. I love Neme, but he is right about his own play. It has to be more sound. Just to mention it, Cannon has a lot of turnovers, too. He is 7-7 from the foul line and is over 50% from the field, though.
Should we start looking at this season as lost in order to get playing time for our younger guys? I guess that is my point today; however, I'd say that the time for getting those guys playing time was two months ago, not on the road in Gainesville or Columbia.
TD
2 comments:
I think your article is spot-on. I typically get frustrated when fans start turning on the coach, but I have to admit that Fox's job this season has been particularly befuddling. Even when I hear his logic for why he's playing certain line-ups, it still doesn't add up. I think it's still a bit early to completely just start focusing on playing time for next year, but these freshmen should definitely be seeing an uptick in minutes. Not only to get them experience, but also because that's the best way for this team to be competitive.
I don't like turning on the coach. It isn't in my personality. I reached this place based on
One: He should be playing the best players, not those that know his plays best. Those guys can only get better if they have game experience. The time to do that was ETSU and Youngstown, not Florida and Mississippi State. Coach them up, put them on the court and take your lumps early.
Two: If who he recruited isn't an improvement over who he had before, then all the talk of X's and O's goes out the door. No X's and O'x will out Jimmy and Joe Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, or Kentucky on a regular basis (even with the SEC in a basketball downturn).
When you add both of those together, it is hard for me to see keeping him around.
I'll freely, and extremely happily, admit if I am wrong. Until I see it, though, I don't believe I am.
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