Also, the departure of one certain person from lasts years team is going to do nothing but help this teams chemistry. Thats all Iām gonna say about that.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi[/i]@Aug 10 2004, 04:39 PM [b] Also, the departure of one certain person from lasts years team is going to do nothing but help this teams chemistry. Thats all I'm gonna say about that. [/b]Why, what was wrong with Russ Snyder?
[i]Originally posted by bobblinlutz[/i]@Aug 10 2004, 03:38 PM [b][b]I agree, Mitch will be fine. He has a year under his belt and he won't be looking over his shoulder for Demon everytime he makes a mistake. I expect good things.[/b]Again, thereās nothing to suggest this will be true. He wasnāt looking over his shoulder at Demon last year. Demon was our starting Senior PG, and I (and everyone in my section) felt MUCH better when he was in the game running the show.
Doyel was right on, itās all going to come down to PG play for us. I hope that Goldwire can play his way into the starting lineup because I am not kidding myself like some people on this board. Mitch has done NOTHING to show me he can CONSISTENTLY run this team. [/b]
And there is nothing to say this wonāt be true. If you what to look at it with a negative slant, so be it. If it were commonplace for Soph PGās to play like seasond vetās Iād see your point.
And you are correct, Demon was the starting Sr PG. You made my point, Mitch can play and not worry about being yanked after his first mistake because the Senior is on the bench waiting to come in. This will now be his team to run.
If you think Demon CONSISTENTLY ran the team well you were watching a different Demon Brown.
You should call Lutz and let him know your concerns, he must be dying for imput on how to put a winner on the floor.
I donāt think anyone could look at Mitchās play last year and think heās the answer to our PG situationā¦but then againā¦that wasnāt his role last year.
He played great in spurts and bad in others but most importantly, he improved 10-fold from his Freshman year and learned from every opportunity he encountered.
He still has a lot to prove to show he can run a Div. 1 BBall team as PG, but if he improves as much between his Soph & Jr year as he did between his Fr & Soph year, then he may be well on his way.
It will be his job to lose, and his opportunity to shineā¦winners step up to those type of challengesā¦so, show us what you can do Mitch & lead us to the promised land!
Our road to the promised land runs through our front court not our back court.
Withers leads the team, Iti crashes the boards and blocks shots, Basden does his usual, Plavich takes smart shots and gives us a boost. We just need Mitch to minimize turnovers, play D, and distribute the ball. He doesnāt even need to shoot that much.
Throw in Drayton, Nance, Pigford, and Goldwire off the bench and weāve got a nice rotation.
I feel that trying to extrapolate a whole season out of 2 good games is a very very bold statement. One that I am not willing to bank an investment on.
As for team chemistry, I donāt see Demon as being a team cancer. He was very vocal, but he wanted to win. He was always willing to do his part. He was a very productive 2g who switch to the point to help his team. The only person whoās demeanor I ever saw as being potentially detrimental to the team was Big Cal. Everytime he got the ball he tried to make a post move and shoot. Demon may have made some bad decisions but his motive was always pureāHe wanted to win and he tried to do too much.
The player who this team will miss the most though is not Demon or Calvin IMO. I think this team will miss the versatility they had off the bench with Butter. Butter hustled, could score and really started to play tough defense as the season went on. He was a bit of a TO machine, but I think weāll miss being able to have him and Eddie absolutely lock down the wings on defense. EJ is a capable offensive replacement, but heās not a high energy guy who plays good defense. Hopefully he picks it up for us.
[i]Originally posted by 49erFan1[/i]@Aug 10 2004, 08:10 PM [b] I feel that trying to extrapolate a whole season out of 2 good games is a very very bold statement.As for team chemistry, I donāt see Demon as being a team cancer.
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Itās not a bold statement, it is just a fact and it is all we have to go on. Those are the only two games that he was given a chance run this team without the short leash. Coincidentally, they were well played games against two of our toughest opponents. I agree itās not much to go on, but itās out there and itās all we can refer to when discussing his ability to run this team.
As far as Demonā¦no comment other than I know several players would disagree with you.
If youāve heard it straight from the players then I canāt say much against it. I donāt know what happened in the locker rooms or at practice last year. When I spent time with the team Demon always worked hard, practiced hard and always played hard. However I will admit that he did provide some off the court distractions, but for me its hard to picture him as being a team cancer.
[b]As far as Demon...no comment other than I know several players would disagree with you. [/b]
Can we add a new forum for those āin the knowā so that the rest of us who just watch the games and donāt know any players or coaches can talk about what we see on the court? Sorry PI, I donāt know a single player personally on the team. But what I saw from Demon was a team-first guy who like 49er1 said, switched from his natural position for the good of the team.
I love how people claim Iām looking at the Mitch situation negatively, while all the while theyāre trashing Demon. Demon was our second best player last year, best player the year before that. Itās that simple. Anyone who says otherwise just doesnāt like the character of the guy.
Now, back to Mitch. Sorry PI, but 2 games does not a point guard make. And whoever else said something about a Sophomore not having to play like a seasoned vet just isnāt watching the same college basketball Iām watching. This isnāt the 80s where a guy isnāt expected to contribute till his Junior year. Mitch, to me, regressed in his skills last year, except for in the Louisville game. The S. Ill. game I only listened to so I must confess I donāt remember that game as well.
Now, I will say this. I walked into Halton the night of Louisville with a terrible feeling in my stomach because I felt like Demon was the one guy we absolutely couldnāt play a big time opponent without. Mitch proved me wrong in a big way. But I donāt think he built on that performance. Hopefully, heāll prove me wrong all season.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi+Aug 10 2004, 08:44 PM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (49erpi @ Aug 10 2004, 08:44 PM)
All 5 āstartingā positions on the court are up for grabs. They have to be. Iām sure some guys will get an allotment of floor time, but I think itās crazy not to play everyone in scrimmages, exhibtions and practice trying to find the best combinations. That includes PG. Iād like to see Goldwire and Mitch both get an opportunity to show what they can do. Iād like to see Eddie try to play some 2. With Drayton at the 3, I donāt think weāll lose that much shooting if we play that lineup. And maybe Coach thinks that idea is crazy
Bottom line is this - I donāt like it when we play favorites. As happy as I am that Iti is back, if he canāt stay out of foul trouble then hello Nance & Withers at the 5.
Now I expect Withers to have his spot at the 4 locked down after his solid summer, but other than thatā¦
Also, some of you are ignoring the āotherā side of the ball. Mitch is about a 100% upgrade from Demon as far as on the ball defense (or any kind of defense, for that matter) goes. What we lose in offense in that slot we will make up for in defense, apparently with Goldwire taking pride in that area as well.
Look at our starting five. Only one marginal defensive player on there (Plav). Mitch, Basden, Curt, and Martin are all pretty strong defensively and hopefully can hide him.
[b]His job is to run the offense, PUSH THE TEMPO, and PLAY DEFENSE.[/b]
No doubt about the defense. Love the defense, love the energy. And thatās why heās been such a solid contributor OFF THE BENCH. Lefty, how can you confidently say that he can do those other two things consistently for us? Heās often looked lost running our half-court sets and seems very confused of when to push tempo and when to settle us into the half-court set. I just donāt see where you guys are getting this confidence about Mitch. IMO, it is by far the biggest question mark on our team right now.
Hey at least weāre debating this and not Plav bashing again. Then again, I canāt wait for that topic to pick back up because Iāll know the seasonās upon us.
I can just hear it now:
āDamn Plavich! Kid canāt even make a telephone call without dialing long distance!ā
[b]Hey at least we're debating this and not Plav bashing again. Then again, I can't wait for that topic to pick back up because I'll know the season's upon us. [/b]
Well, letās just bring this into the debate then. What about a starting lineup of Iti, Withers, and Drayton down low, with Basden at the 2 and ā¦ PLAV AT PG???
I have to say this wasnāt my original thought, but when a fellow Niner brought it up at the end of last season, I began to think about it.
We could still have Mitch providing that spark off the bench and maybe this would influence Plav not to launch from the center circle anymore. Thoughts???
[i]Originally posted by bobblinlutz[/i]@Aug 11 2004, 07:49 AM [b][b]His job is to run the offense, PUSH THE TEMPO, and PLAY DEFENSE.[/b]No doubt about the defense. Love the defense, love the energy. And thatās why heās been such a solid contributor OFF THE BENCH. Lefty, how can you confidently say that he can do those other two things consistently for us? Heās often looked lost running our half-court sets and seems very confused of when to push tempo and when to settle us into the half-court set. I just donāt see where you guys are getting this confidence about Mitch. IMO, it is by far the biggest question mark on our team right now. [/b]
Bobblin - I sure as hell donāt want a true Frosh PG running THIS team. We have only seen encouraging things from Mitch to this point so I really donāt understand your stance other than a glass half empty approach. He is not Jameer Nelson, we know that, but heās the best we have. If you think Goldwire should start, thats great. But I havenāt seen him in one D1 game yet so that is a little bit of a bolder statement than Mitch being able to handle the job in my mind. And I definately donāt want to see Plavich playing PG.
Just like the Panthers baby: It is what it is.
Lets not start the whole Plavich mess again. He is what he isā¦a shooting guard that is a marginal-at-best shooter that canāt play any defense. Lets not try to turn him into anything else please.
Mitch is our best option at PG right now. He will bring more speed and better defense (one of our downfalls last year) than Demon did. His shooting range and ball handling might not be as good, but his shot selection is better. Demon took more than his share of bad shots last year. From what I hear Mitch is a hard worker, so I am sure we will see some improvement in his game from last year.
I guess Leemire could win the job from Mitch later in the season, but as others have said he has to prove himself at the D1 level first.
This is the most excited I have been about a basketball season in a long time. I just hope Bobby stresses defense and FT shooting in practice.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi[/i]@Aug 11 2004, 08:40 AM [b] Lets not start the whole Plavich mess again. He is what he is...a shooting guard that is a marginal-at-best shooter that can't play any defense. Lets not try to turn him into anything else please. [/b]pi, do you really consider Plavich a marginal shooter? I don't want to open this back up again but if he's taking good shots, he can be one of the best shooters in the country. His shot-selection is more of what I question. He wasn't open and forced it last year.
[i]Originally posted by LutzFan[/i]@Aug 11 2004, 09:45 AM [b] This is the most excited I have been about a basketball season in a long time. I just hope Bobby stresses defense and FT shooting in practice. [/b]Ditto.