give the keys to howard

[Jack Hall]

The other thing ill say is we are focused on offense but we clearly need leadership on D too. I noticed White being very verbal in the zone against SCSt. I was very impressed but shouldnt have been surprised given he is a 5th year senior. But then against USC he was much less verbal and looked much less locked in. There really is no excuse for that! A 5th year guy like AW (esp if he is going to be out there 35 mins) needs to be verbal and direct things as much as possible whether we are leading against a cupcake or losing by ten to a real solid team. Lydon too since he will be out there 35 mins. Many guys need to man up but plenty of time . Its very fixable imo

 

[cuseinseattle]

I agree with not yanking Howard after his first mistake and think we should "give him the keys" if that means have him be our primary point guard. I don't think we will confuse Frank with Pearl Washington or Sherman Douglas anytime soon but the reality is he is best option we have this year and next year and we might as well have him our there improving. I'm not quite as low on Gillon as some people but he is short and a liability at the top of the zone. I think there will be no point this season were we feel like Frank at the PG is our biggest problem.

 

[br801]

I personally don't see "special" in Frank. I see solid in his future but that's about it.

I guess it's all relative to what "special" means.

I'm not sure he will be "special," but I've seen enough growth in his game and flashes of brilliance to believe he can be a very, very good college guard this year.

Many of FrancoPizza's posts are "special."

 

[bozophobe]

He's so special that he could do NOTHING against that kid from Wisconsin. He couldn't get around him on multiple attempts and not to be stereotypical here but Howard should have a significant athleticism and speed advantage over him. Pretty disheartening to me.

Whenever someone begins a sentence with "not to be...," followed by an adjective, they're being just that.

 

[81South]

Did Battle play point in high school? I thought he was a combo guard coming in...does he deserve a look?

 

[SoBeCuse]

I haven't seen this hasn't been posted yet and have been hesitant to post about it. Also, I haven't watched a replay of the Wisconsin game so I don't know how much of this episode was shown on TV. I was about 10 rows behind the Cuse bench for the Badger game. In the early second half there was a Syracuse turnover right under the WI basket after most of the players were headed the other way. I'm not sure if Howard lost the ball to Happ or if the pass was to Howard and Happ picked it off. Anyway Happ scored a garbage basket and immediately JB motioned to JG to get in the game. Howard saw this substitution coming and immediately become furious and raced to drive with the inbounded ball. JB saw that Howard was furious/out of control and immediately called a time out while Howard was in the middle of a drive to score.

JB started towards Howard to chew him out but Howard wanted nothing to do with JB and ran toward GMAC. Howard yelled loudly to GMAC while pointing at JB the whole time saying that he was hooked by a WI played forcing him to either turn over the ball or not get to the right spot to catch the outlet pass. At this point JB walked to Howard (away from the huddled players on the bench) and I thought JB was going to yell at Howard but JB stood by as Howard yelled at him for being taken out of the game and tried explain the turnover. I was surprised by JB's patience as JB refrained from yelling and tried to calm Howard down. I'm sure JB did not like Howard's reaction to being taken out of the game. Howard then rode the bench for about 10 game time minutes until about the last media timeout.

JB clearly stated his displeasure with Howard because there were several poor plays by JG that normally would mean Howard would have come back into the game. After Howard finally got back into the game at garbage time he jacked up several quick 3's missing all of them. I know players have had visible and heated exchanges with JB in the past but this one may have gone over the line. Will be interesting to see how Howard & JB get along this year.

I think that was the Lydon blunder/lazy/horrendous pass to Howard under the basket. We'll have to keep an eye on this. When watching it live from home I thought this was all on Lydon. A terrible decision and he has done this before. Frank obviously doesn't like being in the doghouse and it was unfair for him to get taken out of the game, imo. Lydon should've been parked on the bench. Frank hopefully can roll with the punches and be strong mentally. He needs to calm down. Then again, Frank's defense was horrendous up to that point so maybe JB was boiling. But, if a JB tirade happens again towards Frank after a play and it isn't Frank's fault then it won't be good for everybody.

 

[two3zone]

I think that was the Lydon blunder/lazy/horrendous pass to Howard under the basket. We'll have to keep an eye on this. When watching it live from home I thought this was all on Lydon. A terrible decision and he has done this before. Frank obviously doesn't like being in the doghouse and it was unfair for him to get taken out of the game, imo. Lydon should've been parked on the bench. Frank hopefully can roll with the punches and be strong mentally. He needs to calm down. Then again, Frank's defense was horrendous up to that point so maybe JB was boiling. But, if a JB tirade happens again towards Frank after a play and it isn't Frank's fault then this won't be good for everybody.

I've seen it before, Player A screws up and Player B gets JB's wrath.

He does play favorites, but you know what, most people do play favorites. I have 85 employees and I have my favorite ones. JB protects Lydon like he has with many players in the past.

 

[skurey]

I think we need to give the keys to Howard now especially for next season when we have 2 guards on the entire team.

 

[Trueblue25]

I have no doubts in my mind, he'll be one of the most dominant guards we've ever had going into next season.

 

[ROCcuse]

I think that was the Lydon blunder/lazy/horrendous pass to Howard under the basket. We'll have to keep an eye on this. When watching it live from home I thought this was all on Lydon. A terrible decision and he has done this before. Frank obviously doesn't like being in the doghouse and it was unfair for him to get taken out of the game, imo. Lydon should've been parked on the bench. Frank hopefully can roll with the punches and be strong mentally. He needs to calm down. Then again, Frank's defense was horrendous up to that point so maybe JB was boiling. But, if a JB tirade happens again towards Frank after a play and it isn't Frank's fault then it won't be good for everybody.

This was my take on that situation also.

Lydon needs to hold and protect that ball when it was that congested until he makes sure the opposition isn't trying to make an easy pick, imo. But instead he was looking to immediately get it out of his hands.

I noticed Howard was the one blamed by JB however, in the little from the bench that they showed at that substitution/Timeout.

But some think Frank needed to check hard to Lydon for a hand off to transition and that's why it was on him.

Who knows, also, if Frank called out for a pass in that situation. :noidea:

Either way, if Frank took issue with the conversation with JB afterwards, someone needs to dial up Dion to speak with him.

 

[20Plus]

I honestly think some people are setting themselves up for disappointment on this front. I hope you're right, courduroyG, but I'm not seeing the lead guard aptitude that so many want to believe is there.

Are you serious? Maybe you just need to take a day off seriously embarrassing

 

[jordoo]

Howard is being tutored by the HOF coach to be a great leader. If he couldn't do it and didn't have ability for it JB wouldn't bother. it's the guys JB no longer gets worked up with that you need to worry about.

JB is coaching Frank very hard. that's a good sign.

 

[jordoo]

Are you serious? Maybe you just need to take a day off seriously embarrassing

If Frank is at SU as a senior he will be on magazine covers.

 

[MattOB]

If he gets his act together he will be "given the keys" I think. JB probably isn't looking to reward a bad attitude, which Frank has had. Really like the kid though.

 

[MattOB]

Howard is being tutored by the HOF coach to be a great leader. If he couldn't do it and didn't have ability for it JB wouldn't bother. it's the guys JB no longer gets worked up with that you need to worry about.

JB is coaching Frank very hard. that's a good sign.

I had a soccer coach who said "If I'm yelling at you, that's a good sign. It means I believe that you are willing to change. It's when I stop talking to you that you should be really worried, because that means I no longer believe you're ever going to listen". A lot of great coaches say this, and I agree that's exactly what's happening

 

[jordoo]

If he gets his act together he will be "given the keys" I think. JB probably isn't looking to reward a bad attitude, which Frank has had. Really like the kid though.

Not so much a bad attitude as not emotionally mature. JB is running him through basic training and one day Frank will thank him for it.

BTW some people on this site find this method to be horrific how will we ever move forward as an advanced species? LMAO. Give Frank 5 more games and he will be solid. JB and Frank bff's forever after a big conference win vs Duke/UNC/UVA/LVILLE.

 

[Ghost]

He's so special that he could do NOTHING against that kid from Wisconsin. He couldn't get around him on multiple attempts and not to be stereotypical here but Howard should have a significant athleticism and speed advantage over him. Pretty disheartening to me.

Not going after your post, but just in general this idea that seems sort of pervasive at times (since the SC game especially) that PGs should be blowing by everyone because they're point guards. Or Howard should be blowing by his guy consistently just because.

He's a tall PG, he's not a 6'0" speed demon. He's more Billy Edelin than Jonny Flynn. If he gets around the corner, he takes it. Otherwise, he's supposed to probe the defense and look to exploit openings. It seems on the board a lot of people think PGs should be getting to the rim every possession and dishing or else they're failing in their role.

 

[Ghost]

let him run the show and dont yank him after his first bad play. this kid is special, i think he can handle it

Concur. I'm not sure what we mean by "special," but I think he's legit. Frank has the skillset, but still hasn't shown the consistency to warrant much more than hope that he continues to progress. That being said, I give him a lot of leeway right now in that position. Partially because I think he's pretty good and still has a lot of room to grow, and partially because I don't think Gillon can eat big minutes as our PG and have this be a successful team.

Plus, he's like the best three point shooter ever. 50%!!!!

 

[Ghost]

I haven't seen this hasn't been posted yet and have been hesitant to post about it. Also, I haven't watched a replay of the Wisconsin game so I don't know how much of this episode was shown on TV. I was about 10 rows behind the Cuse bench for the Badger game. In the early second half there was a Syracuse turnover right under the WI basket after most of the players were headed the other way. I'm not sure if Howard lost the ball to Happ or if the pass was to Howard and Happ picked it off. Anyway Happ scored a garbage basket and immediately JB motioned to JG to get in the game. Howard saw this substitution coming and immediately become furious and raced to drive with the inbounded ball. JB saw that Howard was furious/out of control and immediately called a time out while Howard was in the middle of a drive to score...

JB clearly stated his displeasure with Howard because there were several poor plays by JG that normally would mean Howard would have come back into the game. After Howard finally got back into the game at garbage time he jacked up several quick 3's missing all of them. I know players have had visible and heated exchanges with JB in the past but this one may have gone over the line. Will be interesting to see how Howard & JB get along this year.

I remember commenting when JB called the timeout that FH had just gotten an open lane for a basket/dish. Oh wellz!

Yeah, that end of game shooting display by Howard wasn't great. Making up for lost time I guess. He made one at least!

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think that was the Lydon blunder/lazy/horrendous pass to Howard under the basket. We'll have to keep an eye on this. When watching it live from home I thought this was all on Lydon. A terrible decision and he has done this before. Frank obviously doesn't like being in the doghouse and it was unfair for him to get taken out of the game, imo. Lydon should've been parked on the bench. Frank hopefully can roll with the punches and be strong mentally. He needs to calm down. Then again, Frank's defense was horrendous up to that point so maybe JB was boiling. But, if a JB tirade happens again towards Frank after a play and it isn't Frank's fault then it won't be good for everybody.

I agree it wasn't a good play by Lydon, but Point Guards are taught in Biddy Basketball to come back to the ball and get it from bigs who aren't used to handling the ball in the backcourt. Thats why he was benched IMO.

I want Frank to take over as much as everyone, but if that's Cooney going 2-8 last year in 16 minutes this board is trippin. It's interesting to me that fan's have different requirements for different players.

Anyway anything he did was still better than the pick and roll Gillon ran with Lydon and was a schizo and threw the ball right to Wisconsin.

 

[Newhouser]

I think that was the Lydon blunder/lazy/horrendous pass to Howard under the basket. We'll have to keep an eye on this. When watching it live from home I thought this was all on Lydon. A terrible decision and he has done this before. Frank obviously doesn't like being in the doghouse and it was unfair for him to get taken out of the game, imo. Lydon should've been parked on the bench. Frank hopefully can roll with the punches and be strong mentally. He needs to calm down. Then again, Frank's defense was horrendous up to that point so maybe JB was boiling. But, if a JB tirade happens again towards Frank after a play and it isn't Frank's fault then it won't be good for everybody.

I agree I thought it was Lydon with a lazy outlet - something that has happened more than once this year. Frank plays with the biggest chip on the team. I have a feeling JB expects the outburst from him. Gillon is what he is. We saw Frank improve last year when his minutes went up and I think we will see the same this year. I'd be happy with a 25/15 split for Howard/Gillon.

 

[OttoMets]

I've seen it before, Player A screws up and Player B gets JB's wrath.

He does play favorites, but you know what, most people do play favorites. I have 85 employees and I have my favorite ones. JB protects Lydon like he has with many players in the past.

And White, who should've been glued to the bench after that ridiculously selfish drive that cost us two points.

 

[jordoo]

I agree I thought it was Lydon with a lazy outlet - something that has happened more than once this year. Frank plays with the biggest chip on the team. I have a feeling JB expects the outburst from him. Gillon is what he is. We saw Frank improve last year when his minutes went up and I think we will see the same this year. I'd be happy with a 25/15 split for Howard/Gillon.

I think the guard minutes should be: Frank 32, Tyus, 24, John 18 and Andrew 6 or less. White kills the offense at the 2G IMO. You then have a PG with no one else on the floor to lean on as far as handling the ball and making a play with it. Frank is the starter and will be next year as well so I think he should be playing regular starters minutes. I think John is better suited for short energetic spurts like 3, 6min runs. Tyus is our only true 2G so he needs minutes. If he gets better then he plays more IMO.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I'd like to see Gillon evolve into a role as a closer with the ball. He's quick and he can shoot free throws. If he could be a poor man's Cat Barber that would be great to have at the end of games.

 

[jordoo]

I'd like to see Gillon evolve into a role as a closer with the ball. He's quick and he can shoot free throws. If he could be a poor man's Cat Barber that would be great to have at the end of games.

I agree and his driving did start to get more aggressive against Wisc. He needs to go right into out of position big guys and try to get a shot up. It would also make teams defend the PnR differently if he routinely piles up fouls against their front line. This would allow cutters or open wing shooters. He could get us into the bonus much earlier in games that way. He is still finding his way against big time competition but I think in the end he can be a big asset.

I think the number one problem in the offense is White at the 2G. Its fine for White's game but bad for our teams offense and often means we have two of Roberson, Coleman, Chukwu on the floor. Coleman at least showed that he can score against P5 bigs so long as there isn't weak side shot blocking coming. Roberson and Chukwu out there together is an offensive nightmare that I hope I no longer have to witness. Putting White at the 3 full time or 85% of his PT would cure a lot of ills offensively IMO.