BR.com: Ennis #3 best ball-handler in NCAA | Syracusefan.com

BR.com: Ennis #3 best ball-handler in NCAA

What is interesting is the headline refers to who is the best ball handler, and that the two players ranked ahead of Tyler only get B and B- grades for their ball security while he got an A+. And curiously, an A+ and B- (Mathieu) and A+ and B (Napier) somehow produce a higher overall rating than Ennis' A and A+ grades for Penetration and Ball Security, respectively.
 
As much as we all hate UConn, there's not many players in CBB right now that I would rather have taking a final shot for me.
 
What is interesting is the headline refers to who is the best ball handler, and that the two players ranked ahead of Tyler only get B and B- grades for their ball security while he got an A+. And curiously, an A+ and B- (Mathieu) and A+ and B (Napier) somehow produce a higher overall rating than Ennis' A and A+ grades for Penetration and Ball Security, respectively.
Napier is better than Ennis; that might be why. No disrespect to Ennis, but Napier is a better all-around point guard.
 
That's probably why Ennis is a lottery pick and Shabazz might not even get drafted.

Good call.
Both will be first round. Ennis probably a little higher based off of potential and age. As someone referred to above, I would rather have Napier taking the last shot in comparison to Ennis.
 
Both will be first round. Ennis probably a little higher based off of potential and age. As someone referred to above, I would rather have Napier taking the last shot in comparison to Ennis.
Damnit, you're not supposed to be reasonable with your response. It makes it harder for me to talk smack about Napier.
 
Napier is better than Ennis; that might be why. No disrespect to Ennis, but Napier is a better all-around point guard.


I know you uconn fans are delusional as hell, but this takes the cake.
 
How so?
I'm not sure which unsubstantiated point you raise is more far fetched:
  • Napier is better than Ennis
  • Napier is a better all-around point guard

Uh... no on both counts.
 
Shabazz is a great college basketball player on a mediocre basketball team.

Ennis is a great basketball player, on the best college basketball team.
 
Shabazz is erratic. He was impossibly erratic as a Freshman. Ennis is anti-erratic. It isn't that Napier has bigger cajones, it's that Ennis will find a player in a better position to take the final shot.
 
What is interesting is the headline refers to who is the best ball handler, and that the two players ranked ahead of Tyler only get B and B- grades for their ball security while he got an A+. And curiously, an A+ and B- (Mathieu) and A+ and B (Napier) somehow produce a higher overall rating than Ennis' A and A+ grades for Penetration and Ball Security, respectively.

I think it's because the term ball-handling can mean a few things. Ennis is one of the best that I've seen in terms of just maintaining control over the ball. I've never felt safer with the ball in a Syracuse player's hands that he will not give the ball up unless he makes a poor pass (which has been happening more frequently lately, but is still a rare thing).

But in terms of having that crossover that a lot of people equate to ball-handling, and is probably more important in terms of the NBA, I don't think Ennis is all that impressive, whereas Napier can create his own shot pretty much at will because of his ball-handling. Ennis has a better handle on the ball, but Napier is able to do more with his handle IMO, and I think that's a part of ball-handling ability.

In terms of comparing the two as overall players, it's unfair considering Napier is a senior and Ennis a true freshman. But Napier is without a doubt a better shooter. I don't think it's even close. He's a better all-around scorer. And I believe he's a better defender and rebounder as well. Ennis is more of a floor-general. At the end of the day, I think they're both in good positions for themselves. I think trading Ennis for Napier would make both teams worse. Ennis is perfect for what we need and Shabazz is perfect for what they need.
 
In terms of comparing the two as overall players, it's unfair considering Napier is a senior and Ennis a true freshman. But Napier is without a doubt a better shooter. I don't think it's even close. He's a better all-around scorer. And I believe he's a better defender and rebounder as well. Ennis is more of a floor-general. At the end of the day, I think they're both in good positions for themselves. I think trading Ennis for Napier would make both teams worse. Ennis is perfect for what we need and Shabazz is perfect for what they need.

I don't think it is unfair to compare them at all.

While I agreed with parts of your post earlier, I don't agree much with this final paragraph [copied above].

Napier isn't "without a doubt...I don't think it's even close" better shooter. He's a volume shooter and a volume scorer on a lousy team that needs him to volume shoot and volume score to have any chance of being competitive. Conversely, Ennis sublimates his offensive game to more efficiently run the team. But his play for Team Canada this summer suggests that if he needed to volume score, he is certainly capable of doing so. Frankly, I'm glad that we have a better team than uconn and don't need him to shoot every time he touches the ball because, as uconn has demonstrated, when you live by a gunner, you get burned when said gunner has a poor offensive game.

Secondly Ennis is not only "more of a floor-general," he is the consummate floor general. His innate feel for the game is something that can't be taught. That's the reason that NBA types are so excited about him and why he is moving swiftly up the draft charts, while the lay are scratching their heads and only looking at his statistics and wondering what all of the fuss is about. But to suggest that Napier is a "better" point guard than Ennis is patently false. In fact, I'd say that Ennis as a frosh blows Napier out of the water as a lead guard--this despite him being a frosh to Napier as a senior. Ennis makes everybody on his team better; can't say the same for Napier.

The eyeball test tells the same story. With Ennis quarterbacking our team, we are 23-0 and ranked #1. With Napier at the helm, we wouldn't have this type of balance nor chemistry, would probably have several losses, and wouldn't be nearly as effective closing at the end of games.
 
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Bazz is legit and can win you games by himself- & that's also his biggest fault...himself. If he's on, he's unstoppable. If he's off, he can single-handedly lose you the game.
Eniss, OTOH, makes everybody better just by being on the floor. He orchestrates & sets everyone up, creates tempo, manages the clock, and seemly only looks for "his", when the team needs it. He's a "purer" pass first PG- & that's what makes him rare.
It's taken Bazz 4 years & he still cannot approach Ennis's efficiency. Also, there's little doubt that TE could, if he wanted and if he needed, score 18+ pts on a nightly basis. That's why I'd take him over Bazz. JMHO
 
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I don't think it is unfair to compare them at all.

While I agreed with parts of your post earlier, I don't agree much with this final paragraph [copied above].

Napier isn't "without a doubt...I don't think it's even close" better shooter. He's a volume shooter and a volume scorer on a lousy team that needs him to volume shoot and volume score to have any chance of being competitive. Conversely, Ennis sublimates his offensive game to more efficiently run the team. But his play for Team Canada this summer suggests that if he needed to volume score, he is certainly capable of doing so. Frankly, I'm glad that we have a better team than uconn and don't need him to shoot every time he touches the ball because, as uconn has demonstrated, when you live by a gunner, you get burned when said gunner has a poor offensive game.

Secondly Ennis is not only "more of a floor-general," he is the consummate floor general. His innate feel for the game is something that can't be taught. That's the reason that NBA types are so excited about him and why he is moving swiftly up the draft charts, while the lay are scratching their heads and only looking at his statistics and wondering what all of the fuss is about. But to suggest that Napier is a "better" point guard than Ennis is patently false. In fact, I'd say that Ennis as a frosh blows Napier out of the water as a lead guard--this despite him being a frosh to Napier as a senior. Ennis makes everybody on his team better; can't say the same for Napier.

The eyeball test tells the same story. With Ennis quarterbacking our team, we are 23-0 and ranked #1. With Napier at the helm, we wouldn't have this type of balance nor chemistry, would probably have several losses, and wouldn't be nearly as effective closing at the end of games.

Napier isn't a volume shooter though. That implies that he gets his points because he takes a ton of shots. Shabazz is a very efficient scorer, and is far more efficient in terms of TS%, eFG%, and any other scoring metrics you want to look at.

I agree that Ennis is a consummate floor general and that his feel for the game is something that can't be taught. But I don't think that Ennis blows Napier out of the water as a PG. He's just a completely different type of PG. If you need a PG that can flat out make things happen and score the ball efficiently, Shabazz is probably as good as there is in the country. If you don't really need that, but instead need a PG that can handle and take care of the ball, and get the ball to the right player at the right time, Ennis is as good as there is in the country right now for that. I don't think it's really fair to say that Ennis is a far better lead guard at all. It just depends on what your team needs. Like I said, I think both teams get worse if Ennis and Shabazz swap places, but we can agree to disagree on that.
 
Napier is pretty clearly a more efficient shooter. He shoots more frequently (about 25% of Uconn's shots when he is on the court compared to 20% for Tyler) and still is a more efficient shooter, 59.6% true shooting vs 53.4% for Tyler. They have the same assist rate, basically, but Tyler has a much lower turnover rate. Some of that is usage, but a lot of that is just because Tyler does a better job limiting turnovers.

I think Tyler is awesome and I would take him over Napier. But for a PG to shoot that much with that kind of efficiency is pretty impressive.
 
Fun comparison given the rivalry but they're completely different players. Totally agree with the poster who said a swap would make both teams worse.

They're value really depends on what your team needs out of its PG.
 

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