Changing of the guard?

[007]

This love fest over Washington is a bit much. He played decent but to suggest he should be the starter is laughable

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see one post suggesting HW should now be the starter. Most are suggesting more minutes.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Washington's play made me think of Lazarus Sims today.

That's a really good thing.

He should absolutely be in the 3-man guard rotation going forward at the very least.

Alternatively, JB could just play 4 guards.

 

[Niastri]

Low risk, low reward and a perfect complement to JGIII. 8 assists; 1 TO today.

Crazy to call 8 assists low reward!

I'll sure agree on an unproven-point-guard-playing-his-first-big-minutes-of-the-year-in-conference-on-the-road-and-only-getting-1-TO as low risk, though.

 

[Newhouser]

Keep Girard as the starter with Washington in the rotation. If Girard struggles, Washington gets more minutes.

Exactly. Not rocket science.

 

[Jasoncuse]

He’s looking to pass first and pass quickly. And he’s not necessarily just looking to swing it around the perimeter and will look inside even if he knows it’ll have to kick back out as part of a reset. That helps our stagnant offense have a shot to find a quicker, better shot.

I don’t think he has much to offer scoring-wise which will limit his ceiling and minutes. We need scorers alongside him to maximize his ability so it’s kind of necessary to have Buddy/Eli and maybe QG all out there with him.

He deserves a shot at extra minutes, as does Edwards (to a lesser extent). No need to play anybody but Eli more than 25-28 minutes

 

[jdubs30]

This board is so weird. Washington was stellar today and this exactly what we’ve been looking for from a PG

 

[CuseFaninVT]

This love fest over Washington is a bit much. He played decent but to suggest he should be the starter is laughable

I don't think anyone called for him to start in this thread. Sheesh.

Oh wait, it's you. You're wrong all the time.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This board is so weird. Washington was stellar today and this exactly what we’ve been looking for from a PG

Girard had a decent game overall too.

Yeah, some turnovers, but I'd take 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists every game out of him.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Girard had a decent game overall too.

Yeah, some turnovers, but I'd take 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists every game out of him.

He seemed less decisive than I've seen in the past. He's in his own head right now. That's my guess anyway.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He seemed less decisive than I've seen in the past. He's in his own head right now. That's my guess anyway.

Yeah, I remember a weird fastbreak where he got to the circle in the paint, dribbled for a second, then pulled it out. Was strange.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Yeah, I remember a weird fastbreak where he got to the circle in the paint, dribbled for a second, then pulled it out. Was strange.

Same play I was thinking about. Eli was trailing the play and would have knocked down a three if Joe hit him.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Same play I was thinking about. Eli was trailing the play and would have knocked down a three if Joe hit him.

Or he could have just taken the shot.

 

[007]

He seemed less decisive than I've seen in the past. He's in his own head right now. That's my guess anyway.

It looks like he is thinking too much about what he should be doing as a PG to facilitate the offense. It goes against his instincts and the way he has played his entire life as a scorer and volume shooter. He needs to just stop pressing and play.

 

[GardenOrange]

The rest of the non conference we should see Guerrier, Washington, Edwards, Goodine in some significant minutes. We will need all of them to contribute in order to have some success. All of these guys need game minutes as well as practice to grow in confidence and into more useful pieces.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see one post suggesting HW should now be the starter. Most are suggesting more minutes.

You didn’t miss anything

 

[007]

Howard Washington looked REALLY good today.

At the very least, it suggests that Girard is going to get a much shorter leash. Not throwing Girard under the bus -- but the offense seemed to run better with Washington at the helm.

Trend or flash in the pan?

Hey RF, did you get my PMs?

 

[pfister1]

Alternatively, JB could just play 4 guards.

Agree.

If you’re playing to win 17 Games instead of 14 this season maybe give him Goodines spot in the rotation, but I don’t think that is a great approach. I don’t think there is enough upside from HW to take Goodine out of the rotation entirely. If we give up on all of the young high ceiling talent in the program (Goodine and Carey) then we are just sealing our fate for next season.

For those comparing HW to Sims, you have to remember that a big part of the reason that Sims was effective was because he had an all time great senior John Wallace alongside strong offensive pieces in Otis Hill and Todd Burgan with additional support from Cipolla and Janulis. Arguably two players (JDub and Burgan) at Hughes’ level or higher and two more (Hill and Cipolla) that were probably better than our second best weapon on this team and really no starters as poor offensively as Sidibe and Dolezaj.

 

[MadNY3]

I don't get this line of thinking.

Why isn't Girard a PG?

Just watch any of his highlight tapes from HS. Here’s one:


His height may suggest PG, but his game absolutely does not IMO.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Just watch any of his highlight tapes from HS. Here’s one:


His height may suggest PG, but his game absolutely does not IMO.

Based on his highschool highlights, sure.

Based on what I've seen from him here, he looks like a point to me.

 

[bozophobe]

Agree.

If you’re playing to win 17 Games instead of 14 this season maybe give him Goodines spot in the rotation, but I don’t think that is a great approach. I don’t think there is enough upside from HW to take Goodine out of the rotation entirely. If we give up on all of the young high ceiling talent in the program (Goodine and Carey) then we are just sealing our fate for next season.

For those comparing HW to Sims, you have to remember that a big part of the reason that Sims was effective was because he had an all time great senior John Wallace alongside strong offensive pieces in Otis Hill and Todd Burgan with additional support from Cipolla and Janulis. Arguably two players (JDub and Burgan) at Hughes’ level or higher and two more (Hill and Cipolla) that were probably better than our second best weapon on this team and really no starters as poor offensively as Sidibe and Dolezaj.

Regarding Sims, agreed that he had some better players. But it works both ways; Laz was incredibly efficient that year as a ball handler and passer (best all-time at S.U.?), which increased opportunities for the frontcourt to begin with. And he also developed into a 33% 3 pt. shooter, which drew more opposing defense, and made him have to work harder to bring up and distribute the ball. He may have made them better as well - certainly Janulis; the type of player we seem to have this year.

Hope HW keeps working, and remains patient. Like Sims did as an underclassman, HW misses too many shots, but not by much, and there's nothing really awkward about/wrong with his mechanics that can't be fine-tuned.

This one's tough (the growing JG vs. HW debate). JG needs to learn not to travel when getting the ball back, but at the same time, he can put up 6 points in 20 seconds. HW can barely do that in a half. Probably will, though.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I re-watched the game yesterday as I did cardio on the stair climber and I agree Howard Washington played well, but it should be somewhat noted he came in the game when we were already in control. When he first checked in we were already up 18 and when he checked in the second half we were up 28. It will be interesting to see if JB trusts him as much when the game is close.

 

[Cuse12]

Washington and Girard complement each other well, you have the scoring threat in Girard and the facilitator in HW (not that Joe is not). Its good to split minutes and whoever has the offense working stays in. I really would like to see HW keep sustaining 15-20 throughout the year. He has solid defense, and can hit an open three if given to him.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I re-watched the game yesterday as I did cardio on the stair climber and I agree Howard Washington played well, but it should be somewhat noted he came in the game when we were already in control. When he first checked in we were already up 18 and when he checked in the second half we were up 28. It will be interesting to see if JB trusts him as much when the game is close.

you aren’t supposed to factor in context like score / opponent strength / leverage ..etc...

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Washington and Girard complement each other well, you have the scoring threat in Girard and the facilitator in HW (not that Joe is not). Its good to split minutes and whoever has the offense working stays in. I really would like to see HW keep sustaining 15-20 throughout the year. He has solid defense, and can hit an open three if given to him.

the only threat girard is to scoring is on SU’s ability to score

 

[jgeorge322]

Girard had a decent game overall too.

Yeah, some turnovers, but I'd take 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists every game out of him.

the girard is not a pg line of thinking is a bit confusing to me as well. Probably the only pleasant surprise of the season is joes ability to handle the ball and his better than average court vision. He has pg skills but also can slide over to the two. Nice to have that flexibility.