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Message: [QUOTE="alibrat66, post: 159298, member: 197"] [SIZE=4][FONT=arial]Bees said a couple of weeks ago that Fab was the one player we could not lose this year to injury or whatever (the whatever seems to be academic problems). I have felt the same way. We simply have no backup for Fab. Keita, though a gamer, just doesn't have it. RAK isn't ready; for a guy who came in with the reputation of being a shotblocker and rebounder, he doesn't show much of either. The Notre Dame game exposed this reality to the sporting world. How much Fab has improved this year is easily explained by how last year we considered Fab and Keita interchangeable; Melo has showed quantum improvement in his game; Keita has remained the same, or even regressed.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=arial]This is going to be one of JB's most challenging coaching problems, maybe ever. Not trying to be presumptuous, and assuming Melo is gone, I'd venture a guess as to the following:[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=arial]Southerland and KJO should start at the forward positions. CJ (simply can't hold his own underneath against power forwards) should spell KJ. RAK, when he is not playing center, can spell Southerland. Keita can come in for RAK when RAK slides to power forward.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=arial]Unless JB solves the center mystery, and these guys show improvement, in my opinion the top 25 is going to be in our rearview mirror. We'll be a guard-oriented, perimeter team, and a streaky one at that. Over and over against ND, we penetrated and passed off to RAK, Keita, or CJ. Almost everytime they fumbled the pass, or missed a bunny. That is one of Fab's strengths; he has good hands. The three I mentioned don't--for different reasons; CJ's being that he plays soft and get knocked around, so the ball is a moving target for him; Keita plays like he's wearing boxing gloves; and RAK is just too raw and is out of position most of the time. And this is only on offense. We're a disaster underneath on the defensive end.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=arial]The guard positions remain our strong point. However, they are only as strong as what we can offer down low. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][FONT=arial]JB doesn't solve this one--and the requisite players up front don't step up big time, including learning the pick and roll, how to finish, and the ability to pass--the balance of the season is going to be mostly a replay of last night. We're going to struggle against even mediocre teams, and we don't have too many of those left on our schedule. [/FONT][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]

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