Frank Howard: ‘I’m playing on two feet again’

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Trueblue25]

Im calling it now, Frank has a very memorable in conference and ACC tourney run (in a good way) and finishes with a very favorable legacy here at Cuse.

Fully prepared to take whatever heat for this, present and future

 

[Townie72]

Im calling it now, Frank has a very memorable in conference and ACC tourney run (in a good way) and finishes with a very favorable legacy here at Cuse.

Fully prepared to take whatever heat for this, present and future

Your guess is as good as anyone's. Taking Frank's period of best performance and extrapolating from that isn't a bad approach.

It's hard to imagine any SU fan not wanting Frank to do well, Afterall, we have lived through a period and games where Frank wasn't very good. But last year, there wasn't any better alternative.

This year there may be and JB may choose to exercise it which will mean less PT for Frank.

 

[rrlbees]

Good article. Pretty much says what a few of us have theorized.

 

[General20]

If Frank Howard is getting healthier I'm not noticing it in his game. He still looks like a shell of his old self, especially defensively.

 

[two3zone]

Im calling it now, Frank has a very memorable in conference and ACC tourney run (in a good way) and finishes with a very favorable legacy here at Cuse.

Fully prepared to take whatever heat for this, present and future

If I had a nickle for every call you made.

 

[GooseMutt]

Im calling it now, Frank has a very memorable in conference and ACC tourney run (in a good way) and finishes with a very favorable legacy here at Cuse.

Fully prepared to take whatever heat for this, present and future

A Mike G performance would be the straw we need

 

[Trueblue25]

If I had a nickle for every call you made.

Coffee on me

 

[Trueblue25]

A Mike G performance would be the straw we need

I don’t see that happening. G was an absolute force

 

[AZOrange]

Always an enigma to me

 

[Nicknack]

Im calling it now, Frank has a very memorable in conference and ACC tourney run (in a good way) and finishes with a very favorable legacy here at Cuse.

Fully prepared to take whatever heat for this, present and future

I agree completely.

I would actually be very surprised if Frank didn't improve significantly now that he seems to be healed. The dude has been out of rhythm which is completely understandable as he's been hurt. That all said, at least we have another option this year in case I'm wrong.

 

[Trueblue25]

Frank’s taken a lot of heat and shouldered it. He’s improved each off season. He’s recovered from his injury and will begin to show out. He’s been a part of some very dysfunctional teams but imo often shows up in big moments where we need him. The antics of his sophomore year still linger on this forum. Clearly, if those rumors were true, he’s grown since then.

 

[721Comstock]

If Frank Howard is getting healthier I'm not noticing it in his game. He still looks like a shell of his old self, especially defensively.

The problem is, the 2 feet he's currently playing on are both LEFT feet.

I really, REALLY hope he can get back into some semblance of last year's form, and soon.

 

[CousCuse]

Frankie 2 feet. Let's get this thing rollin'.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I hope so and look forward to better games.

 

[Townie72]

Frank driving to the basket to score or to collapse the defense is a very good thing for SU to have as an alternative. Last year, at times, it was one of our few offensive weapons. Pretty obviously one needs two good ankles to do that sort of thing.

What Frank has done over the years that drives me crazy --- and it may be just me --- is to turn the ball over almost carelessly. In my mind I have several vivid images of him lobbing the ball over to Battle or Oshae and the ball is picked off by an opposing guard for a breakaway lay up.

That wasn't his ankle, that was his brain.

When Frank has the ball out front, I keep repeating to myself, "Easy, Frank. Use good judgement. No lazy passes. These guys are quicker than maybe you think."

I like Frank Howard, partially because he is from the DC area, an area rich in past and future SU recruits starting with Bing and the General.

 

[kuethstheman]

Frank driving to the basket to score or to collapse the defense is a very good thing for SU to have as an alternative. Last year, at times, it was one of our few offensive weapons. Pretty obviously one needs two good ankles to do that sort of thing.

What Frank has done over the years that drives me crazy --- and it may be just me --- is to turn the ball over almost carelessly. In my mind I have several vivid images of him lobbing the ball over to Battle or Oshae and the ball is picked off by an opposing guard for a breakaway lay up.

That wasn't his ankle, that was his brain.

I like Frank Howard, partially because he is from the DC area, an area rich in past and future SU recruits starting with Bing and the General.

Very old news. Those kinds of turnovers have been pretty rare since the start of last year's ACC season.

 

[SU94]

If Frank Howard is getting healthier I'm not noticing it in his game. He still looks like a shell of his old self, especially defensively.

I did notice a proverbial "stride in the right direction" with his play in South Bend. I believe he has a stride or two left to take, but I think he was discernibly better than he was during the ODU/Buffalo week.

I'm not making any proclamations or guarantees, but I liked what I saw on Saturday.

 

[Townie72]

Very old news. Those kinds of turnovers have been pretty rare since the start of last year's ACC season.

I did some research. Of course, this doesn't reveal the type of turnovers, but Frank didn't make a whole lot of progress in total turnovers from 2016-17 to 2017-18.

2016-17 1.7 TO's per game averaging 16.2 mins per game or 9.5 mins per TO
2017-18 3.4 TO's per game averaging 38 mins per game or 11.2 mins per TO

That's a 17.2% improvement between his soph and Jr seasons.

So if he wasn't making the old types of TO's, as you maintain, he substituted some others.

If Frank can reduce the TOs, drive to the basket and play good defense, as he did at the end of 2017-18, then he's a great resource. If not, JB now has a better option than he did last year.

 

[timkay99]

Everyone is focused on the basketball tools and how they are playing, but I firmly believe he looks to be flat-footed more often defensively because he is catching his breath and trying to get his legs under him. Take the Buffalo game (32 minutes of game time, his tied high for the year) shooting-wise: 3-6 in first half, 1-6 in second half.

He is playing a big game of catch-up to get his conditioning where it needs to be and keep his legs under him. It is extremely difficult to catch up on that in game action and with 3 or 4 days between games while continuing to do maintenance on his ankle and any other minor injuries he may be nursing.

Schedule was great to give him some time to catch up during the Holiday season. He will have some 5-day breaks in the middle of this month and a 7-day break in February.

Legs looked better against Notre Dame in terms of conditioning. Think staff will have to get inventive from here on out to increase his conditioning while letting him go into games with his legs under him.

 

[kuethstheman]

I did some research. Of course, this doesn't reveal the type of turnovers, but Frank didn't make a whole lot of progress in total turnovers from 2016-17 to 2017-18.

2016-17 1.7 TO's per game averaging 16.2 mins per game or 9.5 mins per TO
2017-18 3.4 TO's per game averaging 38 mins per game or 11.2 mins per TO

That's a 17.2% improvement between his soph and Jr seasons.

So if he wasn't making the old types of TO's, as you maintain, he substituted some others.

If Frank can reduce the TOs, drive to the basket and play good defense, as he did at the end of 2017-18, then he's a great resource. If not, JB now has a better option than he did last year.

How about in ACC play (per my statement)?

I was really down on Frank's turnovers but then about mid-season he turned it around, is my recollection.

 

[Townie72]

How about in ACC play (per my statement)?

I was really down on Frank's turnovers but then about mid-season he turned it around, is my recollection.

OK.

In ACC play in 2017-18 Frank averaged 2.9 TO's per game playing 39.5 mins per game or one TO every 13.6 mins played. So he did improve, but if you can sense the difference between that and 11.2 minutes per turnover, you have a very sensitive eye.

PG's are going to turn the ball over. They just are. Especially if they have only two other guys they can pass the ball to and the defense know this.

These turnovers are killers in games that are decided by just a few possessions. Everytime I see Frank out there at the point and not under pressure, I'm concerned about what he is going to do with the ball. I hope the guy never makes another mistake.

 

[kuethstheman]

I'm not going to dig into that, although I could.

But you are suggesting that Frank turned the ball over fewer times against ACC teams than some of the tomato cans we play in the OOC part of the schedule. That would be as the statisticians say, "Counter-Intuitive"

Indeed. Must be JB turned into an excellent coach over the Christmas break!

Or Frank really concentrated on making better decisions.

Just don't tell me I ate crow last year, for nothing!

 

[orangecuse]

To Frank...being back on his feet again.

 

[Townie72]

Indeed. Must be JB turned into an excellent coach over the Christmas break!

Or Frank really concentrated on making better decisions.

Just don't tell me I ate crow last year, for nothing!

According to this board, JB's coaching acumen swings wildly from complete incompetence to utter brilliance within a few days. The current stock maket gyrations have nothing on JB's stock on here.