Frank Howard

[Ghost]

I think FH will be serviceable. Of course, I thought Kaleb might end up serviceable as well. More as a combo, but his shooting progressed a ton in the off-season so he seams willing to work. Everything else regressed... But whatever. Ultimately, if he's bad for the team chemistry though, ditch him

Honestly, that's my biggest concern. We seem incredibly dysfunctional. I hope we can get past that most of all.

 

[RF2044]

Like Michael Carter Williams?

As far as Frank goes, the potential to be a serviceable guard is there. He just makes poor decisions. He has to work on his game this Summer, particularly his handle and jump shot to take that next step.

MCW couldn't shoot consistently, but he clearly was a lead guard, not a shooting guard.

Howard might develop into a competent lead guard, but that's not what he is today.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Comparing him to Scoop does a disservice to Scoop... everyone seems to forget Scoop was a top 30 national recruit and had the skills of one. Howard pass the look test but seems to have little to no clue how to actually play the game of basketball. I was one of the guys had on the Howard train at the end of last year... even comparing him to Rajon Rondo but having the full spotlight exposed Howard for what he is - a dude with an occasional good eye for a pass, but generally too slow to get by his initial defender and when he does manage to get by his defender too clueless to know what to do with the ball and a terrible finisher too boot.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Yeah agree. I only meant physically he is perhaps ahead of Scoop. But his overall Basketball IQ for a PG is way below where Scoop was! But yes... definitely need a backup plan!!

No es possible'.

You all crack me up with your revisionist history of Scoop. Even his last year, when he was decent, he drove me insane with his terrible decisions.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

MCW couldn't shoot consistently, but he clearly was a lead guard, not a shooting guard.

Howard might develop into a competent lead guard, but that's not what he is today.

Just as long as he never develops that MCW jump pass from under the basket to start the other team's fast break.

 

[OttoMets]

Scoop's sophomore year was when he came off the bench with KrisJo in that 09 season when we were great and people often said we have 7 starters. Remember he redshirted his second season with a stress fracture. I never wondered if Scoop was a lead guard, he always played that way even when he wasn't doing the right things. He never picked up his dribble in a bad spot 8' past half court because he couldn't decide where to dribble when the guy he wanted to pass to wasn't open. Scoop made decisions on the fly, wasn't hesitant or scared even from the beginning. That is what worries me most about Frank as a PG. He doesn't look nature at running offense or being the lead decision maker. Gillon was the same way early in the season but got better as he went along. Frank to me seems best suited to play off the ball where he could make use of his vision on quick one or two dribble drives. The problem is he seemingly has no mid range game, often gets into trouble if he drives too deep and isn't a reliable jump shooter. I'm just not sold on him being a PG. I'm sure he will be a better player next year if he is back but we need to have another option at PG other than freshman Washington and junior Howard IMO.

Good post. Scoop was a player. There was never any doubt about this.

Frank's more of a wing who fits the physical (but not skills) mold of an SU point. I've been a supporter, but I'm not sure he's going to be a good point guard. His handle and some of his instincts don't fit.

For people who say he's not a good shooter or passer, though, that's nuts. He's worked hard on the shooting (was he not a good shooter when he was 50% from three in our first 5 or 6 games?) and he's obviously got good vision. He had more than two-thirds of the assists Gillon did in half the minutes this year.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Good post. Scoop was a player. There was never any doubt about this.

Frank's more of a wing who fits the physical (but not skills) mold of an SU point. I've been a supporter, but I'm not sure he's going to be a good point guard. His handle and some of his instincts don't fit.

For people who say he's not a good shooter or passer, though, that's nuts. He's worked hard on the shooting (was he not a good shooter when he was 50% from three in our first 5 or 6 games?) and he's obviously got good vision. He had more than two-thirds of the assists Gillon did in half the minutes this year.

And the instincts for the passes are good. He needs to work on a couple things - execution and understanding who it is he is passing to. Certain players just won't be ready for some of his passes, and he has to know that and either deliver them differently or make another choice. Roberson comes to mind.

 

[Brooky03]

A SG who can't S. Great

Well it's not like I'm saying he should be playing 20+ minutes at SG. And he can S. He shot 32% behind the arc this year on a small sample size, with severe playing time restrictions. Given the jump his percentage has already made from last season, it's more likely that that percentage will increase a few points into respectable territory than it is that it will drop.

 

[721Comstock]

During JB's presser today, didn't sound at all like Howard is gone.
JB was talking him up pretty well, saying how he thinks he'll make progress next year similar to Scoop from his sophomore to junior year.

Scoop won 6th Man of the Year awards his Soph year. (As did KrisJo).
We're looking more for Frosh to Soph Scoop jump from Frankie, only his has to take place from Soph to Jr year.

 

[jordoo]

No es possible'.

You all crack me up with your revisionist history of Scoop. Even his last year, when he was decent, he drove me insane with his terrible decisions.

Scoop was seemingly good for one alleyoop a game that was impossible to get to and would sail 20 rows back. He did it his whole career. I also remember the term "Scoopid" being coined on the board about his play. That said he was a very good college PG and would have helped us tremendously on every team we've had since he left.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I don't think anybody inferred that he had issues with anyone on the team this year. Maybe with Gillon taking his job since that was painfully obvious by his demeanor on the bench and towards JB. I think Howard's issues were with recruits and those that may have been recruited over him.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Frank has the tools to be a very good player here

I don't see it.

He has good height/length for the zone, so I guess there's that. But he has a very weak handle, especially for a ball handler, is not a good shooter or finisher, is painfully slow and makes really bad decisions with the ball. Throw in what looks to be a poor attitude.

Sure, he can improve some of those things, but overall, I don't see a ton to work with, or enough that makes me think he'll ever be a difference maker or lead guard here.

 

[jordoo]

Good post. Scoop was a player. There was never any doubt about this.

Frank's more of a wing who fits the physical (but not skills) mold of an SU point. I've been a supporter, but I'm not sure he's going to be a good point guard. His handle and some of his instincts don't fit.

For people who say he's not a good shooter or passer, though, that's nuts. He's worked hard on the shooting (was he not a good shooter when he was 50% from three in our first 5 or 6 games?) and he's obviously got good vision. He had more than two-thirds of the assists Gillon did in half the minutes this year.

There is no doubt he can pass and has the ability to see things that other players never would. He does what all players with this ability do early in their careers. They make some great plays and passes but also make bad ones trying to make plays that are either a high level of difficulty or ones that the eventual recipient isn't ready for. He just doesn't seem to have the experience to run the offense by making the easy passes where they are supposed to go or keeping the dribble alive until things set up. I guess you could say fundamental PG type play which are things guys who play that position growing up seem to grasp instinctively. Its not easy to make a guy into a PG when they have never played the position no matter what their skill set is. Frank's shot was much improved this season and the percentages where good until that South Carolina game.

 

[Funk Doc]

No es possible'.

You all crack me up with your revisionist history of Scoop. Even his last year, when he was decent, he drove me insane with his terrible decisions.

I don't think I am complimenting Scoop as much as I am taking a jab at Frank's current decision making skills.

 

[dollarbill44]

No es possible'.

You all crack me up with your revisionist history of Scoop. Even his last year, when he was decent, he drove me insane with his terrible decisions.

Exactly! Like when he would drive the lane, leave his feet and kick it back out to the opposing PG for an easy fast break? I seem to remember that move a lot.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I don't see it.

He has good height/length for the zone, so I guess there's that. But he has a very weak handle, especially for a ball handler, is not a good shooter or finisher, is painfully slow and makes really bad decisions with the ball. Throw in what looks to be a poor attitude.

Sure, he can improve some of those things, but overall, I don't see a ton to work with, or enough that makes me think he'll ever be a difference maker or lead guard here.

This painfully slow thing is so confusing to me. He consistently pushed the ball up the court much more quickly than Gillon did 98% of the time.

Frank clearly wasn't as quick as John on the drives to the basket, so maybe that's what you are talking about? And that is definitely something we need him to improve, but also maybe not, because he would just end up getting a charge. He will never have Gillon's slithering through the lane ability for sure.

 

[Jasoncuse]

This painfully slow thing is so confusing to me. He consistently pushed the ball up the court much more quickly than Gillon did 98% of the time.

Frank clearly wasn't as quick as John on the drives to the basket, so maybe that's what you are talking about? And that is definitely something we need him to improve, but also maybe not, because he would just end up getting a charge. He will never have Gillon's slithering through the lane ability for sure.

I was more referring to his quickness in the half court than anything -- playing off screens, attacking, etc. Neither him or Gillon were particularly adept at pushing the tempo or the break.

 

[dollarbill44]

This painfully slow thing is so confusing to me. He consistently pushed the ball up the court much more quickly than Gillon did 98% of the time.

He will never have Gillon's slithering through the lane ability for sure.

The flip side of this (hopefully) is that he is also better at finishing his drives than Gillon. I don't know if I've seen a D1 PG miss so many layups.

 

[dollarbill44]

I was more referring to his quickness in the half court than anything -- playing off screens, attacking, etc. Neither him or Gillon were particularly adept at pushing the tempo or the break.

One of the main hindrances to our PGs driving the lane is the lack of a pick and roll game. That would open up a lot of opportunities on the offensive end, for the whole team, imo. But, we didn't seem to try this season. I was very frustrated by the lack of offensive structure during a large percentage of our possessions this season.

 

[Shark58]

"Rank Dwarf Ho" is an anagram of Frank Howard


true story

 

[jordoo]

This painfully slow thing is so confusing to me. He consistently pushed the ball up the court much more quickly than Gillon did 98% of the time.

Frank clearly wasn't as quick as John on the drives to the basket, so maybe that's what you are talking about? And that is definitely something we need him to improve, but also maybe not, because he would just end up getting a charge. He will never have Gillon's slithering through the lane ability for sure.

Have we ever had two PG's that both picked up the ball for no reason so many times between the halfcourt and 3pt line for no reason with nothing yet going on in the half court set? They also both did a whole lot of pointless dribbling 30ish feet from the basket that accomplished nothing. I wouldn't say Howard is outright slow and you are correct in the open court he does pretty well moving the ball its halfcourt and in traffic he struggled. I wouldn't say he has the quickest first step either has he did have issues beating defenders off the bounce.

 

[PhatOrange]

I don't see it.

He has good height/length for the zone, so I guess there's that. But he has a very weak handle, especially for a ball handler, is not a good shooter or finisher, is painfully slow and makes really bad decisions with the ball. Throw in what looks to be a poor attitude.

Sure, he can improve some of those things, but overall, I don't see a ton to work with, or enough that makes me think he'll ever be a difference maker or lead guard here.

thankfully you aren't deciding it for real because you would’ve run Lazarus Sims out of town.

Frank’s freshman stats were almost the same as Allen Griffin’s junior stats to.

One thing I see very differently, is that he really has no trouble getting to the tin. Would much rather have watched him doing it than seeing Gillon get swallowed up every single time. He needs to learn how to finish and get confidence doing it. He's a good passer has great vision. He's still learning.

I have no idea what’s going to become of Frank though I think he has the tools be very successful but it's up to him. (and Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia, N.C. State and Ohio State all thought the same).

 

[jordoo]

One of the main hindrances to our PGs driving the lane is the lack of a pick and roll game. That would open up a lot of opportunities on the offensive end, for the whole team, imo. But, we didn't seem to try this season. I was very frustrated by the lack of offensive structure during a large percentage of our possessions this season.

We tried a bit early on but Gillon and Howard were so bad at finishing no one needed to send help so it didn't open a lot of shooters up.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

The flip side of this (hopefully) is that he is also better at finishing his drives than Gillon. I don't know if I've seen a D1 PG miss so many layups.

Frank finished better in the last two games, but he was just miserable at finishing drives early in the year. He seemed to be in between dunking, using the back board, or finger rolling each one. And that one dunk attempt he had from the side of the basket going against a 6'10" guy was one of the worst choices I've ever seen.

 

[dollarbill44]

We tried a bit early on but Gillon and Howard were so bad at finishing no one needed to send help so it didn't open a lot of shooters up.

There was no rolling by the bigs, that was the problem. We used high screens (way too high at times), but not many PnRs and when we did run them, we had a lot of problems with the bigs finishing. Take my assessment for what it's worth, which is likely very little as I don't rewatch the games with an eye towards these things.