Gbinije has been awful in ACC play.

[Brooky03]

Any good team needs a player who can dribble a basketball like it's second nature. A guy who just ties a string around it and makes it go where he wants it to go, making defensive ball pressure irrelevant. We have exactly zero guys on this team who can do that. Most teams have at least one.

 

[jdubs30]

G as a PG works against Cornell but it doesn't work against good teams, and unfortunately that is getting more and more obvious with each game. Last year it seemed like he was automatic from 3, lately he can't even hit a wide open shot. I think the playing out of position thing is really messing with his whole game, but we have no choice.

Even if we did have a PG---who gets benched? We can't survive with Mali and G on the wings, we'd get killed on the boards; can't bench Mali or Trev right now either.

 

[OttoMets]

This was talked about in the game thread. He's not a lead guard. When playing against quicker, better, and better defensive GUARDS he struggles. He needs to hit his jumpers. Otherwise it's more of the dribbling around and not going anywhere since he can't get by a lot of good ACC guards, imo.

Right, this shouldn't be surprising. The "All-ACC, NBA first-round" chatter on this board in November and December was one of the biggest head-scratchers I've ever seen.

Gbinije is an adequate small forward who's worked hard to play out of position for most of two seasons. He's Lucious Jackson, minus the skilled teammates and the proper role.

Outmatched teams couldn't stop him. Peer teams can. His weaknesses (among them, vision and handle) are exacerbated when he's not able to make jump shots.

One can't help but question whether the point guard experiment was the best choice.

 

[OttoMets]

G as a PG works against Cornell but it doesn't work against good teams, and unfortunately that is getting more and more obvious with each game. Last year it seemed like he was automatic from 3, lately he can't even hit a wide open shot. I think the playing out of position thing is really messing with his whole game, but we have no choice.

Even if we did have a PG---who gets benched? We can't survive with Mali and G on the wings, we'd get killed on the boards; can't bench Mali or Trev right now either.

That ship has sailed, but Gbinije could replicate what Cooney does. Richardson's a better finisher. In a perfect world, Gbinije would start at the two and spell Richardson for about ten minutes a game with Cooney coming off the bench to fill Gbinije's guard spot.

I'm not sure that playing out of position has screwed up his game, it's just that he doesn't have lead guard skills and that can't be hidden against peer teams.

 

[jr4750]

Right, this shouldn't be surprising. The "All-ACC, NBA first-round" chatter on this board in November and December was one of the biggest head-scratchers I've ever seen.

Gbinije is an adequate small forward who's worked hard to play out of position for most of two seasons. He's Lucious Jackson, minus the skilled teammates and the proper role.

Outmatched teams couldn't stop him. Peer teams can. His weaknesses (among them, vision and handle) are exacerbated when he's not able to make jump shots.

One can't help but question whether the point guard experiment was the best choice.

What's interesting is that JB said that if FH was on the team last year (2014-15), he would have been the starter. Wonder why once he passed KJ, they didn't try him as the starter only to give MG more time at the 3, where he is more suited, and a much better rebounder than MR.

However, that lineup does take MR out of the lineup and he is our second best scorer on most nights, 3rd at worst. Tough year all around in terms of lineup issues.

 

[shandeezy7]

Right, this shouldn't be surprising. The "All-ACC, NBA first-round" chatter on this board in November and December was one of the biggest head-scratchers I've ever seen.

Gbinije is an adequate small forward who's worked hard to play out of position for most of two seasons. He's Lucious Jackson, minus the skilled teammates and the proper role.

Outmatched teams couldn't stop him. Peer teams can. His weaknesses (among them, vision and handle) are exacerbated when he's not able to make jump shots.

One can't help but question whether the point guard experiment was the best choice.

He's had a rough stretch, but he has proven that he can be more than effective against "peer" teams (although I'm not really sure who we would call peer teams to us this year). He had a 4 game stretch against UCONN, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and Georgetown where he scored 17, 20, 19 and 23, respectively, while averaging 5 assists and shooting 45% from the field.

He has the ability to put those numbers up against the 4 ACC teams that we just played, and if he did, we would probably have won at least a couple of them.

 

[Millhouse]

He's stunk in ACC play. We are 0-4. It's not because of Trevor Cooney.

5 for 30 from three this year.

gbinije needs to shoot 57% from 3 on his next 60 attempts to match last year's 3p shooting %.

YIKES

cooney gets it together and gbinije takes his place as the guy shooting them out of games. sigh

 

[CuseFaninVT]

5 for 30 from three this year.

gbinije needs to shoot 57% from 3 on his next 60 attempts to match last year's 3p shooting %.

YIKES

cooney gets it together and gbinije takes his place as the guy shooting them out of games. sigh

G needs to take a break from shooting the 3, especially if he's having a hard time making them in warmups as someone mentioned from watching before the UNC game. I keep wondering if he's got an underlying and undisclosed injury that's affecting his shot - shoulder or something like that. He still has people coming out to defend the shots so I'd like to see him fake them and drive to the hoop.

 

[OttoMets]

He's had a rough stretch, but he has proven that he can be more than effective against "peer" teams (although I'm not really sure who we would call peer teams to us this year). He had a 4 game stretch against UCONN, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and Georgetown where he scored 17, 20, 19 and 23, respectively, while averaging 5 assists and shooting 45% from the field.

He has the ability to put those numbers up against the 4 ACC teams that we just played, and if he did, we would probably have won at least a couple of them.

He was effective in some of those games, but he's reliant on the space created by his teammates playing well. When they have -- when people like Lydon can spread the floor -- Gbinije's better able to both make shots and find open shooters.

As an independent facilitator, he struggles to get us into our sets and makes poor decisions with the ball. He's not naturally adept at creating opportunities for his teammates, and when they don't play well, it negatively affects him and further bogs down the offense. Throw in Gbinije's recent struggles to knock down his own open looks and it compounds matters. Vicious cycle.

 

[AZOrange]

There was an article about Mike earlier in the year where he basically describes himself as a head case shooting the ball. When I read it, I recall saying "ruh roh" to myself...

 

[CuseFaninVT]

There was an article about Mike earlier in the year where he basically describes himself as a head case shooting the ball. When I read it, I recall saying "ruh roh" to myself...

Ah, so he's thinking about shooting instead of just shooting. That would explain it. Tends to force you to do different things everytime - release point, arm angle, etc. That will kill a shooter.

 

[shandeezy7]

He was effective in some of those games, but he's reliant on the space created by his teammates playing well. When they have -- when people like Lydon can spread the floor -- Gbinije's better able to both make shots and find open shooters.

As an independent facilitator, he struggles to get us into our sets and makes poor decisions with the ball. He's not naturally adept at creating opportunities for his teammates, and when they don't play well, it negatively affects him and further bogs down the offense. Throw in Gbinije's recent struggles to knock down his own open looks and it compounds matters. Vicious cycle.

I agree that he is playing out of position - but I think that you can say that most players who aren't really transcendent talents are very reliant on their teammates around them playing well. It takes pressure off and provides more opportunities for better looks. It'd be nice if Roberson could keep up his recent aggressive play, because I think that will open up things for others, including G.

 

[SoBeCuse]

G as a PG works against Cornell but it doesn't work against good teams, and unfortunately that is getting more and more obvious with each game. Last year it seemed like he was automatic from 3, lately he can't even hit a wide open shot. I think the playing out of position thing is really messing with his whole game, but we have no choice.

Even if we did have a PG---who gets benched? We can't survive with Mali and G on the wings, we'd get killed on the boards; can't bench Mali or Trev right now either.

Right. It's a mess. Didn't Boeheim start working with G VERY early on after he transferred on possibly becoming a lead guard? Or entertained that idea? I'm not certain but I think I remember this and thought it was a bit strange at the time. This was well before Kaleb was looking like a bust also. I don't know. I don't think the staff planned on having G handle the ball so much when he arrived or did they?

 

[RF2044]

Right. It's a mess. Didn't Boeheim start working with G VERY early on after he transferred on possibly becoming a lead guard? Or entertained that idea? I'm not certain but I think I remember this and thought it was a bit strange at the time. This was well before Kaleb was looking like a bust also. I don't know. I don't think the staff planned on having G handle the ball so much when he arrived or did they?

No. Gbinije has always been versatile, but he's been forced to back up a guard spot due to poor backcourt depth on the roster of the team's he's been on. His first year [redshirt], we had MCW, Triche, and Cooney as the only guards. So in practice, he had to play in the backcourt just so we could run a legitimate two squad practice. The next season, we only had Ennis and Cooney and no other guards, so G had to spell both in games.

After Ennis left early, last season we only had Cooney / Joseph, so again Gbinije had to play a ton of backcourt minutes.

Basically, what we're seeing now is what I feared from the beginning about him being a full-time lead guard. I'm not suggesting he CAN'T play there a bit, but the facilitation / playmaking suffers, and it detracts from what he does best [i.e., attacking the basket and scoring]. I wish he had less responsibility on his plate so he could focus exclusively on putting the ball in the basket.

 

[AZOrange]

No. Gbinije has always been versatile, but he's been forced to back up a guard spot due to poor backcourt depth on the roster of the team's he's been on. His first year [redshirt], we had MCW, Triche, and Cooney as the only guards. So in practice, he had to play in the backcourt just so we could run a legitimate two squad practice. The next season, we only had Ennis and Cooney and no other guards, so G had to spell both in games. After Ennis left early, last season we only had Cooney / Joseph, so again Gbinije had to play a ton of backcourt minutes. Basically, what we're seeing now is what I feared from the beginning about him being a full-time lead guard. I'm not suggesting he CAN'T play there a bit, but the facilitation / playmaking suffers, and it detracts from what he does best [i.e., attacking the basket and scoring]. I wish he had less responsibility on his plate so he could focus exclusively on putting the ball in the basket.

I totally agree. That's why I just don't get not playing Howard...

 

[Millhouse]

G needs to take a break from shooting the 3, especially if he's having a hard time making them in warmups as someone mentioned from watching before the UNC game. I keep wondering if he's got an underlying and undisclosed injury that's affecting his shot - shoulder or something like that. He still has people coming out to defend the shots so I'd like to see him fake them and drive to the hoop.

i can't figure it out at all. if a guy can't make free throws, he's probably going to end up not being a great three point shooter when it's all said and done. the bigger question might be why had such a good stretch of shooting.

this year, they're dying inside the 3 point line. 44% from 2 point, opponents 57%

 

[Jake]

PG us the most important position in college ball. Always has been. Our records tend to prove this theory out.

 

[RF2044]

Ah, so he's thinking about shooting instead of just shooting. That would explain it. Tends to force you to do different things everytime - release point, arm angle, etc. That will kill a shooter.

Nothing worse than when you start aiming.

 

[RF2044]

I totally agree. That's why I just don't get not playing Howard...

Howard was my favorite of the incoming recruits [not suggesting that he's going to be the "best" of the group--he won't be], but I think that many posters are exaggerating his lead guard capabilities at this stage of his developmental curve. I think he's going to be a terriffic player in our system. He's not doing much playmaking right now, and doesn't penetrate confidently--things that on paper I'd expect him to do much better next year.

Regardless, ready or not, we need him to play some minutes. I'm glad that Hopkins found a way to infuse him with some developmental PT, just to get him in the rotation. Too bad about his sickness; setback for him.

 

[RF2044]

PG us the most important position in college ball. Always has been. Our records tend to prove this theory out.

Yup. Would kill to have Monte Morris on this squad. To say nothing of Ennis...

 

[br801]

He's stunk in ACC play. We are 0-4. It's not because of Trevor Cooney.

Mike is currently lost offensively, but provided there is no health issue behind this, his shooting numbers should regress toward the mean, particularly against some of the weaker conference teams. It would be interesting to see what happens if four or five of the main six rotation guys can get it going offensively on a consistent basis.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Mike is currently lost offensively, but provided there is no health issue behind this, his shooting numbers should regress toward the mean, particularly against some of the weaker conference teams. It would be interesting to see what happens if four or five of the main six rotation guys can get it going offensively on a consistent basis.

It'd be nice of he, Malachi, and Trevor could all shoot well at once. That's the only chance this team has of beating someone decent.

 

[br801]

It'd be nice of he, Malachi, and Trevor could all shoot well at once. That's the only chance this team has of beating someone decent.

That's essentially what JB said back in November.

 

[MSOrange]

It'd be nice of he, Malachi, and Trevor could all shoot well at once. That's the only chance this team has of beating someone decent.

Realistically I think that's all we were from really being in business Saturday and possibly pulling an upset. Even if he had just a below average shooting game for him instead of awful, it would have helped with the games that Cooney, Malachi, Roberson and Coleman had.

 

[Millhouse]

It'd be nice of he, Malachi, and Trevor could all shoot well at once. That's the only chance this team has of beating someone decent.

it's ok if 1 of them isn't shooting if that 1 guy would stop shooting

gbinije has shot 26 three pointers in three games.

we don't need him shooting 9 threes a game