I do think he can make a huge jump next year.
Well we must not be watching the same games. Eye tests or stats, JJ is not good at defense, and on offense he just disappears for long stretches, but some of that may be his teammates and at times, too much deference.
Gerry and Billy worked well in the tournament, but built on it all year.
I noticed he really shies away from contact on screens. Shoulder fear? Gives his man room to shoot or get past because he can't fight through screens.
Kaleb was really high ranked, sometimes a dud is a dud unfortunately.
It would be fine but he’s very poor at offense and dreadful at defense. He unfortunately isn’t a starter at this level.
With just my eyes I’d say it’s Starling, Bell, Judah with Cope between Bell and Judah if we’re counting him. Judah isn’t bad, he’s just lazy, Cope I don’t think is interested, and Bell and Starling have A. No idea what they’re doing and B. Don’t have any sort of defensive instinct in any fashion. Bell is Edgar Martinez, dude is going to get you on the board in hall of fame way, but his defense is so bad that you can’t play him, luckily in baseball you can hide these one dimensional guys, you just can’t in this sport like you really can’t hide a weak link in an offensive line.
Very poor at offense is a bit strong. He averaged 13 ppg for the season after starting the year terribly. He showed things that can be built on. He may never live up to the MAA hype, but a double figure scorer on a team with upgraded pieces can do a lot for us.
You might be able to average 8 in the amount of minutes he played, he was either first or second on the team in minutes, 13 isn’t a badge of honor.
I didn't say it was a badge of honor but it's not garbage either. And it was in the context of his horrible start. If he plays all year the way he played the last half, his average his higher. As I said, he showed things that can be built on. Some guys do get better. Maybe he can be one. Does he have to be a star for him to be something other than awful? Can there not be a middle ground?
I don’t know, he had a solid stretch for a couple of games, but he didn’t end the season well. I just wouldn’t count on him if success was my goal. The only thing he does average or better is a midrange shot which is an overall low percentage shot. I wish he was better, seems easy to root for but he’s a slightly better scoring worse defending McCrosky.
I'm not saying I build my team around him or that he can't be recruited over, but he shot 35% from 3 in ACC play to go with his solid midrange game. He can contribute to a winning team. As a sophomore did anyone think Kueth Duany would be starting guard on a championship team? I doubt it. Is he a star? No. Is he terrible on offense? Also no. If he makes incremental improvements on offense and gets better on defense he can be a good piece. Maybe a really good piece. And if we get a point guard that can set people up and find an inside game that forces teams to pay attention to the paint, he can get more easy outside shots. Not everybody has to be a star to help.
I get your overall point and somewhat agree. But Duany also didn't start until his Jr year and never played more than 30 mpg. Also, that was 21 years ago. Sigh.
Where?
I respect a lot of your takes Matt, but he was absolutely abused by Jayden Taylor Wednesday. It's not like he's usually given the top assignment either. That goes to Judah. I won't pretend he's great at defense either. All of them are a problem.
