sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Work intervenes so this has to be quick.
If I knew nothing and was just watching 2 young PGs vieing for playing time, knowing one was from Harlem and played against top notch competition in Northern NJ while the other was from the middle of nowhere and played against some of the worst HS basketball programs in the state, I would say with great confidence Girard was the guy from Harlem and Carey was the guy from small town, USA.
Carey is one of our most athletic players of the decade. He has nice form on his jumper, he has great quickness and agility, and is surely our best defender up top, where it looks like he has elite ability.
But he consistently gets his shot blocked. Appears to have little clue how to use his body to make space and protect the ball. Doesn't protect the ball well dribbling either. I wonder how he has played where he has played for so long and not developed some of the basic skills any solid basketball player has.
He is not a natural PG. He is a scorer miscast in a role it appears he cannot fill. Perhaps the most striking difference in these players is their confidence level. Jalen looks really tentative. He seems to be doubting himself on every turn. No explosiveness. Overly cautious. Has no idea how to protect the ball, even against inferior competition. And he gets his shot blocked just about every time he shoots inside the paint. No wonder he has no confidence.
On the other hand, say what you want about his size, his athletic ability or his background, one thing that really jumps out at you about Joe is his absolute confidence. He can see he believes in himself and that bravado translates to his teammates when he is on the court.
If you watch film of Jalen when he was playing well in HS, it is clear he was not a PG then either. He is a scorer. Not really a SG and definitely not a true point. Our staff keeps recruiting kids who are not natural PGs and tries to convert them to fill the role. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it kind of works and sometimes it is a disaster.
I think the biggest problem the program has today is identifying the right players to recruit. Carey is the kind of a player that would thrive in a running environment, probably at a lower level college environment. He is a guy you want cast in a role where he pressures the ball and is free to release early and get transition baskets. Press a lot, play Jalen a lot. He has to subjugate his game and run the offense if he is to succeed here. Maybe he can. Maybe he can't. I do know that his chances to show he can do it are evaporating and soon will be gone. I hope he responds. Seems like a good guy and is capable of so much more than he has shown to date.
Hope Jalen responds well to this adversity and finds a role on this team. Griff lost his starting position, stayed with the program and eventually regained a starting role and was a big part of the team later in his career. Jalen can do the same. This is when character comes into play.
If I knew nothing and was just watching 2 young PGs vieing for playing time, knowing one was from Harlem and played against top notch competition in Northern NJ while the other was from the middle of nowhere and played against some of the worst HS basketball programs in the state, I would say with great confidence Girard was the guy from Harlem and Carey was the guy from small town, USA.
Carey is one of our most athletic players of the decade. He has nice form on his jumper, he has great quickness and agility, and is surely our best defender up top, where it looks like he has elite ability.
But he consistently gets his shot blocked. Appears to have little clue how to use his body to make space and protect the ball. Doesn't protect the ball well dribbling either. I wonder how he has played where he has played for so long and not developed some of the basic skills any solid basketball player has.
He is not a natural PG. He is a scorer miscast in a role it appears he cannot fill. Perhaps the most striking difference in these players is their confidence level. Jalen looks really tentative. He seems to be doubting himself on every turn. No explosiveness. Overly cautious. Has no idea how to protect the ball, even against inferior competition. And he gets his shot blocked just about every time he shoots inside the paint. No wonder he has no confidence.
On the other hand, say what you want about his size, his athletic ability or his background, one thing that really jumps out at you about Joe is his absolute confidence. He can see he believes in himself and that bravado translates to his teammates when he is on the court.
If you watch film of Jalen when he was playing well in HS, it is clear he was not a PG then either. He is a scorer. Not really a SG and definitely not a true point. Our staff keeps recruiting kids who are not natural PGs and tries to convert them to fill the role. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it kind of works and sometimes it is a disaster.
I think the biggest problem the program has today is identifying the right players to recruit. Carey is the kind of a player that would thrive in a running environment, probably at a lower level college environment. He is a guy you want cast in a role where he pressures the ball and is free to release early and get transition baskets. Press a lot, play Jalen a lot. He has to subjugate his game and run the offense if he is to succeed here. Maybe he can. Maybe he can't. I do know that his chances to show he can do it are evaporating and soon will be gone. I hope he responds. Seems like a good guy and is capable of so much more than he has shown to date.
Hope Jalen responds well to this adversity and finds a role on this team. Griff lost his starting position, stayed with the program and eventually regained a starting role and was a big part of the team later in his career. Jalen can do the same. This is when character comes into play.