Next Year's PG - Hope for Howard

[OttosBestFriend]

View attachment 92343 Here's my Father's Day card from 2015 (three years after Scoop graduated), in which my daughter thought the image that best captured me was one of me screaming at Scoop through the television while having a coronary. Scoop matured as a player as he went along, but it wasn't all roses and daisies along the way.

I have a friend who is a prominent broadcaster on ESPN radio and talks regularly with all of ESPN's basketball analysts.

Anyway, this friend would, WITHOUT FAIL, call and scream over the phone at me several times a game whenever Scoop did something stupid.

These calls obviously lessened over the years, but in Scoop's frosh and soph seasons, he called me 4-5 times a game to shout at me.

A fun memory, but also a reminder that senior Scoop was exponentially better than underclassman Scoop.

 

[pearl31]

Not sure about that. He makes poor decisions often and his lack of quickness hurts him. He doesn't have tremendous hand/eye coordination from what I've seen. It is odd, though, he showed flashes last year of being a great passer last season. He really regressed.

I'd say he's shown plenty of flashes of it this year, too - even in recent games... I think part of that might be that in comparison to the other PG on our team, who is generally an exceptionally poor passer for a PG, Frank's looks tend to look that much better :noidea:

 

[Jasoncuse]

no necessarily here to defend him, but this is just not true - FH is actually an exceptional passer

Disagree. Making flashy no look passes doesn't make him a good passer. His weak handle leads him to get caught in the air or pick up his dribble out of position. He throws terrible lobs. Like the rest of the team, he can't feed the post. His fundamentals are so poor that it leads to mistakes and poorly thrown passes.

I know some want to say he's the best passer on the team. He may be, but that doesn't make him a good passer.

 

[kidorange]

When Hopkins filled in last year, he played well. Maybe if he's still around, he'll have a nice Sr season under Hop. Frank seems like a guy that does better with positive reinforcement, something he won't get from JB.

Without knowing all the details on his incident, I can't be mad at him. Maybe there's more to the story than anyone knows. I expect that's the reason for all of the negativity surrounding him. It's not because he hasn't reached all-star status. That was never a sure thing.

 

[sutomcat]

View attachment 92343 Here's my Father's Day card from 2015 (three years after Scoop graduated), in which my daughter thought the image that best captured me was one of me screaming at Scoop through the television while having a coronary. Scoop matured as a player as he went along, but it wasn't all roses and daisies along the way.

If you were a fan of the team in those days, you totally understand this picture...

 

[pulaski74]

I am in the camp of people that were very high on Frank coming in, and although I do not have any inside info, there are several people that do have more accurate information that he won't be here.

If he is here though, I'm not sure that doubling his stats is a very good measure for how he played this season. You have to remember that those numbers are very skewed, after feasting on cupcakes the beginning of the season. I mean at one point a few games in, he was averaging double figures in assists. The real sign of his season, was how he played in those first couple tough OOC games. He was playing 30 plus minutes then(before the switch to Gillon) and his numbers were dreadful!

Went thru boxscores a few days ago and do not remember any games fh played 30 mins. Agree he didnt play well, but really hadn't had alot of minutes including last yr. JG was the better option this yr. But why would we hope he leaves? All I read is we need a point guard. At least we know what we have. He will either improve or he won't play.

 

[HoustonCuse]

View attachment 92343 Here's my Father's Day card from 2015 (three years after Scoop graduated), in which my daughter thought the image that best captured me was one of me screaming at Scoop through the television while having a coronary. Scoop matured as a player as he went along, but it wasn't all roses and daisies along the way.

First off: post of the year candidate there.
Secondly: THREE years after graduation!! Holy cow, think of the mental/emotional devastation visited upon this sweet little child! I have grave fears of my own unhinged behavior during games in front of my young daughter.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

First off: post of the year candidate there.
Secondly: THREE years after graduation!! Holy cow, think of the mental/emotional devastation visited upon this sweet little child! I have grave fears of my own unhinged behavior during games in front of my young daughter.

Thanks Scoop.

 

[Louie and Bouie]

Do people who bring up Howard's stats realize they are inflated by a few huge games against cupcakes? Guess not. He was awful this year, I don't care what the stats project out to. If he's back, I expect that we will not guarantee him any sort of role. Rightfully so. He made his bed.

You previously, as well as others, predicted that he was 100% gone. If he stays (his choice) he plays. That's the reality with next year's roster. The anti-Howard crew is gonna have to get used to that. Hopefully, they can support him in his role on the team.

 

[newmexicuse]

You previously, as well as others, predicted that he was 100% gone. If he stays (his choice) he plays. That's the reality with next year's roster. The anti-Howard crew is gonna have to get used to that. Hopefully, they can support him in his role on the team.

There are issues with his skillset, but the real reason he has to go is his attitude. Even if most of the behind the scenes internet rumors are not true, just seeing his mouthing to the Coach on the sidelines & his overall visible sullenness on the sidelines makes him a poison. No, the choice will not be his, the staff would be crazy to allow his return.

I have made posts in the past saying that if all of the internet stuff was true that he should have been thrown off of the team, but that we should support Frank as long as he was still on the team. Subsequent to those posts, I have seen the mouthing and the sullenness for myself on the sideline. IMHO, if we had any resemblence of a third guard Frank would have already been gone, but we don't, so the staff is eating some crow for the time being. That will end in the off-season. Better players with better attitudes than Frank has have been shown the door.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

There are issues with his skillset, but the real reason he has to go is his attitude. Even if most of the behind the scenes internet rumors are not true, just seeing his mouthing to the Coach on the sidelines & his overall visible sullenness on the sidelines makes him a poison. No, the choice will not be his, the staff would be crazy to allow his return.

I think it comes down to who's staff it is.

 

[Louie and Bouie]

There are issues with his skillset, but the real reason he has to go is his attitude. Even if most of the behind the scenes internet rumors are not true, just seeing his mouthing to the Coach on the sidelines & his overall visible sullenness on the sidelines makes him a poison. No, the choice will not be his, the staff would be crazy to allow his return.

If the staff wanted him gone he wouldn't be playing significant minutes in the NIT. If his transgressions were so bad he wouldn't be on the team. Obviously, the staff feels he is worth redeeming based upon all of their actions to this point. It would have been to simple to move him along prior to this point if that's what they wanted.

While there is a set of fans that desperately want him off the team nobody has presented anything of worth that the staff agrees with that position.

 

[LAOrange]

He's a kid. He had a rough year. How did you react at 19? 19 year olds are mostly jerks. Give him a summer to get his game back and he'll be fine. He's a good ballplayer. He just needs to get out of his head.

 

[cuseguy]

Absolutely vital that we find a high caliber point guard for next year.

I'm hopeful that it's a fifth year transfer with leadership skills.

 

[realorange]

Gillon said it himself in a recent interview that early in the season both he and Frank were looking over their shoulder at JB when they were on the floor giving neither of them the confidence in their game they needed.

Gillon got the job, but Frank was still forced to look over his shoulder. I would give close to 50% of Frank's problems on the court to that.

 

[Briancuse]

We need a 5th year pg badly, but I wouldn't write off Howard just yet, he needs to work his tail off in the offseason, and grow up, but he could still be a valuable piece for us.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Frank Howard is not a PG. if he's here next year, I really hope the hall isn't in his hands.

He's got a terrible handle, is very slow, is not a good passer and struggles to beat anybody and finish off the bounce. All he has going for him is height. I still think his best spot would be as a 2 if he can improve the jumper. I do not want to see him play 20+ minutes at PG here.

Yeah, totally agree. Aside from the other problems he is just too slow and has no other gear/speed besides this constant passive/gliding pace. He's a disaster in the making almost every possession. Maybe an emergency 2G if he could shoot. Then there is the off the court stuff. Good riddance hopefully.

 

[Oráiste]

no necessarily here to defend him, but this is just not true - FH is actually an exceptional passer

I think "exceptional" is a bit much, but he is better than he is made out to be by some.

 

[PeteCalvin]

I am so confused about the status of Howard. I have heard that he was a major cancer to the team and it's psyche, that he was the primary reason for the doom that was our preseason, and that he did some damage behind the scenes. Enough that the staff benched him and were this close to sending him packing. Now all of a sudden he's a keeper for next year?

Don't get it. If he brought one team down, he could easily do it again. Did JB's tough love work? Did Howard get the message?

 

[Ghost]

First off: post of the year candidate there.
Secondly: THREE years after graduation!! Holy cow, think of the mental/emotional devastation visited upon this sweet little child! I have grave fears of my own unhinged behavior during games in front of my young daughter.

Uhhhh, JOC's daughter was 27 when she drew that. She's just not very artistic.



j/k (so as not to offend JOC44 I wanted to stress the j/k part!)

 

[sugrad68]

It never felt like Scoop was playing out of position. His decision making at times was frustrating i.e. the ill advised three late against Butler.

I remember it well. Sadly.

 

[rrlbees]

just seeing his mouthing to the Coach on the sidelines & his overall visible sullenness on the sidelines makes him a poison. No, the choice will not be his, the staff would be crazy to allow him to stay

The staff allowed waiters to stay and he was far more poisonous to the team chemistry. Many here still root him on in the NBA.

 

[GardenOrange]

I always root for the guy on the team that comes out of the game after his first mistake out on the floor. JB has one guy on every team he does this to, and I don;t remember it ever working well for the player. It's impossible to play well when you know after your first bad play you are coming out of the game. If this was happening to me, I would have a piss poor attitude as well. I'm in the minority I know, but if JB was more patient with Frank he might have grown some this year. Maybe if Frank stays he will be be servicable by his Senior year like Xmas, who also was ripped out of the game after mistake #1 his Freshman and Soph years.

 

[newmexicuse]

I always root for the guy on the team that comes out of the game after his first mistake out on the floor. JB has one guy on every team he does this to, and I don;t remember it ever working well for the player. It's impossible to play well when you know after your first bad play you are coming out of the game. If this was happening to me, I would have a piss poor attitude as well. I'm in the minority I know, but if JB was more patient with Frank he might have grown some this year. Maybe if Frank stays he will be be servicable by his Senior year like Xmas, who also was ripped out of the game after mistake #1 his Freshman and Soph years.

Frank was given every chance early in the season to succeed. If anybody has a gripe, it should be robey.

 

[iommi]

I am so confused about the status of Howard. I have heard that he was a major cancer to the team and it's psyche, that he was the primary reason for the doom that was our preseason, and that he did some damage behind the scenes. Enough that the staff benched him and were this close to sending him packing. Now all of a sudden he's a keeper for next year?

Don't get it. If he brought one team down, he could easily do it again. Did JB's tough love work? Did Howard get the message?

He tossed a towel behind the bench against Miami (?) after being pulled and then allegedly told JB off. Doubt he got the message.

 

[moqui]

the staff will try to keep FH in the fold until they are they are sure they have a full complement of guards for next season. If they do sign other guards, they will cut him loose. Or, he may transfer of his own volition.

He may be on next year's team, he may not. He is the Schrodinger's Cat of SU basketball.