I agree.
Although, there was a little bit of evidence that MCW was capable of taking over a game / long stretch of a game:
- The last minute of play, on the road against #1 ranked Louisville when we made some critical plays (although he also was making up for some turnovers earlier.)
http://syracusefan.com/threads/39-5-seconds-left-68-67-louisville.42467/
- And then in the Big East tournament game vs Pitt, when he went off in the second half for this line in the last 10 mins of the game:
MCW: 10 pts (2-2 FG, 1-1 3PT, 5-6 FT), 1 assist, 2 rebounds, 2 steals & 2 turnovers. Also, scored 10 of the 15 points SU scored in last 10 mins. (And assisted on 3 of the other 5.)
It's just that we have also watched him make some "freshman mistakes" out there too, so I can kinda see why people would be a bit hesitant to fully believe. (Although, that is what you often get with a first-year starter, especially at the PG position, whereas Kemba was a junior with 2 prior years of playing time when he completely took over these games in 2011.)
But people also need to look more at the process instead of simply the results.
By that I mean, you could see that MCW could basically drive to the hoop at will pretty much the entire year. But, since he was having trouble finishing at the rim (for whatever reason - maybe he needed to make a slight adjustment, or maybe he was simply getting some bad rolls), it wasn't making as great an impact as it could. But if you recognize the fact that he has the tough part down (the driving to the hoop & getting his shot off at will), then you will also realize that it's just a matter of time until the baskets start falling for him.
So that once he started to get that final piece of it down (finishing at the rim), then you get a game like yesterday where he drives right by arguably the best defensive guard in college basketball for (what he makes look like) freakin layups!
Same thing with his passing. Evaluate the process, not the results (at first.) The guy makes plays and sees passes nobody else at this level makes and sees. But, he is also prone to some poor turnovers too. But that is what (good) players do...refine their game with experience, and begin to cut down on the poor turnovers. He's not quite there yet with this aspect (especially when Louisville is allowed to prison rape him like they did in the Big East Finals game), but he's getting there, IMO.
One more point: It's also the reason why, despite his poor shooting this year, I would tell him to keep firing. Because if you recognize the process...which is that he is a 6 foot 6 inch guard who can pretty much get his shot off whenever he'd like & that also he was a good scorer in high school...then you can wait a bit on the results.
I'd much rather suffer through some poor shooting nights from MCW early-to-mid season, with the hopes that he can get it going come the end of the season & just become deadly, rather than sit & watch a guy without such an obvious advantage as MCW with his height (say, like a Scoop, just for example...not trying to bash him, but he pretty much maxed-out his talents at SU & didn't have that potential to take his game to another level, IMO) jack up shots, even if they make more of them at the time. I just love watching really high level talented players blossom from being mistake-prone inexperienced players, to becoming stars right before our eyes.
All this...and I haven't even yet mentioned the fact that, seemingly once a game now, he just rips the ball away from some poor guard's hands while on defense, and trots to the hoop for an easy bucket. I mean, he makes it look so goddamn easy sometimes. But then again, I would expect nothing less from the new holder of the Most Steals in a Season in SU History title.
