The Frank Howard Roller Coaster Ride

[kcsu]

His whole history is guys stealing the ball from him.

HE IS NOT A POINT. Frank is a 2 playing the point.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Am I the only one that's pleasantly surprised by Frank's play this year? Coming into the season, I wasn't sure he'd even be serviceable but he's proven he is more than just that. We have a much bigger (and taller) problem than him but he gets all the crap.

I'm not a Frank Howard apologist, at least I'm not trying to be.
But its fascinating to watch the unending narrative on the kid's play, which is primarily focused on all the negatives.
Before the season started even, there were some here who had already written the kid off. Now that he's proven the negatoids wrong to a certain extent, the emphasis seems to have shifted to how badly he's played in stretches, as opposed to the much needed winning plays he makes during a tight game.
Versus GTown, I had Ty Battle having a worse see-saw game than Frank. But because TB got hot and bailed us out, all was forgiven/forgotten and the obligatory, "Frank totally sucked at ____________ (fill-in-the-blank)" narrative was back in full effect.
Look, he's not Trae Young, or even Quade Green for that matter. But he is a very serviceable PG who brings length, resilience, and heart to every game. And much like another error-prone PG, MCW, if FH gets hot at the right time, we could be looking at a very successful run by seasons's end. Lets give it a rest and let this play out, for Pete's sake. JMHO

 

[orangeinnyc]

At the end of the day frank as our floor general has led us to a 10-1 start, his turnovers are just something we are going to have to live with, if the results end in a W nothing else matters. He has the ball in his hands for almost the entire game and due to our stagnant offense we rely on him to not only instigate the offense but also to score and to get our offensively challenged players such as moyer, Chukwu, sidbee and marek easy buckets which for the most part he has done a good job. He is our playmaker and is going to have to force the issue at times and take risks which will inedibly lead to turnovers. Of course there is room to improve and clean his play up but going into this season no one expected frank to be as good as he has and to emerge into the leader he has.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Yeah, just after halfcourt too. Make a guy pay and get downhill. Don’t stall. Really think it is a footspeed issue as much as the handle. He could be driving these dudes into some nasty screens too making them pay for their aggresiveness but instead he plods up with the ball and dangles it in front. Very lucky he hasn’t been stripped more often.

Seems like all our point guards are the plodding type these days. If there was ever a year we could get run outs from rebounds... this was it.

 

[Cusefan0307]

True. It’s interesting. MCW averaged 3.5 TO/game as the primary ballhandler. Frank has had more time than MCW leading up to this year as the primary ballhandler. Frank is at 4.2 TO/game now and in a stretch of 5.6(!) TO/game since and counting Maryland...6 games.

MCW was more natural at the position and faster, quicker, more explosive. Maybe not by much but he was. Frank the MUCH better shooter. Carter-Williams played downhill more. One thing Frank doesn’t do is that jump in the air then do a 180 and pass backwards for a TO. MCW was good for at least one of those a game it seemed...ugh. Steadier handle than Frank, IMO.

I wasn’t looking at turnover per game. I was looking at percentage and they are both around 25%. This team isn’t nearly as balanced as that team so Frank is going to turn it over more than MCW because his usage is significantly higher.

 

[CuseLifer11]

Opponents' game plan for Frank is clear: foul him and he'll turn it over.

On that note, hope we don't schedule Buffalo again. No need for guarantee game for teams with that dirty style of play.

This is so true. Sitting near the court it was literally multiple fouls every single time down court. FH had some bad deibbles tonight but he was fould at least 30 times.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

HE IS NOT A POINT. Frank is a 2 playing the point.

On this team, he is. He signed up for it. That's why he came here.
That's like FB fans saying don't judge GROB as HC, because he is a DC.
That said, good for him that he took back what would have been his loss with that 3 and some FTs. He showed some moxie he had not previously displayed.
His nonchalance is also aggravating, but that might just be me.

 

[Newhouser]

Agreed. Kid could’ve mentally folded. Major props to him.

He just has some limitations like lack of speed at the PG position IMO as well as the shaky handle. Some posters seem to think his handle is fine but when you also, regardless of being stripped or not, hesitate and don’t attack a good defender and play downhill you stall out the offense and get it discombobulated. As usual, he picked up his dribble at least once in no man’s land. So many times we had chances in the 1H especially after turnovers and long rebounds to push it but he just doesn’t have the speed to push it down there. Our rebounders could be flying around for putbacks and lobs if he could push it down there. Gonna be a roller coaster and some Mylanta moments but I’m impressed with his mental toughness like you say.

I agree but is JB's concern for his mental state giving FH a free pass in terms of minutes. Big 3 or no - you can't get stripped twice and throw it away and get a pass. Washington does not kill us for a few minutes so Frank can get a breath, a pep talk and maybe a reminder that boneheaded plays have consequences.

 

[Newhouser]

Opponents' game plan for Frank is clear: foul him and he'll turn it over.

On that note, hope we don't schedule Buffalo again. No need for guarantee game for teams with that dirty style of play.

I think Buffalo had a great game plan that we will see in every game in the ACC. Body Frank as much as possible, post up and attack PC and don't guard Marke or MM, helping out on Battle and OB.

 

[jgeorge322]

I agree but is JB's concern for his mental state giving FH a free pass in terms of minutes. Big 3 or no - you can't get stripped twice and throw it away and get a pass. Washington does not kill us for a few minutes so Frank can get a breath, a pep talk and maybe a reminder that boneheaded plays have consequences.

I hear you here. My guess is JB thinks Frank will eventually stop doing this.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I agree but is JB's concern for his mental state giving FH a free pass in terms of minutes. Big 3 or no - you can't get stripped twice and throw it away and get a pass. Washington does not kill us for a few minutes so Frank can get a breath, a pep talk and maybe a reminder that boneheaded plays have consequences.

Oh I agree. He is choosing to live or die with Frank and not punish or introduce consequences for his actions for fear of a tailspin/regression I’m guessing. The kid has righted the storm/ship with a couple of
big plays in these games so that is good and encouraging. I’ll be scolded but no other coach or big time program in America would be comfortably sending this kid out to drive the bus with how loosey-goosey he is with the ball. Some of these games with the amount and kinds of TOs it would easily be grounds to lose your job. He would get pulled if Geno were still around and making good plays, IMO.

 

[shandeezy7]

I agree but is JB's concern for his mental state giving FH a free pass in terms of minutes. Big 3 or no - you can't get stripped twice and throw it away and get a pass. Washington does not kill us for a few minutes so Frank can get a breath, a pep talk and maybe a reminder that boneheaded plays have consequences.

JB isn't pulling Frank for Howard Washington with 3 minutes left in a game this year. Frank will have to foul out or be dead for that to happen.

 

[OttoMets]

Here’s an interesting stat... before tonight Frank averaged .3 more turnovers a game then Trae Young. Tonight Trae had 4 (in six less minutes) and Frank had 5. Nobody, nobody thinks that Frank is as good as Trae of course, but the reality is ball handlers turn the ball over, it happens... no matter how uniquely skilled and talented. Frank pretty regularly gets raked across the coals for his TO’s, but his numbers are not an outrageous outlier or something

The trouble is that a high percentage of Frank's turnovers seem to be CYO-level stuff. Getting impatient and throwing the inbound right to a Buffalo player, dribbling off his foot, that kind of thing.

The positive aspect to that problem is that when he does improve, he's got a chance to be very good.

 

[OttoMets]

This is so true. Sitting near the court it was literally multiple fouls every single time down court. FH had some bad deibbles tonight but he was fould at least 30 times.

The sequence where Battle and Howard were both handchecked up the court with no whistle but then Dolezaj moved his feet with the ballhandler and didn't put a hand on him but got a foul call was infuriating.

I think Buffalo had a great game plan that we will see in every game in the ACC. Body Frank as much as possible, post up and attack PC and don't guard Marke or MM, helping out on Battle and OB.

Yep. But I don't think it helps us to give a guarantee game to a team that plays like that - when we're cutting a check to a team, we're not looking to get players hurt from the clutch-and-grab nonsense.

 

[OttoMets]

JB isn't pulling Frank for Howard Washington with 3 minutes left in a game this year. Frank will have to foul out or be dead for that to happen.

Somebody behind us was screaming for that very thing to happen right when Frank hit the big three.

I was sorry that OrangeXtreme wasn't there to enjoy that.

 

[DonLightfoot]

Hey, a roller coaster ride is suppose to be fun, full of screams and smiles. One minute you want to throw something at the TV when Frank does something stupid, then you're clapping your hands together after he makes a good play. He is what he is and we have to accept that. Thankfully, this year, the smiles are outweighing the screams. Like somebody mentioned above, if we get a win then everything is OK. We'll see how he performs with the ACC just around the corner. I've been a supporter of him since day one, albeit driving me nuts sometimes, but then I have the same approach to anyone that wears the Orange.

 

[721Comstock]

So, to recap:
FH is a flawed PG w/ a shaky handle, suspect decision making at times, but who’s mental toughness usually produces positive overall results.
Rinse and repeat after EVERY game.

You could replace FH with MCW or Silent G, and it would still be a true statement.

 

[Townie72]

I have been of a mind that Frank would learn from his mistakes and eventually not be so turnover prone as the season wore on.

But the Buffalo coach said, ""We didn't think Howard, we kind of sensed after getting a feel of him in the first half that he couldn't handle on-ball pressure between Wes (Clark) and Davonta (Jordan)"

He's not pointing to mistakes, he is suggesting a inherent weakness in Howard's game.

 

[tbonezone]

he's indeed a wild mouse. local coaster fans appreciate.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I don't understand how anyone can be surprised when Frank can't bring the ball up or throws the ball away so often. This is the player he's been since he stepped foot on the Dome court. He's a bad ball handler, a weak passer who will throw some sweet ones from time to time and an all-around sloppy player.

His handle hasn't improved since his freshman year. He still dribbles high, away from his body and is terrible at warding off defenders. Getting picked multiple times at mid-court is just awful for a player in the ACC.

He's a 2-guard forced into the PG position. We've seen his success scoring the ball this year and his shot has gotten much better, but he's still a terrible ball handler.

 

[Jasoncuse]

JB called him and Tyus "all-league" guards in his presser. Obviously, it is confidence thing with Frank and JB is trying to build up his confidence. Teams are seeing his shaky handle and getting in his grill. JB knows he needs to do positive reinforcement with Frank because he's basically our only option there. H. Washington is a 5-minute guy at best.

It's not a confidence thing. It's an ability thing. Frank is not a good ball handler and is not quick enough to make the defender pay if he plays him one way. It's as simple as that.

In fact, I think his confidence is just fine. He buried that big 3 after getting picked multiple times. That's a good sign that he wasn't wavering in his ability.

 

[tbonezone]

didn't watch but heard late game battle "waved off" washington bringing it up court.

 

[SoBeCuse]

It's not a confidence thing. It's an ability thing. Frank is not a good ball handler and is not quick enough to make the defender pay if he plays him one way. It's as simple as that.

In fact, I think his confidence is just fine. He buried that big 3 after getting picked multiple times. That's a good sign that he wasn't wavering in his ability.

This.

 

[Jasoncuse]

SoBeCuse can you please read what I've been saying? I agree he's outproducing Frank and is a better player, Trae as a freshman is one of the best player's in the country, agreed? MY POINT is that when we look at turnovers, Frank get's ridiculed hard for something that's not some crazy anomaly. Can he tighten handle some? Sure. Are some of his turnovers lazy instead of attacking-the-basket-aggressive-in-nature types? Sure. This dude jgeorge322 came at me saying I used one game to make a point, which I clearly didn't. So I responded to him... then you took my response to him like a personal attack on you and Trae. It wasn't. I know you're trying to use scenario's which we could never use in real life since they play different teams, but over an entire season Trae and Frank's TO numbers are minimally different, statistically speaking.

Young's usage rate is around 36%, Frank's is around 26%. Young's TO % is around 14%, Frank's is around 22%.

You can't just look at turnover numbers and say it's an apples to apples comparison, at least in full. Statistically speaking, I think the turnover #'s when looking at usage and possessions, are significantly different between these two players.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Seems like all our point guards are the plodding type these days. If there was ever a year we could get run outs from rebounds... this was it.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be a big part of JB's gameplan or philosophy any more. Instead, it's slow the tempo, pound the ball into the hardwood and hope for buckets from the guards or putbacks.