NineOneSeven
2018-19 Iggy Hoops Leader Scorer
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- Aug 30, 2011
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I know, right? Another thread on JG.
I hate oversimplifying by saying a poster is a [player name] "defender", but I will say overall I liked what Joe could bring to the table, so I guess I would qualify as a "defender". That said, we need to remember something that I think is extremely important.
Before last season, I think almost everyone assumed Joe would be the 4th or 5th guard to play. For me, I thought he might even redshirt. At best, I thought maybe 5mpg and likely only see the court in maximum 50% of the games. Obviously, injuries, underwhelming play from others, coaching decisions (people will love that one I'm sure), etc, and next thing we knew he was playing 30 mpg. The efficiency was clearly not there, but overall I was pretty happy with how he played given how the situation evolved.
Fast forward to this season. Again, going back before last season, I assumed he would maybe be a guy who would get around 15mpg as a sophomore- a clear step up from what I thought would happen as a freshman (remember...expectation from reality), and reasonable overall. I always thought by the time he was an upperclassmen, he'd be a clear rotational player who had potential to score the ball. In fact, my buddy before last season told me that JG would never be a guy who averaged >10ppg on a "good" team (the "good" team was added after it was clear he was going to average double figures last year once the minutes piled up). I thought he would easily avg double figures at some point in his career... but I also thought it would be when he became said upperclassmen. Once he was able to get stronger, adjust to the D1 game, and find his role. I never expected him to be a go-to guy who averaged 20+.
So where are we? I don't need to rehash the issues on the floor. The production is the production, whether the expectations were he plays 10mpg at this point, or 40mpg. But I think it's important we remember what the expectations were supposed to be at this point in his career. Because of transfers, coaching decisions, etc, this is the situation we are in. The poor efficiency, the poor defense, the bad shots... all are extremely frustrating. I get it. He's in a role that he absolutely should not be in (that does not excuse some of the things we see, I agree).
Against BC, he had a heck of a game. Between hitting shots and the pick and roll with our forwards he was actually destroying that BC team. Against UNC, he made 2 threes that were simple catch and shoot plays. That's the type of production I expected, and what we should be asking from him. Not bringing the ball up repeatedly. Not forcing tough shots from 30 feet. A two guard who can help bring the ball up, and when he's making shots, he gets more minutes. That was the expectation.
TL;DR -- It's a roster and/or coaching situation that led to this point.
I hate oversimplifying by saying a poster is a [player name] "defender", but I will say overall I liked what Joe could bring to the table, so I guess I would qualify as a "defender". That said, we need to remember something that I think is extremely important.
Before last season, I think almost everyone assumed Joe would be the 4th or 5th guard to play. For me, I thought he might even redshirt. At best, I thought maybe 5mpg and likely only see the court in maximum 50% of the games. Obviously, injuries, underwhelming play from others, coaching decisions (people will love that one I'm sure), etc, and next thing we knew he was playing 30 mpg. The efficiency was clearly not there, but overall I was pretty happy with how he played given how the situation evolved.
Fast forward to this season. Again, going back before last season, I assumed he would maybe be a guy who would get around 15mpg as a sophomore- a clear step up from what I thought would happen as a freshman (remember...expectation from reality), and reasonable overall. I always thought by the time he was an upperclassmen, he'd be a clear rotational player who had potential to score the ball. In fact, my buddy before last season told me that JG would never be a guy who averaged >10ppg on a "good" team (the "good" team was added after it was clear he was going to average double figures last year once the minutes piled up). I thought he would easily avg double figures at some point in his career... but I also thought it would be when he became said upperclassmen. Once he was able to get stronger, adjust to the D1 game, and find his role. I never expected him to be a go-to guy who averaged 20+.
So where are we? I don't need to rehash the issues on the floor. The production is the production, whether the expectations were he plays 10mpg at this point, or 40mpg. But I think it's important we remember what the expectations were supposed to be at this point in his career. Because of transfers, coaching decisions, etc, this is the situation we are in. The poor efficiency, the poor defense, the bad shots... all are extremely frustrating. I get it. He's in a role that he absolutely should not be in (that does not excuse some of the things we see, I agree).
Against BC, he had a heck of a game. Between hitting shots and the pick and roll with our forwards he was actually destroying that BC team. Against UNC, he made 2 threes that were simple catch and shoot plays. That's the type of production I expected, and what we should be asking from him. Not bringing the ball up repeatedly. Not forcing tough shots from 30 feet. A two guard who can help bring the ball up, and when he's making shots, he gets more minutes. That was the expectation.
TL;DR -- It's a roster and/or coaching situation that led to this point.
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