All that is to say I’d rather gamble on Forbes filling that spot with someone better.
All that is to say I’d rather gamble on Forbes filling that spot with someone better.
I'm not saying Massoud is the best shooter ever, but in the latter half of the season he took a lot fewer shots in the flow of an offensive possession. Part of that seemed like him pressing a bit to try to get some shots (and looking like a chucker), but a good chunk of it was just how stagnant our offense became. Without the driving and dishing, someone was going to end up taking an off balance or contested three near the end of the shot clock. A lot of times that guy was Massoud.
If he were getting wide open looks and hitting 28%, I'd agree there would be cause for concern, but once teams figured out how to play defense against us, we saw very few open threes.
Two reasons in my view:Originally Posted by RJKarl
1. Teams started playing us differently. They smothered the perimeter and knew that drives with our fairly short guards and non-existent inside game would end with a pass to a covered player or a blocked shot inside.
2. Our guards are plenty quick against lower level talent or depleted rosters. Against ACC level guards, they aren't quick enough to get around defenders consistently though. Combined with #1, even when they did get around their man, they were often met with a choice between covered teammates and a shot blocker.
Massoud should be used as a part at this point. But whether intentionally by Forbes or intentionally by Massoud, it seems he's the focal point of offense at times. If he was just taking open shots off the pass or occassionally drove if he had a lane because of movement in the D, he'd be fine. But Massoud looking like Reggie Miller in NBA Jam played by a 4th grader isn't working.
You can tweak this. A brush screen as they start getting into the lane, a cutter, using Neath more. Neath is strong enough to get shots up, is a good passer and shot 90% on FTs, but we stopped using him.
This was most puzzling to me. Neath was a good driver and strong enough to finish at the rim through contact last season, and was doing that earlier this season. IDK what happened.
Is RJ trying to say that Forbes should’ve altered his rotation and kept our young guys from getting experience just to possibly curry favor with a recruit from Toronto?
First of all, I am saying Neath should have played more as he earned. If he's not hurt, there was no reason not to play him down the stretch. Yes, not playing MAY hurt us.
I understand that BBD is looking for ANY way he parse my words, out of context, to fit his Pavlovain need to challenge me.
Neath couldn’t get to the rim this year because the scouting report probably read:
“Only move is dribble left, spin right.”
I’ve also just never seen a P5 PG get ripped as much as him. Dude seriously had a hard time dribbling this year.
Neath averaged less TOs/minute played than Whitt.
A 21 year old with two college seasons under his belt had fewer turnovers than a dude who graduated from high school three months ago. STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES.
Bless your heart BBD...
Yes of course he is. Don't question RJ's knowledge of all things because why work to upgrade your roster moving out a vastly underperforming player at a position with depth on the whims of a 17-18 yr old top 20 player from "a small country." LMAO.
This. It's the reason the backup QB is always a fan favorite on a bad team. He gets in for a few plays, nobody has ever scouted him or has any idea what his tendencies are, and he rips it up for a few possessions. If you didn't know Neath was the worst 3 point shooter on the team by 7 percentage points (I mean, dear god), or which hand he favored, or that he had more turnovers than assists (-2 worst diff of any guard on the team) - you might play him straight up and give up some buckets on drives. He has good size at point. We saw that and got excited last year.
But the minute you scout him even a mediocre defender can lock him up. We saw the same with Massoud and Jonah this year. Mucius may not have lived up to his potential yet, but he's a tier above any of those guys, gets 2 more years at Wake if he wants them, and he's versatile.
Yeah, I had higher expectations for Neath this year, but it just didn’t work out. Not sure if it’s limitations to his game or a poor fit within the system, but he’s better off elsewhere. Forbes saw him everyday in practice. We did not. I’ll defer to Forbes on roster decisions and playing time.
4D chess
I am not worthy to play chess with RJ. Maybe he prefers to just play with himself. Oops.
RJ loves Neath more than I hated CMM. He constantly criticized Williamson this year and praised Neath. We had 7 turnovers last night without Neath. We played pretty well against GT without Neath. We have Williamson and Whitt. Neath should seek greener pastures. He has some talent but he’s not as good as DW and Whitt.
I doubt we are a serious player here, but Forbes and staff always make the call.
It's all about the Jimmies and the Joes. Averaged 12, 6 & 5 for a 6'6" guard from Ky, 2/1 ast/to and 44% from 3, why not?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote