DJ struggled from the floor today. That was obvious. However, even when he struggles shooting, he generally does so many little things well that don't show up on the stat sheet.
That said, I was sorely disappointed with the way he reacted in the last 2 minutes of the game. By that time, the game was all but GT's and DJ took it upon himself to throw up every single shot. On about four straight possessions he came down the court and took the entire GT team on...failing miserably in the end. I am not sure whether that was a desire to stat stuff or to single handedly win a game, but it certainly wasn't the team first attitude you want from your star PG.
This is not to bash DJ. We are not where we are today without him. But, again, I was saddened by his judgment and "ball-hogging" over the last couple minutes.
Let's hope he gets back on track...and remembers he has teammates.
And remembers that some of his teammates are open, and most all of them are closer than 25 feet from the hoop.
He's been pulling that crap all year long. I remember watching him drive against three defenders against Hillsdale when there were open guys. Look, I like the kid, but sometimes he looks like he is trying to do everything himself for his NBA dollars.
Honestly....how is James even mentioned as first round draft pick at this point?!
How is James not getting yanked when he pulls this B.S.? I'm tired of Crean and his double standards for his stars.
Just so that it is clear: I didn't have so much of an issue with his shot selection earlier in the game. He is our "marquee" player and he needs to shoot. Some shots could have been better, some were there for the taking and he just missed.
My chief complaint is over the last two minutes. Crean should have yanked him out after the second straight possession where he went 1 on 5 against Georgetown. There was one point where Fitz and Cubillan had the ball and you could see DJ clapping and yelling for the ball. He eventually got the ball, put his head down and was swatted while driving against Hibbert, Green and co.
I have to disagree MUCam. He doesn't have to shoot. He is the point guard. He's got to get the offense going. His shot selection in the first half was horrendous and indefensible. He was forcing shots with 25 seconds left on the shot clock that would be available any time.
He is a tremendous athlete with considerable basketball skills, but he has to learn to take what is there and not force what isn't. I hope for his sake he stays another year, because I think it will mean more money for him in the long run. To make real money he is going to need to be a productive NBA player, and right now he is going to be a late first round pick which means he goes to a good team and I don't see him getting minutes on a good team.
Please, no NBA team is going to draft a 5'9" player who is as inconsistent as James is. If James were averaging 21ppg and consistently was stacking up the stat sheet, maybe.
Right now, he is a low second round pick.
He doesn't look like an NBA player yet to me, but I don't pretend to be good at projecting these things. I keep reading and hearing that he would be a first round pick by people who supposedly know such things. Anyway, I thnk we all agree he could use at least one more year of college ball to get better.