PG

[MU82]

I am soooooo interested to see what Wojo does with the point guard situation.

Before you say, "Obviously, he has to be smart enough to know we can't start Derrick," remember that he was a defensive-minded, offensively-challenge PG himself who almost surely will value a similar player. Wojo was a career .364 shooter from 3-point range and .732 from the FT line, so that is a major difference -- he could make a shot when he had to.

This decision will give us a lot of insight into Wojo's philosophies about many things: playing vets vs. youngsters; playing defense-first players vs. offense-first players; placing emphasis on performance in practices; etc.

Can't wait to see how it all plays out at the most important position on the court.

[seakm4]

I believe the decision at the PG will decide what type of season we'll have.  Will he run buzz's players in their normal routine, or do his own thing?

I think the latter, and we'll still see a starting DW for the start of the season, but a less stubborn coach change his ways at the end of the season if not sooner.

No coach wants to have a bad record in his first year.

I'd like to see a JA splash or JJJ (J cubed to me) to make an immediate impactl 

[vacinator]

Who starts at point is less important next year because the focus of the O wont be feeding the post.  It was this year allowing Wilson's man to sag without consequence.  I still think Derrick is way too limited for significant minutes., but his weakness are more of an issue with Otule in the line up vs.  a Fischer, who I think can spread things out.

[texaswarrior74]

If he brings dook's style of play with him, the bigs are screen setters and rebounders...they are not a feed the post offense and guard play is important.

Look for him to recruit more pure shooters and defensive minded players. We'll probably be less athletic over time and at times look more like Wisconsin than we ever have....I'm not saying playing in the 50s and 60s because dook can be explosive at times, but more perimeter shooters who can knock down the three.

I've never been able to understand why any decent big would ever want to play at dook since they will never be featured in that offense.....I'm hoping we're a bit more of a hybrid than a clone of dook.

[Hards Alumni]

Believe it or not, players improve in the off season.  I'm sure the first thing Derrick will work on is his shot.  Imagine if he could hit a few how much it would change our offense.  I'm not saying he should start (I'm a huge Duane Wilson fan), but if the main problem with his game is shooting, he has 7 months to work on it.

[MU1980]

Believe it or not, players improve in the off season.  I'm sure the first thing Derrick will work on is his shot.  Imagine if he could hit a few how much it would change our offense.  I'm not saying he should start (I'm a huge Duane Wilson fan), but if the main problem with his game is shooting, he has 7 months to work on it.

How many years has he had to work on his shot? He had to know going into this season he would need a better outside shot (and the ability to make layups and free throws) if he wanted to get significant playing time.  Oh wait, maybe he knew something we didn't and that it wouldn't matter how offensively challenged he was and that he would still get the majority of the minutes.  Hopefully next year he won't feel the playing time will automatically be his and he will indeed develop some offense, but it is difficult to see him ever being a great shooter. 

[Hards Alumni]

How many years has he had to work on his shot? He had to know going into this season he would need a better outside shot (and the ability to make layups and free throws) if he wanted to get significant playing time.  Oh wait, maybe he knew something we didn't and that it wouldn't matter how offensively challenged he was and that he would still get the majority of the minutes.  Hopefully next year he won't feel the playing time will automatically be his and he will indeed develop some offense, but it is difficult to see him ever being a great shooter. 

That is fairly nonsensical.  Plenty of players make it to the NBA without being great shooters, and then become excellent shooters.  It is one of the easier basketball skills to learn with coaching.   Additionally, Derrick is an extremely hard worker (and a military kid), so I don't follow your logic when you imply that he knew the starting job was his so he didn't have to work at it.

[MU1980]

That is fairly nonsensical.  Plenty of players make it to the NBA without being great shooters, and then become excellent shooters.  It is one of the easier basketball skills to learn with coaching.   Additionally, Derrick is an extremely hard worker (and a military kid), so I don't follow your logic when you imply that he knew the starting job was his so he didn't have to work at it.

If developing an outside shot is fairly easy and Derrick is an extremely hard worker, why was his shot so horrific this year.  Maybe because he was working mainly on his defense, knowing that is how he was going to get playing time under Buzz.  Now, hopefully he will be told that he will need a better outside shot (and certainly free throw shooting ability above a Shaq level) to get playing time and since you say it is so easy to develop, we will have two great shooting point guards named Wilson next year. 

[Hards Alumni]

If developing an outside shot is fairly easy and Derrick is an extremely hard worker, why was his shot so horrific this year.  Maybe because he was working mainly on his defense, knowing that is how he was going to get playing time under Buzz.  Now, hopefully he will be told that he will need a better outside shot (and certainly free throw shooting ability above a Shaq level) to get playing time and since you say it is so easy to develop, we will have two great shooting point guards named Wilson next year. 

Look, you don't have to be upset about it.  Shooting takes time.  I'm saying that you can't teach, speed or athleticism.  You can certainly teach shooting.  Look at how awful Vander Blue was his freshman and sophomore years.  His points all came inside.  By his Junior year, he was a serviceable shooter, and teams had to respect him.  If Derrick spends his time shooting there is no reason to think that he can't improve. 

Honestly, the thing I find just as frustrating as his shooting problem is that he has poor court vision in transition.  He very rarely pushes the ball, and instead prefers to slow it down when there seems to be better opportunities.

[MU1980]

Look, you don't have to be upset about it.  Shooting takes time.  I'm saying that you can't teach, speed or athleticism.  You can certainly teach shooting.  Look at how awful Vander Blue was his freshman and sophomore years.  His points all came inside.  By his Junior year, he was a serviceable shooter, and teams had to respect him.  If Derrick spends his time shooting there is no reason to think that he can't improve. 

Honestly, the thing I find just as frustrating as his shooting problem is that he has poor court vision in transition.  He very rarely pushes the ball, and instead prefers to slow it down when there seems to be better opportunities.

Where was I upset about anything.  Just not completely agreeing with you.  I find it hard to believe that with Derricks work ethic that someone on the staff was not able to help him shoot better.  Therefore, I am guessing it wasn't what he was working on since Buzz is so defensive minded.  My hope is that with a new coach, he will use his work ethic to become a better shooter, although I have a difficult time seeing him going from a 45% free throw shooter to a 70%. 

[Hards Alumni]

Where was I upset about anything.  Just not completely agreeing with you.  I find it hard to believe that with Derricks work ethic that someone on the staff was not able to help him shoot better.  Therefore, I am guessing it wasn't what he was working on since Buzz is so defensive minded.  My hope is that with a new coach, he will use his work ethic to become a better shooter, although I have a difficult time seeing him going from a 45% free throw shooter to a 70%. 

I can agree with that.

[NersEllenson]

I can agree with that.

Generally speaking a guys can either shoot by the time he is 21 years old and been playing basketball his whole life, or he cannot.  Generally a GUARD who shoots 45% from the FT line, is never going to evolve into a good perimeter/3 point shooter.

Vander was a good shooter in high school as a junior...somewhere lost confidence....yet I believe as a sophomore he shot close to 75% on FT's - which can foreshadow being a good shooter.

If Derrick can improve, and be a threat on offense - then he is worthy of some playing time...and should get a look at beginning of season.  Yet, there is no way in hell Wojo keeps Duane and Dawson on the bench if Derrick were to get starting nod, and perform as he did last year.

[bilsu]

Derrick playing the majority of minutes only means he is more ready than Duane and Dawson.

[Wojo'sMojo]

Believe it or not, players improve in the off season.  I'm sure the first thing Derrick will work on is his shot.  Imagine if he could hit a few how much it would change our offense.  I'm not saying he should start (I'm a huge Duane Wilson fan), but if the main problem with his game is shooting, he has 7 months to work on it.

Since graduating from high school, he has had 3 off seasons to work on his shot and improve it. Why do you think this off season will be any different?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Believe it or not, players improve in the off season.  I'm sure the first thing Derrick will work on is his shot.  Imagine if he could hit a few how much it would change our offense.  I'm not saying he should start (I'm a huge Duane Wilson fan), but if the main problem with his game is shooting, he has 7 months to work on it.

Unless you are DJ under Buzz's tutelage.

[BCHoopster]

Since graduating from high school, he has had 3 off seasons to work on his shot and improve it. Why do you think this off season will be any different?

Either you have it or you do not. He does not.  

[We R Final Four]

If he brings dook's style of play with him, the bigs are screen setters and rebounders...they are not a feed the post offense and guard play is important.

Look for him to recruit more pure shooters and defensive minded players. We'll probably be less athletic over time and at times look more like Wisconsin than we ever have....I'm not saying playing in the 50s and 60s because dook can be explosive at times, but more perimeter shooters who can knock down the three.

I've never been able to understand why any decent big would ever want to play at dook since they will never be featured in that offense.....I'm hoping we're a bit more of a hybrid than a clone of dook.

It would be refreshing to have some players that can shoot the three.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It would be refreshing to have some players that can shoot the three.

I suspect the current coach might actually put some emphasis on that.

[MU82]

Believe it or not, players improve in the off season.  I'm sure the first thing Derrick will work on is his shot.  Imagine if he could hit a few how much it would change our offense.  I'm not saying he should start (I'm a huge Duane Wilson fan), but if the main problem with his game is shooting, he has 7 months to work on it.

As other commenters have noted, Derrick knew he was going to start this past season, so one would think an intelligent, hard-working guy like him would have spent 7 months working on his outside shot. And maybe he did just that but, simply (and sadly) he cannot shoot. He wouldn't be the first player in basketball history who, no matter how much time he spends working at it, he just cannot shoot.

People like to talk about how Vander almost miraculously became a reliable shooter as a junior, but it didn't just happen overnight. He actually improved quite a bit from his frosh to soph season (.413-.258-.708 as soph after .394-.160-.608 as frosh), showing signs of hope. Derrick, remarkably, found a way to become a worse 3-point shooter and FT shooter as a junior. I say remarkably because he was so poor statistically in his first two seasons that it figured to be impossible for him to actually get worse!

Some guys simply can't shoot, and Derrick has shown nothing to suggest he is anything but one of those guys. I don't know why anyone would have hope that he can become even a passable shooter.

Who starts at point is less important next year because the focus of the O wont be feeding the post.  It was this year allowing Wilson's man to sag without consequence.  I still think Derrick is way too limited for significant minutes., but his weakness are more of an issue with Otule in the line up vs.  a Fischer, who I think can spread things out.

Who plays point guard is important no matter what the offense is. Yes, you need a good PG if you have a low-post offense. You also need a good PG if you have a drive-and-kick 3-point offense. Or any other offense. Unless you have a dominant 2 or a Pippen-type 3, your PG owns the ball, makes the decision and drives the attack, no matter what kind of attack you have.

I know Wojo is aware of this and, as I said in my OP, I am beyond merely curious about what he's going to do about it.

[Nevada233]

If their defense improves well Dawsons or Duane come in and they don't get the majority of the PG minutes from Derrick (By their play forcing and leaving Wojo no choice) then that says alot about their development..... But both of them walked on the campus with a higher upside especially offensively than Derrick, so if they are legit defenders with a whole offseason to work on it... They should get the minutes... Defense is easier to teach than shooting, when it comes to Free Throws and 3 pointers you don't go from Shaquille Oneal numbers to Steph Curry from the line over the summer....

[WellsstreetWanderer]

From what I remember game watching it seemed Derrick was sub-50%
on his layups also

[Nevada233]

From what I remember game watching it seemed Derrick was sub-50%
on his layups also

Missed Layups and most of his 1,2 and 3 point shots.....
We cannot be subjected to this sub par play for 30-35 MPG again.... EVER!

[AZWarrior]

I'm hoping that Woj takes a tough love approach to player development with DW, and says something like this to DW:

Derrick - You're a good athlete and a below average shooter.  If you don't improve your shooting, you won't see much floor time.  This is my development  plan to improve your shooting.  It starts today and involves this, this  and this.  Do I have your buy in?

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

I'm hoping that Woj takes a tough love approach to player development with DW, and says something like this to DW:

Derrick - You're a good athlete and a below average shooter.  If you don't improve your shooting, you won't see much floor time.  This is my development  plan to improve your shooting.  It starts today and involves this, this  and this.  Do I have your buy in?

So you want to apply the Buzz William's freshmen methodology to D. Wilson now?

[AZWarrior]

So you want to apply the Buzz William's freshmen methodology to D. Wilson now?

Buzz didn't develop DW's shooting ability.  Obviously.  So I'm not getting where you're coming from.