Ball handler needed 2018-19

[GGGG]

He's just smart about not doing things with the ball that he isn't capable of doing.  His handle isn't terrible, but not strong enough to work against pressure.

Maybe a summer of working on it could get him comfortable. 

You take away his right hand and he can't do much either.

[Dawson Rental]

I agree completely that Markus may improve. But even with his improvement, Rowsey struggled against the press when Markus and Sam weren't there as outlets (and even often when they were there). So if we have an improved Markus but no true ballhandler, we might end up right back where we found ourselves in the fourth quarter against Harvard and Oregon.

I look back to our 2009-10 season, when we did far better than most expected. Acker and Cubillan were both excellent ballhandlers, and Butler, DJO and Hayward were all good enough to help out significantly. We would need a TON of improvement by lots of guys to even approach that.

I have faith in Wojo...but I'll feel a lot better about next year if we don't get a PG.

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[GooooMarquette]

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Oops. Extra word removed...

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

You take away his right hand and he can't do much either.

You can say that about most of us.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

We had two bad possessions against the press in a row in the 4th quarter, but I thought we did a great job of breaking the press most of the night. We punished them for the press in the first half.

I feel like if we have a single turnover against a press in a game this board thinks we are terrible at breaking the press. Teams use press defense because it works.

A single turnover?? What game were u watching???

[Its DJOver]

A single turnover?? What game were u watching???

I take it you missed the word "if"

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Marcus had 4 really bad turnovers in just 20 minutes.  That calculates to 8 TOs per 40 and played off the ball.   

[Jockey]

Nothing new just more and more obvious. Some say Howard is going to improve over the summer and become our new improved point guard. Others feel we will need a grad transfer. We have no control over either option so no point debating which it will be.

cool.

Let's shut down Scoop so we don't have to put up with any  more debates. That is nor what a forum is for.

[MU82]

It is possible that Howard improves significantly in this area. I think over the last 15 games Rowsey is a significantly better point guard than he was the first 19 games. What tells me that Wojo is a good coach is the improvement of our players during the season. Cain, Elliott and John have significantly improved over day 1. Anim has become an offensive threat. I think Heldt and Hauser are playing to the top of their abilities. In essence Wojo is getting the most out of the talent he has. The only one that may be underperforming is Froling.

I agree with the overall thesis of your post. Only those who don't want to see the considerable improvement of our players (except Froling, as you noted), only those who won't give Wojo credit for anything, can disagree with your take on how much players have developed under Wojo and his assistants. I mean, when Oregon was making a big push to get back in the game, which two players confidently stepped up and made clock-beating, backbreaking (for Oregon) hook shots? Theo and Matt.

Having said that, I do seriously question whether Markus can improve enough as a ballhander and distributor to be an adequate PG. For me, this has little to do with the press; I'm not overly concerned with that over the course of a season. I just want our offense to function well.

Admittedly, I absolutely had the same thoughts about Rowsey going into this season: Can he really play PG? Really?

So we'll see. If Markus can be even as good at ballhandling and distributing as Rowsey, he can do the job.

But I hope he doesn't have to most of the time because we've landed a real PG!

[Its DJOver]

Assuming that we will only have 1 scholarship to fill, I would prioritize defensive ability over ball handling/ability to beat a press.  Even if Markus doesn't develop into as good of a distributor as Andrew has our offensive will still run smooth, with mtn and big smooth running things.  You offer me a big defensive orientated guard (ala a Lockett 2.0) id take that over a true point any day.

Any grad transfer that we bring in will be experienced, so defensive ability and size should be significantly more important that offensive ability.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

A single turnover?? What game were u watching???

What post were u reading??? 

[Eldon]

"Point guards are born, not made."

-Todd Mayo's brother


I completely agree.  One does not simply become a point guard.

[forgetful]

You take away his right hand and he can't do much either.

This is also true.  It is part of the "not doing things with the ball he is not capable of".  He knows his left hand isn't strong.