Poll: Should Markus use the summer to work on becoming our PG next year?

[Herman Cain]

At this point we have no point guard  for next year.  Should Markus spend the summer honing his point guard skills? He is the type of kid who may rise to the challenge.

[wojoswarrior]

Agreed @

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Well someone better

[Eldon]

"You don't make a point guard...[y]ou've gotta be born a point guard."
-Rick Brunson (Jalen's dad)

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/jalen-brunson-was-born-a-point-guard-now-for-villanova-hes-grown-into-a-star/

__________

I completely agree with Mr. Brunson so my answer is no.  Instead, Markus needs to spend his summer working on defense.

[brewcity77]

I think Markus needs to work on finishing through contact and passing. If that makes him more of a point or combo guard, so be it. He'll certainly need to run the offense at times next year.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I can’t wait to see what he adds this summer.  The addition of the floater/drive this year was great as well as the step-back three (which seemed to be limited once he had the injury). 

For me it’s strength, lateral movement (defense) and ball handling.  If he can add a new wrinkle to his offense.  Gravy. 

[Lighthouse 84]

From the team standpoint of needing a ball handler, absolutely.  From an individual standpoint of getting to the next level, absolutely.  He's not going to be able to play a 2 in the NBA.  I'm expecting Markus to have an improved handle and hopefully have worked on distributing the ball over the summer.

[WarriorFan]

I'd rather he grow 8 inches and become the next LeBron James, but becoming a serviceable point guard will do.

[Uncle Rico]

He should spend the summer growing 6 inches taller and increase his wingspan

[IrwinFletcher]

"You don't make a point guard...[y]ou've gotta be born a point guard."
-Rick Brunson (Jalen's dad)

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/jalen-brunson-was-born-a-point-guard-now-for-villanova-hes-grown-into-a-star/

__________

I completely agree with Mr. Brunson so my answer is no.  Instead, Markus needs to spend his summer working on defense.

Jalen may or may not have been born a point guard, but he was groomed by his father from day 1 to be one.  Not Todd Marinovich type of grooming, but he was worked hard by Team Dad to get to where he is today.

[GooooMarquette]

Absolutely yes.

I don't think we will be an elite team next season if Markus starts at PG. Still, he needs to work on ball handling because: (1) currently, he appears to be the best we have; (2) even if we sign a true PG who is able to start, we need more than one guy who can consistently advance the ball against pressure; and (3) we need a reasonable contingency plan for injuries (see Diener, Travis).

[GGGG]

I think the question is more if Markus is our primary or secondary PG next year.  We get a stud grad transfer and he will likely not be primary.  If it is more Juco or HS, then my guess is that Markus will primarily be the guy.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Your looking for a monumental change that im not sure is in his DNA.  To go from his poor ball handling, poor passing fundamnetals, and poor court vision to being able to run a top 25 offense from where he is today in 6 months is ludicrous.  I d definitely like to see him greatly improve to the point where he learns to pass fake, bounce pass more often, and not lose his dribble for turnovers at a very high rate as a starter.  Then i would be more comfortable with him being more than a catch and shoot type player.  His drive n floater got much better during this past off season but his drive and lose the ball out of bounds is still very high.  I expect him to get better but no where near to the level of being a primary ball handler, maybe for his senior year

[Charlotte Warrior]

Yes!   But if he is our starting PG, Wojo's job will probably be in trouble, or at least should be.   If Marcus starts at PG, we will be 7-8 in BEast next year.

[jesmu84]

This is a weird poll question...

What's the alternative if he doesn't work on PG skills?

Isn't there enough time in the off-season to work on a multitude of things?

[DCHoopster]

If Markus wants to play at the next level, he will have to learn how to become a point.  Will never play a 2 guard in the NBA.  If he wants to go overseas, then he
is fine and I am pretty sure that is not what he is thinking about.

[Coleman]

Markus has a looooong way to go if he wants to be a Big East starting point guard. That is not a knock on him. He is a 2 guard, it is just who he is, and he is a damn good 2. He might be able to play 5-10 minutes a game as PG if needed, but that's it.

If he is our starting PG next year we are in big trouble.

[Benny B]

A high-energy shooting guard with an A/TO ratio that barely cracks 1.1 meethinks is not the proper model for a transition to PG.  Put him at the point full-time, and I guarantee his FG and 3FG percentages will drop materially.  You need to leverage your team's strengths... when you take a strength on offense to address a weakness on offense, your best hope seems to be mediocrity.

My preference would be for Marcus to work on lateral quickness and reading the ball handler.  Maximize your strength on one end of the court, and address the weakness on the other end.

[MU82]

I don't necessarily think "PGs are born," but I do agree that PGs are developed early in their basketball lives - so it seems as though they were born that way. They have leadership skills (even if it's not vocal), they make good split-second decisions, they adapt quickly to change-on-the-fly situations, they are creative, etc.

My next-to-last year as a middle-school girls basketball coach, our starting 2 would switch to PG when our starter needed a breather; she wasn't very good at it, not instinctive at the position at all. She also was an introvert. The following year, as an 8th-grader, she took over at PG and became a much better decision-maker, passer and leader. She was our captain and led us to a second straight conference title, becoming the league's best all-around player in the process. I'd love to take credit for it, but she got there through very hard work.

So although I am not sure how much Markus can improve on stuff like court vision and decision-making, if a 7th/8th grade girl can become better at many PG skills (and excel relative to her peers), an intelligent, extremely talented man certainly can.

The one thing Markus DEFINITELY can and should improve is his ball-handling (as others also have mentioned). Given his size and his other skills, he should dedicate this offseason to making himself an absolute wizard with the basketball. Even if he never has to play one minute at PG, being a great ball-handler would serve him well for the rest of his basketball career.

After initially hoping that Markus could "pull a Rowsey" and be a better PG next season than most anticipate, I've moved over to the camp that believes we really need a new PG to be a Sweet 16 kind of team. But if we don't get that new PG, I hope Markus proves all of us "doubters" wrong - and heck, that Greg Elliott does, too!

[Its DJOver]

My preference would be for Marcus to work on lateral quickness and reading the ball handler.  Maximize your strength on one end of the court, and address the weakness on the other end.

I think this is pretty spot on.  I would be okay if Markus only worked on his defense and was able to improve to mediocre. Between potential grad transfer and Greg (who I am still high on being able to run point) I hope he wouldn't have to run point for more than a few minutes per game.  Carlino was listed as a PG by many sites, but I think he was most effective on catch and shoot and running off screen situations.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Again, like Duke, Wojo likes combo guards not just pure PGs. Traci was the only PG he recruited and that didn't last. It will be interesting where he goes with this spot.

[Eldon]

By 'born' I didn't mean literally coming out of the womb passing the placenta to the doctor.  I meant 'born' somewhat figuratively, i.e., it takes some instinct, which is developed early in a player's career.

IMO, the hallmark of a PG is to have a "pass first" mentality.  That's difficult to teach.

[Marcus92]

I question this "born a point guard" argument.

Steph Curry averaged just 2.9 assists per game (19.3% ARate per KenPom.com) in his sophomore season. Senior Jason Richards was Davidson's primary ball handler and distributor that year, and Curry played mostly off the ball. After Richards graduated, Curry took over the point role the next season and averaged 5.6 apg (more than doubling his assist rate to 40.2%). And he increased his scoring average at the same time.

Not every point guard plays the game exactly the same way. If Markus is going to run the offense next year (either as a starter or a backup), he will certainly not be your traditional "pass first" point guard. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Is Jalen Brunson a "pass first" point guard (averaging 19.1 points a game)? What about players like Russell Westbrook, Isiah Thomas or Tony Parker?

[4everwarriors]

Dude can spend all summer and Christmas practicin'' ta bee a 1. Eye no 1's, 1's are friends of mine, MH ain't no 1, hey?

[bilsu]

"You don't make a point guard...[y]ou've gotta be born a point guard."
-Rick Brunson (Jalen's dad)

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/jalen-brunson-was-born-a-point-guard-now-for-villanova-hes-grown-into-a-star/

__________

I completely agree with Mr. Brunson so my answer is no.  Instead, Markus needs to spend his summer working on defense.

Rousey came here as a shooting guard. I think he ended up being a very good point guard the second half of this season. All of the sudden he became a player that could pass the ball. He had some pretty amazing passes in the NIT.