Naji Marshall

[AviatorX]

Interesting thoughts. I think it's fair to argue that Goodin was so bad last year that he really didn't help the team. Naji overall helped the team, but he sure could have helped MUCH more had he just played smarter and more under control. And that leads me to my post above- at what point does a coach look at his best player and say, "You're going to do things my way, or you're going to see a lot more minutes on the bench"? Very tough call to make.

You have it pegged. Already a tough tough decision for a young coach, and I can only imagine it gets tougher when you look down your bench and see what Travis saw on the roster to fill those (close to) 40 minutes.

My way or the highway is great, until your way is Dontarious James playing 30 minutes a night.

[XU 87]

My way or the highway is great, until your way is Dontarious James playing 30 minutes a night.

Good point.

[Drew]

I am actually very confident in this upcoming team and in Steele as a whole. But if he doesn't learn from the Goodin mistake and gives Scrugg's passes because of seniority then I will be pretty disappointed. I love Scruggs and have nothing but respect for him but if it becomes obvious that Dwon Odom is a better PG then I would hope he would win that position fair and square. And again, I feel for Scruggs because I think he has a great work ethic and unique skillset, but thus far that hasn't materialized into a reliable starting PG imo. Again, no malice, I hope Scruggs has a great senior year and does a great job, Go X!

[JTG]

I am actually very confident in this upcoming team and in Steele as a whole. But if he doesn't learn from the Goodin mistake and gives Scrugg's passes because of seniority then I will be pretty disappointed. I love Scruggs and have nothing but respect for him but if it becomes obvious that Dwon Odom is a better PG then I would hope he would win that position fair and square. And again, I feel for Scruggs because I think he has a great work ethic and unique skillset, but thus far that hasn't materialized into a reliable starting PG imo. Again, no malice, I hope Scruggs has a great senior year and does a great job, Go X!

If Scruggs is better as the off guard, then it's wrong to get pissed at him for not being a great point guard. Let Odom or Tandy play the point and see how it plays out. Or at least let Odom and Tandy do it part time, and see if they hold their own and Scruggs flourishes. I can't take another season of PG with head up his ass play.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

I am actually very confident in this upcoming team and in Steele as a whole. But if he doesn't learn from the Goodin mistake and gives Scrugg's passes because of seniority then I will be pretty disappointed. I love Scruggs and have nothing but respect for him but if it becomes obvious that Dwon Odom is a better PG then I would hope he would win that position fair and square. And again, I feel for Scruggs because I think he has a great work ethic and unique skillset, but thus far that hasn't materialized into a reliable starting PG imo. Again, no malice, I hope Scruggs has a great senior year and does a great job, Go X!

I share your confidence (although what I call confidence contains a strong measure of hope). But, I think your argument is a bit misdirected. Most of us on this board agree (I think) that Scruggs is not a natural P.G. His more natural position is the "2" although playing him in that role requires Tandy, Odom, or somebody to step up. I think Scruggs could open at P.G. but I don't really expect that. Based on what I know right now (which isn't anything more than anyone else knows) I think we see Tandy at the point.

And, I think Scruggs will have an outstanding year. I'm pulling for that guy. He has put up with a lot of bull***t from Goodin, Marshall, et al.

[xukeith]

I share your confidence (although what I call confidence contains a strong measure of hope). But, I think your argument is a bit misdirected. Most of us on this board agree (I think) that Scruggs is not a natural P.G. His more natural position is the "2" although playing him in that role requires Tandy, Odom, or somebody to step up. I think Scruggs could open at P.G. but I don't really expect that. Based on what I know right now (which isn't anything more than anyone else knows) I think we see Tandy at the point.

And, I think Scruggs will have an outstanding year. I'm pulling for that guy. He has put up with a lot of bull***t from Goodin, Marshall, et al.

I share your concerns. Maybe in this time in college basketball worlds, traditional point guards no longer are what we fans think. Coaches roll the dice with freakish athletic players with the awesome skill sets to pose greater threats. We shall see..;;.

[xukeith]

If Scruggs is better as the off guard, then it's wrong to get pissed at him for not being a great point guard. Let Odom or Tandy play the point and see how it plays out. Or at least let Odom and Tandy do it part time, and see if they hold their own and Scruggs flourishes. I can't take another season of PG with head up his ass play.

Rolling the dice scares me.
Odom sounds like an amazing point guard. Tandy never has played pg. Tandy is a 2 guard who scores a ton. He wasn't highly recruited (top 50). HE looked uncomfortable bringing the ball up the court last year.

[drudy23]

I share your concerns. Maybe in this time in college basketball worlds, traditional point guards no longer are what we fans think. Coaches roll the dice with freakish athletic players with the awesome skill sets to pose greater threats. We shall see..;;.

Yes.

There's no point in limiting any of our high ceiling guys because of "position" questions. When we play Villanova, do you ever think about their positions when they're lighting us up? No.

You just think, damn they're good. Who cares about positions.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

If you think about it, Nova has, for the last few years, had a guy who played the "1" role pretty damn well---Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart, Jaylen Brunson and now Gillespie . But, you're right, their guard play has been so outstanding, I can't think of a player who was so one dimensional, that you would want to limit their play----like say the way you would have wanted to limit Q's role over the last couple of years.

My comment discussed positions but, what I really should have said about Scruggs is that his strength (as I see it anyway) is playing off the ball and in the open floor. This year, on paper anyway, we seem to have a lot of backcourt talent and if we really do possess that much talent, were I Steele, I'd try to play an up-tempo game. That allows us to use the talent we have and try to keep players happy with their playing time. If we do that, we still need capable passing + ballhandling and of course. unselfish play---elements we lacked last year.

But, with really good athletes, we can let them play not focus on position roles. My memory of last year's play (which I'm working hard to expunge) is that we slowed the ball down a lot and often ran a set offense. Without the need to do that this year, we can hopefully just play.

But, I think the potential limiting factor to that is turnovers. Even when we slowed it down last year, we had lots of unforced errors---maddeningly high amounts of turnovers, some of them just plain dumbass turnovers. With so much young talent and so much new talent, it is hard to imagine this year's team won't generate lots of T.O.s which means they have to shoot and defend well.

That's my biggest concern about how we stack up in the B.E. We seem have the talent (I think) to compete but if we fail to protect the ball, we may lose games we otherwise would have won.

Anyway, I digress from the thread.