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The Small Forward Nightmare


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How I detest the opposing team's small forward.

Last season:

Drew Schifino, West Virginia 18 pts in 34 min

Andre Iguodala, Arizona 16 pts 13 rb in 37 min

Isma'il Muhammad Georgia Tech 16 pts in only 22 min

Kellen Easley (who?) 11 pts 6 rb in only 17 min

Cartier Martin 19 pts in 28 min

Greg Johnson 15 pts in 31 min

Eddie Basden 18 pts 8 reb in 32 min

Delonte Holland 17 pts in 37 min

James White 23 pts 11 reb in 34 min

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Who was typically assigned to guarding these guys, Sloan or IO?

This may be unpopular with some folks, but I think Sloan's defense was over-rated. I admire the kid's heart, but it seemed like he often had problems with more athletic players.

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actually, typically we were playing 3 guards, so it would have been reggie or drejaj or fisher in most instances. sloan was inside getting beat on by a power forward.

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I remember the time he completely shut down Louisville's Reece in the second half of one game. The problem with Sloan was that he was forced to guard the power forward and not the small forward.

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>actually, typically we were playing 3 guards, so it would

>have been reggie or drejaj or fisher in most instances.

>sloan was inside getting beat on by a power forward.

I don't have the game tapes, but I have hard time believing we had one of these three guards trying to handle Igudala, Muhammed, Holland or White. If we did, no wonder we got our a$$es handed to us by these guys.

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I am sure 3Star pulled up those stats thinking about how much Newborne can help our team guarding the wing. Fish was a stud but it was not fair asking him to guard some of those bigger wings we faced. The question-mark will be IO guarding the 4. It's imparative he be able to do so, otherwise, coach will send him to the bench and shift Newborne from 3 to 4. Clarke, Danny Brown, Drejaj or maybe Meyer then would have to step in on the wing.

This would have been the spot for JJ--helping on defense if IO was getting man-handled allowing Newborne to stay on the wing. I know JJ can defend when he puts his mind to it. It makes me sick thinking about the wasted ability.

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I agree with P diddy. All last year I said IO was a 4 not a 3. CS was too slow for the quick athletic wings and too small for the big pf's.

Are there actually people out there who think AD can guard an opposing wing at 6'5" or taller and quick? If so I am glad you are not coaching. AD is slow and he gambles alot. AD brings high intensity and a streaky shot. He is creative with the ball and when he is hot he can go crazy, but when he is not he is a huge liability on the floor. He is ideal off the bench, if he is our starting PG or 3rd guard ... I am worried.

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> beleive it or not, IO is our best low post defender. he

>just can't guard the quick perimeter players. his length and

>quickness are valuable assets when guarding big post players

>inside and he did a good job.

I respect your opinion Pdiddy; however, IO got pushed around on the block in past years when he occaionally played there (remember occasional stretches where IO was at center?). He also gathered fouls in bunches. What I saw was that he could rebound the position as he is quick off his feet with a long reach but he was vulnerable to being back down under the basket. But IO, per reports, is bigger and stronger now. If you say he will do job, I'm joyous to hear it as we really need IO to provide stout defense at 4 leaving Newborne on the wing.

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He is completely accurate on AD. We have seen him at Iowa and we have seen him throw up shots which leave u yelling at the TV. I am more comfortable having AD come off the bench.

Who is this walk on Peyton something people are talking about?

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well that is exactly what happened. igudala btw, was a power forward for arizona. so you are correct on sloan guarding him. muhammed was guarded by drejaj and bryant i remember watching that. i am sure white as well. if you question that, if our lineup is sloan, frericks, drejaj, bryant and fisher and cincy is playing both hicks and maxiell, who do you think guarded hicks if sloan was guarding white? it is exactly the point 3 star has been making for quite some time. our very small three guard lineup doesnt match up to the teams that have a more traditional sized small forward.

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anybody can guard when they "put their mind to it". that is the majority of defense, attitude and hustle. most of our great defenders have not been the best athletes on the team. most were good athletes, but not the best. fisher and sloan come to mind. carlos mccauley comes to mind. jeff harris. of course it helps if an athlete puts out.

but to say you know jj can defend when he puts his mind to it is a little bit confusing. how would we know, he has never put his mind to much of anything at slu. i just hope the young man realizes he is being given one last chance to save his future and makes an honest try at it both on and off the court. but i am not counting on johnson for anything anymore.

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the fact that coach soderberg put anthony defensively on 3's is a huge compliment to his defensive skills. what you think they just stuck him out there for the heck of it? coach soderberg put him out there because he was the best we had. i am not disagreeing on the aspect he isnt the best person to defend james white or fancisco garcia, but if matched up sizewise with a comparable guard, i have more confidence in anthony drejaj to play defense than any other guard on this team. that shouldnt be the case. polk, bryant, clark and brown are all much better athletes, but for now, it is my guess that the defensive stopper vs any opposing guard is going to be drejaj. if that changes, it wont be because drejaj wasnt good, or not trying it will be because the others finally got it.

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i personally dont think we have a sufficient sample of play on izik at any position to gauge what he will do. i hope p diddy is right. to be honest though, this is the first statement p diddy has made that has me raising my eyebrows.

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Being able to guard has a few factors. Being able to body up on someone is a great benefit, if you have the strength to keep the person half a step out from you. If you can't do that, they can wheel and blow by you. TF is the only big body who can body up effectively, probably because he also played football and knows how. Drejaj can do it, but he is slower and most guards can swing past, or play off him anyways. The gambling comes in because he is slower.

Speed, and the ability to stay squared up, are important. Reggie and DP are pretty darn good here, because they are faster and have been well taught to guard belly buttons rather than fakes and moves.

Ike is fairly slow as far as footwork, so the threes can blow past him at will in the past. I think that trend will continue, so he is a four or five on defense.

Newborne will be key for how we develop as we play into the season. He will need to be our windex man on the boards, because neither Polk nor Drejaj will come anywhere close to Fisher's six rebounds a game.

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I won't disagree with what you said Roy ... but he isn't the size of most 3's. I don't recall him guarding them often either. I think he hustles his ass off ... but is slow and very streaky offensively. I like AD ... in his proper place. If he is starting then it means our more athletic players have not stepped up. I like the intensity he brings off the bench. You can usually tell quickly wether he has it or not ... if not get him off he is a liability, if he does run with it.

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>>but to say you know jj can defend when he puts his mind to it is a little bit confusing. how would we know<<

There were tantilizing flashes last year in the first half of the season before JJ was banished to the bench. Do you remember JJ coming off the bench with energy? Putting a body to his man? Making a steal here and there? Running the floor? Early on he was getting 10 minutes per. But it was just a flash (a few game stretch) so "know" may be too strong of a word. Well, the JJ discussion is probably acedemic right now. At this point, I seriously doubt we'll see JJ on the court in a game again. As he has not rejoined the team, I suspect he'll just wander away from the program.

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that is correct. he cannot even practice with the team until they get back from the virgin island. yesterday my son saw him shooting by himself in the rec center while the team was practicing in west pine. he is not at practices.

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>How can he have "rejoined the team"? He is suspended and I

>thought I remembered word coming from the coaching staff

>that the suspension would last until at least after the

>early tournament.

The point is that his suspension was not a 2 week deal. The longer it drags out, the less likely that JJ comes back to the team and contributes this year or ever. You disagree with that point Bauman?

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