Billiken Rich Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 and last on the offensive side of the ball????? Josh Fisher. End of discussion. For myself and those who picked the Bills to win 22 or more games, we were all smoking something. Change a senior guard for a freshman and you'll be losing more close games. Josh didn't really want the last shot or the really tough shot last year but he sure made a bunch of them. I didn't think we'd miss him that much on offense...... Don't get me wrong. I do think Dwayne is a stud for the future. He'll be breaking Josh's assist record before he's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 You can't break an assist record if the shooter doesn't score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikens_Fanatic Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 As the official Billikens.com sponsor of Josh Fisher, I would tend to agree with you. Josh didn't bring an incredible shot with him and he was never the second coming of Larry Hughes, but he brought a strong work ethic coupled with a strong desire to win every day. While that was most evident on the defensive side on the ball, he was someone who could create openings on the offensive side of the ball as well and make the occasional shot. What this team lacks, as was said earlier, is a leader such as Marque or Josh who could take us to victory in these tight games. Polk may be the future, but in the first few games of this season, I still wish Fish were a Bill, and think he has been the difference between being 1-4 and 4-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 5, 2004 Author Share Posted December 5, 2004 I didn't say Dwane would break the assist record this year but through his entire career. My point is that right now we are missing senior leadership at the guard position. We knew we'd miss Josh's defense. I didn't think we'd miss his occasional big time bucket. Josh was a rock solid guard. Dwayne is not an upgrade yet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 5, 2004 Author Share Posted December 5, 2004 Agreed. Polk as a senior should lead an attack that will produce the results we've all been looking for but right now he's no Josh Fisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 If Fish were here he would be playing the 3 in a 3 guard set alot. Polk would still be getting major minutes at the point. Polk cannot will players to hit open 3 foot shots. I will say though that Dp needs to work on his shooting or his shot selection as his FG% and FT% is pretty poor. The weakness of this years team is TF and IV. Two players that I thought would be a major strength this year ... teach you to listen to me won't it. There is still time for these guys to get their offense in gear ... but the time is now. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 to be honest, imo if polk was here last year with fish, josh would be manning the point for most of the game, polk would be coming off the bench and getting about half the time he is getting now. when he and josh would be on the floor together, josh would probably slide down to the wing but it wouldnt be but about 8 minutes a game. the other 8-10 minutes polk would get would be when josh sat for a rest. i dont blame polk a bit. imo he has done a good enough job. sure fisher would be a current step up, but graduating seniors happen all the time. what we are saying for fish today can be said for sloan over newborne right now as well. the fact is, we have seen enough from newborne, meyer and danny brown to believe they are going to be fine in sloan's minutes. same for polk over fisher. i again point out our production inside. until we get consistent workman like production from ian and frericks we are in trouble. when they start doing what is expected and if izik continues with double doubles, then let's look at the rest. but for now, when we dominate the boards as we did yesterday and all we get out of that is 14 points combined between, izik, ian, and frericks, that is a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 We will have to disagree ... I think Polk would still be playing 30 min a game at point ... Fish would play the other 10 and would get the rest of his minutes at the 2 and 3. I do think though that it would have taken a little longer into the season for the transition. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 5, 2004 Author Share Posted December 5, 2004 I'm not blaming Polk, I'm saying that there is a difference between a senior guard and even a talented freshman. Polk doesn't yet have the gravitas of Fish. As to Tom, who the hell knows why he can't hit a three footer anymore. Neither he nor Reggie are the leaders we lost in Fish and Sloan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 imo, polk is commanding the point because drejaj couldnt do it. if drejaj would have stepped up as i thought he would, polk would have been broken in gradually. brad is the kind of coach that wants to ease the freshmen into the jobs. however, drejaj has not stepped up. yesterday he had two horrible turnovers. the first when he got picked at the point and then tackled the thief for a stupid foul. and then second, he tried a simple reverse dribble on the baseline that he kicked out of bounds. a good ball handler doesnt let either happen. but with josh, he didnt get pickpocketed. he didnt kick balls out of bounds or make bad passes. thus, if polk would have come along in josh's senior season, no way brad takes the ball out of his hands until polk is completely ready to take over the team. i am not saying that polk isnt as good as josh fisher, but at this point in dwayne's career, he still is having freshmanitis. it is my guess, we will see a different dwayne polk by march. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 IMO we always underappreciated his contributions on both end of the floor and while he wasn't a prototypical 4 man he generally finished near the basket (or got fouled). I think we miss his ability to finish the easy shot around the basket more than anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 I said it would have taken a little longer for Polk to break in as the starter ... but as I have stated numerous times I think Polk would start by mid season because Fish was not a pt guard ... yes he played the position but he wasn't a true pt guard. I don't care that he is the career assist leader. So what ... If H had been here 4 years he wouldn't be. The fact that he is, is a knock on Bills pt guards not really a plus for Fish. He averaged 4 assists a game and was incredibly uncreative. Fish had many pluses but none of them were traits of a great pt guard ... offensively. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 There's a lot more difference between this team than just Josh Fisher and Sloan. If RB didn't hit his slump the first couple games, things could be different. I was glad to see RB play well yesterday. I think that is just the start of things for him. I think the Fish / Polk point is meaningless. This team would be different if Fish were here regardless of which position he was at. Josh was a leader and had intanglibles we aren't seeing this year. We could argue who should get the minutes if Fish were still here. He's not. He played four years here. This team would be different if Hughes were here and Claggett and so forth. Let's look at the players that were here last year. I think RB is back and hopefully will stay. I am puzzled about TF completely. I don't get it. It seems like Brad just can't get it all together on the same night. IO played good yesterday. IF RB, TF, IO played good and what they are capable of each night, then we could afford to let Polk grow into the position. Unfortunately, that haven't and there has been inconsistency. I don't know what the solution is. I am really puzzled. Something is clearly missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 My statement referred to his whole career. I agree 100% about Josh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 everyone wants someone else here- rather than what we have, brad has been here for how many? three years now or was he an assistant for a year before, neway he has been here for three recruiting classes, adjust to ur players, adjust game plans to ur opponents and lets get on this winning streak that i know is about to come soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 "What this team lacks, as was said earlier, is a leader such as Marque or Josh who could take us to victory in these tight games." Isn't that supposed to be Reggie Bryant's job? He's a senior and is a returning all-conference player. He had a good game yesterday and is still playing on a gimply ankle. Perhaps -- perhaps -- once he's healthy, he'll do what Josh Fisher, Marque Perry, Maurice Jeffers, and Justin Love used to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 While Reggie Bryant has been less than we expected so far, his performance yesterday portends better things. Izik Ohanon has done what we hoped for. That leaves Frericks. The coaches have said that this year hinges on what the seniors do. They said the seniors have to step up. Well, Frericks is averaging just 18.4 minutes, 4 points, and 5.2 rebounds per game and is shooting just 34.8 percent from the field. That's not "stepping up." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 I agree. It doesn't matter who used to be here, it's all about who's here now. Hopefully Coach doesn't have time to ponder such things. The focus should be on how to get this team to play together now. I personally believe things will turn around but we have to show some consistency in our efforts to win, as well as consistency in our line ups, whether starting line ups, off the bench whatever. We need the right guys in at the right time, Right now, with the way we're playing, I would think everyone would see some time these past few games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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