I get so frustrated...

[SLUAvtr]

Agreed. I loved how Ian was playing last night. I think IV and IO were a tag-team from beyond. Man were those two playing like bats out of hell! Can't wait to see if Brad goes with that lineup again Saturday.

"It's a 106 miles to Chicago...we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.....HIT IT!"

Blues Brothers

[billiken_roy]

of course i dont think tcu plays 4 guards and a small forward for a starting five like so miss did though either.

[willie]

I don't think some of us are saying that Polk runs a superior half court offense,we are saying Dreja runs a poor offense. The game becomes slower. I don't necessarily agree that the run stopped when Ian left,I felt it was Polk, and we stopped attacking. All that said I don't see what Anthony brings to the table. He's not a kid.He's not going to get better. He should be a spot player, with most of his time at the 2 spot.

[slufanskip]

I understand that and said I would play Polk. But he does need to score ... saying he doesn't because even if he doesn't score he is still better than Drejaj ... is selling Polk short. He can shoot the ball better and needs to start ... the sooner the better.

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[3star_recruit]

Again I'm all for playing Drejaj more in principle but in last game, the start of the offensive stagnation began when Polk left the game, not when Ian did. When Polk left the game we were up 14. When Ian left the game we were up 7.

[jjray]

>I don't think some of us are saying that Polk runs a

>superior half court offense,we are saying Dreja runs a poor

>offense. The game becomes slower. I don't necessarily agree

>that the run stopped when Ian left,I felt it was Polk, and

>we stopped attacking. All that said I don't see what Anthony

>brings to the table. He's not a kid.He's not going to get

>better. He should be a spot player, with most of his time at

>the 2 spot.

Agree with you Willie. The offense slows when Drejaj enters the game and Anthony, if anything, has regressed (maybe he is suffering from some nagging injuries). Having your junior PG fail to recognize that the clock was running out and, thus, fail to get a shot off before the buzzer in a tight game is hard to swallow. It also typifies our offensive style when Drejaj is at point.

[BillikenBurg]

you don't have to be a run and gun team to be a good team, slowing the game down is not a bad thiong either, being a good pg has nothing to do with your quickness, so what polk gets the ball over the court faster, all he does is stupid floater sin the lane and Drejaj has much better defense and is not afraid to shoot(except last night, where he let reggie do the damage)

[jjray]

>you don't have to be a run and gun team to be a good team,

>slowing the game down is not a bad thiong either, being a

>good pg has nothing to do with your quickness, so what polk

>gets the ball over the court faster, all he does is stupid

>floater sin the lane and Drejaj has much better defense and

>is not afraid to shoot(except last night, where he let

>reggie do the damage)

Who said anything about run & gun? Disagree with your statements regarding the offensive elements of PG BB.

>>being a good pg has nothing to do wtih your quickness<<

Did you really mean to say that? And if so, do you believe it? Maybe your point was that Polk may be fast but once the team gets to the half-court set his speed / quickness (Dwayne is both quick and fast) are not that big of a factor. OK, that is something of a point. However, last night the offense ran very slow in the halfcourt set when AD was at point. What I am talking about (and others on the board have mentioned) is that AD starts the offense further away from the basket (meaning a bunch of time has already spilled off the clock before we are anywhere closes to being in position for a shot) plus the tempo of the passes slows. Motion offense requires quick player movement plus crisp, timely passes. AD holds the ball way too much IMHO in the half-court set. Dwayne does little of that. He gets rid of the ball and moves.

If AD could find his outside shot, it might change my opinion about him but AD is .321 from the field and DP is .313. Here is the assist to TO ration: AD--38 v. 35, DP--44 v. 31. DP is a freshman who should improve in both his shooting and assist / TO ratio as he gets more time. AD is going to be the player we see on the floor right now.

If you want to argue AD is the better defender and should get minutes for that reason, that point would appear to carry more weight in my opinion. Especially so when the opposition starts a big guard at PG. However, when we are able to generate transition baskets as we did against S. Miss, I think the capabilities DP brings in transaction plus the tempo he adds in the half-court set outweigh any defensive advantage AD has. Just my take.

BTW, just to clarify. Even though I would like to DP get the bulk of the minutes over AD at PG (and would like to see DP in the game down the stretch), it doesn't mean I don't want to see AD on the court. I like AD as a player and think he adds a mental toughness to our team that is unmatched by any player on the current squad (doubly so with the departures of Chris Sloan and Fish). I'm glad we have AD but I just would like to see him as a roll player as opposed to on the court at PG down the strech in a tight game on the road. The emergence of Danny Brown has squeezed AD as he was getting alot of minutes as the 3rd guard early in the season.

[brehms13]

I like Anthony because he plays hard, even if his offense is off, he provides a defensive edge. More importantly he provides experience and he's definitely not afraid to shoot, or hesitant, I saw the games, I saw Polk's drives, then he dishes off and most times, the ball is turned over. I feel like Polk has an edge on Anthony, but I don't understand why he doesn't shoot, especially when he drives and is directly in line for the shot. That leads me to believe, his confidence needs tweeking. So while he tweeks, Drejaj should be next in line. Where's the loyalty to players...it's nothing new, I've said this from the beginning, so we will definitely agree to disagree on this one. I don't know what Coach might have thought when recruiting players, but I do think, if they were worth the recruit the scholarship then they're worth the time as well. Polk and Drejaj both.

[brehms13]

Again I definitely agree with u on the subbing issue. I mentioned this before in other posts. I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this. I think this subbing though just doesn't occur with Polk, it happens with all the players. I think when the guys are up, and on the run, keep them going, unless someone ask to come out leave them in. If they're not falling out leave them in...now if foul trouble begins etc, understandable. I like the line up when VN is out actually replace him with JJ or DB, I like them in the line up u listed above instead of VN.

[brehms13]

I wish I would've seen this game instead of listen to it. Because Polk actually got rid of the ball and kept moving. Charlotte game was total opposite. In the Charlotte game I saw him dribble to much, pass to much and hold the ball. Was wide open for shots and passed them up. So it sounds like the guys are switching rolls then, if in fact what u say is correct that Drejaj did these things against So. Miss.

A win is a win. But when Reg is being Hounded by 2 or 3 defenders if we're gonna leave Polk in, then he should at least shoot, he's open almost all of the time. I'm sure it will come with experience he is just a freshman...but I still stand behind my point, that's when Drejaj comes in. If Drejaj slows the game down as everyone says and Polk speeds it up, then we should literally wear our opponents out, but we don't so to me that's not the issue. We should have two PG ready to play their game and make the opponents adjust to SLU'S changes, we were predictable. The fact that coach has finally changed the offense is what's winning the games, your shooters r getting open looks.

[jjray]

Drejaj looked in a funk against S. Miss. Brehems. Earlier in the year, I would have to agree with you that Drejaj ran the team in a half-court set better than Polk. Dwayne was not sure what his roll was. This was exaserbated when both Polk and Drejaj were in the game as Drejaj wanted to start the offense and was pushing Polk out to the wing. As the season progressed, we would see Dwayne run the ball up the court very quick but no one was him and he would then back it out and wait for the rest of the team (happened quite often). Now, guys like Danny Brown, Reg, and even Newborne are following. Reg sets up and gets open looks from the wing on these mini breaks lead by Polk and some other guys are getting quick baskets too. We'll see if the trend continues. I also think D. Brown helps the situation when he is in the game (and he has been getting lots of PT). The kids moves the ball when it hits hands and moves without the ball as well. Anxious to hear it tonight.