Cal State Northridge, Mon. Dec. 5, 6:30pm, FS1/970

Criticisms of Ahmed seem like the typical things you get with a juco where bad habits can develop. May take a while to get the juco out of his game but still view him as an asset (especially for this talent challenged team) and I'm glad we have him.
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agreed because he is our most legitimate 3rd scoring option and #1scoring option in the front court
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Really agree. Would rather see clear ability that needs to be refined than a player who can't help. 12 and 6, leads the team in rebounding, leads the team in FT attempts, 44% from 3. He's been a big net positive thus far and there is easy room for growth.

Not surprisingly seems accustomed to just being able to bulldoze to rim, and while I love the aggressiveness clearly not going to work on this level. If he does nothing more than scale that back and play more in control inside 10 feet, and as others have noted looks to give it up when he draws help, his efficiency could be in a really great place.
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You hit the nail on the head, Ahmed needs to scale back his play & develop a medium range approach. Anecdotally, I got there early last night & in shooting drills he was hoisting threes, many off balance, all over the place. He never spent time on the medium jumpers at elbow, foul line. I realuze he is a key scoring option on this team, but hope staff can quickly demonstrate to him dividend of kicking ball when doubled, take 3s strategically & get him to appreciate getting his shots within flow of game. Against quality competition, he can't commit five turnovers like last night at key times I might add.

I have seen Ahmed play since his days at JFK in the Bronx years ago & pull for him. However, now is the time, Juco or not, to rein him in a bit & maximize his and team's chances of success. Ponds, he & LoVett could be a dangerous scoring trio with added discipline on his part. Hope the light goes off prior to BE play.
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Spot on. Noted positive stats, but he also leads team in TOs, by a wide margin especially when you consider how much Lovett and Ponds handle. Many of them seem like they are on repeat, either sloppy first step/dribble or forcing not in control.

Last two games should be easy film sessions with him as teams are loading up helpside as soon as he touches the ball, and he's playing right into it.

During Tulane game Bashir either turned it over or took a quick shot going into a timeout, and CM got to him right away and you could see him motioning move the ball move the ball. Sure staff is on it, and BA has seemed more intent last two games on keeping ball moving especially early in possessions, but when he decides to go still yielding similar results. I think he's very much a team guy (has mostly been max effort), just used to a certain style of play. Think a lot of it is just selectivity and decision-making.
 
Criticisms of Ahmed seem like the typical things you get with a juco where bad habits can develop. May take a while to get the juco out of his game but still view him as an asset (especially for this talent challenged team) and I'm glad we have him.
Click to expand...
agreed because he is our most legitimate 3rd scoring option and #1scoring option in the front court
Click to expand...

Really agree. Would rather see clear ability that needs to be refined than a player who can't help. 12 and 6, leads the team in rebounding, leads the team in FT attempts, 44% from 3. He's been a big net positive thus far and there is easy room for growth.

Not surprisingly seems accustomed to just being able to bulldoze to rim, and while I love the aggressiveness clearly not going to work on this level. If he does nothing more than scale that back and play more in control inside 10 feet, and as others have noted looks to give it up when he draws help, his efficiency could be in a really great place.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head, Ahmed needs to scale back his play & develop a medium range approach. Anecdotally, I got there early last night & in shooting drills he was hoisting threes, many off balance, all over the place. He never spent time on the medium jumpers at elbow, foul line. I realuze he is a key scoring option on this team, but hope staff can quickly demonstrate to him dividend of kicking ball when doubled, take 3s strategically & get him to appreciate getting his shots within flow of game. Against quality competition, he can't commit five turnovers like last night at key times I might add.

I have seen Ahmed play since his days at JFK in the Bronx years ago & pull for him. However, now is the time, Juco or not, to rein him in a bit & maximize his and team's chances of success. Ponds, he & LoVett could be a dangerous scoring trio with added discipline on his part. Hope the light goes off prior to BE play.
Click to expand...

Spot on. Noted positive stats, but he also leads team in TOs, by a wide margin especially when you consider how much Lovett and Ponds handle. Many of them seem like they are on repeat, either sloppy first step/dribble or forcing not in control.

Last two games should be easy film sessions with him as teams are loading up helpside as soon as he touches the ball, and he's playing right into it.

During Tulane game Bashir either turned it over or took a quick shot going into a timeout, and CM got to him right away and you could see him motioning move the ball move the ball. Sure staff is on it, and BA has seemed more intent last two games on keeping ball moving especially early in possessions, but when he decides to go still yielding similar results. I think he's very much a team guy (has mostly been max effort), just used to a certain style of play. Think a lot of it is just selectivity and decision-making.
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That's a good reminder that of course the staff is on him about it already. If they can get him to play better team ball and improve his overall awareness he'll be a tremendous asset and this season and next season we'll be better because of it. My concern comes from him only being here for 2 seasons and his timeline to develop doesn't make sense with the rest of our guys. Right now the negatives outweigh the positives. If he shows the ability to learn and adjust quickly, that'd be huge because clearly he has a ton of ability. I'd love to eat my words.

Also in all fairness, I have no idea what Ahmed is like as a person. I criticize his game, but he is a year or two older than these other guys and he may be a good influence, hard worker, motivator, etc and that shouldn't be discounted for a young group either.
 
Random thoughts about some posts on this thread:

If you think that beating Cal State Northridge at home is a "good win" because we were without our "best player," then at least you won't be very disappointed this season because your expectations are already set pretty low. A quality high D1 team should beat a team like CSN at home by 16 without their best player. A win by 6 is better than a loss, but a "good win" it isn't. It's just a win.

IMHO Mitch Richmond's comments demonstrate the lack of authority or control the staff has over the players. If you can't control your team and get them to play the way you want them to because they are listening to their family or their AAU coach then you're doing something wrong (see Lavin, Steve). Can you see (for example) Bob Huggins having that problem?

Also IMHO the issue with being able to manage your players relates directly to the issue with defense, which has been obvious from the very beginning. With a few exceptions (like Dom Pointer), in general basketball players (especially D1 recruits) want to score, and they don't want to play defense. It's the job of a coaching staff to make the players understand that both ends of the floor matter and then to get them to give effort at both ends. Sometimes that means sticking a scorer on the bench as a lesson that if you don't play both ways, you don't play. I've seen no evidence so far this season that the staff is willing to do any of the hard work or make any of the tough calls that you need to do get your squad to play defense.

As I posted weeks ago, Ahmed needs to be benched until he can be made to understand that it's a team game. I'd probably play Mussini ahead of him. The only thing you would lose is some athleticism and a few rebounds. Mussini would probably give you about as many points, wouldn't be much worse on defense (he's not a good defender, but neither is Ahmed), and he would actually play with some level of understanding that there are four other players on the court. It would probably be a net plus in terms of getting the group on the floor to play as a team. Ahmed takes the existing regrettable tendency of "every man for himself" and makes it much, much worse. There's no question he has talent, but the way he plays is a team-killer. Since we aren't going anywhere this season anyway, you may as well take the opportunity to get the team to play the way you want.

Onward and upward, there's a lot of season left, let's see if we can make any progress on any of these fronts. I do think that just as the team is a frontcourt player or two away from contention, the staff is an assistant coach away from contention. The previous suggestion about Mike Rice is a good one IMO. I don't know what his relationship is with CM, but they do need someone exactly like that if the existing staff doesn't want to do the dirty work themselves.
 
Random thoughts about some posts on this thread:

If you think that beating Cal State Northridge at home is a "good win" because we were without our "best player," then at least you won't be very disappointed this season because your expectations are already set pretty low. A quality high D1 team should beat a team like CSN at home by 16 without their best player. A win by 6 is better than a loss, but a "good win" it isn't. It's just a win.

IMHO Mitch Richmond's comments demonstrate the lack of authority or control the staff has over the players. If you can't control your team and get them to play the way you want them to because they are listening to their family or their AAU coach then you're doing something wrong (see Lavin, Steve). Can you see (for example) Bob Huggins having that problem?

Also IMHO the issue with being able to manage your players relates directly to the issue with defense, which has been obvious from the very beginning. With a few exceptions (like Dom Pointer), in general basketball players (especially D1 recruits) want to score, and they don't want to play defense. It's the job of a coaching staff to make the players understand that both ends of the floor matter and then to get them to give effort at both ends. Sometimes that means sticking a scorer on the bench as a lesson that if you don't play both ways, you don't play. I've seen no evidence so far this season that the staff is willing to do any of the hard work or make any of the tough calls that you need to do get your squad to play defense.

As I posted weeks ago, Ahmed needs to be benched until he can be made to understand that it's a team game. I'd probably play Mussini ahead of him. The only thing you would lose is some athleticism and a few rebounds. Mussini would probably give you about as many points, wouldn't be much worse on defense (he's not a good defender, but neither is Ahmed), and he would actually play with some level of understanding that there are four other players on the court. It would probably be a net plus in terms of getting the group on the floor to play as a team. Ahmed takes the existing regrettable tendency of "every man for himself" and makes it much, much worse. There's no question he has talent, but the way he plays is a team-killer. Since we aren't going anywhere this season anyway, you may as well take the opportunity to get the team to play the way you want.

Onward and upward, there's a lot of season left, let's see if we can make any progress on any of these fronts. I do think that just as the team is a frontcourt player or two away from contention, the staff is an assistant coach away from contention. The previous suggestion about Mike Rice is a good one IMO. I don't know what his relationship is with CM, but they do need someone exactly like that if the existing staff doesn't want to do the dirty work themselves.
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agree with everything except benchingAhmed

Needs to be reigned in and needs to learn over time to draw less offensive fouls but at the same time he is our best player at drawing fouls. Malik should be able to get better at this as I'd like to see him take it to the hoop more. Other than that we are going to have trouble getting other teams in foul trouble unless we have Ponds or Lovett driving hard and either creating contact or dishing to our big men ( which in itself Is tough ) and catching their defense out of position and having to foul our big guys
 
Random thoughts about some posts on this thread:

If you think that beating Cal State Northridge at home is a "good win" because we were without our "best player," then at least you won't be very disappointed this season because your expectations are already set pretty low. A quality high D1 team should beat a team like CSN at home by 16 without their best player. A win by 6 is better than a loss, but a "good win" it isn't. It's just a win.

IMHO Mitch Richmond's comments demonstrate the lack of authority or control the staff has over the players. If you can't control your team and get them to play the way you want them to because they are listening to their family or their AAU coach then you're doing something wrong (see Lavin, Steve). Can you see (for example) Bob Huggins having that problem?

Also IMHO the issue with being able to manage your players relates directly to the issue with defense, which has been obvious from the very beginning. With a few exceptions (like Dom Pointer), in general basketball players (especially D1 recruits) want to score, and they don't want to play defense. It's the job of a coaching staff to make the players understand that both ends of the floor matter and then to get them to give effort at both ends. Sometimes that means sticking a scorer on the bench as a lesson that if you don't play both ways, you don't play. I've seen no evidence so far this season that the staff is willing to do any of the hard work or make any of the tough calls that you need to do get your squad to play defense.

As I posted weeks ago, Ahmed needs to be benched until he can be made to understand that it's a team game. I'd probably play Mussini ahead of him. The only thing you would lose is some athleticism and a few rebounds. Mussini would probably give you about as many points, wouldn't be much worse on defense (he's not a good defender, but neither is Ahmed), and he would actually play with some level of understanding that there are four other players on the court. It would probably be a net plus in terms of getting the group on the floor to play as a team. Ahmed takes the existing regrettable tendency of "every man for himself" and makes it much, much worse. There's no question he has talent, but the way he plays is a team-killer. Since we aren't going anywhere this season anyway, you may as well take the opportunity to get the team to play the way you want.

Onward and upward, there's a lot of season left, let's see if we can make any progress on any of these fronts. I do think that just as the team is a frontcourt player or two away from contention, the staff is an assistant coach away from contention. The previous suggestion about Mike Rice is a good one IMO. I don't know what his relationship is with CM, but they do need someone exactly like that if the existing staff doesn't want to do the dirty work themselves.
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Good points, but not ready to bench Ahmed at this point. On offensively challenged team, we do need his scoring. After a bonehead play or two, obviously ok to pull him & talk to him.
 
Wouldn't call it a good win. But Ill take it w Lovett out. Ponds is the real deal and plays bigger than his size. The problems w Bash need to be worked on. But he is too valuable to keep on the bench for a while. Other than FTs Sima and Yakwe don't look better than last year. I agree , would give Owens more time . Mussini had great first half and Ellison played better. We are going to need 1 of those 2. Based on this year so far RF and Amar should see limited minutes. Our front line makes opposing teams front line look like AAs. Going to be tough during BE play.
 
Criticisms of Ahmed seem like the typical things you get with a juco where bad habits can develop. May take a while to get the juco out of his game but still view him as an asset (especially for this talent challenged team) and I'm glad we have him.
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agreed because he is our most legitimate 3rd scoring option and #1scoring option in the front court
Click to expand...

Really agree. Would rather see clear ability that needs to be refined than a player who can't help. 12 and 6, leads the team in rebounding, leads the team in FT attempts, 44% from 3. He's been a big net positive thus far and there is easy room for growth.

Not surprisingly seems accustomed to just being able to bulldoze to rim, and while I love the aggressiveness clearly not going to work on this level. If he does nothing more than scale that back and play more in control inside 10 feet, and as others have noted looks to give it up when he draws help, his efficiency could be in a really great place.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head, Ahmed needs to scale back his play & develop a medium range approach. Anecdotally, I got there early last night & in shooting drills he was hoisting threes, many off balance, all over the place. He never spent time on the medium jumpers at elbow, foul line. I realuze he is a key scoring option on this team, but hope staff can quickly demonstrate to him dividend of kicking ball when doubled, take 3s strategically & get him to appreciate getting his shots within flow of game. Against quality competition, he can't commit five turnovers like last night at key times I might add.

I have seen Ahmed play since his days at JFK in the Bronx years ago & pull for him. However, now is the time, Juco or not, to rein him in a bit & maximize his and team's chances of success. Ponds, he & LoVett could be a dangerous scoring trio with added discipline on his part. Hope the light goes off prior to BE play.
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Very hard to break old habits. I thought Donny Marshall, who called the game, made some interesting points. He talked about drilling into young players the need to value the basketball, and protect from turnovers. Both Ahmed and Ellison are careless with the ball. Ahmed's a junior with a NBA body, but a college freshman's level of control. Ahmed controlled his drives better in the Tulane game, using his spin moves to avoid contact. Back to bad habits yesterday of reckless, head down, bull rushes. Still, he is our only player over 6'1 that can make his own shot, and most likely to draw fouls. As for shooting mostly 3s in practice, I remember watching Louisville play SJU years ago in the garden. While our guys are practicing jumpers a foot inside the line, the Cardinals were taking their jumpers half an inch outside the line. Not hard to figure out which team utilized the 3 ball as a weapon. For Mullin it"s the ultimate weapon, so not surprised Ahmed is out there in pre-game warm-ups.
 
Couldn't help but notice that during the timeouts the coaches ate up about 2/3 of the time talking among themselves in a circle (while the players sat there waiting) before Coach Mullin sat down and said something. Struck me as odd at best.
 
Encouraged to see more in game coaching now with players coming out and sitting between Mitch and St. Jean.

Would have liked to see Mussini, Ellison , and Ponds in at the end of game together and not Owens dribbling ball at top of key trying to close clock out.

A lot of mistakes not being fixed but a win is a win and move on to Thursday.
 
Random thoughts about some posts on this thread:

If you think that beating Cal State Northridge at home is a "good win" because we were without our "best player," then at least you won't be very disappointed this season because your expectations are already set pretty low. A quality high D1 team should beat a team like CSN at home by 16 without their best player. A win by 6 is better than a loss, but a "good win" it isn't. It's just a win.

IMHO Mitch Richmond's comments demonstrate the lack of authority or control the staff has over the players. If you can't control your team and get them to play the way you want them to because they are listening to their family or their AAU coach then you're doing something wrong (see Lavin, Steve). Can you see (for example) Bob Huggins having that problem?

Also IMHO the issue with being able to manage your players relates directly to the issue with defense, which has been obvious from the very beginning. With a few exceptions (like Dom Pointer), in general basketball players (especially D1 recruits) want to score, and they don't want to play defense. It's the job of a coaching staff to make the players understand that both ends of the floor matter and then to get them to give effort at both ends. Sometimes that means sticking a scorer on the bench as a lesson that if you don't play both ways, you don't play. I've seen no evidence so far this season that the staff is willing to do any of the hard work or make any of the tough calls that you need to do get your squad to play defense.

As I posted weeks ago, Ahmed needs to be benched until he can be made to understand that it's a team game. I'd probably play Mussini ahead of him. The only thing you would lose is some athleticism and a few rebounds. Mussini would probably give you about as many points, wouldn't be much worse on defense (he's not a good defender, but neither is Ahmed), and he would actually play with some level of understanding that there are four other players on the court. It would probably be a net plus in terms of getting the group on the floor to play as a team. Ahmed takes the existing regrettable tendency of "every man for himself" and makes it much, much worse. There's no question he has talent, but the way he plays is a team-killer. Since we aren't going anywhere this season anyway, you may as well take the opportunity to get the team to play the way you want.

Onward and upward, there's a lot of season left, let's see if we can make any progress on any of these fronts. I do think that just as the team is a frontcourt player or two away from contention, the staff is an assistant coach away from contention. The previous suggestion about Mike Rice is a good one IMO. I don't know what his relationship is with CM, but they do need someone exactly like that if the existing staff doesn't want to do the dirty work themselves.
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Good points, but not ready to bench Ahmed at this point. On offensively challenged team, we do need his scoring. After a bonehead play or two, obviously ok to pull him & talk to him.
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I disagree. If the meaning of life was revealed inside that post, it automatically becomes a bad post if you are advocating benching our third best player to get a role player more time. Season's success will largely fall on Lovett, Ponds and Ahmed. If Ahmed can play under control we will be more successful. Even if he continues to play the way he has, he is still better than anyone we have outside of Lovett /Ponds.
 
I just don't see this team winning 15 games like most of us predicted earlier
All of our bigs are soft - Sima and Yakwe have regressed from last year
In physical Big East play, RF and Amar will be lost
We have four guys that are able to score (Lovett, Ponds, Mussini, Ahmed)
They are playing the Mike D'Antoni offense - live by the 3, die by the 3
And those 3's may not be as easy to launch during conference play
We are in desperate need of a Charles Oakley "enforcer" type of guy
A big who can do the dirty work - rebound, defend and score inside
Without one, we are a one dimensional team not built to succeed in this league
 
I just don't see this team winning 15 games like most of us predicted earlier
All of our bigs are soft - Sima and Yakwe have regressed from last year
In physical Big East play, RF and Amar will be lost
We have four guys that are able to score (Lovett, Ponds, Mussini, Ahmed)
They are playing the Mike D'Antoni offense - live by the 3, die by the 3
And those 3's may not be as easy to launch during conference play
We are in desperate need of a Charles Oakley "enforcer" type of guy
A big who can do the dirty work - rebound, defend and score inside
Without one, we are a one dimensional team not built to succeed in this league
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Chris Jonesssssssssssssssssssssssss
 
I just don't see this team winning 15 games like most of us predicted earlier
All of our bigs are soft - Sima and Yakwe have regressed from last year
In physical Big East play, RF and Amar will be lost
We have four guys that are able to score (Lovett, Ponds, Mussini, Ahmed)
They are playing the Mike D'Antoni offense - live by the 3, die by the 3
And those 3's may not be as easy to launch during conference play
We are in desperate need of a Charles Oakley "enforcer" type of guy
A big who can do the dirty work - rebound, defend and score inside
Without one, we are a one dimensional team not built to succeed in this league
Click to expand...

Chris Jonesssssssssssssssssssssssss
Click to expand...


CJ would certainly have been more useful this season that Ali
Ali could lead the NCAA in fouls committed per minutes played
At 6'9", he offers absolutely nothing inside
He might as well be 6' tall
 
Couldn't help but notice that during the timeouts the coaches ate up about 2/3 of the time talking among themselves in a circle (while the players sat there waiting) before Coach Mullin sat down and said something. Struck me as odd at best.
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CSUN's staff did the exact same thing, especially during their last TO. A lot of teams do the coaches' conference routine during TOs.
 
Random thoughts about some posts on this thread:

If you think that beating Cal State Northridge at home is a "good win" because we were without our "best player," then at least you won't be very disappointed this season because your expectations are already set pretty low. A quality high D1 team should beat a team like CSN at home by 16 without their best player. A win by 6 is better than a loss, but a "good win" it isn't. It's just a win.

IMHO Mitch Richmond's comments demonstrate the lack of authority or control the staff has over the players. If you can't control your team and get them to play the way you want them to because they are listening to their family or their AAU coach then you're doing something wrong (see Lavin, Steve). Can you see (for example) Bob Huggins having that problem?

Also IMHO the issue with being able to manage your players relates directly to the issue with defense, which has been obvious from the very beginning. With a few exceptions (like Dom Pointer), in general basketball players (especially D1 recruits) want to score, and they don't want to play defense. It's the job of a coaching staff to make the players understand that both ends of the floor matter and then to get them to give effort at both ends. Sometimes that means sticking a scorer on the bench as a lesson that if you don't play both ways, you don't play. I've seen no evidence so far this season that the staff is willing to do any of the hard work or make any of the tough calls that you need to do get your squad to play defense.

As I posted weeks ago, Ahmed needs to be benched until he can be made to understand that it's a team game. I'd probably play Mussini ahead of him. The only thing you would lose is some athleticism and a few rebounds. Mussini would probably give you about as many points, wouldn't be much worse on defense (he's not a good defender, but neither is Ahmed), and he would actually play with some level of understanding that there are four other players on the court. It would probably be a net plus in terms of getting the group on the floor to play as a team. Ahmed takes the existing regrettable tendency of "every man for himself" and makes it much, much worse. There's no question he has talent, but the way he plays is a team-killer. Since we aren't going anywhere this season anyway, you may as well take the opportunity to get the team to play the way you want.

Onward and upward, there's a lot of season left, let's see if we can make any progress on any of these fronts. I do think that just as the team is a frontcourt player or two away from contention, the staff is an assistant coach away from contention. The previous suggestion about Mike Rice is a good one IMO. I don't know what his relationship is with CM, but they do need someone exactly like that if the existing staff doesn't want to do the dirty work themselves.
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Good points, but not ready to bench Ahmed at this point. On offensively challenged team, we do need his scoring. After a bonehead play or two, obviously ok to pull him & talk to him.
Click to expand...

I disagree. If the meaning of life was revealed inside that post, it automatically becomes a bad post if you are advocating benching our third best player to get a role player more time. Season's success will largely fall on Lovett, Ponds and Ahmed. If Ahmed can play under control we will be more successful. Even if he continues to play the way he has, he is still better than anyone we have outside of Lovett /Ponds.
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Sadly true on lack of options
 
I disagree. If the meaning of life was revealed inside that post, it automatically becomes a bad post if you are advocating benching our third best player to get a role player more time. Season's success will largely fall on Lovett, Ponds and Ahmed. If Ahmed can play under control we will be more successful. Even if he continues to play the way he has, he is still better than anyone we have outside of Lovett /Ponds.
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Yesterday was the first time Mussini was asked to handle the ball all year more or less, resulting in four turnovers in 19 minutes. He averaged last year about what BA does this year. Yet nobody wants to bench him.
 
Criticisms of Ahmed seem like the typical things you get with a juco where bad habits can develop. May take a while to get the juco out of his game but still view him as an asset (especially for this talent challenged team) and I'm glad we have him.
Click to expand...
agreed because he is our most legitimate 3rd scoring option and #1scoring option in the front court
Click to expand...

Really agree. Would rather see clear ability that needs to be refined than a player who can't help. 12 and 6, leads the team in rebounding, leads the team in FT attempts, 44% from 3. He's been a big net positive thus far and there is easy room for growth.

Not surprisingly seems accustomed to just being able to bulldoze to rim, and while I love the aggressiveness clearly not going to work on this level. If he does nothing more than scale that back and play more in control inside 10 feet, and as others have noted looks to give it up when he draws help, his efficiency could be in a really great place.
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Right now he is playing too fast. As he gets acclimated, the game should slow down for him. Most of his offensive touches start behind the three-point line. I'd love to see him get the ball at the elbow/foul line and create from there. I think that would play to his strengths, he would be more efficient and his turnover rate would decline.

You hit the nail on the head, Ahmed needs to scale back his play & develop a medium range approach. Anecdotally, I got there early last night & in shooting drills he was hoisting threes, many off balance, all over the place. He never spent time on the medium jumpers at elbow, foul line. I realuze he is a key scoring option on this team, but hope staff can quickly demonstrate to him dividend of kicking ball when doubled, take 3s strategically & get him to appreciate getting his shots within flow of game. Against quality competition, he can't commit five turnovers like last night at key times I might add.

I have seen Ahmed play since his days at JFK in the Bronx years ago & pull for him. However, now is the time, Juco or not, to rein him in a bit & maximize his and team's chances of success. Ponds, he & LoVett could be a dangerous scoring trio with added discipline on his part. Hope the light goes off prior to BE play.
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Spot on. Noted positive stats, but he also leads team in TOs, by a wide margin especially when you consider how much Lovett and Ponds handle. Many of them seem like they are on repeat, either sloppy first step/dribble or forcing not in control.

Last two games should be easy film sessions with him as teams are loading up helpside as soon as he touches the ball, and he's playing right into it.

During Tulane game Bashir either turned it over or took a quick shot going into a timeout, and CM got to him right away and you could see him motioning move the ball move the ball. Sure staff is on it, and BA has seemed more intent last two games on keeping ball moving especially early in possessions, but when he decides to go still yielding similar results. I think he's very much a team guy (has mostly been max effort), just used to a certain style of play. Think a lot of it is just selectivity and decision-making.
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That's a good reminder that of course the staff is on him about it already. If they can get him to play better team ball and improve his overall awareness he'll be a tremendous asset and this season and next season we'll be better because of it. My concern comes from him only being here for 2 seasons and his timeline to develop doesn't make sense with the rest of our guys. Right now the negatives outweigh the positives. If he shows the ability to learn and adjust quickly, that'd be huge because clearly he has a ton of ability. I'd love to eat my words.

Also in all fairness, I have no idea what Ahmed is like as a person. I criticize his game, but he is a year or two older than these other guys and he may be a good influence, hard worker, motivator, etc and that shouldn't be discounted for a young group either.
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