Lavin needs to get a point guard

Disagree about needing a point guard. Branch in a real ball movement offense with a solid PF who is a threat downlow and can space the floor and roll to the basket becomes much more effective. We need Sanchez more than we need anything else.
Click to expand...

I agree - I actually thought Branch did a pretty good job on offense yesterday in certain spurts. Particularly in the beginning of the game. His passing led to shots or a second pass for a wide open shot. We just couldn't sink any shots. Branch stats only show one assist, but I think that is more a function of our poor shooting than anything else. We couldn't hit any shots yesterday. It was frustrating. Also, I think Branch is showing fairly effective jumper.

It is surprising, but it seems we actually do have a few scorers on this team in Harrison, Sampson, Branch and as a spot-up shooter, Greene. They are maddeningly inconsistent right now - we all know that.... Is a function of youth? Not playing enough together yet? Coaching? System we are running? I don't know the answers. But I think we have some solid pieces here. Do we wish our pieces were better put together than they are now? Yes. Do we wish we had one or two more key pieces? Yes. But I think we have some pieces that we can build on for future games, whether it is this this year or thereafter.

Right now the biggest missing piece is big man that can play around the rim on offense. Second, would be more driving to the rim to create foul-shots. Sampson should be able to do that, but doesn't. Branch may or may not have that ability - we have to wait and see as he gets his sea-legs underneath him.

Hopefully the consistently gets there. Maybe it will this year, maybe next year. Or maybe not in either years. I'll continue to enjoy watching - even if it means cringing at some of the shortcomings. I accept our fate for what we are now right now - but I am I am very appreciative that Lavin is showing that this program can be rehabilitated. It clearly can be.
 
Can't believe all the negativity. I think Lavin showed his ability to coach two seasons ago, and I'm not going to start bailing out on him when we could be 3-1 if we had hit our FTs against Nova and Rutgers. Hey, we got our butts kicked today; it happens. Could we use a Dunlop-like tactician, absolutely? But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

As for signing a Juco PG ... jeez, how about giving Branch a chance? The kid's played, what?, three games, and already he's being written off. If he's given the starting job (over Greene, who's obviously not a PG, and judging from the way he's shooting, not that much of a BE 2 guard as well), I'm confident he'll get the job done. Stop pushing the panic button!
Click to expand...


You love to challenge every post I make & put words into my mouth
team needs a another point guard never said Branch was bad just think a jr tranfer could give us better half court offense with experience & add competitive depth
Click to expand...

Diehard Johnny, I was making a comment in response to the general tone of this topic, and not specifically commenting on your input. (Always enjoy reading your comments even if I don't always agree with you. And to be honest, I've never realized there's been a pattern in responding to your posts in the past.) Just think bringing in an untested Juco PG when we already have a kid who was an elite PG coming out of high school and who hasn't been given enough time here to judge what he can and can't do (although I've liked a lot of what I've seen), only adds to the problem, especially when we don't even have an official scholarship opening for next year (unless you take it for granted that Sanchez won't be here). Whatever openings there are, I'm hoping we concentrate on Lawrence -- we definitely need an inside presence, as the past couple of games have shown -- and Jordan, who can give us what Greene isn't giving us. Most of all -- and this doesn't reflect on your comments -- I'm just taken aback by the anti-Lavin rhetoric on this board ... a complete turnaround from just a month ago. I, for one, still think we're very,very lucky to have him.
Click to expand...

ok understood
Facts r Lavin needs to blend the soup together fast Hes failed to replace Dunlap
Maybe Branch becomes a star but l talented athletes raise their game when challenged unless your whimpy mark
sanchez with no heart or balls.
I think these kids need is some leadership on the court Harrison could if he grew up & learned to pass better.
 
Can't believe all the negativity. I think Lavin showed his ability to coach two seasons ago, and I'm not going to start bailing out on him when we could be 3-1 if we had hit our FTs against Nova and Rutgers. Hey, we got our butts kicked today; it happens. Could we use a Dunlop-like tactician, absolutely? But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

As for signing a Juco PG ... jeez, how about giving Branch a chance? The kid's played, what?, three games, and already he's being written off. If he's given the starting job (over Greene, who's obviously not a PG, and judging from the way he's shooting, not that much of a BE 2 guard as well), I'm confident he'll get the job done. Stop pushing the panic button!
Click to expand...


You love to challenge every post I make & put words into my mouth
team needs a another point guard never said Branch was bad just think a jr tranfer could give us better half court offense with experience & add competitive depth
Click to expand...

Diehard Johnny, I was making a comment in response to the general tone of this topic, and not specifically commenting on your input. (Always enjoy reading your comments even if I don't always agree with you. And to be honest, I've never realized there's been a pattern in responding to your posts in the past.) Just think bringing in an untested Juco PG when we already have a kid who was an elite PG coming out of high school and who hasn't been given enough time here to judge what he can and can't do (although I've liked a lot of what I've seen), only adds to the problem, especially when we don't even have an official scholarship opening for next year (unless you take it for granted that Sanchez won't be here). Whatever openings there are, I'm hoping we concentrate on Lawrence -- we definitely need an inside presence, as the past couple of games have shown -- and Jordan, who can give us what Greene isn't giving us. Most of all -- and this doesn't reflect on your comments -- I'm just taken aback by the anti-Lavin rhetoric on this board ... a complete turnaround from just a month ago. I, for one, still think we're very,very lucky to have him.
Click to expand...

ok understood
Facts r Lavin needs to blend the soup together fast Hes failed to replace Dunlap
Maybe Branch becomes a star but l talented athletes raise their game when challenged unless your whimpy mark
sanchez with no heart or balls.
I think these kids need is some leadership on the court Harrison could if he grew up & learned to pass better.
Click to expand...

Harrison is actually a very good passer. And he's good at getting a 2nd defender to swtich to him when he's rolling around a pick thus freeing up a man. It seems to me that he gets frustrated with the fact that we don't have guys that can finish so he's reluctant to look to pass. The chemistry on this team is about as bad as I've ever seen on a team, especially on a team with some talent.
 
I think everyone on this board realizes that Lavin is a terrific recruiter. We have the most talent we had in years.
Click to expand...

I'm not ready to flat out disagree with you; but ill say this, I'm having second thoughts about his prowess as a recruiter.

Part of recruiting is selecting the "right" guys. Can he grab ranked recruits? It certainly appears so.
But look at how flawed this team is. There's not enough shooting and scoring, no one who can play with their back to the basket, no backup pg, no height or rebounding.
We recruited a lot of guys who are one dimensional.

Now, maybe that was out of necessity, because he was put in such a difficult spot. But it at least gives me pause.
I like our guys, I root extremely hard for them.... But I don't know that this is how you assemble a team.
Click to expand...


I hear you Desco, but I still give him an A+for recruiting. As you said, he did have to assemble an entire team in a very short period of time. With the exception of Cal, IMO there was no other candidate we were considering that could have done anything close to what Lavin did, from both a recruiting and PR standpoint. He gave this program the instant shot in the arm that we so badly needed. He's made some mistakes. Certainly in hindsight he should have held on to Ron Roberts, But he's also had some tough breaks with his recruits. Nuri, Sanchez, Mo(leaving), Samson, etc. But imagine where we'd be if Nuri panned out, we had Mo for another year, Samson was eligible last year and Sanchez this year? Or at least 2 out of those 4? I'm not enamored with Lavin as a game coach, but in spite of his deficincies he did a pretty good job at UCLA. What he needs more than anything is a point guard. Maybe that's Branch. I hope so since he's all we got.
 
I think everyone on this board realizes that Lavin is a terrific recruiter. We have the most talent we had in years.
Click to expand...

I'm not ready to flat out disagree with you; but ill say this, I'm having second thoughts about his prowess as a recruiter.

Part of recruiting is selecting the "right" guys. Can he grab ranked recruits? It certainly appears so.
But look at how flawed this team is. There's not enough shooting and scoring, no one who can play with their back to the basket, no backup pg, no height or rebounding.
We recruited a lot of guys who are one dimensional.

Now, maybe that was out of necessity, because he was put in such a difficult spot. But it at least gives me pause.
I like our guys, I root extremely hard for them.... But I don't know that this is how you assemble a team.
Click to expand...


I hear you Desco, but I still give him an A+for recruiting. As you said, he did have to assemble an entire team in a very short period of time. With the exception of Cal, IMO there was no other candidate we were considering that could have done anything close to what Lavin did, from both a recruiting and PR standpoint. He gave this program the instant shot in the arm that we so badly needed. He's made some mistakes. Certainly in hindsight he should have held on to Ron Roberts, But he's also had some tough breaks with his recruits. Nuri, Sanchez, Mo(leaving), Samson, etc. But imagine where we'd be if Nuri panned out, we had Mo for another year, Samson was eligible last year and Sanchez this year? Or at least 2 out of those 4? I'm not enamored with Lavin as a game coach, but in spite of his deficincies he did a pretty good job at UCLA. What he needs more than anything is a point guard. Maybe that's Branch. I hope so since he's all we got.
Click to expand...

Additionally, he does recognize the need for a good X and O coach as evidenced by the fact that he hired Dunlap...I'm not close enough to say whether Martin was the correct replacement but have to believe that, if this isn't the case, Lavin will remedy it...
 
Can't believe all the negativity. I think Lavin showed his ability to coach two seasons ago, and I'm not going to start bailing out on him when we could be 3-1 if we had hit our FTs against Nova and Rutgers. Hey, we got our butts kicked today; it happens. Could we use a Dunlop-like tactician, absolutely? But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

As for signing a Juco PG ... jeez, how about giving Branch a chance? The kid's played, what?, three games, and already he's being written off. If he's given the starting job (over Greene, who's obviously not a PG, and judging from the way he's shooting, not that much of a BE 2 guard as well), I'm confident he'll get the job done. Stop pushing the panic button!
Click to expand...


You love to challenge every post I make & put words into my mouth
team needs a another point guard never said Branch was bad just think a jr tranfer could give us better half court offense with experience & add competitive depth
Click to expand...

Diehard Johnny, I was making a comment in response to the general tone of this topic, and not specifically commenting on your input. (Always enjoy reading your comments even if I don't always agree with you. And to be honest, I've never realized there's been a pattern in responding to your posts in the past.) Just think bringing in an untested Juco PG when we already have a kid who was an elite PG coming out of high school and who hasn't been given enough time here to judge what he can and can't do (although I've liked a lot of what I've seen), only adds to the problem, especially when we don't even have an official scholarship opening for next year (unless you take it for granted that Sanchez won't be here). Whatever openings there are, I'm hoping we concentrate on Lawrence -- we definitely need an inside presence, as the past couple of games have shown -- and Jordan, who can give us what Greene isn't giving us. Most of all -- and this doesn't reflect on your comments -- I'm just taken aback by the anti-Lavin rhetoric on this board ... a complete turnaround from just a month ago. I, for one, still think we're very,very lucky to have him.
Click to expand...

ok understood
Facts r Lavin needs to blend the soup together fast Hes failed to replace Dunlap
Maybe Branch becomes a star but l talented athletes raise their game when challenged unless your whimpy mark
sanchez with no heart or balls.
I think these kids need is some leadership on the court Harrison could if he grew up & learned to pass better.
Click to expand...

Harrison is actually a very good passer. And he's good at getting a 2nd defender to swtich to him when he's rolling around a pick thus freeing up a man. It seems to me that he gets frustrated with the fact that we don't have guys that can finish so he's reluctant to look to pass. The chemistry on this team is about as bad as I've ever seen on a team, especially on a team with some talent.
Click to expand...

How many assists a game does harrison avg,? he shoots even when hes cold & doubled team the guy is a me player not a playmaker who helps others score
he can be lazy on defense when his shot is not dropping too
the hoyas ambushed him realizing hes gonna keep taking shots even if hes not open
maybe he needs to come off the bench like somebody posted
 
Branch will be the starting PG. We will be fine as soon as the starting lineup is finalized. The starting PG job was Greene's to lose, and I believe that Branch is showing that the job will be his. My guess is its only a matter of time before Branch starts and this thread will look silly.
 
Branch will be the starting PG. We will be fine as soon as the starting lineup is finalized. The starting PG job was Greene's to lose, and I believe that Branch is showing that the job will be his. My guess is its only a matter of time before Branch starts and this thread will look silly.
Click to expand...

Started 2nd half...probably soon
 
Can't believe all the negativity. I think Lavin showed his ability to coach two seasons ago, and I'm not going to start bailing out on him when we could be 3-1 if we had hit our FTs against Nova and Rutgers. Hey, we got our butts kicked today; it happens. Could we use a Dunlop-like tactician, absolutely? But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

As for signing a Juco PG ... jeez, how about giving Branch a chance? The kid's played, what?, three games, and already he's being written off. If he's given the starting job (over Greene, who's obviously not a PG, and judging from the way he's shooting, not that much of a BE 2 guard as well), I'm confident he'll get the job done. Stop pushing the panic button!
Click to expand...


You love to challenge every post I make & put words into my mouth
team needs a another point guard never said Branch was bad just think a jr tranfer could give us better half court offense with experience & add competitive depth
Click to expand...

Diehard Johnny, I was making a comment in response to the general tone of this topic, and not specifically commenting on your input. (Always enjoy reading your comments even if I don't always agree with you. And to be honest, I've never realized there's been a pattern in responding to your posts in the past.) Just think bringing in an untested Juco PG when we already have a kid who was an elite PG coming out of high school and who hasn't been given enough time here to judge what he can and can't do (although I've liked a lot of what I've seen), only adds to the problem, especially when we don't even have an official scholarship opening for next year (unless you take it for granted that Sanchez won't be here). Whatever openings there are, I'm hoping we concentrate on Lawrence -- we definitely need an inside presence, as the past couple of games have shown -- and Jordan, who can give us what Greene isn't giving us. Most of all -- and this doesn't reflect on your comments -- I'm just taken aback by the anti-Lavin rhetoric on this board ... a complete turnaround from just a month ago. I, for one, still think we're very,very lucky to have him.
Click to expand...

ok understood
Facts r Lavin needs to blend the soup together fast Hes failed to replace Dunlap
Maybe Branch becomes a star but l talented athletes raise their game when challenged unless your whimpy mark
sanchez with no heart or balls.
I think these kids need is some leadership on the court Harrison could if he grew up & learned to pass better.
Click to expand...

Harrison is actually a very good passer. And he's good at getting a 2nd defender to swtich to him when he's rolling around a pick thus freeing up a man. It seems to me that he gets frustrated with the fact that we don't have guys that can finish so he's reluctant to look to pass. The chemistry on this team is about as bad as I've ever seen on a team, especially on a team with some talent.
Click to expand...

How many assists a game does harrison avg,? he shoots even when hes cold & doubled team the guy is a me player not a playmaker who helps others score
he can be lazy on defense when his shot is not dropping too
the hoyas ambushed him realizing hes gonna keep taking shots even if hes not open
maybe he needs to come off the bench like somebody posted
Click to expand...

I agree with most of what you're saying. He's a scorer, not a playmaker. He's got a scorer's mentality. Naturally he's going to keep shooting even when he's cold, that's what scorers do. Granted he does tend to force things at times. But IMO he'd be passing a whole lot more if he had confidence in the guys he was passing to. Harrison is our only offensive weapon at this point, he needs to be on the floor as much as possible.
 
Can't believe all the negativity. I think Lavin showed his ability to coach two seasons ago, and I'm not going to start bailing out on him when we could be 3-1 if we had hit our FTs against Nova and Rutgers. Hey, we got our butts kicked today; it happens. Could we use a Dunlop-like tactician, absolutely? But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

As for signing a Juco PG ... jeez, how about giving Branch a chance? The kid's played, what?, three games, and already he's being written off. If he's given the starting job (over Greene, who's obviously not a PG, and judging from the way he's shooting, not that much of a BE 2 guard as well), I'm confident he'll get the job done. Stop pushing the panic button!
Click to expand...


You love to challenge every post I make & put words into my mouth
team needs a another point guard never said Branch was bad just think a jr tranfer could give us better half court offense with experience & add competitive depth
Click to expand...

Diehard Johnny, I was making a comment in response to the general tone of this topic, and not specifically commenting on your input. (Always enjoy reading your comments even if I don't always agree with you. And to be honest, I've never realized there's been a pattern in responding to your posts in the past.) Just think bringing in an untested Juco PG when we already have a kid who was an elite PG coming out of high school and who hasn't been given enough time here to judge what he can and can't do (although I've liked a lot of what I've seen), only adds to the problem, especially when we don't even have an official scholarship opening for next year (unless you take it for granted that Sanchez won't be here). Whatever openings there are, I'm hoping we concentrate on Lawrence -- we definitely need an inside presence, as the past couple of games have shown -- and Jordan, who can give us what Greene isn't giving us. Most of all -- and this doesn't reflect on your comments -- I'm just taken aback by the anti-Lavin rhetoric on this board ... a complete turnaround from just a month ago. I, for one, still think we're very,very lucky to have him.
Click to expand...

ok understood
Facts r Lavin needs to blend the soup together fast Hes failed to replace Dunlap
Maybe Branch becomes a star but l talented athletes raise their game when challenged unless your whimpy mark
sanchez with no heart or balls.
I think these kids need is some leadership on the court Harrison could if he grew up & learned to pass better.
Click to expand...

Harrison is actually a very good passer. And he's good at getting a 2nd defender to swtich to him when he's rolling around a pick thus freeing up a man. It seems to me that he gets frustrated with the fact that we don't have guys that can finish so he's reluctant to look to pass. The chemistry on this team is about as bad as I've ever seen on a team, especially on a team with some talent.
Click to expand...

How many assists a game does harrison avg,? he shoots even when hes cold & doubled team the guy is a me player not a playmaker who helps others score
he can be lazy on defense when his shot is not dropping too
the hoyas ambushed him realizing hes gonna keep taking shots even if hes not open
maybe he needs to come off the bench like somebody posted
Click to expand...

I agree with most of what you're saying. He's a scorer, not a playmaker. He's got a scorer's mentality. Naturally he's going to keep shooting even when he's cold, that's what scorers do. Granted he does tend to force things at times. But IMO he'd be passing a whole lot more if he had confidence in the guys he was passing to. Harrison is our only offensive weapon at this point, he needs to be on the floor as much as possible.
Click to expand...

Only offensive weapon from outside .
the johnnys have Sampson who needs more plays run inside to get him going
 
Can't believe all the negativity. I think Lavin showed his ability to coach two seasons ago, and I'm not going to start bailing out on him when we could be 3-1 if we had hit our FTs against Nova and Rutgers. Hey, we got our butts kicked today; it happens. Could we use a Dunlop-like tactician, absolutely? But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

As for signing a Juco PG ... jeez, how about giving Branch a chance? The kid's played, what?, three games, and already he's being written off. If he's given the starting job (over Greene, who's obviously not a PG, and judging from the way he's shooting, not that much of a BE 2 guard as well), I'm confident he'll get the job done. Stop pushing the panic button!
Click to expand...




You love to challenge every post I make & put words into my mouth
team needs a another point guard never said Branch was bad just think a jr tranfer could give us better half court offense with experience & add competitive depth
Click to expand...

Diehard Johnny, I was making a comment in response to the general tone of this topic, and not specifically commenting on your input. (Always enjoy reading your comments even if I don't always agree with you. And to be honest, I've never realized there's been a pattern in responding to your posts in the past.) Just think bringing in an untested Juco PG when we already have a kid who was an elite PG coming out of high school and who hasn't been given enough time here to judge what he can and can't do (although I've liked a lot of what I've seen), only adds to the problem, especially when we don't even have an official scholarship opening for next year (unless you take it for granted that Sanchez won't be here). Whatever openings there are, I'm hoping we concentrate on Lawrence -- we definitely need an inside presence, as the past couple of games have shown -- and Jordan, who can give us what Greene isn't giving us. Most of all -- and this doesn't reflect on your comments -- I'm just taken aback by the anti-Lavin rhetoric on this board ... a complete turnaround from just a month ago. I, for one, still think we're very,very lucky to have him.
Click to expand...

ok understood
Facts r Lavin needs to blend the soup together fast Hes failed to replace Dunlap
Maybe Branch becomes a star but l talented athletes raise their game when challenged unless your whimpy mark
sanchez with no heart or balls.
I think these kids need is some leadership on the court Harrison could if he grew up & learned to pass better.
Click to expand...

Harrison is actually a very good passer. And he's good at getting a 2nd defender to swtich to him when he's rolling around a pick thus freeing up a man. It seems to me that he gets frustrated with the fact that we don't have guys that can finish so he's reluctant to look to pass. The chemistry on this team is about as bad as I've ever seen on a team, especially on a team with some talent.
Click to expand...

How many assists a game does harrison avg,? he shoots even when hes cold & doubled team the guy is a me player not a playmaker who helps others score
he can be lazy on defense when his shot is not dropping too
the hoyas ambushed him realizing hes gonna keep taking shots even if hes not open
maybe he needs to come off the bench like somebody posted
Click to expand...

I agree with most of what you're saying. He's a scorer, not a playmaker. He's got a scorer's mentality. Naturally he's going to keep shooting even when he's cold, that's what scorers do. Granted he does tend to force things at times. But IMO he'd be passing a whole lot more if he had confidence in the guys he was passing to. Harrison is our only offensive weapon at this point, he needs to be on the floor as much as possible.
Click to expand...

Only offensive weapon from outside .
the johnnys have Sampson who needs more plays run inside to get him going
Click to expand...

Branch has hit 50% of his three point attempts. Marco is a three point specialist if he ever gets enough time and gets himself into the flow.
 
Can we remove this thread yet?

;-)
Click to expand...

Some people on here were too quick to judge. The turnovers were a result of developing chemistry, but it was obvious from day 1 that the offense moves better with Branch at the 1
 
I agree mpooz44, I think we have our Point Guard. He's only played 6 games. He's going to get better and better as the season goes on.
 
Can we remove this thread yet?

;-)
Click to expand...
Where are your great posts?? That U call for mine to be removed



Branch is still a big question mark & time will tell if the play 500 in bigeast rest of way
Click to expand...


I was being facetious - I guess you didn't catch the ;-) emoticon?

BUT....

Branch is no more of a question mark than anyone else on this team. Actually I take that back, there are plenty of other players on this team that are a bigger question mark than Branch.

As for my great posts....I have seven posts (now eight) and seven "Thank You's", not a bad ratio (again being facetious).
 
We have a point guard. Branch started cautiously; seemed afraid to make mistakes. Now knows he'll start; doesn't have to look over his shoulder. BTW, have you noticed we have another shooter; love his pull up jumper.
 
Branch will be the starting PG. We will be fine as soon as the starting lineup is finalized. The starting PG job was Greene's to lose, and I believe that Branch is showing that the job will be his. My guess is its only a matter of time before Branch starts and this thread will look silly.
Click to expand...

As I pointed out a week ago, in the aftermath of the G'Town loss, that Branch would be starting PG, and that once Lavin establishes the starting team and playing rotation that we'd be fine. I didn't know it would happen this fast. I was also correct that one week later, this thread looks silly.

Patience. Patience. Patience.

Earlier I believed that this team was good for 7-11 conference wins, 11 if we exceed expectations, and 7 if we fall below. I think 9-9 would be a good season, and I'd certainly hope for more.
 
Branch will be the starting PG. We will be fine as soon as the starting lineup is finalized. The starting PG job was Greene's to lose, and I believe that Branch is showing that the job will be his. My guess is its only a matter of time before Branch starts and this thread will look silly.
Click to expand...

As I pointed out a week ago, in the aftermath of the G'Town loss, that Branch would be starting PG, and that once Lavin establishes the starting team and playing rotation that we'd be fine. I didn't know it would happen this fast. I was also correct that one week later, this thread looks silly.

Patience. Patience. Patience.

Earlier I believed that this team was good for 7-11 conference wins, 11 if we exceed expectations, and 7 if we fall below. I think 9-9 would be a good season, and I'd certainly hope for more.
Click to expand...

LOL!
7 wins, 9 wins, 11 wins.........your arithmetic progression of primes with a difference of 2 should begin with the number 5 because that is also a possibility.

My guess is 6 with 8 being a good possibility.........staying with a progression difference of 2.......LOL!
 
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