Over his last eight games he's averaging 16 points (on about 50 percent from the floor, 45-96) and 6 rebounds; in those eight games he has a 1:1.5 ATO: eight assists and 12 turnovers. Nobody credits him for the raw numbers - which are comparable to those that any number of well regarded players like Shelton Jones put up as upperclassmen - or for being vastly improved over what he was two months ago. Which he obviously is. Would he be a better player if he passed the ball more and turned the ball over less? Yes, as would every other player in college basketball. And if he did the nicest thing anyone would say about him is that he's a reformed street baller who finally reined in his selfish me first attitude.
Matt A
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Over his last eight games he's averaging 16 points (on about 50 percent from the floor, 45-96) and 6 rebounds; in those eight games he has a 1:1.5 ATO: eight assists and 12 turnovers. Nobody credits him for the raw numbers - which are comparable to those that any number of well regarded players like Shelton Jones put up as upperclassmen - or for being vastly improved over what he was two months ago. Which he obviously is. Would he be a better player if he passed the ball more and turned the ball over less? Yes, as would every other player in college basketball. And if he did the nicest thing anyone would say about him is that he's a reformed street baller who finally reined in his selfish me first attitude.
Agree w Fun. Bash is not our problem. Yes he could pass more and be less wild. But, Mullin yanks him and chews his ear off and he is improving. Owens is improving , but he fouls to much and him and Yakwe get pushed around by the other BE centers, If we had appropriate man power at the 4 and 5, Ellison could play less and Bash could play he 3, the position he is more suited for.
Think most probably agree with the analysis of where BA could refine his game. Most players have areas to address. Seems like there might be disproportionate attention on his areas for improvement relative to his production on this team.
Does he force at times? Absolutely. But I mostly haven't interpreted that as him trying to get his, instead seems like he's often trying to (sometimes over)aggressively make things happen at at time when things are stale offensively. He's not just chucking 3s, he's going to tin. Would love to see that happen more selectively obviously, but at least when he's making mistakes he's often doing so aggressively. Can't be said for everyone, and easier adjustment to try to reel that in that improve skillset in XYZ areas.
3 things I've particularly enjoyed about watching BA this year:
1. Can compete physically at the 4, can dominate physically at the 3, and brings that physicality to most games regardless of what he's asked to do.
2. As an extension of that gets after it every game, seemingly irrespective of how game is going for him or team. In three of team's worst games of season (@SHU, @Butler, and @Marq) he almost seemed to go harder out of frustration with how game was going and had three of his better games. Great quality.
3. He's close to being a "pen" guy, as in you can pretty much mark it down most games what you are going to get from him. A lot of 15 and 7s, playing very hard, with a few out of control drives. There is real value in a player that brings that kind of consistency.
Agree with MJM and others that he is going to have a big year next year. Would not be surprised if he was Top 10ish in the league in scoring and made an all-conference team.
Does he force at times? Absolutely. But I mostly haven't interpreted that as him trying to get his, instead seems like he's often trying to (sometimes over)aggressively make things happen at at time when things are stale offensively. He's not just chucking 3s, he's going to tin. Would love to see that happen more selectively obviously, but at least when he's making mistakes he's often doing so aggressively. Can't be said for everyone, and easier adjustment to try to reel that in that improve skillset in XYZ areas.
3 things I've particularly enjoyed about watching BA this year:
1. Can compete physically at the 4, can dominate physically at the 3, and brings that physicality to most games regardless of what he's asked to do.
2. As an extension of that gets after it every game, seemingly irrespective of how game is going for him or team. In three of team's worst games of season (@SHU, @Butler, and @Marq) he almost seemed to go harder out of frustration with how game was going and had three of his better games. Great quality.
3. He's close to being a "pen" guy, as in you can pretty much mark it down most games what you are going to get from him. A lot of 15 and 7s, playing very hard, with a few out of control drives. There is real value in a player that brings that kind of consistency.
Agree with MJM and others that he is going to have a big year next year. Would not be surprised if he was Top 10ish in the league in scoring and made an all-conference team.
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The only thing I would disagree with is the "not trying to get his". Def a selfishness to his game. Needs to reign it in a bit. Again just to be clear I am in the he is far from being any of our biggest concerns camp. But some of his decision making is annoying to fans as well as teammates I am sure.
Calling his shot selection selfish is somewhere between fancy and in your case as a self proclaimed chucker projection. Does he take bad shots? Yes. So did Marcus Hatten. So do a lot of players. It's not evident to me - and in fact it cannot be evident to anyone because absent direct testimony motive is chimera - that Ahmed takes bad shots because he wants to improve his showing in the box score. The evidence is the opposite: he plays harder than most of them, which is evidence that he wants to win, and taking bad selfish shots is antithetical to that. Yes, he takes a couple of shots a game where I say aloud what the hell are you thinking. But I say the same thing half a dozen times a game about half a dozen shots taken by half a dozen players. I think he takes bad shots because he's encouraged to be aggressive and he thinks his bad shots are more likely to result in points than most of the shots taken by others and more or less he's right. If he ever starts getting the calls that other players in the league get - and he doesn't, he took 17 shots versus Villanova and went to the FT line zero times - he's going to be a scoring machine, because he initiates contact and finishes.
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Hatten and Harrison were clearly our best players and a bad shot by them was still a good shot for ST John's. All shots are not created equally. I am not anti Ahmed but his decision making is tough to take sometimes. Fair or not it is more annoying coming from your third best player. For him to be a good player on a winning team I just think he needs to be reigned in a little. Again with him it is not a matter of him being a good player, it is just frustrating because if he can correct a very correctable thing he can be so much better.
As far as his lack of calls go, I am a ST John's fan and generally think my team is always getting short end of foul calls. With Ahmed it is really hard to tell who is fouling who.
If Simon is as good as some people here are saying and is great at slashing and yet keep his guys honest and draw the other 3 outside and you have an improved offensive Owens,Clark or Grad Transfer big guy those erratic drives to the hoop are going to look a lot different.
I want Bashir playing a lot at the 4 next year because his ability to pull the guy out and then drive to a much less packed in rim will be huge
I want Bashir playing a lot at the 4 next year because his ability to pull the guy out and then drive to a much less packed in rim will be huge
No one's saying he makes good decisions every time or that he does not need to improve that or other aspects of his game. You said he makes bad decisions because of selfishness. Which means that he knows better than to take the bad shots he takes and he takes them anyway because he'd rather score the occasional point off a shot that is unlikely to be successful than he would to see his team prosper. That's a pretty damning accusation and I don't believe it's true.
Agree and I think we are going to get exactly that with Clark and Ahmed playing 3 and 4 together. Think they'll create matchup problems for a lot of teams for the reason you mentioned. They are both quicker than a lot of 4s and can draw them away from the basket forcing them to play perimeter D. They are also both bigger and stronger than a lot of 3s and can punish them inside.
Ahmed already doing this a lot of games, but as you noted teams are loading up to protect against the drive when he gets a touch. With a more balanced lineup next year including Simon and Clark, Ahmed (not to mention the guards) should have more space to operate in the half court. We should be a really tough team to guard 1 on 1.
That lineup (without projecting other additions) will still be on the smaller side defensively, but I think Clark's back to the basket post D is likely better than most guys we have besides Williams and, more importantly, overall we should have more collective size which should make it tougher to expose some of the individual mismatches we might have defensively (as has often been the case this year).
Getting back to the topic of:
Matt!
Any updates news?
Any recruits at our GTown game that we have a chance with?
Thanks
Matt!
Any updates news?
Any recruits at our GTown game that we have a chance with?
Thanks
Transfers, grad type or guys who sit out a year won't be clear for a bit I would guess. Usually transfer possibilities become clearer in March, early April with visits in April and May. Would guess Matt A has some possibilities in mind. It does not appear staff has been active on JUCO front, but who knows.
we are sju
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Semantics. When Hatten took a bad shot, he had to know that a bad shot for him is still better than a good shot for Willie Shaw or one of the other guys on his team whose names I forgot. If you are shooting as soon as you get the ball and taking 1 on 3 lefty runners, it is selfish. Good players need to be a little selfish. My point is I am more forgiving of Lovett or Ponds for taking bad shots and being selfish then of Ahmed. He takes more bad shots than the two guys that are better than him.
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Tired of getting manhandled down low. Hope starting 5 is Owens, Clark, Ahmed, Ponds, Lovett.
Yakwe, Simon, Mussini and 6-8 240 pound Senior Transfer off the bench.
Agree! Know we are getting ahead of ourselves, but given what the group continues to show this year easy to get excited about prospects for next under circumstances you note. Even without additions and just no defections, a first 6 of Lovett, Ponds, Simon, Ahmed, Clark and Owens should provide that talented versatility you note. Can go big (legitimately, with Simon at the 2 + the forwards) or small, and all seem to fit style staff appears to want to play. The 5 without Owens is small, but you better get back on make or miss because that group will be going the other way in a hurry! Lot of speed.
