RedmanMike
Well-known member
I was going with Oscar Robertson, but fine - I'll pump the brakes...
The Point Guard Debate
- Thread starter dk423
- Start date
Coach said Lefty was starting pg prior to last game until they practiced against press which Lefty could not handle.
The race between Eric and Eric2 next week outside Canz is officially cancelled
Thanks Knight. We don’t ever seem to be able to get past that unfortunately.
Jackson and Darling are included I. The “plenty of guards” statement I made. That’s four not including Lefty and Odih who I think will be fine.
In the limited time he has seen but in the role he has played in that time, it appears to me that Pohto is being groomed as a PG.
There are a couple of extremely well respected judges of talent who see a lot of potential in Pohto
I think him having a Pohtogenic memory will help him.
Thank you.
I think you are onto something. Maybe Pitino doesn’t waste roster spots? If a player is going to get Pitinos attention for months and months of practices, they have to have “something”.
I think this is where I went wrong with Prey.
dk423
Well-known member
For such a late add, he had pretty good pedigree. Played for Sweden U18, St. Benedict's Prep before Sunrise Christian Academy.
L J S A
Well-known member
What I mostly took from the last couple pages is that I seem to be the only one who thought Darling was at least some part Native American.
I expect him to look better each game and I think he'll play well with Sellers.
I'm not changing my national championship expectation. Sorting out the PG situation is why we're paying Rick the big bucks. Well, the medium bucks for now, but I trust that will get sorted out too.
I expect him to look better each game and I think he'll play well with Sellers.
I'm not changing my national championship expectation. Sorting out the PG situation is why we're paying Rick the big bucks. Well, the medium bucks for now, but I trust that will get sorted out too.
Me too, as I've commented. And he's done some good things. Would need to see more but I was very pleasantly surprised by his court vision and passing a couple of times.
gonzalo
Well-known member
Darling didn´t attempt any shot in 24 minutes in the first exhibition game against Towson State. I thought that he would be the new Bobby Kelly.
I was wrong
Redenbacher
Well-known member
As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, Darling was brought in after the staff swung and missed on 4 other targets.
But more importantly, Pitino himself positioned Darling from Day One as a backup PG. He very publicly announced that Jackson was SJU's next great PG. When that didn't work out, he again publicly stated that Sellers would be the starting PG. So Pitino was choosing 2 guys who have never played PG to start at PG over Darling. What does that tell you about Pitino's confidence in Darling as a starting PG? It tells me a lot, hence my skepticism.
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What I originally posted about loving the signing and then pumping the breaks seems to have been right( first time for everything I guess).. he can absolutely play at this level but his shortcomings have been well discussed. At the end of the day he’s a tough kid which rubs off, he plays really hard which is beginning to rub off on those that need it, he’s smart and protects the ball..taking recently with staff he’s even better than they had hoped and are gaining more trust in him.. I was worried about him in the pick n roll but he fights really hard over the screens and has great anticipation on them..yes he will struggle at times with the more athletic players but he’s learning where to funnel them if he does get beat.. he’s a great young man loves being here and will be an key part of teams success.
Aside..was at Iowa St practice..whoooa that is a good team. That game is going to be great
Aside..was at Iowa St practice..whoooa that is a good team. That game is going to be great
Anything Pitino says...think "poetic license".
The PnR is actually the place I feel best about him on defense. I think he will be better than anyone we've had here under Pitino in that area. It's all hustle and skill. Pitino's guards always get beat because they guard so aggressively, but funneling them into bigs-- like you wrote-- is the key.
He's going to live in the lane on offense. He also protects the hell out of the ball. Like teams don't even try to take it from him. He's been a one-man press break so far.
His pace is probably the one thing that can equalize any deficiencies. To keep that up, though, we are going to have to rest him and find someone 10-15 minutes a game. He may have to be a strategic TV timeout sub like Zuby.
dk423
Well-known member
Basically agree, but the two outstanding questions -- to me -- are:
1) Is Darling safe enough on defense/shoots well enough to be playing in the last 5 minutes of a game against a top team?
2) Where's that 10-15 minutes coming from? If the answer to above is no, then it's a scarier question. If the answer to above is yes, then its likely just "surviving" a piecemeal effort from Mitchell, Pohto, Hopkins, Ian.
2 of the Michigan break downs came on ghost screens. Neither time we looked like we were on the same page with what the ghost screen defender was doing. Darling is not gonna be a guy who switches like the rest of the group, so that’s a whole other level of figuring out that Darling and everyone else playing with him will need to sort out. But I agree on his ability to get over the high ball screen.