The future for Sam M.

[Guest]

As I see it, with all the big players who can play positions 2-5 coming in next year coupled with the hope that Warren and Egolf return healthy and the fact that McCain is proving to be a better point guard, I see Sam M's minutes decreasing to 10-12 range as a backup to McCain and whoever plays the 2 spot. If the guys we have coming in are as good as advertised, and the rest of the players like Norris, McCain, and Brown continue to progress, I don't see how Sam M. can possibly be in the starting lineup getting significant minutes in the future UNLESS Coach Les continues to want to play 3 guards all the time. If he did that, there would be A LOT of talented big players sitting. Just a thought I had this morning...

[ph]

I doubt there would be too much of a drop for SM.

I still think that if we get a "big guy" that "can play the 2", that really means he'd play no lower than the 3 in our system.

For me, half the fun of being a fan of Bradley is guessing how big we can play in the pre-season, only to find out we play much smaller. (even in the s16 year, I pre-season wondered if Summerville would finally get moved to his more "natural or pro-playing" 3, with ZA/SS as a true 4. Now we wish we had a guy as big as MS playing the 4)

[dogsrus]

Sams 10 games into his SECOND year. He has deficiencies but he's also got some skills. I'd like to see him more at the 2 spot as he can shoot but he's going to play somewhere...book it.

Right now Sammy doesn't have much of a supporting cast....ANY pg in our system right now is going to look worse then they really are IMO.

Without a legit inside game our outside game will continue to suffer. At the risk of getting railed a healthy AW.....Will and even toss Singh into the mix and SM is a much better player, as is everyone.

With that said, its no excuse. Sam has to play better as does everyone.

[it's boogie time]

I think one thing that BU has lacked over the years is good people off the bench. The starting lineup could matchup with most teams, but there was a significant dropoff when substitutions happened.

If Sam M is coming off the bench, it makes the point guard position pretty good at BU in the future. Daniel Ruffin, Marcello Robinson, Rob Dye, & Billy Wright all needed someone to step in when they got injuried. Marcello really could have used a quality backup his senior year.

[real fan]

Sam M. is one of our best shooters and just needs to get better defensively; he is only a sophomore and has taken on more of the load with Andrew injured , his minutes will not decrease that much.

[Da Coach]

Every team has guys who make the other players better and the team better, even if their stats aren't awesome. Sam is one of those guys. He is a leader, and I think he will remain a starter.

[amettrick]

Personally, I think SM will be considered one of the top PGs in the MVC by his senior year, and this talk of him losing minutes will seem very silly.

[Stryker]

Not if Edge is better at the point. I think Edge has done pretty well this year, and he didn't have JC to pass to. I think Sam will end up playing the 2 with Norris in a couple years.

[scout4126]

I don't care if Edge is the better point or not (which I think he is). SM will never lose his starting spot. All-in-all, he has performed more poorly than EM and DD but still has a starting position. Personally, I think if given the opportunity, DN would prove himself best fitted for the starting role. His confidence isn't has high as the others but I personally believe that he is the most talented of the 3 point guards and feel that, in time, it will show.

[amckillip]

Ok, Edge had 6 assists and 1 TO playing the point last game and people are saying he's such a good point guard, he had zero point, ZERO. Sam plays off the ball, still manages to get three assists while having no inside game, or any other shooter on the team, and drops 17. Why are people seriously questioning if Sam should be playing. I swear there is such a vendetta against him by some people its insane... He was easily player of the game last game and several times when they were making a rally to cut the lead into a possesion or two he hit the needed shot. He hit several clutch shots last year proving he was a winner and it's obvious he's a leader on the team. People need to give him some more slack... TW has 6 TO's and it's JL's fault... Sam has a good game, and the other smaller guard's who don't shoot anywhere near as well, are somehow better... Fans confuse me...

[Scouter]

Ok, Edge had 6 assists and 1 TO playing the point last game and people are saying he's such a good point guard, he had zero point, ZERO. Sam plays off the ball, still manages to get three assists while having no inside game, or any other shooter on the team, and drops 17. Why are people seriously questioning if Sam should be playing. I swear there is such a vendetta against him by some people its insane... He was easily player of the game last game and several times when they were making a rally to cut the lead into a possesion or two he hit the needed shot. He hit several clutch shots last year proving he was a winner and it's obvious he's a leader on the team. People need to give him some more slack... TW has 6 TO's and it's JL's fault... Sam has a good game, and the other smaller guard's who don't shoot anywhere near as well, are somehow better... Fans confuse me...

I'm on board with you here, amckillip.

[Stryker]

Ok, Edge had 6 assists and 1 TO playing the point last game and people are saying he's such a good point guard, he had zero point, ZERO. Sam plays off the ball, still manages to get three assists while having no inside game, or any other shooter on the team, and drops 17. Why are people seriously questioning if Sam should be playing. I swear there is such a vendetta against him by some people its insane... He was easily player of the game last game and several times when they were making a rally to cut the lead into a possesion or two he hit the needed shot. He hit several clutch shots last year proving he was a winner and it's obvious he's a leader on the team. People need to give him some more slack... TW has 6 TO's and it's JL's fault... Sam has a good game, and the other smaller guard's who don't shoot anywhere near as well, are somehow better... Fans confuse me...

I'm not saying SamM won't start, just that by Sams senior year Edge will be our star PG. Sam will play mostly SG and backup edge at the point in my opinion. Just how I see it.

[scout4126]

I personally don't think Sam is as good as what some people play him up to be. Don't get me wrong, he's a solid player but has a lot more freedom and more room for error than other guards on the team. He has a high confidence, which is good, but I think we'd be even better if we got DN playing with that confidence as I feel he is the most talented of the 3 young guards. Just my personal opinion though.

[georgethedog]

Ok, Edge had 6 assists and 1 TO playing the point last game and people are saying he's such a good point guard, he had zero point, ZERO. Sam plays off the ball, still manages to get three assists while having no inside game, or any other shooter on the team, and drops 17. Why are people seriously questioning if Sam should be playing. I swear there is such a vendetta against him by some people its insane... He was easily player of the game last game and several times when they were making a rally to cut the lead into a possesion or two he hit the needed shot. He hit several clutch shots last year proving he was a winner and it's obvious he's a leader on the team. People need to give him some more slack... TW has 6 TO's and it's JL's fault... Sam has a good game, and the other smaller guard's who don't shoot anywhere near as well, are somehow better... Fans confuse me...

I just asked the question at the beginning of the thread. Simple as that. No vendetta against Sam M. However, I don't think he is really near as good as some people think he is and I see his time going down if and when our "better" players get here and start to play.

However, his defense is poor not only guarding someone shooting the 3 (too short), but people go around him easily. That is my big issue with Sam. With that said, I don't think he will grow (so if he plays the 2 guard bigger guys will continue to shoot over him), and I don't think he will get quicker which means other players will still go around him with ease. My issues lie on the defensive end of the court. On the offensive end I think his sometimes "out of control" play will go away once he gets a full experienced team around him and he doesn't feel like he needs to do it all. But, he is a defensive liability and has been exposed over and over again. Too slow to defend a quick point and too short to defend a taller 2 guard. I don't think anyone can deny these things, and if they do they are really drinking the Koolaide.

[scout4126]

I just asked the question at the beginning of the thread. Simple as that. No vendetta against Sam M. However, I don't think he is really near as good as some people think he is and I see his time going down if and when our "better" players get here and start to play.

However, his defense is poor not only guarding someone shooting the 3 (too short), but people go around him easily. That is my big issue with Sam. With that said, I don't think he will grow (so if he plays the 2 guard bigger guys will continue to shoot over him), and I don't think he will get quicker which means other players will still go around him with ease. My issues lie on the defensive end of the court. On the offensive end I think his sometimes "out of control" play will go away once he gets a full experienced team around him and he doesn't feel like he needs to do it all. But, he is a defensive liability and has been exposed over and over again. Too slow to defend a quick point and too short to defend a taller 2 guard. I don't think anyone can deny these things, and if they do they are really drinking the Koolaide.

What I like about Sam? He can shoot the 3 very well, solid ball handler
What I don't like about Sam? Defensive liability, a bit out of control, looks to score too much even when running the point guard

I think that Sam can be used as a shooter and a backup at the point but I feel he got a little too much respect after last season. Don't get me wrong, he was very good for a freshman but defenses lost him a lot because he was "the 5th starter" since Ruffin was gone. Teams didn't focus much on him at all.

Too put it the nicest, his defense is just poor. He's not quick enough on the defensive end and is sub 6-foot which doesn't help. Also, offensively when he has an athletic defender on him that speeds him up, he gets out of control instead of playing his game, something DN and DD really don't do. Also, no matter what position on the floor he is playing, his mentality is to score first, not to create for others which is what you cannot have from a point guard.

Plain and simple, my point is I do not think that Sam has earned his starting role and freedom THIS SEASON. He hasn't been very good outside one or two games and his inability to defend has cost us in some games.

My personal opinion, DD is by far our best guard, EM is second, and SM is third but if given the opportunity, I believe DN would be our second best guard. I think JL needs to pull in the leash on SM some. I believe he can be a very good asset this season but I don't think he'll help much with the way he's been playing so far this season.