Final: Bradley 55 Portland 57

[Da Coach]

Because our previous staff did not bring in a true point guard we have suffered at this position...

Sorry, but I can't agree here. The previous staff can't be blamed now that we are 2 years into the new regime. We have had 2 years to address this situation, and we have chosen to go with Walt as our PG. Besides, the previous coach left with an All-MVC point guard on the roster, another guard (DSE) who he felt was an adequate backup PG, and 2 more point guards recruited (Donivine Stewart and Remy Abell).

[lefty]

Sorry, but I can't agree here. The previous staff can't be blamed now that we are 2 years into the new regime. We have had 2 years to address this situation, and we have chosen to go with Walt as our PG. Besides, the previous coach left with an All-MVC point guard on the roster, another guard (DSE) who he felt was an adequate backup PG, and 2 more point guards recruited (Donivine Stewart and Remy Abell).

I'm not blaming the previous staff......maybe Geno thought Bell would be able to help more and Walt do better with the experience and neither happened.
We know we have a PG for next year but I wouldn't have problem getting another one in next year just in case of injury

[Braves4Life]

I'm not blaming the previous staff......maybe Geno thought Bell would be able to help more and Walt do better with the experience and neither happened.
We know we have a PG for next year but I wouldn't have problem getting another one in next year just in case of injury

Great point lefty! As good as we think Fields can be he has proven to be injury prone thus far. We say what happened a few years ago when Maniscalco was our only true PG and was lost for the season. However, I haven't yet given up on Bell as having the potential to develop into an adequate backup PG.

[SFP]

OK so the majority here agrees we need a PG. Now how about a shooter?

This is GF's team and I'm not going to go south on him because I've seen market improvement in this year over last year. I do expect to see an even better product next year and he will need to fill in a few holes in order for that to happen. I'm still on the 4 year plan. Nothing has changed. The only curious thing for me though is why WL is still playing PG? I've always felt that DSE would be a better PG.

[Bravesfan]

but some of the turnovers are bad regardless of what position he plays as are many of the shots selected & forced, & bad passes.....
Even if he were playing the 2-guard spot - he needs to clean up the TO's and bad shots

That's a great point. He may be playing out of position, but that does not give him the excuse to fire wild shots all the time. And I'm not saying this to bash the guy (especially today!). He's got so much potential to carry this team even if he is playing out of his natural position. There's no way he should be rushing shots, and he has to get out of his shell when he has a bad game. If he could do that, he will win us a lot of games this year.

[SFP]

That's a great point. He may be playing out of position, but that does not give him the excuse to fire wild shots all the time. And I'm not saying this to bash the guy (especially today!). He's got so much potential to carry this team even if he is playing out of his natural position. There's no way he should be rushing shots, and he has to get out of his shell when he has a bad game. If he could do that, he will win us a lot of games this year.

OK I also do not want to bash the guy and not one poster here knows what GF is telling the guy. I believe between him and DSE we have the two best on ball defenders in The Valley. Its fun to watch them. I just do not know what he's thinking out there. Besides that terrible TO he had late in the game he also committed a unnecessary foul late in the game which put their best FT shooter on the line. If this continues I'm going to start questioning GF. We've had a pretty good indication what WL can and can't do. I'm not going to repeat the stats about him but in short this team cannot win consistently with WL as a PG. To be a good team in the NCAA you need to protect the ball, rebound, defend and shoot the 3. We are doing 2 out of 3 well and WL has a lot to do with the other 2 where we are performing very poorly. Our 3 point shooting is probably not going to change but we can do something about our TOs. In retrospect I'm not blaming him and if not changed I know who to point the finger at.

[real fan]

Sorry, but I can't agree here. The previous staff can't be blamed now that we are 2 years into the new regime. We have had 2 years to address this situation, and we have chosen to go with Walt as our PG. Besides, the previous coach left with an All-MVC point guard on the roster, another guard (DSE) who he felt was an adequate backup PG, and 2 more point guards recruited (Donivine Stewart and Remy Abell).

Geno had little to choose from as far as recruiting his first season and Stewart was a Les recruit, Abell chose to go to Indiana after Les was fired and that is not Geno"s fault, he has Fields for next season and Bell is a freshman so yes Les had no point guards in his system when he was fired because McCain was suppose to be the one and things went bad for him. I guess if Geno could have found a Jr.College point guard that was really good he would have taken him yet because Fields was already coming into the program he did not want to waste a scholarship for one season . I really like the recruits this staff has signed in Fields,Grier,Zecevic and Tucker as to me these are the players that Geno really wanted in rebuilding the program, I look for some bigs to sign in the spring.

[real fan]

OK so the majority here agrees we need a PG. Now how about a shooter?

This is GF's team and I'm not going to go south on him because I've seen market improvement in this year over last year. I do expect to see an even better product next year and he will need to fill in a few holes in order for that to happen. I'm still on the 4 year plan. Nothing has changed. The only curious thing for me though is why WL is still playing PG? I've always felt that DSE would be a better PG.

Geno has already brought in a true point guard for next season as has 3 good shooters with size , we need 2 more big men and we are on our way to winning many games.
I thought mostly everyone just wanted to see improvement this season which is what is happening so I don"t get what all the concern is about over why Walt Lemon jr. is playing point guard, we have no one better and Walt has helped us more then he has hurt us as we are 8-4, no doubt he makes bad decisions and too many turnovers but he gives us a better chance to win.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

I might agree with you except that now we've had more than a year and a half of Walt running the point in every practice and every game - and to suddenly switch in the last half of DSE's senior season might be risky....
but DSE's stats place him in the league's top 10 in both assists and A/T ratio

BTW - This Saturday we'll see a Drake point guard, newcomer Richard Carter, who is having a good year - averaging over 10 ppg, and among the leaders in the MVC in both assists and A/Turnovers...
And he was essentially there for the picking (only 2 offers - Drake and Pine Bluff!) - he was at Cloud County CC and averaged 19 ppg/5.3 apg his sophomore season- he's arguably already demonstrating he's one of the best PG's in the Valley and he had almost no other offers...so how does Drake figure this out & other teams that need a PG miss on him?

It's fair to question why Geno chose a D-I transfer in Fields instead of a JUCO PG who could have played right away.

[SFP]

Geno has already brought in a true point guard for next season as has 3 good shooters with size , we need 2 more big men and we are on our way to winning many games.
I thought mostly everyone just wanted to see improvement this season which is what is happening so I don"t get what all the concern is about over why Walt Lemon jr. is playing point guard, we have no one better and Walt has helped us more then he has hurt us as we are 8-4, no doubt he makes bad decisions and too many turnovers but he gives us a better chance to win.

I do want to see improvement and I also want to see this team and every BU team play to its maximum potential.

Defensively WL has been a plus for this team but offensively I'm not quite so sure. So I doubt that he gives us the best chance to win while paying PG. My opinion which really does not matter to anyone out side of my living room. Tell me though how he helped us, while playing PG on the offensive side the last two games, to win? I can tell you where he hurt us.

[real fan]

I do want to see improvement and I also want to see this team and every BU team play to its maximum potential.

Defensively WL has been a plus for this team but offensively I'm not quite so sure. So I doubt that he gives us the best chance to win while paying PG. My opinion which really does not matter to anyone out side of my living room. Tell me though how he helped us, while playing PG on the offensive side the last two games, to win? I can tell you where he hurt us.

You have to look at the 8 wins we have also and not just look at the last 2 games , no doubt he hurt us in Vegas with his poor play but like I said before we have no one right now that would be a better option.

[JMM28]

I do want to see improvement and I also want to see this team and every BU team play to its maximum potential.

Defensively WL has been a plus for this team but offensively I'm not quite so sure. So I doubt that he gives us the best chance to win while paying PG. My opinion which really does not matter to anyone out side of my living room. Tell me though how he helped us, while playing PG on the offensive side the last two games, to win? I can tell you where he hurt us.

If you neuter Walt, don't you then lose those 2 or 3 plays per game that no one else can make? Do you make him a completely ineffective player on both ends of the court?

I think next year Walt has a chance to make a leap into the upper echelon of MVC players. With Fields coming off transfershirting and Bell as a more veteran PG, Walt will have a chance to make some plays off the ball to get open hopefully that he isn't able to make now.

[lefty]

I do want to see improvement and I also want to see this team and every BU team play to its maximum potential.

Defensively WL has been a plus for this team but offensively I'm not quite so sure. So I doubt that he gives us the best chance to win while paying PG. My opinion which really does not matter to anyone out side of my living room. Tell me though how he helped us, while playing PG on the offensive side the last two games, to win? I can tell you where he hurt us.

I've been hard on Walt as well but his defense is a huge plus....the VT game he cost us the win IMO but then in the Portland game he gets 6 steals...

if the guy gives up points on defense but takes care of the ball on offense but we still shoot an average of 33% on offense....are better off? I don't know. Until we shoot better there are always going to be problems...

Heck we missed 3 layups to start the game against Portland.....I would have to look to see if any were passes from Walt but it's hard to judge a guy on assists when other guys don't make shots....

WL's decision making should be better with his experience though.

[lefty]

If you neuter Walt, don't you then lose those 2 or 3 plays per game that no one else can make? Do you make him a completely ineffective player on both ends of the court?

I think next year Walt has a chance to make a leap into the upper echelon of MVC players. With Fields coming off transfershirting and Bell as a more veteran PG, Walt will have a chance to make some plays off the ball to get open hopefully that he isn't able to make now.

I understand what you are saying here but the only off the ball plays I see Walt making is on the end of a fastbreak...I just don't see it in an offensive set.......

He is at his best with the ball attacking the basket when he has space IMO and the only way to make that happen is having at least a couple of shooters on the floor

[wily coyote]

I understand what you are saying here but the only off the ball plays I see Walt making is on the end of a fastbreak...I just don't see it in an offensive set.......

He is at his best with the ball attacking the basket when he has space IMO and the only way to make that happen is having at least a couple of shooters on the floor

Lefty ,if your saying you don't see Walt helping much next year unless it's going to the basket,I agree with you 100%. I can't wait for Fields to run the point but I don't see Walt being that much help on the offensive end at the 2 because of his range. Not much help outside of getting to the basket by beating his man. In order for Walt to be a factor at the 2 spot he needs to improve his shooting greatly.