Harrison Smith

[PacSER]

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[Maduka]

I think he might get in there regardless. I think Ricks got to trust his bench more. When Harrison got into the game, it looked as if he were playing the 1. He didn't look bad. Do you think he looked worse then J.D. Lewis? I don't think so, J.D. was the first guard off the bench last year, why can't Harrison be the first guard off the bench next year? With some hard work over the summer ,why wouldn't he play over freshmen?

 

[skymonkeyhorn]

If DJ stays we play 3 guards and Smith is the sixth guard, but we also go big and then he becomes the fourth guard in the rotation.

DJ jumps to the League and we go big
Connor, Damion, Gary Johnson, Mason and Abrams.

First guard off the pines will be Balbay (he may even start) then Brown for offense and defense, then Smith.

If Balbay is as good as he has looked he may force Barnes back to a 3 guard offense , but that is not a Final four team IMO.

Balbay is not your new freshmen PG, he has played against world class players around the world and has done very well. Needs to work on his shot beyond the ARC but he drives and passes the ball very well, a pure PG at this point in time.
The minutes will be less for all the guards even if DJ stays, Abrams may play 25 minutes depending on how our low post players improve over the summer.

 

[whereiend]

did Illinois go 37-2 with a three guard lineup a few years ago or is that just my imagination?

 

[skymonkeyhorn]

Sure did, check how big they are. Big guards will gave us fits over the season, trying to cover Memphis guards with guards under 6' tall is a big handicap.
Do not get me wrong DJ, AJ, Justin are very good against the rest of the big 12 but when you get to the sweet 16 and beyond it get a lot harder for guards under 6' going against teams starting 6'3" amd bigger,stronger players that may just be as quick and as fast at DJ and AJ.......

Rebounding and defense still wins most games if all things are equal. How many other D-1 teams start 2 guys under 6' and goes on to win as many games as we did??
Being tall helps in Baskeball, especially in rebounding and man to man defense........IMO

 

[bassale47]

My problem with the "he hasn't done enough to earn more PT" theory is that Harrison has now been on the team for 2 years and, according to TexasSports.com, has only played in 17 games. If he had a bad attitude or a lack of effort in practice or whatever you are cryptically implying is the case, I would imagine the coaches AND his teammates would have discussed this with him in his first year. If it continued into his second year, I would imagine that Barnes himself would have sat the kid down and said "I need another guard. Either get your act together, or I'm giving your scholarship to someone else." Why would Barnes keep someone on his team who wasn't getting the job done FOR TWO YEARS? And why would any good player willingly spend two years on the bench, knowing that an attitude adjustment is all that is necessary to earn some more playing time? This is not just some cool extracurricular activity. This is a chance to prove you might be good enough to get a job playing basketball.

Sorry, but I don't buy it. The guy is probably simply not as good as we thought. Good enough to sit on the bench for his first two years (and probably much of his third), but not good enough to get regular playing time among this group.

 

[SL Xpress]

Bingo, bassale47.

This isn't similar to Craig Winder, or Chapman/Wangmene. Harrison Smith just flat out isn't good enough, and the likelihood of him suddenly becoming good enough as a junior to earn regular playing time isn't very good.

 

[Statalyzer]

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