Keys for the season

I don't really get all the disrespect for Abrams. I had a problem with Abrams starting last year - mainly because I felt that Mason should have been playing the 2 - and because we had an All-American point guard. This year, he is DEFINITELY one of our best 5 players. The litmus test should be to ask a rival about him. I was talking basketball with an aggy at lunch and he asked if Abrams was still around. I said yes and he dropped an expletive. That's all you need to know.

Between Abrams and Mason, our guard play will be very solid. Neither necessarily have to be a "prototype" point guard. They need to be able to do the following (in order):
1. Play defense
2. Handle the ball - especially vs. a press
3. Run the offense (i.e. "lead").
4. Score

Abrams has REALLY improved his defense over the last few years. I remember the job he did on Brandon Rush in Austin last year. Fantastic work on a MUCH bigger player. Abrams has very good ball handling skill. He also greatly improved his shot selection last year (especially vs. his soph year).

I think you'll see Mason and Abrams both playing an interchangeable 1-2. Sometimes Mason will bring it up while Abrams is already down running around multiple screens. Other times Abrams will bring it up. Heck, if Kenton Paulino can develop into a decent point guard - why can't Abrams? I predict the minutes to be like this:
Mason: 26
Abrams: 25
Balbay: 21
Ward: 9
Smith: 4

That's 86 minutes, so it is counting maybe 6 minutes per game of Mason at the 3.
 
Late to thread but my two cents:

PG Balbay/ Ward
SG Abrams/ Mason
SF James
PF Johson/ Wangmene
C Atchley/ Chapman/ Dexter/ Hill

I actually see our front court being our big time strength here. We have great depth and expereince as well. We can go with a big lineup (Abrams, Mason, James, Chapman, Dexter) or small/ quick lineup (Balbay, Abrams, Mason, James, Wangmene). I think we can cater to other teams and match up much better this year with tall and fast teams.
 
IMo and from what I have heard through some reliable channels within the horn brass by the time the conference schedule rolls around Barnes will go with the 3 guard lineup. Abams,Mason and Ward. Varez Ward has absoulutley kicked everyone's butt this fall and has made an unbelievable impression on Rick Barnes. Balbay vs Ward is a no contest. Mark it down Balbay will never play in front of Ward.
 
^^^^^ Agree 100%.

I also get scared when Mason and Abrams were controlling the ball and not DJ. Although we cannot say yet whether or not they got better in the offseason (they may have).

I dont like the three guard lineup becasue that doesnt match up well with the "elite" teams. We can get away with it in the lower part of the conference, but against Wisconsin, MSU, UCLA, aggy, KU, BU, etc. we need the depth of our front court to be our bread and butter.

We can not have Gary, Alexis, Clint, Matt Hill (he is playing this season right?) sitting on the bench.
 
Also, I think we all need to set expectations for Ward/ Balbay. We are very used to having a top notch PG at the helm who can play 38 minutes a game. We need to realize that (most likely) neither one of these guys are going to be anywhere near DJ this year. We cannot go in thinking that we still have DJ out their controlling the court. Ward/ Balbay will make decisions DJ wouldnt have and vice-versa.
 
LazyEngineer,

I happened to watch that matchup closely. Rush would post up Abrams but could not score on Abrams because Damion or Connor came from the weakside to block the shot. It was a wonderful scheme by Barnes but without (extraordinary) weakside support, Rush torches Abrams.

Any time an offense is able to force a D to double team, that generates easy opportunities to score.
 
LostInOhio:

Ward is a shooting guard, not a point guard. Right?

Balbay is a point guard, a pass first guy who looks to set up his teammates.

Augustin was an amazing player but he was more of a shooting guard who happened to be playing point guard. Augustin's first instinct was to score, not to pass.

I will gladly concede that the one game where he was a true pass first point guard (at the end of his slump in mid season), he was a fine passer.
 
Last season, I think Augustin was a pg who lost confidence in his teammates at midseason. Barnes encouraged him to become a scoring pg, because Mason, Atchley and Johnson were having trouble scoring. Mason couln't shoot, Atchley wouldn't shoot and Johnson didn't fit with the chemistry.

Much to the team's credit, they overcame these obstacles and played competitively to the EE. However, Augustin was never a combo guard...he was a pure point all the way.
 
LostInOhio:

Verez Ward is listed by Rivals.com and Scout.com as a shooting guard/small forward. He is 6-3, 195 (according to Scout). Barnes has said that Ward is the strongest freshman he has ever had. I don't normally think of strength as a key requirement to be a point guard.

Have you read anything that said that Barnes is switching Ward to point guard?
 
Elface:

That is the term I was looking for: "combo guard". Augustin had the dribbling and passing ability to be a point guard and the shooting/scoring ability to be a shooting guard. He was not big enough to be a true shooting guard (in the NBA, anyway) and he wasn't really inclined to be a pass first guy (like a true point guard).

So Augustin was a dual purpose guard, part point guard and part shooting guard.

Anyway, I guess we can agree to disagree on this one.

Do you think Iverson is a pure point guard?
 
Ward is not a point guard. Balbay is the only true point we have on this team, but unless they let us play like seven guys at a time, it's going to be tough to even get him on the court.
 
Has anyone seen Ward Play?
I followed Patterson School for several years, a highly regarded prep school.

Ward played a little more then a year, a post grad. player.
Bulked up from 165-170 to his present 195lbs

2007 Ward ran the PG position for Patterson that was a team loaded with D-1 players, overlooked due to all the talent around him.
Ward handled the PG slot about 90 % of the time, great handle , made a load of assists, very quick and great pushing the ball. Very good mid-range game, I understand that he has developed his 3 shot this past summer, lots of hop rebounds like a SF, he played that spot as well as SG about 10% of the time when Patterson went small and quick. His skill set is very good for a PG and his BB IQ is advanced. Is his feel for the game greater then Balbay, I do not think so as Balbay is excellent in controling the tempo of the game.

Ward does not have the experience that Balbay, Mason, Abrams has but makes up for it with his athletic ability.
Ward can play the PG very well, SG ,shot not developed enough, SF, good rebounder for his size if he has improved his shot from the ARC he can play and he can slash to the hoop , His ability IMO is suited for a good sized PG and then SG and SF if needed in that order.

The kid is very good as we will see but it is a little much to say that he will a better PG then Balbay. He might surprise everyone and jump past Balbay but maybe not.
Barnes goes with proven results like Abrams/Mason that helped get us to what 30-7 and the EE. He will play and contribute how much we will have to wait on game results.
 
Varez Ward story.....Ward grew up with current frosh PG Courtney Fortson (Arkansas) who is an absolute Bit!!. Fortson is an amazing explosive PG (5'10 -180lb). Again IMO will be SEC freshmen of the year. Growing up Fortson always got the hype....flashy ,showstopper....an unbelievable force. There was Ward a guy that is so fundamentally sound in every aspect of the game...not flashy but a tad bite more explosive but never was hyped like Fortson. Fortson choose Arkansas , while Ward's AAU coaches and mentor's tried to persuade Ark to take him along with Fortson in the early recruitment.....Pelphrey wouldn't pull the trigger. Mick Cronin (cincy) snagged him to a comittment....but right before signing day something made Ward open his recruitment until spring.

Wards coaches decided to take him to a spring AAU event in Houston and it just happened Ward's first opponent was the Dallas Mustangs and there hyped guard Nolan Dennis. Ward's coaches had a previous relationship with the Texas staff and they called and asked them to come watch the kid play against Dennis. One of the coaches told Springer and Terry if there is ever a guard that Rick Barnes would love it's Varez Ward. They came to the game......Ward 28pts,9rbs,6assist's, drew 3 charges.....1 big one with 5 seconds to play in his 2 pt victory. He completely locked Nolan Dennis down.....5pts and nothing else....the kid wanted to run and hide.....

Again, this is from a source within.....just last week during the scrimmage against Davidson.....in the afternoon scrimmage Barnes starts Ward and puts the PIt Bull on Curry.....Ward,14pts,4rbs,6assist's while running the PG. Curry 5pts against Ward......fact.

Yes, he has to prove it to Horn fans......but I always heard his coaches telling people Ward could play at any school in the country......Once he hits the floor.....U cant take him out....frosh or no frosh....IMO Ward will be the key to the season for the Horns.....
 
TripsRight has a nice write up on the horns at:The Link

In the comments, Vasherized reports on a practise that he attended recently.

Vasherized said this about Ward:

"Varez Ward Ward is a fast twitch junkyard baller. He can jump out of the gym and will get all up in your **** on defense. Needs some improvement on his jump shot mechanics but looks to have a smooth free throw stroke - that alone might get him some PT given this team’s paltry average...Doesn’t look like Ward will see much time at PG, strictly playing at the 2 and still getting his feet wet. I see 6-8 minutes per game to spell Mason and harrass the opponents stud SG. Coaches love the kid. You will too."
 
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