Tweets from Andy Katz re: last Saturday's scrimmag

[elface]

One thing to bear in mind about last year was that the offense was designed to give Abrams shots. Even though Abrams didn't fulfill the DJ role of dominating the ball, the offense centered around getting the ball to AJ to take a shot. When he was defended well we lost, when he was defended poorly we won. Pittman did not become a force until the last part of the season.

Abrams is gone, so this offense will be run thru Pittman now. And I've heard James has improved. This means that Mason and Ward roles will be different.

Ward was the best post passer last year. Mason was terrific as a glue guy off the wing as a sophomore. He offensive rebounded like a demon. Last year playing point guard, he had to worry about getting back. He couldn't attack the boards. From what I've heard he is playing the wing position again.

Thankfully In about 10 days we can make our own conclusions on the improvement of the players and the team.

 

[Bob in Houston]

Thankfully, indeed....

 

[Sgt. Longhorn]

Amen!

 

[GoHornsGo90]

In reply to:

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[Bob in Houston]

I'm not gonna pay much attention to anything that happens before February or so. They have a lot of things to work out and the luxury to know that if they do, they have a title contender. Why worry?

 

[3ball]

It's not that I really care who starts, it's that I really don't want to see Mason play that much with other non-shooters. I'm sure that I didn't make that very clear, but that is my real issue.

When Mason, Ward, and Balbay play I don't want it to be at the same time. There is no reason for that to happen when we have this much talent.

As for not seeing the guys play, how do you know what I've seen? I watched them play a few times this summer and it's very clear who the better players are. This doesn't make me an expert on the team, but Hamilton obviously has NBA potential and Ward and Mason are just solid college players.

Again, it's not about who starts it's about who plays together. When Mason plays I hope J'Covan or Jai are playing PG. If Ward or Balbay play PG I hope Hamilton or Williams will be in at the 3.

As stated in a previous post, I know Barnes will make the right decisions on his rotation. I know he knows a hell of a lot more about basketball than I do. But, as a fan I will be disappointed if Ward and Mason are on the floor at the same time. Another way to look at it is this. Why would I want someone that is compared to Paul Peirce, to come off the bench for someone that is a poor man's Royal Ivey.

BTW, the +/- for offensive/defensive output is not a one on one concept. It's very easy to determine who is responsible for the defensive breakdown when the other team scores and count those points to a certain player. It could be a one on one situation, but it could also be a poor defensive rotation, a missed block out, not stoping the ball, etc. Every bucket is someone's fault, just like every point scored by your offense is given to a certain player.