But the things to remember is that Eli is not a 1. Was not in HS. A true 2. And we recruited him as such.
So when he is in and asked to run point - yes, his handle looks loose.
We are asking him to do something unnatural and often run point with walk ons and either in garbage time with bench players or under the duress of a press a la Memphis
My wish is we should feather him in - as a true freshman - where he has played his entire career and with starters.
That seems to maximize his oppty to help the team most - as an athletic game changer. He isnāt gonna run point next year - Bliss will.
So why not use him as the shooting guard that he is???
Of course - I likely am wrong - but sharing a different view.
Context of minutes. The actual answer is usage. I think its moreso your want to see something different and Gertrude is that possibility to do so, so one is inclined to find any stat and any interpretation to get that something different. Gertrude is nowhere near the ball stabilizer Rohde is. Miles even.. Where you would want to argue Gertrude over Rohde is assertiveness and driving/attacking even careless at times.
Thatās why I was questioning the fit at the beginning. All guards have to have pg skills under Tony or develop them. Thats where we are at our best.
LP Brogdon Devon. Guy Jerome Kihei. Either that or be a really really good catch and shoot 3pt threat.
Itās really hard to assess Eliās team defense when heās playing with Tristan How at the 5 and Bond at the 4 as our latest tape (and similar mishmash lineups in the blowout minutes in January).
My sense is that Tony values being in the right place more so than result at times. Dante gets beat but is usually in the right place. Eli being in the wrong place (even though more often than not can recover) can kill the āconnected-nessā which is Tonyās new fave phrase.
From the two min we saw with Eli and the starters, I thought his passing was a bit lazy in that even though they had zip, just were in spots that made me feel a little nervous myself. He did seem to play more conservatively but message to him is probably āTime and a place to play with instincts but also need to remain hyper focused and deliberate when youāre not alpha dog on the court/in the playā
I donāt want to argue this. What Iām trying to argue against is that Rohde is a 30mpg guy and Elijah is effectively out of the rotation. Or, more specifically that there are logical (non-emotional) reasons for that allocation.
I actually do agree with this sentiment a lot and on my list of existential questions to ask Tony the next time I randomly run into him on emmett street is āIs a player who is out of position but can recover due to their athleticism worse off than someone who is always at the right spot but still getting scored on?ā (this was something that popped in my mind during the BVP Kadin discussions. Man I was a hardcore BVP hater even when he won us the Michigan gameā¦ still deep down that resentment lingers).
Donāt disagree. Eli needs to develop that over the next 2 years. But as for how he can best help the team in games this year as we make a run - it is as a 2.
My problem with that one was the general tentativeness to help break the pressure. But he was also coming off the ankle (I think?) issue. Said he hadnāt practice leading up to Northeastern and then the semi quick turnaround to Memphis.
I didnāt remember anyone playing well - thank for the stats reminderā¦ thatās all I was getting at. Anyone trying to claim anything about the guards and bringing up Memphis game is ā¦.
Again, Iām in the play Eli some minutes camp. But he doesnāt solve any problems for us. I want to see him because I am selfish. I can think of 2-3 players, other than rohde, where Iād like to see Eli get some minutes preference, but Iām not the coach and I do understand why the coach isnāt going his way.
Bottom line, heās just the odd man out for minutes at the 2-3 right now.
But there is a clear trade off. As Rohde becomes more comfortable you get the assisting/playmaking and 3pt shot at a higher level.
What this team needs is Rohde to get his 3pt shot right to be the best version of this team. Taine/Gertrude donāt let Reece play off ball or have close to the pg skills.
Im not saying you cant be frustrated at Rohde. It absolutely is frustrating at times. But We need both a 2nd playmaker/vision facilitator and a 2nd 3pt shooter. Rohde is your best shot at both in one player this season. Especially since we are playing Groves less. (and Rohde just needs to get back to his 32-33% baseline from 3 like @HoozGotNext alluded to).
Again not really a fan of stats cause there are a million different metrics. Cue @AdventiveQuasar and the metrics he showed of Rohde only lineups > Reece + Rohde line ups >>>>>>>>>>>>> all other lineups.
Show me the metric that favors the players who can do this. (time stamped).
Eli has a high ceiling and he needs to play(at the right time)some minutes to get comfortable. He looks like he is nervous at times. Anyway I would like for him to play when he can to work on those problem areas and for the sake of the future. Heās a great individual defensive player but hasnāt learned the pack line yet either. He has a big future but itās going to take some time for it to show I expect a much better player next year
We know TB thinks about fit, so what about this frame: if your goal was to maximize Reece on offense, who are the two perimeter players you want to play most with him? Assume a Dunn-Minor front court.
