That’s why I’m interested in who the staff is recruiting in 2021 and 22. If they can surround players like Morsell and Beekman with shooters, it will be good for their long term development.
Since the national championship team, I don’t think the past two rosters/rotations have really had players that complemented one another.
I get that you have to earn minutes, but Casey does most things (on ball defense, drives to basket, mid range jumper, rebounding) better than the other guard options. He does two things less well: 3 pt shooting and decision-making. Both would improve with a defined role with steady minutes; i.e., a longer leash. I think this team only reaches its potential if Casey is playing 25 productive minutes per game in March.
Here’s where I slightly disagree. To my eye, Woldo is a much better passer than Casey and makes the offense run more efficiently because he gets the ball to Huff and Hauser in dangerous positions and can actually knock down a contested three himself to open things up. He’s not as good of a defender, but he’s better than he has was last year. And yes, he may have a few more turnovers, but that’s because he’s actually trying to get the ball to our bigs. Casey seems so scared of making a mistake that he won’t even try passes that have any chance of being picked off and will only pass it laterally around the perimeter. You can say that’s a product of his leash or whatever, but at the end of the day, he’s got to make plays to get the playing time.
But is his role allowing him to make plays? You can recruit athletes, but if they are basically told by the coaching staff, “your role is to defend and defer to others on offense unless you can drive”, then I don’t know how he can function. He, above all other players, seems to be thinking more than playing.
At the end of the day, I think the roster has talent, but it’s talent that cannot all play together. I think it’s worth watching what type of player the staff targets in 2021 and 22, but you can tell by the nature of the rotation tinkering that they are struggling mightily with roles and rotation.
I’d like to see Clark/Woldo/Morsell/Hauser/Huff get some run.
Hauser is too good offensively to not have on the floor, so surround him with good defenders. Maybe flatten the hedges or something, anything. Clark takes the head of the snake, Casey gets the biggest wing threat, hide Hauser wherever you can. Jay stays closer to home.
Clark/Woldo as ballhandlers, Huff/Hauser/Woldo as shooters, Clark/Morsell/Huff to attack the paint.
Distinct lack of two-way players on this roster, so it’s all about finding the right puzzle pieces right now.
Maybe it’s even a year to experiment on defense. I worry the offense is going to continue to suffer because we’re trying to fit square pegs into round holes on defense, and it warps the lineups. Sacrilege!
No idea if that’s what they’re saying, but based on last year, it damn well should be. 17% on 85 3pt attempts. Problem is, he doesn’t finish all that well either. For all the talk of strength and athleticism, it doesn’t show when he drives. If he does take it to the rim the results aren’t spectacular and thats when he’s not shooting a turn around fade away from 10 feet or less, which he does. A lot. And he misses those too. A lot.
So he’s been given plenty of opportunity to shoot the 3 and he was historically bad. He’s been given plenty of opportunity to drive and he doesn’t score often or refuses to and instead opts for the hardest shot possible, which, he often misses.
At what point does it cease to be about opportunity, leashes, supportive teammates that allow him to succeed and become what it is…that he just doesn’t get it done.
Watching Justin Moore ball out for Nova makes the Morsell struggles even more perplexing and frustrating.
I think we are saying the same thing, but in different terms. By no means do I want to see him turn into a shooter, but when the Clark is shooting 36% from the field, I would think there are guards that can do better. Because of his ability to defend, I was hoping to see Morsell come in offensively and drive downhill and finish or find shooters. On offense, this year, he looks like someone that’s thinking instead of playing, and that hasn’t happened. That’s on him to improve, but I’d like to see the coaching staff put him on the court with opportunities to do well. Surrounding a non shooter with non-shooters will not bode well.
I want every recruit that comes here to succeed, but
that’s not reality. There will be hits and misses. Some will be misses on the evaluation side in terms of skill and fit, some will be that guy’s don’t develop. There’s a long way to go for him, but I was hopeful he’d have more momentum when surrounded with better shooters than he had around him last season.
I’m hopeful that the two recruits offered yesterday are guys that, if the commit, can find success on both ends of the floor. Thus far, there are only a couple of guys on the roster that seem to be finding success on both ends.
All recruits are not equal. Morsell was TB’s top target. There’s lots of program reasons you’d want that recruit to flourish, more so than the Woldentensaes of the world. A top target flameout has repercussions down the line.
This is definitely true. If Morsell does not pan out, it will be used against us a lot in recruiting in the WCAC, where we’ve already had mixed results over the years. And more generally, folks will point to the fact that this was a kid who some scouts had on NBA draft lists coming out of high school (albeit, not super high on those lists if I remember correctly) when we’re recruiting any highly ranked prospects.
That said, if he can’t put it together, he can’t put it together. Many many recruits on all teams don’t pan out, and that’s just the way it goes. I’m pulling hard for him because he seems like a really genuinely good kid and I want so badly for him to succeed. But something isn’t right. I don’t know if it’s on the coaches, on him, on fit, on system, or what. Hopefully we’re able to figure it out this year.
The worrisome issue I see with guard recruiting going in 2022 is the last 4, Reece Carson Jabri Taine, are all heavy on the skill side of the ledger and average athletically. Hypothetically they could make it 5 straight with McKneely or Taylor. We need to get a dude in there somewhere soon. I think that’s what they’ll look for now with Murphy’s spot opening up. Numbers won’t make it easy though.
It’s all the result of getting really good players who weren’t exactly the type they originally set out for, Keon Johnson became Jabri and Keels became Taine. That’s what you have to do in recruiting, get flexible later in the process. But at some point they have to adjust back on course.
This is where the transfer market might help, especially the next two years, while some of those guys mentioned continue their development curve. You are right though, we need that athletic guy that can guard, switch, stop 1-3
Yeah, Mike Curtis is amazing, but he isn’t a miracle worker. He’s not going to transform Jabri into Justin Anderson or Reece into Malcolm Brogdon. We are going to need some athleticism if we aren’t going to end up ‘playing soft’ in the next few years.
Zeb Jackson if he becomes available!
Reece will be a leader as he matures. Did you see how much confidence he was displaying while conversing one on one with CTB thru-out the game with Kent State?
You really really really want Zeb Jackson.
Point guard is the least likely position for us to take a point guard me thinks. Tony is very keen about his floor generals and wants them from the get go. We did try to get TJ McConnell from Duquense a few years back and we got nigel johnson as a secondary ball handler. Also there is no indication Zeb Jackson is going to transfer nor Tony would be interested. We seemed to be heavily involved until we werent. We’ll probably take a pg in 2022.
I have little doubt Reece will be an excellent leader and amazing player. I love his game. I just don’t think he’ll ever physically look like Malcolm Brogdon with his frame. I’m saying nothing about whether he could be an equal player - just talking about size and athleticism.
Yes, he’s grown to supposedly 6-5 and very quick and athletic. CTB zeroed in on him early and he spoke highly of Tony and UVA until he committed to Michigan under Beilein. He also visited UVA twice unofficially, on his own dime before committing. Very similar to other transfers that we have gotten.
He can play the wing and Tony has proven he prefers ball handlers and he can play off the ball.
I will be shocked if he doesn’t considering who’s currently there, who’s coming in, and he wasn’t one of Howard’s recruits.