Young and Johnson:
Well, it's perfectly clear that the loss of these two players is the total difference in the quality of last years team as opposed to this year. Pike saying his best team ever is/was total hyperbole. And he knew it all along. But he is a cheerleader and backs up his players so that was his stance to the basketball world. Well we have been exposed and that narrative will now fade away and we won't hear it again from him for the rest of the year.
Put those two players in the lineup tonight and multiple things happen. One: You actually get to play Jaden Jones a bit more regardless of his horrible defense. With Young and Johnson, you have 2 of the better players defensively at their positions in the nation so a guy like Jones can be hidden a bit more (and I emphasize a bit more) on defense and allowed to develop his scoring chops. Additionally, the rest of our defense is better because the full defensive responsibility is spread out to multiple solid defenders.
Two: Young's defense has an affect on some of those 3's by Depaul. You have an electric defender that can close ground as fast as anyone i've ever seen. That kind of closing ability would of definitely taken Depaul out of the free flying confident 3's they were chucking up.
Three: Myles Johnson's ability to change shots in the paint and most importantly grab rebounds on both ends of the floor would of neutralized their big men and taken away a handful of their easy putbacks and offensive rebounds that led to many of our fouls.
Four: Young's energy was contagious. When he would make a difficult steal and bucket you could see the impact it had on the emotional energy of the team. That is missing big time this year.
Five: Speed.................And I don't only mean the obvious here. Young's speed is otherworldly but i'm talking about the fast breaking speed of the overall team. Close your eyes and envision Johnson snatching a rebound last year with his long arms and utilizing his excellent passing ability to chuck it halfway down court like a quarterback tossing a perfect 40 yard pass in stride. This happened often and sped up the entire team and led to many fast break baskets even without Young on the receiving end.
I could add multiple other points and someone like Bac would do much better at this then me, but from my vantage point, this is the biggest difference in the NCAA team of the past 2 years and what we will likely see this year. A team that will struggle to get to 500 or slightly above and end up hoping to be in the NIT. GO RU!
Well, it's perfectly clear that the loss of these two players is the total difference in the quality of last years team as opposed to this year. Pike saying his best team ever is/was total hyperbole. And he knew it all along. But he is a cheerleader and backs up his players so that was his stance to the basketball world. Well we have been exposed and that narrative will now fade away and we won't hear it again from him for the rest of the year.
Put those two players in the lineup tonight and multiple things happen. One: You actually get to play Jaden Jones a bit more regardless of his horrible defense. With Young and Johnson, you have 2 of the better players defensively at their positions in the nation so a guy like Jones can be hidden a bit more (and I emphasize a bit more) on defense and allowed to develop his scoring chops. Additionally, the rest of our defense is better because the full defensive responsibility is spread out to multiple solid defenders.
Two: Young's defense has an affect on some of those 3's by Depaul. You have an electric defender that can close ground as fast as anyone i've ever seen. That kind of closing ability would of definitely taken Depaul out of the free flying confident 3's they were chucking up.
Three: Myles Johnson's ability to change shots in the paint and most importantly grab rebounds on both ends of the floor would of neutralized their big men and taken away a handful of their easy putbacks and offensive rebounds that led to many of our fouls.
Four: Young's energy was contagious. When he would make a difficult steal and bucket you could see the impact it had on the emotional energy of the team. That is missing big time this year.
Five: Speed.................And I don't only mean the obvious here. Young's speed is otherworldly but i'm talking about the fast breaking speed of the overall team. Close your eyes and envision Johnson snatching a rebound last year with his long arms and utilizing his excellent passing ability to chuck it halfway down court like a quarterback tossing a perfect 40 yard pass in stride. This happened often and sped up the entire team and led to many fast break baskets even without Young on the receiving end.
I could add multiple other points and someone like Bac would do much better at this then me, but from my vantage point, this is the biggest difference in the NCAA team of the past 2 years and what we will likely see this year. A team that will struggle to get to 500 or slightly above and end up hoping to be in the NIT. GO RU!
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