Armani Moore

[supersmo18]

Officially signs NLOI with UT. GBO! Hopefully this will give us some more [natural] depth at guard.

SIAP.

University of Tennessee Athletics: Men's Basketball

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Also, I know it's gruff but 2 articles that are actually more of an interview with Moore and his coach, good read. Some good insight on Moore:

Armani Moore makes it official, signs with Vols » govolsxtra.com Mobile

Armani Moore relates to Cuonzo Martin, will sign with Vols » govolsxtra.com Mobile

 

[VolMaster14]

Kid looks like a good prospect! Thanks smo!

 

[VolMaster14]

I know you cant always go by stats, but this isnt bad. Especially from a kid that can play three positions

Moore averaged 22 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 2.3 steals per game

 

[YankeeVol]

Boom!

 

[lovavol]

would love to see a non combo guard playing point at UT

 

[miggy4vols]

would love to see a non combo guard playing point at UT

+1

Hopefully he can help get he job done

 

[bleedingTNorange]

would love to see a non combo guard playing point at UT

It'll probably be 2 more years atleast before you see that.

 

[Majorvol23]

Nice, looks like a great addition. Glad he's on board!

 

[germanicus]

only question will be how he adjusts from playing in a district that was pretty low level Class A competition to going up against the SEC. May be a a year or two before the game slows down.

I know you cant always go by stats, but this isnt bad. Especially from a kid that can play three positions

 

[Chris4Vols22]

would love to see a non combo guard playing point at UT

It's not going to be Moore, so just enjoy Golden while we still have him. He had a great season at point considering his experience. He has nowhere to go but up, and with this staff, you can expect great things from GOLDEN RUNNING THE POINT FOR THE NEXT 2 SEASONS!!

GO GOLDEN BOY AT PG FOR 2 MORE YEARS!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[zansdad]

It's not going to be Moore, so just enjoy Golden while we still have him. He had a great season at point considering his experience. He has nowhere to go but up, and with this staff, you can expect great things from GOLDEN RUNNING THE POINT FOR THE NEXT 2 SEASONS!!

GO GOLDEN BOY AT PG FOR 2 MORE YEARS!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

So I take it you don't think Golden is going to be playing point? ;-)

 

[DaDuRkEr]

Cue Golden's stats last year compared to CJ Watson's sr year... Why all the hate on Golden? He was the 3rd best PG in the sec last year in his first season starting... He's going to be a great PG by the time he leaves here!

 

[supersmo18]

Kid looks like a good prospect! Thanks smo!

No problemyo. eace2:

 

[johnnybravo]

Cue Golden's stats last year compared to CJ Watson's sr year... Why all the hate on Golden? He was the 3rd best PG in the sec last year in his first season starting... He's going to be a great PG by the time he leaves here!

Because it is unlikely that he can make major improvements on his main weaknesses. Can't teach speed. He's not fast enough to stay in front of any decent guard with quickness. He would be a much better player and be better for our team if he was playing the 2 guard instead of the point.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Because it is unlikely that he can make major improvements on his main weaknesses. Can't teach speed. He's not fast enough to stay in front of any decent guard with quickness. He would be a much better player and be better for our team if he was playing the 2 guard instead of the point.

Disagree that he'd be much better for our team if he was playing the 2. This may be the case if we actually had another viable option at the point, but who do you propose play the point that could do as good of or better of a job than golden?

That's the issue with moving him. You must first have someone that can play the position that you now him from, which in this case is PG.

We have no other PG that I know of that could do as good a job as golden. Therefore, he actually is serving the team best by playing PG, because without him that position would really suck.

 

[johnnybravo]

Disagree that he'd be much better for our team if he was playing the 2. This may be the case if we actually had another viable option at the point, but who do you propose play the point that could do as good of or better of a job than golden?

That's the issue with moving him. You must first have someone that can play the position that you now him from, which in this case is PG.

We have no other PG that I know of that could do as good a job as golden. Therefore, he actually is serving the team best by playing PG, because without him that position would really suck.

Read the post that I was quoting. I'm just replying the same ole things that have already been said throughout the year about Golden. Yeah, he's our only point guard. He will be our only viable option this next coming year at that position. Some nights when going against an average point guard, he will be able to use his strength and size and put up All American numbers. Then there are the nights when we face a small speedy guard that he can't keep up with and we will see the Golden that we say is playing out of position. IMO this will not change. He will get better with more experience and be able to improve on ball handling, passing, shooting, setting up team, etc... But I think he will still get smoked by the quick quards. They will tire him down throughout the game. We will see the bad turnovers and decision made when playing against those type players. He would be a much better player and better for our team IF he could play the 2. Like I said though he will be our only viable option at the 1. I think this was a big mistake by CCM not improving this position to where Golden could play the 2, sliding Jordan to the 3. Having Golden play the 2 and another pg in the game would have 2 extremely good ball handlers in the game at the same time.

 

[UTFanForLife]

Because it is unlikely that he can make major improvements on his main weaknesses. Can't teach speed. He's not fast enough to stay in front of any decent guard with quickness. He would be a much better player and be better for our team if he was playing the 2 guard instead of the point.

He has already made major improvements, what makes you think he won't improve more? He already lost weight from his hard work, that helped his quickness. Golden needs to stay focused, that's his problem. He is already an above average PG in his first year starting.

I will take 2 more years of Golden if he keeps progressing like he has. He's already the best PG we have had since Watson.

 

[UTFanForLife]

Read the post that I was quoting. I'm just replying the same ole things that have already been said throughout the year about Golden. Yeah, he's our only point guard. He will be our only viable option this next coming year at that position. Some nights when going against an average point guard, he will be able to use his strength and size and put up All American numbers. Then there are the nights when we face a small speedy guard that he can't keep up with and we will see the Golden that we say is playing out of position. IMO this will not change. He will get better with more experience and be able to improve on ball handling, passing, shooting, setting up team, etc... But I think he will still get smoked by the quick quards. They will tire him down throughout the game. We will see the bad turnovers and decision made when playing against those type players. He would be a much better player and better for our team IF he could play the 2. Like I said though he will be our only viable option at the 1. I think this was a big mistake by CCM not improving this position to where Golden could play the 2, sliding Jordan to the 3. Having Golden play the 2 and another pg in the game would have 2 extremely good ball handlers in the game at the same time.

Golden has no shot at playing in the NBA as a 2. He has a small shot at playing PG if he keeps working at it though. Coach Martin realizes this, half our fanbase doesn't. The kids a sophmore, he did pretty good considering.

 

[BallerVol]

Nonsense!! Golden would be too small to be a 2..imo

 

[johnnybravo]

He has already made major improvements, what makes you think he won't improve more? He already lost weight from his hard work, that helped his quickness. Golden needs to stay focused, that's his problem. He is already an above average PG in his first year starting.

I will take 2 more years of Golden if he keeps progressing like he has. He's already the best PG we have had since Watson.

I've already stated everything you are asking. Yes, he has made improvements from Freshman to Sophmore. He can improve in some areas, but his major weakness is he's to slow to play pg (at the level). Most people say you can't teach speed and I tend to agree. He may have worked hard to improve his quickness as you stated, but that was still his biggest weakness and will continue to be. He will continue to get burned by any quick guard that he faces. He can and will continue to be our pg, but we will see some of the same games that we seen out of him next year as we seen this past. That is why most fans think he should be replaced at pg if it was possible. Not that Golden is not a great player, because he is. I think he would be all SEC at the 2 guard, but will not be at the 1.

 

[johnnybravo]

Golden has no shot at playing in the NBA as a 2. He has a small shot at playing PG if he keeps working at it though. Coach Martin realizes this, half our fanbase doesn't. The kids a sophmore, he did pretty good considering.

Bledsoe had no shot playing the 2 in the NBA, but that didn't stop him from playing it at KY and didn't hurt him from getting drafted.

 

[MemphisCanes]

Bledsoe had no shot playing the 2 in the NBA, but that didn't stop him from playing it at KY and didn't hurt him from getting drafted.

Little different. Bledsoe was a natural one coming into UK. If any other recruit but John Wall was coming in with him, I bet Bledsoe would've gotten starting duties at the point.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Read the post that I was quoting. I'm just replying the same ole things that have already been said throughout the year about Golden. Yeah, he's our only point guard. He will be our only viable option this next coming year at that position. Some nights when going against an average point guard, he will be able to use his strength and size and put up All American numbers. Then there are the nights when we face a small speedy guard that he can't keep up with and we will see the Golden that we say is playing out of position. IMO this will not change. He will get better with more experience and be able to improve on ball handling, passing, shooting, setting up team, etc... But I think he will still get smoked by the quick quards. They will tire him down throughout the game. We will see the bad turnovers and decision made when playing against those type players. He would be a much better player and better for our team IF he could play the 2. Like I said though he will be our only viable option at the 1. I think this was a big mistake by CCM not improving this position to where Golden could play the 2, sliding Jordan to the 3. Having Golden play the 2 and another pg in the game would have 2 extremely good ball handlers in the game at the same time.

I get what you're saying and I tend to agree with the majority of it. But, if Goldens biggest issue is his quickness then he's doing alright. You say he can't be all sec as a 1 in your opinion, but I'd disagree. If quickness is keeping him from being a great defender, but the rest of his game is top notch, the defense against the 1 in every 5 quick guards won't keep him off of all sec.

Also, maybe this is where that zone defense CCM was talking about can be thrown in at times to help out golden. Even by playing it for 5 minutes each half, only against quick guards, that right away would help spare trae some IMO.

Also, I do believe that you can teach quickness to a certain extent. I think golden gained too much muscle last year, and iirc he actually gained weight this off season because of the added muscle. I believe doing a lot of work in the offseason and he could definitely become quicker. Also, you don't have to be as quick as the person you're defending in order to play D on them. Perfect example is skylar mcbee. He is probably slower than 99% of the players he faces, but he plays smart defense and understands the game and how to use angles among other things defensively to compensate for the difference in speed.

I was all for adding a PG so we could slide trae, but it wasn't because of my uncertainty about trae. It was more because of how weak the 2 spot is IMO, and that it would've improved greatly. Unfortunately we were unable to land another PG, so it will be Traes spot again which I'm more than comfortable with. I think he'll improve from last year, which he was a top 3 SEC PG, and once again be one of the best PGs in the SEC.

 

[johnnybravo]

Little different. Bledsoe was a natural one coming into UK. If any other recruit but John Wall was coming in with him, I bet Bledsoe would've gotten starting duties at the point.

Bledsoe never proved that he could play pg at the college level, but got drafted to play the position in NBA. Being the only other pg on the roster, then I would say that yes he would have started if JW was not on the team.