Huntley-Hatfield needs more minutes

#1
ClockworkOrange

ClockworkOrange

Electric Sheep
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Jan 28, 2009
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#1
His +/- number was -1 yesterday, easily best on the team except for a couple of guys playing in garbage time.

Give him all of Uros' minutes (+/- number of -8). Take some from ORN if he shows signs of going back into his shell (+/- of -15). Heck, take some from Fulky if Fulky is struggling (+/- of -10).

Yeah, I know this is a hot take (hey, at least I slept on it). And giving HH 20 minutes yesterday instead of 12 wouldn't have altered the outcome. We were punched in the mouth by an experienced, bullying, elite team, aided by the usual suspect officiating (which Villanova didn't need) and never recovered.

But if HH is going to be a one-and-done player regardless of his role in November (NBA drafts on potential), we need to throw him into the fire NOW, let him work his way through stumbles and fumbles. Yes, even when he's letting guys slip behind him for a dunk when we go zone. His ceiling is too high to slow play him. He needs all the experience he can get through the roughest patches of our non-conference schedule. Throttle him back some if one of the above guys is doing better on a particular night.

Well, except for Uros. I love the guy -- he's a VFL -- but he can't guard anybody quicker than Mark Eaton, struggles to score, and doesn't rebound. Shoot, I'd get Aidoo out there before Uros.
 
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#2
#2
I don’t know what the solution is but Barnes has to play with the rotation. Yesterday showed that what he is currently doing just isn’t working. We played 11 guys. I’d cut all of Uros’ minutes. He just doesn’t fit well with this team.

I’m not going to pretend to know what the solution is but I know perfectly well Barnes’ isn’t sure yet either because there was pretty much no excuse to have Josiah, Fulky, and Uros all on the court at the same time yesterday. Zero scoring threat against good teams with that lineup.

Looks like Barnes is still feeling out what he wants, I just hope he figures it out soon.
 
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#4
#4
iKrager said:
Uros honestly played his best game yesterday. He was huge in getting a big offensive board when it looked like we were about to go on a run to go within 15. Then got a block several plays later. I’ve hated on the guy too, but he did do some good.
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If he played 10 minutes he'd foul out.
 
#5
#5
iKrager said:
Uros honestly played his best game yesterday. He was huge in getting a big offensive board when it looked like we were about to go on a run to go within 15. Then got a block several plays later. I’ve hated on the guy too, but he did do some good.
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He honestly did some good work last year too, late in the day when Fulky was hurt. He played fairly well in the SEC tourney and was one of the lone guys in the NCAA fiasco that seemed to want to be there. He has his role, and I have rooted hard for the lightbulb to come on for him over the last several years, but unless he can make productive use of that big body rebounding and defending, I feel like we need to look elsewhere for most of his minutes.
 
#8
#8
tnvols72 said:
JJJ just stinks the court up period. All he can really do is rebound and other than that he is no threat. Powell should have all his minutes. Why Barnes sticks with him like he does blows my mind
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My guess is that it depends on what lineup is currently in the game. JJJ hasn't been offensively great, but then again hardly anybody was yesterday. JJJ is big though, plays good defense (which Barnes favors more than offense), gets rebounds, and the occasional assist. You don't want a full lineup of players who all do one thing well in there. Got to have someone in the lineup who plays good defense.

I mean if you look back at the ETSU game, he only got 3 more minutes than Powell did and had a wider range of stats than Powell did. 6 Rebounds, 2 assists, and 9 points. Powell had 1 Rebound and 11 points. I think saying JJJ should give all his minutes to Powell is an overreaction. In the 3 games so far JJJ has grabbed 5-6 boards in each.
 
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#9
#9
tnvols72 said:
JJJ just stinks the court up period. All he can really do is rebound and other than that he is no threat. Powell should have all his minutes. Why Barnes sticks with him like he does blows my mind
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I hear you! Theres all kinds of stuff about Barnes that blows my mind.
 
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#10
#10
tnvols72 said:
JJJ just stinks the court up period. All he can really do is rebound and other than that he is no threat. Powell should have all his minutes. Why Barnes sticks with him like he does blows my mind
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Sounds like you’ll get to see how we look without him since he’s supposedly out with the flu today. I’m thinking he’ll be missed. He plugs a lot of holes for us.

There’s a lot more to winning basketball than scoring.
 
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#12
#12
Col_Cathcart said:
Sounds like you’ll get to see how we look without him since he’s supposedly out with the flu today. I’m thinking he’ll be missed. He plugs a lot of holes for us.

There’s a lot more to winning basketball than scoring.
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Does not look like he was missed
 
#18
#18
JJJ will be fine.

BHH will get more minutes as the season goes on. I think by season's end, he will be easily our best big. However, I think people are overreacting to Uros' weaknesses. I think his offensive game has improved tremendously. No, he will not be getting double-digit minutes this year, but I think he has an important role to play.
 
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#19
#19
I wonder if JJJ’s damaged thumb ligament is his left (shooting) or right. Even on his weak hand that will make it difficult catching quick passes from the 2 PGs in a fast paced offense.
 
#20
#20
i2amavol said:
JJJ will be fine.

BHH will get more minutes as the season goes on. I think by season's end, he will be easily our best big. However, I think people are overreacting to Uros' weaknesses. I think his offensive game has improved tremendously. No, he will not be getting double-digit minutes this year, but I think he has an important role to play.
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Other than matchup with opposing 6’11”+ 240lb+ posts (we don’t see many of those), what role does he play that other bigs on our roster don’t?
 
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#21
#21
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I wonder if JJJ’s damaged thumb ligament is his left (shooting) or right. Even on his weak hand that will make it difficult catching quick passes from the 2 PGs in a fast paced offense.
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I was hoping it was his pinky on his right hand. There’s no way the thumb (whichever hand) will allow him to shoot the ball smoothly. The luck that kid has. Severe hip injury, bad wrist injury and this. All three just killers for a talented player with lots of upside.
 
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#22
#22
bleedingTNorange said:
Other than matchup with opposing 6’11”+ 240lb+ posts (we don’t see many of those), what role does he play that other bigs on our roster don’t?
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I think he has learned how to how to hit shots from inside 10'. He is 7' tall, and is an imposing presence. Sure, quick guys can just dribble around him, but you can't teach height.

I don't expect or want him to play 20 minutes a game, but 5 - 10 can work. I also think, crazy as it might sound, he might be able to get that critical bucket when we need it, or when others are struggling to score. I haven't noticed anyone being able to block his shots this year.
 
#23
#23
tnvols72 said:
Does not look like he was missed
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Nope. We have played great without him yesterday for sure. Him being out may have been what forced us to try that really effective 3 guard lineup. I still think he’s going to play an important role going forward but I’ll admit I was off the mark yesterday.
 
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#24
#24
i2amavol said:
I think he has learned how to how to hit shots from inside 10'. He is 7' tall, and is an imposing presence. Sure, quick guys can just dribble around him, but you can't teach height.

I don't expect or want him to play 20 minutes a game, but 5 - 10 can work. I also think, crazy as it might sound, he might be able to get that critical bucket when we need it, or when others are struggling to score. I haven't noticed anyone being able to block his shots this year.
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To the bolded, who do you like more their chances of hitting a shot inside of 10’, Fulky/BHH/ON/Plavsic? I would say Plavsic would rank last imo if it’s the same scenario, I also don’t think anyone feels Plavsic is all that imposing, opposing players sure don’t seem to think so since they go right at him.

And yea, if it’s a post up I’m definitely going Fulk over Plavsic…I trust him to make the right play, whether that’s take the shot or make a pass.
 
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#25
#25
bleedingTNorange said:
To the bolded, who do you like more their chances of hitting a shot inside of 10’, Fulky/BHH/ON/Plavsic? I would say Plavsic would rank last imo if it’s the same scenario, I also don’t think anyone feels Plavsic is all that imposing, opposing players sure don’t seem to think so since they go right at him.

And yea, if it’s a post up I’m definitely going Fulk over Plavsic…I trust him to make the right play, whether that’s take the shot or make a pass.
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Yeah this is such a misconception. Top level D1 players do not look at Plavsic and go "oh man he is 7' tall I better not mess with him." If fact, opposing big men's eyes get wide like Christmas morning when they get a chance to go 1v1 against Plavsic. Give him one counter move and force him to move his feet and they will get an easy bucket.
 
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