Is Trae Golden the PG of the future?

#1
zjcvols

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee Saturday night."
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#1
A big disagreement with Vol fans is Trae Golden. Almost everyone agrees that he's a good player, and our second MVP behind Jeronne Maymon. But is he a PG? Let's look at some stats.

The big thing with Golden is turnovers. He's averaging right at three per game, and has the third most turnovers per game in the conference. It isn't a good stat. However, looking at his TO%, which tells us how many turnovers he commits per 100 possessions, he's ranked in the middle of the pack for SEC PG's with 23.2%. So while he averages a good amount of turnovers, he's averaging almost 32 minutes per game. Which is better? A point guard who gives the ball up three times playing 32 minutes, or a point guard who gives the ball up twice in 25 minutes? The former.

Despite Trae's struggles with turnovers, he's very good at distributing the ball. He's averaging 4.7 APG, third in conference. Impressive, but not as impressive as the next stat. His assist percentage (An estimate for the percentage of player assists based on all possible assist opportunity (FGM)--adjusted for playing time) is second in conference at 32.1%. He's basically getting an assist 32% of the possessions for UT. That's very good, especially because of UT's slower pace. That makes him second overall in the conference.

What's most impressive though about Trae is his shooting prowess, which is the most underrated part of his game. His slash line if pretty good for a sophomore guard: 44.4/37.3/82.5, especially after last year's shooting performance. But he's very effective inside the arc. He's shooting 42.8% on all two pointers, 6th for all guards in the SEC. His effective and true shooting percentages are also very good (52.0 and 57.4 respectively) and are both top 20 in the SEC. And for guards, those rank 9th and 8th respectively. Looking at the stats, Trae is one of the ten best offensive guards in the SEC.

Overall, Trae is one of the better guards in the SEC, especially when you consider his defensive improvement over the year. While he still has some weaknesses, he is become a true threat at the point guard position, and while he's has the reputation of being a score first point guard, he's still one of the better passing guards in the league. He lacks consistency, and struggles against quicker guards who can beat him to the spot. However, I think Trae has what it takes to become a very good point guard, especially when you consider the improvements he has made this year. If he continues to improve, can be one of the best point guards in the SEC.
 
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#2
#2
He must, and I repeat must, work on his "floater" or lose it all together. That is my biggest negative on him honestly. Also, in late game scenarios, he must not walk the ball up the court like he has no care in the world.

Other than that, no problems at all really with him. He can still become something really special for us.
 
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#3
#3
Biggest downside IMO is his "scorer first" mentality at the end of close games. He needs to trust his team instead of taking it all on his own shoulders.
 
#4
#4
Great great write up ZJC, I can tell you put a lot into that one, great work!

People can voice opinions and obviously many do, but when you see the numbers there really is no way to spin it.

Trad gets the brunt of the blame and lots of times the brunt of the praise, this is because of his position. It's much like a QB, when they play bad or even just make a bad play or 2 in a game, many people perceive him to be a bad QB. When Trae makes a bad play, or has an untimely turnover many only see that an claim he's a bad PG. They forget about the prior 15 points he had along with the 5 assists and 1 turnover up to that point, they just see the last turnover and it leaves a lasting impression.

I, as many know, believe golden is a very good PG especially considering hes a 1st year starter, everyone has an opinion. What is telling to me though is when you hear CCM talk about Trae. You can call it coach speak or whatever you want, but the things CCM has said about Trae he hasn't said about others. He very frequently when talking about Trae refers to him as being an elite PG, and the best PG in the conference when he leaves here. To me that is telling, it's not my opinion or anyone's on the boards, it's the coach who makes millions doing this, and has played in the NBA and knows what it takes opinion.

Lastly, as I brought up awhile ago, look at this year for Trae and Cj Watsons senior year numbers, they are almost identical with Golden actually dishing more assists. That's a sophomore playing his 1st season as a starting PG putting up comparable numbers to an All-SEC, 4 year starter and senior PG in Cj Watson, who has gone on to have a nice NBA career. That is the most telling thing to me.
 
#5
#5
Most definitely, barring some superstar recruit. Really interesting player to follow. Looking forward to seeing his ceiling, especially with what Martin's already done with him.
 
#6
#6
He's the point guard at UT for the remainder of his days on campus. Folks in order for him to get to the next level that is the position he is going to have to play. Plain and simple. Move on from this.
 
#7
#7
There is nobody else ready to play the point, so it sure looks like it will be Golden.
 
#9
#9
If Golden were to find a half step of quickness from now till the start of next season, it would be nice.
 
#10
#10
Another point to think of, like I've heard a few post on here, Trae's natural position is the 2, but if he wants to play at the next level he will more than likely be put at the point because of his size. And I agree with TooLegit, unless we get a stud PG in, Golden will be our best option IMO. Kid's going to be good, people just need to sit back and enjoy watching him and this team instead of complaining. I'd hate to be on here if we were in fact in 11th place.
 
#11
#11
No, Trae is not a point guard. We must recruit a true handler of the ball. Trae needs to move to the #2 spot. No doubt
 
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#12
#12
I hope to hear that he goes to a ballhandling camp somewhere, vs playing in the RTL and not improving the little things necessary to step it up.
 
#14
#14
The problem with Trae, along with many other players on our team, are the unrealistic expectations the fan base puts on him. Just because a player goes out and scores 25 and dishes 10 assists one game, or makes 7 threes, or dominates two lottery picks his first game; doesn't mean he's going to do it every game. Players who can perform every night go to the NBA, players who can't stay in college. Pretty easy concept, but of course there are exceptions like everything else in life.
 
#15
#15
Spartacavolus said:
I hope to hear that he goes to a ballhandling camp somewhere, vs playing in the RTL and not improving the little things necessary to step it up.
Click to expand...

I've been hoping the same.

Hopefully he works with assistant coach Tracy Webster a lot, and attends maybe the Steven Nash PG camp in the summer as well. He would benefit mightily from that IMO.
 
#21
#21
altidore17 said:
LONG way to go before Golden is good enough to play in the NBA.
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In case you weren't aware professionally doesn't mean just NBA.

Think outside the box homie. Brian Williams plays "professionally". The term professionally means you are doing it as your profession, not that it's limited to just NBA.
 
#22
#22
VolsFan4Ever-11 said:
Now I wouldn't go that far just yet.
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In case you weren't aware professionally doesn't mean just NBA.

Think outside the box homie. Brian Williams plays "professionally". The term professionally means you are doing it as your profession, not that it's limited to just NBA.
 
#23
#23
Jackson_Harris said:
I think we need a Teague type. We are seeing more and more press. Trae will always struggle with that...especially on the road. He is a 2 guard
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Teague struggles with a press as bad if not worse than golden. It's because of lamb gilchrist and jones around him who can all bring it up that teams don't press, it isn't because of Teague.
 
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