Moore has hit some big shots for us. I wouldn't say he's a great shooter as he's had 0-fer games, but he also isn't asked to shoot much because his value comes in his defense and versatility. We have other guys that can score. In terms of scoring need, I'd compare him to Bubba....Bubba can score, he just defers as well to Jose/Devoe/Moses/Usher. Moore isn't needed to score this season...but I expect that to change next season. In 24 minutes per game, Moore averages 4.7 points. Give him more minutes and give him more rope to shoot, I can easily see him with 10-15 points per game.
I expect Sturdivant to be a very consistent scorer for us. I don't see him going off like Devoe and Jose does in certain games, but I can easily see him having nightly 12-15 points/5 assists/5 rebs type games every night. 3.4 point per 11 minutes is not bad at all considering he is usually the 4th/5th option when he's in. Right now, he's probably our starting guard next season unless Dallan Coleman comes in and just owns it.
We'll see...it's all conjecture. If we can play defense as well as we have in the past two seasons, we should have a chance to win a lot of games next year depending on how fast our players develop over the course of the season.
Agree about Kyle! I see him as a more traditional/old-school PG who creates for others, whereas so many modern PGs are scorers aka "lead guards" or "combo guards". I think Kyle could be great with 2 strong shooters at the other guard spots. I "conjecture" Kyle, Mike, Deebo as a strong 3-guard lineup. I love how Kyle pushes tempo and attacks to create for others in transition and secondary break situations.
As for Khalid, he is shooting 25% this year from 3 and many many of those 3s were ideal weakside catch-and-shoot 3s in which he was not rushed. He was/is open very frequently for a reason. I don't think "rope" is the issue. And I agree with Pastner letting him continue to launch kickout 3s. If he doesn't, the issue gets magnified even more this year. And to your point, because he is allowed to continue shooting despite 25% stat, Khalid has hit a *few* big 3s this season. I'm very interested to see if Khalid remains the starter in the ACC and NCAA tourneys, or if Pastner mixes/matches Bubba and Khalid based on opponent matchups. Bubba gives us better shooting and thus better spacing on offense. Khalid obviously more size/length on the defensive end against some teams/matchups.
A lot of player development will be needed this offseason with 4 senior starters leaving (potentially). Any team losing 4 senior starters would be in a similar situation needing role players or younger players to further develop their game in offseason. Obviously many GT fans focusing on: will Reveno be able to develop Saba/Howard/Meka. I would argue that equally important (or 1b) is: can Khalid become a respectable 3pt shooter (33%? 35%?) that keeps defenses honest. That element will have a domino effect on the rest of our offense and the rest of our scorers, imho. You and I agree that Khalid is ripe for shooting improvement and seems like the kind of player who will put in the work to make those strides. He has shown improvement in many ways each season so far at GT.
(inner monologue: dammit, why am i discussing next season. i want to focus on and enjoy the best GT hoops season in a decade right now. and discuss next season after this season ends with a run to the elite eight or final four.)
