GT +8.5 @ NC State

[GTJake]

Totally agree! People worried about Bubba not scoring are simply people that haven’t played much basketball IMO.

You’re shot isn’t going to fall every game, but he still had a positive impact on the game as a facilitator. He was great at pushing the pace in transition, and he had a couple of excellent passes for layups.

Pure and simple, if they thought he was going to score 20 ppg, then they’re drunk!

Like I said, I didn't see the game, just the box score and realizing a lot of what happens on the court doesn't show up in the box score my impression from what was said in the off-season was that Bubba was a 3-point shooting threat ... so his line in the box score stood out to me ... Basketball wasn't my top sport and I was mostly a bench player for 4 years in HS so the "not played much BBall" and the drunk comment are pretty heady comments by you !!

 

[RamblinRed]

I think Bubba will have games where he scores little and games where he scores alot. His role is likely to vary game to game.

Watching the tape from NCST he was really good at moving up court quickly with the ball as well as advancing the ball with passes up ahead. Probably the best on the team at that in that game. Given that part of the emphasis has been to play at a higher tempo, I can see Bubba taking more of a PG role in that effort and creating easy scoring opportunities for teammates rather than shooting alot.

He's faster with the ball in his hands than either Jose or Mike.

Against NCST they needed him more as a facilitator than a scorer. There will be other games where they will need him to be a scorer. On the Spain trip he was the 2nd leading assist man for the team (Usher was the leading assist man). His role may become more of creating more good scoring opportunities for Mike and Jose than it will be scoring himself.

 

[MiracleWhips]

I think Bubba will have games where he scores little and games where he scores alot. His role is likely to vary game to game.

Watching the tape from NCST he was really good at moving up court quickly with the ball as well as advancing the ball with passes up ahead. Probably the best on the team at that in that game. Given that part of the emphasis has been to play at a higher tempo, I can see Bubba taking more of a PG role in that effort and creating easy scoring opportunities for teammates rather than shooting alot.

He's faster with the ball in his hands than either Jose or Mike.

Against NCST they needed him more as a facilitator than a scorer. There will be other games where they will need him to be a scorer. On the Spain trip he was the 2nd leading assist man for the team (Usher was the leading assist man). His role may become more of creating more good scoring opportunities for Mike and Jose than it will be scoring himself.

I agree with this take 100%

 

[lv20gt]

My concern with Parham was if he could consistently get his shot against ACC teams. We won't need it every game, but there will be games we will need his scoring. I'm not worried about him being able to make them because he is a great shooter, and against NCSU I thought he did a good job of understanding what the team needed of him and not trying to "get his".

On a tangential note, it has to be somewhat odd to go from being the guy on your team that probably had the green light to shoot whenever he wanted to joining a team with two already established guards. He's got to find the balance between not being too selfish and looking for his own shot too much, but also being able to recognize when the team needs him to push the issue on putting up 3s. With Banks and Devoe playing so well and us getting some solid production from other players (Wright and Moore) it made sense for Parham to take more of a ball handler role than scoring one. Still, we will need him to score at least 8-10 most games imo.

 

[Connell62]

My concern with Parham was if he could consistently get his shot against ACC teams. We won't need it every game, but there will be games we will need his scoring. I'm not worried about him being able to make them because he is a great shooter, and against NCSU I thought he did a good job of understanding what the team needed of him and not trying to "get his".

On a tangential note, it has to be somewhat odd to go from being the guy on your team that probably had the green light to shoot whenever he wanted to joining a team with two already established guards. He's got to find the balance between not being too selfish and looking for his own shot too much, but also being able to recognize when the team needs him to push the issue on putting up 3s. With Banks and Devoe playing so well and us getting some solid production from other players (Wright and Moore) it made sense for Parham to take more of a ball handler role than scoring one. Still, we will need him to score at least 8-10 most games imo.

Personally, I don’t think that he will average double figures, but he still plays a vital role. He will take the pressure off of Mike and Jose to set the offense, allowing to score more frequently. Mike will probably be the biggest beneficiary. I expect to see his numbers rise considerably. It wouldn’t shock me to see him get something in the range of 16-17 ppg range.

As many have said, there will be some games where he erupts, but his role will be much different for us.

 

[GTJake]

I agree that playmakers and assist leaders fill a much needed role, but I also hope Bubba will be a scoring threat as well ... we've had a dry-spell on guys who could shoot the rock lately and a 3-guard offense ala Lethal Weapon-3 would be sweet !

 

[GT_EE78]

even if Bubba's role is facilitator, defenses will have to guard him closely rather than sag back or he will be able to make them pay.

 

[RamblinRed]

I agree that playmakers and assist leaders fill a much needed role, but I also hope Bubba will be a scoring threat as well ... we've had a dry-spell on guys who could shoot the rock lately and a 3-guard offense ala Lethal Weapon-3 would be sweet !

I'm hoping he can avg between 8-10 ppg for us. But i'm expecting it to be more of a 3 pts one game and 15 points another than a consistent 9 ppg.

 

[MiracleWhips]

Let me know if I’m reaching.... but I think we have one of the best front courts in the conference.

 

[CuseJacket]

Unfortunately had a work function Tuesday night, then got sick while on the road, and have been playing catch-up ever since. Finally finished watching the game today (though I had seen the outcome and highlights). Wanted to watch the full game and skim through this thread before weighing in.

Lot of good stuff in here. A win generally helps keep the discussion around X's and O's.

A few things I noted:

• Loved the short rotation. Many are probably already familiar with my opinion here. Most top teams and top coaches play 7-8 meaningfully. I'm a believer that it keeps guys in rhythm and into the game. And I believe we had the right mix on Tuesday.
• It's also not surprising to see random dudes rise up when starters are out. You often see when top players are out, the other guys play more freely and almost as if they have nothing to lose. That's what I think we saw in the 1st half, moreso than the few defensive lapses that we had.
• I loved that we fought through the early onslaught without using a timeout. That is "get old, stay old" at its finest and a testament to good coaching/recognition. If we're going to amount to anything this year, you need to be able to fight through that against an NC State team that is unlikely to maintain their initial pace. Great resolve by the players to not panic.
• We were fortunate that NC State didn't exactly play great defense. That was a fairly average defensive performance at best. There's no excuse for a guard not rotating back to stop our gimme transition buckets. It's akin to a safety getting beat over the top in football multiple times. Poor coaching and fundamentals on their end, and those buckets were huge.
• Asanti Price's 3 in overtime was just awesome. His first college bucket and only bucket in the game. He had missed his prior three attempts. Shooter's confidence or a freshman who doesn't know he should be nervous? Hopefully both.
• Outside of some poor turnovers that I hope are first game kinks, we didn't have many wasted possessions on offense. We didn't force many shots, outside of the Moses Wright, off-the-dribble, step-back 3. PTSD triggered. To be clear though, Wright played a solid game and has improved his court awareness tremendously in the last year, so I'm not concerned. I think I can laugh that play off now. I think.

Lastly, did anyone notice that NC State tried to call the timeout that they didn't have at the end of the regulation? Unfortunately it was a jump ball and therefore the officials could not grant the player the unavailable timeout that he was requesting.

 

[CuseJacket]

On Parham ppg, I wasn't concerned at all based on what I saw from Tuesday night. Had he taken more shots, they would have been of the forced variety and not in the flow of the offense. He let the game come to him. He has proven he can score in his career already and I'm glad to see he's more than that. I like the Bynum comparison. Parham showed good push and handle, and he adds depth to an already solid starting back court. Alvarado, Devoe and Parham is the type of back court you often see carry teams seemingly out of nowhere in NCAA tournament.

 

[GT11]

Just wait until Usher joins the group

 

[MiracleWhips]

Just wait until Usher joins the group

Boy I keep forgetting about him!