Buford on some players.

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TheLivingLegend

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OGS: What about Lance Stephenson?

"Buford: Lance is very skilled but has a lot to learn about the college game. When you play in Brooklyn, no one takes charges, but in college, especially in the Big East, somebody's going to be in your way, so you have to learn how to score off the dribble. If someoene's screening, you should be cutting to the basket, not away from it, to get a pass and use your body to get to the basket. Yancy can shoot the basketball, (Ibrahima) Thomas can shoot the basketball, and with the lanes spread open now, you've got Cashmere Wright finishing at the basket, not over size. Lance will be driving to the basket for unmolested dunks, and now your crowd's into the game."

Split up answer... On Yancy. WOW.

"Personally, I'd get rid of some guys. If Yancy Gates plays next year like he did in his first two years ... he should be punishing teams inside. I don't know if he has the motor or the desire to become a great player. And when you bring in new guys who look at his work ethic, what do you think they're going to do? So Yancy is first and (Rashad) Bishop is second. You either have to recruit over and get guys who would be able to send them to the bench, or just get rid of them."

"If you firmly believe in your program, then run it the way you think you should run it and get rid of anyone who doesn't help you get there. You cannot win with Yancy Gates. He's a coach-killer."

http://onegreatseason.com/home/2010/4/2/part-2-buford-weighs-in-on-final-four-wvu-cincinnati.html
 
My thoughts. Not sure I understood what he was saying about Lance? I always thought Lance was good at getting the bucket and even passing out of it... Lance developing a shot was not mentioned :confused:


On the Yancy part, WOW. He owned Yancy, and rightfully so. Wonder how often Yancy hears things such as this.
 
LS needs to better involve teammates. His movement w/o the ball hopefully will improve if he watches enough tape over the summer. I think he'll be fine, if he accepts that there is more than FT's and 3 pointers that need tweaking.
 
I think Buford is right on in regards to Mick:

It's clear he understands the game of basketball... It's clear he's a hardworker, especially on the recruiting trail... but, it's also clear he, much like the team, is far from a finished product...

Progress is all I ask for... next year the team needs to succeed at a higher plane than this year's team did, and that is the NCAA Tournament.
 
psax889906 said:
I think Buford is right on in regards to Mick:

It's clear he understands the game of basketball... It's clear he's a hardworker, especially on the recruiting trail... but, it's also clear he, much like the team, is far from a finished product...

Progress is all I ask for... next year the team needs to succeed at a higher plane than this year's team did, and that is the NCAA Tournament.
Click to expand...

If they expand the tournament, that is NOT the next step... IMO.
 
swg said:
His movement w/o the ball hopefully will improve if he watches enough tape over the summer. I think he'll be fine, if he accepts that there is more than FT's and 3 pointers that need tweaking.
Click to expand...

Ill buy that... His movement without the ball will make him such a better player.
 
In regards to Lance I think you can sum it up by saying he was a freshman, he didn't adjust well to the college game and not having the ball all the time, but he knows what he needs to work on. I think not having smart players around you keeps you from adjusting as quickly also. Lance looked best in the open floor when Cash was on the floor with him. I think when Lance does decide to put the ball on the floor he expects his teammates to work to get open once he draws the double or triple coverage. That didn't happen much. I remember one play late in the season where he did a nice move to get Yancey's defenders away from him and he fed him the ball and Yancey just stood there flat footed not paying attention. The look Lance gave him was priceless.

That transitions well into the comments on Yancey. Kudos to Buford for coming out and saying exactly what needed to be said. Buford is in a unique position of influence on the program/media/fan base. His comments are dead accurate especially the coach killer comment. Yancey's lack of development is usually number one on the Mick haters minds. My position has always been there are some players who just don't get it and/or who don't care and no coach in the world can do anything for him. Yancey seems to fit this mold.

Remember Robert Whaley? Made it to the NBA but couldn't get off the bench for Huggins. Huggins being who he was not only didn't catch flack for not playing him but was praised for his approach for him. Now remember the Marquette game where Yancey got benched the final 17 minutes including overtime? Remember how much flack Cronin got for benching him? I know I took plenty of flack for defending his benching.

I would love to see anyone gone who isn't helping this team and this coach win. And that's not meant to be an undying endorsement for Mick, rather a support of the current coach. If we put a team on the floor that hurts the coaches chances to succeed then getting rid of the coach isn't the solution. It is Mick's job at this point to assess who can help this team get to where he, I and everyone on this board want us to be, i.e. he needs to let some people go.
 
The bottom line: Is the team better with the players on the team, or off. That goes to hoop skills as well as character.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
If they expand the tournament, that is NOT the next step... IMO.
Click to expand...

IF. Worry about that WHEN it happens. I've learned not to concern myself with the NCAA itself, if you do, you'll only drive yourself mad. As one twitter post stated a while back and I'm paraphrasing: The NCAA refuses to look at or change the worst of all systems (BCS) but it will most certainly mess with and change the best of all systems (NCAA Tournament)... it's all about money.
 
psax889906 said:
IF. Worry about that WHEN it happens. I've learned not to concern myself with the NCAA itself, if you do, you'll only drive yourself mad. As one twitter post stated a while back and I'm paraphrasing: The NCAA refuses to look at or change the worst of all systems (BCS) but it will most certainly mess with and change the best of all systems (NCAA Tournament)... it's all about money.
Click to expand...

It WILL happen, I guarantee that. Jay Bilas and others have bascially said the same thing.
 
Not to start a debate about Huggins over mick.

Would Yancy be a different player under a different style coach? Such as hugs, knight... I truly believe he would.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
Not to start a debate about Huggins over mick.

Would Yancy be a different player under a different style coach? Such as hugs, knight... I truly believe he would.
Click to expand...

Were Robert Whaley and B J Grove made better players by Huggins? NO. Was Lawrence Funderburke made a better player by Knight? NO.
 
ralph1950 said:
Were Robert Whaley and B J Grove made better players by Huggins? NO. Was Lawrence Funderburke made a better player by Knight? NO.
Click to expand...

Or even a player like Armein Kirkland. Huggs had the opportunity to get rid of players or bench them (like Eric Hicks, who was about to quit during his freshman year because he didn't work hard enough) because he had a program in place. After a year or two, most of our fan base forgot about how monumental the rebuilding project was even though it still affects us today......
 

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