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Lady Griz point guard troubles

BigBird

Member
Far be it from me to question a legendary coach like Robin Selvig...but what the heck, I am going to do it anyway. After watching the Lady Griz play the Cats, it is obvious to me that they are a much stronger team with Lauren Beck at point. Why does Shaunte get so much playing time? What does she bring? She can't shoot....she gets few assists....she turns the ball over....she has trouble with pressure on the full court presses....and she is a detriment on defense because of her lack of height and foot speed. Beck is better in all of these categories. It isn't just the Cat game that makes me think this. I have had my doubts since last year. The Lady Griz are going to need their best players on the floor to eek out a Big Sky Championship this year!!! Can anyone sensibly argue this point? I would love to hear rebuttal arguements.
 
Well if you want to know, Shaunte only played 12 minutes against the Cats.
Could be some players roles and playing times are being adjusted as each game gets played. I think maybe Selvig realizes Beck is better at the point than Shaunte.

As for Turnovers, Lynsey Monaco turned the ball over 4.06 times a game while Shaunte turned the ball over 3.11 times a game. Lynsey had around 6 assists a game. Mandy in her last year had 4.6 assists compared to Shaunte's 4.29 assists a game. Mandy turned the ball over 2.8 times a game. Not much better than Shaunte.

Brooklyn Lorenzen last year had 7.8 assists a game, and 1.9 turnovers a game. She had the best assist/turnover ratio than any other lady Griz point guard that I can think of. Skyla may have had the second best but even her senior year didn't even come close to Brooklyns assist/turnover ratio.

Here are the assists, turnovers, and the ratio for these point guards for their senior seasons:
sysco 186, 117, 1.59
Harrington 115, 101, 1.13
Lorenzen 251, 62, 4.05
Monaco 169, 114, 1.48
Morales 152, 93, 1.63
Shaunte 73, 53, 1.37

So, Shaunte isn't the worst point guard when it comes to assist/turnover ratio. Harrington senior year was coming back from an ACL injury. Beck has a assist/turnover ratio of less than 1 but much of her play was not at the point guard position so it is kind of comparing apples to oranges. Give her more time at point and maybe her assists will climb higher improving her ratio. Although, the game against MSU, she only had 1 assist.

As for scoring, Shaunte would be near the poorest point guard ever for the Lady Griz that I can remember and I watched the Lady Griz for a long time. I also agree she is to short, but Brooklyn Lorenzen was not much taller than Shaunte.

But Shaunte's lack of scoring allows the opponent to collapse inside making it so much tougher for getting the ball inside. I expected a lot more from Ena, but the opponents have been collapsing their defenses inside making it real tough for Ena to find room to get to the basket because of the Lady Griz poor perimeter offense this season. Much of that blame goes to Shaunte though not all of it.
 
There are lot's of reasons Shaunte should get playing time. One of them is leadership on a young team. Secondly did you see the Sac State game. If you didn't why are we having this discussion? And finally we don't want Beck to play 40 minutes evey game. Beck has played well as of recently but she's had some very off games also. Case in point was the EWU. I'm sure you listened to it.
 
GrizBB...excellent arguement!! One thing I would like to point out however, is that you take previous point guard's poorest category, and compare them to Shaunte. My point is that she is weak in ALL of these categories. Monaco had more turnovers...but was great on D, far better passer, etc. Mandy's assists and turnovers are similar....but we all know about the rest of Mandy's game!! No comparison.

IronMountain....your arguement is pretty thin. Using 1 game as an example? I'm looking at a broader picture here. For sure Beck can't play 40 min.....Shaunte can get 10 min or so a game to spell her...maybe she can ignite a spark off thebench....like last year. And I don't see poor decision making, and lack of basketball skills as providing any leadership on the team.....being a senior doesn't automatically mean leadership!!!!
 
BigBird said:
GrizBB...excellent arguement!! One thing I would like to point out however, is that you take previous point guard's poorest category, and compare them to Shaunte. My point is that she is weak in ALL of these categories. Monaco had more turnovers...but was great on D, far better passer, etc. Mandy's assists and turnovers are similar....but we all know about the rest of Mandy's game!! No comparison.

IronMountain....your arguement is pretty thin. Using 1 game as an example? I'm looking at a broader picture here. For sure Beck can't play 40 min.....Shaunte can get 10 min or so a game to spell her...maybe she can ignite a spark off thebench....like last year. And I don't see poor decision making, and lack of basketball skills as providing any leadership on the team.....being a senior doesn't automatically mean leadership!!!!

Really, I wasn't really arguing for or against Shaunte. Lady Griz have only 11 players and Beck really isn't a point guard but more of a two guard that can play the point at times. Shaunte really is the only point guard on the team and it doesn't appear that Selvig wants to lose Kelsey Hildal's redshirt season. From what I heard, kelsey's the real deal.
But since Lady Griz have only 11 players and 1 point guard(Shaunte), Shaunte has to play, and it will be at point guard. She is still the best alternative at point guard the Lady Griz have. I can see Beck playing a lot at point guard in certain games such as against MSU, but I expect Shaunte to play significantly more minutes than she had in the game against MSU. She isn't that bad. She is still athletic and the game against Sac State was her best game. Plus, she is playing much better than last year. Shaunte isn't turning the ball over nearly as often as last year.

As for defense, there really isn't very many problems with the Lady Griz defense, they are giving up similar numbers than many of the lady Griz teams of the past (sure, there has been better seasons, but this year is very similar to those in the past). Shaunte has been a part of that success at defense. Lady Griz play a tough zone defense and for it to work, all 5 players have to play well on defense for it to work.

I usually do not say never, but Selvig may never bring back another JC transfer, and he would not have brought Shaunte if it weren't for Anthony Johnson. Thankfully, he did because the mens team would not have come close to making the tournament last year, and possibly wouldn't have a chance to make the tournament this year (I would say with confidence, Griz wouldn't this year without him).
 
On the post-game show, Selvig said Shante had played well, but they had decided that they were better off having a long-armed defender on the perimeter. He also said that as the pressure came late in the game, they thought they might have to re-insert Shante to bring the ball down the court.
 
PlayerRep said:
. . . they had decided that they were better off having a long-armed defender on the perimeter . . .

I remember the first time I ever saw Beck in high school. "For God's sake, why is a kid that tall playing D at the top of the key?"

Answer: she's like Plastic Man up there.
 
Speaking of point guards.....does anybody know what happened to Ashley Ferda? Did she quit or is she just injured??? I have heard both.
 
BigBird said:
Speaking of point guards.....does anybody know what happened to Ashley Ferda? Did she quit or is she just injured??? I have heard both.

She is out likely for the season. The missoula sports writer that covers the Lady Griz first stated Ashley left the team. Then later stated she did not leave the team and that Ashley will be walking with a boot on her injured foot. So, you are correct that you heard both.

She was a big loss. But she should be back next year and lady Griz should have two point guards next year. Ashley and Kelsey.
 
BigBird said:
Far be it from me to question a legendary coach like Robin Selvig...but what the heck, I am going to do it anyway. After watching the Lady Griz play the Cats, it is obvious to me that they are a much stronger team with Lauren Beck at point. Why does Shaunte get so much playing time? What does she bring? She can't shoot....she gets few assists....she turns the ball over....she has trouble with pressure on the full court presses....and she is a detriment on defense because of her lack of height and foot speed. Beck is better in all of these categories. It isn't just the Cat game that makes me think this. I have had my doubts since last year. The Lady Griz are going to need their best players on the floor to eek out a Big Sky Championship this year!!! Can anyone sensibly argue this point? I would love to hear rebuttal arguements.
Well, having watched how the Ladies reacted to a double team defense last year, I have to assume that is not part of the coach's strategy. No sense watching the Lady Griz as every game is like every other one they have played the past years....if I can see that, certainly younger coaches can as well...
 
Next year the Lady Griz will also have Lexie Nelson coming in as a freshman from Butte. She should see some immediate playing time. Nobody from Billings West could guard her last weekend. She could be the MVP for AA this year.
 
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