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oh, no! another "combo" guard!

C

citygriz

Well-known member
http://mslacat.wordpress.com/

well, here we go again, another "combo" guard. please tell me the appeal of the "combo" guard--i just don't get it. a "combo" guard is one that has some athleticism but does no one thing well. whenever i hear "combo" i think "irish coffee", which ruins three good things--irish whiskey, cream and coffee. one of the worst drinks ever concocted.

the lady griz are full of versatile "combo" players that just get killed every time we go to the ncaa tournament by players who are great at one position.

pul-lease! both basketball programs--get us a pure point guard!!
 
I understand where you are coming from city, but not all "combo" guards/forwards are bad. Over the last several years a few of them turned out to be huge recruits, for the men at least. Virgil Matthews turned out to be great, once he got the playing time. By the way, our last combo guard recruit turned out to be no other than Anthony Johnson. He happens to be all conference, and argueably the best player in the conference.

This new recruit we are on sounds similar to what was said/written about AJ. It was said he too needed to develop his 3 point shot consistency, ball handling, and was capable of being a good scoring D-1 guard. Thanks to hard work and circumstances, AJ certainly exceeded all expectations of him. Imagine how much better he will be this year.

I will take the athletic combo guards like Cherry and AJ, anyday of the week in our system over a one dimensional guard. Our system does not utilize the one dimensional players very well for their strengths. Recently 2 players come to mind, Staudacher and Ellis. Each had outstanding strengths but never were fully utilized. Ellis was quick, great ballhandler, and great steals. We limited him taking chances defensively, did not press with him often, and did not clear out very often for him to create. As for Staudacher, I think he is capable of being more than a shooter. Even as a shooter, we run limited set plays to free him up from 3. We have preferred to run those set plays to open a big from 3, which belonged down low more often. The likes of Hasquet and Selvig see too many of those plays ran for them, those plays should be shared with Staudacher.

In our system we utilize combo players better than we do true position perimeter players. If we are to build one specific type of player, I think an inside scorer and banger would be much more help for this team than a true PG or true SG. I am hoping our current bigs prove me wrong though.
 
okay, let me backtrack a bit. both matthews and johnson were bigger--6'4 and 6'3 respectively--and both had scoring averages in the 20's coming out of jaycee ball. if you're that height and have proven you can score like that at the jaycee level, fine. that to me says you're a two, and if you have extra skills, so much the better.

here's a high school kid, 6'1", not really big enough to play the two, with a scoring average of 15 points per game, and yet not the ballhandling skills to play the point. me, i'd prefer a pure point guard.

on the distaff side, nuff said about "versatile" players. our roster is filled with gals who can cover three positions. but if we sign two more this spring, i want a real true point guard, and a real true tall post player. i've go my fingers crossed.
 
Geez, I would still take a combo g/f like Mandy Morales or Shannon Cate any time. Both played point guard and both played forward. And both could play the 2 guard. Of course, Mandy played point mostly, and Cate played point guard once during her career (and she actually did pretty well against Washington which was Julie Epperly's first game as a Lady Griz).

But, naturally, a pure point guard like Brooklyn Lorenzen or Skyla Cisco would be better. What really would be nice is to have a Brooklyn Lorenzen or Skyla Cisco type player but with some height to go along with it. A Magic Johnson type point guard with speed, quickness, height, and balll handling magic that can also shoot and score the ball.
Come on Robin. Do it.
 
I do agree with City regarding the Lady Griz. They over recruit combo players. We need at least 1 true big and 1 true pg every class, or at the very least every other class. A true PG like Lorenzen would have at least given the LG some help in matching up against what Pitt threw at us. Granted their bigs did damage too, but I felt our bigs did a solid job especially defensively on them. Offensively their press killed us and in turn got in our heads. The few times we were able to set up we were so out of sync the offense was not a factor.

As for bigs, one would think at the very least we could find a few Holly Tyler types. Tam was on her way to becoming a very good post, but things just did not play out the way everyone was hoping for. What are the chances of Robin ever taking a chance on a less skilled taller girl with potential than a combo forward with more skill now? Is Robin the type that would take a chance on a project player with height and athleticism? Is he too set in taking the safer more ready recruit?

Project players are out there in both men and womens ball, the bigger programs very seldom have the need to take a chance on one. To me, for the Lady GRIZ to get to the next level they need to take a few chances on a few bigger potential type recruits.

By the way, one of my favorite combo forwards was Demming (sp?). I loved how she could do a little of everything very well. Too bad her and Lorenzen could not have teamed with Mandy and Sonya this year. I think Beck will turn out to be the same kind of player as Demming. I see no reason not to work with her on her ballhandling more. I think with some work she would be a very good point guard and a tough matchup as a PG. I like her intangibles that do not show up on the stat sheet too.

As for the men, Tinks recruits versatile players too, but we also more players to fill specific positions.
Stauds is a Shooting guard, not utilized as much he could be. Stockton is a true PG, just needs to get the time to prove what he is or is not. The little I seen of him this year made a good impression to me. He only lacks the top gear quickness. McGillis is used in different ways, but I see him as a true 3/SF. Qvale is a True Center. Selvig will never be a true 4 or 5, his game is that of a true 3, only at 7 foot. I pray the GRIZ utilize him closer to a Kevin Garnett type than a Dirk Nowitzski type. Garnett does everything well, meanwhile Dirk very seldom is expected to do more than be a scoring threat, usually on the perimeter. That drives me crazy with bigs (see Hasquet), when their supporting cast is not there to use them the way they prefer.

In todays basketball, the personnel for the men is much closer to competing in an NCAA tourney than the LG are. On the other hand, Robin and his staff have an advantage on the mens program. Looking at it this way, amazing enough maybe Tinkle is putting together the puzzle better than Robin. It really gives me the perspective that Tinkle's game plan and foundation actually makes sense. The question for him, is can they execute that plan game in, game out to fit the pieces together?
 
I am surprised Matt Martin is looking to coach so soon. Is his professional career not going well? Or does he want to pursue the family thing now that him and Dana Conway are engaged? (I can see Tinks and Selvig recruiting their kids already.) I have seen Matt coach at the GRIZ basketball camp. He will be a very good coach from the get go, in time excellent. He is very fiery, intelligent, and yet still understanding of his players. He impressed me with strategy and matchups. He has a great personality too. I think the biggest thing he needs to work on is when and how to tighten the reigns on players that need it. Sounds very much his playing days.

Matt has the advantage of learning from his father, who I was very impressed with as a coach. Maybe now that Matt has experience basketball beyond college, maybe he has learned the few things he was lacking. If that is the case, Matt will be a dynamic hire for any college. As motivated as he is, I would be not surprised to see him be a collegiate headcoach in his early 30's. Ironically enough, about the time all Tinks kids will be adults.

As for the Estes kid, one of the guys I work with has seen him play and his son has played against him in the summers. He feels Estes would be a great sleeper for any small to midmajor program, but feels he will not be ready to be a major contributor until his Jr year, maybe 1/2 way through his Sophomore year, and would be someone that could use a redshirt year.
 
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