Amen. What were doing on offense is fantastic. I want to fix the defense, because if we do, look out. Neither Moretti nor RayJ for that matter fixes the defense.
Someone said we'd have 4 more wins if RayJ was our PG. Well there was a guy named Michael Jordan who averaged about 10 "Wins Above Replacement Player" per season. They play 82 games, so 4 wins in a 35 game college season would be on par with that. Do we really think RayJ is Michael Jordan?
Everyone points to the collapses at MSU and Penn State: "Wouldn't have happened if we had a good PG", they say. Well Marcus being thrown the ball in the corner and nobody coming to help him. That's not really his fault. Coleman bricks two FTs and then fouls 3 point shooter. Nothing a PG would've fixed there either. In the MSU game, Marcus's turnover with 1:42 remaining was amazingly his FIRST turnover of the ENTIRE SEASON in the final two minutes of a game.
Marcus has a 13% turnover rate. For reference, RayJ Dennis 22%, Zeke Zeigler 19%, Tyler Kolek 18%, Dajuan Harris 22%, Tristan Newton 16%, Braden Smith 20%.
It's just not an issue at all so I am getting increasingly annoyed to see it mentioned over and freaking over every single game.
You make great points, but it's simplistic. I'm in the camp that we're lacking sorely at that specific position. It's taking three guys to hold down that position at the end of games.
1)You mention Domask getting caught in the corner. Who inbounded the ball? Why is a non ball handler getting the ball in the first place? The answer is that he's the best we have and while he's been a great player for us, he shouldn't be in that situation. He's out of position, but in a position of need, his number is called.
2)Why was Coleman even on the line? He shouldn't be handling the ball in the situation. That's just flat bad decision making. You know who should have the ball there.
3)When you have a guy that can handle pressure in the backcourt, teams will hesitate to pressure because he'll make you pay. You're seeing opposing teams game plans unfold and we're going to see that intense pressure from here on out.
4)Our guards, when Domask and Goode are out there, aren't quick enough to cover another teams PG. We can't keep them out of the lane, we get broken down and give up layups. This is not Domask's fault and it's not Goode's fault....they're big guys who can't stay in front of smaller, shiftier guys. Go back, game by game and see how successful we were at containing good guards. Not good.
5)Don't compare Domask to ANY of those guys. He doesn't have the ball in his hands half as much time as those guys do. There isn't one guy in your list that you wouldn't pencil in as one of our starters in an instant. If we had a chance to get a Kolek, you'd jump on it in a heartbeat. C'mon....
6)This situation isn't solely a RayJ thing. Look at what Moretti did today. When he handled the ball, he knew his job, the ball never stuck, the offense ran smoothly and he hit the open shot. I don't care if it's Domask, RayJ, Rodgers, Smith..... whoever. That's what we need to see. Those are winning plays and that's winning basketball. Brad didn't leave him out there for kicks and giggles. He did his job, no Rodgers and no Goode necessary.
Add that to the fact that he fought through ball screens and was active defensively. His biggest issue is when God was handing out the physical gift of basketball genes, he wasn't first in line. Mentally, he's the best that we have at that position and see can see the result.
7)You look at games like Nebraska at home, Northwestern on the road, MSU on the road, PSU on the road....we went 1-3 and the Nebraska win followed a meltdown exactly the same as what happened at PSU. Each of those games had common themes.
1)Wrong guys with the ball late
2)Guards can't stat in front and get broken down
3)Turnovers that lead to
4)Scoring droughts
LIke Beilein stated, it's hero ball. There's nobody controlling the game, the clock, the sets, the ball movement, putting pressure on the other team's defense and handling pressure in the backcourt. Every one of those games felt a part because all of those elements came into play.
There has to be competence, cohesion and consistency at that position. That's a pure fact. Before today, there were constant arguments whether Ty, Goode or Harmon should be out there in crunch to me and the fact is....none of them should be.
Put the RayJ name to the side. Who cares the name. The production and consistency has to be better and if Moretti can be that guy....play him.
In an unequivocal fact that we flat out puked games up. Those were games we should have one and Nebraska should have been a game that our starters were resting in. Instead, we ended up in OT.
I don't give a frogs fat rear if we lead the country in offense for 37 minutes. If you can't close out the last three...it's moot. It's an L.
You're tired of the narrative, which is fair, but losing those games is FAR more annoying than a tired narrative. We're down to four conference games before the win or go home portion of the season starts. Somebody has to step up. If we have a repeat performance....the next conversation that we'll be having is about the portal and the 2024-2025 season.
