Wyo2dal said:
I'm worried about Lieberman running point. I feel like he could be a liability instead of a asset. He always goes left doesn't have a right move.
Against MWC opponents they are going to trap and cause a big mess for us. During the game the announcers commented on that a lot and after watching the game again I see it as being bad later in the year.
I would feel better about Lieberman if he was used more like McManamen or Aka Gorski. I think he's a better shooter than he's given credit for, but we don't run plays often for him to come off screens or curls to get open looks. I don't think he has the handles or quite enough quickness to be a "true point guard". To me a point guard is someone who has the quickness, handles, and athleticism to be able to create scoring opportunities off the dribble for teammates. The guy I was hoping to see fill that role currently plays football.
The last 4 years, even tho he wasn't really labeled as a point guard, Josh Adams to me was the guy who created opportunities and made things happen to open things up for other guys. How many of Nance and Cooke's dunks were created because of Josh's ability to penetrate, draw the help defense, and athleticism to dish it to them for the easy slam. Last year Josh was more of a scoring point guard, because we leaned so heavily on him to carry the offensive load.
In my opinion the last "true point guard" that Wyoming's had was Jay Straight, and that's been quite a few years ago. Brandon Ewing was in the point guard mold as well, but was relied upon more as a scorer than a creator. I'd say on Ewing's team, Brad Jones actually fit the point guard role better, even tho Ewing was probably labeled as the "point".
On this team, the closest thing to a true point guard I think is Cody Kelley. Given his size limitation, it's hard to know how effective he will/can be creating for others when the guys guarding him are going to be bigger and longer.
I really don't think having a true point guard is necessary either, as long as the Pokes can get the ball up the floor and get into their offense, or push the ball in transition effectively, it doesn't matter who does it, or what the "labels" are as long as it gets done. Putting in the effort on the defensive end of the floor will lead to easy offense anyway.
Last night down the stretch of the second half and late in the game, Herndon was the guy bringing the ball up and being used as the "point guard" in the offense. Justin James did it quite a bit as well, and neither of those guys fit the mold, so to speak, but they got it done!
