What happened to the Beard earlier in the season that lead the team in assists, now he just holds the ball until the shot clock runs down.
He’s had a couple big mistakes this half that have cost us the momentum. They layup he got blocked on a fast break, holding the ball the entire shot clock and throwing up a long range 3, then committing a silly foul on a jump shooter at the end of the half.
And it’s not just his fault we’re down, but he’s had the biggest head scratchers so far.
He has definitely struggled lately. I think 7-32 the last 7 games. The other guards have played so well that it’s gone a little under the radar.
Like you said, he’s been a bit of a ball-stopper. Hasn’t set guys up like he did earlier this year.
Defensively, he’s prone to falling asleep off the ball at times and sinking down into the paint unnecessarily, which leaves his man open beyond the arc.
He played so, so well through about mid-January. Regressed pretty significantly since and his minutes reflect it. Just 15 at Auburn and 11 at Florida. They need him to turn it around. He and Moses are the only 2 who have actually played in the tourney.
Don’t be too critical. Beard has made some huge plays on defense and hit some big shots that have helped during the 5 game winning streak. He had a bad game. Look at the box score he was not alone.
I like Beard, but we are playing for a tournament spot. We gotta shorten that rotation. He’s lost on both offense and defense. Gave Frazier a free 2 points to end the game, that could end up being huge. He can’t buy a shot right now.
MA lets some play through when they need to watch through, some like Thomas sit in a hurry and some get the blessing to play thru. Just one of those MA oddities that an asssistant needs to clue him in on.
I’m glad Mike let him play through the struggles. Beard was amazing the last 10-12 minutes of the game. 3-3 FGs, 2 steals and he ends up with 4 boards. Mike letting Beard play through his struggles these last few games could set him up well for the SEC and NCAA tournaments. We are going to need Beard’s contributions if we want to make any noise in the tournaments.
Well, to be fair the game was pretty much over then. Weren’t we up by like 16+ points or so when Beard started scoring? It’s not like he was clutch or anything. Georgia was pretty much out for the count by then. And I’m not one that takes agenda against any players, if they play well, I always try to give them props, if they struggle I talk about that as well. Beard played really well earlier in the season, and I was posting it’s time for him to start, but these last few games he’s not just been bad, he’s had head scratching plays that are big momentum shifters. How do you lose JJ Frazier with 7 seconds left in the half?
But, like you said, we do need Beard to be on his A game, maybe those points gets his confidence back up and we see the Beard from earlier in the year going into the tournament. Someone else also mentioned, maybe his shoulder is still hurting. Anybody have any info on that?
Don’t know about his shoulder, but the last 2-3 weeks, he’s not looked like he’s had much energy. I know it started after the game he only got in for 2-3 minutes and we were informed he was sick. I never heard what he had, but if it was a bad case of the flu, that can sap your energy for a good 2-weeks. Hopefully, that’s what it was, because he looked like the old Beard in the 2nd half.
I’m not sure exactly when he started his run, but it was around the 13 minute mark, so we were up either 56-46 or 58-46. I do know that it was his 2 terrific drives that put us up 16 for the first time. I’m just glad he finally played with good energy and looked more like he did a few weeks ago.
Again, like you said, hopefully this second half gets him back on track. We’ll need his experience. He has like the most tournament playing time on the roster right now.
Comments: Yes, he did have a nice game today not settling for those outside jumpers. I think he’s pressing to hard and need to relax and settle down and take what the defense give…