First off great win today. It think we beat a good Missouri team. Team played hard and didn’t give up when Missouri went on a run. The most encouraging thing I saw was our composure down the stretch, we looked like a veteran team finishing off the game.
With that said, I need an unbiased opinion, because I think my opinion may be tainted because I’m just not a fan of his game. Everything he does kinda annoys me.
But, is it me or is Anton Beard a selfish player? What I mean by that is he looks for his shot before anything else and he kinda has that, I’m going to get mine attitude. There were a few times tonight when he could have passed it in the post to Gafford, and he didn’t do it, even the announcer was like, why didn’t he give him the ball. If he gets the ball anywhere near the basket, he’s going to shoot it. If the shot clock is running down, he’s going to shoot it, if he hasn’t shot in a while and catches it near the 3 point line he’s going to shoot it. It just seems like we’ll be playing some good unselfish basketball, then all of a sudden Beard takes a random shot or drive to the basket. Barford kinda does this as well, but he’s a better scorer than Beard and WAY better at finishing around the rim, so you can live when him doing that.
Your my boy Blu!!!
Same thoughts here, I was sure hoping Mike wudda had Macon, Barford, HALL, Gafford & Thomas or Cook in at the end of game.
It seems like Beard holds the ball out front way to much looking for an opening for HIM, but just as I say that he pulls up & hits a 3. So I see why Mike is undecided because he is a senior other than that give me Hall bout any time!!!
Blu, I know that we don’t agree sometimes, but I totally agree on Beard. In addition he has mental lapses on defense. In my playing days, if I left a good shooter, I would be sitting on the bench. I like some posters agree, we really don’t have another option. If we had a good option, I like Coach Anderson would not play as much.
I got a group text with some of my buddies we text during the games, and most of the time the posts are about what in the world is Anton Beard doing. Like today, he gave up wide open 3 pointers trying to go for steals, when there was no need to do so. Everybody on here knows I rarely criticize CMA, but his love affection for Beard is mind blowing to me. I just don’t get it. And I’m not saying Beard is a bad player. He hustles and you can tell guys respect him, but him playing 31 MPG and having the green light to take some of the shots he does… I don’t know about that, I can’t sugarcoat it.
Beard provided some offense (11 pts) for a team that sorely needs it. I also have total confidence in his ability to handle the basketball. Is he all-Conference? No. Does he drive me a little crazy 3-4 times a game? Yes.
But even for those that seem hyper-critical - what other options do we have? CJ Jones is as lost as anyone I’ve ever seen and couldn’t guard a lamppost. Darious Hall is playing well, but is still learning and is a little shaky handling the ball.
I think our best line-up is:
Gafford
Hall at the 4
Beard
Barford
Macon
The 3 headed “monster” at 4 are the guys I don’t trust. The only other guy who provides good minutes is Trey, and he is limited. I thought this was going to be a deep team, but we are really down to 7 guys who can play IMO.
Macon selfish? Most of the lobs and passes to Gafford come from Macon. If it wasn’t for Macon, Gafford would never touch the ball, because Barford and Beard are not going to pass it to him. Barford I don’t mind, because he’s a scoring machine and really good at attacking the rim. Beard is an undersized SG that really doesn’t shoot the ball that well.
I’ll agree that there are no other options. CJ is really struggling. But we’ll have to disagree on the driving crazy 3-4 times a game. More like 8-10 times for me (basically everytime he shoots lol).
Sure Macon passes the ball at times but he is still selfish. Macon takes shots that are rushed, off balance and prayers when we have players in the post. How do you explain the 2nd to last offensive set with Gafford covered by a guard yet Macon took a rushed off balance 3 with less than 20 seconds to play??? All 3 SR Guards are doing this.
We’ll have to disagree on that. Those rush shots Macon takes are good shots for him. Same as they were good shots for Dusty. When you have guys that have that type of range and shoot at a good percentage, you give them the green light. Macon has made MANY of clutch shots for us in his short career here. A good shot for Macon may not be a good shot for Beard.
You make a lot of sense about Macon. My original post stated that all 3 are being selfish and said that Macon had become more selfish than he had been. Maybe he is trying too hard to single handedly win the game. We had better offense with Barford, Beard, Hall, Thomas and Gafford to start the game because the floor spacing was good, Hall was moving, and that opened up the passing lanes of the offense.
The one thing to remember is Beard is the only player that has played for Mike for 4 consecutive years. He’s Mike’s most experienced player, who happens to be a guard, can handle the ball, and knows what Mike wants during the game. That is a huge asset to have on the floor. He is a mess at times, but we don’t win tonight’s game without him. It’s not like he’s taking minutes from someone that would be more productive.
Y’all can criticize Beard all you want. But there’s no better option.
Plus, and let this sink in…Mike loves Anton’s game. Anton does see himself as a scorer…and sometimes drives us all crazy…but Anton has always been the kind of blue collar, willing to stick his nose into a nest of yellow jackets player Mike loves. He has heart.
To me, it seems Barford has been off his game lately. Tonight’s six turnovers (which give him the most on the team for the season at 31) is a case in point. Now a guy to drives and slashes toward the basket will get turnovers, but he had one or two that were seemingly handled recklessly.
Blu, you called it right we seem to have several players at times not playing team ball and playing for a NBA job. Also we might need to scrimmage a couple days and no one be allowed to dribble the ball, this will teach players to move without the ball,set better screens, come off the screens ready to shoot and make back door cuts your friend. WPS
I don’t like his game but there is not an option that I see yet to take his minutes. His ability to stand around, hold the ball without passing it to the post player, then dribble in place puts our offense in a bad spot. He does some good things at times but I can’t stand watching the offensive ball movement slow to a crawl when it gets in his hands. Stats don’t always tell the story. Shot clock winding down makes him and others have to force one on 5 situations.