Been thinking about this for about 3-4 games and last night cemented it. Barford is obviously having a bit of a hard time with the adjustment and finding his way/role. It looks like he’s forcing things and maybe putting too much pressure on himself. I like the idea of starting Beard and pairing him with Macon then having Barford come in with Hannahs. I think those combos would work better. It feels like the ball stalls with Macon and Barford out there together, I think Beard would setup Macon and Kinglsey better and since Dusty is more off ball/catch and shoot he’d pair with Barford better.
I opined this on a radio show I do on Monday nights the other day and was essentially told it would kill Barford’s confidence and you wouldn’t get much out of him. But I tend to agree with you. I think Beard would help get people better looks and stimulate better offense. In just the last two games, he’s set up some of the backup bigs for easy looks. Moses hasn’t gotten many this year. Anton has generally played with a very calm demeanor.
But I could see Mike sticking with the same 5 until they hit a snag.
Exactly. The second unit is coming in against either a tired first unit or opponent’s second unit and Dusty/Beard are causing havoc. That has been a winning formula. Let’s not disrupt that. Also, Macon and Bradford make a good big guard defensive combo to start the game. Plus eventually Barford is going to click.
You are right that time to change anything will be after the next loss.
CJ is coming along nicely and has a bright future. I think coaches are doing an excellent job with him and Bailey, they are bringing them along slowly and working them in the rotation when they can. Both of those guys will be significant contributors next year (maybe even later this year), they just need to be patient and continue learning.
As far as Barford, I remember we had conversations about Beard starting for him in another thread. I actually thought that would eventually happen, because Barford has kinda been up and down this year. With that said, the rotations CMA has been using has been working well, no need to fix something that isn’t broken. Barford will be fine, he just gets a bit out of control sometimes, but that’s very fixable, and every time after he has a bad game he always shows up and has a good game right after. We need him to be on his A game for conference play.
That’s concerning to me. If you’re not mentally tough enough to respond to a different role then what else are you not mentally tough enough for? I would think it would actually take some pressure off of him to come off the bench and have Hannahs with him. Could also be beneficial for getting Moses going.
Agreed. At this point, he’s relegated mostly to being a spot-up shooter. I think we’re both super-high on him and what he can become moving forward, but I think he’s in the right role for now.
How many dozens of times do shyou suppose that the coaching staff has used all possible combinations of guards/forwards to see wnhich worked and which did not?