Something about this Walker thought above didn’t feel right to me, so I looked. Last year Walker averaged 10.2 minutes a game. With basically one bucket a game. Right now Casey, George, and shoot I already forgot the third name, probably Nwoko [edit: it was Watson. Nwoko is at 9 minutes a game] are all averaging that many minutes apiece (I think Casey is closer to 12) with similar buckets (except for George, and man I can’t wait ‘til his shots start falling) so… yeah. I agree that we’re gonna need our bench this year but it feels like, and seems like by the numbers, that our young guys are getting at least a little bit more burn than folks might be thinking. Wished we’d put FIU away earlier so we could have seen them more.
Thank you. Nailed it. Walker averaged 10.2 mpg, 2.8 ppg, and 1 rebound last year.
Watson and Casey are both giving more in every category so far this season.
The issue is that a Bensley Joseph hasn’t emerged yet in the rotation. I have confidence that will happen as the season progresses.
All of Watson, Casey, and George have averaged more than 10mpg so far this year… and Nwoko is just under 10mpg. We just haven’t seen them put a 20 min 10 point performance.
I think the frustration is that when the games have tightened Coach has immediately gone back to his starting 5… because that’s who he trusts to win the game (edit: he doesn’t trust the defense of his rotation players yet).
Hopefully the rotation will get more minutes and earn more trust.
Remember that Coach L is the opposite of Calipari. Calipari lets his freshman jack up shots and let up defensively… and they hit the nba draft as almost the same player that came out of high school.
Coach L doesn’t allow that… and I believe that is a big part of why we see such tremendous development. Would anyone recognize Bensley Joseph this year from what he looked like as a freshman? Or Wooga? They are totally different players, and I believe a big part of their development is accountability and having to earn their playing time.
Players say play me more and I’ll play better.
*Good* coaches say play better and I’ll play you more.