Aaron White - Please be true.

JG10Hawk

JG10Hawk

Well-Known Member
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“I’m going to try and be a little more aggressive on offense,â€￾ White said. “Last year, I think I deferred too much. I need to be more aggressive looking for my offense and taking open shots. Late in the season, I lost my confidence shooting it. This year I’m going to let it fly, and shoot when I’m open.â€￾
 
The second best player on the team having no confidence in his shot and a tired point guard who went 0-17 down the stretch and some in this fan base are blaming the collapse on the team's best player Marble. Only in our fan base!
 
SpecialKHawk said:
The second best player on the team having no confidence in his shot and a tired point guard who went 0-17 down the stretch and some in this fan base are blaming the collapse on the team's best player Marble. Only in our fan base!
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SKH, so are you saying the blame should have been laid at the feet of White?
 
There was, in my opinion, plenty of blame to go around given the stunning collapse at the end of last season. But, I really don't care about that any more. Its over.

I like Aaron's self analysis as he gears up for his senior year. His trips to some elite camps should boost his confidence a great deal. I have always thought that his tendency to disappear at times had to do with his head, not his heart.

All players have limitations, as do teams. I get pretty frustrated when posters continually complain about the weaknesses of individual players or the team as a whole. The real key is to have a team that always works to focus on and take advantage of their strengths and do their best to work on their weak points...with the understanding that the weaknesses will be there. Name a team, or an individual player that you watched in the BT last year that did not have weaknesses. Good luck with that!

My prediction is that Aaron will have a banner year; he will improve on defense, he will get lots of "garbage" points, he will run the floor, he will get a lot of steals, he will rebound on both ends at a high level. He will drive and shoot better than last year...but he will not likely turn into Marble. First or second team all BT for him.
 
ArvadaHawk said:
SKH, so are you saying the blame should have been laid at the feet of White?
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I doubt any one player deserves THE blame. But I'd bet there was blame to go around for at least several players, for varying reasons and to varying degrees.

As for White's comments, I hope he fulfills that promise and think he will. But this isn't the first time he's expressed that sentiment, either.
 
He's a senior, our best player (arguably), I'd hope he realizes we eill need more scoring out of him.
 
I'm not all that excited by this comment. I don't believe Aaron is that talented of an offensive player so I'm not exactly thrilled with the thought of him being more aggressive.

What I'm hoping to see is more production from these 3: Uthoff, Woody & Jok

I think these guys can make some bigger improvements than White will by being more aggressive. Also Mike G can't go ice cold like he did at the end of the season and hopefully Dickerson can create some more scoring opps for others with his penetration.
 
I put zero stock in what any player says going into their senior year. You hear it every year. Working extra hard, going to do this going to do that. Three seniors were talking that way last year at this time. I believe what I see on the court the entire year when it happens. I've seen young talented players get tired at the end of a long season but seniors should be conditioned and prepared for the stretch part of the season. Just like in horse racing as they come into the stretch that's when you really see the thoroughbred come out. It's those rare gifted people that have that extra something coursing through their being. A reservoir inside of them that separates them from the average Joe. I hope we can see a few of our players dispay that to us this upcoming season. I don't care if it's a photo finish and we win by just a nose.........just win baby!!!
 
Last season's collapse was a TEAM effort ... And in re: to White's comment ... would be nice to see him get some of that agressiveness back.
 
BigD said:
I put zero stock in what any player says going into their senior year. You hear it every year. Working extra hard, going to do this going to do that. Three seniors were talking that way last year at this time. I believe what I see on the court the entire year when it happens. I've seen young talented players get tired at the end of a long season but seniors should be conditioned and prepared for the stretch part of the season. Just like in horse racing as they come into the stretch that's when you really see the thoroughbred come out. It's those rare gifted people that have that extra something coursing through their being. A reservoir inside of them that separates them from the average Joe. I hope we can see a few of our players dispay that to us this upcoming season. I don't care if it's a photo finish and we win by just a nose.........just win baby!!!
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I tend to agree ... Like when Clemmons said he didn't work as hard as he needed to, etc. Until you see it on the court ... talk can be cheap ... Let's hope this year's team has a few guys that step up and simply get it done ...
 
tm3308 said:
I doubt any one player deserves THE blame. But I'd bet there was blame to go around for at least several players, for varying reasons and to varying degrees.

As for White's comments, I hope he fulfills that promise and think he will. But this isn't the first time he's expressed that sentiment, either.
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A lot of you have stated it better than I could. My comments on White and others last year were an expression of disappointment after reading a number of comments on various posts that indicate or insinuate that the teams best player hands down in Marble was the issue. By subtracting him we are instantly going to be better. The timeless selfish player card. It is wrong as Marble was excellent last season.

I get that the collapse was disappointing to everyone and we always want to find and isolate a single aspect to hold up as the reason. In this case there were multiple issues that came to a head and it was truly a team collapse. I think the team started to hit a physical wall that became a mental wall and they lost confidence in their ability to win. Doubt is really tough to overcome.

This coming year is a new year with new opportunities.
 
ibahawkeye said:
I'm not all that excited by this comment. I don't believe Aaron is that talented of an offensive player so I'm not exactly thrilled with the thought of him being more aggressive.

What I'm hoping to see is more production from these 3: Uthoff, Woody & Jok

I think these guys can make some bigger improvements than White will by being more aggressive. Also Mike G can't go ice cold like he did at the end of the season and hopefully Dickerson can create some more scoring opps for others with his penetration.
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I like to still hope he can improve his jump shot. The rest of his game is fine (he's never going to have great handles/individual moves). He just needs to be able to hit open jump shots.
 
The best part of his statement is it shows that he's a stand-up guy, who's able to offer an honest self-analysis, take accountability for his performance and intends to correct it. What he describes -- going MIA and dererring -- is exactly one of the keys to the cliff-dive. On any given night, from mid-February forward, it was some combo of Whitey's disappearing act, the rotation and Mike G trying to force his way out of his slump that resulted in the dysfunctional losses.
 
drew003 said:
I like to still hope he can improve his jump shot. The rest of his game is fine (he's never going to have great handles/individual moves). He just needs to be able to hit open jump shots.
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Great in theory but how is a college player who is already taking hundreds of shots a day improve this jump shot by a tremendous amount?

Not just Whitey... But I believe in most cases, by the time in college you're either a shooter or not. How many players come into college not being a good shooter and turn into one?
 
ibahawkeye said:
Great in theory but how is a college player who is already taking hundreds of shots a day improve this jump shot by a tremendous amount?

Not just Whitey... But I believe in most cases, by the time in college you're either a shooter or not. How many players come into college not being a good shooter and turn into one?
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He doesn't really have to be good, just good enough to keep teams from daring him to shoot. Being average would accomplish that.
 
doclee said:
There was, in my opinion, plenty of blame to go around given the stunning collapse at the end of last season. But, I really don't care about that any more. Its over.

I like Aaron's self analysis as he gears up for his senior year. His trips to some elite camps should boost his confidence a great deal. I have always thought that his tendency to disappear at times had to do with his head, not his heart.

All players have limitations, as do teams. I get pretty frustrated when posters continually complain about the weaknesses of individual players or the team as a whole. The real key is to have a team that always works to focus on and take advantage of their strengths and do their best to work on their weak points...with the understanding that the weaknesses will be there. Name a team, or an individual player that you watched in the BT last year that did not have weaknesses. Good luck with that!

My prediction is that Aaron will have a banner year; he will improve on defense, he will get lots of "garbage" points, he will run the floor, he will get a lot of steals, he will rebound on both ends at a high level. He will drive and shoot better than last year...but he will not likely turn into Marble. First or second team all BT for him.
Click to expand...

Very well put, Doclee, I also am looking forward to this season. Have a feeling it will be a very good one....

We will need Aaron to have an excellent year and it sounds like he is motivated....

:rolleyes:
 
BigD said:
I put zero stock in what any player says going into their senior year. You hear it every year. Working extra hard, going to do this going to do that. Three seniors were talking that way last year at this time. I believe what I see on the court the entire year when it happens. I've seen young talented players get tired at the end of a long season but seniors should be conditioned and prepared for the stretch part of the season. Just like in horse racing as they come into the stretch that's when you really see the thoroughbred come out. It's those rare gifted people that have that extra something coursing through their being. A reservoir inside of them that separates them from the average Joe. I hope we can see a few of our players dispay that to us this upcoming season. I don't care if it's a photo finish and we win by just a nose.........just win baby!!!
Click to expand...


Win, Baby, Win.....

Brand new season coming up with some very talented players on the team, it is going to come down to teamwork, chemistry and individual effort on offense and defense.....

I believe Fran and the team know what has to be done, and have the ability to do it.....

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:
 
DesMoinesHawki said:
Last season's collapse was a TEAM effort ... And in re: to White's comment ... would be nice to see him get some of that agressiveness back.
Click to expand...

I really don't care all that much if White increases his scoring much. As is, he is a very good college player. His inability to consistently knock down outside shots or handle the ball real well is what has kept him from being an elite player. But if he was excellent at those two things he'd already be in the NBA.

I've come to try and appreciate White for what he is rather than what I might hope he will be. If he hits 40% from 3-point land next year, I'll be thrilled. But he's been more than what anyone could have reasonably expected already. He's a guy who is great at catching and finishing in the open court, getting to the line and (when playing well) getting rebounds and playing defense. White's first 2 years, he played with more of an edge than I saw last year. By that I mean he didn't just stand around and take it when other teams pushed us around (as they had under Lick). I want to see some of that feistiness return. Iowa needs a guy who plays with an emotional edge. On defense, he started to become too enamored the last half of the year with stepping in the passing lanes vs. playing solid man defense. This wasn't limited to him, as the entire team dropped off a cliff in terms of effort on the defensive end.

If White can lead by being the emotional leader, doing all the dirty work and improving just even a bit from the perimeter, this team could be good. Between Uthoff, Woodbury, Jok, Oglesby, Gesell, et al they should score enough most nights. But if they don't play any D it won't matter.
 
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