From my (admittedly distant) perception of Lick's interaction with his point guards, his treatment seems paradoxical.
First, Lick needs a good point guard to run his offense. The point guard is in large part responsible for the dribble penetration needed to initiate his offense. The point guard must be able to penetrate off ball screens, probe the lane, collapse the defense, and find the open man--all against Big 10 athletes. This requires a talented point guard, a guard with above-average athleticism, good-to-great handles, and high basketball IQ (this combination of skills does not grow on trees).
But second, Lick appears to give his point guard absolutely no discretion, freedom to improvise, or freedom to play fast. He coaches the heck out of them, and seems to make it generally unpleasant to be his point guard (see Freeman, Peterson, and at times Payne).
This paradox seems to create a problem. He needs a highly skilled & talented player, but is unwilling to loosen the reigns on this player, which in turn creates frustration in his point guard. This frustration leads to transfers or point guards simply not electing to play for Iowa.
I guess an argument could be made that Lick has never had this highly skilled point guard, and that Lick would give discretion if he ever recruits/finds/develop this point guard. But it seems constructing an offense dependent on a talented point guard, who is willing to tolerate being extensively micro-managed, and willing to exclusively play slow-it-down penetrate & kick basketball is not a good strategy. I think Lick is finding it is hard to find this point guard.
First, Lick needs a good point guard to run his offense. The point guard is in large part responsible for the dribble penetration needed to initiate his offense. The point guard must be able to penetrate off ball screens, probe the lane, collapse the defense, and find the open man--all against Big 10 athletes. This requires a talented point guard, a guard with above-average athleticism, good-to-great handles, and high basketball IQ (this combination of skills does not grow on trees).
But second, Lick appears to give his point guard absolutely no discretion, freedom to improvise, or freedom to play fast. He coaches the heck out of them, and seems to make it generally unpleasant to be his point guard (see Freeman, Peterson, and at times Payne).
This paradox seems to create a problem. He needs a highly skilled & talented player, but is unwilling to loosen the reigns on this player, which in turn creates frustration in his point guard. This frustration leads to transfers or point guards simply not electing to play for Iowa.
I guess an argument could be made that Lick has never had this highly skilled point guard, and that Lick would give discretion if he ever recruits/finds/develop this point guard. But it seems constructing an offense dependent on a talented point guard, who is willing to tolerate being extensively micro-managed, and willing to exclusively play slow-it-down penetrate & kick basketball is not a good strategy. I think Lick is finding it is hard to find this point guard.
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