Not necessarily. PS is a shooter. He got untracked and allowed to get untracked as there wasn't an alternative and that opens things up. PM has strengths and weaknesses. A shooter he is not. He's a transition player and OK on the move. When he comes back, his skills will be needed but shouldn't come at much expense to PS' time only. PS points will come in bunches but he has to get a rhythm. Some players are good at instant offense. He is not.
It helped in Happy Valley enough to give us a chance at the end. Sandort playing well would have been the difference in a one possession game. Just like it was the difference the last few games. That said, I agree with you about Patrick. I'm sure that was making a difference too.
I give him credit for developing the bench behind his starting line up, sticking with guys through adversity and pushing the right buttons down a starter almost all year. He’s coaching well right now and the reason I thought he wasn’t earlier is he was taking his lumps by playing guys who weren’t ready but he was building them up. Fran is a good coach, I lost faith and that’s on me. The game in Lincoln was that bad.
Don't be too hard on yourself. It was ugly. Fran is a coach. Strengths and weaknesses. My hope is he will find a positive way to use PM without sacrificing the currently mix. Clearly the lane is farm more open due to outside threats. PM has a nice game but both he and KM can clog the middle and take away outside shooting at the same time as neither have the outside game as a strength and the Pt Guards aren't going to shoot outside that much (nor should they) but still be a threat. KM needs space. PS needs the opportunity to miss and stay in the game to get the rhythm. However MSU and Purdue will be more of a challenge underneath. I would have taken reluctantly 4-3 at this point, but not how we got there. Need a few more big wins against the big dogs.
They’ll get their chances and no more bad losses really on the schedule. As is, wins at Clemson, at Rutgers, and ISU by 19 are money in the bank.
I’m truly blown away from what I saw in Lincoln. It was as bad as I’ve witnessed. They were just in a bad place. I don’t know what happen with Pat, but that’s when it changed. Other then coincidence, it seems to have opened up everything else. Fran has shown an uncanny ability to be able to read what is ailing his team mid season several times. We’re going to lose some games on the road, but I feel like they’ve taken some monster steps the last month or so and whether that’s shooting better or not, it’s also playing the right guys when they need to and continuing to prop the guys up and tear down the guys who needed it. Good coaching
I was thinking of the Kyle Korver comparison the other day. Not saying the Payton is the next Korver but there are some similarities, the obvious one being the outside shooting. Payton has multiple skills that could translate to the NBA. Great shooter, good rebounder, long and lanky defender. I think he is probably more athletic that Korver was too. And Korver had a 16 year NBA career.
Word has it that Gaten's worked on his shot presentation... Elbow was too free/inconsistent...
Not play him until his head is clear and focused. If he has lingering issues and it affects the team, it will potentially be the same situation as late December.
By all means, ignore the turnarounds by Sandfort and Perkins and take another swipe at a cancer survivor struggling with anxiety.
Agree. Also, most teams in the Big Ten go on good and bad streaks. Looks like the entire conference is in a similar boat right now. Glad we have a good coach.
I didn't take that as a swipe at all. He's just stating the obvious that adding a new player rotation to a team that's rolling could be tricky.
I remember one year where Wisconsin won the conference where they looked unbeatable all year except a 3 game stretch where they lost all 3. Including a game to Rutgers who was the cellar dweller.
Work him into the rotation and they'll be really good?
Rebraca and Sandfort lost minutes last game already.
