Yeah, no COACH could get more out of his players, they didn't say anything about message board know it alls.
Stop underutilizing Ward
- Thread starter ZRF
- Start date
He's a big with a hurt foot. I don't want him playing any more than he is right now.
Needs more paragraphs.
I think the way we use Ward we need to give him a lot of rest. At the KU game he was helping double at the three point line and sprint back to cover and cut off the pass to the Dickerson/post.
He was the only big man on the team that could do this. His athleticism allowed him to cover 17 feet of space in seconds. However, that style of defense is very fatiguing. I think increasing his playing time will just cause a drop off on his defense and honestly, I consider his defense more important than his offense.
He was the only big man on the team that could do this. His athleticism allowed him to cover 17 feet of space in seconds. However, that style of defense is very fatiguing. I think increasing his playing time will just cause a drop off on his defense and honestly, I consider his defense more important than his offense.
I think Ward is a get addition to our lineup, no doubt. We are better with him on the floor, not arguing that.
I just don't think playing him 30/35 minutes a game is going to benefit us. Bigs don't have the stamina the guards do. The way Ward plays, he would not be able to sustain that playing the minutes you want him to play. The dude runs rim to rim defending the whole time he's out there. Not sustainable if he's playing 30 minutes a game.
Im arguing that you cannot play Ward that much with how physical the Big 12 is and how long of a season is. AND he's coming off an injury.
Rob and Ward have been a great 1-2 punch this year and I don't think we should be tinkering with anything. They spell each other pretty damn well and I actually like how TJ's gone offense defense with them in late game situations. Look no further than the KU and KSU games where Ward was on the floor at the right time to where he shot FTs instead of Rob.
I view Ward's utilization almost like Tyrus McGee's, where you could certainly make a case that he could/should be starting, but the spark he provides off the bench is phenomenal.
I view Ward's utilization almost like Tyrus McGee's, where you could certainly make a case that he could/should be starting, but the spark he provides off the bench is phenomenal.
If TJ goes the TV salesman route like Morgan after ZRF applies for the job, I have high hopes since Texas somehow got convinced to throw so much down for Hunter.
Honestly, the production that TJ is getting out of both BRE and Ward given their very obvious basketball limitations is nothing short of amazing.
This is a terrible argument.
This is about as dumb as saying we should have limited Milan's minutes because he struggled defensively early in the year. The only way a player is going to get better is if you allow them to play through some mistakes and learn as they go. At times Ward has limited himself with fouls, I've admitted as much, but he's had FOUR games with 2 fouls or less in conference play. In such games he's averaged about 16.5 minutes a game.
Hey, the guy was injured and I was all for being conservative before conference play. Since it's started I've seen nothing from Ward that indicates he can't handle a higher workload. That doesn't mean 40 minutes a game, but it sure as hell (at least) means in the mid 20s, closer to 30 if she shows he can handle that.
Otz is arbitrarily limiting his minutes despite him being one of our best players. Do we sit Lipsey more so he can stay fresh? Or Milan? No, you play them as much as they can until it's shown to be detrimental.
TJ is flat out ******* up with Ward. There is really no substantial evidence to the contrary.
Playing him until he can't will then turn into complaining why he isn't in late in the game or isn't able to rotate or hit free throws.
TJ and his staff appear to be elite at communication within their own space and with the players and it seems like minute distribution etc. is very well calculated based on what they're finding.
Then.
*******.
Email.
TJ.
And get back to us with what you find out.
FWIW I'd say a 3 game winning streak in the Big 12 is pretty good evidence.
BRE moreso than Ward. Ward is an athletic freak and there were signs, especially late in the year last year, he should have been playing more (then). Honestly I'm a little surprised at how effective he's been, not necessarily that he has been. BRE on the other hand? It's shocking. Hats off to the guy as nobody works harder than he does.
We are ranked 12th. I am not sure why this is a thing right now. If we were in Iowa's position, i get that we can gripe and internet coach. However, I am giong to allow TJ to use our guys however he wants.
Comparing Ward's ability to arguably one of the best all around PG's in the nation in Lipsey as well as possibly the best FR in college basketball in Milan is criminal on your part. Cmon.
Actually yes we have been giving Lipsey more rest during the game.
Another stupid argument that seems to be rooted in contrarianism more than anything else.
Make him PROVE he can't handle the minutes. Thus far the eye test and metrics show he's an insanely effective player and criminally underutilized. In fact, there is no player in the conference as underutilized as Ward. You are making bogus assumption about complaints that can't even happen because a player is being arbitrarily limited. He's effective and has shown no signs of being limited or tired. So why are we limited him?
That's not to say Ward shouldn't be sat in certain situations. Where we can rotate players, at the end of a (close game) where we expect to be fouled, he obviously shouldn't be out there. But he's the best man for the job in almost every other situation, even if he does (like almost all of our players) have limitations (offensive moves for example). Even on that he's showing signs of coming around.
You're just salty becuase in your brilliant coaching mind TJ almost lost the game by putting in BRE up 9 with 2 minutes left. I don't know what Dickinson and Mccullars draining 3s has to do with either Ward Or BRE being on the floor.
The fact is Ward is a damn good Big 12 player, so is 2024 BRE. So one should play 33 minutes and the other 7?
The minutes Otz is managing for the whole team seems to be working very well.