Stop underutilizing Ward
- Thread starter ZRF
- Start date
At TCU
Ward 21 min
BRE 13 min
The healthier that Ward gets, the more minutes he's going to play in relation to Rob as long as he isn't in foul trouble. ZRF will probably think it's because of this stupid thread.
Why do you believe you know everything? Are you in the locker room? Practices? Know any of the players? Know anyone associated with the program? We as fans have no clue why Ward, Watson, Omaha, ..etc TJ wants to play. He knows their conditioning, habits, mood, or whatever it is way better than any of us will ever know. Hell, what do I know if one of the players got a bad meal somewhere and feels like he'll crap his pants. They're all student athletes and have class loads. Maybe that has something to do with it. Girlfriends or break ups. Who knows? U don't so quit questioning this process. This is a fun ride and the team seems to have great chemistry that's only getting better.
I will give him this , this has lasted 5 hours. So maybe he won in the end?
Yeah, that was something that occurred to me. I figure that kind of impact is strongly correlated with block percentage. Because of that correlation, all-in-one box score summary stats like Win Shares or BPM (both of which Ward is doing very well on right now, and I know ZRF likes to look at) that include block rates would already capture a lot of that kind of impact that isn't technically counted in the box score but is correlated with things that are.
I think we need an "auto-dumbing" function on CF....
You are making assumptions as to why Ward isn't playing more. You even stated you think Otz might not realize how good Ward is playing. What's more likely, the coach who turned around this program into the #12 ranked team in the country has no clue who's playing well on the team? Or that he might be limiting the minutes of a high energy player coming off an injury? I think the statistics reflect the fact that he's doing a great job of picking the spots to use Ward. There's a lot more to basketball than looking at who has the best per minute stats and playing them the most minutes. There are match-ups, injuries, experience, etc. to consider. People aren't giving you the actual reasons why Ward isn't playing more, because no one on this board knows why. But neither do you. Based on the results we all trust that Otz has a good reason for his rotations. So unless I had inside knowledge as to why Otz is playing the players the way he is, I wouldn't start a thread about it.
5 hours? Lol..this has been going on for months now. This, that, or whatever
I dont think this is it at all. Most of us are just satisfied with the season so far so aren't obsessing over minute distribution when everything is working fine.
Didn't he put in Ward after about a minute or two of gameplay the other day against Kansas? It's not like it's Steve Prohm who thought he was violating some kind of Ames city ordinance by not putting in Wigginton until under 14.
Jones and Ward are different types of players/defenders. Jones is physical in paint, solid in double teams and on-ball. Ward is much better in space and rim protector/shot blocker.
So the Jones/Ward tandem are complimentary players and create different match-up issues for opponents. So expecting each to play 16-24mpg is reasonable.
Neither is tremendously skilled as a low post scorer. And while Ward is a great rim-protector, his weakness is bodying up against physical low-posts like KU's Dickinson.
I think we will see everyone come conference tournament time. Last year we did it out of necessity, but for for reason it sticks in my mind TJ had a bigger rotation in the conference tournament his first year as well? It seemed like everyone just had an extra boost of energy because some guys got a chance to play and wanted to show what they had. I would be up for that if you are not necessarily playing for a certain seed line in the NCAA tournament.
I think a lot of that had to do with the culture issue that was going on due to the Grill incident. There was a lot there. TJ said "**** it, we're playing everyone" and it worked for the two games against Baylor.
That was one of the healthiest things TJ could have done in that situation imo.
And that whole situation was proof that things good in one phase of a season don't always stay that way.
It's about trust too. If you can't trust him to stay out of foul trouble that also affects game week prep and planning.
You have to be able to trust he can be in there when you gameplan ahead of time. If you gameplan for his strengths as a key in our defense and he's not available from foul trouble that drags down the whole defensive unit.
Yes he's had SOME games where he stayed out of foul trouble, but he needs to be able to be counted on to eliminate the foolish fouls and he's getting closer. We are also seeing more minutes.
He’s played 11 games this year. He’s had 4 fouls in 5 of those games.
To be effective he has to be aggressive, being aggressive will lead to fouling, fouling will lead to foul trouble, foul trouble leads to sitting on the bench. I don’t think it’s that complicated.
To be effective he has to be aggressive, being aggressive will lead to fouling, fouling will lead to foul trouble, foul trouble leads to sitting on the bench. I don’t think it’s that complicated.
In PS5 terms, Wards R2 button is stuck in the down position and he needs a sub so he can continue being effective when he’s in. Only the real ones know what I mean.