First off, I like John and hope he gets it together. Having said that, John is a 4, he is not a 5. Even in prime condition, John cannot play the 5. He hasn't got the hops or the mobility to defend the 5. He just can't move and jump like Fede. Offensively, he is a low post player and could be effective in certain matchups. However, clogging up the lane could be a detriment to our better players who excel on the dribble drive. I just don't see how he would make this team better right now.
Next year, without Jamarius, Nike, and Nelly there could be a place for him as we will clearly be a different team. We may may need a low post player to run the offense through, but he is a 4, and would have to be able to defend a almost certainly more mobile player than himself. I don't think his offensive output would ever surpass his defensive liabilities. We have seen Pitt's best defense in a long time this year, and it is not a coincidence that big John has not been a part of it.
John did not move great when he was in shape, he is not a 4. He could not even guard the 5 last year well. If you cannot guard it, you cannot play it.
What evidence would you be talking about ? Thirty minutes or whatever amount of time he played this year while having knee and mental health issues which you failed to recognize.
How could anyone whose watched Pitt bb compare this roster to any of the other rosters Pitt has had under JC . You have team oriented guys who defend and can shoot the three . This team is better because of the players they added not solely because John isn’t playing .
Players roles are always being redefined depending on circumstances ,
Pitt ( not we unless you were suiting it up ) lost because their roster sucked . They couldn’t shoot or defend and of course that’s all on Hugley .
So Big John is going to beat up his teammates unless he’s the focus of the offense .
I wished someone in the media would ask JC if he wants Hugley back next season , but I already know what his answer would be despite what you and Bb insider think .
To the point of Hugley and this team, I side with the folks that say that this particular unit is better without him.
You noted that they could not defend last year. That was 100% on Hugley being very weak on D, not giving effort at times and often being out of position.
Fede has turned their backline into a positive and he fixes mistakes at the hoop and within the team defensive concept. He mentally plays D like a guard on the backline and it has made Pitt so much better.
John was important for them last year because they lacked scoring and he does score well near the hoop. As a result, he was their most valuable player last year. But, he also ate way too many possessions with bad plays and his defense was very bad (though not nearly as bad as this year).
I like John a lot and I think he still has a lot of potential. He is very big, has very soft hands, really good coordination and he does some things well naturally that are very hard to teach. He has tools that are hard to find and because he actually can shoot, he can play in the modern game well if he gets it together. By the same token, he is a very incomplete basketball player that does not play defense much of time and offensively has been known to kill possessions.
He tried to impose on the game this year like last year and it largely hurt the team when he played because he did not have the conditioning that he had last year. He also did show some bad body language though I think he always has had a little of it. He really only helped the team on one end last year because they did not have much else offensively with Burton playing injured, Horton out and then coming back out of rhythm and Femi going through the motions.
I have always viewed him as a project in a way. It was always going to take time because they needed to get him flexible with core stability, in-shape and he needed to firm his skills/understanding of the game. Before the injury, he did steadily improve through years of time. And, getting hurt is not his fault (though the weight gain does fall on him, but it is really hard).
This all said, I think Panther fans tend to really overrate him. He scored a lot on a bad team. He contributed heavily to the bad by not playing any defense for the most part.
I am sure that they want him back; they have invested a lot into him, they know him and he has things that other guys just do not have. But, with Fede and the twins and how you would expect them to improve in the next year, they clearly do not need him anymore. And, because it is a two way game and ostensibly Hinson should return, I do not think he fits as well as Fede does into how they are likely to play next year (which is still a matter of debate but it is clear that if he is here, Hinson will shoot a lot of shots).
I really hope that he hits his potential as a Panther. He could be a guy that impacts play at this level like Armando Bacot for example. Big guys still mean something if you have a good one. But, he has an awfully long way to get there both with getting back in shape and having consistent play on both ends.
