I know that it sounds harsh, but I think this could have been an NCAA team if he had not regressed. At the start of the season I thought our best lineup would eventually have been Newkirk and Robinson in the backcourt, Wright at SF and Young and Artis. I think others on here agreed. Unfortunately, Newkirk has never learned to guard anyone and his offensive became much worse. Maybe he lost confidence because of his defensive struggles.
Elsewhere it has been asked how the loss of Zanna and Patterson could cause our defensive ranking to drop about 200 spots. Not that those two were that good defensively, but Newkirk not being able to become the starting SG affected everything else. Young was probably a bit less than Zanna as a defender at C, but Artis was nowhere near Young at PF. Wright would have been much better guarding a 3 than a 2, and much better than Jeter and Jones. The bottom line is that defensively Patterson and Young at the 3 and 4 were much better than Jeter and Artis, and Wright would have been better at the 3 than at the 2 if Newkirk could have just become an adequate starter at 2. We still would have struggled with dribble penetration, but we would have been much better at the 3 defensively.
What this team needs is for either Wilson, Cam Johnson or a rejuvenated Newkirk to step forward as a viable starting SG next year. This allows Durand or Jones to guard the 3. If Nix can play 20 minutes at C that should allow Young time at PF, where he would be a big defensive inprovement over Artis. As far as Jeter, he has shown flashes on offense but he really needs to commit to learning to play defense if he is going to have a major role.
This post was edited on 3/12 9:51 AM by JS School
Elsewhere it has been asked how the loss of Zanna and Patterson could cause our defensive ranking to drop about 200 spots. Not that those two were that good defensively, but Newkirk not being able to become the starting SG affected everything else. Young was probably a bit less than Zanna as a defender at C, but Artis was nowhere near Young at PF. Wright would have been much better guarding a 3 than a 2, and much better than Jeter and Jones. The bottom line is that defensively Patterson and Young at the 3 and 4 were much better than Jeter and Artis, and Wright would have been better at the 3 than at the 2 if Newkirk could have just become an adequate starter at 2. We still would have struggled with dribble penetration, but we would have been much better at the 3 defensively.
What this team needs is for either Wilson, Cam Johnson or a rejuvenated Newkirk to step forward as a viable starting SG next year. This allows Durand or Jones to guard the 3. If Nix can play 20 minutes at C that should allow Young time at PF, where he would be a big defensive inprovement over Artis. As far as Jeter, he has shown flashes on offense but he really needs to commit to learning to play defense if he is going to have a major role.
This post was edited on 3/12 9:51 AM by JS School
