I've said it in a different thread, but I'll say it again.
"Play quick, but not in a hurry" ~ John Wooden
This team tends to play in a hurry and it results in a significant problem with turnovers. Tubby can continue to run drill after drill in practice, but until the players have the light bulb turn on upstairs, they will continue to turnover the basketball. Does Rodney's statement "It was a wake-up call" mean that the light bulb turned on? We'll have to see.
The key person to demanding the team play quick, but not in a hurry is the point guard. Andre played all his high school ball as a two guard, not point. He is a very gifted basketball player, but he has not yet risen to the role of point guard. As a point guard he needs to take full control over the team and demand that the team play at the pace that he sets for them. When he begins to play quick, but not in a hurry then the rest of the squad will take on that personality. To be honest, there have been moments when he's done just that and the results have been very good. The problem is that it's very sporadic.
It's clear that Williams and Mbakwe are the seniors and should show senior leadership. However, neither of them have the ball in their hands like a point guard. Andre, whether he likes it or not, has to step up and rise to a whole new level of leadership on this team. He needs to take Julian Welsh and Maverick into his fold and demand excellence at the point guard position as well as emphasize with every player on the team how vastly important it is to make every possession count. When this team rises to the mental challenge of the game, then they will be a force to be reckoned with at a Final Four level. I just don't know yet whether they have it in them to rise to that challenge.
