I see a lot of comments around how we need to address the point guard position, and how Cooper isn’t a big ten level point guard. I’m really surprised by this, as my takeaway from watching the games is that Cooper (at least offensively) is probably the least of our problems. What are people’s main concerns with him?
He averages 10 a game on 43% from the field and 53% from 3. He averages 7 assists a game, good for 5th in the country and 2nd in the big 10. Assists aren’t necessarily the best indicator of passing ability, but that, combined with what I see watching the games, and knowing that he’s putting up these numbers while having Battle as the only person on the court who’s consistently knocked down outside shots is really impressive to me. He generates offense off of pick and rolls, consistently finds open players, doesn’t force shots, and seems to know his limits as a scorer.
2.6 turnovers per game isn’t great, but he’s still 5th in the big 10 in assist/TO ratio. Defensively, there’s some room to grow both in effort level and ability to guard quicker offensive players.
When we had a point guard who was capable of generating instant offense (Marcus carr) people complained about the lack of hall movement. Now, we have a true pass-first point guard, people still complain. It feels like the argument in football where if an offense is bad, the quarterback must suck. Just because our offense is bad doesn’t mean the point guard is.
Maybe I’m missing something, but people seem to just say “we need someone quick” without any justification why he isn’t quick enough, or “he should play off the ball” (???) when he’s been a point guard his whole career and simply isn’t a volume shooter.
I really really don’t understand the hate here. There’s room to improve, but the idea that “we’re a point guard away” feels really wrong to me. Someone tell me what I’m missing.
He averages 10 a game on 43% from the field and 53% from 3. He averages 7 assists a game, good for 5th in the country and 2nd in the big 10. Assists aren’t necessarily the best indicator of passing ability, but that, combined with what I see watching the games, and knowing that he’s putting up these numbers while having Battle as the only person on the court who’s consistently knocked down outside shots is really impressive to me. He generates offense off of pick and rolls, consistently finds open players, doesn’t force shots, and seems to know his limits as a scorer.
2.6 turnovers per game isn’t great, but he’s still 5th in the big 10 in assist/TO ratio. Defensively, there’s some room to grow both in effort level and ability to guard quicker offensive players.
When we had a point guard who was capable of generating instant offense (Marcus carr) people complained about the lack of hall movement. Now, we have a true pass-first point guard, people still complain. It feels like the argument in football where if an offense is bad, the quarterback must suck. Just because our offense is bad doesn’t mean the point guard is.
Maybe I’m missing something, but people seem to just say “we need someone quick” without any justification why he isn’t quick enough, or “he should play off the ball” (???) when he’s been a point guard his whole career and simply isn’t a volume shooter.
I really really don’t understand the hate here. There’s room to improve, but the idea that “we’re a point guard away” feels really wrong to me. Someone tell me what I’m missing.