PG's or lack there of

[Original Joe]

We had the best point in all of basketball here in 2005 ... and put together the best team of the decade in the process 

[lwchicago]

Hey all I just wanted to discuss PG's in college basketball or at UI in general.  How important is it to have a god PG on the floor? 

We have failed in recruiting a true PG since Chet Frazier and most would likely say he was not good enough to make a deep run.  That being said maybe our better recruiting in the last few years has overshadowed the recruiting mistakes we have had.  Most of the scrambling between seasons have put a priority on PG's bringing in guys like Meacham, Sam, and now Orris because of recruiting misses. 

Some we have missed on L Jackson, V Jones, J Pullen, J Pargo,  K Dillard, M Paige, and the list goes on.  We have used D-Mac, T Meacham and Chet since Dee left and small stints of J Jordan, Sammy, and now Tracy.  If the PG play is truly important I would say the single biggest reason for why we have stayed mediocre is because of recruiting failures.  Even though most would give praise for the players we have had since the 09' class the reality is we blew it.  Everything was sugar coated because the string of SG's were highly rated and the thought was they would become PG's.  That list includes D-Mac, DJ, Paul, JB, Head and now Tracy. 

The point is when you think about it Weber and staff have failed at recruiting since they got here.  Recruiting has always been the underlying problem in Bruce's tenure and always will be as long as he is here.  I think they have known it's a problem but they have not been able to address it hints why they bring in Sam and then Orris then J James.  Maybe a little too late 

On the flip side I am not sure some of the better teams in basketball have a really good PG.  Who's the PG at UK?  KU?  Syracuse?  I know Duke has Rivers and UNC has Strickland but is it overblown that a PG will make or break you as a college program?

IMO i think its what someone else said...good guard play in general...true enough you have to have leader...but it doesnt have to be a point guard....but Dmac wasn't a shooting guard...he was the only guy out of all those you listed that was a point guard...he just was a score first point...Dmac was a point he might not have been a vocal leader but he could set the offense up..he lacked on D and quickness was his problem...Strickland and Rivers are not Point guards...Marshall is the point...Strickland guards the point on D because of Marshall's lack of quickness and Rivers is a 2 guard he just makes plays and can dribble to get his own shot something that Dj cant do very well...I think the coaching staff missed on recruiting .....in that--all the players that we have are the same almost....Plus they missed out on getting some guys they thought they would have a chance to get...

 Duke...they dont start a true point guard....Curry is the starting point this year..but he is a shooting guard...Having a true point guard would be a big help but having good guard play period is a must...

[YadiFrazier]

Having good guard play in college is a must, and for most teams it will be enough.

On our team, with the offense we run - you MUST have a good point.  In fact, the 05 team had two point guards and a combo guard who did not turn the ball over.  If Bruce is here after this year, instead of recruiting 27 shooting guards who might be able to play point, he needs to recruit 27 point guards who can shoot.  Think how good we would be this year if Brandon and DJ had the skills of a D1 point guard.  As Drama stated, this is the overriding failure of Bruce and his staff since he has arrived at UI.

[Big Phil]

Guys a bit off tangent here was reading an article this morning (in print or I'd link it) about the NCAA tourney and what makes a good tourney team.

not only was good guard play #1, but #2 and 3 were-

2-  Doing one thing REALLY well (like being a great scoring, D or rebounding team) not three things OK
3- Making the other team ADJUST to your style

I think those three are excellent criteria for picking your brackets