Second Guessing and Backseat Driving
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No one likes a backseat driver. Same can be said for those who hang their rep on second guessing. You can’t go wrong in retrospect. But you can’t be taken completely serious either. So I’m throwing this out there, for what it is worth… just a couple of cents.
I’m going back in time here to second guess Coach Self on a decision he made this year that may cost us now. I’m not calling him out in error… if he had known the future, I’m pretty sure he would be with me on this decision.
Early on this year, when it became apparent that Tharpe would need help running this team, Self chose to give minutes to Tharpe at the 2 and put Mason as our PG. This seemed to help us over the bubble with a few games, but did little more than that.
Now, looking back, I think he should have given Tharpe more pine time instead and dished those extra minutes at the 2 spot over to AW3, the guy who worked his tail off last summer building his body and came into this year with hopes to earn serious PT. If I recall, he was one of the best players in boot camp and early on.
Tharpe may have played the 2 in his earlier years of basketball, but he isn’t what a blue blood D1 school should have in that spot. And to be honest, if he can’t work out his personal issues at the PG spot, why do we think he’ll figure it out at the 2. His potential future in this game (beyond KU) will be as a PG, so why not keep him there fighting for PT as motivation?
I’m pointing this out now not because Tharpe has started out bad in the tourney (not completely). I’m pointing this out because Selden didn’t have one of his best games either. If AW3 had been earning PT all year, he could have easily helped Selden out yesterday to make more productive minutes at the 2.
By not playing AW3 this year we gave away a nice chunk of our depth. He’s a guy that was very capable at the 2 and even at the 3.
I’m a big fan of Selden, but he sometimes can still be a freshman and disappear. For the most part, he disappeared yesterday. What if he disappears again? Can we really expect a long run in this tournament if we have more games where our 1 and 2 play bad?
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@drgnslayr Well said.
If AW3 had been earning PT all year, he could have easily helped Selden out yesterday to make more productive minutes at the 2.
By not playing AW3 this year we gave away a nice chunk of our depth. He’s a guy that was very capable at the 2 and even at the 3.
That’s the part I don’t understand Coach Self. And I don’t think he hears what I’m complaining.
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@drgnslayr On the surface, I feel the same way. But…I have to imagine that AW3 has been getting outplayed in practice as the season has progressed. I don’t think his lack of playing time is due to what he has done, or not done, in the brief minutes he was in earlier in the season. So, if he is getting outplayed in practice, Self is not going to play him in the games.
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He may have been outplayed, or maybe he even started having an attitude Self didn’t like.
But, without doubt, he could have been a great piece of depth for this team… and for whatever reason, he was let go. He also has experience, at least some, more than half of this team. We knew we were going to need some experienced players in March, and he was let go. Maybe we don’t know all the fact.
I remember when Self started running with the two PG configuration. It was supposed to help us pick up the pace. I think he was just trying to do what he could to keep giving mega minutes to Tharpe. He did so at the cost of a nice piece of depth.
I’m not going to back on Selden. He’s had a great year, but he is just a freshman, and we don’t know if he can be Mr. Consistency throughout March. It would have been nice to keep AW3 in the mix for many reasons.
I just think it would also have helped Selden… knowing he has someone to get his back and also to push him to compete for minutes.
