Washington does not seem to think the game with the entire team as his ultimate goal. His individual skills are solid, but no one in his youth seems to have taught him the strategy of a team. Instead he knows the strategy of an individual. When/if he grasps the team strategies, he will be a very good point guard.So your saying Washington isn't a team player? Do you know him? Is that what he told you? Come on!
He is better when he plays with the starters
McKinley almost had a triple double today by the way
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I am not an IW hater, but I will become a supporter of his play when he starts to play team basketball and cares about his defense as much as he does dribbling between his legs. He has some basketball skills but is more worried about making a spectacular play than making a winning play. I'm hoping he figures it out soon as there are very limited point guard options on the roster for this season.
You could say that for most players.
You must not be watching the games because his defense has improved tremendously. He is working real hard on defense, it is his style that can be a little out of control.
He played much better in the last game and I think that was because Pitino told him that they were going to be counting on him and that he was a part of the game plan. He is such an emotional player that I think that it is hard for him to keep a positive attitude if he doesn’t think he will be a part of the game. I don’t think he is self centered, he threw up his hand and slumped his shoulders after a foul call on a teammate. It is a delicate balance, he hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time because he needs to work on some parts of his game, but then he doesn’t play well unless he is counted on in games. I think he has improved enough on defense for Pitino to give his a longer leash.
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IW has 13 turnovers playing 18 minutes per game while McBrayer has 10 turnovers playing 29 minutes per game.
He is getting better, probably because Pitino usually yanks him after doing bone-headed things but you can still see he still has that "playground" in him and it's still frustrating. But yes, he does seem to be trying. My issues are when he runs light speed up the court and dives into trees and gets out of control, or when he brings up the ball and dribbles around and bricks the ball without ever passing it to anyone else. I guess if he made more shots, some of us wouldn't mind so much but we have yet to see that. He has a ton of talent, he just needs to be disciplined and learn college ball and get out of the playground ball phase.
Agreed. IW is better when he knows the people he's playing with can score.Yup. But when you are being told to be a pass first player it is even more game changing.
I’d argue McBrayer plays better with the backups
I have watched all his games too. And I see it differently.I have watched every game IW has played as a Gopher. Most of the time he has played very selfishly by over dribbling, driving to the basket and trying to shoot over three defenders (while team mates are open) and then moping to the bench with his head down when pulled by Pitino. I have seen IW make spectacular passes and spectacular shots unfortunately this is 10-20 percent of the time. Several of you are excited because he had a few good plays during the last game. If you look over his career to date, he has not performed well. Consider Gabe's start to his career vs IW. Gabe makes good decisions with the basketball, plays good defense, and passes when appropriate. As stated in my post above, IW is critical to the success of this team and he will need to play at a high level for this team to be successful in Big 10 play as they do not have another quality point guard on the roster that is eligible this season.
Yup. But when you are being told to be a pass first player it is even more game changing.
I’d argue McBrayer plays better with the backups
The Coffey point guard experiment is horrible. The list of things he can't do with his right hand would go on forever. Oturo needs to get in the weight room. He seems to get rebounds, then can't get it up fast or strong enough to capitalize. Hopefully Curry is healthy and can put in some good minutes besides Murphy. Looks like bubble team to me. My rube comment is Gabe reminds me of Klay Thompson.
I have watched all his games too. And I see it differently.
Lots of people here have issues with him beyond the development his play and it influences how everything he does is interpreted. I've sat at games and listened to people bitch about him. No good play registers with them and they yell at him for every mistake (comments like 'it aint Haarlem here).
Pitino better figure out how to make him more effective or I doubt he stays.
Am I interpreting your comments to indicate his poor play is because he is being criticized by the fans?
No. I think Moonlight is suggesting that Washington may be a little "too black" for some fans and that perception may influence how they feel about him as a player. Go back and read his post again.
Despite his poor shooting, I like him and hope he stays his whole career here.
No. I think Moonlight is suggesting that Washington may be a little "too black" for some fans and that perception may influence how they feel about him as a player. Go back and read his post again.
Despite his poor shooting, I like him and hope he stays his whole career here.
A little too black ! I am black and take offense to any reference to that. His game is not efficient right now and has nothing to do with his skin pigmentation.
I have watched all his games too. And I see it differently.
Lots of people here have issues with him beyond the development his play and it influences how everything he does is interpreted. I've sat at games and listened to people bitch about him. No good play registers with them and they yell at him for every mistake (comments like 'it aint Haarlem here).
Pitino better figure out how to make him more effective or I doubt he stays.
I have watched all his games too. And I see it differently.
Lots of people here have issues with him beyond the development his play and it influences how everything he does is interpreted. I've sat at games and listened to people bitch about him. No good play registers with them and they yell at him for every mistake (comments like 'it aint Haarlem here).
Pitino better figure out how to make him more effective or I doubt he stays.
The post wasn't about your perceptions. The poster was describing an interpretation from witnessing fans' reactions.
Washington is a poor shooter. I wouldn't say the rest of his game is particularly inefficient.
I hope you are sitting in hearing range of the guest fans. That is as bad as using the "N" word to describe his game. His stats have been much better of late, so he must be doing something right.
And don't tell me Isiah can't shoot when the whole team goes 0-fer 3 pointers. OSU made 7 and we had none, tough to compete like that.
I have watched every game IW has played as a Gopher. Most of the time he has played very selfishly by over dribbling, driving to the basket and trying to shoot over three defenders (while team mates are open) and then moping to the bench with his head down when pulled by Pitino. I have seen IW make spectacular passes and spectacular shots unfortunately this is 10-20 percent of the time. Several of you are excited because he had a few good plays during the last game. If you look over his career to date, he has not performed well. Consider Gabe's start to his career vs IW. Gabe makes good decisions with the basketball, plays good defense, and passes when appropriate. As stated in my post above, IW is critical to the success of this team and he will need to play at a high level for this team to be successful in Big 10 play as they do not have another quality point guard on the roster that is eligible this season.
I hear it when I'm at games too and you're right. This is when you yell back when Mike Hurt is on the floor and say "this isn't Rochester Mike!"
Wait a sec....are there actually people in this thread trying to imply that some of the issues people have with Washington are due to his skin color? That is insane, most of the team is black, if it was race related then why wouldn't those fans have the same issues with Oturu, McBrayer, Coffey....guess I am not following that line of thinking at all.
The issue with Washington is that he plays out of control a lot of the time, and it hurts the team when he does. He has shown flashes of being a very good point guard but he is wildly inconsistent from game to game and you never really know what you are going to get from him on a nightly basis.