Player Development vs Team Development

[Quentin Daniels]

You must be blind if you don't think guys like Morrison and Pearson didn't benefit in some individual devlopment. Coach Houston did a few noticeable things with both.

As a Sophomore, Morrison averaged 8.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG. His Junior year he was moved from primarily playing in the low post to the high post to take advantage of Cam Long's ability to drive and post up other guards. (it's called a coaching adjustment - maybe you forgot as we haven't seen one for a while) The result was a Top 25 ranking for the team and a trip to the 2nd round of the tourney, but for Morrison his stats dropped as he was used to draw the post player outside opening the lane for Cam more and less as a primary scorer.

With the graduation of Cam, Morrison returned the low post and his stats increased slightly beyond what they were his Sophomore year. This you attribute to the great player development of Hewitt huh?

You're other great success story is Ryan Pearson, a pre-season 1st Team All Conference pick prior to practice #1 w/Hewitt. With the graduation of Cam, Pearson became the primary scoring option for the Patriots and went from 14.2 PPG to 17 by increasing his shots even as his FG% decreased slightly.

These are your "must be blind" individual development examples?

How about Vertrail Vaughns? 8.8 PPG as a Sophomore to not being able to get off the bench and being pushed out the door?

How about Vaughn Gray and his disappearing act last year after a very promising Freshman year?

How about Corey Edwards and his growth over 3 seasons in the Hewitt system after having the "best handle" in NYC schools?

How about Andre Cornelius scoring going lower then his Soph and Jr. years?

How about the growth of Johnny Williams?

Erik Copes came in as a top 10 center that had 4 blocked shots in just his 4th game. After 2 years of Hewitt tutelage, his blocked shots dropped by about 40% and averaged a big 5.9 PPG.

 

[Patriotfan49]

If you went to the games you would be able to see the difference, as often stats are misleading.

Mo was heinous in the low post when it came to back to the basket moves. If it wasnt a slam or oop he wasnt putting it in the basket. His senior year he improved vastly to where he was consistently making little turn arounds and putting the ball on the floor and using low post moves to work it to the hole and score.

Erick Copes hasnt been healthy since his Freshman year.

I dont like Hewitt and his "ability" to coach one bit, but just had to point those two out.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Not sure why the moves he made would look different from your seat then it does on my TV. Of course there's some improvement though - he had 2 years to play and practice. If Morrison's big 1.3 PPG from his Soph to Sr. year is your gold standard for player development, then you're reaching.

 

[Patriotfan49]

You are just citing stats, and as Justin Smith says "stats are for losers".

Just about anybody that is familiar with Mike Mo and his game, will tell you that he improved by a pretty decent margin once he started to work with Coach Houston.

 

[gmutom]

Erick Copes hasnt been healthy since his Freshman year.

Yeah, Hugh Akston conveniently left out that Copes hasn't been healthy since the Drexel game his freshman year. People forget that Copes had six blocks in the first half before going down with an injury. Hopefully, he is 100-percent Saturday, because we can't afford one of our big men to only grab 3 rebounds in 25 minutes against a less-than-daunting Princeton frontcourt.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Who are these people that forgot that?

You certainly don't have a loooooong history of fabrication to support a point. So there's must be some example you can give?

 

[Patriotfan49]

hahaahh I like where this is going...

 

[MasonFanatic]

Vaughns just didn't fit Hewitt's system, and ACorn (quite justifiably) landed in the doghouse after his suspension. He probably should have been playing PG sooner, given our other options, but I can't fault Hewitt too much. That's all on Andre for his stupid actions.

Mike Mo made a big jump in skills, whether his stats show it or not. And I don't think we've ever given Morrison enough credit for the leadership he exercised his senior year. It's a role that still hasn't been filled.

Hewitt deserves credit for adjusting his offensive scheme to fit Pearson, but I feel like Pearson's development skillwise would have happened under the old staff, too.

 

[gmujim92]

Focusing on individual development works when you have guys like Jarrett Jack, Thaddeus Young, Javaris Crittendon and Derrick Favors who have the ability to overwhelm opponents with sheer athletic ability.

When you're recruiting on Mason's level, you have to coach guys up and help them become a team to have consistent success. At least that was the recipe for the most successful run in our program's relatively brief history.

Even Ga. Tech's talent wasn't good enough to consistently cover for Hewitt's aloof demeanor, strategic deficiencies and unwillingness to make adjustments -- and obviously, we're not getting NBA-caliber players here.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

So what did we decide here?

Is he a team developer or talent developer?

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Don't forget Marko - he is a different player from last year.

Sorry PiKap, but this is pretty funny in hindsight.

 

[polepino]

So what did we decide here?

Is he a team developer or talent developer?

'Trying' to develop individual talent in the hope of team development.... We all see how that's gone so far.

 

[GSII]

I think we need more light fit workouts.

Like ive said since day one, there is something off about this coach's approach. Now our entire staff is lost. Players never have been in any kind of defensive or offensive rhythm. Never in 4 years! This isnt on the players. The Virus has to go!!!

 

[smccart5]

There has been zero team development. The freshman look good because they haven't had time to be brought down.

If there has been any development it's been fan development. I think we've become a lot more advanced in our ability to express our negative emotions

 

[Walter]

There has been zero team development. The freshman look good because they haven't had time to be brought down.

If there has been any development it's been fan development. I think we've become a lot more advanced in our ability to express our negative emotions

I know I have gotten better. I also see improvement in others as well. Jollay, in particular, has really turned it up lately.

 

[GMUgemini]

There has been zero team development. The freshman look good because they haven't had time to be brought down.

If there has been any development it's been fan development. I think we've become a lot more advanced in our ability to express our negative emotions

I think we are seeing regressions in both Jenkins and Marko specifically because they are being asked to have very different roles than they had previously. Jenkins, especially, looks a little lost out there on most possessions.

I don't have any excuses for the other players -- although Holloway and Moore haven't really regressed any, just haven't made any real strides either.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Since Pablo revived the "Marko is Back" thread, though I'd revive this one too.