Funny how people can all watch the same event yet come away with so many varying perspectives (‘funny’ in the sense that it is interesting how many different views there are and can occur – definitely not meant as disparaging towards anyone’s opinion).
I talked to my dad this morning and he liked what he saw out of Cat – just wished he hit a few more shots. For my part, I really like what Barber brings to the table … his quickness, defense, and ability to attack the rim all get extremely high marks from me. I think he could do a lot better with respect to half court offensive sets, but I don’t think he’s as poor as others seem to think/imply. The Lewis issue is a non-starter for me – nice player, but he’s gone. It’s my opinion that Barber is a better fit for the Pack anyway.
Penetration is the name of the game for Barber on offense, and that *should* help other sets flow – but there has to be cohesive movement. We’re clearly not there yet. Is Barber shoot first? I don’t believe so. I’d rather him have the ‘attack’ mentality – him getting to the rim is always a good thing in my eyes (just needs to make those ft’s). Once adjustments are made to stop Barber’s penetration it frees up others. Barber also made some amazing interior passes last season off of penetration, so we know the ability is there.
I *always* want the PG to attack. Every time. It sets the tone for everything. In addition, it was very encouraging in the first couple of games that Barber hit open jump shots … he hasn’t really hit since then. It helps the half court offense so much if Barber hits open jumpers – can’t be overstated. Otherwise, opponents can just sag off and there goes penetration and also entry passes – the set is already behind the 8-ball.
Lastly, I especially do not see Barber vs. Lacey or Barber vs. anyone. I think Barber and Lacey work very well together. I’m not sure why we (fans) always need to see friction where there may not be any. We go as Barber and Lacey go … for now, that’s it. We need them both, clearly imo.
Tl;dr: Give it some time. Barber is a good player and let’s give them a chance to show what they can do. We have a chance to be a good team, and we had chances last night. Would’ve been nice to get a win, but credit to Purdue for stifling our struggling offense. The pieces are there, however, to have a nice season. Losses happen – it sucks when it does.
