Gwmayhem wrote:

moneybox wrote:

The biggest concern now is how do we keep the young players from bolting after this disastrous season. As for Johnson, the assistant coach at the last President's Club lunch told me point blank that Johnson's hip wasn't the reason he wasn't playing. However, the announcers today said that it was. The bad news never ends. 

Let's get to this post first.  First question, I suppose the facetious answer is that once you've lost 10 straight, maybe it's OK if the players bolt?  In reality, I think there is a nucleus of players who you will want to build around next year, including DBJ, Garrett, Jacoi and Trey (let's also not forget Christian and Ty).  I think it's been challenging to integrate these guys with JB and Max.  JB is playing for professional scouts and there is a certain level of respect from his teammates which suggests that JB should be allowed to showcase his skills.  I've thought since the beginning of the season that we would have a more difficult to defend team with the ball in Jacoi's hands than in JB's but everyone from CC on down understood that JB really needed to be a scorer playing the point. DBJ was the other player taking on that role which had more to do with his unique skill set for a player his size, which in turn would cause matchup problems.  The result is a great deal of isolation and one-on-one play, rather than a team that moves well, or at all, without the ball.

We know JB will be gone after this season but where does this leave Max?  Am not sure if I've ever felt so conflicted about a GW player.  Max is skilled to the point where he is a great defensive rebounder for a player his size, and is also a capable scorer and streaky three point shooter.  What I don't see from Max is someone who is striving to be a great team player.  It's one thing to be a step slow on defense; maybe this can be improved upon or maybe this is simply what it is.  It's another to take many ill advised shots and make otherwise questionable decisions.  My impression of Max is that he understands and even wants JB to be the leading scorer; however, he needs to make sure that he gets his points too.  I understand the philosophy that great shooters need to keep shooting even when they are cold but is Max a great shooter?  He doesn't always ignore the more difficult three point shot for the easy two, but his numbers would be so much better if he understood that the easier two ought to be the rule and not the exception.  With JB gone, does Max assume that he's the team's best option on offense?  I can't help but think that this would be a mistake.  So in the case of Max, a lot has to do with understanding what his future role will be (and not be), and playing much more of a team game.  If I knew he could adapt, I'd gladly say that he's a player worth having.  And to his credit, he has responded well to coming off the bench.  Like I said, very conflicted.

Secondly, GW has been saying for weeks now that Garrett has a hip injury which is unrelated to his prior health scares.  There was never any reason not to believe this.  Now, we're hearing that an Assistant Coach is saying that this isn't the truth?  This raises some questions, starting with why would the Assistant Coach say to anyone that the team isn't being forthright?  If that coach's identity were revealed, I suspect that he could lose his job so that's what he's risking by making mention of this at a luncheon.  Now, what's to be gained by saying this?  Can't think of a thing.
 

The truth is often complicated (so not sure the school isn't being forthright) and there are privacy concerns - just as none of you would want your varying health diagnoses placed on a message board.  When the time is right for Garrett, I am sure he and GW will be forthcoming as to the general nature of the reason for his absence. No need to speculate here now. Assume he won't be playing until further official notice otherwise.
 

Gwmayhem wrote:

That's right Rising.  There most definitely are privacy concerns.

So explain to me why it was OK for an assistant coach to tell someone that the issue with Garrett not playing is not his hip.  Why not just let everyone believe this for the time being?
 

 I don't know if that happened or happened exactly the way it was reported. Sometimes things are misunderstood.  But assuming it did, I don't know why anyone would depart from the official statement and I am sure unless CC blessed it, he would not be happy.