I’ve also been hard on Mike Hart, saying that he is what he is, but that isn’t a Gonzaga basketball player. He doesn’t have the skill set to play for an elite D1 team. He hustles and throws his body around, but in doing so he fouls too much and causes the rest of his team to get out of position. He is so concerned with drawing charges that he forgets to play defense, and his lack of a shooting touch allows other teams to play off him and clog our lanes.
I thought neither of them deserved time on a top-10 team.
David and Mike, I want to offer my sincere apologies. I was wrong.
Stockton has impressed Zag nation this year. His high basketball IQ has helped the Zags pick apart opposing defenses. He is averaging 4.0 apg, 5.4 ppg, and an outstanding 2.8 spg. The steals are what really show off his IQ. Stockton knows where the opposing teams want to put the ball even before they know and is able to pick them off. While in the past I have insulted his shooting form for his sky-high arch, I now feel like I need to get back into the gym and practice using the same technique when I see his 49% from the field and 44% from behind the arch.
While his stats have improved, what has really caused me to start regretting my past critiques has been his ability to come into the game and settle the Zags down without slowing down our offense. The way he manages a game has improved greatly over the past year and you can see the respect his teammates now have for him.
I am sorry for doubting you David Stockton.
Hart always knew what his role was. He is a blue-collar hustle guy who will put his body on the line for the sake of the team; he will hustle on the offensive glass, and he will draw charges. What he wouldn’t do was give opponents a reason to guard him and stretch their defense. However, now that he has improved his 3-point percentage to 67% and shown opponents that they have to keep track of him, he has added a new weapon to the already strong arsenal of the Zags. This has spread teams and allowed for Hart to grab 11 offensive rebounds (3rd on the team) using his 6’6 height advantage over most guards who are matched up against him.
Michael Hart, you do have a place on this Gonzaga team, and it is not the bench.
I do not like admitting I am wrong, and I understand that this is still early, but I don’t mind being proved wrong by your excellent play thus far. Just please don’t make me regret writing this piece.
10 comments:
Well written piece Daniel
Hahaha I know the feeling. Stockton has made me apologize (to my mother, actually) for being so harsh on him, but I'm not 100% sure that we're through the clear with him yet. His defense is what concerns me specifically, and I (along with my friend Peter) used to count the points that he gave up on defense by playing out of position, gambling on a steal and giving up a lane, being out-muscled, or simply letting players blow by him. He's been much better this year, but I also haven't seen a team attack him specifically to make us pay for playing him. You can bet that someone like Tom Izzo or Coach K would make sure we couldn't hide him on D during the 15-20 minutes he plays.
We'll see though! Hopefully he can keep up his stellar play.
The "risk vs reward" for David Stockton has improved greatly this year however, he is still leading the team in TO's, he still gets owned by physical guards, his shot is still that of a 5th grader, super slow release, elbow out...he has made them thus far and that is great! I would say he made a quantum leap over the summer in two area's. The first is on-ball defense, and the second is his ABILITY to now make those insanely difficult passes in transition....the ones in which he was turning the ball over in the previous two years. If you stop and think about it...his game has moved towards that of KP....and that is a good thing.
However....you will begin to notice KD taking more of his minutes. It is happening already....but I think this is a good thing...2 awesome guards, and 2 very good guards all of which play with great BB IQ, good shooters from the outside, know when to attack the rim and are great at finding the open man....by the start of Conf play this back court rotation is going to be finely tuned and potent...and yes this includes significant PT by DS.
As far as Hart...I love the guy and his effort and I love that he can shoot the three now....but what I love most this year is his STAYING AT HOME on D and not going all over the place like he is a 5 year old soccer player following the ball everywhere...I love his growth and that he can come in blow up and blow out and it REALLY helps this team! Plus the kids works his tail off every play and you HAVE to love that!!!!
I agree with all your comments, i am not 100% sold yet, but i am really hoping they can prove us both wrong. I still dont want hart to get a lot of minutes, and I still think Baby Stockton has a way to go, but they are both looking good so far.
I just dont find myself holding my breath when he is in anymore.
Also my wife told me i need to check with her before complimenting stockton, because she said it was "too soon".
Well I have no crow to eat.
I have supported both players all along.
Not everyone is a super star and not everyone is a starter. These two guys are role players and very effective role players at that. They just happened to step up their games this year.
Admit it you haters. It was the walk-on thing that you hated. You just didn't think a walk-on could contribute like a scholarship player . . . someone like Hoff, Keita, or that ball hog outa Texas that transferred out.
Anything these guys contribute is nothing but bonus points IMHO. You don't need to wonder if they can contribute at the D1 level. The DO contribute at the D1 level.
mjc
Quid, saying that we didn't like them because they are walk-ons is silly and unfair. If you watched Stockton closely last season (and trust me, I did), he gave up a LOT on the defensive end. Bonus points or not, every game you could count on the other team scoring 6-10 points off of his defensive mistakes or gambling for a steal. In a tight game, that can be the difference, even for a high-scoring team like ours.
It's always nice to see walk-ons contribute, and it's even nicer when they play meaningful minutes for a good team, but I don't think they would want us to treat them differently than any other player. We should be just as critical of Stockton and Hart as we are of Harris and Olynyk.
Admittedly last year was not a good year for Stocks. I'll give you that.
The year before was quite another matter. Stocks may not have been the end-all but who would you rather see in the game most of the time? Meech or Stocks?
On balance, with all his faults, Stocks was the most effective PG we had.
I might agree with the Meech over Stockton argument, but they are both far more suited to be backups/change-of-pace guards instead of starters.
When Stockton started playing his size limitations were obvious and those haven't changed, but he has gotten a lot better on defense while learning how to handle bigger and more aggressive opponents. The current roster situation is perfect for him. He's the first guard off the bench and plays with plenty of attacking options, meaning that he doesn't have to look for his own shot or carry the offense. He can run the point and free up Pangos to run off screens, and for 12-18 minutes a game his (shrinking) defensive deficiencies can be hidden.
Honestly, having a player like Stockton on the bench is a huge luxury, and it'll be a huge boost all season knowing that if Pangos struggles to run the offense we have another option to turn to.
Quid- you should be a scout I you saw this coming, and I mean that with no disrespect. Mad props. I was always hopeful that these guys (mostly Stockton) would be successful, but I wasn't optimistic. I also think that because of the point guard situation we were forced to see some growing pains that normal would've been worked out in practice.
One thing that has definitely diminished for Stockton the year is the buzzer beating desperation 3's. where did those go?!
When you are winning games by 30 points the need for the 'buzzer beater' is diminished a great deal.
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