^They all, including CUZ, have “improved”….
Come on… it’s virtually impossible to do anything 6 hours a day – 6 days a week – for 6 months and not get better at some aspects of it…. this is especially true in the case of basketball.
…even ANTHONY… who GOTT 4 minutes on the court against the Hokies… has improved…. In his case… his understanding of the importance of playing within a team first structure has been ‘improving’ all season which bodes well for his future.
The intangibles which cannot be measured are just as important as the tangibles which can be measured both at the individual level and at the team level.
For example… my most important “litmus test” for any member of any member is this…
“When that team member does whatever they do… do they make everybody around them better?”
The “observed” answer is, generally speaking, pretty clear cut — either yes or no… but it cannot be quantified. It’s just yes or no.
Now in CUZ’s case… it’s pretty clear by now CUZ is going to get his Twenty points and his 8 rebounds every night … doesn’t matter who the opposition is or what D they’re running… except when playing in the Dean Dome.
And on average over a season and a half, roughly speaking, a third of those are coming from set plays, a third of those are coming on rebounds and pickups, and a third of those are coming on fast breaks… same last season as this…. And two thirds of CUZ’s production is coming when the outcome of the game is not in question. Efficiency varies statistically only with respect to mix here on any given night.
So if you’re coaching and you want to challenge CUZ to “improve”….
the next “level” for CUZ may only boil down to two things or three things:
1. Help / Lead your teammates to play better …
2. To produce when the game is on the line…
3. Cut out the 6 – 8 minute (second half) dead spots when he’s invisible on the court.
The good news is that the last two or three games it’s seems that’s exactly what he’s trying to do.
We know the kids are going to be two steps forward and one step backwards as they grow… they’re kids…
That said… measuring all this -quantitatively- may be somewhat similar to measuring climate change…
