RE: Taron Barker

From: Lusby, Jeff
Date: 04 Jan 2005 - 12:05 PM EST

Don't forget that NVE didn't even start until something like the 13th
game of that season and he had two very good seniors in Herb and Anthony
that could score on their own (and hit the open shot) something that
Jihad (or Moore for that matter) has not had this year. It is hard to
be a good assist person when you can't make the easy shots that the Cats
have been missing. Of course it is also hard to hit a shot when you are
open and the ball is not passed well enough that you can shoot. That
seems to be a team problem in watching them. Very rarely do they seem
to be able to catch the ball in a good shooting position and that gives
the D a chance to react which then causes either a bad shot or no shot
at all. I would ask the following question....

Do you really believe that either Jihad or Moore's assist would not be
much higher if they had Tony or Field on the wings this year to hit when
they penetrate. I am afraid this year is going to be a long year if we
depend upon outside shooting from our 2-guard (White, Kirkland,
Williams). Based upon what I heard in Vegas from more than one person,
we will not have Banks back this year or for that matter ever in a Cats
uniform. I hope that is not true, but the people that I spoke to seemed
to know a lot about the team.....

Someone made the comment earlier that Jihad was by himself in the
airport and I rode the elevator in Vegas with him (by himself), but
other times that I saw him he was with the team. Typically you would
see 2 or 3 guys together, but all of them were very nice and took time
to speak to us.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: jon breiner [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 11:50 AM
To: address@hidden
Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Taron Barker

LOL! I'd take Barker. That would be a good, albeit slightly negative
poll for bearcatnews.com: "who is the worst PG during the Huggins era?"

Without thinking through all of them, I think Horton gets my vote.

Of course, I am trying to lighten the mood a bit regarding Jihad. I am
disappointed thus far, but also realize it is early. While I don't
expect jihad to approach NVE type status, NVE was not exactly going
crazy at this point his first year.

jon

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mick Bergman" <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Taron Barker

Where would Michael Horton fit in with this years team? :)

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 11:33:50 -0500, jon breiner wrote:

I thought I would really get some of you going. Do you realize this
would
be the second year in a row since he left, and 3rd or 4th year in a

row

overall that Taron Barker would be our best PG? :)

I still support Barker! :)

Jon

ps. Of course, we can now debate what that says about the ability to
recruit
PG's for this system, but regardless, Barker'd still be the best. :)

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 09:09:59 -0500, jon breiner

<address@hidden>

wrote:

Jihad is going to have to gel with his teammates the way Tony B

did,

and
it
will take some time. As for the players getting on Jihad (and I

not
saying they don't have a good beef!) I would ask some of them the
following
question(s):

Armein, Did Jihad's gunning cause you to shoot 2 airballs and take
another
3-4 bad shots? Did his gunning cause you to not pay attention to

the

in
bounds pass that bounced off your chest?

Eric, did Jihad's gunning make you miss those dunks? What about

those

passes that hit your hands and bounced off? Did his gunning cause

you

to
revert to last year's FT form?

Jason, did Jihad's gunning cause you to miss another dunk? Did it
cause
you
to think Illinois was too physical?

James, did Jihad's gunning interfere with your ability to rebound

the

ball
again?

Should I stop or go on? My point is before these guys spend too

much

time
worrying about how Jihad is hurting the team, maybe they could

worry

about
themselves first. I think that is likely what Huggins had them

talk

about
after the game.

Anyway, it is only the end of the NC season. In other words,

still

very
early. I will get more concerned if there are issues a month or

from
now, but I am not going to get bent out of shape by losing to the

best

team
in the country at this point.

Jon

----- Original Message -----
From: <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 8:48 AM
Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Huggins

In a message dated 1/3/2005 9:27:44 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
address@hidden writes:

Um, Jihad took more shots than anyone else in the Illinois game
(2-for-12)
and was on the receiving end of some unhappy remarks from
teammates.

I was going to post this before but I do so much negative stuff

passed.
What it was is I noticed that players wouldn't pass Jihad the

ball

unless
they
had to after the first offensive set broke down. This was prior

the
Illinois game. Kirkland for one wouldn't . I think the worst

thing

to
happen for
Jihad was he made those shots to win the NI game and became an
instant
star of
the fans and it went to his head. He wants to score first and

pass

to
his
teammates second. Not good. Will it get worked out. I don't

know.

Don

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