In thinking who we are going to start for us this season, I think the big thing we are finally going to need is point-contributions from all five spots on the floor. Too many times over the years, we've had two or maybe three guys who could score, and two or three guys who wouldn't or couldn't take or make a shot. That's got to change. Even when we were very good a few years ago, we had McLeod and Matela putting up a nearly all of our shots, Pardon was reluctant when he had an open look, and Crawford and Cowboy weren't scorers. The problem was, good teams that faced us knew they could play off of Crawford and flash out high to give help on McLeod, or they doubled down on Matela and it forced the others to score and we struggled. I'm not saying we need five gunners on the floor this season, but we need five guys out there that have the ability and are capable of putting the ball in the basket from their spots on the floor. Having a guy like Mattox, who I understand had limited offensive ability, playing four consecutive games without taking or making a shot basically puts us in a 4-on-5 situation last year. We can't have that anymore.
In watching the Olympics, it was a prime example of what the college game looks like or can look like, way more than the NBA. A lot of those European teams proved if you put five guys on the floor that can shoot, pass and dribble and play some defense and get along with one another as a team, it doesn't matter how talented the individuals are on the other team. The same can be said for what the Detroit Pistons did in the NBA Finals against the LA Lakers. That's what we need this season. Let's face it, we do not have the most talented team on paper heading into this season, but we've got a chance to be pretty good if we can put five guys on the floor at a time that can and will play together.
