I'm going to take a shot at this pg situation the way I see it IMHO. I'm only going to consider Frank and CF because I just don't know enough about Graham, so he may be great and make me look like a fool with this post. (of course I may look like one anyway :)) I think most people think that Frank will get the start, but I'm not so sure. I keep going back to the last two games and the play of both CF and Frank and way that played out.
Last years team was a team of a bunch of nice guys. In high school, CF didn't appear to be a nice guy on the court. He played with the swagger that he was going to Kansas after high school and his opponents were going to work at the factory across town. Then once arriving in Lawrence, he was on a team with a bunch of ultra hyped, high flyers with crazy athletic ability that he would never have. Thus, making him just a shooter and another nice guy teammate to fit in and not a scorer and facilitator. Well, if you're the best on the floor you have swagger, if not, you better have a chip on your shoulder. I think last year was about HCBS building a chip on his shoulder.
I think that chip finally showed up in that Eastern Kentucky game. He started to show some flashes of HIS game. His first basket that game came on a play where he had the ball on the perimeter, head faked or ball faked (can't remember), got his defender to overcommit took two dribbles into the lane and knocked down an open 10 footer. In the next game against Stanford, he did it again but this time he drew Wiggs defender into the lane. He came to a jump stop ready to drop off the wide open backdoor to Wiggs, and Wiggs just stood out on the perimeter and didn't realize the play. Then we see on the last made basket when he knocked down the three after sitting almost the whole half. Self called time out and going to bench CF didn't make any eye contact with him and coach tapped him on the back of the head going by. I think there was a BIG chip on his shoulder then, and if not, there should've been.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, Self says that he screwed up and should have play Frank more last season. What? That's not what everyone was saying right after the Stanford game. So...more chip building, maybe? Or has he regressed back into "nice guy role player" this summer?
Frank, aka, Frank the tank is really not a tank at all. And I don't buy all the Sherron comparisons. Yeah, they are both fearless and close to the same height but that's about it. Frank simply doesn't have the girth in the shoulders and hips that Sherron had. This comes into play on those drives into the lane. Sherron was a bowling ball and when he made contact, the defender moved and he finished the play. When Frank makes contact, Frank moves, and the shot is altered resulting in a miss.
Now Frank is fast, very fast. I think of him more like Tyshawn than Sherron, but Tyshawn's got about 4 inches on him to help with finishes at the hoop. So...IMHO Frank needs to develop a mid range game of floaters and jump shots and learn to use change of speed on drives to the hoop; in addition to long range shooting and passing. I give Frank a pass on the lack on dishes last year because, as we see in the example with CF, they were playing with other player who couldn't recognize the play anyway. That should change this year with more experience and hopefully, more leadership from those two making sure teammate recognize the play.
So we see the strengths and weaknesses in both and I'm hoping both made improvements during the summer. Which ever one improved the most should get the nod. If neither improved, well, HCBS is in a bit of a pickle. If both improved, well then, coach got some weapons ready to go!
The big question comes down to effectiveness. Who's going to be the most effective in the lineups. (more on this later) I guess the point is, Frank doesn't need to be the next Sherron, he needs to be the first Frank Mason! And CF doesn't need to be a "nice guy teammate", he needs to be Conner "Flippin'" Frankamp and play like he's the best player on the floor even if he's not. Let's just hope these guys have the freedom to be the players they are supposed to be.
Ok guys, here it is, tear it apart. But be gentle. ;)
Give me your thoughts!