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Washington, too small to play the four, not skilled enough to play the 3

Barkley is an inch shorter? And he done it. Attitude, desire, pride and toughness only thing holding him back. Big enough to wreck havoc around the rim on every possession if he liked.
 
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been thinking this all season... He's clearly used to being bigger and stronger than his defender and just bulls straight to the basket without any thought or nuance, thus he gets blocked - a lot. Now he's playing with defenders just as big or bigger and just as strong. Needs to learn some post moves and add nuance to shot selection - badly. Also - if you are playing to get fouled - two things - learn how to finish through contact and learn to make free throws. Seems like a nice enough kid but his game has frustrated me as much as Hami's many games. He gets frustrated - but hasn't seemed willing to change and adjust to what he's facing. Defenders are not going to roll over for him.
 
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he shoots well enough from the perimeter to be a threat and he jumps well enough to be a solid rebounder when playing the 3 but he needs to sit or change his game.
 
When Washington plays aggressive, then he can play with against any big in the country down low.

The other 99% of the time he plays, then I'm not sure.
 
He isn't too short to play the 4.

In fact Washington, Knox, Vanderbilt, and Gabriel are all best suited to play the 4 in college. That is the biggest problem on this team. The roster was assembled looking at rankings, instead of how the pieces would fit together.
 
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He's not too small to play the 4, he just isn't adjusting to the college game as fast as some freshmen do. It seems like all of our young guys are having that problem this year. I've made peace with the fact that this year's freshmen group just isn't at that instant impact, super star level that past classes have been at. Let them mature and develop at a normal rate and a couple years from now we could have a loaded team of experienced veterans mixed with star freshmen.

Seniors: SKJ, Gabriel
Juniors: Baker, Green, Richards, Washington
Sophmore: Herro
Freshmen: Wiseman? Lewis? Antoine? Maxey? Brooks? Jefferies? Hurt?

It just sucks that the team isn't that good this year, and might not be that good again next year. If some of the guys Cal was counting on to be around for several years had stayed, things might be different but who knows.
 
I'm all for athleticism and raw god given physical gifts. However, unless that comes with basketball skill, it's not going to be enough especially with 18-19 year old kids.

I'm glad somebody brought up Chuck Hayes among others. One could argue Chuck was really before his time in terms of not really being able to be plugged in to a specific position. Chuck was an athlete, he could play and defend a couple different positions. However, Chuck had a basketball skill set beyond athleticism and versatility. He was a very good passer, especially in the interior, he had a post game and was efficient in the paint, he could face the basket and get to the rim, etc...

Cal has had plenty of skill players as well, but recently he's seemed to fancy more athletic/hybrid/positionless projects over skilled basketball players, which is why this is so frustrating.
 
PJ doesn't seem to make himself big in the post and he's not explosive which is why I believe he gets his shots blocked by smaller players.
 
positionless is the correct description......they are so fundamentally terrible that there is no position for them. They can't shoot, rebound, handle the ball or even set screens. Diallo was described as the next great thing, but he is by far the biggest disappointment
 
Can't play just like Diallo - they can come back but not going to get that much better
 
I feel that height is over-rated in rebounding. Rebounding seems to be more about getting position and fighting for the ball.

Briscoe proved that. 6'3 with a 7 inch vert and averaged over 5 boards a game. No one on this team wants to take the punishment playing like that requires.
 
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where does he fit?

Too small for the 4 in the pro's, yes. But not too small for the 4 in college. There are & have been lots of very good PF's in college his size or even smaller. Just off the top of my head there is that kid at UT.

But he is very much an undersized PF for the NBA, and this is why I've been saying all season (even before he under-performed all season) that he would not be a OAD. At his size he either has to completely dominate, OR have good SF skills.
 
For cripes sake, he's not too small to play the four.

I wonder if you size-obsessed folks notice the dimensions on the teams kicking our ass. Last night Auburn beat us by double digits playing a tiny four guard lineup that had 6'3" Desean Murray playing the 4 spot. Do you really think PJ was too small to handle that 6'3" dude guarding him last night?

Our problems are in no way related to size. We tower over nearly every team we play. It's the rest of the game where we're lacking.
 
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He isn't too short to play the 4.

In fact Washington, Knox, Vanderbilt, and Gabriel are all best suited to play the 4 in college. That is the biggest problem on this team. The roster was assembled looking at rankings, instead of how the pieces would fit together.

Exactly. Every one of our forwards this year would fit best at the 4 spot. We play Knox at the 3 only because he's the closest of the bunch to a wing, but not because he truly is one.
 
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It's not a height thing, he lost his aggression.

He DOMINATED the game @Tenn until he cramped up. It's like he never recovered.
 
PJ doesn't seem to make himself big in the post and he's not explosive which is why I believe he gets his shots blocked by smaller players.
But man can he flex after his single dunk every game! And boy is he one cool cat with all of that twitching and flexing he does before each free throw! That should be enough right there to get him on the draft boards!
 
Exactly. Every one of our forwards this year would fit best at the 4 spot. We play Knox at the 3 only because he's the closest of the bunch to a wing, but not because he truly is one.
What is really funny is Cal sold Knox on playing some SG this year. That would be fun to see him guard SG's lol.
 
I'm all for athleticism and raw god given physical gifts. However, unless that comes with basketball skill, it's not going to be enough especially with 18-19 year old kids.

I'm glad somebody brought up Chuck Hayes among others. One could argue Chuck was really before his time in terms of not really being able to be plugged in to a specific position. Chuck was an athlete, he could play and defend a couple different positions. However, Chuck had a basketball skill set beyond athleticism and versatility. He was a very good passer, especially in the interior, he had a post game and was efficient in the paint, he could face the basket and get to the rim, etc...

Cal has had plenty of skill players as well, but recently he's seemed to fancy more athletic/hybrid/positionless projects over skilled basketball players, which is why this is so frustrating.
Chuck had a high basketball IQ...a guy that could play center at 6-6 in the NBA. He made a living setting bone crushing screens.
 
Look, PJ is the type of player we’ve been wanting Cal to mix in. He’s going to be here a while.
Do you guys remember Chuck Hayes? CH was basically the same exact size of PJ.
He struggled a bit his freshman year, by Hayes ended up developing a great niche as a player.
In fact, Hayes is one of the most beloved players of the last 25 years. The definition of a great college player. He also ended up making a lot of money.
Why can’t PJ do the same?
The picture on the bottom are for you really young fans. Senior night used to be a huge deal.
usa_today_10481529.0.jpg


Chuck-Hayes-pumped.jpg

20050303_20277_9dc0f39d.jpg
 
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Its not height, its heart. Hes not this powerhouse we were told. Hes a worse version of Poythress. When he wants, he can do work on offense in the paint but thats rare. But im so irritated with his lack of rebounding that its madening. A 6'3 powerforward grabbed 11 rebounds lastnight to his 5. And 5 is a LOT for Washington. A lot of games its only 2 or 3 in 25 minutes
 
I think he has a big enough body that he can play the 4, in college. However, he certainly is not big enough to play there at the next level, and he doesn't even shoot nearly as well as guys 4 inches taller than him.
 
A 6'3 power forward grabbed 11 rebounds last night to his 5. And 5 is a LOT for Washington. A lot of games its only 2 or 3 in 25 minutes

Yep, this is why I think it's odd that the OP would, today of all days, start a thread claiming he's too small.

Did he not watch last night's game? PJ got dominated inside by a 6'3" PF much shorter than him. If anything, last night's game demonstrated that his problem is NOT size, it's something else.
 
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Look, PJ is the type of player we’ve been wanting Cal to mix in. He’s going to be here a while.
Do you guys remember Chuck Hayes? CH was basically the same exact size of PJ.
He struggled a bit his freshman year, by Hayes ended up developing a great niche as a player.
In fact, Hayes is one of the most beloved players of the last 25 years. The definition of a great college player. He also ended up making a lot of money.
Why can’t PJ do the same?
The picture on the bottom are for you really young fans. Senior night used to be a huge deal.
usa_today_10481529.0.jpg


Chuck-Hayes-pumped.jpg

20050303_20277_9dc0f39d.jpg
Because players never get better with maturity, experience, off-season work and practice.

Since Duke is getting all the Junior and Senior high school players worth taking, we need to focus in on the best 2 or 3 high school sophomores and freshmen, and get them to reclassify. If Calipari can't win with that much talent, he just needs to go.;)
 
Washington is not only big enough to play PF, he is built to excel as a college PF. Big body, 7'3" wing-span and - according to pro day measurements - a 43" vertical leap.

So, somebody find Jared Sullinger to teach Washington how to post up; and lets see what kind of damage he can inflict on opponents next season.
 
I wonder if you size-obsessed folks notice the dimensions on the teams kicking our ass....Our problems are in no way related to size.... It's the rest of the game where we're lacking.
I hate size Queens.
 
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