Whitehead is not by any stretch of the imagination a mediocre guard as noted in another thread. But what he is right now is a player struggling on the court for the first time in his life while doing so playing a position he has never played before.
To maximize Whitehead's talents he MUST have the ball in his hands all the time. He must be the alpha dog running the offense. That hasn't been the case this year because
1. He played mostly the 3 position, a MAJOR mistake IMO.
2. He has had to share the ball with Gibbs another alpha dog and a player who also has to have the ball in his hands to be most effective. (Throw in egos here as well)
3. He had to play in a system where Jaren Sina was on the court way more than acceptable and that further impeded Whitehead's development and effectiveness.
I know that our best players for the most part are our guards and that do a degree forced Willard's hand. But there were other options available beside playing a 3 guard offense almost exclusively that minimized the contributions of Whitehead and put Sina on the court for far too many minutes.
Now, this late in the season, with injuries, defections, confusion regarding player's roles , and locker room issues (and no they are not a creation of the media as noted in the most recent post game) the season seems flushed down the toilet bowl.
It's hard to regain any positive momentum for a veteran team given that situation. But for a team as young as ours without any leadership moving forward it's near impossible.
Of our freshmen only Delgado is playing as expected. And in truth it's easier for him because as a center he only has to worry about his job and himself.
Guards and wings have much more on their plate and that's why the trio of Whitehead, Carrington and Rodriguez are showing a mere shadow of their ability.
One final thought. How important would Auda be on this team from season's beginning? I was shocked that so many despite our shortage of power players noted when I asked this question months ago stated not that big of a loss.
If we had Auda we would have had a solid rotation of he, Delgado and Mobley (also could have played some 3) at the 4-5. Desi could have played the 3-4 and not exclusively the 4. And Sina could have given us something off the bench playing quality but not overextended minutes.
The above might not have totally solved the Whitehead/Gibbs ego issues or their need to have the ball in their hands but it was still the better option IMO than the one used that obviously not only failed but led to the issues we have now behind closed doors.
To maximize Whitehead's talents he MUST have the ball in his hands all the time. He must be the alpha dog running the offense. That hasn't been the case this year because
1. He played mostly the 3 position, a MAJOR mistake IMO.
2. He has had to share the ball with Gibbs another alpha dog and a player who also has to have the ball in his hands to be most effective. (Throw in egos here as well)
3. He had to play in a system where Jaren Sina was on the court way more than acceptable and that further impeded Whitehead's development and effectiveness.
I know that our best players for the most part are our guards and that do a degree forced Willard's hand. But there were other options available beside playing a 3 guard offense almost exclusively that minimized the contributions of Whitehead and put Sina on the court for far too many minutes.
Now, this late in the season, with injuries, defections, confusion regarding player's roles , and locker room issues (and no they are not a creation of the media as noted in the most recent post game) the season seems flushed down the toilet bowl.
It's hard to regain any positive momentum for a veteran team given that situation. But for a team as young as ours without any leadership moving forward it's near impossible.
Of our freshmen only Delgado is playing as expected. And in truth it's easier for him because as a center he only has to worry about his job and himself.
Guards and wings have much more on their plate and that's why the trio of Whitehead, Carrington and Rodriguez are showing a mere shadow of their ability.
One final thought. How important would Auda be on this team from season's beginning? I was shocked that so many despite our shortage of power players noted when I asked this question months ago stated not that big of a loss.
If we had Auda we would have had a solid rotation of he, Delgado and Mobley (also could have played some 3) at the 4-5. Desi could have played the 3-4 and not exclusively the 4. And Sina could have given us something off the bench playing quality but not overextended minutes.
The above might not have totally solved the Whitehead/Gibbs ego issues or their need to have the ball in their hands but it was still the better option IMO than the one used that obviously not only failed but led to the issues we have now behind closed doors.
