McCoy gets a of of sh!t on this board. Most of the criticism is valid. It is unfairly heightened since he is our super star recruit, but that comes with the territory.
Anyway, I just want to point out a couple of things to put things in perspective.
McCoy is a big, big dude. He is a true traditional 7 footer, and he plays like one. He is big, lumbering, and not quick or fast. We like to play fast, which is tough for a guy like McCoy. So naturally he will get tired. He gets blamed for being lazy and out of shape. But he does have to expend more energy than everyone else to keep up. Does he need to get in better shape for the next level? Absolutely. But this is a big transition year, and he is now playing longer games and at a high pace.
Also, we aren't doing much to get him involved. Team are fronting and doubling him when we do try. So that is especially tough. Unfortunately we don't seem to space the floor well enough to take advantage of the extra attention. He is what he is, and he needs post touches to do work. That is tough to do in today's college basketball. We have struggled to adjust to the defense to still utilize him effectively.
He is a true freshman. Facing challenges he never had to deal with before. Other than fatigue, that is the biggest thing with his defense. He has bad technique because he never had to have good technique before. This is on him and the staff. If they can teach our African dudes that have been playing basketball for a couple years how to play better positional defense, then McCoy needs to learn too. Again especially for the next level.
McCoy does a lot of good things, and can still be an asset on the court. Does he make me frustrated at times? Hell yeah he does. Freshman, even All Americans, tend to do that. Should he sit more? Probably. Should we adjust to him more when he is on the court? Definitely.
Anyway, I just want to point out a couple of things to put things in perspective.
McCoy is a big, big dude. He is a true traditional 7 footer, and he plays like one. He is big, lumbering, and not quick or fast. We like to play fast, which is tough for a guy like McCoy. So naturally he will get tired. He gets blamed for being lazy and out of shape. But he does have to expend more energy than everyone else to keep up. Does he need to get in better shape for the next level? Absolutely. But this is a big transition year, and he is now playing longer games and at a high pace.
Also, we aren't doing much to get him involved. Team are fronting and doubling him when we do try. So that is especially tough. Unfortunately we don't seem to space the floor well enough to take advantage of the extra attention. He is what he is, and he needs post touches to do work. That is tough to do in today's college basketball. We have struggled to adjust to the defense to still utilize him effectively.
He is a true freshman. Facing challenges he never had to deal with before. Other than fatigue, that is the biggest thing with his defense. He has bad technique because he never had to have good technique before. This is on him and the staff. If they can teach our African dudes that have been playing basketball for a couple years how to play better positional defense, then McCoy needs to learn too. Again especially for the next level.
McCoy does a lot of good things, and can still be an asset on the court. Does he make me frustrated at times? Hell yeah he does. Freshman, even All Americans, tend to do that. Should he sit more? Probably. Should we adjust to him more when he is on the court? Definitely.
