Greg Paulus, Sidney Lowe, Monte Towe, Engin Atsur all disagree with your athletic ability statement.

Just because you are short and/or don't have Ty Lawson or even Degand type speed(i.e. the ability to beat your man off the dribble) doesn't mean you can't be a top flight PG.

Plus, Javi can be fairly quick when he needs to be, especially on the defensive end.

I'd wager that if he played all four years he'd definitely be at least 3rd team ALL-ACC.

Quote :

"I don't think anyone who saw Gavin his first year would be at all surprised with how he is playing right now. Shit, I thought he would be contending for ACC player of the year by his senior year (so I overpredicted)."

Most people were near hanging Grants effigy for the past few years because of turnovers and bone-headed moves....even when he wasn't running the point. It wasn't until about 13-14 months ago that he wasn't considered a complete liability.

And McCauley played enough his first year...but he was raw and couldn't finish around the basket despite good footwork. That's why his emergence last year is so suprising (as is his regression this year in that category).

Bah, I'm just saying you never know.

2/6/2008 12:40:04 PM

Honestly man, you need to quit using analogies and just say, "agree to disagree."

Quote :

"Greg Paulus"

I would say he's more athletic than Javi, also a little bigger/stronger. He's also surrounded by better players, so he doesn't have to do what we need our point guard to do.

Quote :

"Sidney Lowe"

All-around more athletic than Javi. Definitely bigger and faster.

Quote :

"Monte Towe"

From the old tapes I've seen, quicker than Javi. Also, similar to Paulus, didn't have to do as much as he was surrounded by two of the best players in college basketball at the time.

Quote :

" Engin Atsur"

When he was a freshmen and sophomore, he didn't have to do what Javi needs to do because we had Hodge and then Grant. And he was also 6'4" and a much better shooter than Javi. So even though he couldn't drive by a lot of defenders, he often his the open three and could even shoot it over a smaller defender. I would venture to say that he was about as smart a point guard as we've had in the last ten years.


Not really good comparisons on any of these guys. Maybe Keith Jenifer from UVA a couple years ago would be a good comparison...that guy was a little smaller than Javi but also a little quicker. I think Javi is/can be better than Jenifer was...which wouldn't be too bad for us.

2/6/2008 12:56:25 PM

javi's not as unathletic as you guys make him out to be. there's a reason he leads this team in steals and led the team in rebounds last night. i would concede that a lot of that is heart/tenacity but if you've watched him sky for these rebounds or dive for these steals you would know that he's pretty quick and athletic.

also, he has shown the ability plenty of times to beat his man off the dribble. he's certainly been getting better at that as he seems to be gaining more confidence. it's just that he gets himself into no man's land and then doesn't know what to do with the ball. but i'll trust he will get better at that as well.

2/6/2008 1:58:45 PM

Javi isn't that unathletic.


He's a freshman. He looks and plays about how a (non-superstar) freshman should play. As a matter of fact, I think he's coming on nicely and is further ahead than I expected compared to his first few games

Greg Paulus was terrible as a freshman as well. Most freshmen are. He'll be fine in a year or so (And will only get better this year)

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 2:03 PM. Reason : ]

2/6/2008 2:02:44 PM

^^Yeah...I think I might be downplaying his athleticism a little bit. He is pretty quick...just doesn't have the explosiveness and speed to blow by defenders and finish in the paint against bigger men. We can get by with that for now, but it would be nice to finally have a point guard that can do that (Crawford might have been the last PG we had that could do that...and he sucked at everything else....before that Corchiani was the last PG we had with those qualities).

Quote :

" also, he has shown the ability plenty of times to beat his man off the dribble."

I wouldn't say he's shown the ability to beat his man off the dribble...but that he's shown the ability to learn how to use picks to get to the basket. Either one is fine with me.

Quote :

"it's just that he gets himself into no man's land and then doesn't know what to do with the ball."

And I'll agree with that. If he could cut that out completely, it would reduce his turnovers dramatically.

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 2:05 PM. Reason : ^]

2/6/2008 2:04:20 PM

if you ask me, javi is playing better than farnold was. i really didn't think farnold brought much to the table other than being quick.

2/6/2008 2:13:05 PM

^ You're probably right as of now, but remember.... Farnold was much further along than Javi when he went down. I'm sure Farnold would have improved a lot had he still been playing.

2/6/2008 2:20:43 PM

hes fluent in spanish too! He was talking on the phone next to me in the reynolds tunnel the other day

2/7/2008 1:06:19 AM

degand?

2/7/2008 1:11:54 AM

I thought grant and mccauley were going to be good from the first time they hit the court, even though sendek was burying them on the bench. The fundamental skills or athletic ability was there. McCauley couldn't finish because of inexperience. Grant made the mistakes he did because of inexperience.

People who write off guys because of inexperience have terrible judgement. Inexperience is the easiest problem for a coach to solve.

---

Javi is faster than what he has shown so far. He is just hesitant to use the dribble because he's still getting a feel for when that is appropriate. Lowe wants them to play in control first, and he has said as much.

He's actually been able to run the pick and roll in an atsur-like fashion the last few games. That's one big thing the offense is missing from last year.

---

If degand were around, he would have been better than javi. He wouldn't get stuck as much, he moved better without the ball, shot better, and he drove to the basket more. He got out of position a lot on defense, but that's a matter of experience. Javi is doing about as well as you can expect.

Costner is the cancer to this team and is the reason we aren't playing as well as we did at the end of last year. We probably score +10 more points per game and a couple more rebounds if he had his head together.

[Edited on February 7, 2008 at 1:51 AM. Reason : .]

2/7/2008 1:44:46 AM

degand stats per game


javi stats per game


[Edited on February 7, 2008 at 3:33 PM. Reason : done testing]

2/7/2008 3:32:03 PM

^ good going, but you'd probably want to include turnovers too

2/7/2008 4:17:51 PM

Gonz
35 TO / 375 minutes played
1 turnover every 10.7143 minutes played on court

Degand
19 TO / 286 minutes played
1 turnover every 15.0526 minutes played on court

2/7/2008 4:36:11 PM

really though, you can't compare the two, since one played against almost exclusively subpar teams.

2/7/2008 4:41:36 PM

This ^

Javi's in a trial by fire, that's for damn sure, but his numbers are generally trending up even as the competition level has increased. I'll take it. I think he'll be a damn good 4-year guy before it's all said and done.

2/7/2008 4:58:51 PM

all you have to do is check my status to see if i'll take it.

i'm very very pleased w/ the way he has developed.

2/7/2008 5:31:45 PM

Quote :

"Gonz 35 TO / 375 minutes played 1 turnover every 10.7143 minutes played on court Degand 19 TO / 286 minutes played 1 turnover every 15.0526 minutes played on court "

Keep in mind that Degand's minutes were against easier teams overall, while Javi's were against tougher ACC teams.

2/7/2008 6:31:01 PM

I am under the impression that his sudden burst of increased points/assists is because of more minutes played, confidence, and teams underestimating him as a point guard.

Still, that being said, it is still impressive. GG Javi. You're getting a lot better each game.

[Edited on February 7, 2008 at 8:32 PM. Reason : ']

2/7/2008 8:32:31 PM

javi is rival's freshman to watch player this week in the acc.

Quote :

"Freshman to watch: NC State may have found its point guard of the future in freshman Javier Gonzalez. After a shaky start, Gonzalez – a native of Puerto Rico who played his high school ball in Miami – has gained the confidence of coach Sidney Lowe. Gonzalez has played 20-plus minutes in six consecutive games and posted a 1.7-1 assist-to-turnover ratio over that stretch."

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=771951

2/8/2008 1:24:19 PM

at first i read that as (1.) 7:1 assist to turnover ratio and was like

2/8/2008 1:26:39 PM

haha, yeah, we're not quite there yet.

2/8/2008 1:29:16 PM

Javi has a low ceiling.

0 points. 2 assists. 2 turnovers. 4 personal fouls. At least he got 2 steals.

Was he guarding Tyrese Rice too?? I was working and couldn't watch the game. 32 points. Fuck.

[Edited on February 15, 2008 at 3:38 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2008 3:30:01 PM

He was on Rice in the second half for sure (didn't catch first). Rice is making everyone look silly this year though. That cat can hoop.

2/15/2008 3:34:51 PM

sid's fault for not putting fells on him earlier and letting javi and marques get abused all night. absolutely terrible coaching on his part.

to javi's credit though, he diiid stay in front of rice most of the time. but he was just backed into the lane all night and/or rice was hitting incredible shots right over him. fells' wingspan would have disrupted that bigtime though. it's a shame.

2/15/2008 4:03:23 PM

I know I am not the only tired of Javi flopping worse than Paulus.

It would be okay if he actually got the call but he doesn't.

2/15/2008 5:54:48 PM

see: his last 'drive' of the clemson game

2/16/2008 5:02:43 PM

he missed a baseline jumper from 5 feet out because he was so surprised no one was coming over to block him

2/16/2008 5:10:38 PM

2/16/2008 5:10:59 PM

we are in the acc and start this kid.































































lol

2/16/2008 5:11:53 PM

I have been to every home game this year and I can say that Javi is the most improved player on the team.

Hickson came in as a balla.

2/16/2008 6:17:33 PM

it's hard not to improve when you blow ass in the first place

2/16/2008 6:18:51 PM

tuche

2/16/2008 6:20:15 PM

most improved my ass. he's still making the same mistakes.

2/16/2008 6:22:41 PM

not nearly as many though

2/16/2008 6:34:21 PM

He is improved in the sense that he doesn't cower like an abused dog out there now. He makes mistakes...a LOT of them...but at least now he isn't afraid to try to make some plays.

2/16/2008 9:23:36 PM

Quote :

"He is improved in the sense that he doesn't cower like an abused dog out there now. He makes mistakes...a LOT of them...but at least now he isn't afraid to try to make some plays."

so.. before he was a sucky player with no confidence?

now.. he is a sucky player with lots of confidence?

2/17/2008 12:12:13 AM

you can be most improved and still not be that good.

that's what javi is. he started as a 2/10. now he's a 5/10.

improved yes. good, not so much.

2/17/2008 12:14:51 AM

wtf 5/10 for a point guard?? have you ever watched sports??
Atsur was a 5/10 buddy.

Lawson is a 7/10.

Javi isn't half atsur yet either.

2/17/2008 12:58:28 PM

^Seriously?? Lawson is a top 5 point guard in the NCAA that makes him at least 9/10.

Atsur was about a 7/10...maybe 6/10.

Javi is a 4/10. We can hope for a 5/10...miracles would make a 6/10.

2/17/2008 1:05:43 PM

as far as college basketball goes, lawson is at worst an 8/10.

2/17/2008 1:05:48 PM

OMG you guys are awful. Javi is getting so much better. He is improving.

Javi almost single-handedly lost this game for us.

Why not pull him for the last 3 minutes and let your vets play?

2/17/2008 1:19:05 PM

no. ncaa basketball has no 9's and 10's this year. see every other year of sports.

just because he is a top 5 in the CURRENT ncaa doesn't make him a 9 or 10 quality player.

2/17/2008 2:29:42 PM

^^yes to you though

2/17/2008 2:30:09 PM

Gordon is a 9 or 10 quality guard, maybe not PG but that kid is fucking sick.

[Edited on February 17, 2008 at 2:38 PM. Reason : ]

2/17/2008 2:38:39 PM

javi has improved but for this game we needed furguson to play instead of him. we need to know our personel and who is better for which situations.against a zone you have to have a guy that needs oustide respect. we played most of this game 5 on 4 offense its amazing we didn't lose by 20. the 4 minutes trevor was in the game we were +5. he even broke the press and found hickson for a slam.

2/17/2008 2:40:38 PM

Javi knocked down a couple of 3's in this game. Plus he found Hickson for a couple of slams on nice assists where he penetrated the zone. He's gonna be good. He's still just a freshman. By the time he graduates he'll be 2nd or 3rd team All-ACC.

2/17/2008 2:46:02 PM

Quote :

"not PG"

wow. so javi is our shooting guard now??

2/17/2008 2:56:15 PM

so yeah, javi didn't really play an awesome game last night. 2-6 shooting (2-5 3pt) with 6 pts, but i didn't even realize he had 9 assists and only 3 turnovers.

3:1 assist/TO ratio is an improvement. he probably could have had more assists if everyone he passed to didn't lose the ball.

2/21/2008 7:26:37 AM

He continues to show that while not great, he's clearly not the biggest problem on this team.

2/21/2008 11:24:40 AM

^ yeah, that's a good way to put it.

but even still, he's improving.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 11:30 AM. Reason : i think he's improving anyway.]

2/21/2008 11:29:35 AM