I started this thread in hopes that it would have him respond in a positive way. I think it worked quite well. This has been one of the most enjoyable teams to watch. The guys share the ball well and they play loose. We have a great team and a great coaching staff!
I don't think I've ever seen a guard fall more after driving to the rim. Other than that purtnear perfect.
I agree he does end up on the deck a lot, but honestly with as aggressively as he drives, it's often the safest way to come down.
Another point on Clayton. If you compare him with the point guards on our best teams with the best point guard play of the last few decades, Clayton is on the better end of ball protection, especially in light of his higher volume/usage rate. Hamilton (2002-03): 3.6 assists, 1.5 turnovers, 20.1 to rate, 12.4 usage rate Green (2005-06): 4.7 assists, 3.2 turnovers, 20.7 to rate, 22.2 usage rate Green (2006-07): 3.7 assists, 2.7 turnovers, 20.1 to rate, 20.1 usage rate (conference only) Walker (2010-11): 3.4 assists, 2.4 turnovers. 15.7 to rate, 23.9 usage rate Wilbekin (2012-13): 5.0 assists, 2.1 turnovers, 20.4 to rate, 17.7 usage rate Wilbekin (2013-14): 3.6 assists, 1.7 turnovers, 12.3 to rate, 22.0 usage rate Hill (2016-17): 4.5 assists, 3.1 turnovers, 22.7 to rate, 22.9 usage rate Clayton (2024-25): 4.3 assists, 2.3 turnovers, 13.2 to rate, 25.2 usage rate You could keep going, but Clayton is actually on the extreme low end of turnover rate. I think that's notable. While his assist rate maybe isn't as high as some others (due to the fact that he is the highest scorer of every point guard on this list), he carries more of the offensive load with fewer turnovers. I imagine if we included effective fg% his success would be even more evident. Kid has been special and has done exactly what Golden seems to want out of his point guards in terms of ball security and playmaking (for instance, Bouyea had 4.0 assists, 2.3 tos, 13.2 to rate, 23.6 usage rate his last year, and previous season had 3.6 assists, 2.4 tos, 13.6 to rate, 26.3 usage rate).
It’s so important that the coach supports the players. My son was a great shooter until his sophomore year in high school and had a coach who was super negative and would berate them or sit them as soon as they missed a shot. He lost his confidence and was never the same. He would put 30 points in an AAU game with a very supportive coach and then score 5 in the high school game because he was afraid to shoot. It was so lame. Coaching is SO important.
Yup. Teammates too. As a shooter, I can tell you it makes a big difference when your teammates say "keep shooting" rather than stop trying to get you looks. Like most things in sports, shooting is sooo mental. Which, again, is why I never worried about Walt. Don't think his confidence is waning anytime soon lol
I don't coach much, but when I do (or when I work with my own kids), I always have two rules: 1) Don't do in a game what you haven't worked on in practice, and 2) You can't score if you don't shoot. I would a thousand times rather someone take a bad shot that can be rebounded than have them pass until they commit a turnover, especially a live ball turnover (which is what happens more often than not in JV, freshman, 14u, 12u, and lower). The latter drives me nuts. Golden is definitely a shooter's coach who knows how shooters think. Donovan was the same way, albeit with a very different offensive approach. Loved the way Billy D would work with shooters who were in a slump or who missed big shots.
Another thing I love about this team that I had not noticed until recently: Chinyelu is the only current rotation player with a negative assist-turnover ratio. And the assist rates for some of our bigs are really solid. Clayton, 4.3/2.3 Martin, 2.3/1.6 Condon, 2.3/1.1 (!) Haugh, 2.0/1.0 (!) Richard, 1.7/1.5 Aberdeen, 1.6/1.0 Handlogten, 1.6/0.3 (limited sample size, but major !!!!) Klavzar, 0.9/0.5 Chinyelu, 0.8/1.0 We aren't a pass happy, high assist team (48th in assists per possession nationally), but we are 31st in assist/turnover ratio, and have been climbing the last two months.
I think the roster depth of the good A/TO ratios is what makes this team better than it's team ranking. From nearly any position, you have good passes happening. It's not just exceptional guard play. Also, am I reading that correctly that condo has the best ratio on the team at better than 2:1?
Yes, and that was the Florida record, IIRC, and on a substantially lower usage rate (20.2). Also by far Pullin's best season in that regard. We were also only a 7-seed that lost in the first round. The latter is what I was getting at: we have won at high level with point guards who committed more turnovers on a much lower volume than Clayton.
The game (any sport) is 90% mental. Good coaches now how to push and get the best of players. Poor coaches micro manage details. The HS coach was a poor one.
