March 16, 2011

Jerry West's son Jonnie plays a bit part role on the team as a shooting specialist. He is, however, behind both Dalton Pepper and Casey Mitchell on the shooting guard depth chart. Pepper is a big strong guard with improved defense and a decent outside stroke that he doesn't use nearly enough, while Mitchell is comfortably the best shooter on the team with a decent outside stroke that he uses way too much. Mitchell has easily the worst shot selection on the team, far worse than is really acceptable in an upperclassman, and while his 14.1 points in only 24 minutes per game leads the team, it belies his crazily streaky and ultimately unreliable nature. At point guard, Joe Mazzulla is the oft-cited coach on the floor - a tough, defensive-minded ball mover with a good deal of offensive talent, but who knows what needs to be done, even if he hasn't the talent to make it happen. And Darryl 'Truck' Bryant has rather unproduced this season, given that it was anticipated he would step into a bigger role with Ebanks and Butler gone. As it is, Bryant has merely sustained his production and skill set from previous years; tough, under-every-screen defense, mediocre shooting, good transition play, and not really a point guard.

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