Monday, September 13, 2010

Sounds like Royal to Tech

Maybe I'm too pessimistic here, but that's my read.

If Royal does sign with Tech, it will be unfortunate for us and for him, in my opinion. Tech will get drubbed in the ACC this season. Lawal, Favors and Peacock won't be around, and Tech's offense isn't fluid enough to take advantage of schemes to create easy buckets. Maybe Hewitt can craft his team into a pressing and trapping unit. He'll have to do something, because as it stands now, Tech doesn't have the athletes to compete in the post.

From a recruitment angle, Hewitt has the advantage of talking about the way things used to be. Fox, as a relatively new hire at UGA, doesn't. Hewitt can talk about getting guys to the pro's. He won't have any to go this year, though, and Fox will likely have two first-rounders.

At any rate, if the recruiting of Royal were happening next fall, instead of this one, Coach Fox would have a much easier time.

The key for Julian Royal is not the "used to be" of five or six years ago, but what will happen next season and the year after that. Which team can develop and showcase his skills better. Royal should take a hard look at how the Fox offense creates opportunities for Trey Thompkins, who like Royal is a multi-skilled power forward.

Tech runs a pick-and-roll offense, essentially hoping that their big men can cut to the basket or create something from the perimeter. If you are a big man with vastly superior size or leaping ability, you can do alright. A better fit for Royal is the triangle offense, which will give him back-door cuts, isolations on the block, high post and elbow jump-shots.

AJC article

Royal will have a lot to consider in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, somebody please get Coach Fox some tools other than a sheet of paper and a sharpie.

It's tough to read the following quote: “It’s kind of funny, when Georgia Tech came in there, they had an IPad and were hooking things up to the TV set for a fancy presentation … very slick and high tech,” said the elder Royal. “Georgia didn’t have all of that, but it was OK. They got more into X’s and O’s … [Fox] literally brought out a sheet of paper and a Sharpie, and started going through plays.”

I disagree with Mr. Royal. It's not kind of funny. It's kind of embarassing.

I know, each coach has to have a style with which they are comfortable. And I'm sure that the Royal family was very gracious. They have watched the triangle offense in person, and there are probably a lot of other aspects to the Fox recruiting pitch that were rolled out at the in-home and when Royal was in Athens on his official visit.

However, when it comes to deal-closing time, when it's your key opportunity to make a lasting impression, when families invite you into their home to make your best shot, recruits and their families shouldn't be forced to play tic-tac-toe.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a fishing trip I once took...there were about 15 of us, from Execs to entry-level, 3 boats for fishing...being a younger guy I watched as the execs got on the huge, shiny boat, whose driver had a South African accent...the mid-level guys got on the next boat, real sharp rig, guy driving looked like he belonged on ESPN on Saturday mornings....then the other 3 guys, myself included, the scrubs, had to settle for the dingy little boat with the guy with a dirty t-shirt and bare feet...by about 7 that morning, we had a boat full of fish, the other 2 boats caught 2 fish combined all day...folks who go for flashy stuff just don't belong where substance is more important, because they will never get it anyway...