Gabe

[BannerMountainMan]

Is playing!!

[hobhog]

Makes perfect sense....

[cardsNhogs]

That should turn our season around

[greenEGnHAWGS]

Very impressed with this kid. Had some GREAT boards, took a couple charges, just made a tremendous pass to Gafford. Not sure if he's even taken a shot but I like this kids aggressiveness.

[PonderinHog]

Bump!

[PonderinHog]

Bump!

[RaisinHog]

Good minutes alot like hall maybe not a great skill set but brings the energy

[The_Iceman]

About damn time.

[lynbug]

I just wonder why he hasn't gotten more minutes throughout the season.  I think he could be an asset.  Maybe he will see more play after tonight.

[TebowHater]

It's kind of crazy what Gabe/Hall have shown can be done just by playing hard.

[26.2Hog]

It's kind of crazy what Gabe/Hall have shown can be done just by playing hard.

Absolutely.  We could sure use more players like these two.  And if they play more minutes, the Hogs will prosper more.

[rude1]

Even in mop up duty early the kid looked good, but of course Mike falls in love with his seniors, no matter how bad they are. Maybe some guys need to sit and watch how this kid plays within himself and does the things he knows he can do and not try to force something that's not in his game right now.

[Danny J]

Even in mop up duty early the kid looked good, but of course Mike falls in love with his seniors, no matter how bad they are. Maybe some guys need to sit and watch how this kid plays within himself and does the things he knows he can do and not try to force something that's not in his game right now.

Exactly...knows his limitations and used 100% of his energy doing what he knows he can do. He needs more minutes. Also would like to see the +/- with Beard vs Jones on the court.

[rude1]

Exactly...knows his limitations and used 100% of his energy doing what he knows he can do. He needs more minutes. Also would like to see the +/- with Beard vs Jones on the court.

Me too. At least it seems someone has talked to Beard about shot attempts, because he seemed not to pull the trigger so freely in this game. Hopefully tonight is a sign that guys are going to either play their roles or sit.

[pigture perfect]

I thought he played pretty good. I like his energy and hustle. His offense may come around a little later.

[onebadrubi]

If our media had any nuts or worth a crap they would ask.  Gabe gave some great minutes and dude hasn't sniffed a game in weeks, blowouts or anything.  No shock we see some great minutes with Bailey and Hall together on the floor either.  It's quite sad that internet warriors have been calling for this experiment for weeks to at least get a shot when other things were not working...

[Marshfieldhog]

More Gabe, Hall, and Jones.
Less Thomas, Cook, and Beard. Much more length on the floor than the Seniors.

[UAGolfer1981]

It's kind of crazy what Gabe/Hall have shown can be done just by playing hard.

+1 They make mistakes but play hard at both ends of the court!

[HogBeliever625]

Def better with Gabe on court instead of DT or Cook

[PonderinHog]

Def better with Gabe on court instead of DT or Cook

Fresh legs...

[b-ball coach]

More Gabe, Hall, and Jones.
Less Thomas, Cook, and Beard. Much more length on the floor than the Seniors

Yes this can change the defensive effort and doesn't hurt on offense because they share the ball and play unselfish.

[VirginiaHog]

He really helped us tonight.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

About damn time.

Took the words from me.

[hawginbigd1]

I don't know if they track it but I bet he is in top 3 on the team in charges taken in his limited minutes, I said early on I could see a role for him on this team playing D and bringing the energy. I have seen not a lot of offense from him, but not everyone has to score, Leroy Sutton was an important player many years ago, not sure he averaged 6 points.

[MinerMan24]

Cook shouldn't see 1 minute from now on.  Everytime he shoots the ball it has a better chance of going into space than going into the hoop.

[Cracker Jack]

Seems to me that we were a much better team during the minutes we played with Gabe on the floor and Beard on the bench!

[BannerMountainMan]

Yes that's the biggest thing for Gabe over Thomas, cook and Hall, he knows he doesn't need to shoot it when he's wide open, he knows we'd rather have a contested Macon, Barford, Jones shot than a wide open 4 man shot, plus he will actually take charges and play some dang good defense!! Not even to mention that great pass to a Gafford dunk.

[golfinpig]

Agree, Gabe gave some good minutes. Also, if MA puts Cook back into a meaningful game he should be fired on the spot.

[hawkhawg]

It's easy see that he has been coached.

His coach in high school is one of the best coaches in the business.

[fineswine]

I don't know if they track it but I bet he is in top 3 on the team in charges taken in his limited minutes, I said early on I could see a role for him on this team playing D and bringing the energy. I have seen not a lot of offense from him, but not everyone has to score, Leroy Sutton was an important player many years ago, not sure he averaged 6 points.

Leroy! That's a good comparison. He was the only person that I can think of that was so good at what he did that Coach Sutton had him out playing with a brace or cast on his hand during a game, even though other players with two good hands were available. I recall it being clumsy, but his job was D and dirty work. He brought it.

[mhuff]

We're talking about Gabe not shooting. It has always been my opinion that Gabe is supposed to have a better midrange jumper than Cook or Thomas. Plus, he blocks out, rebounds, and plays defense. Is a coach's allegiance to his seniors who don't play as well or to the school that pays his salary? Look at the scores. Do we need players that can play better defense, rebound, and score in the paint? Duh

[Rbill]

Every year we figure something out right before the end of the season. Will we learn from this?

Playing Gabe and letting CJ and Bailey out of the doghouse was a very good decision for this team's chemistry. I give credit to Mike for making a change. It's not like any of them are bad enough to make us worse than we already were (since that would have to be Mike's argument for leaving them on the bench). And, in fact, their energy and fresh legs can help us a lot. Not sure why Thomas has to be relegated to 0 minutes but I guess we are very binary in our thinking. We need positive chemistry and confidence flowing through our players. I say use the entire bench now. If someone does not bring the intensity on defense or takes several shots they shouldn't take then replace them for a while with someone who will do it right. Give them another shot later in the game and yank them again if they still won't bring energy.

This attitude of deciding before the game starts that someone isn't going to play or the starters will start the second half no matter what is not ideal.

[JRHoward]

I enjoyed seeing his energy and effort!  I hope he continues to improve!

[Kevin]

heart & hustle.

[onebadrubi]

Mikes pattern this year is to not learn from this and regress back to what didn't work.  We will see

[Hogs33]

More Gabe, Hall, and Jones.
Less Thomas, Cook, and Beard. Much more length on the floor than the Seniors.

This

[azhog10]

We still don't have enough guys playing hard enough defensively. Inserting Gabe was huge because he gives you another guy willing to guard his man, doesn't have to switch and did a great job rebounding. Maybe the best helpside defense all year. We still have some guys that are lazy, but Gabe also helped on the offensive end. He sets screens, stays moving, which helps in the flow of the offense. DT, Cook, and even Trey get to be too stagnant offensively. I hope Mike plays Gabe more. He is a liability offensively and did turn it over once or twice on bonehead passes. But, if he would have played more before now maybe he wouldn't be making those mistakes.

[azhog10]

Every year we figure something out right before the end of the season. Will we learn from this?

Playing Gabe and letting CJ and Bailey out of the doghouse was a very good decision for this team's chemistry. I give credit to Mike for making a change. It's not like any of them are bad enough to make us worse than we already were (since that would have to be Mike's argument for leaving them on the bench). And, in fact, their energy and fresh legs can help us a lot. Not sure why Thomas has to be relegated to 0 minutes but I guess we are very binary in our thinking. We need positive chemistry and confidence flowing through our players. I say use the entire bench now. If someone does not bring the intensity on defense or takes several shots they shouldn't take then replace them for a while with someone who will do it right. Give them another shot later in the game and yank them again if they still won't bring energy.

This attitude of deciding before the game starts that someone isn't going to play or the starters will start the second half no matter what is not ideal.

I agree about Gabe. But CJ and Bailey have warranted their own time on the bench. CJ is very bad defensively and even was last night. Bailey has really struggled on both ends of the floor. I agree that Gabe very much needs to see more time but I'm not ready to say Bailey and CJ need more minutes over anyone. Especially CJ.

[The_Iceman]

I agree about Gabe. But CJ and Bailey have warranted their own time on the bench. CJ is very bad defensively and even was last night. Bailey has really struggled on both ends of the floor. I agree that Gabe very much needs to see more time but I'm not ready to say Bailey and CJ need more minutes over anyone. Especially CJ.

Some of CJs worst moments defensively are when Mike's tell his players to do the stupid "switch on every screen no matter what", and CJ gets switched on a post down low. Seen him get beat many times on that.

[azhog10]

Some of CJs worst moments defensively are when Mike's tell his players to do the stupid "switch on every screen no matter what", and CJ gets switched on a post down low. Seen him get beat many times on that.

I've seen him get beat many times off the dribble, or failing to get through off ball screens. I am not even talking about when he switches on to a big because I don't see that as his fault. That happened once last night when he ended up on Silva and they got an easy pass over the top. Not his fault. If you are going to do that, you better have intense ball pressure and we didn't. So the pass was easy to make and not CJ's fault at all.

[HoundHog]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't we 5-0 when Thomas doesn't play? first three games of the year due to suspension, ole miss, and now South Carolina.

[Cure]

His length, hands and quickness was needed.

He leaves quite a bit to be deserved on offense, but you want a player that makes winning plays.

[draftkings33]

As long as he isn't aloud to shoot anything besides a dunk/layup and not allowed to dribble he should see the floor