Anton Beard vs. I.J. Ready

[LRrazorback]

Curious if anyone can compare these two and say who's better.  I never saw them play in person but on tape they both look good.  I think Beard may be a better outside shooter but IJ a better penetrator.  Who's better?  Should we've offered IJ?

[The_Iceman]

Anton Beard is by far the better prospect.

[olivebranchhog]

I like Beard more as a pg in our system. If teams switch to the zone on us he can attract attention outside and has the ability to make competent passes into the post. If teams play man he can shake his guy and make shots off the dribble. IJ seems to be more of a slashing 1/2 than a guy that runs the offense. He can hit shots but he's better when he can use his first step to move around the defender. That's just how I see it. My only holdup on Beard is if he can play high energy on both sides of the floor and still hit his jumpshots.

[The Boar War]

Couldn't have Ready and Wagner on the same roster.  The height issues would make sub patterns even more difficult.

[Hawg Red]

Couldn't have Ready and Wagner on the same roster.  The height issues would make sub patterns even more difficult.

Agreed, though Ready is better than Wagner.

[The_Iceman]

Agreed, though Ready is better than Wagner.

Anton Beard >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ready >>> Wagner

[Marshfieldhog]

Anton Beard >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ready >>> Wagner

This

[Hawg Red]

Anton Beard >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ready >>> Wagner

No doubt.

[RazorAg]

Curious if anyone can compare these two and say who's better.  I never saw them play in person but on tape they both look good.  I think Beard may be a better outside shooter but IJ a better penetrator.  Who's better?  Should we've offered IJ?

Ready is more of a traditional PG and is polished more in passing and operating as an offense manager.  He's shorter and far smaller in stature than Beard.  Good outside shooter; above average mid-range. Quicker than Beard.

Beard is wired more to score, and he's far more advanced as a scorer.  Better slasher and rim-finisher.  Compared to Ready, I'll call shooting as a push.  Beard can shoot it, but can be streaky.  Quick but not as quick as Ready, who is really quick.  Push defensively; however, Beard can guard more players than Ready due to his strength.

In high school, they were near the same level of player; however, Beard is a far better college prospect.

[The Boar War]

Agreed, though Ready is better than Wagner.

I agree.  I understand why we recruited Wagner (championship mindset, all state mindset, character guy, pipeline into a good high school program).  All those things are great and needed in a program but you also have to produce.

[LRrazorback]

Thanks Razor.  It will be interesting when we play Msst. to see how these two friends compete and who has the better game.

[donkey]

Beard is the better college prospect for the same reasons that he's the better fit for our system.  He's quick enough and a solid enough ball handler to play point, but can also play the 2 if needed.  Due to his strength, he has the potential to be our most consistent scoring PG in years. His strength also allows him to defend multiple positions and that is what truly separates the 2 IMO.  Ready can really only guard the point or a small 2 guard.  Beard could potentially guard 1-3.  That makes him very valuable in our system.

Maybe signing Durham will rectify this somewhat, but both Ready and Watkins would have been better additions at the PG spot than Wagner.  Although, you can argue that neither would have done better than Gulley did for us this year.