I’m not sure how often Coach Romar will reevaluate which point guard he’s going to start this season. He could start Venoy Overton for a few games, see how it works, and make a switch if it’s not. He could also choose to go back and forth, starting whichever player is doing best at a given time. But, I think promoting Venoy Overton from super-sixth-man to starting point guard this early is a mistake, given that Abdul Gaddy will now be the player to come in and spell Venoy, instead of the other way around.
Venoy has always played with an untamed mindset at UW, or at least that’s the mindset I’ve inferred from his play. As last season wore on, everyone watching the team saw Venoy carve out a role for himself — instant energy and hard-nosed defense. It wasn’t that the recklessness we sometimes saw really went away, it was just that the good stuff (defense and intensity) started to outweigh the bad (turnovers and too many ill-advised razzle-dazzle passes).
If our highly-touted freshman point guard was cut from the same mold, it’d make perfect sense to start Venoy. But Abdul Gaddy is being billed as something of an anti-Venoy: more disciplined with the ball, a better floor leader, and with less need to find his own shot. Going from a frenetic, potentially more mistake-prone pace early on to what we assume will be Gaddy’s slightly more deliberate, careful running of the offense seems odd to me, like solving a problem before it exists.
It’s early, and my opinion will most certainly change after seeing both play a few games. But, for the moment, I think Coach Romar is selling short his own brilliant stroke from last season in creating the role he did for Overton, and also risks alienating Gaddy, billed as such a unique talent with a ceiling higher than Venoy’s.
Tags: Abdul Gaddy, Venoy Overton
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I agree. Romar has done this in the past. Sticking with older more established players early on. If Gaddy is as good as advertized he will get his minutes. Maybe the coach knows something we don’t. So psyched for the game tonight. GO DAWGS!!!
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I disagree. The arguments given that Huskies are better served if Gaddy starts over Overton are anecdotal.
I think giving Overton the start in game 1 exhibition and seeing how it plays out in a (mostly) real game is ideal.
I’m not arguing Overton should start ahead of Gaddy all season – let’s wait and see on that one – but I like it that Romar is giving Overton the opportunity.
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I also disagree. Starting Overton will ensure that our team does not start slow. VO may make some mistakes, but he makes that at a high speed with high intensity. The absolute last thing we need in any game this year is to start slow.
If anything, I’d rather put intense pressure on a team right from the start to try and break their will right out of the gate. Then when Gaddy comes in, it will be easy buckets and increasing leads that become blowouts.
That’s the way I see it…
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I agree with Themod – see my comment to your last post – I would prefer that Overton remains our #1 off the bench. I guess this could go both ways: on the one hand, if Overton’s super fast style gets us in trouble early in games, we can just bring in Gaddy to calm the troops; on the other hand, bringing Overton in for a quick boost of energy can help get the team out of an early slump. Based on Overton’s play over his first two seasons, I prefer the latter.
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It’s just an exhibition game. The lineup for tonight has no bearing on what it will be come the regular season.
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Just by reading the way ‘WB’ writes, i think he’s a girl. No seriously. Only a chick would say things like that. Go Dawgs!
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Very funny Magina. Or should I say name-deleted-at-request-of-”Magina”. Are you even a fan? Go Dawgs!
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I love Venoy, but I do think he’s best for us coming off the bench. I think he’s intimidating for other teams and a game changer when he comes in. I’d like to see Gaddy start, get other guys involved, run the offense … good habits. Then bring in Venoy and take it up a notch. Jab, jab, jab -uppercut.
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This is our lineup vs central. I wouldn’t look too much into it.
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It really comes down to leadership and production. It is so smart of Romar to start Venoy first. If Venoy displays both traits he just might start this year. The onus is on him. Romar’s decision will be easy. As a freshman Gaddy, seems to have both traits already, but he is new. If I had to bet, I would say Gaddy becomes the team floor director within the month. But I like Venoy. I also remember the game against Purdue when the refs took him out of the game by calling ticky tack fouls on him. Now that he has a national reputation as a top defender let’s hope that won’t happen again.
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After seeing the game last night I think Overton was the right choice. His defensive ability is crucial to our success.
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