I think Lane is a guard who can play the three. He could potentially be part of a four-guard lineup, but let's hope we don't need to go that route.
Yeah, he had a cup of coffee at point late in the season - mostly just bringing the ball up court a few times. I wasn't sure if that was out of need, or if coach was diagnosing his ability to play there in the future.
A point forward could be a possibility if we don’t sign a PG, but I’m not sure Lane has that skillset - especially if teams apply back court pressure. Actually I wasn’t sure he had any offensive game at all, until he showed some flashes late in the season. However those were still more or less straight line slash to the basket moves or stuff around the basket. That being said, maybe Golden has something in mind. Hard to say until we see what his offense looks like and some of these players pass the eyeball test in his offense. I loved KJ playing point forward because of the mismatch it created, but it’s quite a leap for Lane to be effective at it until we see it IMO.
Hoping for a portal PG to not heap the ballhandling duties at the feet of guys who look combo-guard-ish
Appleby has been contacted by two SEC teams so far. Arkansas, and Tennessee. Castelton coming back may sway him to stay. Still up in the air.
Again, I don’t know whether he has the skill set. I like his unselfishness and his passing ability. As for KJ, I could never understand his playing out on top. He was a good set shot shooter from 3, a great straight line driver, a fine passer, a tough rebounder, etc. He also let the game come to him. He excelled at these things from both the wing and out on top. However, putting him on top, pushed another player to the wing/baseline who could have excelled on top, but not on the wing/baseline.
RE KJ: You put him on top and space the floor because if a true 4 was guarding him, they probably couldn’t stay in front of him.
Not saying he can’t do it, but that’s a tough road ahead of him. The PG is usually the most skilled player on the floor. I’ve played PG my whole life and nothing infuriates me more than some dude who thinks they can play point because they can walk the ball up the court. But hey, if he can figure it out, he has nice size and defense for the position. I wonder if he has court vision.
There wasn’t a 4 that the Gators played against who could stop his baseline drive when he was a freshman. He also played that spot at both IMG and Oak Hill.
