Francis out of control shooter?

[UR80sfan]

Francis has the lowest shooting percentage of our 3 guards and has been criticized for taking unwise shoots. I took a look at how well he is shooting through 9 games relative to some of the top guards in U of R history during their senior year

PPG shooting % 3P% FT%
Francis 18 43.1 43.1 84.6%
Shawndre 16.6 46.3 39.2 81.9%
KA 16.5 43.6 34.2 75.0%
Kendal 16.4 44.6 39.2 79.0%
Curtis 20.3 44.7 41.8 79.1%

His numbers so far are very impressive. Did I mention he is shooting the worst of our 3 guards?

 

[spider fan]

No Francis is not an "out of control" shooter. But this does add to the number of threads you have started.......................

 

[spiderman]

he's a very good shooter and someone who can get his own shot when needed. I think his percentages would be even higher if he cut out some of the very contested inside shots. look to kick there.

 

[fatherspider]

No Francis is not an "out of control" shooter. But this does add to the number of threads you have started.......................

He’s an “out of control” thread starter lol

 

[GKiller]

No Francis is not an "out of control" shooter. But this does add to the number of threads you have started.......................

Tough thread name too. Sorry Blake.

 

[gospidersgo]

Is anybody calling him an out of control shooter?

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Blake is probably the most aggressive guard we have had here in awhile. Due to his take no prisoners approach,
he sometimes gets himself in a no win situation, where passing out or slowing down would have been a better choice.
But I will take that no nonsense approach because honestly I think it has made Gilly even more aggressive.

 

[spiderman]

But I will take that no nonsense approach because honestly I think it has made Gilly even more aggressive.

Jacob's taking 15% fewer shots per game than last year. not that that is a bad thing. his percentages are through the roof. but he hasn't been more aggressive on the offensive end.

 

[gcarter52]

Francis aggressive style of play is making us a better team. I can see making adjustments throughout the season.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Jacob's taking 15% fewer shots per game than last year. not that that is a bad thing. his percentages are through the roof. but he hasn't been more aggressive on the offensive end.

I think Gilly is more aggressive primarily on defensive side due to Francis.

 

[SpiderPride]

Blake's game mentality reminds me of De'Monte's. An all out, aggressive approach, taking everything at a personal level, and even the occasional dramatic injury where he'll then pop back up. It's Gilly and Grant's team, though I think Blake really helps spur them on with his competitiveness.

 

[SpiderTrap]

I would argue he is more aggressive than out of control. But we need to play some tougher opponents to really figure this out. The only game I would say he was out of control was the Auburn game - where I think the athleticism and length of Auburn caused issues for all our guards. In that game he was 3-14 and 0-6 from 3 while Sherod and Gilyard were 11-25 and 2-9 combined. I don't think we win that game even if Francis has a normal night.
But expect the competition and scouting to get better in the A10 and I wonder if Francis will be okay taking 6 shots and deferring to Sherod, Gilyard, and Golden when the defense dictates it. I think he will be - but we have yet to see that and I think we will see it in the A10 against better teams like Dayton, VCU, Davidson, etc.
I think he wants to win more than get his shots - and in a close, tight game where either his shots are not falling or the defense is keying on him - I expect he will be okay with others taking the shot.

 

[spiderman]

I don't think the defense will ever dictate that he only take 6 shots. as good as he is, we're too balanced for a defense to focus on him.

and as for not taking shots when his shots aren't falling, a scorer always believes the next shot is going in. a scorer should never not take his shot. he's a scorer.

 

[SpiderTrap]

I don't think the defense will ever dictate that he only take 6 shots. as good as he is, we're too balanced for a defense to focus on him.

and as for not taking shots when his shots aren't falling, a scorer always believes the next shot is going in. a scorer should never not take his shot. he's a scorer.

Spiderman - I agree with the scorer mentality, but I usually only apply to that teams where you have one or maybe two defined scorers, and having them taking tough or contested shots is better than maybe your 3rd or 4th option taking better shots. In this case - like you said and I agree - we are very balanced. So if his shot is not falling - I am not saying don't shoot, but he certainly should take 18 shots on those nights. Not when we have guys like Gilyard, Sherod, and Golden who can score just as well as Francis.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

He's not "out of control." However, it seems that at least once every game, Bob Black, or Beck, or the random ESPN guy will say something like "that's not the shot you wanted right there." It doesn't happen often enough to be a concern, and he can really fill it up.

 

[spider fan]

...... The only game I would say he was out of control was the Auburn game - where I think the athleticism and length of Auburn caused issues for all our guards. In that game he was 3-14 and 0-6 from 3 while Sherod and Gilyard were 11-25 and 2-9 combined. I don't think we win that game even if Francis has a normal night.
.

Part of the Auburn game night by Francis may be attributed to the "lights out" performance he had the night before against Wisconsin and the very physical nature of the Auburn game with the refs taking the philosophy of "let em play" to the extreme....................

 

[97spiderfan]

I love what Francis has done for this team. Alpha dog mentality and has the game to back it up.

That said, a critique of his game is that he does shoot several ill advised shots per game, and also lacks some situational awareness with his hyper aggressive game when the situation calls for slowing the game down. I would like him to cut down on those shots in those situations but I also understand that Francis aggressiveness is what makes him so great.

He reminds me a bit of Ben Simmons in that regards (Blake is a much better shooter than Ben). But Simmons sometimes can't slow his game even when he needs to. That pace though is what makes Ben Simmons so good and such a dangerous player. The same applies to Blake.

 

[KE Spider]

Being aggressive and being disciplined are not mutually exclusive. Blake is a master of the former, still a student of the latter.

Believe he will get there and we will be even a better team for it.

 

[SpiderK]

Can you imagine how many times Tarrant would have pulled Blake from the game for taking quick out of control shots?

I like the aggressiveness and confidence.

 

[urfan1]

Can you imagine how many times Tarrant would have pulled Blake from the game for taking quick out of control shots?

I like the aggressiveness and confidence.

K I smiled when I thought about your question, but remember DT would often have one on the floor that had much more leeway to shoot.

 

[GKiller]

Part of the Auburn game night by Francis may be attributed to the "lights out" performance he had the night before against Wisconsin and the very physical nature of the Auburn game with the refs taking the philosophy of "let em play" to the extreme....................

spider fan that attitude didn't seem to apply to us in the first half. What did we get 14 fouls in 1st? refs whistled us out of that one. Including some real tough ones on Golden and Burton.

Not the reason we lost, Auburn took it to us in 2nd and we were not good enough, but I do think we could have been up 5 or 6 at half. Had we been, better chance we could have sustained & recovered from that early Auburn run in 2nd.

 

[coach fezz]

No , is not out of of control. Coach finally letting the game flow let it flow. But don't wear that short short jacket anymore. Worst clothes are pruple tie short short plaid jacket and ugly brown shoes Ha! Team looking very good though.

 

[spider fan]

spider fan that attitude didn't seem to apply to us in the first half. What did we get 14 fouls in 1st? refs whistled us out of that one. Including some real tough ones on Golden and Burton.

Not the reason we lost, Auburn took it to us in 2nd and we were not good enough, but I do think we could have been up 5 or 6 at half. Had we been, better chance we could have sustained & recovered from that early Auburn run in 2nd.

Good point - should have said "let them play" meaning Auburn as when watching the game thought how can we be called for so many fouls? Auburn had 31 free throws and we had 9..................

 

[97spiderfan]

Good point - should have said "let them play" meaning Auburn as when watching the game thought how can we be called for so many fouls? Auburn had 31 free throws and we had 9..................

Auburn is one of 5 remaining unbeaten teams left in the country, two of those 5 are unranked because they have played no one yet. There is never a good loss, but our one loss is to a pretty darn good team.

 

[SpiderTrap]

Agreed 97 - I think at this point, even if we played Auburn 10 times, maybe we beat them once or twice. I think they are about 10-15 points better than us and I think UR having a more difficult game the night before made our main guys a little more fatigued. But nonetheless - Auburn is a very good team, and there is no shame in losing to them.

I think we just need to pump the brakes on Francis a bit. Yes - he is playing great right now - but in reality, we have only faced what I would say are two teams we would consider equal to top tier A10 team in Auburn and probably Wisconsin. And unfortunately given the schedule - we probably won't see another good team like that until possibly Alabama.
With the A10 being usually a guard driven league - he will face tougher competition night in and night out there, then he has so far. I still expect him to do well and by all accounts - be an all A10 level player - I think we just need to remember, this is only his 9th game in a Spider uniform.