This would have seemed like a rather odd question one month ago, much less at the beginning of the season, but it seems to be a legitimate one at this point. Lately, and especially in the last two games, we've seen Craig get his lunch handed to him on defense while providing next to nothing on offense. This all raises a question over whether Alex Thompson deserves to be getting starts over Brackins.
Craig is a great offensive weapon. There's no doubt about that. When he's on, he has one of the sweetest shots on the team, both down low and from behind the arc. The problem is that that shot is not there right now, with Craig hitting some sort of (freshman) wall. Compounding that is the fact that he's not real good on defense. He's likely never had to work real hard on D in high school or prep school, but his lack of ability in the post is glaring. Thompson is the opposite, as he's our best post defender (depending on what sort of day Jiri is having), and he's pretty decent passing, but his offense has been suspect at best. Let's look at both guys' last five games...
@ KState - CB 10 pts (4-17), 5 rebounds; AT 0 pts (0-0), 2 rebounds
Colorado - CB 10 pts (4-11), 7 rebounds; AT 2 pts (1-5), 1 rebound
@ Nebraska - CB 14 pts (5-8), 7 rebounds; AT 3 pts (1-2), 1 rebound
Texas A&M - CB 2 pts (1-6), 0 rebounds; AT 5 pts (2-3), 5 rebounds
Texas - CB 3 pts (1-9), 3 rebounds; AT 0 pts (0-1), 2 rebounds
Is this simply a case where appearances are deceiving? It's hard to argue that with the exception of the Nebraska game, Craig has had a bad stretch, but does Alex deserve to be getting the starts over him? And what of Cory Johnson, who's been sick recently. He's got one of the better offensive touches on the team, and God knows that's where we are hurting. What are your thoughts?
Loading comments...