2. What happened to Will Riley
I understand a player who is a freshman struggling. In the case of Will Riley, he is supposed to be a senior in high school right now, but he is playing in the college ranks.
With that being said, what the heck happened to Riley? Riley was lighting the world on fire earlier this season, and now he has disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Riley finished the Tennessee game with 10 points and five rebounds. He was 1-of-9 from the field and missed all four three-point attempts.
Each time Riley gets the ball, he is looking to get his own. He isn’t looking to make the best play or trying to create for others. He is focused on scoring the basketball and making the box score look as appealing as possible.
That isn’t working, though. When Riley gets the ball on the perimeter, he tries to do a little shimmy-shake, and he ends up taking a wild shot. He isn’t letting the game come to him. Riley is forcing too much, and this results in bad plays and ugly stats.
I would love to see Riley in the post a little more. He has nice size at 6-foot-8. I think he would be dangerous with his good touch shooting the ball. Getting Riley closer to the basket and trying to generate points with his natural talent should be a priority. What he is doing right now isn’t working. Riley is trying to play me-ball, and this program needs we-ball.