Without even diving into some advanced stats - which to your point like Sheldon at least defensively - just look at what our "shooting" guards have done from 3 this season.

1. Sheldon 38-109 .349
2. Kelly 15-44 .341
3. Burris 10-33 .303
4. Conners 18-60 .300
5. Elliott 5-21 .238
6. Fisher 1-5 .200

Everybody (including Boals) knows we need better floor spacing to allow Pavs to create in the lane/mid-range (his bread and butter) and also to give Hadaway and Simmons room to create in corner and post touches.

Absolutely nobody is providing it. Sheldon is actually the best of a bad bunch. In fact, everyone NOT named Sheldon is a combined 49-163 .301 and that's including Kelly who is really our SF not SG.

Go all the way back to pre-season prediction thread. I thought Sheldon would be Pavs backup at PG - but even then admitted ONE OF Kelly/Burris/Conners/Elliott/Fisher HAD to emerge as a consistent/solid 3pt threat. None have consistently. Why I keep saying Boals doesn't have a ton of good options right now which is why he's sticking with the Senior with good defensive metrics.

Sidenote:

FWIW, last I checked our tempo was ranked #82 yet our per-possession metrics for both offense and defense are below average. I tend to think Boals might want to consider pulling a Charlie Coles and slowing the game WAAAAAY down. Limit possessions. Know you're a bad shooting team - and not great on D either - and hope to win some 60-58 games instead of losing 85-75.

Astonishing miscalculation by this coaching staff...especially after last season...that they truly felt like Sheldon was the guy at the shooting guard position for 2025-2026. It was hard to believe in the fall when it was clear Sheldon was going to start at the 2. Even harder to believe now that we head into February with him still starting and getting 30+ minutes per game.

An all-world miss.

Coaching malpractice.

Sheldon is the only option. This is the worst bench I can remember. For those calling for more Conners minutes, you really should just stare at him while he's on the floor. Watch nobody else but Conners and then tell me he deserves Sheldon's minutes. If all is equal, I'm giving the minutes to the 4 year Bobcat as much as we complain about NIL/portal.

Now that I've put that out there, watch him hit several 3's tomorrow. He'll still give up more points defensively though so it won't matter.

I agree that the options are not massively inspiring.

But the lineup data heavily, heavily favors Conners.

I tend to agree on Conners. Not so much on stats, but just my seat of pants observations.

Graf is right… when you are the lesser talented team you have to slow the game down. That means taking the shot cock down deep. Not taking shots in the first 10 seconds from 3 that you can take anytime. Having said that you know boals will let them do whatever they want.