Rex, I’m not trying to single you out, but since you asked “in what way do you think I’m wrong?” with regards to Krauser, I’m going to attempt to respond as a Krauser partisan.

I believe the point guard should control a game, Karl is usually out of control. When he brings the ball down the court alot of things can happen and most of them are bad. 1. turnover 2. bad shot 3. offensive foul 4. not knowing when to pass and when to shoot 5. unable to control the tempo.

This is the perception of Krauser. (I’ve said it before, Krauser is not and never will be Knight.) To be honest, it reminds me a little of the Woody Hayes attitude towards throwing the ball. This is perception and anectodal. To respond, I would respond that the times when Krauser was out of the game and Graves or Ramon would attempt to play PG would seem to often result in being trapped and pressured and turnovers because they were unprepared for it. This is perception, and unfair. It also, to me, was a problem with Dixon not using his players in other roles to have them ready to back-up and help. But I digress.

On the Pitt team, name one player that was capable of regular success of taking it inside from the perimeter, not named Krauser? Taft and Troutman were strictly inside guys. Ramon was a perimeter threat. Graves, well, I concede my own biases against him.

Here is reality. In the only way measurable. Damn statistics.

Krauser averaged nearly 36 minutes a game, all at point guard. He is going, therefore to handle the ball more frequently than any other player.

Ken Pomeroy is the c-basketball stats guy. He does more interesting numbers like offensive efficiency and pace. This is how Pitt was ranked:

                                 [     TEMPO/PACE     ]       [OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY]       [DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY]     [OFF. REBOUNDING PCT]
Team (Conf T/O/D/B)                Raw (Rank)  Adjusted(Rk)     Raw (Rank)  Adjusted(Rk)     Raw (Rank)  Adjusted(Rk)        Raw (Rank)
Pittsburgh[9] (BE)                 65.2 (267)   65.9 (243)     110.1 ( 20)  112.6 ( 24)      96.9 ( 70)   93.2 ( 49)         43.1 (  1)

What this shows is that Pitt, while being one of the best teams in the country in controlling and slowing the game, was also one of the best at using each of its opportunities to score. Very controlled and efficient. An out of control point guard out there for 35.6 minutes of a 40 minute game (give or take some OTs) would not be able to pull this off.

Now, it’s time to talk regular numbers. How about the usual measure of PG, assists? In the NCAA, out of 330 teams, Krauser was ranked #21 with 5.9 assists/game. Let’s eliminate the point guards of minor and mid-major schools. Sticking to the top 8 conferences. Here’s how it looks:

1. Marcus Williams, Connecticut — 7.8
2. Aaron Miles, Kansas — 7.2
3. Filiberto Rivera, UTEP — 7.2
4. Raymond Felton, North Carolina — 6.9
5. Deron Williams, Illinois — 6.8
6. Chris Thomas, Notre Dame — 6.7
7. Chris Paul, Wake Forest So. — 6.6
8. Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh — 5.9

Well, that helps explain how he was 2nd team All-Big East. That and averaging 16 points per game. He was the 3rd leading assist guy in the Big East (all games). He was also the 7th leading scorer in the BE, 11th in FTs, 7th in steals, 12th in 3-pointers made/game, and 14th in assists/turnover ratio. You know why Krauser isn’t listed among the league or national average in 3-point field goals despite a .394 shooting? He was 4 made 3s short. You need an average of 2 made 3s per game. He shot 4.7/game and had a 1.86 average

Did Krauser average about 2 more shots per game than Taft or Troutman? Yes. Is that vastly obscene? I don’t think so. Teams would collapse in on Pitt. If you couldn’t pass inside. That meant Pitt had to make outside shots or penetrate. Once more, Krauser was the only player to regularly penetrate inside. We saw Graves try it more as the season wore on, but not consistently or often. Ramon, simply wasn’t the same shooter from the outside in the second half after hurting his shoulder. That put more burden on Krauser from the outside and to get inside.

Beyond all of that, his defense is not exactly great.

Again, anecdotal, but when he does 1-on-1, he is a shut-down defender.

He is streaky and can occasionally carry a game but when he is off its just brutal. I’m just not sure what he really brings to the team that cant be replaced.

I can’t argue with the streaky. We’ve all seen him Jekyl and Hyde from half to half. What he brings, though is experience and the leading scorer and 3rd leading rebounder on the team. Not to mention the most consistent FT shooter and the guy who best knows and feed the ball.

Does everyone like his style? No.

Just look a little more objectively and not based on the worst seen. We don’t judge Troutman by his final games. It’s unfair to judge Krauser by his worst.