Ronnie Steward

[GJGood]

I was happy to see Ronnie getting some minutes in College Station. I have thought since day one that he stepped on campus that he is the best ball handler on the team. I really do believe that. Hitchens is more of the scorer, Steward the ball handler and assist guy at this point possibly. I want to start seeing those two guys on the court together, especially when we go to three guard sets.

[zip37]

Agree!

[Quickzips]

Personally, I think right now you have to treat Ronnie like porcelain. His injury history alone means you can't just throw him right back into playing 25+ minutes a game. I can't imagine that his conditioning is that good at this point. Not to mention the fact that he's barely played in about 2 and a half years. Watching him against Niagra he seemed a little unsure of himself. It didn't seem like he had the chemistry with the rest of the guys to really make an impact. If he can get back to the point by the end of the season where he can give us 15 solid minutes a night and looks comfortable doing it I would consider it a big victory for not only the Zips but for Ronnie as a person.My bigger question is whose minutes get cut to make way for him? We can't play a 5 guard rotataion can we? The natural choice would seem to be Humpty or McNees, but I almost wonder if McClanahan doesn't eventually become the odd man out in the guard rotation. He's our biggest guard which is an advantage for him, but he's done absolutely nothing of note so far this season. On top of that, he was supposed to redshirt last year until Ronnie went down again. I wouldn't be surprised if the guard rotation eventually becomes Humpty, Daryl, Steve and Ronnie.

[ZachTheZip]

He's technically still a freshman (a 3rd year freshman!), so all I expect from him is what I would expect from any freshman getting playing time: contribute for half a game, and play as well as you can. Limit your mistakes, but don't try to put the team on your shoulders.