I had the pleasure of talking to Charlie a number of years ago. He told me he was stuck in the minor leagues, the old CBA, for years because no team would give him a chance. When the Hawks finally gave him that chance, he was a reliable starter for a number of years.
I'm tired of hearing, "If Angeli was good enough he'd be starting." Coaches blow personnel decisions all the time. A guy on the basketball team at my college sat the bench for four years, but when he got the start on senior night, he scored 24 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and was clearly the best player on the floor. At FSU, the golf coach at the time didn't think George McNeill was good enough to play until he was finally talked into it.
Charlie told me that coaching decisions are often very political and also based on a coach's personal preferences, which can and at times does lead to a team not being as good as it can be.
chance IMO, against the more talented teams.
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don't know if Leonard is good enough, we are quite sure he has a better chance than Angeli. It would take a humongous effort from our whole team but when a QB can beat you with his legs it is a devastating effect. A QB is expected to have to beat you with his arm but the unexpected win usually comes with great plays made by the QBs legs. I will never forget Joe Montana against Dan Marino in the Super Bowl. Montana ran for 64 yards that day, which at the time was a record for the QB in the Super Bowl. Those huge plays enabled San Fran, the underdog in that game to beat Miami, because conversions were made even though the defense played sound defense.
This does not mean that Angeli should not enter the game if Leonard is struggling, but to beat the great teams a lesser team needs to have the "not by the book" plays to beat them. The biggest plays in the game the underdog wins come in the plays that teams aren't prepared for, and that comes on plays that are unusual calls or great efforts that cannot be game planned for. Now teams know Riley is going to run a lot but if a play breaks down it is possible that many plays open up on scramble type runs. This often creates open field opportunities or a defense breaking down if a play is kept alive, by a pass to a wide open player or a broken field run that can happen when a play does breakdown. Doing this for a whole season seldom works but for one or two games it can.
Down the road I think Carr has it all, and will beat teams in more traditional ways, ways like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State do it now. I am confident he will be great, he has the tools. Now though the only way we upset those teams is to beat them the unusual ways. This means Leonard is going to have to pass better than average and use his legs too. I don't think Angeli has the legs part of it. Who the hell knows maybe a key play would break down and the surprise of an Angeli run would do the trick. I think that is less likely.