Fans don't understand fit and style impacts your other 4 positions on the court....having the wrong type of player, makes it difficult for others needing room to playmake.
A) Any big with hands and touch would benefit by playing with Ace and Dylan...but Cliff had 2 years without Dylan and Ace and was made the focal point of the offense.....he is not that type of fluid player with great hands....too often he didn't convert or was not a capable passer out of trouble. The bigs targeted are better fits on offense.
B) anyone asking for an anchor of a 5 man, that can only score in the paint, doesn't understand basketball....Cliff (or Ogbole) is not the right fit to help Dylan and Ace....he knows that and the staff knows that. Is Cliff good at the high post or 3 point line, dribbling, passing to players or shooting 3s??? The answer is no, no and no.
C) Ace and Dylan need lanes to drive and players need room and spacing. Anyone guarding Cliff in the paint, automatically becomes another defender in the way for Ace and Dylan when they drive and beat their defender, 1 on 1. We need to clear the lanes, not clog them.
D) there is a loss on the defensive end, but we are assuming there are 4 Zach Edey types we need to defend and thats not the case next year....that's not today's college basketball.....even Aaron Bradshaw, the former 5* Kentucky center who picked Ohio State, is a better offensive player than Cliff, because he has better shooting range, is a better passer and playmaker.....Bradshaw is not a better defender than Cliff.....He is not going to bs anchored to the paint with Ohio State.....he has other ways to score that Cliff as a perimeter big, doesn't have in his game to be that type of player.
E) in terms of Griffiths, it never made sense to invest into the guards that departed last year (Mulcahy and Spencer)....Gavin was the right choice with the goal for him to get better this past year and be a bigger piece for 2024-25.....it was the right choice, but the player didn't deliver.
You can't ask for better offense and at the same time ask for that with Cliff as your focal point at center.......doesn't mean he won't be a better fit elsewhere or play well elsewhere. RU just needs to find better athletes up front to rebound, we can find a better,.mobile big to replace his production, with fewer touches and shot attempts.
