And Cam as a 3rd option will be tough.
I'm excited. This team is going to be different.
Any update on Ndongo or Davis signing?
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I'm excited. This team is going to be different.
Everyone wants Paul to score more, but the more/better scorers we have, the less important the need for Paul to score is
What if his assist numbers go up?
He doesn’t need to score more on a team with shooters. He’s going to resume the point forward style role he previously played when we had other PGs and more efficient shooters/scorers on the roster. When we push pace he won’t bring up the ball but once in the halfcourt set, he’s currently a way better option to distribute the ball than Simpson when iso isn’t needed from him. It’s not close yet. Simpson will improve, but this attribute is not where he earned his playing time to date. Some of our fans are failing to see that Paul’s strengths could not be capitalized down the stretch because we simply did not have enough horses around him to execute.
Who will attempt the most 3s for us this coming year? Cam first. Then it’s debatable but likely Fernandes and Griffiths if not the next 2 they will both be in our top 4.
(All I know about Gavin is he’s highly rated and shooting accuracy is 1 of his strengths.)
Going out on a small limb and saying at least 3 of our top 4 three point shot attempters will shoot 36%+ from 3 next year.
When was the last time this happened? Paul’s skill set in the half court game can certainly work with 2 legit 3 pt shooters out there with him.
(All I know about Gavin is he’s highly rated and shooting accuracy is 1 of his strengths.)
Going out on a small limb and saying at least 3 of our top 4 three point shot attempters will shoot 36%+ from 3 next year.
When was the last time this happened? Paul’s skill set in the half court game can certainly work with 2 legit 3 pt shooters out there with him.
Cam took just under 5 threes a game last year.
Griffiths will take more than that next year. Hopefully Cam will too.
Fernandes too 3.8/game last year in 11 games, the year before 4.5
Hopefully, those 3 get up more per game than we did as a team last year
One of our biggest weaknesses last season was how few 3's we took (17.9) and how many our opponents took (23.4). Opponents took about 5.5 more per game than we did.
We were 12th in B1G in attempts and 13th in percentage
3rd highest in opponent attempts and luckily the lowest opponent 3 pt percentage
Great job by Pike getting the talent to address one of our biggest weaknesses
Cam Griffiths and Fernandes the likely top 3 for attempts and percentage which is a great thing
Small limb indeed. I expect the same. Cam is essentially locked in to hit at least 36%. Fernandes has every year but freshman year. Griffiths is one of the best shooters in the country
Ideally, Hyatt doesn't play enough to have the second most attempts at only a career best 30% like last year. Caleb took the 3rd most 3's at only 20%
Our team 3% is going to take a significant jump up from a lowly 32% this season. Our 2nd and 3rd most attempts came from shooters below a poor team average. We should be more like a top 5 three point shooting team in the B1G next year with 36% or possibly better team average
Combine the percentage boost with a PG and a big wing that hunt them and will take them in a variety of ways - transition, off the dribble, off a pick etc. It's going to be fun.
He averaged 5.3 apg with Ron and Geo and 4.9 this year. Not meaningfully different but the offense struggled because of lack of scorers, lack of playmakers and lack of speed to run the break. The more players with those attributes we can get into the lineup the more productive the offense will be. Both of Paul’s double digit assist games were losses last year, not because of lack of assists but lack of scoring. Players that play 32 mpg can’t live on assists alone.
1st Team B1G: Cliff (if he comes back)
You heard it here first. I think with Noah, Cam, Gavin in the perimeter, defenders will be hesitant to come down to double team Cliff.
I think Cliff will really really dedicate himself this off season and get his mid-jumper and back to the basket right.
Im saying 16-17pts with 11rebounds.
Will be a terror on the defensive side, which will land him finalist as DPOY
You heard it here first. I think with Noah, Cam, Gavin in the perimeter, defenders will be hesitant to come down to double team Cliff.
I think Cliff will really really dedicate himself this off season and get his mid-jumper and back to the basket right.
Im saying 16-17pts with 11rebounds.
Will be a terror on the defensive side, which will land him finalist as DPOY
Ideally with better offensive options, we see less Cliff post ups but more space for him rolling to the rim and getting lobs
yea definitely see Cliff having more room to work with. Pick and roll. cutting to the room. I think this offense will open up big with inside and outside. Defense cant really lock/double on one player.
That was really big issue last year. Our options being limited, it was easy for opponent coaches to draw up defensive plan to lock down our offense by eliminating who was hot.
You're not looking at the entire picture. From what I see in your post, your focus is on one piece of the puzzle. On an individual basis, it might not be great, but collectively it's way better. The idea is to place a player alongside another player where they highlight each other's strengths. This way, any deficiencies are not as pronounced.
To win in sports is about playing to your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses. Adding Fernandez and Gavin should add to Rutgers' abilities to score more consistently while highlighting Pual's court vision. Some guys couldn't finish bunny shots and that made the passer look like an incompetent distributor and that led to this narrative of Paul having to go.
As I said before on this board perception is a dangerous thing in the hands of someone ill-informed. The world is flat. 🤣
It isn't "Paul v Simpson" anymore. That is what many is missing.
That is done. Simpsons problem is Fernandes now - not Mulcahy.
It's "Paul v Griffiths v Mag v Ndongo v Hyatt" for the majority of minutes at the 2 forward spots.
Paul isn't playing most of his minutes with Griffiths, Cam and Fernandes. Unless he's playing over Mag and Ndongo.
Note: Or whoever replaces Ndongo on the roster.
That is done. Simpsons problem is Fernandes now - not Mulcahy.
It's "Paul v Griffiths v Mag v Ndongo v Hyatt" for the majority of minutes at the 2 forward spots.
Paul isn't playing most of his minutes with Griffiths, Cam and Fernandes. Unless he's playing over Mag and Ndongo.
Note: Or whoever replaces Ndongo on the roster.
Thank you - the last thing we want is more post ups and mid-range shots from Cliff
I look at it more as the third guard - Pike seems to go 3 guards most of the time (at least last season)
The 4 spot seems locked down with Mag/Ndongo/Hyatt
The guards are Noah/Cam/Griffiths - with Paul/Simpson/Davis backups
Paul and Griffiths hopefully get some small ball 4 minutes and maybe Ndongo gets some big guard 3 minutes.
So I guess if it’s your option it’s well informed… got it. Are you focusing on the big picture or just “court vision” and assists. Having a group of 5 stars playing with you and I would make us look better than playing in a YMCA pickup game but that doesn’t mean we should be on a D1 hoop team. If the goal is to keep elevating the program to become a regular NCAA team and maybe win a game or two, the talent needs to keep evolving. Can Paul take a defender off the dribble? Can he run the break well? Is he a plus defender? Does he not make panic turnovers when pressured? We need more players that can do those things … need to look big picture here.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. The difference is some have merits to them based on experience and knowledge. Most listen when posters like RU72, bac2therac, or BKIn118 have something to say. Anyway, you are the one who is missing the point. You don't need five superstars for the team to succeed. Example: Randle of the NY Knicks is a solid player, but everyone was critical of his play at times because he tried to do everything by himself. In steps, Brunson, Randle's game has suddenly grown to another level. The same critics of Randle said Brunson is an average PG, but somehow the two together have taken the Knicks to another level, and both are now considered part of the upper echelon of the NBA.
To translate that to Rutgers, look at the last two years with Paul and his play. When Paul played off the ball, away from being the primary ballhandler, he had great success. Paul isn't going to "wow" with dribbling skills, but he has an unbelievable vision to hit his teammates in the shooting pocket off a dribble or two during an offensive set. And this was when Geo was the primary ballhandler. Newsflash, Paul led the B1G in assist. Fast forward to this year, Paul was the primary ballhandler, and not only did the offense suffer, but so did his game. At this level, Paul isn't built to bring the ball up the court with someone harassing him. By the end of the season, Pike inserted Simpson, and Paul's court vision and assist game improved, but that lack of scorers to pass to didn't help. Pike understands this, which is why Fernandez and Gavin suddenly become essential. This gives Rutgers scorers similar to what they had two years ago. With Paul back off the ball, it's reasonable to think Paul will return to the level of success he experienced with Geo and Harper.
Paul is not a great on-the-ball defender, but with teammates like Simpson or Mag, who can take the best ballhandlers and defend them, then Paul can play like Cam. That is using his high basketball IQ and play the passing lane. Paul, like Cam, has a sense of what the opposing team's offense wants to do, and he can play off his man and create steals due to the pressure put on the ballhandlers by his teammates.
Davis is expected to sign this week
We were told Davis is gathering his family together and making the signing to RU an event. Don’t know the date
Davis- yes
Ndongo- no
No one is paying attention to Richie when he continues to say Davis will sign, but Pike wants to showcase Davis and Ndongo at the same time. Since that is trending to be less likely, the word now is Davis may do the signing surrounded by his family
Paul in 2021-22: 9 pts per game in 32 minutes. Team makes NCAAs
Paul in 2022-23: 8.3 pts per game in 32.4 minutes. Team was widely considered the biggest snub and missed the NCAAs.
My conclusion: we can dance if Paul returns and scores around the same amount as he did a year ago, assuming others step up their scoring. Fernandes and Griffiths look likely to help there. We don't need Paul (or anyone that replaces him) to score 12 ppg if the other new rotation guys increase the team scoring.
Paul in 2022-23: 8.3 pts per game in 32.4 minutes. Team was widely considered the biggest snub and missed the NCAAs.
My conclusion: we can dance if Paul returns and scores around the same amount as he did a year ago, assuming others step up their scoring. Fernandes and Griffiths look likely to help there. We don't need Paul (or anyone that replaces him) to score 12 ppg if the other new rotation guys increase the team scoring.
You started talking about the NBA.
@Greene Rice FIG started bleeding from the eyes and stopped reading.
😉
Excellent analysis and well written.
Nba analogy will unfortunately cause people to focus on that but you’re spot on about Paul and RU.
profusely.
I will say role players are very important in the success of most teams in most sports.
Paul played 27 minutes as a sophomore on a roster with both JY and Geo. That was the year we still had Tez and Caleb so it’s not like there were mass minutes to go around. I think Noah impacts Derek’s minutes way more than Paul’s because we’re not going to play those 2 together much. Derek isn’t a shooter and that would be a very small backcourt. GG probably isn’t playing north of 25 mpg as a frosh either. And Cam isn’t likely to average over 30. Paul is getting most of those minutes at 2 and 3 and maybe some spot minutes at the point. He’d be looking at similar minutes to his sophomore year in my opinion.
I don’t really understand Paul’s role aside from giving someone a breather off the bench. If we have better scorers, we have to play those players.
You are partially forgiven. I do think you guys are warped for liking games with 90 3 point shots taken.My bad
We had 3 years worth of rosters filled with better scorers in them than Paul (excluding this last one). Next year’s roster is not penciled in to have better scorers than Paul’s second team. Junior JY was likely as good or a better scorer than Noah will be. You think Simpson will be a better scorer next year than senior Geo Baker? Highly unlikely. RHJ was a better scorer than anyone on our roster will be next year. GG hasn’t played a minute of college ball and you think he’s coming in and matching Ron’s junior season numbers as a frosh? Come on. So next year’s team will have another sharp shooter in Cam but Caleb took up a slot on Paul’s second team playing for his defense (or when Tez was hot he played - regardless that slot was filled so it didn’t contain extra PT for Paul). He played 27+ min that year…
Edey is coming back, so very unlikely Cliff is 1st team, and if Dickinson goes to Maryland, he might be third team again.
If the bench players play well and the freshman are ready to produce it will be a deep roster. We'll see how deep of a rotation Pike will end up playing, but it's possible he shaves some minutes off the studs to keep them fresh and that might benefit everyone
100%. There are folks on this board waaayyy overrating his contributions to the team. Is Paul an easy player to root for, absolutely. Is he a player that should be playing 30 plus minutes on an NCAA caliber team? Absolutely not.
Cam, Simpson, Noah, Mag
All better scorers than Paul. Gavin will be too.
He’s not running point like he did in the past. We don’t need a 3/4 who can pass the ball.
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He didn’t run the point with JY and Geo either. And he’s a more efficient shooter than Derek and a better rebounder anyway. Derek is a better transition player and in iso.
Mag is going to play the 4.
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