Any update on Ndongo or Davis signing?

[bigmatt718]

Everything is waiting on Ndongo. Pike wants to announce all the signings at once.

That's stupid. Just announce Davis at this point.

 

[RUJMM78]

Totally agree. I’ve been saying this as a reason we have a big down turn at the end of the season. Now that we have depth minutes should be reduced across the board. No one should consistently be playing 30+ minutes throughout the year.

The best shooter on the team should be playing at least 30 mimutes.

 

[Roy_Faulker]

Well,
First off, I would not be insisting on announcing all signed players at once if I was Pike, I don't think it is that necessary

So if Davis wanted to announce and sign at any point I would go ahead with it, let him do it now if wanted

If Pike wants the two recruits announced together, I would try to sign Davis before the announcement , and hopefully Davis is ok with that

I agree - no need for Davis to feel put out. Right now we can’t even celebrate his signing.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

Patience people, your desire to celebrate has nothing to do with Davis. Pike has his reasons, you should trust him on this.

 

[RUChoppin]

And for those looking for Simpson's improvement throughout the year:

On a Per 40 Minutes basis, looking at the season in rough thirds:
First 12 games: 13.9 pts (.363 FG%, .296 3P%, .769 FT%), 2.8 RB, 3.0 Ast, 2.1 Stl, 2.1 tov
Next 11 games: 9.9 pts (.313 FG%, .077 3P%, 1.00 FT%), 2.8 RB, 3.6 Ast, 1.3 Stl, 1.5 tov
Last 11 games: 17.1 pts (.411 FG%, .200 3P%, .750 FT%), 3.9 RB, 2.5 Ast, 1.1 Stl, 1.7 tov

Definitely had a bit of a rough patch shooting the ball during the middle of the year, but hopefully he can build on that back third of the year as we move into 2023-24. Would be great if he can get his 3P% over .300 and his ast/tov consistently over 2.00.

 

[Scangg]

This is pretty funny. I guess any defense of Simpson is characterizing him as the "second coming." The detractors seem to be obsessed with myopic metrics like his shooting efficiency and magnifying every mistake he made. They're labeling him as a lesser bench piece who didn't show much with dubious upside instead of recognizing the unique positives he brings, the flashes of excellence and his sizeable upside as only a freshman. If you've followed this thread for the last few days you'll notice it's quite the opposite. There's a much higher ratio of posters that apparently feel Paul is the second coming focusing only on his positives while refusing to acknowledge his limitations and weaknesses.

This is a pretty inaccurate misrepresentation

I love how shooting percentages are somehow "myopic", lol

Simpson grew a lot through the year, and he had a unique skillset on last year's roster. He was the only guy who was able to consistently break down his man with dribble penetration and had an ability to get into the paint for pull up jumpers. That was a spark we didn't have, and adding it helped give the offense some needed juice late in the season.

But Simpson was very much a combo guard this past season - he added slashing offense, but didn't really show the outside shooting you'd expect from a SG or assists you'd expect from a PG (and he doesn't really have the size to defend SF/wings). With the addition of Fernandes, who is expected to get the starting PG role, the expectation is that he'd again come off the bench next year.

Fernandes has a similar slashing/pull-up skillset that Simpson has, but he's been a better distributor and three point shooter. Very likely our starting PG/SG will be Fernandes/Spencer in 2023-24, and I'd expect Simpson to get 20+ min split between the PG/SG spots.

Fernandes' stats as a soph-senior at Umass:
32.0 min, 13.4 pts (.442 FG%, .386 3P%, .756 FT%), 3.1 rb, 4.8 ast, 1.3 stl, 2.2 tov
Spencer's stats last year:
31.5 min, 13.2 pts (.444 FG%, .434 3P%, .894 FT%), 3.8 rb, 3.1 ast, 2.0 stl, 1.4 tov
Mulcahy's stats last year:
32.4 min, 8.3 pts (.416 FG%, .370 3P%, .723 FT%), 3.6 rb, 4.9 ast, 1.5 stl, 2.0 tov
Simpson's stats last year:
20.4 min, 7.1 pts (.374 FG%, .217 3P%, .793 FT%), 1.6 rb, 1.5 ast, 0.8 stl, 0.9 tov
Griffiths (TBD)

Assuming Mulcahy returns, those will be the five guys playing the 1-3 spots next year (120 min). My very rough guess is that we start the season with Fernandes/Spencer/Mulcahy, and as we get into conference play this switches to Fernandes/Spencer/Griffiths as GG gets more comfortable at Div-I game speed. My expectation would be that Simpson would pick up 20-22 min behind Fernandes/Spencer, and Davis would play spot minutes as a freshman.

Both Simpson/Davis would then be ready to take on larger roles in 2024-25 when Fernandes/Spencer/Mulcahy all graduate.

This is pretty spot on

 

[Scangg]

And for those looking for Simpson's improvement throughout the year:

On a Per 40 Minutes basis, looking at the season in rough thirds:
First 12 games: 13.9 pts (.363 FG%, .296 3P%, .769 FT%), 2.8 RB, 3.0 Ast, 2.1 Stl, 2.1 tov
Next 11 games: 9.9 pts (.313 FG%, .077 3P%, 1.00 FT%), 2.8 RB, 3.6 Ast, 1.3 Stl, 1.5 tov
Last 11 games: 17.1 pts (.411 FG%, .200 3P%, .750 FT%), 3.9 RB, 2.5 Ast, 1.1 Stl, 1.7 tov

Definitely had a bit of a rough patch shooting the ball during the middle of the year, but hopefully he can build on that back third of the year as we move into 2023-24. Would be great if he can get his 3P% over .300 and his ast/tov consistently over 2.00.

That middle 11 game stretch was pretty brutal, but some think bc Simpson played well late in the season that he would have retroactively magically played that well all year when he was pretty clearly struggling

 

[RUChoppin]

That middle 11 game stretch was pretty brutal, but some think bc Simpson played well late in the season that he would have retroactively magically played that well all year when he was pretty clearly struggling

Well, Game 12 was our last OOC matchup, and the level of competition jumped up steeply as we ran into @Purdue, Maryland, Iowa, @Northwestern, Ohio State, @MSU, Penn State, @Iowa, Minnesota, MSU. Very tough run, but he adapted to the increased level of difficulty and started to play better as the season continued.

Going into next season he's had a complete picture of what to expect in the B1G and what he needs to work on.

 

[RU84]

That middle 11 game stretch was pretty brutal, but some think bc Simpson played well late in the season that he would have retroactively magically played that well all year when he was pretty clearly struggling

Who thinks his first half play should be retoractively be better? He's a freshman. You'd expect there to be volatility, a learning curve and periods of struggling. Kids that started all through high school coming off the bench trying to get a rythym. Perfectly normal to see him finish much stronger than he started. Give's a nice glimpse into what next season can look like. For those fixated on stats, eerily how similar Simpson's were to Ron Harper's "inefficient" stats. Remember how Ron struggled from 3 early on? Didn't think so.

 

[Scangg]

Who thinks his first half play should be retoractively be better? He's a freshman. You'd expect there to be volatility, a learning curve and periods of struggling. Kids that started all through high school coming off the bench trying to get a rythym. Perfectly normal to see him finish much stronger than he started. Give's a nice glimpse into what next season can look like. For those fixated on stats, eerily how similar Simpson's were to Ron Harper's "inefficient" stats. Remember how Ron struggled from 3 early on? Didn't think so.

Maybe you weren't following the boards, but many people made that argument that Simpson should have been playing huge minutes / start all along in plenty of threads towards the end and after the season

Of course that makes sense. This is your best post in a while. I do remember and knew Ron would be fine. He was regarded as a better 3 point shooter than Simpson though coming out of HS and shot significantly better than Simpson from 3 as a freshman

I'm bullish on Simpson's future. I just can admit his freshman year shooting numbers are not good and need to improve. That's just the reality but it super triggers you for some reason

 

[mikeyo]

Maybe you weren't following the boards, but many people made that argument that Simpson should have been playing huge minutes / start all along in plenty of threads towards the end and after the season

Of course that makes sense. This is your best post in a while. I do remember and knew Ron would be fine. He was regarded as a better 3 point shooter than Simpson though coming out of HS and shot significantly better than Simpson from 3 as a freshman

I'm bullish on Simpson's future. I just can admit his freshman year shooting numbers are not good and need to improve. That's just the reality but it super triggers you for some reason

 

[mikeyo]

He can beat people off the bounce and get his own shot. If his shooting improves, look out

 

[MiloTalon13]

That middle 11 game stretch was pretty brutal, but some think bc Simpson played well late in the season that he would have retroactively magically played that well all year when he was pretty clearly struggling

Did he really play well or did he just make one of the worst offenses in major college basketball a little less bad
To put it a different way if he’d played just like he did but on a team with a top 50ish offense would he have been considered good?

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

Maybe you weren't following the boards, but many people made that argument that Simpson should have been playing huge minutes / start all along in plenty of threads towards the end and after the season

Of course that makes sense. This is your best post in a while. I do remember and knew Ron would be fine. He was regarded as a better 3 point shooter than Simpson though coming out of HS and shot significantly better than Simpson from 3 as a freshman

I'm bullish on Simpson's future. I just can admit his freshman year shooting numbers are not good and need to improve. That's just the reality but it super triggers you for some reason

If you recall I was one of the first to say that Simpson should be put into the lineup when Mag went down. And it wasn’t because I expected him to score like he did at the very end. It was more because I didn’t think Hyatt could do the role effectively and was better coming off the bench. At that point, Derek’s play could still have cost them a game as much as won a game because he was a bit wild.

 

[Scangg]

If you recall I was one of the first to say that Simpson should be put into the lineup when Mag went down. And it wasn’t because I expected him to score like he did at the very end. It was more because I didn’t think Hyatt could do the role effectively and was better coming off the bench. At that point, Derek’s play could still have cost them a game as much as won a game because he was a bit wild.

Yea Hyatt stepped up initially then completely tanked

I was on the "play Paul and Simpson together" train. Both together takes pressure off of the other to try to make something happen every single possession

 

[RU84]

Maybe you weren't following the boards, but many people made that argument that Simpson should have been playing huge minutes / start all along in plenty of threads towards the end and after the season

Of course that makes sense. This is your best post in a while. I do remember and knew Ron would be fine. He was regarded as a better 3 point shooter than Simpson though coming out of HS and shot significantly better than Simpson from 3 as a freshman

I'm bullish on Simpson's future. I just can admit his freshman year shooting numbers are not good and need to improve. That's just the reality but it super triggers you for some reason

I didn't notice many posts pushing Simpson for huge minutes from the jump. That being said, I thought Pike should have played him more down the stretch when the team was struggling.
I'm bullish on Simpson's future as well but don't think his shooting numbers are; a) necessarily indiciative of his future potential and b) mean he shouldn't have had more of a role down the stretch this season. You seem to be a pretty prodigous poster so I'm sure you've noticed the number of posts which repeatedly hang their hat on Simpson's shooting numbers to make their negative case.

 

[RutgersMO]

Patience people, your desire to celebrate has nothing to do with Davis. Pike has his reasons, you should trust him on this.

Damn...first I agreed with @bigmatt718 ...now I'm agreeing with you: "anyway the wind blows- nothing really matters to ME"? lol

MO

 

[njxchange]

Simpson definitely had his moments but also he had alot of not so good moments. I guess thats the difference between superstar and avg/good player.

hopefully he can work on those things that caused him to not have good games.
- dribbling skills when pressured. / freshman jitters (he started to shake them off towards end of the season)
- jump shots
- 3 pt shooting
- get his muscle mass up to be able to take it to the rim little tougher

good skills at times that made him have good games
- beating people to the basket with quick first step.
- picked up intensity on the defensive side. really started to understand pike's pressure/help defense towards end of the season.
- knack for wanting the ball in his hands towards end of the season. also not afraid to shoot

I guess this is the difference between 3 stars and 4/5 stars. 3 stars will have his moments and will need to work on it to make it more consistent. 4/5 stars will come in more polished, hence 4/5 star rating.

I think he will definitely improve next year as he did towards end the season. I will look for bigger things from him. But is he a superstar?... eh.... its probabaly why we looked for PG 1st in the portal because even though im sure Coaches are high on him to improve, but position is still considered a hole unless someone really fills it.

 

[njxchange]

He can beat people off the bounce and get his own shot. If his shooting improves, look out

agree and disagree.

He has really quick 1st step to beat people but put a defender like Mag on him all over him, he really got rattled last year.

 

[Scangg]

agree and disagree.

He has really quick 1st step to beat people but put a defender like Mag on him all over him, he really got rattled last year.

Put a defender like Mag on anyone and they are going to have a rough go of it let alone a true freshman