Austin Williams Visiting RU

[AZBlues]

One of my slight concerns is that Williams if he comes here, would be the 4th RU player on the '23-'24 roster that missed the end of his previous season due to injury, and in 3 of the 4 cases it was significant parts of the previous season.

Knee for Mag, ankle for Fernandes, knee for Ogbole, knee for Williams... Hopefully all will fully recover, but it still seems like a little bit of a risk. Williams missed the entire season, Fernandes missed some of January and all of February and March, Ogbole missed the last 11 days of the season including the JUCO National Tournament, and we know about Mag... Does RU sufficiently work out and examine previously injured transfer players prior to making an offer?

 

[satnom]

I can’t imagine we are getting better than the two kids considering us. Let’s take them both at this point. The Iowa State transfer just seems to be looking for a landing spot. Not overly concerned about PT from his comments. Even if he’s not eligible would be a perfectly fine practice body. We have 3 schollies officially right? Save the last one for that “dream” Curry replica.

We need solid depth at guard. RU will be playing a different type of ball next season. Running, pressing and driving, Solid guard with experience coming off the bench will improve roster.

Don’t know where this narrative of Derek coming off the bench is coming from. Kid will be starting and played at times last season like a four* recruit.

GO RU

 

[MiloTalon13]

Zero chance Williams is a starter for us this season. If he is, we’re in a large amount of trouble.

Better than any other option

 

[rubigtimenow]

Don’t know where this narrative of Derek coming off the bench is coming from. Kid will be starting and played at times last season like a four* recruit.

GO RU

The narrative was pretty obvious… 6 weeks ago until things changed with 2 guys transferring.
- Fernandes was brought in to start. At PG.
- Cam was going to start at SG.
- Derek was the backup to both (although arguably Paul would have played some G too).

 

[cubuffsdoug]

31% from 3 the past 2 seasons and 2.0 Assists vs 2.56 TO's for his career.

Yes, I'm being that guy.

I love your post.😁😁😁🤣🤣

 

[cubuffsdoug]

One of my slight concerns is that Williams if he comes here, would be the 4th RU player on the '23-'24 roster that missed the end of his previous season due to injury, and in 3 of the 4 cases it was significant parts of the previous season.

Knee for Mag, ankle for Fernandes, knee for Ogbole, knee for Williams... Hopefully all will fully recover, but it still seems like a little bit of a risk. Williams missed the entire season, Fernandes missed some of January and all of February and March, Ogbole missed the last 11 days of the season including the JUCO National Tournament, and we know about Mag... Does RU sufficiently work out and examine previously injured transfer players prior to making an offer?

 

[Devil122181]

Better than any other option

Which one of Fernandes and Simpson are you sitting for Williams?

 

[Scarlet Blind]

Austin Williams(21-22) 34pts in W, FG 13-21, 3pt 4-6 vs Vermont(28-6, 17-1), 27pts, FG 11-23, 3pt 1-8 vs Stony Brook(18-13), 24pts, FG 9-15, 3pt 2-3 @ Vermont, 24pts @ UMBC(18-14), 22pts, FG 8-17, 3pt 0-3 @ Winthrop(23-9), 22pts vs St. Fran(NY) and 21pts and 20pts vs Mainex2.
(20-21) 29pts vs Binghamton, 25pts @Vermont, 29pts, 20pts UMass-Lowellx2

I think he would fit the bill as a very comparable 2G and in some ways better than Cam, esp scoring the ball, if he is 100% healthy, I hope he does commit.

Cam Spencer top scoring games(22-23)
23 pts FG 7-14, 3pt 6-7(2pt 1-7) @ NW, 22pts FG 7-14, 3pt 6-10(2pt 1-4) @ Wisc,
22 pts FG 8-16, 3pt 6-11(2pt 2-5) vs Hofs, 21pts FG 5-13, 3pt 2-7(2pt 3-6) vs OSU
21 pts FG 7-11, 3pt 2-2(2pt 5-9) @ Minn, 19pts FG 7-12, 3pt 4-7(2pt 3-5) vs Rider
4-2 top 6 scoring, FG 41-80, 3pt 26-44

18pts vs Sacred Heart, CCSU, N Mich 62-50, FG 18-29, 3pt 9-18
17pts N Temple, Columbia, Coppin St, vs Minn, FG 23-42, 3pt 11-20(0-5 Temp)
6-1 next 7 games, FG 41-71, 3pt 20-38

Only 3 wins vs winning(Wisc, NW, Mich), 1 vs NCAA tourny(NW)
(10-3) 13gm, FG 82-151 54.3%, 3pt 46-82 56.1%
He feasted on mostly bad teams and bad defense.

Season(34gm) FG 150-338 44.4%, 3pt 72-166 43.4%

(9-12) 21gm, FG 68-187 37%, 3pt 26-84 31%
includes 11pts 5-8, 1-2 @ OSU, 15pts, 5-5, 2-2 vs Wake, 14pts, 6-8, 2-4 @ Purdue
Purdue being the only one that he alters the result

(5-6) scored 10-15 pts,

(4-6) scored single digits 2-9pts
@ Miami 61-68, FG 1-10, 35min, 3pts, 4ast, 3reb, 1TO, 2stl
***Vs Ind 63-48, FG 1-5, 17min, 3pts, 2ast, 1reb, 1TO***
Vs SHU 43-45, FG 2-7, 33min, 4 pts, 2ast, 0reb, 2TOs, 2stl
Vs Bucknell 85-50, FG 3-8, 29min, 9pts, 2ast, 2reb, 0TO, 2stl
@ Mich St 57-70, FG 3-14, 34min, 8 pts, 3ast, 7reb, 1TO, 3stl
***Vs Penn St 65-45, FG 1-7, 20min, 3 pts, 2ast, 6reb, 1TO***
***MSG Mich St 61-55, FG 1-8, 34 min, 7pts, 1ast, 5reb, 1TO, 1stl***
@ Illinois 60-69, FG 1-5, 25min, 2pts, 2ast, 0reb, 1TO, 2stl
Vs Nebraska 72-82, FG 3-11, 35min, 8pts, 3ast, 7rebscoring1stl
Vs NW, 53-65, FG 2-5, 34min, 9pts, 3ast, 5reb, 1TO, 3stl

3 wins vs NCAA tourny(Ind, Penn St and Mich St)

Three of our best defensive efforts were when Cam had his lowest minutes output, 20min vs Penn St 65-45 DRat 69.0, 19min vs Wake Forest 81-57 DRat 80.4, and 17min vs Indiana 63-48 DRat 70.3

Honestly he doesn't affect as many results as you think, we may lose a few that we won but we many win a few that we lost without him, works both ways.

 

[RUtrumpet92]

Sure, the defending champs want Cam as a transfer and their boosters are paying him $$$ to get him, but he's not that good.



🙄

 

[Scarlet Blind]

Sure, the defending champs want Cam as a transfer and their boosters are paying him $$$ to get him, but he's not that good.



🙄

UConn is going to be quite disappointed for the money they shelled out for him when 2023 5⭐ Stephen Castle or 2023 top 50 Solomon Ball will be on the floor more at the end of games than Cam vs Xavier, Nova, Creighton, Marquette and the rest of the top 25/50 teams on the schedule unless the opposing team has slow, unathletic guards.

He hits 3 or less FGs in 12 of 34 games, we were 6-6 in those games, FG 3-9 vs Bucknell, FG 3-8 vs UMass Lowell we win with or without. vs Maryland FG 3-10 W 64-50, vs Indiana FG 1-5 W 63-48, FG 1-7 vs Penn St W 65-45, FG 1-8 MSG Mich St W 61-55

6 losses, FG 1-5 @ Illinois 60-69, FG 1-10 @ Miami 61-68, 2-7 vs SHU 43-45, 2-5 vs NW 53-65, 3-11 vs Nebraska 72-82, 3-14 @ Mich St. 57-70.

8 out of 12 of his least successful shooting games last year were at Jersey Mike's, add in 4-10 vs Iowa L, 5-12 vs Michigan L. Cam didn't like playing or shooting at the RAC.

Those 10 home games at JMA(5-5), Cam shot 27-84 32.1%, 3pt 14-47 29.8%

That is half the home games we finished 14-6 at home, Hofstra, the other loss and Mich St was a "home win" @ MSG(6-6). The other 8 wins, Columbia, Sacred Heart, Rider, CCSU, Wake, CoppinSt, Minn, and Ohio St mostly losing teams or low majors, Wake being the best. I think we win more games at home next year without Cam slowing down the offense and shooting poorly vs teams with a pulse at home.

I don't get the fascination with him. I give him his due with game winning shots at Purdue and at NW, and maybe even win at an average Wisconsin team, but he really didn't become that go to guy that you need at the guard slot and shrunk way too often against quick athletic guards last year.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Spencer was the number one scoring option for Rutgers.Without him Rutgers would have a losing season.UConn taking him is all you need to know as to his value as a basketball player.

I assume you realize that Spencer was a transfer. So, if Rutgers did not have him last year they would have had another transfer in that spot.

Record could have been better as well, depending on who that other transfer was.

I see people doing this all the time. Take this player off and the team would have a losing record. That's not how it works, especially when you bring in a transfer to.fill one specific spot.

 

[S_Janowski]

I will only ask if it's such a poor evaluation, tell me which of these facts didn't occur last season.

1 of 14 from 3 in losses to Temple, SHU, Miami. All 3 losses are swing games in a NCAA resume.

1 of 13 in 2 games vs Sparty....3-14 overall at MSU in a 13 point road loss.....

2 points in 25 minutes in a 9 point loss at Illinois.

8 points in a home loss to Nebraska.

9 points in a home loss to Northwestern.

Why am I pointing out 8 key games out of 34....because it's more than 8 out of 34 total games, it's kinda 8 out of 27 key games.

There are 9 games that Spencer played against Q4 competition.....he thrived in those games, shooting 52% from 3 against weak competition.

Once you remove those 9 games from the resume, he averages around 11PPG.

We are looking at trying to "match" 11PPG in key games against legitimate opponents.

To close this loop, we lost 14 games in the regular season and B1G tournament with Spencer as the starting Shooting Guard.

I've posted in another thread, RU was extremely fortunate that PSU imploded in the 2nd half at Happy Valley, otherwise the February/March stretch would have been completely horrific. There was nothing trending in the right direction that showed me, Spencer nor Mulcahy, were getting better. They hit a ceiling and 19-15, isn't good enough IMO.

Ah yes you once again leave out the TWO GAME WINNING shots Spencer made in your brilliant analysis.

 

[satnom]

The narrative was pretty obvious… 6 weeks ago until things changed with 2 guys transferring.
- Fernandes was brought in to start. At PG.
- Cam was going to start at SG.
- Derek was the backup to both (although arguably Paul would have played some G too).

Cam was money as a spot up shooter with quick hands but needed strong cast play to excel in that role. Hence why he left for check with defending champs rather than stick around for a revamp that would effect his featured role. Derek showed high abilities with poor to average three pt shot to be the guy as a true frosh. Kid’s ceiling is higher than all the guards we had last season. If he develops shot earlier rather than later he’s starting from jump next to Fernandes.

GO RU

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

We need solid depth at guard. RU will be playing a different type of ball next season. Running, pressing and driving, Solid guard with experience coming off the bench will improve roster.

Don’t know where this narrative of Derek coming off the bench is coming from. Kid will be starting and played at times last season like a four* recruit.

GO RU

The narrative is pretty simple. Simpson was the best we had to run the point down the stretch last season due to our inability to score in traditional halfcourt sets, and we lost our ability to switch things up with the press when Mag went down. We had to hope Caleb could anchor our defense to victory (or at least keep the game close) giving Derek the green light to go iso (despite it being inefficient) since it gave us the best chance to put points on the board.

The reality though is that’s not the way Pike wants to run his halfcourt sets. The defense will likely take several steps back this season. The offense needs to be more efficient and you don’t get there by playing iso. Derek mostly showed an ability to at times beat a guy off the dribble and score. He did not stand out as a kid with strong Court vision and distribution skills and his shooting stats were poor. Maybe it’s not fair, but at the moment, Pike probably views him as a shorter version of Tez who has better ball handling skills (but worse rebounder). Unfortunately - we probably need his defense so he will be on the floor most of the game as Tez would with our current roster.

 

[MiloTalon13]

Which one of Fernandes and Simpson are you sitting for Williams?

The one who shot 16.7% from 3 in the Big Ten last season

 

[satnom]

The narrative is pretty simple. Simpson was the best we had to run the point down the stretch last season due to our inability to score in traditional halfcourt sets, and we lost our ability to switch things up with the press when Mag went down. We had to hope Caleb could anchor our defense to victory (or at least keep the game close) giving Derek the green light to go iso (despite it being inefficient) since it gave us the best chance to put points on the board.

The reality though is that’s not the way Pike wants to run his halfcourt sets. The defense will likely take several steps back this season. The offense needs to be more efficient and you don’t get there by playing iso. Derek mostly showed an ability to at times beat a guy off the dribble and score. He did not stand out as a kid with strong Court vision and distribution skills and his shooting stats were poor. Maybe it’s not fair, but at the moment, Pike probably views him as a shorter version of Tez who has better ball handling skills (but worse rebounder). Unfortunately - we probably need his defense so he will be on the floor most of the game as Tez would with our current roster.

Loss of Caleb to neutralize other team’s best scorer is a big loss and Cam steal ability will be missed but RU will get up and down better to get buckets rather than the stagnant offense we played. Derek will be able to draw two defenders driving to basket like a Geo and RHJ and will open oppsfor other players. None of our other guards last season were drawing two defenders. I agree that RU defense will take a step back but I believe our offense will take a step forward with Fernandes, Derek and Davis.

Derek has to improve his handle coming up and down court but he displays a two guard mentality. Will be interesting to see what transfer guard/s RU brings in.

GO RU

 

[AZBlues]

You do realize that Peter Griffin's knee injury was a recurrent injury on Family Guy, right? (smile)..

Although it makes me feel a lot better that major leg injuries that kept players out for much if not all of their previous basketball seasons, including the end of their seasons so that there was no way to gauge their healing, post-injury performance, or re-injurabiliby, are no more concerning than the infamous "Family Guy" knee injury... 😉

 

[urbanecane]

Please no one tell kyk that this guy is going on 7 years out of high school lol.

 

[urbanecane]

Hawk continues to run around in circles. Spencer was not perfect, but he proved he was a solid big10 player who can light it up from 3 and the line. He single-handedly won the Wisconsin game and was huge against northwestern and Purdue. But sure, he’s totally the same as the guy who transferred to FIU (!), missed a season, and no one heard of until 12 hours ago.

 

[Eagleton96]

I will only ask if it's such a poor evaluation, tell me which of these facts didn't occur last season.

1 of 14 from 3 in losses to Temple, SHU, Miami. All 3 losses are swing games in a NCAA resume.

1 of 13 in 2 games vs Sparty....3-14 overall at MSU in a 13 point road loss.....

2 points in 25 minutes in a 9 point loss at Illinois.

8 points in a home loss to Nebraska.

9 points in a home loss to Northwestern.

Why am I pointing out 8 key games out of 34....because it's more than 8 out of 34 total games, it's kinda 8 out of 27 key games.

There are 9 games that Spencer played against Q4 competition.....he thrived in those games, shooting 52% from 3 against weak competition.

Once you remove those 9 games from the resume, he averages around 11PPG.

We are looking at trying to "match" 11PPG in key games against legitimate opponents.

To close this loop, we lost 14 games in the regular season and B1G tournament with Spencer as the starting Shooting Guard.

I've posted in another thread, RU was extremely fortunate that PSU imploded in the 2nd half at Happy Valley, otherwise the February/March stretch would have been completely horrific. There was nothing trending in the right direction that showed me, Spencer nor Mulcahy, were getting better. They hit a ceiling and 19-15, isn't good enough IMO.

This feels like bad cherry picking. It is like the running back that gets 150 yards in a game. And somebody points out that if you discount his 70 yard TD run, it was only 80 yards so it wasn't really that good. Well you can't discount the 70 yard run.

 

[rubigtimenow]

Hawk continues to run around in circles. Spencer was not perfect, but he proved he was a solid big10 player who can light it up from 3 and the line. He single-handedly won the Wisconsin game and was huge against northwestern and Purdue. But sure, he’s totally the same as the guy who transferred to FIU (!), missed a season, and no one heard of until 12 hours ago.

Exactly!

 

[MiloTalon13]

UConn is going to be quite disappointed for the money they shelled out for him when 2023 5⭐ Stephen Castle or 2023 top 50 Solomon Ball will be on the floor more at the end of games than Cam vs Xavier, Nova, Creighton, Marquette and the rest of the top 25/50 teams on the schedule unless the opposing team has slow, unathletic guards.

Uconn has Tristen Newton (37% from 3 on 3.2 attempts/game) back too and Alex Karaban (40% from 3 on 4.2 attempts/game) - those guys aren't the same position but shows how less essential Cam's 3-point shooting will be for them.
There is going to be fierce competition for Cam to get minutes with Ball and Castle
Hurley had Karaban starting last year as a freshman and he was among their leaders in minutes so its not like Hurley is against playing freshmen.
Joey Calcaterra transferred to Uconn last year, played about 15 mins/game, got up 3 threes/game, made 45% of them. I see Cam fitting right into that role.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Loss of Caleb to neutralize other team’s best scorer is a big loss and Cam steal ability will be missed but RU will get up and down better to get buckets rather than the stagnant offense we played. Derek will be able to draw two defenders driving to basket like a Geo and RHJ and will open oppsfor other players. None of our other guards last season were drawing two defenders. I agree that RU defense will take a step back but I believe our offense will take a step forward with Fernandes, Derek and Davis.

Derek has to improve his handle coming up and down court but he displays a two guard mentality. Will be interesting to see what transfer guard/s RU brings in.

GO RU

Look, I hope your right. It sounds like there’s a lot to be optimistic about with GG. However, I think expectations of Fernandes ought to be tempered. Our fans seem to think he’s going to be this huge upgrade but he’s coming off a season ending injury and stepping up a level in competition. We’re not suddenly going to sport anything close to a top 50 offense. Hopefully we’ll be top 100 (which would be a big improvement as we weren’t even top 150 last year).

But some of you are really losing sight of the fact that we had the 6th best defense in the country last year. Defense is half the game. We’re probably not going to be just “a little worse” on defense. Who knows if Mag will even be 100%. Putting aside Caleb (the biggest factor) - Cam is a better defender than Noah projects to be and Cam is a lot bigger. Paul had his limitations, but he was a veteran defender who always brought full effort on that end. Not impossible - but GG is probably not an upgrade as a backcourt defender simply based on experience. Davis is the wildcard. We have to hope he has the makings of the next Jevon Carter. That’s really what we need in my opinion.

Also - everyone keeps talking like the offense is simply going to explode because we’re taking Caleb out of it. But it’s not like Caleb was Miller out there. He put up 9.1 ppg. Even if the guy replacing his minutes gives us 13 (which is awfully optimstic - his replacement isn’t GG - that would be Cam - it would have to be someone else in addition to GG) that still would only be 4 extra points.

 

[RUJMM78]

I assume you realize that Spencer was a transfer. So, if Rutgers did not have him last year they would have had another transfer in that spot.

Record could have been better as well, depending on who that other transfer was.

I see people doing this all the time. Take this player off and the team would have a losing record. That's not how it works, especially when you bring in a transfer to.fill one specific spot.

Pikiell selected Spencer because of the need for a 3 point shooter.He was a early transfer selection and not one from desperation near the end of the recruiting cycle.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Pikiell selected Spencer because of the need for a 3 point shooter.He was a early transfer selection and not one from desperation near the end of the recruiting cycle.

It’s not even close. Hawk is living in a fantasy land.

 

[RUChoppin]

This feels like bad cherry picking. It is like the running back that gets 150 yards in a game. And somebody points out that if you discount his 70 yard TD run, it was only 80 yards so it wasn't really that good. Well you can't discount the 70 yard run.

It is bad cherry picking.

Hawk tends to find evidence to fit his opinions, rather than generating opinions based on evidence.

 

[Shelby65]

Cam was the best player on the team, and with due respect to GG, would have been the best player again this year. UConn didn’t take him just for kicks.

There’s no way around the fact that his replacement will be a weaker player. However, it can be a better team overall with more scorers coming in than leaving.

 

[MiloTalon13]

It is bad cherry picking.

Hawk tends to find evidence to fit his opinions, rather than generating opinions based on evidence.

Almost everyone does that.
Hawk may be particularly egregious but it's rare that people change their mind when presented with data that doesn't support their existing opinions.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Cam was the best player on the team, and with due respect to GG, would have been the best player again this year. UConn didn’t take him just for kicks.

There’s no way around the fact that his replacement will be a weaker player. However, it can be a better team overall with more scorers coming in than leaving.

In fairness, he probably would not have looked as good on defense this year and he scored a good amount of points off his steals. Having Caleb made it possible for Cam to gamble with those take aways and not get burned. That doesn’t happen in the BIG without an NBA level defender on the perimeter to bail you out. There’s a reason a guy with Caleb’s stats has a legit shot to set foot on an NBA court…

Unfortunately - we’re losing our shooter and our defensive stud and somehow guys like Hawk are arguing that we’ve upgraded the position. Even if Williams is a better defender than Cam (unlikely) he will not be better than Cam was last year simply because of the surrounding cast. And his offense is certainly way worse.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Pikiell selected Spencer because of the need for a 3 point shooter.He was a early transfer selection and not one from desperation near the end of the recruiting cycle.

Actually, Rutgers was lucky to land Spencer. Spencer tried to commit to Maryland, and they said no. Rutgers had missed out on a few of their top choices. Rutgers turned to Spencer, who was searching for another team. It turned out to be a perfect match.

 

[MiloTalon13]

If you want to compare Austin Williams to Cam Spencer - do you factor in NCAA tournament appearances? Conference Tournament MVPs? Player impact/value to team success?
How did Cam's Loyola team do while he was there?

 

[RUChoppin]

Almost everyone does that.
Hawk may be particularly egregious but it's rare that people change their mind when presented with data that doesn't support their existing opinions.

Sure, but he's particularly consistent with it. There are players in his dog house, and he will go to great lengths to contort their stats to "prove" they aren't any good. Again and again, carefully avoiding anything that conflicts with his narrative.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Words to remember: Losing is a mindset just as WINNING is. Athletes always believe they can win no matter what the circumstance. Give our guys a little more credit. Each season is a new season and must be viewed individually.

Never underestimate our guys:
Eugene Oromuyi: turned out to be a good player for two seasons. I recall fans on this site calling him a bum because he was a late pickup with no other offers.

Geo Baker: people continue to complain about him, yet he was so clutch for the program he will be remembered as a legend at Rutgers. Much respect!

Caleb McConnell: overlooked, forgotten, and trashed by many. Another legend who impacted games in a way rarely seen on the banks.

Myles Johnson: few offers coming off an injury. Sound familiar? He left the banks beloved. He was a tough defender who anchored the beginnings of a strong defense. He wasn't great offensively but somehow finished with 9/10 points a game by cleaning up missed shots or ally-oops.

Who is to say Fernandes, Davis, and Gavin can't outplay the low expectations set by our fans? Let's not forget Simpson begin to flash his abilities at the end of the season. Most players in any sport likely make the biggest leap in development between their first and second seasons. Don't knock them until you see them in person. 🤣

 

[L&IC]

to me Cam is a good third option and great 4th option for a team. I'll say very similar things about Paul and Caleb. Our problem last year was to many 'glue' guys and no alpha's on offense. One Ron and Geo left we had no one who could take their man 1:1. It's not so much to score 1:1 but to cause the defense to help then attack the gap the help created. Basically, everyone we had last year could be covered 1:1.

 

[MiloTalon13]

to me Cam is a good third option and great 4th option for a team. I'll say very similar things about Paul and Caleb. Our problem last year was to many 'glue' guys and no alpha's on offense. One Ron and Geo left we had no one who could take their man 1:1. It's not so much to score 1:1 but to cause the defense to help then attack the gap the help created. Basically, everyone we had last year could be covered 1:1.

And on D - Cam, Paul, Hyatt and Simpson had trouble guarding w/o help so we were constantly in help/rotate situations defensively. We were really good in those help/rotations situations, but it puts a ton of pressure on players to be good at that on such a high percentage of possessions.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Pikiell selected Spencer because of the need for a 3 point shooter.He was a early transfer selection and not one from desperation near the end of the recruiting cycle.

Actually, Pikiell selected Ethan Wright but he chose to go to Colorado before Cam even entered the portal. I don't think Spencer was 2nd option. The guard who selected Notre Dame was next.

My point is, if the selection was some other shooter the team could have been just as good or even better. No one knows so you can't just say "without Spencer". It's a bad argument unless you know whatever shooter Pikiell would have gotten.

 

[Shelby65]

Again, regardless of the circumstances with his recruitment, he proved to be the best player on the team. No point in considering other scenarios had he not come here.

He was so good so often that it’s extremely hard to believe his replacement will be better. Possible, but highly unlikely.

 

[Nycrusupporter]

Uconn has Tristen Newton (37% from 3 on 3.2 attempts/game) back too and Alex Karaban (40% from 3 on 4.2 attempts/game) - those guys aren't the same position but shows how less essential Cam's 3-point shooting will be for them.
There is going to be fierce competition for Cam to get minutes with Ball and Castle
Hurley had Karaban starting last year as a freshman and he was among their leaders in minutes so its not like Hurley is against playing freshmen.
Joey Calcaterra transferred to Uconn last year, played about 15 mins/game, got up 3 threes/game, made 45% of them. I see Cam fitting right into that role.

UConn’s plan next year will be to have the ball in Stephon Castle’s hands, and they will go as far as he will take them. Cam will be on the floor with Castle and Newton, and will not have to expend any energy bringing the ball up like he did at Rutgers. He can just focus on getting into shooting position, and with multiple shooters and slashers and a monster center in the middle, he will get lots of easy open looks.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

UConn’s plan next year will be to have the ball in Stephon Castle’s hands, and they will go as far as he will take them. Cam will be on the floor with Castle and Newton, and will not have to expend any energy bringing the ball up like he did at Rutgers. He can just focus on getting into shooting position, and with multiple shooters and slashers and a monster center in the middle, he will get lots of easy open looks.

Rutgers' goal this year was to have Simpson (mainly) and Davis bring up the ball. It's one reason why Paul has moved on. He didn't like the fact he was no longer the primary ballhandler. Cam wouldn't have to be as involved as he was last year. Paul would have relieved Simpson at times while breaking in Davis.

 

[MiloTalon13]

UConn’s plan next year will be to have the ball in Stephon Castle’s hands, and they will go as far as he will take them. Cam will be on the floor with Castle and Newton, and will not have to expend any energy bringing the ball up like he did at Rutgers. He can just focus on getting into shooting position, and with multiple shooters and slashers and a monster center in the middle, he will get lots of easy open looks.

I agree that's Uconn fans' plan. For whatever reason they underrate Newton obscenely.
Castle isn't a point guard, it will be interesting to see how Hurley tells him this/utilizes him.