Simpson shot 37% from the floor. I can guarantee that if he continues shooting like that he won’t be starting. I do think he’ll be improved however. The question is how much improvement…
Austin Williams Visiting RU
- Thread starter Knight Shift
- Start date
Cam was wanted by a ton of P6 schools. If we don’t take Williams he’ll end up at Manhattan or duquense. He’s not even close to the caliber of player than cam was.
Yea not bad for a true freshman’s 3rd career start actually. 4 assists as well. More than what the 5th year senior averaged.
Apparently signs are good so we’re jumping to the conclusion that it’s a done deal ;)
You won't find out here, but Richie on the podcast said he was confident of a commitment. The debate over this recruit in this thread is inane. We need another guard, period. I just hope he can be a consistent contributor. I'm not looking for him to come in and dominate the league or throw down one in Edy's face.
Okay.. But regardless of how he compares to Spencer, his knee may be scaring some people away too.
If it was damaged badly enough for him to miss the entire last season, there's no guarantee that he'll be 100% or close to that. If he IS 100% or very close to it, I think he could help the team, but if he can't get back to where he was before the injury, there's a chance that his signing might result in an unproductive RU scholarship.
But regardless of whether Austin Williams ever plays for RU or not, I hope he'll be able to fully recover if he hasn't already.
Eight years recruiting for college, attending high school games and AAU events throughout the country, but mostly in the northeast.
The idea that pull up two point shots are not good shots is no longer really true. I see the college game evolving to better defend the three and protect the rim. The middle is more open than ever. It is easier to get the mid range shot today than it was a few years ago. San Diego State and Florida Atlantic lived off them getting to the Final Four. They will also be a huge part of Dylan Harper's game IMO.
I watch games. I like stats too.
Just watching lets a ton of personal bias into the equation. Especially if you're watching with the sound on and can hear some sub-optimal commentary about how great it is to see someone show the "lost art of the midrange" or some other nonsense.
Valid point... To be fair to Derek in any comparison, he wasn't the go-to-guy at RU the way Austin Williams often was at Hartford... That obviously makes a difference in the amount of scoring opportunities each player gets.. (To score his career high against Vermont, Williams took 21 shots, while nobody on RU took more than 18 shots all season. (18 attempts was only done once by Andrea vs Nebraska, and 17 attempts only twice, by Cliff vs Mass-Lowell and Temple.)
It’s only a good shot if you can hit it at a high percentage, as in better than 50%. Otherwise it is not a good shot.
Very nice. Watch both teams in the final four again and watch the game going forward. As open threes become more difficult to get, and they will, making mid range shots will become more important and they will be easier to get.
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So you were paid for 8 years to evaluate talent and you think , based on what he’s shown so far, that Simpson can be top 10-15 all time player for RU?
As I said above - I like the kid but don’t see nearly the potential that you do but I hope you’re right
So you think that Steve doesn’t have more information about his injury than random message board posters?
Uh Oh, here's another one of those automatic "I don't agree so I'll just discredit the poster's words as being from a random message board poster".. LOL
Seriously though, regardless of what Coach Pikiell THINKS, or what his medical staff THINKS, a major knee injury is still prone to re-injury in certain cases or can affect an athlete's ability somewhat after recovery... Nothing is certain.. And some coaches, depending on the situation, may be more willing to take a risk in certain cases.... And I admittedly do qualify as a random message board poster, but I do work in the healthcare field and have done significant research on various orthopedic injuries in sports. But I'm also not an orthopedic surgeon, don't know the specific details of Austin Williams' knee injury, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night either.
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Sure I do. But only time will tell if what Coach Pikiell thinks is actually accurate when it comes to the particular major knee injury that Austin Williams suffered. Few if any humans would probably make a prediction that the athlete has absolutely no increased risk of re-injury or that he'll absolutely be 100% after recuperating. (It's not like he missed a game with a stubbed toe or pinky finger.)
I’m really curious how Pike uses Simpson. Of course he has a role on this team but I don’t think he’s as impactful as others do. IMO, he’s a perfect 6th man — a volume guy who wants to shoot — but our roster pushes him into the starting lineup.
With the Williams addtion …my rotation mpg
Omouryi 28
Fernandez 27
Simpson 27
Griffiths 26
Mag 25
Hyatt 20
Williams 20
Davis 15
Wolfolk/Ogoble 12
Omouryi 28
Fernandez 27
Simpson 27
Griffiths 26
Mag 25
Hyatt 20
Williams 20
Davis 15
Wolfolk/Ogoble 12
I was thinking about this just yesterday and I came up with this for in conference/big games (excluding the 6 or so cupcake games):
1/2 Noah Fernandes 28
1 Jamichael Davis 10
1/2 Derek Simpson 22
2 Austin Williams 20
3/2 Gavin Griffiths 24
3/4 Mawot Mag 27
4 Aundre Hyatt 16
4 Antonio Chol 6
4/5 Antwone Woolfork 8
5 Emmanuel Ogbole 8
5 Cliff Omoruyi 31
What? Simpson was clearly the best player on the court for us the second half of the season.
I think we define “best” player differently. I agree he’s a scorer and can create. At the same time, he was often out of control, rushed shots, took bad shots, shot when other teammates were open, etc. He absolutely did a solid job down the stretch last year covering for Paul, who either wasn’t healthy or lost his edge. And, I get fans like you are ready to turn the team over to him. But the fact that Pike’s first move was to get a real PG tells you a lot. He didn’t want the ball in the hands of Paul or Simpson. If Cam was back I doubt Simpson would have even started.
This - except that he’s going to probably rank top 3ish on defense which will earn him a lot of PT.
Wolf getting a minute at center…
Your nuance is commendable.
Eh the positions I used is really just for general purposes. I realize they’re fluid.
Cam was a 4 star rated transfer in multiple places. I like the Williams move especially since we were screwed with options having to replace Cam so late but the two were not rated the same as transfer portal options
Turnovers are not going to keep Derek off the court. He’s a slasher. Whatever position he’s playing, that style player will turn it over more than catch and shoot types. Ball handling is a relative asset for Derek regardless of what the stat sheet says. He’s a much better ball handler than Hyatt or Mag. It’s not close. I’m not sure about Williams. Haven’t seen enough of him to judge.
I do think good players will “rise with the tide” at Rutgers when it comes to defense. Not expecting an all-defense team performance but Pike values it and focuses a lot of time there so players will focus on it when they know the coach is.
Williams missed an entire year and is coming off injury. Spencer is healthy and played well at the high major level at RU. It is obvious why Spencer was wanted by more major conference schools. I don’t take that as an indictment of Williams as a player. The players have vastly different circumstances and you have to take that into account. If healthy, Williams could do very well here.
The resume for Williams at Hartford is much more even compared to what Spencer did at Loyola. In fact, he was able to lead a team to the NCAAs which is something Spencer has not been able to do including at RU.
The resume for Williams at Hartford is much more even compared to what Spencer did at Loyola. In fact, he was able to lead a team to the NCAAs which is something Spencer has not been able to do including at RU.
Nah - there’s nothing to discuss really. The point is Simpson’s ball handling isn’t what’s getting him benched. If we don’t need iso play to score, he becomes less effective. That’s where his PT could come into play relative to Williams and others unless he scores more efficiently going forward.
I skipped this thread the last week, because the same handful of people, keep arguing against what the staff did and either don't believe Gavin Griffiths is a legitimate player OR just ignore obvious facts.
Spencer is not as good as Gavin Griffiths....the move has been made and fans need to digest this. Spencer is not coming back, nor should he. End the discussion folks, he's simply not that good of a player.
Good/great spot up shooter.....great FT shooter....sure
Impact on winning games over 34 games?? Marginal.....
I don’t think anyone here said Cam was better than Griffiths, but you tell that straw man who’s boss.
As a 5th year senior I think cam will be better than Gavin as a freshman and I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to say at all. But even if you think Gavin will be better, there’s no denying that losing cam makes us worse this year.
