Biggest bust?: Tyson Stay-Puff

[PSAL_Hoops]

Several things, top shot attempter because he had to carry that EMU team otherwise it was total trash without him. An experienced player knows how to alter their game based on their role. And he's shown in several games that he can put up points with four double digit games in January. He's barely played in the last two games which tells me he's likely suffering from whatever is running through the locker room. So you're bad fit narrative is failing already. The injury played a huge part in how he's been used and how much he could be used.

Thats not at all true of his junior year - he played with 2 very good (by MAC standards) players. That team should have had the talent to compete for a MAC title and instead they were Eddie Jordan level awful. I certainly didn’t watch all of his games at Eastern Michigan, but I highly doubt you did either (most probably weren’t even on TV).
His time at Eastern Michigan was defined by being a focal point of the offense. The bottom line is it would be a challenge for any player to go from that to a catch and shoot type sharp shooter role. That’s all I meant by fit. A lot of his strengths on offense require him to be the navigator which cancels out some of what Dylan offers. That’s all.

Sure - it’s possible he would be doing better without the injury but there’s no way of knowing that one way or the other. The point is - we knew off the bat he was a negative on D and he’s not known to be a good rebounding guard (like Jordan- for example) - and he was a one and done so there would be no future benefit potential from bringing him on for the year. Those things in combination suggest IMO that he was a poor fit overall.

 

[BigEastPhil]

Acuff’s game would be much better if he focused more on hitting the 10-12 footers and not hoisting away with 3s.

I posted this previously and the next game ( road game vs Nebraska ?) - he hit 2-3 of them.

Regardless he’s been a bust and how much the broken foot contributed to being a bust is an unknown / subject to debate etc.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

Did Richie attend “several” practices when Acuff was still healthy? Anyway, I won’t be fooled again. Cue The Who.

Yes, he saw him pre-injury & post injury. Totally different after the injury since he was not 100% when he returned.

 

[seansherm]

Acuff’s game would be much better if he focused more on hitting the 10-12 footers and not hoisting away with 3s.

I posted this previously and the next game ( road game vs Nebraska ?) - he hit 2-3 of them.

Regardless he’s been a bust and how much the broken foot contributed to being a bust is an unknown / subject to debate etc.

Isn't he shooting like 37% from three? I'd much rather have him keep that up than focusing on the mid range. The mid range is where JWill excels.

 

[seansherm]

Thats not at all true of his junior year - he played with 2 very good (by MAC standards) players. That team should have had the talent to compete for a MAC title and instead they were Eddie Jordan level awful. I certainly didn’t watch all of his games at Eastern Michigan, but I highly doubt you did either (most probably weren’t even on TV).
His time at Eastern Michigan was defined by being a focal point of the offense. The bottom line is it would be a challenge for any player to go from that to a catch and shoot type sharp shooter role. That’s all I meant by fit. A lot of his strengths on offense require him to be the navigator which cancels out some of what Dylan offers. That’s all.

Sure - it’s possible he would be doing better without the injury but there’s no way of knowing that one way or the other. The point is - we knew off the bat he was a negative on D and he’s not known to be a good rebounding guard (like Jordan- for example) - and he was a one and done so there would be no future benefit potential from bringing him on for the year. Those things in combination suggest IMO that he was a poor fit overall.

His role his junior year is exactly what you would hope for with Dylan this year. Two guys who can score on and off the ball. The Jersey kid handled the ball as much as Acuff did in that back court. That team was awful because Farakhan and Bates thought about defense never. They made Acuff look like Caleb comparatively.
The negatives you keep describing describe JWill to a T (strengths require him to the navigator/needs ball in his hands, ect). Acuff is a different player, we just really haven't seen it due to injury. Even if they were the same bad fit, I'd prefer the guy who can shoot from all of the court.

 

[Shelby65]

Isn't he shooting like 37% from three? I'd much rather have him keep that up than focusing on the mid range. The mid range is where JWill excels.

Shelby is one of the few who thinks JWill is a top contributor and the third best player on the team, but even he doesn’t see JWill excelling in any aspect of offense. He’s merely ok, which is better than all but two others.

 

[RU-ROCS]

He looks like he put on weight during the season which is unreal

Kid had a fractured foot so of course he put on weight. Nothing unreal about it.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

His role his junior year is exactly what you would hope for with Dylan this year. Two guys who can score on and off the ball. The Jersey kid handled the ball as much as Acuff did in that back court. That team was awful because Farakhan and Bates thought about defense never. They made Acuff look like Caleb comparatively.
The negatives you keep describing describe JWill to a T (strengths require him to the navigator/needs ball in his hands, ect). Acuff is a different player, we just really haven't seen it due to injury. Even if they were the same bad fit, I'd prefer the guy who can shoot from all of the court.

You are looking at stats in a vacuum. I think your missing the point that his junior team performed horrifically. Routinely blown out by terrible teams. I’m sure you can point to a game here or there that doesn’t follow that script for the season, but the team won 7 games against D1 (8 overall) - and went 5-13 in a bad MAC. On paper the team should’ve been way better and half of the possessions were played in garbage time.

 

[seansherm]

You are looking at stats in a vacuum. I think your missing the point that his junior team performed horrifically. Routinely blown out by terrible teams. I’m sure you can point to a game here or there that doesn’t follow that script for the season, but the team won 7 games against D1 (8 overall) - and went 5-13 in a bad MAC. On paper the team should’ve been way better and half of the possessions were played in garbage time.

That team was exactly as it should have been because the "on paper", doesn't include defense. They were horrific at it. Bottom four in the country bad at it. Bates and NF put up efg% in the range of like a top 700 player in the country. HS ranking meaningless, but Bates scored - exactly why he was highly ranked. Just not efficiently.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

That team was exactly as it should have been because the "on paper", doesn't include defense. They were horrific at it. Bottom four in the country bad at it. Bates and NF put up efg% in the range of like a top 700 player in the country. HS ranking meaningless, but Bates scored - exactly why he was highly ranked. Just not efficiently.

That team should’ve been way better than the following year’s team. It wasn’t. For some reason, I think you think (or perhaps hoped) Acuff would turn out better than he is. To me, he’s a replica of the disappointment Noah Fernandez was. His 3 point percentage ended up ok on paper, but he didn’t help us in the games any more than Acuff would. Acuff was bad at defense before his injury. Thats nothing new.

 

[SBP]

That team should’ve been way better than the following year’s team. It wasn’t. For some reason, I think you think (or perhaps hoped) Acuff would turn out better than he is. To me, he’s a replica of the disappointment Noah Fernandez was. His 3 point percentage ended up ok on paper, but he didn’t help us in the games any more than Acuff would. Acuff was bad at defense before his injury. Thats nothing new.

The very definition of soft

 

[seansherm]

That team should’ve been way better than the following year’s team. It wasn’t. For some reason, I think you think (or perhaps hoped) Acuff would turn out better than he is. To me, he’s a replica of the disappointment Noah Fernandez was. His 3 point percentage ended up ok on paper, but he didn’t help us in the games any more than Acuff would. Acuff was bad at defense before his injury. Thats nothing new.

Much bigger disappointment than Fernandez, I had zero hopes for him here. I did expect Acuff to be a key piece. Sadly won't ever know if it's because of talent or injury. Agree, he wasn't a great defender ever.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

That team should’ve been way better than the following year’s team. It wasn’t. For some reason, I think you think (or perhaps hoped) Acuff would turn out better than he is. To me, he’s a replica of the disappointment Noah Fernandez was. His 3 point percentage ended up ok on paper, but he didn’t help us in the games any more than Acuff would. Acuff was bad at defense before his injury. Thats nothing new.

To us you know nothing without saying it. The Fernandes comparison is comical

 

[Scarlet Shack]

I will reiterate what I said above

Acuff is a scoring lead guard who needs the ball in his hands to make things happen

Only one ball and there is a lot of guys who need to dribble to make something happen

We really needed a wing player who can catch and shoot …and didn’t get one in the portal (sorry PJ)

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

To us you know nothing without saying it. The Fernandes comparison is comical

Their output at Rutgers stat wise is pretty similar. Both had injuries. Both ended up playing similarly immaterial roles at Rutgers. Both had a few games with big stats. Both guards. That seems like a decent number of similarities.