Biggest X factor in 2019-2020
- Thread starter ImBadRU
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The X factor I was thinking of was who is the unknown person who could make a big difference in this year's team. We know Caleb, Johnson, Harper. We don't know Young, Yeboah, Mulchahey, etc. Young just looks the part in terms of speed, quickness, playmaking, and defensive disruptor that every team needs. I liked Eugene a lot, but when he had the ball down low it was always an adventure....bucket or turnover or bad pass. Not sure I feel that bad about him moving on.
X-Factor is our bigs ability to defend.
I'm very optimistic about this team but we lose EO and Shaq. People totally undervalue what Doorson meant to this team defensively last year. I'm as big a Harper fan as the next guy on here but when the Nick Wards of the world come to town you can throw your "going small" lineup right out the window. We need Johnson, Carter, and Duke to all play more / higher quality minutes defensively.
I'm very optimistic about this team but we lose EO and Shaq. People totally undervalue what Doorson meant to this team defensively last year. I'm as big a Harper fan as the next guy on here but when the Nick Wards of the world come to town you can throw your "going small" lineup right out the window. We need Johnson, Carter, and Duke to all play more / higher quality minutes defensively.
Duke is a very interesting alternative as an X factor. I saw sparks his freshman year. He was raw at the time, but had some offensive skills. My question is has he bulked up to handle night in and night out B10 play. Is he confident in that 15' jump shot? Can he box out and rebound against the big dudes? If so, he could be huge!
So you honestly think that in Corey's last year here that if he got hurt game 1 that the team would have been better? There was no talent on that team. Who was going to create? Who was going to score? Without Corey they may have not one a single conference game. You can't judge him in a vacuum. He was inefficient and shot a low percentage but the rest of the team was so bad there would have been absolutely zero offense without him. This point is so freakin obvious.
I think we will be happy with Shaq. I expect 6 and 5 a game and average to a little below average defense.Floor is 6 and 5. Ceiling is probably 6 and 7. Who knows? Intensity and will not back down from the opposition. Also, great team mate.
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It’s really Myles Johnson
In big ten games ...he averaged 18.0 minutes a game and score 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds
I think if he could be 8 and 8 in 24 minutes a game at the five spot ...
If that happens...I think with carter and doucoire minutes At the center sport ...they fill in give us a total of 13 points and 13 rebounds per game ...and that 13 is a number from the 5 spot needed to get scoring to the mid 70s
Mid 70s scoring plus ..Steve P coached defense ...equals 10 seed in NCAA’s tourneys
Really think center scoring and production is the key to this season...-and not forcing the pitcher four spots to make up for it...and it all starts with my man Myles
It’s really Myles Johnson
In big ten games ...he averaged 18.0 minutes a game and score 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds
I think if he could be 8 and 8 in 24 minutes a game at the five spot ...
If that happens...I think with carter and doucoire minutes At the center sport ...they fill in give us a total of 13 points and 13 rebounds per game ...and that 13 is a number from the 5 spot needed to get scoring to the mid 70s
Mid 70s scoring plus ..Steve P coached defense ...equals 10 seed in NCAA’s tourneys
Really think center scoring and production is the key to this season...-and not forcing the pitcher four spots to make up for it...and it all starts with my man Myles
Thought he should have been starting over Doorsen last year. Easily 10+ ppg this year.
This is a team sport but i believe Young will really be a pleasant addition. I cannot believe that GRF is putting Harper into the same area as Issa. He can't be serious. Issa hardly ever crashed the boards or drove to the basket. GRF really has made some doozies of statements.
Like others have mentioned, it depends where his defense is. I think there will be a balance of 3 point shooting to post activity for bigs. Well see. That is just the floor. He has a lot of potential.
Who played at Rutgers in the past 20 years who had a meaningful NBA career. Douby played for 3 years and who else?
I thought Doorsen was a putrid defender. He could lean on someone and take up a lot of space. He was an embarrassment trying to get out on an opposing shooter. Carter wasn't the greatest defender but he will improve and at least he can move his feet.
Doorson was a good inside post defender. He was exposed when he was forced to cover the perimeter on pick and rolls and bigs who stretch the floor. Carter will be better in one area and worse in the other so it's a trade off. Myles will hopefully be better on the perimeter and similar inside but we shall see
Back to the topic
The
How much lateral quickness improvement Carter made will tell how much of a role he has
He needs to be able to effectively guard stretch fours at time to find minutes outside of competing for center Minutes begind Myles
The
How much lateral quickness improvement Carter made will tell how much of a role he has
He needs to be able to effectively guard stretch fours at time to find minutes outside of competing for center Minutes begind Myles
Here are all the players who played at RU in the last 20 years that then played in the NBA:
Dahntay Jones (98-00) - Transferred to Duke, played in NBA from 2003-17, with a ring in 2016
Luis Flores (99-00) - Transferred to Manhattan, played in NBA from 2004-05 (then internationally from 2006-present)
Quincy Douby (03-06) - Played in NBA from 2006-09 (then internationally from 2010-present)
Hamady N'Diaye (06-10) - NBA from 2010-14 (then internationally from 2015-present)
Baker should be the x factor because he is the returning player with the highest scoring average and the potential to be the consistent go to scorer to match baskets with players like Powell at Seton Hall and the top scorers in the B1G.
For this team to go where we want, Baker has to make a jump offensively. Last year he regressed and we chalked it up to having to bring the ball up, being the focus of opposing game plans, and asking him to do too much. This year he has to break out.
Mathis doesn’t have anything we already have on the team? He could very well be the most disruptive defender on a team that struggles to score enough on the other end most nights -
Heck, Mathis can bring more to the floor than some of the guys most fans think are untouchable..
I'll go with Yeboah as the X factor since we truly don't know about him and he has the potential to solidify this team's depth, scoring, and decision making. He adds experience and had a leadership role on a decent Stony Brook team. If I was coming up with a starting lineup right now, he would be my 4, Harper at the 3, Myles the 5, Geo at the 2, and Young at the 1. Off the bench in order would be Carter, Caleb, Kiss, Duke, Mathis, and Paul (Paul will probably end up with more pt than Mathis after a few games). I like Mathis' energy btw, but he needs to develop a jump shot and free throws. Everyone plays decent defense for Pike, or they sit.
Bizzare thread that I've missed in the midst of work and preseason football.
There is no X Factor.....there is no unknown quantity for the 1st time in a decade, we have 9 legitimate players and a 10th and 11th that would be starters or in the top 7 rotation in most of the last 10+ years of basketball.
The Mathis item is also a non issue...the fans need to start to watch basketball as a team sport and how parts actually fit together. In most of the last decade, it's been as resemblance of pieces thrown together.
In this coming season, adding Young Mulcahy and Yeboah and subtracting Eugene and Doorson is a complete change on how RU fans are used to watching basketball. It's easy to try and dissect things when you have limited pieces OR talent that wasn't well coached.
These pieces fit better than any RU team I can anticipate, since probably 15 plus years. It doesn't mean it's perfect or the best, but there's no way to evaluate players, when the ball doesn't move consistently and players aren't always willing to defer. In this case, every player can improve without doing anything drastically different, just because they actually like each other and are willing to make plays for others.
The defense is a concern, but I will maintain that teams that aren't good on defense, can play very well on defense when they're willing to share the ball....and that means you're more likely to be more helpful and focused on team defense, vs working towards just doing your job and not necessarily doing the things to help your teammates who may need help on defense.
The stats don't bear out that RU was good on defense last year, so there's no dropoff to worry about....and even with that dropoff, RU improved in all facets. I see the same steps forward this year.
There is no X Factor.....there is no unknown quantity for the 1st time in a decade, we have 9 legitimate players and a 10th and 11th that would be starters or in the top 7 rotation in most of the last 10+ years of basketball.
The Mathis item is also a non issue...the fans need to start to watch basketball as a team sport and how parts actually fit together. In most of the last decade, it's been as resemblance of pieces thrown together.
In this coming season, adding Young Mulcahy and Yeboah and subtracting Eugene and Doorson is a complete change on how RU fans are used to watching basketball. It's easy to try and dissect things when you have limited pieces OR talent that wasn't well coached.
These pieces fit better than any RU team I can anticipate, since probably 15 plus years. It doesn't mean it's perfect or the best, but there's no way to evaluate players, when the ball doesn't move consistently and players aren't always willing to defer. In this case, every player can improve without doing anything drastically different, just because they actually like each other and are willing to make plays for others.
The defense is a concern, but I will maintain that teams that aren't good on defense, can play very well on defense when they're willing to share the ball....and that means you're more likely to be more helpful and focused on team defense, vs working towards just doing your job and not necessarily doing the things to help your teammates who may need help on defense.
The stats don't bear out that RU was good on defense last year, so there's no dropoff to worry about....and even with that dropoff, RU improved in all facets. I see the same steps forward this year.
The X factor is coaching. We now have a lot of guys capable of playing major minutes in the B1G. How does Pike pull the team together?
Yes.
We were better day 1 with Baker, Kiss, Issa, Eugene and Shaq.
Much better day 2 with Harper and Mathis and Caleb
Sorry numbers bear it.
We all loved and remebered the Sanders of the B1G tournament. That wasnt the Corey Sanders we saw on the average night.
Hawk....
Last 3 years adjusted defensive efficiency
2017 70th
2018 22nd
2019 50th
We can't drop much further
Offense
221st
283rd
145th
Need to keep moving the needle
Last 3 years adjusted defensive efficiency
2017 70th
2018 22nd
2019 50th
We can't drop much further
Offense
221st
283rd
145th
Need to keep moving the needle
sorry Hawk the team is filled with unknowns both from a player stand point and the missing Eugene.
You conveniently forget the 3 game stretch Eugene was hurt and how poorly we finished the season. All with unrealistic expectations need to pop in the Nebraska B1G T tape. That will sober you up.
You conveniently forget the 3 game stretch Eugene was hurt and how poorly we finished the season. All with unrealistic expectations need to pop in the Nebraska B1G T tape. That will sober you up.
Harper is much better than Issa. I will say people's opinion of Issa after his freshman were on par or even better than what we are seeing opinionwise with HARPER. It was head scratching.
I like Harper a lot...from a statsistics standpoint Harper's numbers are light just like Issa's,,,,,but not nearly as bad.
Mentioned this before last season even started - Thiam has a much better chance, when all is said and done, to play in the NBA then does Sanders.
36 RUChow, Nov 15, 2017
Interesting take. This is definitely an interesting situation to see how Pike handles minutes and lineup combinations and could be the difference between wins and loses in a lot of close games
McConnell was disruptive. Ive watched tape on Young and he is an aggressive defender. Mathis defense was never consistent enough last year. He has the tools to put it together this year.
I actually understand where you are coming from with Mathis. I think he is the X factor as well or at least can be the X factor. What I like about this team is we have about 5 guys that could be the c factor which we have never had before.
I completely disagree with you about Sanders. We go to the tourney with him last year. Corey with the talent we had last year would have been a facilitator. He always wanted to be.
While I do think we'd have been better overall with Sanders on the court this past year, it likely would have come at the expense of Caleb McConnell. McConnell was more of a late bloomer last year, and really started to trend upward in the latter part of the season - but he wouldn't have seen those minutes if Sanders were still here. Sanders' early departure set us up for a better 2019-20 season, imo, not a better 2018-19 season.
I’ll do you one better. Caleb wouldn’t have been on this team if Corey was back. He was a very late addition after Corey said he was leaving.
If you want the X factor to be more of a concept.......
The correlation of usage and efficiency. How will some our "better" players do when asked to do more.
http://barttorvik.com/team.php?filter=conf&year=2019&team=Rutgers
Looking at usage and offensive rating from last year (conf only)
The 3 players over 20% (there are 5 players on the court)
Eugene 27.1% usage 98.1 O rating
Mathis 23.4% usage 91.9 O rating
Geo 23.0% usage 88.9 O rating
The "better" players with higher O ratings but lower usage
Harper 112.5 O rating 16.9% usage
Caleb 102.9 O rating 19.6% usage
Can guys like Young Yeboah Harper Caleb gravitate towards 20% without suffering too much with efficiency AND will that pull Mathis and Baker numbers higher as their usage declines.
Eugene did take a lot of the burden off others, but 98.1 doesn't cut it.
We need to see balance across the court and O ratings in the 105-108 area...obviously keeping defense numbers at bay.
The correlation of usage and efficiency. How will some our "better" players do when asked to do more.
http://barttorvik.com/team.php?filter=conf&year=2019&team=Rutgers
Looking at usage and offensive rating from last year (conf only)
The 3 players over 20% (there are 5 players on the court)
Eugene 27.1% usage 98.1 O rating
Mathis 23.4% usage 91.9 O rating
Geo 23.0% usage 88.9 O rating
The "better" players with higher O ratings but lower usage
Harper 112.5 O rating 16.9% usage
Caleb 102.9 O rating 19.6% usage
Can guys like Young Yeboah Harper Caleb gravitate towards 20% without suffering too much with efficiency AND will that pull Mathis and Baker numbers higher as their usage declines.
Eugene did take a lot of the burden off others, but 98.1 doesn't cut it.
We need to see balance across the court and O ratings in the 105-108 area...obviously keeping defense numbers at bay.
Very possible. There were three additions after Sanders hired an agent on 3/29, but neither Young or Mulcahy would have been on the court with Sanders even if he had stayed. We still had an open scholarship, too, so it's not like there was no room.
4/15/18 - McConnell commits
4/21/18 - Young transfers to RU
6/16/18 - Mulcahy commits
