Basketball Cam Spencer to Rutgers
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Not imperative does not equal "good bigs don't mean much"... the 2 aren't close
This is a good point. Expecting Caleb to come back and play the DPOY defense and take on a large role creating on offense is asking a lotttt.
The amount of energy Caleb uses on defense is high
Cam Spencer‘s battle through adversity has fueled his success
The Rutgers commit should be a tremendous fit for the program.
www.onthebanks.com
He’s not a great offensive player. But he’s also not as bad as your making him out to be. He had a bizarre case of the yips at the beginning of last year and he shot uncharacteristically poor from charity all season. If he corrects that and doesn’t literally forget how to play offense for another 5-6 game stretch like at the beginning of last season, that alone would probably put him close to 10 ppg. Again - he’s not going to light it up on offense but expecting him to increase production by a few points isn’t that big of a question mark either given the circumstances.
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well let me say it again. Good bigs don't mean much in todays game. Which is the same thing as saying, you can have a below average big and be fine.
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at this point caleb kinda is what he is on offensive end of the floor. Past two seasons hes shot 20.4% and 27.1% from 3. He's had offensive efficiency ratings of 88.2 and 92.3. We can't expect much from him on offense. If we turn to him and he becomes a volume guy on O, that's not good
I don’t expect we’ll turn to him as a high volume guy, but there are things he can work on to go from 7+ to 10ish.
I can agree with that - . His usage will go up and he’s still improving so much. Think he’ll draw more fouls and has been improving his FT%. Watching him in warm ups is something else, he’s a monster of an athlete. I don’t think we will see nearly as many ugly shots in 22-23 as we did this year. He’s going to be a force next year.
If I’m wrong, I’ll eat my crow a year from now.
Think he’ll also get a few more shots per game with Ron/Geos 40 shots per game up for grabs which may improve his percentage as he gets into a rhythm more often. He was good (not great) on offense as a freshman - I’d take those percents at 2x minutes. Don’t think you can read much into his 20-21 campaign since he was supposed to Medical RS and played hurt.
Spencer was rated the 9th best transfer player available in the portal per Bart Torvik and as a 4-star transfer per Evan Mikayama. Both ranking services are based on advanced stats. He was listed in the top 50 transfers available by national writers Sam Vecenie and CJ Moore of the Athletic as well as Jeff Goodman of the Stadium.Cam Spencer‘s battle through adversity has fueled his success
The Rutgers commit should be a tremendous fit for the program.
People were sooooooo sure Pike would never land anyone good in the portal. He can't close. No good offensive player would want to come here. Wrong wrong wrong
When you read the articles, it’s obvious Spencer was our first choice. It’s obvious Pike really connected with him. The extra year was probably a big factor. Cam probably sold him instantly when he told him he doesn’t use social media.
Sharpshooting transfer Cam Spencer details why he chose Rutgers, Steve Pikiell
Rutgers landed the sharpshooting guard out of the transfer portal.
Kyk1827 has a legitimate and valid concern on not having a proven player who can "go 1 on 1 or take your guy off the dribble". There are times when you actually would prefer that the ball stays isolated to 2 or 3 players in a possession, whether it was RHJ and Geo or Geo and someone else.
The bigger concern wasn't a lack of ability to break down teams 1 on 1, it is can you space the floor with a shooter/scorer that creates space.
There are players that create driving lanes because they are on the floor and make teams keep defenders attached to those players. Cam Spencer is a dangerous and capable shooter IF you leave him open or help off of him.
The lack of taking someone off the dribble was actually tougher last year with Geo and RHJ, because Mulcahy was really the only catch and shoot offensive 3 point shooter. There were many times where Geo started a drive and could have forced a shot up, but made the pass to Mulcahy who knocked down the shot.
If you have Mulcahy off the ball and Spencer off the ball as well, it's going to open up driving lanes for anyone who can handle the ball and create off the bounce. Right now, the only player that I have seen live who can do that, is Derek Simpson.
Simpson can also play off the ball, if you have Mulcahy with the ball. Spencer is also going to create more space for Mulcahy to maneuver, because Paul is a willing passer and we now keep TWO options for Paul when he runs pick and roll.....it was either Cliff or Geo/RHJ.....now it's Cliff and Spencer/Simpson/Caleb.
In regards to Simpson and his role as a frosh vs Geo as a frosh.....obviously two drastically different situations. We had Mike Williams as a willing teammate who was capable of deferring minutes to Geo, because Mike just wanted to win. Geo was thrown into the deep end and played off Corey Sanders at 30 minutes a game. Simpson is not going to be thrown into a full rebuild of sink or swim. Those games in Year 2 of Pike were learning on the job situations, BUT Pike purposely force-fed and sped up Geo to develop by letting him play.
In this case, I am fine with Simpson coming off the bench and learning, but it is a longer-term plan of developing Simpson vs not. If you landed Hammond, you are taking a very short-term course and it would not help Simpson develop for the long term. He would be buried on the bench and then after next year, we would have more questions than answers after the 2022-23 season.
You have to balance player development with short term gains. I am 100% sold on Simpson, Miller, Reiber, Mag and a not yet signed 4/5 via the portal, as a legitimate bench that can play solid minutes.
RU didn't have a solid enough bench of players with some experience to help last year, which was a bigger problem than asking RHJ, Cliff and Geo to give us 45 to 50 PPG in order to win. Now we can spread the scoring out.
The goal is to not ask Derek Simpson to be as good as everyone else's starters....the first step is for him to be better or as good as what teams bring off their bench. The better teams, have 7 or 8 players who can get you 8 to 10 points once in awhile. RU and the bench now has depth and some experience, assuming Caleb returns.
By this time next year, the goal is to have Derek Simpson elevate to a starter level, that gives you 10 to 12 PPG as a sophomore. That is more valuable to me, than Hammond for 1 season and stunting the growth of Simpson, longer-term.
The bigger concern wasn't a lack of ability to break down teams 1 on 1, it is can you space the floor with a shooter/scorer that creates space.
There are players that create driving lanes because they are on the floor and make teams keep defenders attached to those players. Cam Spencer is a dangerous and capable shooter IF you leave him open or help off of him.
The lack of taking someone off the dribble was actually tougher last year with Geo and RHJ, because Mulcahy was really the only catch and shoot offensive 3 point shooter. There were many times where Geo started a drive and could have forced a shot up, but made the pass to Mulcahy who knocked down the shot.
If you have Mulcahy off the ball and Spencer off the ball as well, it's going to open up driving lanes for anyone who can handle the ball and create off the bounce. Right now, the only player that I have seen live who can do that, is Derek Simpson.
Simpson can also play off the ball, if you have Mulcahy with the ball. Spencer is also going to create more space for Mulcahy to maneuver, because Paul is a willing passer and we now keep TWO options for Paul when he runs pick and roll.....it was either Cliff or Geo/RHJ.....now it's Cliff and Spencer/Simpson/Caleb.
In regards to Simpson and his role as a frosh vs Geo as a frosh.....obviously two drastically different situations. We had Mike Williams as a willing teammate who was capable of deferring minutes to Geo, because Mike just wanted to win. Geo was thrown into the deep end and played off Corey Sanders at 30 minutes a game. Simpson is not going to be thrown into a full rebuild of sink or swim. Those games in Year 2 of Pike were learning on the job situations, BUT Pike purposely force-fed and sped up Geo to develop by letting him play.
In this case, I am fine with Simpson coming off the bench and learning, but it is a longer-term plan of developing Simpson vs not. If you landed Hammond, you are taking a very short-term course and it would not help Simpson develop for the long term. He would be buried on the bench and then after next year, we would have more questions than answers after the 2022-23 season.
You have to balance player development with short term gains. I am 100% sold on Simpson, Miller, Reiber, Mag and a not yet signed 4/5 via the portal, as a legitimate bench that can play solid minutes.
RU didn't have a solid enough bench of players with some experience to help last year, which was a bigger problem than asking RHJ, Cliff and Geo to give us 45 to 50 PPG in order to win. Now we can spread the scoring out.
The goal is to not ask Derek Simpson to be as good as everyone else's starters....the first step is for him to be better or as good as what teams bring off their bench. The better teams, have 7 or 8 players who can get you 8 to 10 points once in awhile. RU and the bench now has depth and some experience, assuming Caleb returns.
By this time next year, the goal is to have Derek Simpson elevate to a starter level, that gives you 10 to 12 PPG as a sophomore. That is more valuable to me, than Hammond for 1 season and stunting the growth of Simpson, longer-term.
Spot on. In going with Spencer vs Hammond - Pike is setting things up nicely for a 2023 back court of Simpson / Spencer / Paul. Getting Caleb back would be the perfect interim solution to keep the team competitive while developing the newer guys to play Pike defense.
There’s also huge incentive for Pike to work with Caleb - if Caleb has another defensive year like last and a better offensive year he may have a punchers chance at an NBA roster. I keep mentioning Jevon Carter, because when that kid made it to the NBA (after being groomed through WVU’s system and not having the measurables, etc.) the brand appeal of playing defense for Huggs sky rocketed.
Good take. I also think it's reasonable to hope that Cliff will be able to shoot 50% on post up non-dunk 2pt FGs and his usage will go up. His post up moves and baby hooks were a little rough, but showed potential. That adds another element when the offense stalls and adds another dynamic for more spacing.
Miller is a bit of a wild card in this type of thought process. If Paul and Spencer are spacing the floor, Miller has the quickness to penetrate and dish.
Once upon a time people valued the impact that seniors and experienced players could make. Pike has shown that he can take projects and bring them along slowly and have them make an impact. Miller's offense wasn't bad as a HS player. A classic project with some raw athletic ability but lots of work to do. I don't know if it will be next year, but as a likely 4 year player, I think he will make an impact on O before he is done. Taking that one step further, with a stable of developmental players that are content to stick around and grow, which is increasingly hard to achieve, including Mag, Reiber, Miller, Palmquist, and you could even include Hyatt there, I think Pike is doing his thing and building a base of Big Ten functional role players that is underrated.
I think Miller can drive and dish and will be able to drive and finish more effectively with better floor spacing as well. His outside shot might take a little longer but if he can drive and dish or finish at the rim that would be a nice first step.
He seemed to finish well in his HS tape with some ncie touch using the glass
Agree. It wasn't encouraging how little he even tried to contribute last season. But that is the kind of stuff that can come with time.
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