Cliff @'Bama...

[RU_PAYBACK]

Didn't some of us think Clif was playing injured last season? Did anything come of this?

 

[needmorecowbell]

He will be tough to replace, and he is better than the combo of Ogbole/Sommerville (even from those most optimistic about them), and he would have been a great compliment to this season's RU team.

But ...

Please, do NOT exaggerate his accomplishments: He did not average 12 ppg and 8 rpg for 3 years . He DID average that for 2 years - his Soph and Junior years ... and clearly regressed in every facet of his game last season as a Senior (except blocked shots - but was also not nearly as effective a defender - for whatever reason - every average or better center he faced last season out played him badly)

Freshman Year: 3.8 ppg, 4 rpg ... 63% FG, 42% FT

Sophomore Year: 11.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg ... 1.25 blocks/g ... 62% FG, 60% FT, 1-6 total from 3

Junior Year: 13.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg ... 2.1 blocks/g (though he was a far better defender this year than his Senior year) ... 51% FG, 60% FT, 4-22 total from 3

Senior Year: 10.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg ... 2.9 blocks/g ... 51% FG (really, should be better), 61% FT, 1-5 total from 3

Basically, Omoruyi made a big leap from his freshman to sophomore season, after Myles Johnson left, making Omoruyi the start - and visibly improved various skills, such as improved hands, better shot selection, better overall defense. He played at roughly the same level in his junior season, though with some improvements on the margin (32 assists vs 12 as a soph, more TO - 62 vs 41 as a soph but still a better A/TO ratio, 5% increase in minutes/game, significant rebounding improvement and a 1.5 ppg improvement).

But he really regressed last season, in hugely important ways: Fewer rebounds, much worse on-ball post defense, significant reduction in FG% (even though he still mostly took short hooks, short turnarounds and dunks). You can explain away all that (i.e. no great shooters around him - vs as a Junior he had Spencer and as a Soph he had Harper), but the bottom line is that RU NEEDED him to step up his game and carry the team, as they did last year, he was completely unable to do so. Period, end of discussion. He could NOT be a "lead" player for RU - he just did not have the skills. He is a terrific complimentary player, not a star. I think that was proven.

I would remind people (and please someone correct me if I am wrong - I did this a week ago or so, and I think I got it right - or close to right at least): . When Omoruyi recorded a double-double last season (10 points AND 10 rebounds) in a single game, RU won ... period. 9-0 in the 9 games he was able to do that. Therefore 6-17 in games where he could NOT record a double-double. In many ways, you could say he was like Andre Hyatt: Very inconsistent, very good about 1/3 of the time. And sure, you cannot put it all on Omoruyi ... after all, mostly no other RU player stepped it up to carry the team in games where Omoruyi could not (except J. Williams a bit when he became available). Still ... a star player ought to be able to be better than carrying the team only 1/3 of the time, no?

Name a center at Rutgers that put up better numbers. You have to go way back 40 years.

 

[Caliknight]

Cliff has terrible hands. You can’t fix that. Shooting and passing from the post will never be good. His post moves are non existent. He’s a dunker and shot blocker. If you can space the floor with other shooters and have him get put backs that the most you can get from him outside of dunks.

He has no game beyond that and won’t at Bama.

 

[lion1983]

Name a center at Rutgers that put up better numbers. You have to go way back 40 years.

Its not only about the quantity of numbers ... It is about helping the team from game to game.

In this case, last season Rutgers needed Omoruyi to be a star - their STAR. Maybe that was unreasonable ... but ... RU needed him to average 14-15 ppg and 9+ rpg, and be efficient shooting (i.e 60% or close FG). He was not. And it was not unreasonable to hope for a progression, from 11 ppg to 13 ppg to 14-15 ppg ... from 7+ rpg, to 9.8 rpg, to 9-10 rpg (with more minutes) But he did not.

He just was not suited, skills-wise, to be more thgan a complimentary player.

And it does not matter that no RU center has matched or exceeded those stats in a long time. Omoruyi was supposed to be different: Higher rated coming out of high school, more athletic ... he was SUPPOSED to be RU's best center in a long time. He was ... but that was a low hurdle:

Since the 1982-83 season, when Hinson was a Senior, RU has only had TWO centers (yes, that is correct) in the last 30 years OTHER than Omoruyi, to average even 10 points per game in even ONE season: Brent Dabbs (13+ ppg in 1990-91, in his only year, as a transfer) and Rashod Kent (10+ ppg and 10+ rpg in 2001-02 - averaged 9.8 ppg and 9.3 rpg in 2000-01). So, we can agree that Omoruyi was arguably the best RU center since Hinson ... though last season was not as good as either Dabbs' season, or Kent's senior season (and maybe even Junior season).

So what? We needed him to be better, and he was not, last season. At Alabama he will again be in the role he belongs: Complimentary front-court player and the 4th or 5th offensive option ... and should excel at that.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Its not only about the quantity of numbers ... It is about helping the team from game to game.

In this case, last season Rutgers needed Omoruyi to be a star - their STAR. Maybe that was unreasonable ... but ... RU needed him to average 14-15 ppg and 9+ rpg, and be efficient shooting (i.e 60% or close FG). He was not. And it was not unreasonable to hope for a progression, from 11 ppg to 13 ppg to 14-15 ppg ... from 7+ rpg, to 9.8 rpg, to 9-10 rpg (with more minutes) But he did not.

He just was not suited, skills-wise, to be more thgan a complimentary player.

And it does not matter that no RU center has matched or exceeded those stats in a long time. Omoruyi was supposed to be different: Higher rated coming out of high school, more athletic ... he was SUPPOSED to be RU's best center in a long time. He was ... but that was a low hurdle:

Since the 1982-83 season, when Hinson was a Senior, RU has only had TWO centers (yes, that is correct) in the last 30 years OTHER than Omoruyi, to average even 10 points per game in even ONE season: Brent Dabbs (13+ ppg in 1990-91, in his only year, as a transfer) and Rashod Kent (10+ ppg and 10+ rpg in 2001-02 - averaged 9.8 ppg and 9.3 rpg in 2000-01). So, we can agree that Omoruyi was arguably the best RU center since Hinson ... though last season was not as good as either Dabbs' season, or Kent's senior season (and maybe even Junior season).

So what? We needed him to be better, and he was not, last season. At Alabama he will again be in the role he belongs: Complimentary front-court player and the 4th or 5th offensive option ... and should excel at that.

RU had no shooters. Teams collapsed on Cliff and he struggled. Can’t really blame him. The roster wasn’t good enough to field a proper team.

If Alabama has the shooters (I think they do) Cliff will thrive. That probably means 12-13 points per game on limited shots. He’ll probably only get 8-10 shots a game but he’ll do well in transition and should get plenty of 1v1 opportunities.