We also have no point guards here, and our guards aren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard or passing the ball.
Why run it back when we were trending to a 4 or 5 seed before the Mag injury and playing the best basketball long time fans saw since 1976.
Yes this is how most of the season will likely play out but there will also be a secenario (3) at times play good D make enough shots win the game like we did with Indiana
Michigan State is very good but like alot of Izzo teams do not play to their potential. You saw a switch flip on and they were off to the races. Our response was quite poor because we had played pretty tough to that point. No depth and no leadership and a ton of bad shooters and you get 19-0 runs and these ugly runs have happened vs Mississippi State, Wake, Illinois, Iowa as well. I think even LIU and Stone Hill had pretty good runs vs Ru
To be fair, I don’t think rest of this board does and Simpson still playing better and has won and/or kept us in games.
We were doing all things you mentioned offensively and defensively with no transition buckets for MSU. We ran a new set on offense that was working and we got 3 back door layups off of it. They couldn’t handle MAG , Aundre was getting open from 3 and the only thing not happening was the guards were not getting the ball to Cliff. But they were playing their best games offensively by eliminating the mindless dribbling and with quick passing to get the edge.
Especially since he was 4-15 that game
For me I don't believe anything..program has little credibility when it comes to recruits and projected performance. How coaching plays into this is yet another consideration.
But in all fairness kept us in the game @ Ohio State. Half time shot v. Indiana and his foul shooting won us the game. And while you downplay Stonehill, absolutely nobody shot well that day. Deserves credit for game winning shot. Plus shooting 85% from the line is nothing to shake a stick at.
Basically if any player in the country is given the freedom to shoot 16 times in a game then at least once or twice an abnormally high number will go in and they'll look really good. Simpson's game against Ohio State was statistical variance.
The only reason Derek Simpson is playing right now is because we literally have no one else and are stuck with him. On most Power 6 teams he would be out of the rotation right now given how poorly he has shot the ball all year.
He had a nice game at Ohio State, but being "in the game" is not really an accomplishment at this point. He was 2/13 against Indiana and the fact that one of those was a lucky bank-in three from half court makes it worse, not better.
If you take out his two banked 3 pointers, he would be at 26%. It will be hard to beat anyone with a pulse when your most active shooter is only hitting 33% from the field.
Our offense somehow even worse when you dig deeper into the stats
I think in another thread someone posted that all 3 rank in the bottom 5 in effective FG % in P6
The best case scenario is Derek takes good shots from 10-14 feet ,with his body square and knocks them down like the Ohio State game.He hit 9 mostly uncontested “ easy “ shots. It presently is the outlier, but it shouldn’t be. 3 freshman that are now sophomores , Thornton at Ohio State , Dug McDaniel at Michigan and Ryan Smith at Purdue , have taken tremendous leaps from 5-6 a game to 15-16 a game. We expected Derek , especially with his excellent foul shooting to do the same but he has disappointed us. I really thought he could be a difference maker but he is too determined to shoot when he drives , never looks to pass once he makes up his mind and on top of that is reckless on the fast break or going to the rim not using the backboard properly , nor his body properly. I am hoping he will improve to do those things but every game that goes by , I am losing hope.
And yet still better than the others…
It depends what stats.. shooting stats yes, because we are close to the worst shooting percentage team in all of D1, literally. Luckily we make up for that to some slight degree by not really being bad at anything else, we are above average at not turning the ball over, offensive rebounding, and getting to the line.
Here's a crazy one.
FG% advantage Davis
But he has mostly played like crap and shot worst than that. Unlike the other BiG 10 sophomores that have taken their expected upward leap , Derek has been mostly terrible , not a shot maker , not a guard that knows how to run PNR with Cliff , terrible at setting up his teammates and being a floor leader. Nor is he a difference maker defensively . He is only a sophomore and I can only hope he gets much much better.
Feel JMike is being judged a bit harshly for being a frosh and asked to do a lot already. To make a blanket statement that JMike is not or can't be a starter in the Big Ten is very quick rush to judgment. He also IS a Big Ten starter as a frosh, probably being asked to do too much with not a great cast around him.
