GAME 29 NEBRASKA: They are exactly what they are

[goru7]

In Simpson’s defense, until Williams came along nobody else could get open on their own. Simpson takes the most shots as nobody was open. If Simpson wasn’t taking the shots, who was going to get open and even a bigger question who was going to make them? (see yesterday). Yet it is Simpson who takes the heat and grief.

Simpson taking the most shots because there was no other choice. And he gets ripped for it. SMH.

And after 9 games, Simpson still has a better Assist to turnover ratio than Williams. While Williams better passer and running the point, it still is Simpson better against pressure and bringing ball up court. Another one turnover game yesterday but wouldn’t know that from this board. Certain not appreciated

And still third most foul shots attempted on team and only 5 behind Hyatt. Foul Shooting has been stellar. 81 shots is a great sample size. Can play it down if you chose but I’d want a player shooting almost 87% from the line in a close game next year.

Part of your problem in defending Derek who we all wished shot better this year was for the first 15 games he was a shot first and shot second point guard and not a distributor as a point guard. His failure to connect with Cliff on either pick and roll , or when they go to drop coverage and he is open but Cliff is also open if a proper pass is made. Derek never did that the first 15 games and these last 14 he has only gotten slightly better , which is not saying much because it was non existent before. Smith gets the ball to Edey under the basket over and over. Derek doesn’t do the same and he should. It happens once and I say great , it is going continue and then it doesn’t happen again. His play just as a point guard setting up his teammates has not been great.
His failure to get the ball to Cliff or Hyatt or Gavin or Mag when he was playing or to anyone open or cutting and instead insisting on clanking another 10-15 foot shot has hurt the team and allowed other teams to go on runs and caused droughts. Now I was one of Derek’s biggest supporters early and had a running debate with Winfield about Derek’s 2 versus his threes were good shots because he was open and capable of hitting them. If he hit 4or 5 out of 10 that would be huge for us but as it tuned out in many more games he has not even hit 1-10 . So his value that I saw has never materialized but he has also not made his teammates better by setting them up. It is tremendously frustrating and disappointing. But that is what has occurred. Derek had the expectations coming in and unfortunately has performed incredibly below those expectations. The other guys have also performed below expectations Hyatt, Cliff( too many games ) Mag ( primarily injury related ) , Gavin ( considering the hype and his being considered one of the best 3 point shooters coming out of high school ). It is what it is no more no less. No venom or ill will against Derek because everyone wishes he would have succeeded.

 

[rudad02]

This team has weaknesses, many of which have been enumerated in this thread. IMO it's main problem is that other teams can SHOOT & it can't.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

He is frustrated with people destroying Simpson and not going after Mag. People looking at players with different lens. Just like i have seen With Gavin.

NJH and I are on the exact, identical page with regards to Mag. Dont think much more needs to be said on the topic. Anything said will definite rub some the wrong way. We dont know the facts, but we can come to conclusions that seem logical.

One thing has nothing to do with the other. Mag didn’t play in the Nebraska game. There is no place for commentary about him or Ogbole or Chol or anyone who did not check into the game in a thread reflecting on the game. What am I missing here?

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

In Simpson’s defense, until Williams came along nobody else could get open on their own. Simpson takes the most shots as nobody was open. If Simpson wasn’t taking the shots, who was going to get open and even a bigger question who was going to make them? (see yesterday). Yet it is Simpson who takes the heat and grief.

Simpson taking the most shots because there was no other choice. And he gets ripped for it. SMH.

And after 9 games, Simpson still has a better Assist to turnover ratio than Williams. While Williams better passer and running the point, it still is Simpson better against pressure and bringing ball up court. Another one turnover game yesterday but wouldn’t know that from this board. Certain not appreciated

And still third most foul shots attempted on team and only 5 behind Hyatt. Foul Shooting has been stellar. 81 shots is a great sample size. Can play it down if you chose but I’d want a player shooting almost 87% from the line in a close game next year.

Derek doesn’t have a better assist to turnover ratio. Williams does - slightly so.

Williams and Derek both handle pressure well. Derek might be a bit better but it’s close. The noticable drop off is after those two.

Regardless - Williams is the more valuable player by a wide margin. He’s averaging 13 points per game on 45.5% shooting, more rebounds a game, more assists per game, and more blocks per game. Any metric where Simpson is ahead is very slight and being propped by the cupcake games (steals).

 

[G- RUnit]

Part of your problem in defending Derek who we all wished shot better this year was for the first 15 games he was a shot first and shot second point guard and not a distributor as a point guard. His failure to connect with Cliff on either pick and roll , or when they go to drop coverage and he is open but Cliff is also open if a proper pass is made. Derek never did that the first 15 games and these last 14 he has only gotten slightly better , which is not saying much because it was non existent before. Smith gets the ball to Edey under the basket over and over. Derek doesn’t do the same and he should. It happens once and I say great , it is going continue and then it doesn’t happen again. His play just as a point guard setting up his teammates has not been great.
His failure to get the ball to Cliff or Hyatt or Gavin or Mag when he was playing or to anyone open or cutting and instead insisting on clanking another 10-15 foot shot has hurt the team and allowed other teams to go on runs and caused droughts. Now I was one of Derek’s biggest supporters early and had a running debate with Winfield about Derek’s 2 versus his threes were good shots because he was open and capable of hitting them. If he hit 4or 5 out of 10 that would be huge for us but as it tuned out in many more games he has not even hit 1-10 . So his value that I saw has never materialized but he has also not made his teammates better by setting them up. It is tremendously frustrating and disappointing. But that is what has occurred. Derek had the expectations coming in and unfortunately has performed incredibly below those expectations. The other guys have also performed below expectations Hyatt, Cliff( too many games ) Mag ( primarily injury related ) , Gavin ( considering the hype and his being considered one of the best 3 point shooters coming out of high school ). It is what it is no more no less. No venom or ill will against Derek because everyone wishes he would have succeeded.

And yet even with JWill starting at the point, Simpson still has the best assist to turnover ratio on the team. Part of being the point guard is also bringing the ball up court against pressure and the press which Simpson has done very well but gets absolutely no credit. That’s value you are not recognizing.

Simpson last four games if I am not mistaken are games of zero turnovers, zero turnovers, one turnover and one turnover. That’s making the team better and certainly added value.

His passing has improved and yes JWillis even better doing what Paul did last year, feeding the ball to Cliff. So it’s basically Simpson’s first year fully running the point and is improving and still gets ripped. Why doesn’t he get the benefit of the doubt that others get. Still only a sophomore.

Nobody on the team shoots well. Nobody on the team gets open on their own. Who would others have shooting? Nobody has an answer.

I do know Simpson is the best foul shooter on the team and 4th best in the league. That’s significant value.

Kempom has Rutgers all year as the third or fourth best efficient defensive team in the league. He rebounds extremely well and leads the team in steals. I’m guessing if RU keeps the stat he leads the team in disruptions and deflections. 4th best in the country. Simpson significant value to that equation. Other fan bases would worship a player for Simpson’s defensive prowess.

His hustle and motor shouldn’t go unnoticed either. That’s value added.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

He doesn’t have the best assist to turnover ratio. He has 86 assists and 43 turnovers. That’s a ratio of 2. J Will has 30 assists and 14 turnovers for a ratio of 2.14.

 

[rufeelinit]

Getting hard to write something different after watching these performances. Lets see, the popular flavors based on this game are Noah, Gavin and Woolf. Regardless of the outcome, I bet the popular flavors will be different after the Wisconsin game. I feel some love coming for Oskar, Ogbole and JMike.

As others have said, Nebraska was inviting RU to take the game but we are just not good enough. I am ready for this disappointing season to come to a merciful end. Since we do have atleast 3 more games to endure, I agree we should playing guys who the staff feels are important to the program for next year. The problem is I don't see 5 of them on the roster. Hopefully the coaching staff does although if you catch them in a candid moment it would not surprise me if they do not.

 

[RUinOhio]

I hate that guy more than anyone that has played in B1G in the last 5 years

he's a show boat but he doesn't do dirty stuff. I put Johnson from Indy and Reese from Maryland way above Tominaga. Those 2 are dirty

 

[Scangg]

Getting hard to write something different after watching these performances. Lets see, the popular flavors based on this game are Noah, Gavin and Woolf. Regardless of the outcome, I bet the popular flavors will be different after the Wisconsin game. I feel some love coming for Oskar, Ogbole and JMike.

As others have said, Nebraska was inviting RU to take the game but we are just not good enough. I am ready for this disappointing season to come to a merciful end. Since we do have atleast 3 more games to endure, I agree we should playing guys who the staff feels are important to the program for next year. The problem is I don't see 5 of them on the roster. Hopefully the coaching staff does although if you catch them in a candid moment it would not surprise me if they do not.

Noah got abused by tominaga and didn't shoot well. Not sure why he would be included in that last

 

[G- RUnit]

Derek doesn’t have a better assist to turnover ratio. Williams does - slightly so.

Williams and Derek both handle pressure well. Derek might be a bit better but it’s close. The noticable drop off is after those two.

Regardless - Williams is the more valuable player by a wide margin. He’s averaging 13 points per game on 45.5% shooting, more rebounds a game, more assists per game, and more blocks per game. Any metric where Simpson is ahead is very slight and being propped by the cupcake games (steals).

I was never comparing Simpson to JWill. JWill after Cliff is our MVP. More the lovefest for JMike and the RIPfest for Derek that I truly don’t understand

In any event if Williams is the MVP by a wide margin than Simpson is the third most valuable on this team.

Simpson and Williams virtually identical on assist to turnover ratio. I stand corrected. But also note Simpson brings ball upcourt against press and pressure and has the ball in his hands far more the JWill.

I also wonder how many assists Simpson has lost because of dropped or mishandled passes ….

Simpson still has the most rebounds among guards by a wide margin and third on the team.

Simpson has most steals on the teams and intellectually dishonest to say just against cupcake teams. Anyone who watches team knows that’s just not true.

I’m guessing most deflections and disruptions too.

Simpson is shooting threes at a better rate than JWill.

Simpson still the best foul shooter on the team.

None of this is to disparage JWill who I think is great but don’t think Simpson getting nearly enough credit and way too much hate.

3rd or 4th most efficient defense in the country. Simpson a huge factor in that. Deserves way more praise and far less scorn.

I am certainly not “punking” anybody. Just trying to be fair.

 

[goru7]

And yet even with JWill starting at the point, Simpson still has the best assist to turnover ratio on the team. Part of being the point guard is also bringing the ball up court against pressure and the press which Simpson has done very well but gets absolutely no credit. That’s value you are not recognizing.

Simpson last four games if I am not mistaken are games of zero turnovers, zero turnovers, one turnover and one turnover. That’s making the team better and certainly added value.

His passing has improved and yes JWillis even better doing what Paul did last year, feeding the ball to Cliff. So it’s basically Simpson’s first year fully running the point and is improving and still gets ripped. Why doesn’t he get the benefit of the doubt that others get. Still only a sophomore.

Nobody on the team shoots well. Nobody on the team gets open on their own. Who would others have shooting? Nobody has an answer.

I do know Simpson is the best foul shooter on the team and 4th best in the league. That’s significant value.

Kempom has Rutgers all year as the third or fourth best efficient defensive team in the league. He rebounds extremely well and leads the team in steals. I’m guessing if RU keeps the stat he leads the team in disruptions and deflections. 4th best in the country. Simpson significant value to that equation. Other fan bases would worship a player for Simpson’s defensive prowess.

His hustle and motor shouldn’t go unnoticed either. That’s value added.

Jeremiah and JMike can bring the ball up without too much trouble if that is what coach wanted. You say I am not recognizing it but it is a requirement to playing Division 1 ball at this level. Maybe taking it for granted but would be doing it for all the guards.
Not turning the ball over as a guard is a great trait but if you do not make the proper pass and instead pull up for a 13-15 footer and you clang it with no one underneath , it is like a turnover. Derek doesn’t drive and make this incredible pass that you say “ OH MY God “ what a pass. He has not made his teammates better and that is incredibly important for a point guard and he has not scored like a point guard or shooting guard either. Those are things you would expect from your starter.
Yes , he has made great strides on defense , in straight man to man , jumping into passing lanes and crashing the defensive glass. But just yesterday , he makes a beautiful steal and is going down on a fast break turnover and shies away from contact and doesn’t finish high off the glass and gets his shot blocked and we do not convert. So his great defense resulted in 0 points. So no value added .

 

[G- RUnit]

Jeremiah and JMike can bring the ball up without too much trouble if that is what coach wanted. You say I am not recognizing it but it is a requirement to playing Division 1 ball at this level. Maybe taking it for granted but would be doing it for all the guards.
Not turning the ball over as a guard is a great trait but if you do not make the proper pass and instead pull up for a 13-15 footer and you clang it with no one underneath , it is like a turnover. Derek doesn’t drive and make this incredible pass that you say “ OH MY God “ what a pass. He has not made his teammates better and that is incredibly important for a point guard and he has not scored like a point guard or shooting guard either. Those are things you would expect from your starter.
Yes , he has made great strides on defense , in straight man to man , jumping into passing lanes and crashing the defensive glass. But just yesterday , he makes a beautiful steal and is going down on a fast break turnover and shies away from contact and doesn’t finish high off the glass and gets his shot blocked and we do not convert. So his great defense resulted in 0 points. So no value added .

But great defense preventing a shot and a basket is still value added when you prevent a team from an attempt. The fact you missed your subsequent shot does not take way from excellent defense or value.

I’ve seen enough so far to know I would not be comfortable with JMike bringing ball up. If he was good enough I’m sure the coaching staff would have. They have chosen not to. JWill has gotten winded at times. Need Derek in that role. Helps JWill in half court sets

Firmly believe that the issue is not with Simpson’s passing, it is that he is pulling up and shooting often at last moment because nobody else could get open and nobody else get a shot. That’s not being selfish. Nobody on this team hits layups at a good rate. Maddening but unfair to place brunt of blame on Simpson.

Simpson has had trouble with getting ball to Cliff. Noah has had some moments but can’t stay on the floor. Jwilliams has had some pretty passes to Cliff

But Jwilliams older and stronger and a year ahead of Derek too. Jwilliams gone after next year. Let Derek grow too no?

Yet when all is said and done, Simpson and JWill virtually identical assist to turnover ratio. Simpson still only a sophomore. No reason he can’t continue to improve and just get a little bit stronger. Simpson gets no love.

Don’t understand why this Board is so unforgiving.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I was never comparing Simpson to JWill. JWill after Cliff is our MVP. More the lovefest for JMike and the RIPfest for Derek that I truly don’t understand

In any event if Williams is the MVP by a wide margin than Simpson is the third most valuable on this team.

Simpson and Williams virtually identical on assist to turnover ratio. I stand corrected. But also note Simpson brings ball upcourt against press and pressure and has the ball in his hands far more the JWill.

I also wonder how many assists Simpson has lost because of dropped or mishandled passes ….

Simpson still has the most rebounds among guards by a wide margin and third on the team.

Simpson has most steals on the teams and intellectually dishonest to say just against cupcake teams. Anyone who watches team knows that’s just not true.

I’m guessing most deflections and disruptions too.

Simpson is shooting threes at a better rate than JWill.

Simpson still the best foul shooter on the team.

None of this is to disparage JWill who I think is great but don’t think Simpson getting nearly enough credit and way too much hate.

3rd or 4th most efficient defense in the country. Simpson a huge factor in that. Deserves way more praise and far less scorn.

I am certainly not “punking” anybody. Just trying to be fair.

You said more than once that he has the best assist to turnover ratio on the team. He doesn’t. J Will does and that doesn’t even adjust for opponent SOS. He’s the best PG on the team. It’s not even close. The problem for Simpson in that is, if he’s not PG, his shooting even is a real problem.

JWill has only taken 18 threes on the season. He is a career 26% shooter from 3. Simpson is a career 25.4% shooter from long range. So at the moment Simpson isn’t even better there. Obviously - not a strength for either of them but…

 

[G- RUnit]

Tied for best on the team. Sorry about that one tenth of a percentage. I stand corrected. You are correct . Virtually identical on assists to turnover ratio.

Simpson has shot better from threes than JWill this year with Rutgers. Maybe it’s a RAC thing?

Simpson great defensive player.
Gets his fair share of rebounds.
Simpson has a great ball handle.
Simpson leading team in steals, guessing he leads in tipped passes, deflections and disruptions. Know some teams keep that stat.
Simpson leading foul shooter on team.

Call me crazy but thats stuff I could work with and use with a player who is still only a sophomore.
More importantly that’s stuff that can help a team win next year.
And when JWilliams and Ace and Dylan leave after next year, I wouldn’t mind that Senior player coming back rather than a decimated team.
But obviously I’m one of the very few.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Point guards distribute and handle the ball. Do the majority of ball handling.
JM is not the point guard ever.

Irregardless if Jwill is now considered the point guard on the team, Simpson is still usually bringing the ball up and not only has the most assists but the best assist per turnover rate on the team. So if you want to classify him as combo guard have at it. Neither are pure point guards or shooting guards

I certainly am not punking this board and am truly sorry for your perplexion. I have never claimed that Simpson is a good shooter. You are reading what you want to read. I am merely defending Simpson who does everything else very well.

Nobody on the team is a good shooter yet Simpson takes all the heat for missing shots.
Nobody in two years has shown that they are a good shooter besides Cam.

Board constantly kills him even yesterday.
Sure he was 2 for 10 and had one taken away for goal tending. Who takes all the heat? Simpson. Don’t you think that’s a bit unfair.
Gavin had one of his better games and was 3-10.
Hyatt was 1-6.
Davis was 0-6 and 0-3
Fernandes was 2-8
Cliff had two baskets from the field.

Reading BACS review, it is Simpson who had no baskets in transition! Who did?
Reading BACs review, he has to bite his tongue on Simpson.
Reading BAC’s, review, Hyatt is a disaster.
Reading BAc’s review, he’s quick to rip every starter but there is actually no comment on one starter going 0-6 from the field and 0-3 from three. No bias here right?

Simpson is fair game but other guards/players are not?

Reading BAC’s review he is stoked that Gavin went 3-10, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks and played active defense.

Well I ask rhetorically, if Simpson gets his goal tending call, shouldn’t BAC be stoked that Simpson went 3-10, had 5 rebounds, a steal and an assist and played active defense?

Are you perplexed by that or is BAC punking us? Where is your response to BAC punking us? No perplexion there? SMH

Since you want to rely on the Stats and are so fixated on shooting, Simpson is yes the worst shooter among the players with the most minutes, that’s a given. I like the kid despite the poor shooting as he does so much more, so well.

But a much more sophisticated look at his shooting, which you obviously chose to ignore, is that Simpson is shooting a better three point percentage than Davis, Gavin, Mag, and Williams and barely behind Hyatt. That’s also a fact supported by DATA. Who is punking who? Maybe not such an awful shooter on this team supported by the DATA.

It’s also a FACT supported by hard DATA that Simpson is the best free foul SHOOTER on the team. In fact right now 4th best in the B1G conference. So who is actually being “punked.” ?????? So you are only attacking selective parts of his shooting. Most teams want their starting guards to be great foul shooters like Simpson. Who is punking who?

May want to rethink your post and stop attacking me as I am only defending one of the best defensive players we’ve had and a kid who constantly plays hard and hustles and takes repeated unfair shots on this board. (No pun intended).

No I am not Simpson’s brother or father just a diehard longtime fan of RU.

We held Nebraska 10 points below their average on their Senior Day at home. That was still a very good defensive effort. Simpson is a huge factor in that. Deal with it and acknowledge it and stop ripping the kid.

G-R:

Don't confuse me with some posters who don't give Simpson ANY credit, or who overstate Simpson's negative impact on a team that has just about EVERYONE who is bad at offense. In my post above where I listed out Simpson's shooting stats each game, I specifically stated:

• I’m not going to blame Simpson for all of our offensive woes. There is plenty of blame to go around, from Hyatt, to Cliff, to JMike, to GG most of the year, hell EVERYBODY on this team shares the blame. We’re an AWFUL offensive team.

AND I also stated:

• The above is not talking about Derek’s other qualities as a player, which are many. He’s a plus defender, starting to border on the elite in fact. He usually brings energy. He’s got chutzpah, the will to take big shots. He’s a very good foul shooter.

I probably could have added that he has become a better (though still not plus) distributor. So I think my evaluation of Simpson is a fair and balanced one. I just happen to think that his poor shooting (on high volume) is outweighing his good qualities.

On the shooting guard vs. point guard issue, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you call him. As of right now, Simpson has taken the second-most shots on the team, and he's only five shots behind the leading shot-taker (Hyatt 265, Simpson, 260, Cliff 238, nobody else above 200), so he has been shooting a lot whether you call him a PG or a SG. And he is now shooting at a clip of 31.2% overall, which is abominable (yes, I acknowledge the bump in 3-pt. shooting over his abysmal 21% freshman showing, but this year's 29% is still really bad, though EVERYONE on the team is bad from deep, but his overall percentage has gone down this year).

In my view, Derek's future going forward -- if he stays -- should be as a defensive specialist and distributor. He cannot be taking 9 shots a game if he's going to shoot 31%. If he improves his shooting, great, if not, then he must be coached to stay in his lane and let other players take the shots.

 

[Scangg]

Tied for best on the team. Sorry about that one tenth of a percentage. I stand corrected. You are correct . Virtually identical on assists to turnover ratio.

Simpson has shot better from threes than JWill this year with Rutgers. Maybe it’s a RAC thing?

Simpson great defensive player.
Gets his fair share of rebounds.
Simpson has a great ball handle.
Simpson leading team in steals, guessing he leads in tipped passes, deflections and disruptions. Know some teams keep that stat.
Simpson leading foul shooter on team.

Call me crazy but thats stuff I could work with and use with a player who is still only a sophomore.
More importantly that’s stuff that can help a team win next year.
And when JWilliams and Ace and Dylan leave after next year, I wouldn’t mind that Senior player coming back rather than a decimated team.
But obviously I’m one of the very few.

Everyone says Simpson plays great D, hustles, has rebounded well can shoot FTs. No one is arguing any of that

The problem is his shooting. Period. He's a guard. That's a premium scoring position. You can't expect to be a good offensive team with a high volume, extreme outlier poor shooter.

Of players in the B1G playing 60% minutes or more, Simpson ranks dead last in effective FG%... DEAD LAST

Simpson 34.8%. This is absolutely horrible. This is not in the realm of normal poor shooting for a high major guard playing major minutes

For perspective, here are the next few worst effective FG% players in the B1G

2nd to last Harris from Maryland 40.0%
3rd Hoggard MSU 44.2%
4th Baldwin PSU 46.1%

Simpson would need to shoot 5% better to get out last place and 10% better to get above 2nd to last.

Those are insane numbers. That's how bad it is. That is why you can't just dismiss it as if he's just a subpar below average shooter. He is literally the worst by a significant margin of any player in the conference playing major minutes

 

[Scangg]

G-R:

Don't confuse me with some posters who don't give Simpson ANY credit, or who overstate Simpson's negative impact on a team that has just about EVERYONE who is bad at offense. In my post above where I listed out Simpson's shooting stats each game, I specifically stated:

• I’m not going to blame Simpson for all of our offensive woes. There is plenty of blame to go around, from Hyatt, to Cliff, to JMike, to GG most of the year, hell EVERYBODY on this team shares the blame. We’re an AWFUL offensive team.

AND I also stated:

• The above is not talking about Derek’s other qualities as a player, which are many. He’s a plus defender, starting to border on the elite in fact. He usually brings energy. He’s got chutzpah, the will to take big shots. He’s a very good foul shooter.

I probably could have added that he has become a better (though still not plus) distributor. So I think my evaluation of Simpson is a fair and balanced one. I just happen to think that his poor shooting (on high volume) is outweighing his good qualities.

On the shooting guard vs. point guard issue, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you call him. As of right now, Simpson has taken the second-most shots on the team, and he's only five shots behind the leading shot-taker (Hyatt 265, Simpson, 260, Cliff 238, nobody else above 200), so he has been shooting a lot whether you call him a PG or a SG. And he is now shooting at a clip of 31.2% overall, which is abominable (yes, I acknowledge the bump in 3-pt. shooting over his abysmal 21% freshman showing, but this year's 29% is still really bad, though EVERYONE on the team is bad from deep, but his overall percentage has gone down this year).

In my view, Derek's future going forward -- if he stays -- should be as a defensive specialist and distributor. He cannot be taking 9 shots a game if he's going to shoot 31%. If he improves his shooting, great, if not, then he must be coached to stay in his lane and let other players take the shots.

Exactly. You just can't be a high volume extremely poor efficiency shooter. It's a deadly combo that will kill an offense

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Everyone says Simpson plays great D, hustles, has rebounded well can shoot FTs. No one is arguing any of that

The problem is his shooting. Period. He's a guard. That's a premium scoring position. You can't expect to be a good offensive team with a high volume, extreme outlier poor shooter.

Of players in the B1G playing 60% minutes or more, Simpson ranks dead last in effective FG%... DEAD LAST

Simpson 34.8%. This is absolutely horrible. This is not in the realm of normal poor shooting for a high major guard playing major minutes

For perspective, here are the next few worst effective FG% players in the B1G

2nd to last Harris from Maryland 40.0%
3rd Hoggard MSU 44.2%
4th Baldwin PSU 46.1%

Simpson would need to shoot 5% better to get out last place and 10% better to get above 2nd to last.

Those are insane numbers. That's how bad it is. That is why you can't just dismiss it as if he's just a subpar below average shooter. He is literally the worst by a significant margin of any player in the conference playing major minutes

Is that right? All our other guards are over 40% adjusted? How is that possible?

 

[kcg88]

Derek Simpson 2P% by time remaining on shot clock:

26-30 seconds: 44.8% (30th percentile, 1.6 attempts/game)
21-25 seconds: 31.1% (4th percentile, 1.7 attempts/game)
16-20 seconds: 33.3% (3rd percentile, 2.0 attempts/game)
11-15 seconds: 22.6% (1st percentile, 1.1 attempts/game)
6-10 seconds: 31.8% (4th percentile, 1.4 attempts/game)
0-5 seconds: 21.4% (1st percentile, 1.0 attempts/game)

Spare me the crap about his numbers being bad because of all the late shot clock attempts. His best percentile is at the very beginning of the shot clock, which is explained by Rutgers' very high defensive turnover rate. We cause turnovers and he gets runouts or outlet passes for uncontested or lightly-contested layups. Even with that advantage, he's only in the 30th percentile at the very beginning of the shot clock.

After that, in the halfcourt, he is a complete disaster. As you can see he is attempting a high number of shots when there is still plenty of time on the shot clock, and he is in the worst 5% of the entire country at every shot clock split.

 

[Scangg]

Is that right? All our other guards are over 40% adjusted? How is that possible?

They aren't over 60% minutes played which is the cutoff on kenpom

Everyone in the rotation is above Simpson's 34.8% though

JWill 47.5%
JMike 39.7%
Griffiths 38.4%
Noah 44.4%
Hyatt 46.2%
Mag 42.7% (not even close to as bad as simpson despite Hawk's comaprison)

Cliff 52.3%
AWill and Wolf both 50%
Oskar 55.1%

 

[Scangg]

Derek Simpson 2P% by time remaining on shot clock:

26-30 seconds: 44.8% (30th percentile, 1.6 shots/game)
21-25 seconds: 31.1% (4th percentile, 1.7 shots per game)
16-20 seconds: 33.3% (3rd percentile, 2.0 shots per game)
11-15 seconds: 22.6% (1st percentile, 1.1 attempts/game)
6-10 seconds: 31.8% (4th percentile, 1.4 attempts/game)
0-5 seconds: 21.4% (1st percentile, 1.0 attempts/game)

Spare me the crap about his numbers being bad because of all the late shot clock attempts. His best percentile is at the very beginning of the shot clock, which is explained by Rutgers' very high defensive turnover rate. We cause turnovers and he gets runouts or outlet passes for uncontested or lightly-contested layups. Even with that advantage, he's only in the 30th percentile at the very beginning of the shot clock.

After that, in the halfcourt, he is a complete disaster. As you can see he is attempting a high number of shots when there is still plenty of time on the shot clock, and he is in the worst 5% of the entire country at every shot clock split.

Well that narrative is completely busted then

 

[G- RUnit]

G-R:

Don't confuse me with some posters who don't give Simpson ANY credit, or who overstate Simpson's negative impact on a team that has just about EVERYONE who is bad at offense. In my post above where I listed out Simpson's shooting stats each game, I specifically stated:

• I’m not going to blame Simpson for all of our offensive woes. There is plenty of blame to go around, from Hyatt, to Cliff, to JMike, to GG most of the year, hell EVERYBODY on this team shares the blame. We’re an AWFUL offensive team.

AND I also stated:

• The above is not talking about Derek’s other qualities as a player, which are many. He’s a plus defender, starting to border on the elite in fact. He usually brings energy. He’s got chutzpah, the will to take big shots. He’s a very good foul shooter.

I probably could have added that he has become a better (though still not plus) distributor. So I think my evaluation of Simpson is a fair and balanced one. I just happen to think that his poor shooting (on high volume) is outweighing his good qualities.

On the shooting guard vs. point guard issue, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you call him. As of right now, Simpson has taken the second-most shots on the team, and he's only five shots behind the leading shot-taker (Hyatt 265, Simpson, 260, Cliff 238, nobody else above 200), so he has been shooting a lot whether you call him a PG or a SG. And he is now shooting at a clip of 31.2% overall, which is abominable (yes, I acknowledge the bump in 3-pt. shooting over his abysmal 21% freshman showing, but this year's 29% is still really bad, though EVERYONE on the team is bad from deep, but his overall percentage has gone down this year).

In my view, Derek's future going forward -- if he stays -- should be as a defensive specialist and distributor. He cannot be taking 9 shots a game if he's going to shoot 31%. If he improves his shooting, great, if not, then he must be coached to stay in his lane and let other players take the shots.

All good. Just not punking anybody.

Never saw a sophomore take so much heat.

I firmly believe Simpson contributes far more good than bad and his good is excellent, including his speed, quickness, hustle, grit, his defense, his motor and his free throw shooting. 4th in defensive efficiency in country owes a lot to Derek.

When he has the best +/- stat on the team for the year it ceases to be a legitimate stat?

We have watched him this year as his rebounding has improved and although most fans are ignoring it, his assist to turnover ratio has actually been just as good as JWills. Kinda blowing fans’ minds and deserves credit for that.

Firmly believe he shoots too much because usually nobody open and nobody can hit a shot. Only player on this team that has shown that he can get open by himself. I don’t blame him for shooting. That will change next year but he has proven he’s adaptable.

I happen to agree with everything you said above.

Furthermore JMike hasn’t been better either. And haven’t seen the case that other than being friends with Ace why he deserves to come back before Derek. That’s the elephant in the room. And they are all gone after next year. Wouldn’t you want Derek back senior year?

A under recruited over achieving New Jersey kid who is only a sophomore. Should be a fan favorite. Mind boggling faces so much scorn.

Beat Wiscy!!!

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Tied for best on the team. Sorry about that one tenth of a percentage. I stand corrected. You are correct . Virtually identical on assists to turnover ratio.

Simpson has shot better from threes than JWill this year with Rutgers. Maybe it’s a RAC thing?

Simpson great defensive player.
Gets his fair share of rebounds.
Simpson has a great ball handle.
Simpson leading team in steals, guessing he leads in tipped passes, deflections and disruptions. Know some teams keep that stat.
Simpson leading foul shooter on team.

Call me crazy but thats stuff I could work with and use with a player who is still only a sophomore.
More importantly that’s stuff that can help a team win next year.
And when JWilliams and Ace and Dylan leave after next year, I wouldn’t mind that Senior player coming back rather than a decimated team.
But obviously I’m one of the very few.

J Will has 2 more years of eligibility.

 

[fluoxetine]

In league play only Simpson is now 91 out of 94 in FG% at .305. Griffiths is 93rd at .256. Davis 80, Fernandes 81, and Hyatt 87. It is a team-wide problem. Derek gets a lot of heat on this board for it because he has the 2nd worst FG% in league play on the team, yet has taken the most shots.

He also is much worse in eFG because he shoots mainly twos.

 

[Scangg]

Caleb's eFG% last year was 42% and nearly everyone on the board was demanding he stop shooting... Caleb was DPOY. Many wanted him to sit.... Simpson 34.8%...

 

[fluoxetine]

Caleb's eFG% last year was 42% and nearly everyone on the board was demanding he stop shooting... Caleb was DPOY. Many wanted him to sit.... Simpson 34.8%...

I think my favorite sleight of hand here is that @G- RUnit attributes the loss to 3 point shooting and FT shooting and then says well obviously it's not Simpson's fault.. that man had the good sense to get to the line zero times and jack up worse midrange shots (he was 0 for 4 at the rim and 2 for 6 midrange) instead of threes.

 

[LotusAggressor]

You would think a team with. as many bad shooters as RU has wouldn't take 25 3s. You would also think that a team that plays defense at a high level like RU does would make scoring in transition more of a point of emphasis.

 

[Scangg]

I think my favorite sleight of hand here is that @G- RUnit attributes the loss to 3 point shooting and FT shooting and then says well obviously it's not Simpson's fault.. that man had the good sense to get to the line zero times and jack up worse midrange shots (he was 0 for 4 at the rim and 2 for 6 midrange) instead of threes.

Simpson not taking a 3 or FT is a negative not a positive. It's strange logic to use that as a reason to defend his game

 

[kcg88]

You would think a team with. as many bad shooters as RU has wouldn't take 25 3s. You would also think that a team that plays defense at a high level like RU does would make scoring in transition more of a point of emphasis.

Well the problem is we're also bad at the rim and at the midrange. On two pointers we shoot 44%, so the expected value of a two point shot is 0.88 points. On threes we shoot 29%, making the expected value of a three pointer 0.87. It's basically a wash.

 

[rufeelinit]

Noah got abused by tominaga and didn't shoot well. Not sure why he would be included in that last

I don’t disagree but the bar is not that high and his 7 points were more than 3 starters.

 

[G- RUnit]

I think my favorite sleight of hand here is that @G- RUnit attributes the loss to 3 point shooting and FT shooting and then says well obviously it's not Simpson's fault.. that man had the good sense to get to the line zero times and jack up worse midrange shots (he was 0 for 4 at the rim and 2 for 6 midrange) instead of threes.

Thanks Flux! Proving my point.
Exhibit # 1 of Simpson bashing from Flux:
We were 4-25 from the line. Not one miss from Simpson but it’s Simpson’s fault…. Because he missed mid range shots. None of the shooters who went 4-25 were at fault. It’s all a sleight of hand I tell you!! It’s all Simpsons fault. LMAO.

Exhibit #2. From Flux:
10-19 from line. Barely 50% from the line Also a big factor in loss. The players who missed the foul shots are not responsible. Nothing to see hear, its all a sleight of the hand because surely Simpson is responsible for all the missed fouls shots. It’s all a sleight of hand. LMAO

30 shots not taken by Simpson. All misses!
That’s a sleight of hands. I’m the world’s greatest magician. Thin air!!
If you don’t think 4-25 and 10-19 from the line aren’t the primary reasons for the loss then call me David Copperfield!

Simpson is responsible!!!! It’s all a sleight of hand!

I am no longer g-unit. I’m now known as g-Houdini-unit. Thank you very much! Owe it all to Flux!

All four at the rim and one that should have been called a goal tending basket right? Asking for a friend.

I also made 5 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover in 30 minutes disappear.
I also made helped holding Nebraska well below their scoring average at home on senior day. Re-affirming #4 ranked defense. That all disappeared. Just a sleight of hand.

Poof!!!!!!!!!

 

[fluoxetine]

Thanks Flux! Proving my point.
Exhibit # 1 of Simpson bashing.
We were 4-25 from the line. Not one miss from Simpson buts it’s Simpson’s fault…. Because he missed mid range shots. None of the shooters who went 4-25 were not ant fault. It’s all a sleight of hand I tell you!! LMAO.

Exhibit #2. From Flux
10-19 from line. Barely 50% from the line Also a big factor in loss. The players who missed the foul shots are not responsible. Nothing to see hear, its all a sleight of the hand because surely Simpson is responsible for all the missed fouls shots. It’s all a sleight of hand. LMAO

30 shots not taken by Simpson. All misses!
That’s a sleight of hands. I’m the world’s greatest magician. Thin air!!

Simpson is responsible!!!! It’s all sleight of hand!

I am no longer g-unit. I’m G- houdiniunit!

All four at the rim and one that should have been called a goal tending basket right? Asking for a friend.

I can't even really parse this.

The sleight of hand is here:

We lost this game because we 4-25 from three and 10-19 from the line.

None of those misses were from Simpson!

We were also 3-19 (!) from midrange. 4 of those misses were from Simpson. Simpson was also 0-4 at the rim. Why are those not also reasons that we lost the game?

Why is Simpson not missing or making any FTs a positive for Simpson?

Hyatt and Davis also had terrible games. Davis, in particular, is also a brutally bad shooter with an eFG of 39.7% on the season.. which is still 4.9% higher than Simpson's laughable 34.8%.

It's a ****ing problem dude, and even if Simpson is better than Davis as an overall player today (he is) it doesn't matter. I'm not advocating we bench Simpson on this team. This team is brutally, terribly bad on offense and not in small part because Simpson is the 2nd best we've got at guard. Simpson simply cannot play on a good team with an effective field goal percentage of 34.8%. There is no amount of defense that is going to make up for that. And no, Davis can't either, especially not in a role that requires him to shoot much.

Hyatt comparison is even more irrelevant because (1) Hyatt is gone so he has no future role no matter what, (2) he plays a completely different position, and (3) his efficiency, while bad, is comparably serviceable.

 

[G- RUnit]

Well that narrative is completely busted then

Who do you want shooting then?
Who gets open on their own?
Who else creates their own shot?
Who else hits their shots?
Who is the quick, fastest player on the team?
Who else brings if defensively every game?
Who else hustles as much?
Who leads in steals?
Which guard has most rebounds?
Who is best foul shooter on team?
Who do you want dribbling against pressure and the press?

You seem to have all the answers.
Instead of bashing Simpson and fans, who is your alternative?

 

[fluoxetine]

As I mentioned in a different thread..

the worst eFG% in D1 for a team is 41.0% (Alabama St.)
there are only 13 teams below 45.0% (Rutgers is one of them)

Among the players that have played significant minutes we have three that are below 41%:
Simpson (34.8%, below the worst team by >6%)
Griffiths (38.4%)
Davis (39.7%)

We have two more between 41% and 45%:
Mag (42.7%)
Fernandes (44.4% - despite getting his 3p% up to 37% he is only shooting 36% from 2p)

Above this we have:
Hyatt 46.2% - would be #331 as a team
J. Williams (now we are at our 5th best shooter statistically) 47.5% - would be #292 as a team
A. Williams 50.0% - #208
A. Woolfolk 50.0% - #208
Omoruyi (first one above the D1 average!) 52.3% - #101
Palmquist 55.1% - #25

So yes, our horrendous shooting from the floor is a teamwide problem. But Simpson is a super outlier worst even among this absolute dreck AND he takes a lot of shots.

 

[fluoxetine]

Who do you want shooting then?

Anyone else.

Who gets open on their own?
Who else creates their own shot?

Who cares about being open for midrange shots you aren't going to make?

Who else hits their shots?

Who ELSE? He hits them at the worst rate out of the players on an extremely bad offensive team.

Who is the quick, fastest player on the team?
Who else brings if defensively every game?
Who else hustles as much?
Who leads in steals?

He's good on defense.

Which guard has most rebounds?

Not sure this is Simpson on a per minute basis. Raw volume not really relevant.

Who is best foul shooter on team?
Who do you want dribbling against pressure and the press?

Sure

You seem to have all the answers.
Instead of bashing Simpson and fans, who is your alternative?

On this team? No one. Get Simpson to stop taking SO MANY GODDAMN MIDRANGE shots and otherwise just deal with the fact that he can't put the ball in the damn basket. In the future? Harper / J. Williams / possibly a transfer who can put the ball in the damn basket.

 

[G- RUnit]

I can't even really parse this.

The sleight of hand is here:

We were also 3-19 (!) from midrange. 4 of those misses were from Simpson. Simpson was also 0-4 at the rim. Why are those not also reasons that we lost the game?

Why is Simpson not missing or making any FTs a positive for Simpson?

Hyatt and Davis also had terrible games. Davis, in particular, is also a brutally bad shooter with an eFG of 39.7% on the season.. which is still 4.9% higher than Simpson's laughable 34.8%.

It's a ****ing problem dude, and even if Simpson is better than Davis as an overall player today (he is) it doesn't matter. I'm not advocating we bench Simpson on this team. This team is brutally, terribly bad on offense and not in small part because Simpson is the 2nd best we've got at guard. Simpson simply cannot play on a good team with an effective field goal percentage of 34.8%. There is no amount of defense that is going to make up for that. And no, Davis can't either, especially not in a role that requires him to shoot much.

Hyatt comparison is even more irrelevant because (1) Hyatt is gone so he has no future role no matter what, (2) he plays a completely different position, and (3) his efficiency, while bad, is comparably serviceable.

It’s easy to parse as much as you want to blame Simpson, Cliff had 6 points yesterday and we shot 4-21 from three and 10-19 from the line. Those are the primary reasons why we lost.

Simpson, Davis and Hyatt all had bad games. Even though I too think Gavin had a good game he still shot 3-10.

I don’t recall ever comparing Hyatt to Simpson. Other poster? Hyatt did have a poor game as well.

Yet this board blames a sophomore Simpson. BAC has to bite his tongue about Simpson and indicated how he didnt make any points in transition but nary a peep about another starter going 0-6 and 0-3 from three.

That’s the inherent unfairness of it all.
If you don’t see it.
You can’t fault Simpson because the team not him went 4-25 from three.
You can’t fault Simpson because the team not him went 10-19 from the line

That’s not a sleight of hand nor is it punking.

 

[Scangg]

Thanks Flux! Proving my point.
Exhibit # 1 of Simpson bashing from Flux:
We were 4-25 from the line. Not one miss from Simpson but it’s Simpson’s fault…. Because he missed mid range shots. None of the shooters who went 4-25 were at fault. It’s all a sleight of hand I tell you!! It’s all Simpsons fault. LMAO.

Exhibit #2. From Flux:
10-19 from line. Barely 50% from the line Also a big factor in loss. The players who missed the foul shots are not responsible. Nothing to see hear, its all a sleight of the hand because surely Simpson is responsible for all the missed fouls shots. It’s all a sleight of hand. LMAO

30 shots not taken by Simpson. All misses!
That’s a sleight of hands. I’m the world’s greatest magician. Thin air!!
If you don’t think 4-25 and 10-19 from the line aren’t the primary reasons for the loss then call me David Copperfield!

Simpson is responsible!!!! It’s all a sleight of hand!

I am no longer g-unit. I’m now known as g-Houdini-unit. Thank you very much! Owe it all to Flux!

All four at the rim and one that should have been called a goal tending basket right? Asking for a friend.

I also made 5 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover in 30 minutes disappear.
I also made helped holding Nebraska well below their scoring average at home on senior day. Re-affirming #4 ranked defense. That all disappeared. Just a sleight of hand.

Poof!!!!!!!!!

Exhibit 1. Literally no one blamed Simpson for the team's poor FT shooting last game. No one. No one has been bashing Simpson's FT shooting all season. It has been excellent

Exhibit 2. See response above

Simpson didn't take a 3 all game. That is not what you want to see from a starting guard. This is not a good thing. This is a bad.

It wasn't a goal tend

Simpson’s defense has been excellent. Again no one disputing this. No one. Everyone is praising his defense. Everyone

 

[Scangg]

It’s easy to parse as much as you want to blame Simpson, Cliff had 6 points yesterday and we shot 4-21 from three and 10-19 from the line. Those are the primary reasons why we lost.

Simpson, Davis and Hyatt all had bad games. Even though I too think Gavin had a good game he still shot 3-10.

Yet this board blames Simpson. BAC has to bite his tongue about Simpson and indicated how he didnt make any points in transition but nary a peep about another starter going 0-6 and 0-3 from three.

That’s the unfairness of it all.

How is it unfair to criticize Simpson's shooting when he is the worst shooter in the conference?

It's unfair to NOT criticize it

 

[LotusAggressor]

Well the problem is we're also bad at the rim and at the midrange. On two pointers we shoot 44%, so the expected value of a two point shot is 0.88 points. On threes we shoot 29%, making the expected value of a three pointer 0.87. It's basically a wash.

This is true. The math only works if you make shots.

 

[fluoxetine]

It’s easy to parse as much as you want to blame Simpson, Cliff had 6 points yesterday and we shot 4-21 from three and 10-19 from the line. Those are the primary reasons why we lost.

Simpson, Davis and Hyatt all had bad games. Even though I too think Gavin had a good game he still shot 3-10.

I don’t recall ever comparing Hyatt to Simpson. Other poster? Hyatt did have a poor game as well.

Yet this board blames a sophomore Simpson. BAC has to bite his tongue about Simpson and indicated how he didnt make any points in transition but nary a peep about another starter going 0-6 and 0-3 from three.

That’s the inherent unfairness of it all.
If you don’t see it.
You can’t fault Simpson because the team not him went 4-25 from three.
You can’t fault Simpson because the team not him went 10-19 from the line

That’s not a sleight of hand nor is it punking.

HE HAS AN EFFECTIVE FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE OF 34.8%.

He would be the worst shooter with >40% minutes.. on Mississippi Valley State.. by more than 4 percentage points.