Grad Transfer Ehab Amin visiting tomorrow

[Greene Rice FIG]

It's a no downside item....he comes to RU and plays well, great, we have more depth and buys time for the younger guards....if he doesn't , we play the younger guards and they learn on the job quicker, which helps 2019-2020 in experience and talent.

There's no downside to this IMO....even if he's not 100% today, he's going to be an asset to someone's program this year, might as well be RU...

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more with the premise there is no downside. On the flip side I think there is a decent amount of risk here. Again, I have to trust Pikiell here.

1. If he only helps marginally on a 13-18 team why not allocate minutes to our younger players
2. What if he only ends up being a 10 MPG and doesn't accept his role
3. What if he is talented but develops the Freeman senioritis and doesn't share the ball enough in the 2nd half of the season

You have to ask yourself why in the world would he pick Rutgers for 1 year when we are in a rebuild?

If Pikiell thinks he is a great kid and can help us more than a little than go for it. He may be a type of player that can play in a 4 guard/wing lineup and guard a bigger guy?

 

[bowlgoal]

It's a no downside item....he comes to RU and plays well, great, we have more depth and buys time for the younger guards....if he doesn't , we play the younger guards and they learn on the job quicker, which helps 2019-2020 in experience and talent.

There's no downside to this IMO....even if he's not 100% today, he's going to be an asset to someone's program this year, might as well be RU...

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more with the premise there is no downside. On the flip side I think there is a decent amount of risk here. Again, I have to trust Pikiell here.

1. If he only helps marginally on a 13-18 team why not allocate minutes to our younger players
2. What if he only ends up being a 10 MPG and doesn't accept his role
3. What if he is talented but develops the Freeman senioritis and doesn't share the ball enough in the 2nd half of the season

You have to ask yourself why in the world would he pick Rutgers for 1 year when we are in a rebuild?

If Pikiell thinks he is a great kid and can help us more than a little than go for it. He may be a type of player that can play in a 4 guard/wing lineup and guard a bigger guy?

Greene, I’m not sure I understand your post? We are in a rebuild but it doesn’t mean we can’t win a lot of games this year if we have enough scoring and the new guys can play the kind of defense needed in the Big 10. Here’s a kid who has experience in college and has produced albeit at a bit of a lower level conference. We don’t know how long it’s going to take for our freshman to play at this level and who is going to score? Pikiell will throw the kitchen sink out there until he finds the right mix. We know what we’ve got in Geo, Eugene and a few others but you’re assuming that Mathis, Mcconell and Harper are all ready to do it and this kid will take their minutes?

I think there’s more risk in not having another ball handler who can shoot than having one. And if we don’t get him and play 12 scholarship kids it’s not the end of the world but I would rather have him. Just my opinion though. One year to help us and help our guards get better can’t be all that terrible?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Greene, I’m not sure I understand your post? We are in a rebuild but it doesn’t mean we can’t win a lot of games this year if we have enough scoring and the new guys can play the kind of defense needed in the Big 10. Here’s a kid who has experience in college and has produced albeit at a bit of a lower level conference. We don’t know how long it’s going to take for our freshman to play at this level and who is going to score? Pikiell will throw the kitchen sink out there until he finds the right mix. We know what we’ve got in Geo, Eugene and a few others but you’re assuming that Mathis, Mcconell and Harper are all ready to do it and this kid will take their minutes?

I think there’s more risk in not having another ball handler who can shoot than having one. And if we don’t get him and play 12 scholarship kids it’s not the end of the world but I would rather have him. Just my opinion though. One year to help us and help our guards get better can’t be all that terrible?

I think Geo Baker will be a better player this year because he was fed minutes last year. If we had 2 or 3 of this kid last year as grad transfers we could have won 2-3 more games, but Geo might have only played 10 MPG or so. 2019-20 is the year I am focused on.

The character of the grad transfer factors in enormously if I had to decide.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Greene i agree to an extent....I'm 100% sold on Mathis McConnell and Kiss being good pieces....the question is if one of those 3 miss time with an ankle or injury for a couple of weeks during the season, there's no backup plan.

I agree 19-20 is more critical to me vs 18-19 but what is the lineup like on the court for the 12-13 minutes where Baker isn't on the court??

There's a short attention span of fans and 95% of them aren't here on this board...and half on this board are going to be life and death with 2018-19, without any conscious or perspective on program building.

I would prefer to see more McConnell but am aware that kids need to be challenged while playing....Amin would be playing a schedule of 20+ B1G games, Miami, Hall etc....he can get the same challenge at BC, Oregon but can he crack 20 minutes a game elsewhere??

As Bakers compiment, he's assured 12 to 18 minuted here as a worse case scenario. That doesn't sound like much until you measure what RUs efficiency will look like with Baker on the court and without this year. It may be fine without Amin coming here, Amin is insurance and potentially a bridge to play more 3 guards.

I prefer to see Kiss at the 3 as a comer 3 shooter and Mathis McConnell and Baker all mixed in at guard. You are 1 Mike Williams like rebounder away from being strong defensively and 1 high ankle sprain from finishing 3-17 in the B1G regular season as well.

 

[kcg88]

You have to ask yourself why in the world would he pick Rutgers for 1 year when we are in a rebuild

Same reason Gettys did, to help out his pro prospects.

 

[AshCatchEm]

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more with the premise there is no downside. On the flip side I think there is a decent amount of risk here. Again, I have to trust Pikiell here.

1. If he only helps marginally on a 13-18 team why not allocate minutes to our younger players
2. What if he only ends up being a 10 MPG and doesn't accept his role
3. What if he is talented but develops the Freeman senioritis and doesn't share the ball enough in the 2nd half of the season

You have to ask yourself why in the world would he pick Rutgers for 1 year when we are in a rebuild?

If Pikiell thinks he is a great kid and can help us more than a little than go for it. He may be a type of player that can play in a 4 guard/wing lineup and guard a bigger guy?

Doesn't accept his role..what is he gonna do, walk out on the court when we have 5 guys already playing?

If he doesn't share the ball you sit him. Very simple.

As for the younger players, there's an argument to be made that taking pressure off them their frosh year may lead to less mistakes and better their development. If they get starter minutes and play poorly it may hurt confidence.

So why would he pick ru? Starter minutes with Sanders leaving..plain and simple.

If any of these things happen, we can just sit him..there is no risk but there is definitely downside in going into the season with an open ship we could've used vs taking someone who is capable of starting if need be. What if Mathis and McConnell both go down in workouts? What if Baker does?

 

[dkostus]

Saying "just sit him" is well and good, but then you could have a bad locker-room presence that messes up chemistry. He might be the type of kid that would never do that, and we have to let Pikiell figure that out... Souf was apparently a great teammate despite getting only 6/mpg. But we don't want another Souf and this kid is clearly looking for real minutes somewhere.

Of course, if Pikiell thinks he finally has "his guys" and wants to play high intensity, more pressing, etc. then there may be enough minutes to go around because everyone's going to be gassed and you extend the rotation.

Admittedly, I'm excited to see what McConnell can do on the floor as a PG when Geo sits, so I don't know about adding more to the backcourt. But 1 injury and then we'd be wishing we had more depth

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I think the big issue is what kind of lineup does Pikiell want to put on the floor and how capable/skilled are his bigs.

If he is looking to theoretically allocate 140-150 minutes to non bigs AND we assume 1 of these guards/wings will get hurt OR aren't ready then we need an extra body. Is there a returning player on the roster that got major minutes that he deems a possible upgrade is needed?

Baker
McConnell
Mathis
Kiss
Harper
Issa

Core 1 30 min
Core 2 30 min
3rd guy 25 min
4th guy 25 min
5th guy 10 min
6th guy 0 min

120 minutes

If we go 20-30 minutes with 1 of these guys at a 4??????

If we feel he is a huge upgrade from a ball handler......

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Now Souf ended up being the no downside guy. wasnt good enough to play, but was a practice player and was a good guy on the bench.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

thats a good question...how much, if at all, will staff be able to watch him play post injury?

 

[Mr Magoo]

Saying "just sit him" is well and good, but then you could have a bad locker-room presence that messes up chemistry. He might be the type of kid that would never do that, and we have to let Pikiell figure that out... Souf was apparently a great teammate despite getting only 6/mpg. But we don't want another Souf and this kid is clearly looking for real minutes somewhere.

Of course, if Pikiell thinks he finally has "his guys" and wants to play high intensity, more pressing, etc. then there may be enough minutes to go around because everyone's going to be gassed and you extend the rotation.

Admittedly, I'm excited to see what McConnell can do on the floor as a PG when Geo sits, so I don't know about adding more to the backcourt. But 1 injury and then we'd be wishing we had more depth

It's more than just a depth issue. It's an awful lot to expect a lot out of McConnell as a true freshman backup PG. Add in the fact that Baker is not a true PG either, and we could have a significant step back record-wise...not really what you want when the program is trying to gain momentum. A 10-12 win season gives the impression we're the same old Rutgers just treading water. We need another legit guard this season - He can certainly be a backup and is hopefully a grad transfer who can either handle or shoot, or a little of both.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

It might also be a lot to ask of a player who missed a full year, who doesn't appear to ever be a full blown PG, and who has played at a low level conference.

Can he handle it better than McConnell or Baker?

 

[batts]

I'm pretty sure that Amin is going to want a guarantee of a certain amount of playing time next year from the school he commits to.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I'm pretty sure that Amin is going to want a guarantee of a certain amount of playing time next year from the school he commits to.

That would be a deal breaker for most schools. Especially for a player who missed a year because of injury.

 

[batts]

That would be a deal breaker for most schools. Especially for a player who missed a year because of injury.

I agree. It should be a deal breaker for most schools.

 

[dkostus]

If what you're looking for is 10-15 minutes a game as a backup PG, then maybe the Iona kid, Shadrac Casimir, would be a better fit? He's short, but for 10 minutes a game as a ball handler/shooter he's unlikely to get abused too badly defensively, and games where that's an issue you rely on McConnell as the backup. Seems like a better option to me.

 

[Mr Magoo]

If what you're looking for is 10-15 minutes a game as a backup PG, then maybe the Iona kid, Shadrac Casimir, would be a better fit? He's short, but for 10 minutes a game as a ball handler/shooter he's unlikely to get abused too badly defensively, and games where that's an issue you rely on McConnell as the backup. Seems like a better option to me.

I like this option too.

 

[Westcoast]

I like the fact that he didn't miss a single shot. Of course, now we don't know if he also flexes after misses too.

Lol, classic.

 

[Scangg]

Saying "just sit him" is well and good, but then you could have a bad locker-room presence that messes up chemistry. He might be the type of kid that would never do that, and we have to let Pikiell figure that out... Souf was apparently a great teammate despite getting only 6/mpg. But we don't want another Souf and this kid is clearly looking for real minutes somewhere.

Of course, if Pikiell thinks he finally has "his guys" and wants to play high intensity, more pressing, etc. then there may be enough minutes to go around because everyone's going to be gassed and you extend the rotation.

Admittedly, I'm excited to see what McConnell can do on the floor as a PG when Geo sits, so I don't know about adding more to the backcourt. But 1 injury and then we'd be wishing we had more depth

It's more than just a depth issue. It's an awful lot to expect a lot out of McConnell as a true freshman backup PG. Add in the fact that Baker is not a true PG either, and we could have a significant step back record-wise...not really what you want when the program is trying to gain momentum. A 10-12 win season gives the impression we're the same old Rutgers just treading water. We need another legit guard this season - He can certainly be a backup and is hopefully a grad transfer who can either handle or shoot, or a little of both.

Asking a freshman to be a backup doesn't sound like a lot to ask to me. That's the minimim besides the redshirt truthers