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Griffiths

the problem is his surrounding cast is so bad, people are asking Gavin to bail them team out. Gavin is going to be fine. However Pike has to actually develop an offense around him. Instead a bunch of scurrying guards throwing up bricks with their head down isnt going to develop him at all. You think Gavin wouldnt love to have Paul at point

whose fault is it that Gavin is hanging in the corner...you know the answer
Can I have multiple choice please?
 
I think people are vastly overestimating how active Rutgers will be this offseason.

We need to "push" out 2 returning players just to bring in the 5 freshman (Clif + Oskar? Mag?)
Are we really going into next year with 7 new players? 8?

Is Chol or Ogbole or Woolf getting the talk? Simpson?
Staff not likely to push Davis, J. Williams or Gavin.

You think people complain about continuity now and players not knowing how to play together now, just wait.
 
What are you seeing with Noah that I am not?? Guy is shockingly underwhelming and ordinary. He’s okay, nothing special, but we heard from Pike and media in off season how he was quick and would be the leading scorer and run the offense for this team with his shooting, driving ability and aggressiveness. We have seen very little of this, except a few games. He’s been okay but this team needs far more from him, or if it’s not Noah, then Cliff, or then Hyatt, or then Mag, or then Simpson, or then Gavin, etc.…..they’re all role players. Nothing wrong with that, they’re really good role players and I like them, but that’s why this team is not going to be good enough as we don’t have a go to player on this roster. Let’s work on developing this roster this year, especially the young guys who are returning for 2024-25, an important season for the future of RU basketball.
There is no doubt he has underwhelmed so far. His highs have been very good and then he disappears. Sometimes a point guard feels pressure to get others going and involved. I see a bit of that with Noah. RU needs him to create and be aggressive. They don’t have many others that have his experience. The two things I feared the most going into the season with this team was lack of experience and scorers. Those two things have killed this team.
 
I think people are vastly overestimating how active Rutgers will be this offseason.

We need to "push" out 2 returning players just to bring in the 5 freshman (Clif + Oskar? Mag?)
Are we really going into next year with 7 new players? 8?

Is Chol or Ogbole or Woolf getting the talk? Simpson?
Staff not likely to push Davis, J. Williams or Gavin.

You think people complain about continuity now and players not knowing how to play together now, just wait.
Yes to the bolded.
 
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I think people are vastly overestimating how active Rutgers will be this offseason.

We need to "push" out 2 returning players just to bring in the 5 freshman (Clif + Oskar? Mag?)
Are we really going into next year with 7 new players? 8?

Is Chol or Ogbole or Woolf getting the talk? Simpson?
Staff not likely to push Davis, J. Williams or Gavin.

You think people complain about continuity now and players not knowing how to play together now, just wait.
Seems like we’ll be parting with these 5:
Cliff, Oskar, Aundre, Austin, and Noah

We bring in the 5 freshmen and we keep these 8:
JMike, JWill, Gavin, Mag, Woolf, Ogbole, Simpson, Chol.

If one or more of those 8 go into the portal, then we use the portal to fill our most pressing need.

If we have a chance to get a stud center and/or a stud forward in the portal, then Pike has the talk with Chol and/or Ogbole.
 
I get that he Is a freshman, but how did he get a 4/5*. I don’t see it. Richie was saying a possible 1 and done
what were his other offers?
 
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I get that he Is a freshman, but how did he get a 4/5*. I don’t see it. Richie was saying a possible 1 and done
what were his other offers?

UConn, Michigan, Alabama, Cuse, Maryland, Iowa, Kansas State, and Providence are a few of the schools who offered.

Once Griffiths' shots from beyond the arc (and the FT line) start to drop more consistently, he'll look like a different player.
 
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UConn, Michigan, Alabama, Cuse, Maryland, Iowa, Kansas State, and Providence are a few of the schools who offered.

Once Griffiths' shots from beyond the arc (and the FT line) start to drop more consistently, he'll look like a different player.
No, none of that will change his appearance.
 
Seeing Gavin, I don’t get how it wasn’t a priority to keep Paul. He’s a frosh. Needs a ball distributor to get his game going. We don’t have one. Forget Paul, Caleb and Spencer also averaged more assists last season than anyone on our team and neither of them brought up the ball. What does that tell you?

What we do have (probably the only net positive) is a collection of plus on ball defenders (sans Hyatt who has at least moved closer to servicable in this area). Our best chance to win is a halfcourt game with some pressing mixed in. Our D is very good outside of rebounding. If we could figure that out we could compete despite the offense. But it’s not GG’s fault the offense isn’t good and there is likely no way to fix it this season outside of being able to create more offense off of defense.
 
what I’m seeing with Gavin is progress on the defensive end, and rebounding, and in just playing more aggressively. I will say I thought he would transition to the college game more quickly, and that was obviously overly optimistic. But I see a guy who’s going to be a great player for us.
 
what I’m seeing with Gavin is progress on the defensive end, and rebounding, and in just playing more aggressively. I will say I thought he would transition to the college game more quickly, and that was obviously overly optimistic. But I see a guy who’s going to be a great player for us.
I know I sound like a broken record comparing the kid to Wiescamp (Iowa) but it’s important to have a face for comparison. That’s the type of player Gavin is. Sharp shooter with some ball skills. Wiescamp went on to have a nice pro career. As a frosh, he would not have pretty looking stats on our current roster. Gavin’s skill set, like Wiescamp, lends itself to be a complement that leverages good distribution from others and exploits the attention that is needed to defend an inside post player. They had Garza - so far Cliff isn’t giving us that. It would be really hard for Gavin to stand out with our surrounding cast.
 
I know I sound like a broken record comparing the kid to Wiescamp (Iowa) but it’s important to have a face for comparison. That’s the type of player Gavin is. Sharp shooter with some ball skills. Wiescamp went on to have a nice pro career. As a frosh, he would not have pretty looking stats on our current roster. Gavin’s skill set, like Wiescamp, lends itself to be a complement that leverages good distribution from others and exploits the attention that is needed to defend an inside post player. They had Garza - so far Cliff isn’t giving us that. It would be really hard for Gavin to stand out with our surrounding cast.
Joe Wieskamp had a 122 ORtg as a freshman. Gavin's is currently 89.
 
Noah is inconsistent. He was non existant in first half of game and then fairly solid in 2nd but we have seen this in other games with him.

To me Pike has failed at defining roles and thus we kerp getting this inconsistent olay

Whats frightening to me is Hyatt is now our most consistent and best offensive threat and thats an indictment of Pikes recruiting and roster management that a 6th or 7th man on most big 19 schools is our first...harsh reality
Spot on about Noah. But if your 5th year senior is inconsistent and you’re not winning it’s time to give more minutes to his sophomore replacement (Simpson) to see if he really has what it takes over an extended period of time.
 
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Remember when Jacob Young had his breakout game vs a no name ( Bloomfield College’?) in his first year here around the same time Of the year?

Maybe it’s the optimism in me but I’m hoping Gavin has the same type of game vs Stonehill to give him confidence going forward etc.
 
I want to be kind and respectful with my words because I know we've had disagreements about Simpson over the summer. I'm assuming you're related some how so I'll say I agree with you guys that developing promising players should be the priority.
Related? LOL
 
December of freshman year--when he already has a 20pt game--he's proclaimed a failure "so far"

Where's the minimum qualification test to post when we need it
If GG stays for four years he'll be a top 15 RU player of all time.
 
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I am not the Bill Walsh of offensive college basketball. We have a great and easy play where the 5 screens down and creates a nice shot off a screen or if guarded a pick and roll opportunity with Cliff. We have run in a handful of times. I am not sure why we dont run it at least a few times per half.
THAT. ^^^^^^

Work on Cliff using his speed to be a threat that demands help and makes for open 3 balls for others. But OP is right.. Grifgiths should never shy from taking threes.. even when he thinks he is off.. shooters gotta shoot.
 
If you were Gavin and Gavin's father and your goals were to have Gavin a career as a professional basketball player I would hope and expect to do what is best for yourself/kid.

If Gavin left to a different program that....
A. paid him a lot more money
B. showcased his talents more
C. was tailored more to what the NBA is like

How could you fault the player for moving. Steve Pikiell makes $4,000,000 year. Having a player chase an extra $250,000 is certainly not selfish in my eyes. This is a business.
I agree with this concept but I think the Griffiths camp knows that Griffiths surrounded by Harper and Ace will be a very good situation for him to thrive
 
There is only 1 basketball and Harper isnt a true PG.

The thing I am most interested in is what happens on March X when our season is over. Assuming things dont change a lot in terms of Gavins role is he taking responsibility for things. Is he on Day 1 of the offseason dedicating himself to S&C and finding a way to improve lateral quickness.
 
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If you were Gavin and Gavin's father and your goals were to have Gavin a career as a professional basketball player I would hope and expect to do what is best for yourself/kid.

If Gavin left to a different program that....
A. paid him a lot more money
B. showcased his talents more
C. was tailored more to what the NBA is like

How could you fault the player for moving. Steve Pikiell makes $4,000,000 year. Having a player chase an extra $250,000 is certainly not selfish in my eyes. This is a business.
D. has guards who will pass him the ball.
 
I know I sound like a broken record comparing the kid to Wiescamp (Iowa) but it’s important to have a face for comparison. That’s the type of player Gavin is. Sharp shooter with some ball skills. Wiescamp went on to have a nice pro career. As a frosh, he would not have pretty looking stats on our current roster. Gavin’s skill set, like Wiescamp, lends itself to be a complement that leverages good distribution from others and exploits the attention that is needed to defend an inside post player. They had Garza - so far Cliff isn’t giving us that. It would be really hard for Gavin to stand out with our surrounding cast.
Next year Gavin lights it up and probably averages as many ppg as Ace.
 
Good time to revisit this thread. I'm glad GG has been getting a lot more PT including some extended run at a time when the games count. I think with this additional time to watch him a few themes are emerging:

1. He's a good shooter despite his slumps, and with a good facilitator to find him on the perimeter he will be a weapon with his quick high release. But he needs the facilitator.
2. His hoops IQ....is that of a freshman. Not good, but improving dramatically each game. Especially on D.
3. His D has been improving. He's no longer a major liability. Help D better than 1v1 on the perimeter.
4. His rebounding and scrapping for loose balls has gone from nothing to OK. He's more confident and aggressive. Nice trajectory.
5. While it's been good to see him being aggressive on O last few games, he needs a lot of work. In particular he needs to work with his team and not go 1 v 5.

Overall about what you expect from a talented freshman. The trajectory looks good though to me.
 
Here are all the Percent of Minutes Played and Offensive Ratings for prospects #40-#49 (from the 247 Composite ranking). See if you can pick out Gavin's!

76.8 - 122.7
87.9 - 111.1
15.9 - 115.4
68.0 - 131.2
42.4 - 80.6
44.3 - 107.4
DNP - Injury
65.7 - 105.7
27.0 - 92.0
17.1 - 104.3
35.6 - 100.8
 
To be fair I was actually uncertain between the 42.4% / 80.6 and the 27.0% / 92.0 but sadly it is the former.

92.0 is better than Mag, A. Williams, Davis, and Griffiths lmao.
 
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Good time to revisit this thread. I'm glad GG has been getting a lot more PT including some extended run at a time when the games count. I think with this additional time to watch him a few themes are emerging:

1. He's a good shooter despite his slumps, and with a good facilitator to find him on the perimeter he will be a weapon with his quick high release. But he needs the facilitator.
2. His hoops IQ....is that of a freshman. Not good, but improving dramatically each game. Especially on D.
3. His D has been improving. He's no longer a major liability. Help D better than 1v1 on the perimeter.
4. His rebounding and scrapping for loose balls has gone from nothing to OK. He's more confident and aggressive. Nice trajectory.
5. While it's been good to see him being aggressive on O last few games, he needs a lot of work. In particular he needs to work with his team and not go 1 v 5.

Overall about what you expect from a talented freshman. The trajectory looks good though to me.
1. He may be, but nothing from what we have seen recently on the court tells you that
3. His D is still at an unacceptble level
4. he has 2 DREB in his last 3 games. Pushing people isn't scrapping for loose balls

I didn't see ANYONE expecting Gavin to be this. No ONE. Trajectory? You are trying to see things, but we aren't seeing them.

I have not given up on Gavin, but nothing in the past 2-3 games has moved the needle at all.

Since Gavin is doing what we would expect from a talented freshman....What are we expecting from Dylan and Ace?
 
1. He may be, but nothing from what we have seen recently on the court tells you that
3. His D is still at an unacceptble level
4. he has 2 DREB in his last 3 games. Pushing people isn't scrapping for loose balls

I didn't see ANYONE expecting Gavin to be this. No ONE. Trajectory? You are trying to see things, but we aren't seeing them.

I have not given up on Gavin, but nothing in the past 2-3 games has moved the needle at all.

Since Gavin is doing what we would expect from a talented freshman....What are we expecting from Dylan and Ace?
His “build” and lateral movement are that of a skinny power forward. Once he gets his young dad bod and is able to play through contact he’ll be more than just a corner three threat and he’ll be able to guard better as long as he isn’t guarding small forwards.
 
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I didn't see ANYONE expecting Gavin to be this. No ONE. Trajectory? You are trying to see things, but we aren't seeing them.

This is the funniest (saddest?) part of this as you correctly point out.
The HS basketball experts on the board were so certain about Gavin's immediate offensive impact.
Top 2 or 3 scorer as a frosh, Big Ten All-Freshman Team contender, "ready for prime time"
Predicting he'd be a starter by January (or earlier after Cam transferred)

I never watch HS recruits or highlights or any of that junk.
It's mostly all meaningless until they play in college.

Now - are Dylan and Ace a different level of prospect? Definitely. But it's not like people said "Gavin has a chance to blah blah blah". The expectations were pretty authoritive.
 
Absurd comment
From a factual standpoint
3rd on team in points per minute
Best FG percentage of any of the top 8 that are not playing center
From a subjective point of view
His defense is improving every game
He has the ability to get his shot at any time
He is the most complete offensive player on the team and by the end of the year the statistics will support that
He will finish the year shooting over 35% from 3 and will lead us in scoring over the last ten games of the year
Baloney!
 
Honestly, as much as I want the kid to live up to his billing, so far he really hasn't impressed. With few exceptions, he hasn't demonstrated good moves, ball handle or even a decent shot. Overall he has lacked aggressiveness and physicality. He does seem to be a hard worker and will eventually make the adjustment to the speed of the college game and improve.
 
This is the funniest (saddest?) part of this as you correctly point out.
The HS basketball experts on the board were so certain about Gavin's immediate offensive impact.
Top 2 or 3 scorer as a frosh, Big Ten All-Freshman Team contender, "ready for prime time"
Predicting he'd be a starter by January (or earlier after Cam transferred)

I never watch HS recruits or highlights or any of that junk.
It's mostly all meaningless until they play in college.

Now - are Dylan and Ace a different level of prospect? Definitely. But it's not like people said "Gavin has a chance to blah blah blah". The expectations were pretty authoritive.
We should both stay out of recruiting.... I posted a few years ago and i think it holds now. There is no RUtgers correlation between ranking of a recruit and success on the court.

Cliff is definitely an exception.
 
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Anyone saying they’re “encouraged” by Gavin’s performance to date is lying to themselves or straight up delusional

Now, should he be written off? By no means. But expecting him to live up to the billing of his ranking at this point seems a bit unlikely, although not impossible. Dylan and Ace could certainly open things up for him, but he has to make a leap in so many different facets to live up to any NBA billing. Strength, 3pt %, shot selection, ball handling, defense, etc. There’s not a single thing he excels at right now
 
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Honestly, as much as I want the kid to live up to his billing, so far he really hasn't impressed. With few exceptions, he hasn't demonstrated good moves, ball handle or even a decent shot. Overall he has lacked aggressiveness and physicality. He does seem to be a hard worker and will eventually make the adjustment to the speed of the college game and improve.
If he was a hard worker he would have come here with muscle. He would have worked on lateral quickness. He came to games as a senior in HS and sat behind the bench, he had to know what it takes to play for Rutgers on defense. He did nothing to prepare himself on defense.
 
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