They both slightly improved. The problem is others not living up to expectations
Griffiths
- Thread starter zmon61
- Start date
It seems unlikely he will return if he can't beat out Oskar for minutes at the 5
You can certainly “hope”. We all do. What I meant is the data from his performance to date simply isn’t there to “expect” what you suggested (it’s certainly possible for any player to put in the work and make improvements - but we don’t consider that the default expectation do we?). We hope it happens. Two different things.
He is shooting 31% from the field on a good amount of volume and while he’s improved from where his defense was to start this season, he’s miles and miles from being a plus defender right now (I.e. the type of player that you rationalize compromising offense for defense). He’s not that. Nobody could argue otherwise at least on that point so to elevate his game to be able to be a key player next year he would have to improve his offensive efficiency by a massive amount. We’re shooting 39.6% unadjusted as a team and we have one of the worst offenses in the country.
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peyton Sanfort who is very good scored 5 points a game his freshman season at Iowa. Saying Gavin would go there and get 10 a game this season is kinda comical with all due respect to nuts. He probably wouldn’t be getting any pt to start with. People underestimate how good iowas players are.
We are taking guesses here……
I am playing with nuts on this one
I know (or at least i think i know) the ability is there. This is just a terrible fit for a freshman. Especially one who inexplicably was never taught how to play man defense.
I am playing with nuts on this one
I know (or at least i think i know) the ability is there. This is just a terrible fit for a freshman. Especially one who inexplicably was never taught how to play man defense.
Gavin is a freshman and some fans thought he would lead the team in scoring while shooting consistently in the 40 percent range. He is slight and gets pushed around and will benefit from 7 months of agility and weight training. He has a high hoops IQ and will complement Sommerville, Bailey and Harper next year. His defense has vastly improved since the start of the season. Next year should see an increase in his offense as well as his rebounding. Several times recently he has been unsure whether to try and rebound a ball or fall back, this will also change next year. If you are a jump shooter, you just don’t forget how to shoot. Hopefully you will see a different person next year that is more comfortable with this league.
Sandfort shot 36% on threes and 51% on twos as a freshman. Gavin is at 26% and 38%.
We'll see next year if playing beside NBA players (the Murrays, Ace and Dylan) makes that big of a difference. I suspect that it does not.
Fans, me included, were too high on Gavin as freshman clearly. Even the worst case predictions weren't this bad
That said, Dylan and Ace are at a different level. They are the #2 and #3 players in the class who play against better competition and are more physically ready to compete
They have also both been in the spotlight for years so should be used to the pressure
I actually think he’s gonna be a really good player for us but the idea that he would score 10 a game for Iowa as a freshman I just had to call out as utter nonsense.
Agree with everything you said. Dylan and ace are on a much higher level than Gavin coming in . They WILL contribute in a big way.
However people on here are doing the same thing - ie have much too high expectations
People think with those two players (and Somerville) that that means a deep run in the tourney (some even mention final 4/ championship). It’s absurd.
Teams like unc/ Duke/ Kentucky/ Kansas gets classes like this literally EVERY year (not just one year) and they commonly fall short.
Those expectations are Rutgers fans (understandably) not understanding what it takes - one super great class doesn’t guarantee anything.
What should we expect?-
we should expect to see talent like we haven’t seen on the banks … ever/ a long time ? Which will be fun. The RAC is gonna ROCK!!!
But we should expect inconsistency at times (as talented as they are they will be frosh).
And we should HOPE for an NCAA bid (and with that kind of talent …who knows?)
Thought he played much better tonight. Still was 3-10 from the field.
This was the best defensive game of Gavin’s career. By far.
He played hard and had some nice defensive moments tonight. Shot still was off some, but this was an improvement.
Ceiling will depend on who surrounds these freshman. It's all TBD until we see what the final roster looks like. We need quality veterans around them
A lot of those were deep threes. Shot selection might be his biggest issue, but feels like he’s overlooked in the offense at times. Curious how he looks with more talent next year.
Two blocks was super sick though
That was one of his best games this season. Arguably his best all around game as a freshman. Nice effort out of him, hope to see it the rest of the season so he can build on it.
Maybe stop shooting from 23 feet. Played well. Drive to basket was great.
Season lost - Gavin flashed a lot of goodness in today's game.
Let the freshman play a lot rest of the year to get ready for next year. He needs to get his confidence up. He won't get it by sitting down.
Let the freshman play a lot rest of the year to get ready for next year. He needs to get his confidence up. He won't get it by sitting down.
Nice game by Gavin! My only complaint was that he took a couple of ill advised shots. A big plus: I noticed a significant improvement in his defense, and it wasn't just the 2 blocks.
I think he's settling in and can't wait to see what he does in his next 3 years here.
I think he's settling in and can't wait to see what he does in his next 3 years here.
I feel too many have ripped Gavin way too much. He had a lot of pressure on him all season. I think he was more aggressive tonight and played with confidence. We only had two team blocks tonight and Gavin had both of them. He looked confident tonight and even made a tough drive to score. I hope he can get stronger in the off season and that he can do a lot better next season and become one of our best players for RU next season. I am a believer in Gavin and am looking forward to a good finish this season and a much better year next year. GO RU. condient
The criticism of Gavin was completely fair if you're being unbiased about what he did on the court this season
Recent play has been better and better. Tonight was very encouraging. Next season hopefully major jump
Offensively and defensively most of the season he was bad. No way around it
Iowa runs real offense. The offense generates open looks. Ours does not. One can’t compare their shooting %s with ours.
Sandfort wouldn’t be any better than GG here, and vice versa. GG signed with the worst school/roster for his skill set and next year will be no different.
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Agree and he needs to start over Hyatt the next 2 games. Hyatt is done as far as I am concerned.
Gavin’s D was the biggest bright spot. Great for his confidence to see a few shots go down, but everyone should probably temper expectations on what that means. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’ve seen it dozens of times with my boys having big scoring games thinking they’ve turned some kind of corner and then they go out the next game and look completely different shooting the ball. Offensive success is a lot less linear than progress on D. Take Oskar’s lights out game as an example.
Development on D tends to be more progressive and Gavin showed major growth in yesterday’s game in many facets. The few times he got beat he even looked impressive in recovery. I didn’t see this from him in other games - I mostly saw a lost duck whose progress entailed finally starting to hold onto rebounds that came right to him. Last night was different - seemed like he could’ve turned a corner. Let’s see.
Development on D tends to be more progressive and Gavin showed major growth in yesterday’s game in many facets. The few times he got beat he even looked impressive in recovery. I didn’t see this from him in other games - I mostly saw a lost duck whose progress entailed finally starting to hold onto rebounds that came right to him. Last night was different - seemed like he could’ve turned a corner. Let’s see.
I didn’t watch the Maryland game - full disclosure there. Prior to that - the progress I saw on D was mostly things you could point to where he performed “less terrible” than earlier in the season. I know that constitutes ripping on him so I may get attacked for saying that but I tell it like I see it. In my view, he performed as a plus defender for the first time all season last night. It seemed like something could have clicked. Curious what Green’s wife thought…
Griffiths had a pretty good game against Nebraska. 10pts, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks. And in his last 4 games he's shown some growth. His averages over this stretch:
Mins: 20
Points: 6
Rebounds: 4.5
Blocks: 1
FG%: .33
3ptFG%: .38
FT: 4-4
His D has been up and down, but was better against Nebraska. Little by little it seems the game is slowing down. And he's learning how to scrap better.
Mins: 20
Points: 6
Rebounds: 4.5
Blocks: 1
FG%: .33
3ptFG%: .38
FT: 4-4
His D has been up and down, but was better against Nebraska. Little by little it seems the game is slowing down. And he's learning how to scrap better.
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It wasn’t just “better”. His D was borderline excellent in the game. He was a plus defender for sure in the Nebraska game.
His shooting is really besides the point for this season and making a few shots in one or two games doesn’t change that. Some of it likely confidence but also game speed adjustment - how much is TBD. He has a whole offseason to work on it and hopefully improve. Not a guarantee and shouldnt be “assumed” - we won’t know until next year.
But the game he had on D yesterday is very encouraging. Really seemed like he turned the page in terms of general IQ. Let’s see if he can build on it next game.
Also - I’ll add that sometimes when kids figure things out on D it sparks confidence that propels them on the other end. Something to hope for to close out this season with Gavin.
The good news is there is really no pressure at this point. Whatever happens in the next 2 games - flip the page and get a fresh start for the BIG tourney. Give it our best shot and let the chips fall. Saw good chemistry with J Will and Gavin yesterday.
The good news is there is really no pressure at this point. Whatever happens in the next 2 games - flip the page and get a fresh start for the BIG tourney. Give it our best shot and let the chips fall. Saw good chemistry with J Will and Gavin yesterday.
