Hard to envision cam not being a top two scorer at RU this coming year. But for the sake of this discussion let’s say he would have slipped to 3rd. If that was going to bother him, he wouldn’t go to a place like Uconn.
Ithiel Horton in the portal
- Thread starter jerzeyguy
- Start date
Cam and Paul are not losses, it's June, not November.... let the rest of the offseason play out and let Davis, Gavin, Simpson and Ogbole all step forward to add the versatility we sorely lacked with Cam and Paul.......the roster last year had one path of winning......take the air out of the ball and keep the score in the high 50s or low 60s.....that's no path towards improving as a team, by keeping both players and giving them 30 minutes a piece.
Once we add in the flashes of development by Woolfolk in the B1G tournament and this roster will be far better off with Fernandes running the show. We'll add a couple of pieces, just let it play out, the staff knows what's needed to get back to the NCAAs.
Once we add in the flashes of development by Woolfolk in the B1G tournament and this roster will be far better off with Fernandes running the show. We'll add a couple of pieces, just let it play out, the staff knows what's needed to get back to the NCAAs.
Seems likely it was one of two things. Cam was insulted when he found out what we’re giving Noah (no idea what that amount is). Or he knew all along he wanted to play somewhere else and played us as a fall back safety option. Either way - he didn’t want to be here.
We have no idea how Fernandes will look transitioning up. We’re relying on these frosh and sophomores you listed to lead us, not to step up as complementary players. That’s the problem - at least 2 of them will be starting along with a player returning from major injury and our step up transfer. Cliff is the only one barring an injury where we know what we’re getting.
Or he was tampered with and heard numbers swirling around and went for the money
Cam wasn’t going to score less this year with more open shots.
It’s a big stretch to think that both Noah and Gavin will score 14+ppg this year even without Cam. Inconceivable to think we were going to have 4 guys score 14+ ppg.
Okay, that's funny, lol
Seriously, though, if there were a grad transfer in the portal who was 6-7/213, was an 8.3 pts/3.6 rb/4.9 ast guy on a power conference team, averaged 1.5 stl/g, and shot a career .364 from the arc.... we'd be all over him right now.
The way the lineup is set up right now, when Griffiths leaves the floor we have 6-3/170 Simpson guarding 6-8/210 wings.... or we play with Mag/Hyatt together.
The more I look at it, the more it feels like Mag would probably be backing up Griffiths on the wing, and Hyatt would get the bulk of the minutes at the four. Putting Simpson/Davis out there to guard B1G wings is a recipe for getting bullied.
And even then, we're paper thin. Any injury, or early foul trouble, and we will start having some really unfavorable matchups.
Need to get some guard size in the portal - really hoping there are still grad guys out there who are yet to enter their names.
As long as Mag is healthy, I see us applying a lot more full court press. Size matters less with full court pressure and we could get away with 3 smaller guards with Mag and Cliff or Wolf.
At least 2 more players will be added. We are not going into the season with only 10. We just need to wait and see who Pikiell all and staff add. Any conversation regarding lineups, rotation and position backups are premature because the final roster is not set.
It’s time to hit the panic button. We don’t have NIL money for 2023 so even if someone better comes into the portal, we can’t afford them. So you’re left with what you can afford which will be players of the Reiber, Palm, Jalen caliber. It’s almost Fourth of July, every day these players aren’t with this team they’re losing chemistry. Last year Cam was on campus already and it still took him the beginning part of the schedule in NOV/DEC to fit. We lost a big chunk of our rotational players. Add to that a change in playing style that most are discussing and they’ll be even less cohesiveness. What we have is what we can count on: Cliff, Aundre, Wolf, Gavin, Derek and Noah. 33% of those rotational players are new. Half are underclassmen. When Mawot is fully healthy that will help but this is still a scary thin roster. Buckle up.
You can claim that it's time to hit the panic button to be dramatic. Me, I prefer to wait until the roster is finalized.
Not being dramatic, being a realist. It’s very fair that you want to wait to see who the last two players are, but please (not being sarcastic) where do you see help coming from being that we can’t afford any names that might enter the portal late looking for a payday.
I don't have the answer. That's the staffs job. But, I can guarantee we are not going to have only 10. I can wait until it happens. But, that's just me.
I think the staff got caught a little flat-footed by the late departures of both Spencer and Mulcahy.
When the portal was at its hottest, there was no need to be pursuing more guards after we got Fernandes. The question was whether we'd have enough minutes if Mulcahy decided to come back.
Once it became apparent that Spencer was leaving suddenly, the portal cupboard was largely bare... and then Mulcahy also chose not to return, to exacerbate the issue.
Pike and the staff now have to pivot, but their options are very very limited. I think we'd be in much better shape right now if Spencer had made his intentions clear earlier.
When the portal was at its hottest, there was no need to be pursuing more guards after we got Fernandes. The question was whether we'd have enough minutes if Mulcahy decided to come back.
Once it became apparent that Spencer was leaving suddenly, the portal cupboard was largely bare... and then Mulcahy also chose not to return, to exacerbate the issue.
Pike and the staff now have to pivot, but their options are very very limited. I think we'd be in much better shape right now if Spencer had made his intentions clear earlier.
What IF Antonio Chol can give us 10 good minutes/game. That sure would solve a lot of problems.
He's 6'9 and seems like a hybrid SF/PF option.
He's 6'9 and seems like a hybrid SF/PF option.
Sure but what if Davis isn’t ready to compete vs. BIG competition quite yet? What if Noah or Simpson get hurt? Forget being undersized at 1-2, we basically have 3 guys available at the moment to share those 2 spots. It’s scary.
We're lucky that we got Fernandes when we did as he would have probably gotten bigger money offers in the portal after we lost our other guards. The bottom line is that we will not be having many seniors/grad transfer level kids anymore without a big upgrade in NIL donations.
Like a poster said above, we will get 2 more players.
I would expect them to be Jalen Miller/Oskar level players but hopefully for 1 year. We need the depth.
I would expect them to be Jalen Miller/Oskar level players but hopefully for 1 year. We need the depth.
I think Chol is the least of our worries right now. Until and unless we get a bigger guard, we are relaying on a very small PG who has only played A10 schedules and another small guard in Simpson who has shown promise but is not a good shooter. Additonally, some of Simpson’s value was the fact that he supplemented the missing talents of our slower, stronger guards (Cam, Paul, and even Caleb). We no longer have that balance, nor do we have a defensive stopper. I realize there is some time but the window is closing and Cam, Paul, and Caleb must be replaced by minimally one more player or this team will has a very good shot at a bottom 4 finish in the league and our guards will get chewed up during 20 B1G games.
Cam scored 13.2/game last season, 12.2 in the Big Ten - it's quite conceivable that he would have scored fewer points. Playing with Fernandes/Simpson and Griffiths was going to be quite different than playing with Paul and Caleb.
Is it odd that he ended up at Uconn if that was his priority in leaving? Very odd but who knows how convoluted his decision making became - maybe he left for certain reasons, then it became about the highest bidder?
I am starting to think a few here really think we will enter the season with 10 players..lol.
Again, we just need to wait. I am as impatient as the next guy but man, we have guys saying "hit the panic button", "scary". Like the season starts tomorrow.
Cam was a hired gun....He went for the $$$. Can't blame him. It is what it is.
Do we really know what we're getting with Cliff? Do we get the 50% FG guy from last year who clogs up the paint on offense and is inefficient in the post, yet we keep going to him no matter how inefficient, or do we get 60% FG Cliff from the previous season, catching lobs and rolling/cutting to the hoop off ball screens? That's more on the coaches than him but I get the feeling he has considerable input.
Yup - that's just the way it is right now. With Griffiths off the floor and Cliff/Mag/Hyatt with 2 small guards or even Cliff/Wolff with one of Mag/Hyatt, those are not good lineups.
Gotta believe Pike has a hat somewhere with a couple of rabbits in it that he can pull out.
If he can play a wing/SF/3, that would be huge.
Maybe 10-15 minutes of zone, in several 3-5 minute stretches when he's in there (or maybe his m2m D will be improved enough).
The irony is that really need a Miller type. Forget scoring. I’m not certain we’re going to get someone who handles the ball or defends as well as him at this point to come in for filler minutes. Our ball handling depth is beyond paper thin right now. We went from Paul, Caleb, Simpson, Miller (and even Cam in a pinch) as options to bring up the ball to Simpson, Noah and Davis.
You don't think Davis will be better than Miller? I think he'll be significantly better, right away, but I never saw it with Miller. Seemed like the D specialist who wasn't all that good on D.
If you list Caleb and Cam bringing the ball up the court - Griffiths will likely do that even more often than they did.
For reference, guys who have committed after 6/28 in the past 20 years, per Rivals:
6/30 - Beatty, Juco, 25.6 min, 5.3 pts/2.1 rb/3.6 ast
7/29 - Chol, redshirted
8/16 - E. Omoruyi, avg 12 min, 2.4 pts/2.2 rb
9/4 - Kuso, never arrived
11/8 - Palmquist, joined mid-year and redshirted
Anyone know of a list of transfer commitment dates?
6/30 - Beatty, Juco, 25.6 min, 5.3 pts/2.1 rb/3.6 ast
7/29 - Chol, redshirted
8/16 - E. Omoruyi, avg 12 min, 2.4 pts/2.2 rb
9/4 - Kuso, never arrived
11/8 - Palmquist, joined mid-year and redshirted
Anyone know of a list of transfer commitment dates?
I really doubt GG will start out a better ball handler than super senior Caleb. I’d argue Caleb is more reliable even than Paul when it come to pure handling skills (not distribution). He played a major role in getting the ball over for us when there was full court pressure applied. He played plenty of back up PG throughout his RU career.
Even if Davis is better than Miller - Miller was the 4th ball handling option (with Cam available to help in a pinch). Davis will be number 3.
I see GG in the Cam category as a frosh with ball handling. He’s not going to slide to the role of bringing the ball over but may complement someone else.
You'll be surprised how good GG is as a ballhandler. Especially if you think it was that big of a plus for Caleb.
Cam was the primary focus of every defense Rutgers went up against last year, was covered by the other team’s best defender, and was never left open. If he had come back, with Noah pushing the ball up, and Noah and GG having to be respected on the perimeter, he would see many more open shots this year, and I think he would have averaged more points.
Cam would have gone from playing with 2 pass first guys to playing with 2 shoot first guys and still somehow gotten more shots?
Cam likely would have gotten more open perimeter shots, but fewer shots overall
Noah should be good for 5+ assists a game, and will probably shoot less than he did at UMass, where he didn’t get much help, as long as our guys show they can hit their shots.
From the video I've seen of Fernandes - and I don't mean this in a negative way, it seems he is more like a small 2 guard (with good PG skills for a 2) than a true point guard. I wouldn't be surprised if he leads in FGA/40
He took about 12 shots/game as a JR, about 9/game last season (in 11 games at the start of the season before he got hurt)
Paul was 4th in the Big Ten last season with 4.9 assists/game in 34 minutes/game
I hope Noah is that good that he gets 5+
So much of all this stuff will depend on how much we change the offense and 3-4 other variables - I'm high on this team but wow is there a lot of uncertainty?
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