Simpson played limited time at PG and was on the wing out of position most of the year. True freshman and the best year we have had from a true freshman in over 20 years. Only thing that limited his production was the coaching staff going to him too late in the year.
Simpson is starting at PG Noah will be in the Jacob young role next year. His health and size will limit him. If he’s hot on any given night his minutes will be extended
Not true .Sanders and Baker had far better freshmen seasons.
Hopefully that’s true ! Your losing Caleb and potentially Paul two non shooters who other teams did not have to guard amd could help on Cliff and Cam.
Agreed! Hopefully Pike plays the best players regardless of names or time on the banks. He made that mistake this year and hopefully he has learned.
On losing teams though. Wayyy longer leash
They're also at different positions. Simpson is a combo guard in the 1/2 role, and Mathis was more of a scoring wing in the 2/3 role. Hard to compare the two of them, but there really isn't an equivalency there.
The similarities - both of them contribute most through transition and pentration. Both tend to force things as frosh. But understandable for frosh. Tez continued to force throughout his career.
I think Simpson has a little bit more pull up game in his arsenal, rather than having to get to the rim as much as Mathis. He's also better with the ball in his hands, and more willing to give it up when there's nothing there.
He was a classic Jekyll and Hyde player. Any night you didn't know which Montez would show up. Part of that was matchups as he didn't have a flexible style, he just did his thing. But when that thing worked he was great. Perfect sparkplug off the bench. He just didn't want to play that role.
OK, I don't remember that but yes, that is potential. My memory leads me to out of control, play ground ball, end to end getting stuffed, and the infamous airball layup. Those are all hard to erase from my memory and I think based on his most recent Rutgers production, he would have been a liability if he played the same way. Simpson is smooth, blows by defenders, and creates for himself. I hope those good times continue with Derek.
Fair take that I can see after watching this. A poor mans geo. Shorter and less athletic version.
Yep. He had all the tools, but he was mistake prone and that never improved in his time here
I.e., You guys were allowed to work through your mistakes?
Yup. who was coach pikes gonna sub in if I was playing bad that year lol. Can’t compare my freshman year to Derek’s.
Wings can pass to more open teammates for a better shot, right? Unfortunately, that wasn’t a Montez strength.
Thanks for the links, but I saw what I saw. Montez's last year here was a disaster.
Geo's freshman year by Kenpom Rutgers was 130 overall, 270 offense 270!
