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Palmquist

working backwards from the last game of last season
Hofstra = Hyatt 17 minutes, Palmquist 2 minutes
Purdue = Hyatt 6 minutes, Palmquist 13 minutes
Michigan = Hyatt 9 minutes, Palmquist 19 minutes
Northwestern = Hyatt 21 minutes (start), Palmquist 10 minutes
Minnesota = Hyatt 31 minutes (start), Palmquist 11 minutes
Penn State = Hyatt 17 minutes (start), Palmquist 19 minutes
Michigan = Hyatt 28 minutes (start), Palmquist 25 minutes (start)
Wisconsin = Hyatt 34 minutes (start), Palmquist 18 minutes (start)

Palmquist averaged 15 minutes/game and made 2 starts over the last 8 games
Hyatt averaged 20 minutes/game over that same stretch with 5 starts

Provided he's ok as the 12-13th guy and didn't burn any bridges - why wouldn't you bring him back?
Funny stat - Oskar was 12/33 from 3. 36.4%
That's one fewer 3 than Caleb (13/64) and one fewer than Simpson (13/60) over the entire season
Oskar (11/25) made more 3's than Caleb (9/48) or Derek (4/24) in B1G play
The last 2 real games of the year Oskar played and Hyatt didn’t. With the season on the line Pike chose Oskar
 
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You can argue with it if you like. I am watching basketball skills and basketball players. Griffiths not starting is coaching malpractice 101 and illogical in every way.

What would your explanation be, to land a Top 25-50 recruit, that can go pretty much anywhere else in CBB, that a solid but limited player, who didn't deliver consistently last year and has no more upside, is starting over him??

Spencer is not better than Gavin Griffiths.....it's not even worth a discussion.

In terms of what NIL value a player has, it is "roster specific or year to year".

Fans have somehow not understood "supply and demand"....that also means, if you have depth or alternative options that have upside or a similar skill set, those same players on the same roster, don't have the same value.

The roster has been reconstructed based on "supply and demand". That means if you don't have an alternative option on your roster, that has strengths that another player does, the player who excels or is "1 of 1", becomes more valuable.

Cliff is clearly the most valuable player, there isn't an alternative player on offense, rebounding defense on the roster.

In terms of defense, rebounding, after Cliff, comes Mawot Mag. There's no other player, who plays defense against multiple players for the upcoming 2023-24 season. It is why he secured a NIL and roster position AHEAD of Cam Spencer.

Gavin Griffiths overlaps and has a similar skillset that Spencer brings to the table. One player in Spencer, can only play 1 position at 28 to 30 minutes a game and Gavin is 6'7 and can play SG or the 3rd Guard/Wing position. Spencer cannot.

We are upgrading across the guard position, with multiple players who can dribble, pass, create their own offense AND, if necessary, push the ball and tempo. Mulcahy and Spencer are best suited playing a slower tempo game.

If Spencer was going to eventually lose his starting position at some point in 2023-24, his NIL value to RU is diminished based on what this RU roster has in place.

I think RU fans are trapped into looking at how limited the scoring options were last year and scared to death that the best shooter is being replaced. He is being replaced by as good or better shooter, with quicker release, bigger, taller and can play another position.

Spencer was not going to bolt Griffiths to the bench. The staff already showed an extended amount of rope to Mulcahy as the starter last year, when he struggled in February and it was too late when they went to Simpson. It cost RU a NCAA bid.

The staff is not making the same mistake again, going with short term results, instead of long term solutions. It is tough for fans to digest this fact, but the best solution for the RU program is to develop Simpson, Griffiths for the future, not burn 30 minutes a game on Spencer.
You’re arguing with yourself again and creating straw men. Spencer at the 2 would’ve started ALONGSIDE Griffiths at the 3.

This idea that Pike chose Griffiths over Spencer to play the 2 is just a fantasy in your own mind.
 
Yup. I’ll go with that.

Bottom line B1G tournament Oskar is starting. That is terrible if you are Aundre Hyatt

Maybe - but in reality I think it’s more about Hyatt either not knowing how or not wanting to be a complimentary player. For better or worse, it seems like when Hyatt is on the floor he’s a very high usage player. When his shots were falling Hyatt played. When Hyatt’s shots weren’t falling, he sat because it hurts us to have a high usage player out there firing away who also doesn’t contribute on D.
 
No, you and a handful of others don't pay attention......Gavin Griffiths was recruited to play SG and was slotted to start the day he was originally recruited to RU. He is a consensus Top 25 to 60 player depending on which rating service you follow.

Cam Spencer was never expected to be starting over Gavin Griffiths under any circumstances. And Cam Spencer is not active or promotable for NIL, he has no active social media platforms that anyone is aware of. So this notion that NIL was the primary issue is "false"....if anyone wants to believe Gavin Griffiths was recruited here to come off the bench behind an inferior player, is not paying attention.

Once Spencer ultimately realized that Gavin was going to start, he likely deciIded to portal, which is within his right to do so. If he starts at UConn, so be it....if Gavin was committed to UConn and Spencer was on Uconn, Gavin would be starting over Spencer there too. Gavin is simply a better overall player, in every aspect.

Only at RU, do RU fans want better recruiting, want better talent and somehow expect existing players who simply aren't as good, to continue to play starters minutes.

Palmquist can come back and provide some minutes as an extra forward, while Mag continues to rehab. I don't see any downside to this. Mag may not be ready by November, Chol is still an unknown up front....Only Hyatt is a proven commodity at this stage in the game in late July.

I also think if a 5* kid PF like Asa Newell was open to reclassifying from 2024 to 2023, his recruitment would be much more aggressive by a lot of schools who want an upgrade, short and long term.

The only thing that Palmquist does is potentially eliminate the walk-on scholarship option that Pike likes to have. That is assuming there are no other departures (never a safe assumption in this current recruiting environment) AND, that RU has the ability to take both Austin Williams and Jeremiah Williams.

If Austin Williams commits soon and if Jeremiah Williams wants to jump on board and doesn't secure a waiver for 2023-24, he still takes up am available ship. Yes he could return in 2024-25, but we would be at the 13 ship limit.

So what you’re saying is:

- Pikiell was not going to ever start Gavin Griffiths and Cam Spencer at once
- Pikiell was going to start Gavin Griffiths over Cam Spencer in 2024
- Gavin Griffiths was taking Cam Spencer’s minutes in 2024
- Pikiell was okay with Cam Spencer transferring to the reining national champion
- Spencer, who is transferring to the reigning national champion is transferring because his starting spot and role was threatened by a kid who has never stepped foot on a college basketball court
- Spencer had little NIL value because he doesn’t have a social media account, and his NIL value isn’t correlated to his play on the court

Hawk - you’re either wearing a crazy tinfoil hat or smoking some serious drugs hahaha
 
Hyatt will be a starter in the beginning of the season. Has length and range. Hopefully his defense improves, and is likely a better defender than GG right now anyway. Question is, between GG, Fernandez and Simpson, which 2 will start. I highly doubt GG starts on Day 1 but may start ahead of either Mag or Hyatt by year-end, depending on performance.

Woolf and Ogbole back up Cliff, Davis backs up either guard. Oskar gets 5 min a game if he comes back (10 man rotation) and Chol mostly is a spectator. Too raw and too far down the PT ladder.
 
Hyatt will be a starter in the beginning of the season. Has length and range. Hopefully his defense improves, and is likely a better defender than GG right now anyway. Question is, between GG, Fernandez and Simpson, which 2 will start. I highly doubt GG starts on Day 1 but may start ahead of either Mag or Hyatt by year-end, depending on performance.

Woolf and Ogbole back up Cliff, Davis backs up either guard. Oskar gets 5 min a game if he comes back (10 man rotation) and Chol mostly is a spectator. Too raw and too far down the PT ladder.

If Hyatt’s defense is better than GG’s to start, we are in big trouble. We need GG to come in as an average defender because Hyatt’s defense is below average and Noah also isn’t known for his D.
 
For all of you without premium; everything Hawk wrote here was basically called out by RU72 on a Round Table post earlier.

It’s delusional for anyone to believe that Cam was not in the plans this year. The whole GG was recruited as a SG is a false flag. They were going to be on the floor together with either Fernandes or Simpson as the 3 pt shooters to dish to on their drives into the paint.

He has literally argued that RU doesn’t need more than one shooter from behind the arc. Yet all these teams that win championships every year roll out multiple long range shooters in their lineups. Really makes one question his credentials.
 
I guess you don’t pay attention to defense or rebounding.

Hyatt doesn’t add that much comparatively on defense. His defense is quite poor overall. The difference is that Oskar doesn’t try force bad shots from either the perimeter or in iso. That is why he played over Hyatt in those games. No other reason.

The overall stats do not do justice to just how high Hyatt’s usage numbers were. This is a guy who plays 4 (doesn’t handle the rock) whose scoring “strength“ is mostly limited to non-contested catch and shoot shots (from deep wing and mid range) and he’s streaky at that. Hyatt should not be taking anywhere near the volume of contested shots he attempted last season (often early in the shot clock). People who bring up Caleb and Simpson’s poor efficiency are overlooking that despite being poor catch and shoot players, these guys are guards and both score the ball in iso / when contested at a significantly higher rate than Hyatt (percentage wise - despite being better than them from 3 and getting a lot of open attempts from 3, Hyatt didn’t put the ball through the net at a higher percentage than either of them overall - all shots combined). That’s because he is an awful choice to “take a game into his hands”. Mainly because he can’t dribble. When he tries to score in iso he ended up hurting us more than if we simply ran the shot clock down and let one of the guards try to make something happen. Late season - this was Pike’s strategy when we couldn’t find a wide open shooter or get the ball to Cliff. He trusted Palm more than Hyatt not to shoot the ball when he was guarded. Hyatt rarely gives up the ball in the halfcourt set without attempting a shot.
 
Hyatt doesn’t add that much comparatively on defense. His defense is quite poor overall. The difference is that Oskar doesn’t try force bad shots from either the perimeter or in iso. That is why he played over Hyatt in those games. No other reason.

The overall stats do not do justice to just how high Hyatt’s usage numbers were. This is a guy who plays 4 (doesn’t handle the rock) whose scoring “strength“ is mostly limited to non-contested catch and shoot shots (from deep wing and mid range) and he’s streaky at that. Hyatt should not be taking anywhere near the volume of contested shots he attempted last season (often early in the shot clock). People who bring up Caleb and Simpson’s poor efficiency are overlooking that despite being poor catch and shoot players, these guys are guards and both score the ball in iso / when contested at a significantly higher rate than Hyatt (percentage wise - despite being better than them from 3 and getting a lot of open attempts from 3, Hyatt didn’t put the ball through the net at a higher percentage than either of them overall - all shots combined). That’s because he is an awful choice to “take a game into his hands”. Mainly because he can’t dribble. When he tries to score in iso he ended up hurting us more than if we simply ran the shot clock down and let one of the guards try to make something happen. Late season - this was Pike’s strategy when we couldn’t find a wide open shooter or get the ball to Cliff. He trusted Palm more than Hyatt not to shoot the ball when he was guarded. Hyatt rarely gives up the ball in the halfcourt set without attempting a shot.
Good analysis.
 
Another point of note with Palm - neither he nor Hyatt are good defenders but it wasn’t the 4 slot alone that hurt us late last season. Once Mag went down, sitting Cliff became a disaster because it meant we had either Hyatt or Palm playing alongside a weak defensive 5 (Dean or Wolf or Palm and Hyatt playing 4-5 together). When Cliff sat previously - we almost always had Caleb and Mag on the floor together and we usually pressed. Big difference. If our options improve at the back up 5 and we have better shooters in regular ball rotation a guy like Oskar (and Hyatt) could get more open looks and be less of liability on D down low.

If Hyatt forces contested shots to try to “get his” on a team with playmakers though he’s going to end up on the bench in favor of someone who doesn’t do that (even if it’s someone less skilled like Oskar). Same as last year.
 
I won't speak for NJ Hawk but my uninformed reading of the situation was:

After the transfer in of Fernandes, it was a love triangle for HC Pike. 3 players for 2 starting spots (Fernandes, Mag (when healthy) Clif locked in)

Spencer: returning starting wing
Mulcahy: returning starting PG who would have a new role as off ball wing
Griffiths: incoming highly ranked wing recruit

Who is HC Pike going to start and give a majority of minutes?

I think most would agree Spencer and Griffiths make the most sense to start.
I could easily see HC Pike favoring Mulcahy though for his history with the program.
Shoehorning Mulcahy into a new role could dilute the minutes for all 3.
Leading to Spencer opting out and transferring.

Mulcahy transfered because then its him vs Simpson or transfer for minutes. Realized Griffiths is going to get playing time immediately - especially at a role GG is better suited for than Mulcahy.
Mulcahy realized he isn't a guaranteed 30min again in a new off ball role.
Leading to Mulcahy to opt out and transfer.
Something isn’t right here. Cam transferred because he expects more minutes at UConn?

UConn are defending national champs while Rutgers was a first round NIT loser. And UConn is bringing in 3 guards out of high school, 5 star and two 4 stars.

Cam transferred so he could play his final NCAA season for a winner and follow his older brother toward the NBA. Cam’s older brother transferred from Loyola to Northwestern for his final college season and balled last season with G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.
 
Something isn’t right here. Cam transferred because he expects more minutes at UConn?

UConn are defending national champs while Rutgers was a first round NIT loser. And UConn is bringing in 3 guards out of high school, 5 star and two 4 stars.

Cam transferred so he could play his final NCAA season for a winner and follow his older brother toward the NBA. Cam’s older brother transferred from Loyola to Northwestern for his final college season and balled last season with G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.

The last part will not happen. Cam is not an NBA player. He’s a very good catch and shoot college player who will have a nice career playing in a mid tier Europe league.
 
The last part will not happen. Cam is not an NBA player. He’s a very good catch and shoot college player who will have a nice career playing in a mid tier Europe league.
I agree. But let us view the situation from Cam’s perspective instead of looking at it as spectators.

Cam has a dream - a chance at the NBA. UConn increases the odds.
 
If Palm returns to RU, any chance he brings guard Rob Higgins Jr. with him?

Rob scored in double digits all four years at St. Francis.

Elon announced in a press release Palm and Ron were transferring there, but word on TKR is Elon is struggling to hold onto transfers.

Rob is a NJ native and his dad played QB at RU in the 90s.

Rob wouldn’t be RHJ 2.0 but could provide depth and spark at the 1 position.
 
I agree. But let us view the situation from Cam’s perspective instead of looking at it as spectators.

Cam has a dream - a chance at the NBA. UConn increases the odds.
I doubt that’s it. The first part is more likely. He thinks they have a better chance of going far in the tournament. He’s never been there. Wants a crack at it. And prob negotiated more money than what we had offered.

I think Cam knows he pretty much has no chance at the NBA - playing for UConn wouldn’t influence it. He didn’t even test the waters. He’s 6-4 on a college roster. That will clog in as 6-2. He’s not a ball handler at the next level. And he would not even be an average defender. There aren’t enough wide open looks in even the G-league for him to do much. He feasts on being able to take advantage of weak links on the court at the college level and doesn’t have the Wieskamp type measurables to get a shot based on sharp shooting alone (Wieskamp is an NBA measured 6-6 and rebounds)… He shot 21% last year in the NBA by the way.
 
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If Hyatt’s defense is better than GG’s to start, we are in big trouble. We need GG to come in as an average defender because Hyatt’s defense is below average and Noah also isn’t known for his D.

Don't listen to that.
GG is 99% starting from day 1.
I think people are forgetting Mag is unlikely to be ready.

Fernandes, Simpson, Mag, Hyatt, Clif is starting Day 1?
If Mag is healthy he's starting over Hyatt, not GG.
 
Something isn’t right here. Cam transferred because he expects more minutes at UConn?

UConn are defending national champs while Rutgers was a first round NIT loser. And UConn is bringing in 3 guards out of high school, 5 star and two 4 stars.

Cam transferred so he could play his final NCAA season for a winner and follow his older brother toward the NBA. Cam’s older brother transferred from Loyola to Northwestern for his final college season and balled last season with G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.

Not more minutes necessarily.

His role at Rutgers was changing.
Last year nobody was impacting his minutes. He had a full time job.

Next year that wasn't happening - particularly with Mulcahy/GG and even Simpson perhaps moving over to the off ball-wing role (Fernandes is likely a full time job at PG).

Was Cam going to get 30mpg again?
No. Not with splitting his role between multiple players.
I highly doubt HC Pike said "Don't worry about Simpson and Mulcahy. They are going to the bench and only playing 10mpg."

So less minutes on a borderline tournament team.
Or similar minutes (or maybe even less) on a potentially better team?
Makes sense to enter the portal.
 
Don't listen to that.
GG is 99% starting from day 1.
I think people are forgetting Mag is unlikely to be ready.

Fernandes, Simpson, Mag, Hyatt, Clif is starting Day 1?
If Mag is healthy he's starting over Hyatt, not GG.
Yeah Pike doesn’t like to play Hyatt and Mag together much. I agree.

But Gavin’s D at the college level is still a question mark TBD. Won’t take much to be better than Hyatt though.
 
Not more minutes necessarily.

His role at Rutgers was changing.
Last year nobody was impacting his minutes. He had a full time job.

Next year that wasn't happening - particularly with Mulcahy/GG and even Simpson perhaps moving over to the off ball-wing role (Fernandes is likely a full time job at PG).

Was Cam going to get 30mpg again?
No. Not with splitting his role between multiple players.
I highly doubt HC Pike said "Don't worry about Simpson and Mulcahy. They are going to the bench and only playing 10mpg."

So less minutes on a borderline tournament team.
Or similar minutes (or maybe even less) on a potentially better team?
Makes sense to enter the portal.
Cam got paid and is gonna start for the defending champs and top ten team but would have had a reduced role at Rutgers? No shot.
 
Cam got paid and is gonna start for the defending champs and top ten team but would have had a reduced role at Rutgers? No shot.

Mulcahy and Simpson were playing 10mpg next year?
HC Pike is benching a senior captain?
Or was GG a top 20 recruit playing 10mpg?
Was the new PG transfer splitting time?

How did you see minutes breaking down then with Cam still getting 32mpg?
 
Cam got paid and is gonna start for the defending champs and top ten team but would have had a reduced role at Rutgers? No shot.
People are playing the star ranking game instead of looking at what’s proven production and coming to ridiculous conclusions. Gavin still has to go through the adjustment period in B1G play. Same as all the other freshman.

Some also can’t seem to wrap their heads around that in some situations Cam, Derek, Gavin & Noah would all be in the floor together with Cliff. Apparently players are pegged into certain roles and offer no lineup flexibility with the way these guys are talking. Fortunately Pike knows better.
 
I doubt that’s it. The first part is more likely. He thinks they have a better chance of going far in the tournament. He’s never been there. Wants a crack at it. And prob negotiated more money than what we had offered.

I think Cam knows he pretty much has no chance at the NBA - playing for UConn wouldn’t influence it. He didn’t even test the waters. He’s 6-4 on a college roster. That will clog in as 6-2. He’s not a ball handler at the next level. And he would not even be an average defender. There aren’t enough wide open looks in even the G-league for him to do much. He feasts on being able to take advantage of weak links on the court at the college level and doesn’t have the Wieskamp type measurables to get a shot based on sharp shooting alone (Wieskamp is an NBA measured 6-6 and rebounds)… He shot 21% last year in the NBA by the way.
Rank the influence on Cam’s decision making from strongest to weakest.

A) Fat Koko and other TKR posters
B) Pike
C) Dan Hurley
D) Cam’s older brother

Cam is following a dream. Most aspiring actors who move to LA don’t make it big in Hollywood. The chances are slim but they go for it anyway.
 
I won't speak for NJ Hawk but my uninformed reading of the situation was:

After the transfer in of Fernandes, it was a love triangle for HC Pike. 3 players for 2 starting spots (Fernandes, Mag (when healthy) Clif locked in)

Spencer: returning starting wing
Mulcahy: returning starting PG who would have a new role as off ball wing
Griffiths: incoming highly ranked wing recruit

Who is HC Pike going to start and give a majority of minutes?

I think most would agree Spencer and Griffiths make the most sense to start.
I could easily see HC Pike favoring Mulcahy though for his history with the program.
Shoehorning Mulcahy into a new role could dilute the minutes for all 3.
Leading to Spencer opting out and transferring.

Mulcahy transfered because then its him vs Simpson or transfer for minutes. Realized Griffiths is going to get playing time immediately - especially at a role GG is better suited for than Mulcahy.
Mulcahy realized he isn't a guaranteed 30min again in a new off ball role.
Leading to Mulcahy to opt out and transfer.
I agree with you. However, why did it take until a month after Cam left for Paul to figure this out or to act upon what he already knew?Intentionally or not, he stuck it to us.
 
Mulcahy and Simpson were playing 10mpg next year?
HC Pike is benching a senior captain?
Or was GG a top 20 recruit playing 10mpg?
Was the new PG transfer splitting time?

How did you see minutes breaking down then with Cam still getting 32mpg?
This one simple:
Cam was the clear best SG on the team, penciled in to get 25+ minutes per game.
Same with Noah at PG.
Remaining minutes would have been taken by the starters or by Derek or Paul.
Paul also was going to get some minutes at forward.
In conclusion, Cam was going to get at least 25 minutes and Paul was penciled in to have a minutes cut, probably somewhere between 12 to 20 minutes per game, with at least half coming at the forward spot.
 
This one simple:
Cam was the clear best SG on the team, penciled in to get 25+ minutes per game.
Same with Noah at PG.
Remaining minutes would have been taken by the starters or by Derek or Paul.
Paul also was going to get some minutes at forward.
In conclusion, Cam was going to get at least 25 minutes and Paul was penciled in to have a minutes cut, probably somewhere between 12 to 20 minutes per game, with at least half coming at the forward spot.

So Cam gets his minutes cut from 32mpg to around 25mpg and is now splitting his role with Simpson and Mulcahy.

That’s exactly what I said.
 
Pikiell always talks about how there are only so many minutes available. With Griffiths, Mulcahy and Spencer on the team, Oscar was not going to get too many minutes. But now he'll get something comparable to last season if not more. So definitely worth bringing back.

Although I love NJ Hawk, that seems like an overly rosy outlook to say Spencer left primarily because Griffiths was going to get his minutes. Spencer and Mulcahy were both going to get a ton of minutes if they stayed here.
 
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I guess you don’t pay attention to defense or rebounding.
Didn't he too better on this last year? I thought I saw progress on Oskar's game. Could it be that people just labeled Oskar over his previous years here and did not give him proper credit for last season's progress? Of course, he is not Mag-level but I don't think he is still the no-D Oskar.

On NJ Hawk's take... I'll keep an open mind... he has earned that.
 
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Didn't he too better on this last year? I thought I saw progress on Oskar's game. Could it be that people just labeled Oskar over his previous years here and did not give him proper credit for last season's progress? Of course, he is not Mag-level but I don't think he is still the no-D Oskar.

On NJ Hawk's take... I'll keep an open mind... he has earned that.
Pretty much.
 
So Cam gets his minutes cut from 32mpg to around 25mpg and is now splitting his role with Simpson and Mulcahy.

That’s exactly what I said.
I said 25+. Personally I thought it would be around 30 but I put 25 as the low bar to leave room for variation.
It’s a stretch to say having your minutes go from 32 to even like 28 is having your minutes “cut” and now you’re “splitting your role”.
Cut and splitting of role would be more accurate descriptions if his minutes dropped to 22 or below. Which I suppose was possible but highly unlikely.
 
Opinions are not facts. The best TEAM D I saw with Cliff on the bench was against PSU with Hyatt, Caleb and Mag on the floor. Hyatt played very well in that scenario.

Best overall Team D was with Cliff, Caleb, Mag and Paul on the floor together. Resounding and shot blocking matters. Stopping the ball is also a big part of D but help D is critical. Pike coaches this part of the game very well.
 
Playing at UConn will have zero impact on whether Cam will be a pro. He wanted money. All good. That’s his right but the NBA could care less where a guy plays. If Caleb played at UConn last year he’d be in the same exact position.
 
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