Paul

[Scangg]

I don’t disagree with this. Definitely true, but also need to think about the fact he was drawing the 3rd best wing defender at the time with Ron and my defenders staying glued out of respect of our scouting report. I remember playing Illinois the last 2 years laughing at ayo and Trent Frazier because they were so determined to lock me up. The Covid year i was probably the 4th option on the team especially that early in the year coming off my injury and ayo was still persistent on guarding me instead of Jy or ron 😂 but the point is that because they were guarding me, it made the game easier for the other guys. Paul and Caleb are both going to have to go through an adjustment period of being the keyed in guys every single game by the other teams best defenders. They’re going to have to be better than the scouting report every game. When they aren’t, the other guys have to be ready to step up and make plays. This is all a lot easier said than done.

So the few questions offensively are can paul and Caleb be better than the scout? And when they aren’t, are the other guys ready to make plays/are Caleb and paul okay with being the decoy when it’s not their day?

This team is also way better defensively than my last 2 years so it doesn’t need to be the same formula of a guy going on a 4 game rampage like Paul did. But there is definitely going to have to be more confidence from those second tier scorers/more trust from the guys who are the main focus.

Why do you think we haven't seen a heavy dose of Paul and Cliff high ball screen pick and roll action this year?

Pike has gone away from it and it is hurting both Paul and Cliff. The ball movement was excellent early season and I was so happy to see it. Now we have been struggling for buckets and not going to our money play. It gets Cliff going down hill for the lob dunks. Those dunks get the RAC crowd going and boost the team emotionally and get Cliff locked into the game.

It also gets Paul going where he starts dishing with confidence and scoring buckets in the lane as teams focus on Cliff rolling to the rim expecting the lob

My theory is that it's due to Paul's shoulder. Running these high ball screens you want to go shoulder to shoulder around the screen and there is contact there. Also a defender may jump above the screen to get over it and contact the shoulder. If he's still being bothered by the injury, he may be avoiding these plays to limit contact. When he reaggrevated it, it was due to slight contact of the shoulder running into a pick so that type of contact might be especially something he is looking to avoid

 

[Scangg]

3 point shooting stats. Granted Paul takes less volume and less degree of difficulty... but percentage wise he is a better career 3 point shooter than Geo and Ron were. To say he was never a good outside shooter just isn't true. He can knock down 3's

Paul career 36.3%
33%
39%
35%
40%

Geo career 32.6%
36%
34%
28%
30%
33%

Harper career 34%
28%
35%
31%
40%

Hyatt career 27.4%

24%
29%
27%
30%

Rough stats for Hyatt. He's shooting a career best 30% from 3 this season. He should be more like a 35% shooter

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Just to reiterate what you said the volume comparison between Geo > Ron > Paul.

No way of knowing.....Ron and Geo's apple to apple attempts had to be at a higher percentage than Paul.

If Paul ever attempted a step back 3 pointer you would hear an audible gasp at the RAC.

 

[goru7]

Hyatt career 27.4%

24%
29%
27%
30%

Rough stats for Hyatt. He's shooting a career best 30% from 3 this season. He should be more like a 35% shooter

That might be the facts but he has to keep shooting threes. His mechanics are right. I honestly feel that when he releases the ball from 3 , it is going in which was not the case last year. He seems to have brought his shot under control with less movement and just a flick of the wrist. Now if I could figure out why he keeps missing game tying layups late , I really would make a breakthrough

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

That might be the facts but he has to keep shooting threes. His mechanics are right. I honestly feel that when he releases the ball from 3 , it is going in which was not the case last year. He seems to have brought his shot under control with less movement and just a flick of the wrist. Now if I could figure out why he keeps missing game tying layups late , I really would make a breakthrough

Later in the shot clock YES
Early in the shot clock NO

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

If I am scouting Hyatt I invite him to put the ball on the floor and tell weakside help to forget your man and get past the arc under the basket and get ready to take the charge

 

[goru7]

Later in the shot clock YES
Early in the shot clock NO

It shouldn’t matter. If it is wide open and he is set , he should let it go. He did it against either Miami or Ohio State and we took an 11-5 lead on the road in the first half , which is always good because of our notorious slow starts on the road. He also hit 2 in the first half of the Seton Hall game that gave us or expanded our lead and a big one in the second half that I thought was going to let us separate from the Hall but we didn’t. He somehow went to the bench and stayed there almost 8-10 minutes. Why? I don’t know and a big mistake by Pike. We lost the Seton Hall game because we didn’t take shots. 43 shots in 40 minutes is almost impossible.

 

[MiloTalon13]

Hyatt career 27.4%

24%
29%
27%
30%

Rough stats for Hyatt. He's shooting a career best 30% from 3 this season. He should be more like a 35% shooter

Sample size perspective. Hyatt is 14/46 this season 30%
If he'd made one more he'd be 15/46 33%, 2 more 16/46 = 35%
I'm not saying he's a good shooter, maybe he is, maybe he isn't, we haven't seen enough yet
With that sample size, there's not much separating him from being a good shooter (or a bad shooter).
Of the problems on offense with this team, Hyatt's 3-point shooting is not top 5.

 

[goru7]

If I am scouting Hyatt I invite him to put the ball on the floor and tell weakside help to forget your man and get past the arc under the basket and get ready to take the charge

Yes he seems to being doing it but at least 1-2 of those charges including the one against Ohio State where he made the basket late and would have been a 3 point play was a bad call as the defender slid in late .

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Sample size perspective. Hyatt is 14/46 this season 30%
If he'd made one more he'd be 15/46 33%, 2 more 16/46 = 35%
I'm not saying he's a good shooter, maybe he is, maybe he isn't, we haven't seen enough yet
With that sample size, there's not much separating him from being a good shooter (or a bad shooter).
Of the problems on offense with this team, Hyatt's 3-point shooting is not top 5.

He does have a sample size if you include his 1st 3 years.

If you want to get really analytical whether he takes the attempt is based on how open he is and whether there are people in position to get a OREB if he misses all of this overlayed with the time remaining on the shot clock.

 

[MiloTalon13]

If I am scouting Hyatt I invite him to put the ball on the floor and tell weakside help to forget your man and get past the arc under the basket and get ready to take the charge

Mag too.
And I like the way both those guys play, useful players for sure but man, you just know what's going to happen.
Some room for hope though, vs Ohio St, Mag in the open court slowed down and passed back to Simpson for an easy shot and assist for Mag. I'm sure they're working on reading situations better for both Hyatt and Mag.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Yes he seems to being doing it but at least 1-2 of those charges including the one against Ohio State where he made the basket late and would have been a 3 point play was a bad call as the defender slid in late .

Those calls are not going to be called a block. Nor should they be.

 

[MiloTalon13]

He does have a sample size if you include his 1st 3 years.

If you want to get really analytical whether he takes the attempt is based on how open he is and whether there are people in position to get a OREB if he misses all of this overlayed with the time remaining on the shot clock.

Agreed, with the addition that he didn't take many or play steady minutes his first 3 years.
I'd rather have him putting up a 3 than Cliff or Mag.
But I understand, personality-wise, why Cliff and Mag seem to have the green light for 1 or 2 a game.

 

[MiloTalon13]

Those calls are not going to be called a block. Nor should they be.

College refs LOVE to make that charge call in a big moment.

 

[goru7]

Those calls are not going to be called a block. Nor should they be.

Sliding and jumping under a guy late should always be called a block no matter what emphasis is being placed on calling charges. Don’t change how the game is supposed to be played and bail out bad defense.

 

[billgumpper]

Cliff is mostly a threat on a pass from a guard, usually driving the lane, or an occasional put-back. The guards were pressured so much by Seton Hall, they couldn’t even see Cliff, and were more focused on dribbling (often with their back to the basket), and trying not to turn the ball over….and Cliff was covered well also. By pressuring the guards, they effectively took out our guards and Cliff, regardless of his foul trouble. Kudos to Holloway, we didn’t or couldn’t adjust. This shouldn’t be as big of problem in the B1G because there aren’t that many quick pressuring guards tandems in the league.

Cliff is only a threat when he can dunk the ball. Other than that he struggles to score.

 

[Scangg]

Sample size perspective. Hyatt is 14/46 this season 30%
If he'd made one more he'd be 15/46 33%, 2 more 16/46 = 35%
I'm not saying he's a good shooter, maybe he is, maybe he isn't, we haven't seen enough yet
With that sample size, there's not much separating him from being a good shooter (or a bad shooter).
Of the problems on offense with this team, Hyatt's 3-point shooting is not top 5.

Sample size? It's his 4th year. If you can't look at someone's 27% career 3 point percentage in his 4th year bc of sample size then you might as well disregard shooting percentages altogether

If anything the smaller sample size looking only at this year is an argument that this season is an outlier and he will regress to his career average

 

[Scangg]

Aundre Hyatt is shooting only 16.7% on 2-point jump shots and 51.2% at the rim...

Truly horrible numbers. He needs to step his game up

Paul should shoot any set open 3 he gets. He's one of our best 3 point shooters whether people want to believe it or not

 

[MiloTalon13]

Sample size? It's his 4th year. If you can't look at someone's 27% career 3 point percentage in his 4th year bc of sample size then you might as well disregard shooting percentages altogether

If anything the smaller sample size looking only at this year is an argument that this season is an outlier and he will regress to his career average

In the 3 seasons before this, combined, he took 133 3-point shots in 94 games.
That's not a good indicator of his shooting ability.
I'm not saying he's a good shooter, I'm saying we can't tell yet.
We need him to be a good shooter so I hope he is.
I hope the coaches think he is since he's tied with Cam for the most taken