Nigel isn't a shooter, he's an all around player that was asked to score, because there are limited offensive options on this team....that doesn't make him more valuable because of it....rosters are better off in the long run developing other scoring options that will be in the program longer, than leaning on a player that isn't interested in playing team basketball consistently.
RU fans are bent on a notion that you need shooters, which is one of 6 factions of being an effective player....rebounding, defending without requiring help, passing, shooting, being able to take a defender off the dribble and shot blocking/team defense all are as important.
If RU finds a shooter, that is not able to defend, teams isolate that defender and attack him on defense....if the player can't dribble or create his own shot, it requires him to be open to score....if the player doesn't rebound or get 50/50 balls, he gives up extra possessions....if the player isn't interested in focusing on the defensive rotations, opponents find open 3 pointers against that player on defense.
Nigel does half of what is needed at this level to compete....we have far too many players that do or can do less than half on offense....but if you buy-in defensively, you can rebound, commit to defense, commit to knowing the rotations and hustle to get on the floor for that loose ball.....shooting is one aspect of a game and if a team focuses on that one aspect and you cannot do anything else, you wind becoming a net negative for minutes on the court.
As talented as a kid like Bryce Alford is for UCLA (almost 400 career three pointers for his career), against better teams that decided to focus on his strength, he can be slowed down/stopped....he requires an elite roster around him (Lonzo Ball, Holiday, Leaf etc), to allow him to be a 4th or 5th offensive option to take open shots......if he cannot guard his opponent, players that should probably get 20 points against UCLA, go for career high in points (DeAaron Fox rings up 38 points on UCLA, because no one had any interest in slowing him down).
We can have a shooter on this roster, but until the other aspects are bought into, it doesn't really matter as much as people believe it does........I still see people focusing on how we are going to replace CJ Gettys on offense, when teams primarily designed their entire offensive game plans around making him defend pick and rolls and getting him to move his feet defensively (not his strength, obviously)....I don't have the stat, but as many follow up baskets he saved for RU on offensive off of misses, he probably allowed as many fouls or backbreaking "And 1"s" on defense....it wasn't for lack of effort or that he wasn't a great leader or teammate, but he also just wasn't quick enough to keep guards/forwards from getting to the basket, after pick and rolls were run against him.
Basketball is not about just shooting/scoring as a definition of a contributor....The staff is going to find players that check off as many boxes as possible, but that doesn't mean they are going to ignore a shooter...the question is can the shooter buy-in to doing the other things a team needs to improve....Nigel wasn't buying in as much as the staff thought he could and it showed more than it needed to....it's probably best to allow Geo Baker and others to replace him and move the program forward beyond just next seasons results.
