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RAPID REACTION - Wagner

I base my criticism not on 0-3 but on body-of-work last year and the simple fact that players' talents are largely fixed by the time they get to college. Bad shooters don't become average shooters, nevermind good shooters.

Percentages go up and down marginally over careers. Random variation.
Be honest, if he had gone 4-4 no one would have criticized his performance in this game based on “body-of-work last year.”
 
Be honest, if he had gone 4-4 no one would have criticized his performance in this game based on “body-of-work last year.”
“ if my aunt had balls…..”. He didn’t go 4-4.

put another way, he did nothing on Wednesday to suggest he’s a better shooter this year. it’s idiotic to suggest he’s better based on “he’s worked very hard at it”.

That’s just not who he is.

I asked the other poster to name just one player in history who progressed from bad to good shooter. No reply. Some players can shoot, some can pass well, some can dribble well, etc. skills don’t change. Davis can’t shoot even as well as Simpson, who of course never got better at it either.
 
I asked the other poster to name just one player in history who progressed from bad to good shooter. No reply. Some players can shoot, some can pass well, some can dribble well, etc. skills don’t change. Davis can’t shoot even as well as Simpson, who of course never got better at it either.

Miles McBride.
 
Hardly an obsession. Dont like hypocrisy or double standards. All good. 2nd guard opposite of Dylan not scoring any points from the field scares the hell out of me. Guard last year got hell for that? What are we missing? Two can play that game.
Minutes with this team is going to be match up dependent. Wagner had a lot of smaller guards and it was a perfect game for JWill to get minutes. Opposite for Ogbole. He is currently the starter but he was never going to get many minutes given the competition and style of play.
 
“ if my aunt had balls…..”. He didn’t go 4-4.

put another way, he did nothing on Wednesday to suggest he’s a better shooter this year. it’s idiotic to suggest he’s better based on “he’s worked very hard at it”.

That’s just not who he is.

I asked the other poster to name just one player in history who progressed from bad to good shooter. No reply. Some players can shoot, some can pass well, some can dribble well, etc. skills don’t change. Davis can’t shoot even as well as Simpson, who of course never got better at it either.
So no credit for going 3-4 on FTs? Or was that just a fluke? JMike is not gonna shoot 0% from the floor this year the way he did in this one game.

I also believe his shooting percentage will improve enough this year over last year that he will not be considered a liability on offense.

The reason for my confidence is that his decisions that led to 5 assists (even without Ace on the floor) and shot selection looked improved (along with his FT shooting).
 
So no credit for going 3-4 on FTs? Or was that just a fluke? JMike is not gonna shoot 0% from the floor this year the way he did in this one game.

I also believe his shooting percentage will improve enough this year over last year that he will not be considered a liability on offense.

The reason for my confidence is that his decisions that led to 5 assists (even without Ace on the floor) and shot selection looked improved (along with his FT shooting).
Ha ha ha. A guy goes 3-4 from the line in one game and that shows he’s a better player this year ?

He does some good things. They all do. He will make baskets. All I’m saying is that he will never be a good shooter. This isn’t because he was 0-3. It’s because he’s already shown he can’t shoot, same as Simpson, Cliff, etc. That’s just not fixable. Players leave with the same skills they come with, here and everywhere.
 
Ha ha ha. A guy goes 3-4 from the line in one game and that shows he’s a better player this year ?

He does some good things. They all do. Obviously he will make baskets. All I’m saying is that he will never be a good shooter. This isn’t because he was 0-3. It’s because he’s already shown he can’t shoot, same as Simpson, Cliff, etc. That’s just not fixable.
 
The ball is going to continue to find JaMike like it did vs Wagner. If only he can shoot it a little!
 
Ha ha ha. A guy goes 3-4 from the line in one game and that shows he’s a better player this year ?

He does some good things. They all do. He will make baskets. All I’m saying is that he will never be a good shooter. This isn’t because he was 0-3. It’s because he’s already shown he can’t shoot, same as Simpson, Cliff, etc. That’s just not fixable. Players leave with the same skills they come with, here and everywhere.

This is just not true. Just because life may have you down and you're sitting on your fat ass constantly criticizing others and stuck in the same rut with what you have - does not mean that others don't work hard ever day and hone their skills to improve. I provided an example that took me 5 seconds to negate your silly claim. Typical of the troll you are that you chose not to respond to that.
 
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The ball is going to continue to find JaMike like it did vs Wagner. If only he can shoot it a little!

I'm not an expert but to me his form on spot ups always looked OK - including on foul shots. Which means it may be in his head or that he is rushing. My issue with him on offense has always been his decisions on drives and finishing. Although not mistake free - he did clean a lot of that up in the Wagner game.

Note that all players make mistakes in games - but for some reason there are posters here (not you) who remain obsessed with negativity about JMike.
 
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I didn’t see enough of Acuff (barely played in second half) to form a strong opinion but offensively I didn’t see much promise. And no, Derkack hustled but played poorly on both ends. Seemed clumsy and uncoordinated on O. Just one game but that doesn’t change.

But as stated I wasn’t expecting Martini or Sommerville to play as well as they did … on both ends.
Acuff will be valuable in a couple weeks. Derkack hustles, that seems to be his thing. He's not good on O, but think we knew that coming in. I didn't think Martini was very good, a couple threes not withstanding.
 
Acuff will be valuable in a couple weeks. Derkack hustles, that seems to be his thing. He's not good on O, but think we knew that coming in. I didn't think Martini was very good, a couple threes not withstanding.
I thought Martini played good interior D…battled. Did exceed my expectations, even against Wagner.
 
Ha ha ha. A guy goes 3-4 from the line in one game and that shows he’s a better player this year ?

He does some good things. They all do. He will make baskets. All I’m saying is that he will never be a good shooter. This isn’t because he was 0-3. It’s because he’s already shown he can’t shoot, same as Simpson, Cliff, etc. That’s just not fixable. Players leave with the same skills they come with, here and everywhere.
I look at it this way, will he have a positive impact (not negative, not neutral) during his time on the floor?

Will his efforts lead to us scoring more than the opponents when he’s out there?

If the answer is yes, then he deserves the minutes he gets. A marginally better shooter who gives up more points on defense is not gonna help us win as much as JMike does.
 
I asked the other poster to name just one player in history who progressed from bad to good shooter. No reply. Some players can shoot, some can pass well, some can dribble well, etc. skills don’t change. Davis can’t shoot even as well as Simpson, who of course never got better at it either.

Miles McBride.

Still waiting for you to wipe the egg off of your face.
 
I'm not an expert but to me his form on spot ups always looked OK - including on foul shots. Which means it may be in his head or that he is rushing. My issue with him on offense has always been his decisions on drives and finishing. Although not mistake free - he did clean a lot of that up in the Wagner game.

Note that all players make mistakes in games - but for some reason there are posters here (not you) who remain obsessed with negativity about JMike.
I love the guy and share your exact concerns. Obviously a sample size of 4 isn't terrible significant so I will have to use what i saw in 2023-24. Mildly concerned we may have a bunch of bricklayers...
 
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JMiss isn't much better than Jalen Miller was, except he shoots a lot more. The other difference is, his best friend is the highest rated recruit in Rutgers history.
That's a terrible take. The two aren't on the same continent in terms of talent. Miller added nothing, even defensively. Davis is better at all aspects of the game. Miller has been in college for four years now, and has played the same number of minutes as Davis has a game into his second year.
 
Wrong. ‘Good look’ depends on the shooter. If a player can’t make a shot, it’s not a good look. Is the same shot a good look for Ogbole ? Of course not.

Based on last year, his shots are essentially turnovers. Maybe this year he will improve but it’s doubtful.

And two blocks from behind a player on the same sequence who didn’t see him does nothing to indicate season-long interior D talent.

Off-guards need to be able to shoot, and he can’t.
He's not an off guard
 
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Both solid defenders and weak offensive players. Miller knew enough not to take shots he'd miss and he never pushed the ball out of control turning it over or getting his runners swatted. He played within his abilities.

I do believe JMiss more talented than JMill, but not by as much as many here think. Very similar, but JMill had much better judgment than JMiss did last year. Let's see if he cleans it up this year.
The only thing they have in common is they both played more than they should have as freshman. Miller had a 30% turnover rate as a freshman, double that of Davis. Davis' assist rate is double Millers.
 
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This is accurate. With all the attention Ace and Dylan will draw, Davis will be a huge liability if he can’t hit open shots. And, he won’t be able to. That’s not in his toolbox. Not him. It is what it is.
The opposite is actually true, he would be a liability if the rest of the lineup was offensively challenged. Playing with talented offensive players, you can afford to have players who focus on defense, pushing the pace. Guys like Rambis for the 80’s Lakers or Rodman for the Bulls were not offensive threats but had roles to play.

Like I posted earlier, I see his minutes going down once Ace is back and Acuff is all the way back.
 
I love the guy and share your exact concerns. Obviously a sample size of 4 isn't terrible significant so I will have to use what i saw in 2023-24. Mildly concerned we may have a bunch of bricklayers...
“A bunch” of bricklayers? How so? It’s becoming apparent that the bulk of all minutes will eventually go to Dylan, Ace, Lathan, Hayes, Martini, and JWill, plus Acuff, Dercack, JMike, and Ogbole with time off the bench.

None of the first 7 players I mentioned should be considered “bricklayers” and Ogbole won’t be taking any shots beyond dunks and put-backs.

Seems like your shooting concerns would be for mainly Derkack and JMike, and 2 guys (out of 10) does not equate to “a bunch.”
 
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You’re forecasting too.

Point to a bad shooter who became a good one. Just one. Ever.

I don’t give a crap how hard someone works to improve shooting, they just don’t. Cliff tried hard too for 4 years. Davis has been playing basketball twice as long as Cliff so if he can’t shoot after at least 10 years of playing, it’s not going to happen no matter how much he practices. Either you can or you can’t.

I am sure he will not ever be a good shooter.
Terrance Shannon from Illinois shot 25.7% from 3 is freshman year, he focused on his shooting in the offseason and shot over 35% the rest of his college career, a relative improvement of 37%.
 
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Acuff will be valuable in a couple weeks. Derkack hustles, that seems to be his thing. He's not good on O, but think we knew that coming in. I didn't think Martini was very good, a couple threes not withstanding.
I think you’re underrating Martini. I think he’s still adjusting as being a tweener. He boxes out every play, communicates and can shoot and a decent finisher whenever he gets the chance. Not going to wow you with anything as he lacks athleticism but I thought he played a pretty good game against Wagner and will be crucial when we verse teams that basically run two big men like Indiana, Washington, Purdue, Michigan.
 
The opposite is actually true, he would be a liability if the rest of the lineup was offensively challenged. Playing with talented offensive players, you can afford to have players who focus on defense, pushing the pace. Guys like Rambis for the 80’s Lakers or Rodman for the Bulls were not offensive threats but had roles to play.

Like I posted earlier, I see his minutes going down once Ace is back and Acuff is all the way back.
No not being able to space the floor and making wide open shots is a huge liability. Every team will double off Jmike or play zone to slow Ace and Dylan. He cannot be a Zero option on offense end. His defense on small guards is great but is also liability in big ten play. Too small. Great young man and love everything about him. Will definitely be a coach when he’s done playing. Can’t play on this team more then 6-8 minutes.

40 years ago you could afford a Rambis but the game has changed so much with 3 pt shot and spacing that role Philosophy doesn’t play
 
I think you’re underrating Martini. I think he’s still adjusting as being a tweener. He boxes out every play, communicates and can shoot and a decent finisher whenever he gets the chance. Not going to wow you with anything as he lacks athleticism but I thought he played a pretty good game against Wagner and will be crucial when we verse teams that basically run two big men like Indiana, Washington, Purdue, Michigan.
I may, it's possible, he is a smart player, and we will need that with all the youth. I thought he was relatively invisible against St. Johns, and honestly only better against Wagner because they are small and not very good. For him to be effective, we need that constant energy/movement to result in a couple offensive rebounds - he had none against a team he should have owned. I do think getting up 4 three's was a good sign, but am still worried he won't put up more than a couple once the D is tighter.
 
No not being able to space the floor and making wide open shots is a huge liability. Every team will double off Jmike or play zone to slow Ace and Dylan. He cannot be a Zero option on offense end. His defense on small guards is great but is also liability in big ten play. Too small. Great young man and love everything about him. Will definitely be a coach when he’s done playing. Can’t play on this team more then 6-8 minutes.

40 years ago you could afford a Rambis but the game has changed so much with 3 pt shot and spacing that role Philosophy doesn’t play
So you want JWill on the bench too, because he is probably a worse outside shooter than JMIke.
 
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Seems like there is a JMIKE is great side, and JMIKE has some areas he needs to improve to be a 20+ minute player on this team. In today's game, every player must be able to shoot. If not, they can be game planned for. Dylan's game will be a lot easier when JMIKE is not on floor. More lanes will be there.
 
Hardly an obsession. Dont like hypocrisy or double standards. All good. 2nd guard opposite of Dylan not scoring any points from the field scares the hell out of me. Guard last year got hell for that? What are we missing? Two can play that game.
Literally all I’ve seen you post since last season about basketball is hate on JMike and praise for Simpson and how terrible it is that Simpson got pushed out for JMike. It just makes zero sense. JMike has gotten plenty of comments against him for a game where aside from shooting he did very well. 5 assists 0 turnovers, 3 stocks, he rebounded and defended full court all night. Simpson instead was in a rock fight against Army in which his coach decided to sit him in the crucial moments.
 
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Seems like there is a JMIKE is great side, and JMIKE has some areas he needs to improve to be a 20+ minute player on this team. In today's game, every player must be able to shoot. If not, they can be game planned for. Dylan's game will be a lot easier when JMIKE is not on floor. More lanes will be there.
I’d argue youre not reading the comments well at all, as instead it’s actually one side saying how he has improvement areas but still provides a valuable role while there’s others that just completely dismiss him cause he can’t shoot. Everyone recognizes he’s not a good shooter, but some can understand basketball doesn’t have to be so binary where if you can’t shoot you don’t deserve minutes. Yes it would be great if we had a 3 and D guard who could shoot 40% from three and also guard on the other end. Unfortunately, those types aren’t widely available and cost you a lot of money and we don’t have that. We gotta deal with what we got and that still leaves us with 9 guys who can really play.
 
“A bunch” of bricklayers? How so? It’s becoming apparent that the bulk of all minutes will eventually go to Dylan, Ace, Lathan, Hayes, Martini, and JWill, plus Acuff, Dercack, JMike, and Ogbole with time off the bench.

None of the first 7 players I mentioned should be considered “bricklayers” and Ogbole won’t be taking any shots beyond dunks and put-backs.

Seems like your shooting concerns would be for mainly Derkack and JMike, and 2 guys (out of 10) does not equate to “a bunch.”
those are my bricklayers until proven they arent brick layers......

Let me ask you an honest question.........

Will we shoot 3pointers at a % above the national average?

I think we will be at least 2% under. If I am wrong and our D and rebounding hold up we will most likely be a top 32 team at the end of the year
 
reference point,,,,

last year 33.8% was national average
our bricklayers (referring to entire team) were 28.7%
 
I’d argue youre not reading the comments well at all, as instead it’s actually one side saying how he has improvement areas but still provides a valuable role while there’s others that just completely dismiss him cause he can’t shoot. Everyone recognizes he’s not a good shooter, but some can understand basketball doesn’t have to be so binary where if you can’t shoot you don’t deserve minutes. Yes it would be great if we had a 3 and D guard who could shoot 40% from three and also guard on the other end. Unfortunately, those types aren’t widely available and cost you a lot of money and we don’t have that. We gotta deal with what we got and that still leaves us with 9 guys who can really play.

I agree he has value. I am not sure it warrants beginning of game player. More like last 12 minutes type of player.
 
those are my bricklayers until proven they arent brick layers......

Let me ask you an honest question.........

Will we shoot 3pointers at a % above the national average?

I think we will be at least 2% under. If I am wrong and our D and rebounding hold up we will most likely be a top 32 team at the end of the year
Acuff is a career 32.8% from the arc (hit 39% his sophomore year, 29% last year). I don’t think that qualifies as bricklayer status (my guess is he was forcing up bad shots on a bad team last year).

JWill barely takes 2 threes per game, and with the guys around him he should be more of a facilitator this year. I still say the main culprits for poor shooting of treys will be only Derkack and JMike.
 
Acuff is a career 32.8% from the arc (hit 39% his sophomore year, 29% last year). I don’t think that qualifies as bricklayer status (my guess is he was forcing up bad shots on a bad team last year).

JWill barely takes 2 threes per game, and with the guys around him he should be more of a facilitator this year. I still say the main culprits for poor shooting of treys will be only Derkack and JMike.
OK. I will take them out. ANSWER MY QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness...my premise or theory is that a large part of our poor shooting stems from the energy expended playing D, especaily freshman that aren't used to playing D. Love to be proven wrong.
 
reference point,,,,

last year 33.8% was national average
our bricklayers (referring to entire team) were 28.7%
If JaMike can shoot 28.7% on wide open limited volume threes and never try to force against taller guys in the paint then he will be a net positive and his assists should go up substantially. If he averages more assists than total fg’s then he’s probably being very efficient.
 
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OK. I will take them out. ANSWER MY QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness...my premise or theory is that a large part of our poor shooting stems from the energy expended playing D, especaily freshman that aren't used to playing D. Love to be proven wrong.
Lol, to answer your question, yes. I think we’ll be at or slightly above the national average on threes.

And by the way, I do agree that playing intense Pikiell defense does have a slightly negative affect on our outside shooting. However, for guys like Hayes and Martini I don’t think that will apply until they get over 20 minutes in a game.

In general our depth should help bolster our shooting stamina. Hopefully Ace and Dylan will be rested properly during games.
 
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Lol, to answer your question, yes. I think we’ll be at or slightly above the national average on threes.

And by the way, I do agree that playing intense Pikiell defense does have a slightly negative affect on our outside shooting. However, for guys like Hayes and Martini I don’t think that will apply until they get over 20 minutes in a game.

In general our depth should help bolster our shooting stamina. Hopefully Ace and Dylan will be rested properly during games.
Small sample but Jacob Young shot 36.9% his last year at Rutgers from 3, and then shot 25.7% at a Oregon.

Cam Spencer shot 43.4% from 3 at Rutgers and 44.0% at UConn playing with better offensive players, which should have provided him with cleaner looks.

Steve definitely puts a premium on playing good defense, but it is not like they are pressing all 94 feet for 40 minutes. It is also not the case that is style is that unique compared to the rest of college basketball.
 
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Small sample but Jacob Young shot 36.9% his last year at Rutgers from 3, and then shot 25.7% at a Oregon.

Steve definitely puts a premium on playing good defense, but it is not like they are pressing all 94 feet for 40 minutes. It is also not the case that is style is that unique compared to the rest of college basketball.
IT IS
 
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