%6th
He definitely needs a bigger role. He was our most efficient offensive player in B1G play and not by a small margin. The efficiency will take a hit with more usage, but it'll be more than worth the trade-off. He played about 22 minutes last year, I'd like to see that go up to 28. And when he's on the floor, roughly 25% of possessions should end with him getting a shot IMO. Last year was 20.9%... For comparison, when Eugene was on the floor 26.4% of possessions ended with Omoruyi taking a shot. Harper should be in that neighborhood.
He always seems to be in the right place so I think he'll get some more easy baskets playing alongside a guy with the court vision of Mulcahy.
There are so many ways for RU to improve without a quantum leap from Harper.
What has to change along with the overall usage of Eugene being way too high, is to find a role for Harper to ultimately play more minutes than Eugene.
The only way RU improves is if Eugene and Baker are no longer 1 and 2 in usage, 1st and 2nd in scoring and 1st and 2nd in shot attempts. The reason why that's important is because along with random stats that can be skewed, the one that isn't is turnovers.
Eugene had 68 turnovers in 27 games....Baker had 92 turnovers in 31 games.
I don't believe for one second that Harper would commit 68 turnovers with extended usage and while I am very skeptical about Mulcahy as a primary ball handler, 3 TOs per game is up there with Cassius Winston of Michigan State at around 2.9 per game.
Harper will be better with better ball movement from Yeboah, less usage by Eugene, better distribution by Mulcahy and Young to find Harper in transition and for open looks.
The good news is Thiam and Kiss were not efficient enough and Harper elevated his game to lift RU, during the teeth of the B1G schedule. I don't think Harper will be that type of player this year with Yeboah, Eugene and others providing production and leadership.
I think the stage is set for Harper to take a step forward to be more consistent first.
