kyk sensationalizing? Never! Lol.
But I think Harper could be a best since the 70’s Scarlet Knights.
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kyk sensationalizing? Never! Lol.
But I think Harper could be a best since the 70’s Scarlet Knights.
Two sides to this equation. We definitely would benefit greatly to shooting FTs better. However, last season our opponents only shot 66.5% from the line which made us the 18th best team in the country in FT against. That "luck" is unlikely to continue this season.
Its categorized as luck. I've always thought our D and physicality make games sloppy enough that they affect the other team, even at the line...
For him to be best since 70s he will need to be a top 15 nba pick wren he goes out as douby was drafted in top 20.
Hope your right.
That isn’t luck...that Pike and staff spending time on FT defense!
My measure of Harper’s, or anyone’s play is not the NBA draft. My measure is what the player does when he is dressed in Scarlet.
And yes, I hope I am right too!
Could be wrong, but it seems like something that would normalize over the course of a season unless we had a real affect, or if we generally play teams that are bad free throw shooters
Douby was a one dimensional player without a great handle as I remember. Don't remember him as a great defensive player either, but they don't play any defense in the NBA so it doesn't really matter. Harper is an all around player.
In Coach Pikiell’s 3 years we have been: 293, 96, 18 in Opp FT%. I would think it is a stat that normalizes over several seasons. Some years “lucky” [2019], some years “unlucky”[2017] and some years neutral “luck” [2018].
He had a lot of baby fat yr 1. I do expect to see him in much better shape next maybe not Eugene but he will be in much better shape physically
Ha he doesnt have to call Springfield i'll tell them myself i'm going up there this weekend with my daughters AAU team for some Tourny Ball!!!
As a freshman, he was. His handled improved a lot as a sophomore (1.7 ast / 1.9 tov as a freshman, 3.4 ast / 1.7 tov as a soph), then his stats regressed as a junior as he was constantly double and triple teamed.
I do think that Harper's a more rounded player, though not as much of a pure scorer.
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John Battle went from an unnoticed player, to a, who the hell is that?, for me.....he had the biggest improvement from one season to the next, that I can remember.
we can all hope that Harper makes such a leap.... maybe he can
The thing about Douby is that even as a freshman he was a high-usage guy. That team was basically Herve, Douby, and Shields.
Harper was more medium-usage. There's going to have to be adjustments made by either the coaching staff or by him to get him more possessions, especially since the team is relatively balanced and should have a pretty even distribution of minutes and shots. So in that sense, it's hard to see him breaking out in a way that would make him an all-timer.
For comparison's sake, 20.5% of possessions with Harper on the floor ended with him taking a shot. During Myles Powell's freshman year at SHU, 26% of possessions with him out there ended with a Powell shot. And that was on a team with lots of other weapons (Carrington, Delgado, Nzei, Rodriguez, Sanogo). Carsen Edwards as a freshman at Purdue was at 28.5%.
So it's important to keep that in mind. There's a theory that guys who are high-volume scorers tend to play like that from Day 1, and the big change usually comes from minutes played, not increased usage rate.
OTOH Kaleb Wesson on OSU went from 21.4% as a freshman to 27.3% as a sophomore. That could be the blueprint for Harper (different playing styles, of course).
Harper was more medium-usage. There's going to have to be adjustments made by either the coaching staff or by him to get him more possessions, especially since the team is relatively balanced and should have a pretty even distribution of minutes and shots. So in that sense, it's hard to see him breaking out in a way that would make him an all-timer.
For comparison's sake, 20.5% of possessions with Harper on the floor ended with him taking a shot. During Myles Powell's freshman year at SHU, 26% of possessions with him out there ended with a Powell shot. And that was on a team with lots of other weapons (Carrington, Delgado, Nzei, Rodriguez, Sanogo). Carsen Edwards as a freshman at Purdue was at 28.5%.
So it's important to keep that in mind. There's a theory that guys who are high-volume scorers tend to play like that from Day 1, and the big change usually comes from minutes played, not increased usage rate.
OTOH Kaleb Wesson on OSU went from 21.4% as a freshman to 27.3% as a sophomore. That could be the blueprint for Harper (different playing styles, of course).
It is interesting that you should say that. I remember once Rutgers having the highest free-throw against percentage in the nation, or within the top couple. I said to the coach that this was bad luck, and he responded that it wouldn’t happen if they had done a better job of beating the opponents up.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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I agree he'll never match up regularly with a PG but in case of a switch or rotation he can handle it. I haven't heard about him getting taller, still 6'5 (not sure what he's listed at but he's 6'5 in real life)
Phil Sellers was a first team All American who led Rutgers to the Final Four. That is what Harper has to measure up to for the title of greatest Scarlet Knight ever.
You want to say best of modern era or last 25 years go ahead. Best of all time is going to far out on a limb. We had Bailey, Phil Sellers, Bobby Lloyd and you might add Hollis Copeland in there. They were great college players. Eddie Jordan was a monster at guard with those guys
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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I guess it’s all relative with how much the game has changed. Those guys were great during their era im sure.
I think regardless of era you have to look at "greatness" as to what did those players do for RU and how did the compare to other players in their era. As some have said Bailey and Sellers were AA. That my young friend defines greatness. Hopefully we can develop a few more AA and maybe RH has the most upside
Sellers averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds as a freshman.
What were Harper Jr.'s numbers?
When someone, in this case kyk, says a R hoops player could be the best of all time, then *HE* is comparing that player to Sellers (and Lloyd, Bailey etc). So kyk is doing the comparison.
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Agree. It's very difficult to compare players across eras. In terms of "greatness", though, you can compare accolades and accomplishments - which puts the 70s guys on a fairly high shelf.
If you want to qualify to "best player in 25 years" or whatever, that's a different conversation.
No knock on Harper. He has the ability to be a great player. But to compare a freshman who played on a team with a losing record to a player who was a first team All American on a Final Four team, which is what the OP was doing, is absurd.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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Again it's all relative. Basketball is basically a different sport today.
Not really. All Americans are All Americans. Its about achievement during a career.
I love Harper’s game. Maybe he will be an All American. It won’t be easy, but he is going to be really good.
He can't be serious. All American is top 5 among all college basketball players in the country. It is easy to say basketball has changed when he didn't live through the earlier periods. It was so much harder to make the NCAA than it is today. There were only 23 teams for a while and than 32 for many years and only one team from each league which now sometimes has 8 or more teams from one league. Sellers was the man as a scorer and a rebounder. He set the tone for the entire team. Bailey, Hinson, Dabney, Jordan and Douby were also very special. Harper is outstanding but these guys were All Americans. I hope Ron makes it but he must improve leaps and bounds for the next 3 years.
