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Basketball Rutgers Basketball G Derek Simpson enters Transfer Portal

Remove some of those longs buddy. He will be throwing great lobes, tough D, drivin and dishin, shooting, much better than Simpson next year. Gotta work on free throws.
Based upon what, going games without an assist? His next great lob will be his first one. Worse three point shooter and horrible foul shooter.
Add some more longs.
 
Good luck to him. This wasn’t a fit but hope he does well elsewhere.
 
Simpson is a great young man and always played hard. I was a big proponent of his coming in and was hopefully he could improve after a poor shooting feshman year...

Sadly he regressed as a shooter. His defense and hustle were great, but you simply cannot be a historically bad shooter as a guard and play B1G bball

Hope he figures it out at his next stop. Wish him luck

Now replace him with a shooter please
 
Let's reassess in a few years.

JMike has a LONG LONG LONG LONG way to go to be a B1G starter caliber player.
Agreed. No way is it a slam dunk that JMike is "better" - they both have strengths and weaknesses, but I think Derek's upside is higher, as you can't teach his quickness and handle and if he could somehow finish/pass better, he'd be very good. That's a big if though and he had all year to get better at shooting and he never really did, which is so odd, since he's such a good FT shooter.
 
Best for both sides. Hard worker so I wish him the best and hopes he finds more success.
 
Probably got a “mini talk” and saw the writing on the wall w the incoming kids

Wish him well
Always played hard & was a good teammate / ambassador of the university

Welcome to big time college ball though
It’s not about feelings - it’s all W’s and L’s
 
He'll be missed for his defense and free throw shooting but it wasn't going to be possible to keep him and JMike both on the team. They are too similar. Still more dominoes to fall.
In whose mind exactly are they similar? Not similar at all.
 
There in lies the issue DS was NOT a good shooter . Good defender yes but we need guards who can penetrate , score points , dish off inside. More like J Williams.This player now going into his jr year seemed to always be playing out of control. We can do better.
 
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I am bummed this didn’t work as we hoped it could have.

Super likeable good kid. Wanted him to succeed here so badly. He gave us heart and gave us moments.

Best of luck to him.

Thanks Derek.
Likable, loyal … all good traits if it brought us points he’d be staying.
 
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Time to move on from those guys. Like other schools in conference we can fill those spots .Another down year in 24-25 and you will be tested to bring good players aboard. Watching the B1G final we are sorely deficient still.
 
Best of luck to Derek.

I think in the end, the Geo comparisons in his first year doomed him trying to live up to the #0 shadow and trying to play more like Geo and not Derek Simpson this year affected his confidence.
 
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Had to laugh at the fact several players of our B1G opponents are 6 and 7 year guys… 7 freakin’ years…😜
 
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Had to laugh at the fact several players of our B1G opponents are 6 and 7 year guys… 7 freakin’ years…😜
 
Didn't work out for him and leaving to find a better fit.
good by and good luck
This might be a win -win because Rutgers needs better to win and Simpson need a place to ,have his game , fit in better so his he can improve his play
 
This sucks, because you could tell he really cared and loved playing here. Hard to find guys like that now with the turnover year to year.

But, it's way things go now sadly. I'm not sure we had time to develop him to reach his potential. Did a lot of things right the results were just too inconsistent.

Wish him luck
 
Good luck to him. But to be honest I am not going to miss watching Simpson repeatedly botch transition layups. Bye.
 
I had a very strong belief before the season started that Derek would move on this offseason. I thought more than a few fans dramatically over projected him coming into this season. That said, having met him a few times, he is a great kid, respectful, and I wanted him to succeed. I think in 1-2 years he will pop back up at a P5 program and make an impact.
 
Best of luck to Derek.

I think in the end, the Geo comparisons in his first year doomed him trying to live up to the #0 shadow and trying to play more like Geo and not Derek Simpson this year affected his confidence.
He did not have confidence issues, since he continued volume missing all season. Cocky was more like it…remember how funny he thought it was to get the T that nearly cost them the game
 
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I had a very strong belief before the season started that Derek would move on this offseason. I thought more than a few fans dramatically over projected him coming into this season. That said, having met him a few times, he is a great kid, respectful, and I wanted him to succeed. I think in 1-2 years he will pop back up at a P5 program and make an impact.
Only if he learns how to put the ball in the basket.
 
Derek will do quite well at a school in a lower conference - such as A 10 / CAA or MAAC.

I’d like to see King Rice and Monmouth go after Simpson. King will need an alpha / take charge guard with his son -Xander- graduating who was terrific for Monmouth this past season.
 
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I thought Simpson did a lot of things really really well , especially on defense … except shooting and finishing at the rim. Which unfortunately were both near the bottom of the power 5 for an individual this year . It’s hard because you see a lot of potential there but he can’t be in the top 7 with another offensive season like that. And he had a whole lot of minutes to work himself out of a slump… so the conclusion had to be .. it’s not a slump.
Pretty much this. I always thought (or more like hoped) Simpson would find his way. I've said it before the amount of misses he had was uncanny - he could create open shots for himself, but they just never seemed to fall. Also thought he would make a jump this year, but this was also a tough supporting cast. Hopefully Derek lands someplace where they can fix what's going on with him, as his game needs some tweaking. Wouldn't be surprised if he would heard some noise from Derek wherever he goes because it was certainly 'Potential Unmet' here. Good luck Derek and thank you for your time on the banks!
 
I like this fantasy that a player could excel on VCU and yet could not help Rutgers.
I think you will be surprised.

Most people missed on the team dynamic with Derek.

Read the expectations after last year's finish to the season. I believe that Derek is somewhere. He needs to go somewhere new where his teammates respect him. More shots will fall.
 
I think you will be surprised.

Most people missed on the team dynamic with Derek.

Read the expectations after last year's finish to the season. I believe that Derek is somewhere. He needs to go somewhere new where his teammates respect him. More shots will fall.
Derek’s issues are Derek’s issues. I don’t want to hear he didn’t perform well because of his teammates. That wasn’t talked about all season. So let’s not overcomplicate this or make excuses. He didn’t handle the expectations well. As the season wore on his performance got worse because he knew he wasn’t performing well. He needs a fresh start at a lower level where he won’t be expected to be an all B1G performer.
 
Agreed. No way is it a slam dunk that JMike is "better" - they both have strengths and weaknesses, but I think Derek's upside is higher, as you can't teach his quickness and handle and if he could somehow finish/pass better, he'd be very good. That's a big if though and he had all year to get better at shooting and he never really did, which is so odd, since he's such a good FT shooter.
That’s the shame of it. In his first two years we saw glimpses of Derek being a legit BIG level player. By the end of this season his confidence in shooting the ball was shot. Prior to this era of Win Now/Next best thing college basketball, Derek would have had two more years to figure it out. It’s a shame but it is what it is.

I could see him playing in the Big East or CAA level and doing well. Kid has athleticism, quicks and hops which you can’t teach. Great foul shooter. Has to build confidence in his shot and understand the role of a PG (pass first) versus a two guard (score). If shot develops he can play at the P5 level as a Point, not a two guard. If he wants to play two he’ll have to do at a UMASS type program.

All the best.

GO RU
 
Derek’s issues are Derek’s issues. I don’t want to hear he didn’t perform well because of his teammates. That wasn’t talked about all season. So let’s not overcomplicate this or make excuses. He didn’t handle the expectations well. As the season wore on his performance got worse because he knew he wasn’t performing well. He needs a fresh start at a lower level where he won’t be expected to be an all B1G performer.
I made references to it.

You can downplay it, but I am certain it contributed to his shooting and overall play.
 
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