Best of luck to you Derek and thank you for your 2 years of hard play.
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.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.
Lou, after this season, I did expect it. I wish him well. I think a mid-major program will be the best route for him.Not unexpected. Wish him the best!
I liked his game but he didn’t shoot well enough. He can go to a VCU type team and excel
A player that shoots as much as he did does not lack confidence.
i felt the same about Jacob Young and he had good seasons after he leftA player that shoots as much as he did does not lack confidence.
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.Let's reassess in a few years.
JMike has a LONG LONG LONG LONG way to go to be a B1G starter caliber player.
In whose mind exactly are they similar? Not similar at all.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.
Likable, loyal … all good traits if it brought us points he’d be staying.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.
Yes , you can ask for more. What he could not do was be offensively consistent.Kid always gave effort. Can't ask for more than that. Could see him in the A-10 or CAA
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 gameBest 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.
It's not necessarily a fantasy. Foster Loyer was pretty great at Davidson but couldn't crack Michigan State's rotation.I like this fantasy that a player could excel on VCU and yet could not help Rutgers.
Only if he learns how to put the ball in the basket.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.
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 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.
I think you will be surprised.I like this fantasy that a player could excel on VCU and yet could not help Rutgers.
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 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.
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.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.
I made references to it.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.