You made a good observation at least mid season (PSU) maybe earlier, might have missed it, and this is a good take. But do wonder what rubbed his teammates the wrong way...just his inefficiency...which then became a snowball / downward spiral.
The guys not picking him up when he went down in the Miss State game was telling.
1. Jwill yelling "ball ball" when Derek had the ball
JUST a GUESS...early in the season he tried real hard to be the man and assert himself as the leader when the team clearly wasn't ready for that.
I mean I think he clearly would be a better player if asked to shoulder less of the offense. And that was talked about all season.
I kind of doubt it just because the rest of the team was also super inefficient. Yes he was the worst in that respect but he wasn’t a standout the way he would’ve been on virtually any other team.
I think it was probably his usage rate that was off putting. The worst percentage shooter on the team shouldn’t be the guy taking the most shots.
I'll bet it is rare to have cohesive units where everyone likes one another and get along.
Both small and quick. Both good defenders and poor shooters. But Derick makes his free throws. How do you see them as different?
If you listened to yesterday’s podcast (with MB and RS ) they gave a very informative take comparing both players. I will stand by my professional take😊. JMike is the better choice to stay.
His usage wasn't outrageous for the main ball handler, JWill was much higher and Simpson was similar to Mag, Hyatt, Gavin, and Cliff. There were also 4 guys who took more shots per 40.
I didn't think he was very good this year, but his size and ability to move are impressive.
Jeremiah William’s made over 44% of his shots. Simpson finished last in all of D1. Literally. His shot volume was off the charts for a guy with such poor results. Last year was understandable for Paul’s surrounding cast of guard ball handlers to end up with high volume. Paul didn’t like taking shots at the end of the shot clock. That left Caleb and sometimes Derek when he was in stuck hoisting. This year Derek just couldn’t put the ball in the basket and kept shooting it.
J Will's Efg% of 46ish% was still pretty bad, even if it was much better than Simpson's, and he jacked up more shots than anyone when he was out there. JWill % was still lower than the 13th place team in conference in Efg%. JWill's strength is the most inefficient strength one can have.
Just stop. Jeremiah proved he could finish drives and dish passes in his first few games. We had no other playmakers. Eventually they figured him out. Outside of FT shooting, Simpson isn’t materially better than J Will at anything.
Well, except dribbling without falling down, not committing fouls, turns it over less, ect. JWill is borderline elite in the paint and midrange. Overall, he's below average offensively because of his lack of ability from the outside. If you ask me who is better two years from now, it wouldn't shock me if it's Simpson.
Only played against Big Ten competition and it quickly became apparent to opposing teams that shutting him down was the key to beating us. The amount we were asking Jeremiah to do from the moment he stepped onto the court this season was crazy.
He played one year at Oregon after he left and his scoring average, and FG, 3pt and FT shooting percentages all decreased significantly…
didn't realize that. he was a key piece on a decent team though. his Offensive Rating on KenPom was actually higher that year on Oregon though.
Not sure exactly how ORtg is defined (it did go up very slightly) but looking at his overall stats they look clearly worse in his last season compared to his 2nd season at Rutgers and the other advanced stats (box plus/minus, Bart's PPRG!) seem to bear that out as well:
Jesus. Williams committed 21 turnovers in 12 B1G games, Simpson 29 in 21. Simpson averaged more assists and rebounds against B1G teams, and he had to play every game, not fresh legs for just 12. WE ALL KNOW JW was a better finisher than Derek. It's not a huge deal though when it's still below average. He's also only really valuable with the ball in his hands. When the ball is in his hands the focus will be on him.
Bricking wide open mid range jumpers time after time is as bad as a turnover
JWill and Simpson are both equally bad from 3. But JWill's offensive game is much better in every other respect. Could Simpson improve? Maybe. But so could JWill.
Perhaps, but when its the only open look a team can create, you need to take it. It's not like 90% of our possessions didn't end in a missed shot or anything. 5 of the bottom 250 guys in the country in Efg%. That's amazing.
He played well, but he also shot 41% in those three games. Don't forget, Mag was probably our best player during that three game stretch, not JWill.
