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The enigma that is Derek Simpson

Disagree. Simpson creates mostly good open looks. Creating an open shot isn't his problem. It's making it

I would caution against the Buie comparisons. It seems more like finding one outlier as an example and hoping that Simpson is another outlier. If you were to go back and look at all players who were ranked near dead last in efficiency in P5 and follow their careers, it's likely most never becomes efficient shooters

Simpson’s effort is great. He has taken his rebounding to a great level especially considering his slight frame. We have seen a few sweet passes turn into even more consistent better play with his head up looking to distribute. Not having that one track mind to score will likely improve his efficiency bc he will see the court better, have the game slow down, and force less shots

He really needs to just shoot better. Yes, it's just one aspect of the game but it's a hugeee part of the game especially if you're going to take double digit shot attempts

Last game was massive, but we need to see that on at least a semi regular bases not a few times all season. If Derek can finish strong these last 10 games or so, there is every reason to be bullish on him moving forward. If he continues to struggle the remainder of the season and the last game was a flash in the pan... I'm not sure how realistic it will be to expect a big turnaround in year 3. It would seem to be more wishcasting than forecasting at that point
The point I’m trying to make is much of the shooting burden was put on Simpson as he did not have much of a supporting cast. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he had his best game on J Williams first game.
 
Simpson hasn't been inconsistent shooting the ball this season. He's been consistently bad unfortunately. The lowest effective FG % of any P5 guard since 2008. You don't have that record unless you consistently shoot poorly

Yesterday's game was only his 3rd game all season over 40% from the field. 21 games into the season!

He has more games under 20% (4) than over 40%

Simpson has 11 games under 30%... that's more than half the games! Horrendous shooting

Let's see if he can put two good shooting games in a row before we even start talking about this as a trend. I really hope he can, but it just seems unlikely he will ever be an efficient shooter. Eliminating the extra terrible nights <20% is mandatory. If he can be inconsistent but rotate a good game in once every few games instead of once every 7 games that would seem to be a more realistic goal that he should be able to achieve

It's a shame bc the effort is there. The rebounding has been much improved. Recently looks to be seeing the floor and passing better. Simpson looked a bit more under control so maybe the game is slowing down for him and he can make a massive jump forward. The end of this season is huge for him. Need to see improved play consistently to be able to feel comfortable relying on him next season
There are a lot of positives in the post but all buried in the final P. I like the kid’s game a lot. EXCEPT for the fg%. If he can get it up above 40% even, that’s a big plus for the team.
 
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The point I’m trying to make is much of the shooting burden was put on Simpson as he did not have much of a supporting cast. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he had his best game on J Williams first game.
Yes and Gavin also is told to shoot early and often. Hyatt was consistently hitting his 3's this year but we did not have much else going on Offensively.

The real problem is certain people love to hate players. Those people have problems. Others just hate losing and blame whoever missed the most shots that game. It's childish but I can live with that.
 
Simpson hasn't been inconsistent shooting the ball this season. He's been consistently bad unfortunately. The lowest effective FG % of any P5 guard since 2008. You don't have that record unless you consistently shoot poorly

Yesterday's game was only his 3rd game all season over 40% from the field. 21 games into the season!

He has more games under 20% (4) than over 40%

Simpson has 11 games under 30%... that's more than half the games! Horrendous shooting

Let's see if he can put two good shooting games in a row before we even start talking about this as a trend. I really hope he can, but it just seems unlikely he will ever be an efficient shooter. Eliminating the extra terrible nights <20% is mandatory. If he can be inconsistent but rotate a good game in once every few games instead of once every 7 games that would seem to be a more realistic goal that he should be able to achieve

It's a shame bc the effort is there. The rebounding has been much improved. Recently looks to be seeing the floor and passing better. Simpson looked a bit more under control so maybe the game is slowing down for him and he can make a massive jump forward. The end of this season is huge for him. Need to see improved play consistently to be able to feel comfortable relying on him next season


Simpson has some really good attributes but his effective FG% is absolutely horrible. If he can somehow become a decent shooter, he would be such a good asset to this team.
 
Simpson has some really good attributes but his effective FG% is absolutely horrible. If he can somehow become a decent shooter, he would be such a good asset to this team.
💯

Even if he can't be good in terms of efficiency, if he can just be even mediocre and not bottom of the barrel level efficient, he can still be a net positive if he continues to play D, hustle, rebound, and keep evolving as a distributor. Find a way to eliminate those 3-13 sub 30% type games
 
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Bad or erratic shooting is not really an enigma. "If he could only shoot better" is a refrain we've heard for lots of players around here.

And it's never been a secret or unnoticed. RU was his best offer out of high school.
 
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About those Boo Buie comparisons... any takers on that still?
Scangg again?
Put the freshman numbers down side by side :
Gavin 5 star stud
JMike
DS

Gavin and Jmike have the advantage because they were not playing behind 7 upperclassmen and DS numbers are still better and that includes shooting .

Selective love hate of the boards are crazy
 
Scangg again?
Put the freshman numbers down side by side :
Gavin 5 star stud
JMike
DS

Gavin and Jmike have the advantage because they were not playing behind 7 upperclassmen and DS numbers are still better and that includes shooting .

Selective love hate of the boards are crazy
This has nothing to do with Gavin or Davis
 
This has nothing to do with Gavin or Davis
My point is and I apologize if you don’t feel this way but the boards today has my head spinning. Ppl kill DS and somehow love JMike and believe in Gavin. When you look at there 1 years it’s not close. JMike and Gavin had more of an opportunity because the team was so young. The selection of who is good or not makes no sense.
 
My point is and I apologize if you don’t feel this way but the boards today has my head spinning. Ppl kill DS and somehow love JMike and believe in Gavin. When you look at there 1 years it’s not close. JMike and Gavin had more of an opportunity because the team was so young. The selection of who is good or not makes no sense.
Freshman year is more about potential (besides guys like Ace and Dylan)

After sophomore year you're half way done with your career. You need to produce or at least show something. You can't be the literal worst eFG% shooter in all of high major. Not sure why this is hard to comprehend

If Gavin or Davis have a bad season next year, people will be ready to move on from them as well
 
My point is and I apologize if you don’t feel this way but the boards today has my head spinning. Ppl kill DS and somehow love JMike and believe in Gavin. When you look at there 1 years it’s not close. JMike and Gavin had more of an opportunity because the team was so young. The selection of who is good or not makes no sense.

But we now have the benefit of 2 years of Derek. No one was looking to run off Derek last year. Heck, most of the fan base wanted him to be the man this year. He didn’t get it done. In fact, he regressed.
 
But we now have the benefit of 2 years of Derek. No one was looking to run off Derek last year. Heck, most of the fan base wanted him to be the man this year. He didn’t get it done. In fact, he regressed.
Yea, it's an odd perspective. There was plentyyy of Simpson hype on the board after his freshman year. More hype than either Davis or Gavin are getting

Although the Gavin hype train I can see building pretty strong next season if he fills out and we start getting a lot of glowing off season reports
 
But we now have the benefit of 2 years of Derek. No one was looking to run off Derek last year. Heck, most of the fan base wanted him to be the man this year. He didn’t get it done. In fact, he regressed.
Most of the fan base was running him off last year as well. Shooting was awful no excuses. They said he was a bad defender false. They said he couldn’t handle the ball false. Was are best ball handler. Went out and led the team in assists and steaks was second to cliff in boards. Lots to appreciate but can’t get around shooting . I get it
 
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Yea, it's an odd perspective. There was plentyyy of Simpson hype on the board after his freshman year. More hype than either Davis or Gavin are getting

Although the Gavin hype train I can see building pretty strong next season if he fills out and we start getting a lot of glowing off season reports
There was no more hype in the last 20 years then there was for Gavin coming in this season. I guess it can go up?
 
About those Boo Buie comparisons... any takers on that still?
Oh my lord, nearly spit my drink out when I read that comparison……how the hell could anyone compare him to Buie? Inconceivable!!!
 
There was no more hype in the last 20 years then there was for Gavin coming in this season. I guess it can go up?
When a team lands their highest recruit in Rivals history, there is obviously going to be hype. When that team has struggled with shooting for years and the player is regarded by many as the best shooter in the class, it's naturally going to increase the hype even more. I was guilty of it along with basically everyone else

Oh my lord, nearly spit my drink out when I read that comparison……how the hell could anyone compare him to Buie? Insanity.
I tried to warn people...
 
Agree with Scangg. Simpson has played 60 plus games. Can he get better?
 
Exactly and it started very early in the season and was frankly ridiculous. He took over and won games both last year and this year. The criticism he had received is ridiculous. Nobody on this team shot well.

His shooting touch regressed but maybe partially too much pressure and lost confidence from this board. I do note that for most of the year he was one of the few players on this team that had the ability to get open on his own.

Even weirder is that most of the same fans who rip his shooting failed to acknowledge the many things he did well.

Best foul shooter on the team and one of the top 4 in the country.

Best ball handler on the team by far. We were seldom pressed and that is because Derek was a one man press breaker. It was almost always Derek bringing the ball up.
His assist to turnover ratio was the best on the team.

We were 3rd or 4th in defense in the country. After Cliff, Derek just as responsible. He is the quickest player we have had since Jacob and before that maybe quickest since Mack.
He lead the team in steals and I’m sure if Rutgers kept the stats he led the team in deflections and disruptions. Funny how Amir Young never took off scoring in the games against Rutgers. Hmmmm wonder why?

His rebounding has steadily increased over the year. He hustles as much as anybody and has the best motor on the team.

Even last night which I even note was awful shooting, he didn’t let it effect his overall game of 4 assists (Should have had more but teammates miss bunnies and bad hands) two rebounds and two steals but you wouldn’t know it from this message board.

You can’t teach speed. Defense as good as anybody. Foul shooting best on team and among best in conference. Best ball handler.
Shaking my head at only Gavin, JWill and Davis? Should come back.

And if Ace and Dylan are truly one and done, I would love to see Derek as a senior two years from now.
 
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Derek Simpson's last 10 games of the year
15-62 from 2
5-19 from 3
20-81 overall

There comes a time as a fan where you just have enough. You get angry everytime he takes a shot because they rarely go in from anywhere.

This team is terrible at shooting, but no one is that bad.

In MLB baseball if a guy bats .165 fans are eventually going to boo.
 
Derek Simpson's last 10 games of the year
15-62 from 2
5-19 from 3
20-81 overall

There comes a time as a fan where you just have enough. You get angry everytime he takes a shot because they rarely go in from anywhere.

This team is terrible at shooting, but no one is that bad.
Then again nobody stepped up this year and hit shots. So you’re weren’t angry when everybody else missed at pretty awful rates themselves.

Nobody else could get open on their own. Maybe Gavin

Simpson still hit threes at a better rate than several players.

Simpson one of best foul shooters in league.
 
Then again nobody stepped up this year and hit shots. So you’re weren’t angry when everybody else missed at pretty awful rates themselves.

Nobody else could get open on their own. Maybe Gavin

Simpson still hit threes at a better rate than several players.

Simpson one of best foul shooters in league.
Simpson only attempted two FT in the last seven games where he averaged 24+ minutes per game. It's not much of a plus in his game if he never gets to the line.

Oddity to me - Gavin and Simpson ended up with virtually identical 3Pt% of .282 (Simpson .28169, Griffiths .28182).

I agree with what FIG said above - if Davis and Griffiths are back and struggle next year, they will get ripped too. But we don't have to be mean spirited about it.
 
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He still got to the line 81 times. That’s not a small sample size.

I think part of problem and granted a small part of the problem as no excuse for many missed layups but still RU got beat up a lot going to the basket and never seemed to get the calls. Pike has to work refs better.
 
Then again nobody stepped up this year and hit shots. So you’re weren’t angry when everybody else missed at pretty awful rates themselves.

Nobody else could get open on their own. Maybe Gavin

Simpson still hit threes at a better rate than several players.

Simpson one of best foul shooters in league.

He gets the most criticism because he was essentially the no. 1 scoring option this year. Hyatt stepped up at times but when he was sulking Simpson stepped up. Really not fair to him because he isn't the type of player that can handle that roll on a team that wants to play the way Rutgers wants to play. But he's the one that took the shots so that's why he gets the criticism. Gavin and jmike did not take as many shots. Later in the year Gavin began to get more minutes and more shots but he actually made a good amount of them. And Gavin's shot looks good with unlimited range. Simpsons shooting form has looked shaky from last year. Id also push back on him having "the best handle on the team" his ball handling and decision making has been shaky at best. Jwill is best ball handler. As you said Simpson has done a lot of nice things but if you bring in a transfer guard, jwill, Dylan, jmike that's 5 guards. With the way things are I wouldn't push him out but idk how he gets minutes in that scenario.
 
Then again nobody stepped up this year and hit shots. So you’re weren’t angry when everybody else missed at pretty awful rates themselves.

Nobody else could get open on their own. Maybe Gavin

Simpson still hit threes at a better rate than several players.

Simpson one of best foul shooters in league.
I got real upset with the 15-62 from 2s. He kept taking the same shots over and over and missed.

His ability to create his own shot is worthless if he can't make them.

I am extremely confident if he gets a fresh start one level below major conference he will be successful.
 
Good foul shooter yes, but. He does not get to the line because he shies away from contact. Either step back mid range clank or some out of control fling from the waist on a prayer.
 
. . . I think part of problem and granted a small part of the problem as no excuse for many missed layups but still RU got beat up a lot going to the basket and never seemed to get the calls. . . .
It's not the refs. It's the players. The term layup is overused here so that it suggests an easy lay-in either off the backboard or directly into the basket. But that's not what this team misses. It's contested shots near the basket. And shots near the basket are often contested. You need to be talented and skilled to hit those shots, and our players are not talented or skilled enough. You can often just see when our players are driving the lane and defenders are present that they won't convert. It's not that they can't lay it in. It's that they can't beat the defenders.

RU players don't have some sort of odd defect that stops them from converting near the basket. It's simple. They don't have the skills or talent to score. Near the basket and under pressure, mid-range, free-throw line, three-point range. All of it.
 
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Derek Simpson's last 10 games of the year
15-62 from 2
5-19 from 3
20-81 overall

There comes a time as a fan where you just have enough. You get angry everytime he takes a shot because they rarely go in from anywhere.

This team is terrible at shooting, but no one is that bad.

In MLB baseball if a guy bats .165 fans are eventually going to boo.
Shouldn't a recruit the level of Gavin been a year ahead of Simpson in development? One everyone wants gone and the other is on the list of three people want back.

Gavin's last 12 games of the year, not much better.
7 of 28 from 2
13-45 from 3
20 -73 overall

Over those last 12 (JWill a common denominator??)
Simpson 28.2% overall, Gavin 27.4% overall
Simpson 25% from 2, Gavin 28.2%
Simpson 28% from 3, Gavin 29%
Simpson 100% from line (13), Gavin 77.8% (7-9)

Simpson 33 rebounds, Gavin 32
Simpson 32 assists, Gavin 11
Simpson 20 steals, Gavin 3
Simpson 0 blocks, Gavin 5
Simpson 12 to's, Gavin 5
Simpson 78 points, Gavin 60
 
Shouldn't a recruit the level of Gavin been a year ahead of Simpson in development? One everyone wants gone and the other is on the list of three people want back.

Gavin's last 12 games of the year, not much better.
7 of 28 from 2
13-45 from 3
20 -73 overall

Over those last 12 (JWill a common denominator??)
Simpson 28.2% overall, Gavin 27.4% overall
Simpson 25% from 2, Gavin 28.2%
Simpson 28% from 3, Gavin 29%
Simpson 100% from line (13), Gavin 77.8% (7-9)

Simpson 33 rebounds, Gavin 32
Simpson 32 assists, Gavin 11
Simpson 20 steals, Gavin 3
Simpson 0 blocks, Gavin 5
Simpson 12 to's, Gavin 5
Simpson 78 points, Gavin 60
I think you are talking to the wrong guy
 
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Pike hit back to back home runs with tweener guards in geo and Jacob young. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that is a recipe for long term success. We were ruderless without a true PG this season.
 
Most of the fan base was running him off last year as well. Shooting was awful no excuses. They said he was a bad defender false. They said he couldn’t handle the ball false. Was are best ball handler. Went out and led the team in assists and steaks was second to cliff in boards. Lots to appreciate but can’t get around shooting . I get it
This just isn’t true.
 
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It's not the refs. It's the players. The term layup is overused here so that it suggests an easy lay-in either off the backboard or directly into the basket. But that's not what this team misses. It's contested shots near the basket. And shots near the basket are often contested. You need to be talented and skilled to hit those shots, and our players are not talented or skilled enough. You can often just see when our players are driving the lane and defenders are present that they won't convert. It's not that they can't lay it in. It's that they can't beat the defenders.

RU players don't have some sort of odd defect that stops them from converting near the basket. It's simple. They don't have the skills or talent to score. Near the basket and under pressure, mid-range, free-throw line, three-point range. All of it.
Not mutually exclusive.

Officiating awful too.
 
He gets the most criticism because he was essentially the no. 1 scoring option this year. Hyatt stepped up at times but when he was sulking Simpson stepped up. Really not fair to him because he isn't the type of player that can handle that roll on a team that wants to play the way Rutgers wants to play. But he's the one that took the shots so that's why he gets the criticism. Gavin and jmike did not take as many shots. Later in the year Gavin began to get more minutes and more shots but he actually made a good amount of them. And Gavin's shot looks good with unlimited range. Simpsons shooting form has looked shaky from last year. Id also push back on him having "the best handle on the team" his ball handling and decision making has been shaky at best. Jwill is best ball handler. As you said Simpson has done a lot of nice things but if you bring in a transfer guard, jwill, Dylan, jmike that's 5 guards. With the way things are I wouldn't push him out but idk how he gets minutes in that scenario.
Nothing we have seen that says JWilliams is a good ball handler. Some nice alley lobs to Cliff I’ll give you that but ball handling skills have been suspect and not as good as Derek.
 
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