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Time to cut the rotation …

I'm more of a LS booster than critic and I've been wondering about having him and EO on the floor together, something others have brought up. The big benefit I'd predict would be in rebounding, though as the general number of 3's increase, so will the number of long rebounds which will--through luck, anticipation, and scrappiness--falls to the 1, 2, 3. That all-aboard-the-defensive-rebounding train would cut into our ability to run on offense.. In the EO/LS together scenario, there's less adjustment for EO. He'll remain, offensively, at the traditional center spot where he's shown improvement. It would, however, be a new role for LS, though one he was comfortable with in hs ("The B1G isn't high school": Well, do tell.) I think his shooting would be fine, but I think he'd have to grow in his decision-making when it comes to attacking the basket with multi-dribble attacks. My guess (my hope?) is that after a few frustrating games it would click. Buying it? Defensively, this LS/EO experiment would work only work based on matchups and game flow. EO would guard the opposing five. If the opposing four is talented offensively (three point shooter, quick to the rim) except for in the paint, that assignment would cause LS problems. A 4 with not great offensive skills or whose body-type is more like Lathan's is a different story.

So, at times when we have this pair on the floor, we'd also have Ace and Dylan. Ideally, you'd want your final piece to be a shooter and adefensive hound. Don't really know who fits that bill: Jeremiah, JMike, Jordan? Not really. I think Zach has pretty much worked his way out of the rotation. This leaves PJ, Dylan G, and Bryce D. (Don't have enough to have real assessment of two frosh.) Anyone?
no...we have a defense problem....imagine Somerville or Ogbole guarding Royal!

I'd lean against a lot of teams going the other way and playing neither so we can switch 1 thru 5
 
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Regarding Simpson/Davis..

I think people were willing to give Davis time to grow since he was a freshman last year but he's been hilariously bad this year and doesn't seem to have improved at all.
 
And similarly, while I thought some of Simpson's problems might have stemmed from operating in a historically bad offense he doesn't seem to be much better at St Joe's. I mean, he is shooting a little better but assists are down, turnovers are up, steals are down, overall basically the same player.
 
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What makes you think Derek would have helped and been better ? We have seen Jordan and JMike continue to drive into trees with horrendous results. Derek used to do the same thing. Then he would make a move and brick mid range shot after mid range shot. Not sure we would want him even taking that shot on this team.
JMike ‘s defense has been remarkably atrocious and he continues to miss open shots so I guess you are going to guess that Derek’s defense would be better and I would hope so since our entire defense has been horrendous and JMike inexplainable bad. He was a good foul shooter but that seems like the one area we are doing better this year.
So not sure what if anything Derek would add ?
Speed, foul shooting, hustle and D.
As well as decent ball handling skills.
I think we all agree had he not been an atrocious shooter that he did all the other things fairly well.

Certainly played D better than JMike.
Getting in a guys face isn’t great when the opposition blows right by you or steps back and hits a three. You want smart D not just physical D.

I laugh at the bad chemistry claims by fans. There’s no left from last years team other than JMike?
Who exhibited great chemistry last year? Mag? Gavin? Gavin sticking up for Mag?
That’s the ultimate irony!!

So get out of here with chemistry crap.

And Simpson always gave effort and hustle, so even for purpose of argument even if there waz chemistry issue it doesn’t appear to have been Simpson. Maybe JMike afraid of losing minutes with Simpson here?

I see Simpson making numerous contributions OFF THE BENCH at St. Joes not necessarily scoring, but minutes, rebounds and assists. The opposition has called him elite. He would not have shot as much this year at RU.

I firmly believer he could have helped this year. Certainly more than his replacement. Stats are bearing that out.

Would have loved to been a fly on the wall for the end of season conversation
Wonder if Pike 2nd guessing self?

Yes I know it’s moot but when respected posters are coming around and acknowledging you know what, maybe we could have used Simpson or he was better than what we have now, I think additional commentary is fair.

Also think would have helped us as a 4th year senior next year.

It’s a message board. Fire away!
 
So get out of here with chemistry crap.
That isn't a minor issues.....especially if you are 15-20 MPG guy.

I can't give you an answer if it was a Derek thing or a team thing, but I can tell you with full confidence the team did not like him, didn't respect him and a few players wouldn't even pass him the ball.

This, to me, is FULL STOP. No need to analyze anything else.
 
And similarly, while I thought some of Simpson's problems might have stemmed from operating in a historically bad offense he doesn't seem to be much better at St Joe's. I mean, he is shooting a little better but assists are down, turnovers are up, steals are down, overall basically the same player.
He is averaging almost 9 points a game off the bench. 3.6 rebounds off the bench, better than 3 assists a game off the bench, better than a steal per game and shooting better this year at 35% from the field and 34% from three.
Only area worse is foul shooting at 74% but given last year I think will improve significantly.

Call me crazy but I think he could have helped.
 
That isn't a minor issues.....especially if you are 15-20 MPG guy.

I can't give you an answer if it was a Derek thing or a team thing, but I can tell you with full confidence the team did not like him, didn't respect him and a few players wouldn't even pass him the ball.

This, to me, is FULL STOP. No need to analyze anything else.
Full Stop! If you are going to disparage him, back it up. Full confidence from who?
Not to mention nobody returning from last year’s team. So that’s a cheap shot.

And who were the great chemistry guys?

Mags who gave up on the season. Bad chemistry there?

Gavin who defended Mags who gave up on season? Bad Chemistry there?

Gavin who subsequently bolted? Bad chemistry there!

Cliff correctly dreaming of his payday?

JMike worried about losing minutes?

Many RU fans who killed him?

Wolf who was also booted?

You’re better than that Greene.
 
Speed, foul shooting, hustle and D.
As well as decent ball handling skills.
I think we all agree had he not been an atrocious shooter that he did all the other things fairly well.
Yes. The problem was that the shooting was so, so bad that it kind of wiped out the other contributions.


I see Simpson making numerous contributions OFF THE BENCH at St. Joes not necessarily scoring, but minutes, rebounds and assists. The opposition has called him elite. He would not have shot as much this year at RU.

I firmly believer he could have helped this year. Certainly more than his replacement. Stats are bearing that out.

Yes I know it’s moot but when respected posters are coming around and acknowledging you know what, maybe we could have used Simpson or he was better than what we have now, I think additional commentary is fair.

Also think would have helped us as a 4th year senior next year.

He is averaging almost 9 points a game off the bench. 3.6 rebounds off the bench, better than 3 assists a game off the bench, better than a steal per game and shooting better this year at 35% from the field and 34% from three.
Only area worse is foul shooting at 74% but given last year I think will improve significantly.

Call me crazy but I think he could have helped.
I edited down to what I thought were the relevant parts.

(1) Simpson may be technically coming off the bench but he's playing 32 minutes a game. Those are starter minutes.

(2) Presumably by "his replacement" and "what we have now" you mean Davis and yes, he's better than Davis. But that's a really low bar and what we really need is a better player than either of them. Every player who has played *more* than Davis for us is better than Simpson. If Simpson were willing to play 13 minutes a game like Davis is doing (and will probably be less since there has been foul trouble and Ace was out a couple games) then that would be fine but that brings me to

(3) I still don't see the evidence that Pike ran him off. Simpson would rather play 32mpg at St. Joe's than 13mpg at Rutgers and that makes sense to me.
 
Full Stop! If you are going to disparage him, back it up. Full confidence from who?
Not to mention nobody returning from last year’s team. So that’s a cheap shot.

And who were the great chemistry guys?

Mags who gave up on the season. Bad chemistry there?

Gavin who defended Mags who gave up on season? Bad Chemistry there?

Gavin who subsequently bolted? Bad chemistry there!

Cliff correctly dreaming of his payday?

JMike worried about losing minutes?

Many RU fans who killed him?

Wolf who was also booted?

You’re better than that Greene.
Teammates looking the other way when he was in the huddle
Teammates not picking him up while on the floor

Sorry...it was obvious to me.

Not the 1st issue I ever saw. Plenty of other chemistry issues in the past.....and that is normal.
 
That isn't a minor issues.....especially if you are 15-20 MPG guy.

I can't give you an answer if it was a Derek thing or a team thing, but I can tell you with full confidence the team did not like him, didn't respect him and a few players wouldn't even pass him the ball.

This, to me, is FULL STOP. No need to analyze anything else.

How many of those players are even here now
 
Simpson was a miss. In no way does he help the team this year imo. Woolf maybe a little as martinis been so bad. Hoping he steps it up.
 
no...we have a defense problem....imagine Somerville or Ogbole guarding Royal!

I'd lean against a lot of teams going the other way and playing neither so we can switch 1 thru 5
LS was runner up as Mr basketball for state of Illinois ( so I have been told) and he does appear to have good offensive skills (albeit has to learn to pass) but I think his defense will come with coaching and experience
 
Speed, foul shooting, hustle and D.
As well as decent ball handling skills.
I think we all agree had he not been an atrocious shooter that he did all the other things fairly well.

Certainly played D better than JMike.
Getting in a guys face isn’t great when the opposition blows right by you or steps back and hits a three. You want smart D not just physical D.

I laugh at the bad chemistry claims by fans. There’s no left from last years team other than JMike?
Who exhibited great chemistry last year? Mag? Gavin? Gavin sticking up for Mag?
That’s the ultimate irony!!

So get out of here with chemistry crap.

And Simpson always gave effort and hustle, so even for purpose of argument even if there waz chemistry issue it doesn’t appear to have been Simpson. Maybe JMike afraid of losing minutes with Simpson here?

I see Simpson making numerous contributions OFF THE BENCH at St. Joes not necessarily scoring, but minutes, rebounds and assists. The opposition has called him elite. He would not have shot as much this year at RU.

I firmly believer he could have helped this year. Certainly more than his replacement. Stats are bearing that out.

Would have loved to been a fly on the wall for the end of season conversation
Wonder if Pike 2nd guessing self?

Yes I know it’s moot but when respected posters are coming around and acknowledging you know what, maybe we could have used Simpson or he was better than what we have now, I think additional commentary is fair.

Also think would have helped us as a 4th year senior next year.

It’s a message board. Fire away!
Speed is nothing if not used properly which he didn’t . Hustle should be a given for any player . Maybe his defense would be better but JMike ‘s defense was fine last year not so fine this year. Foul shooting was already adddressed.

I do not worry about chemistry stuff as this is Dylan and Ace’s team so any drama from last year would not be in play this year.
I know you will go to the grave defending Derek but my opinion is he would make zero difference with this year’s team.
This team needs a bad ass 4 man that can guard, rebound , crash both glasses , help team defense , block a shot , and score a little. Derek doesn’t fit what we need.
 
Pike makes the decisions and he selected JMike over Simpson ( probably because of the relationship with Ace?). You can cry all you want for as long as you want, which you clearly have, but Rutgers coaching staff made this decision and not this forum! So stop being an entitled child and accept reality.
I am pretty sure this is not true.

As I have detailed in prior posts, RU did not "choose" Simpson over anyone, I am almost certain.

Rather Pikiell was determined to know who was staying versus who was leaving, ASAP after the season ended, rather than get blond-sided with no ability to replace players late, such as happened when Spencer left in May and Mulcahy in June.

I am certain Pikiell and the staff met with every player immediately after the season (or even before), and given the 5 players coming into the program as freshmen, reviewed with each player their expected role on the 2024-2025 team. Possibly NIL money was discussed, with how much RU had available.

So, for example, for sure they knew Omoruyi was going to require $1 million+ to stay, if he even wanted to stay, and that RU did not have the NIL resources for him.

Not 100% sure the conversation with Woolfolk.

But I am pretty CERTAIN (no inside information, but just what I know goes on), that Simpson was very likely told that he would play a reserve role in 2024-2025, not be a starter ... that Harper would be the starting PG, that Williams would start (and Williams was way better than Simpson last year, plus a year older and more physically mature), that Bailey would start - probably at W, that RU intended bringing in a 3-point shooting "4", and the center would be a combination of a potential transfer, Ogbole and Sommerville. Which means that Simpson would be relegated to fewer than 20 mpg, almost certainly.

And I am relatively sure it was SIMPSON's decision to leave, HIS decision he'd rather be a starter, a starting PG, at a lower level program and in a lower level league, than be a reserve, with maybe half the minutes, at a Big Ten team like RU. Which is fine - his choice and I wish him well of it ... cannot complain when a player wishes to be, and has an opportunity to be, a starter, rather than a reserve. But I do not think it was RU's "choice," except to decide he would not be the starter.

Now Griffiths ... there was some information out there that RU did try to keep him. But again, NOT as a starter, but as a reserve. And he elected to leave because he and his "people" felt he should be the starter at RU. Him, I have no sympathy for: He went to a terrible situation for him, to a team that returned several starters, plus brought in 3 or even 4 guards/wings who had better credentials and past performances than Griffiths had.
 
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