Mag was improving offensively but has nowhere near the handle of Caleb. Put down the mouse and head to the optometrist.
I’m in the minority here…but I would prefer to keep this group INTACT
- Thread starter Scarlet Shack
- Start date
He is a terrible ballhandler and has no body control. He is constantly running into people, and picking up charges when the ball is in his hands. He is definitely a 4 and not a 3.
Caleb was much better than Mag and Hyatt at handling the rock. But Paul is way better than all of them. If he returns that alone gets him on the court provided we don’t recruit impact worthy ball handlers in the portal. Mag is way better than Paul at a lot of things but ball handling isn’t one of them. Your dismissing how much Paul and Caleb played and had the ball in their hands.
You need to rewatch the Temple game for a picture of life without Paul or Caleb against a halfway decent team. If Mag or Hyatt could handle at all this wouldn’t have been an issue and Caleb sure wouldn’t have played almost the entire Miami game fresh off injury. We needed him to bring up the ball. Simpson was an early frosh so yes, he’s improved. The other guys are what they are though.
Mag can defend 1-4, but he can’t handle the ball. Paul and Caleb were much higher usage, so of course they will have more turnovers.
If he was no worse - Caleb wouldn’t have played the entire Miami game. Mag would have. Nobody plays the whole damn game like that coming off an injury. We desperately needed Caleb to bring up the ball. There is no other explanation. Mag could not under any circumstance play the 1.
Mag is a perfect glue guy if you have a four double digit scorers in your starting line up…and I think we have that in Derek, cam, Gavin and cliff
Who said anything about a 1? I’m saying 3 next year.
Scarlet I agree with that except Griffiths may not be ready to start. I see Hyatt there at first. And I don’t see diva Paul accepting a backup role, so I hope he hangs em up
The point is, Caleb played the 1 and so did Paul because both are indesputably better ball handlers than Mag. I’m not in turn saying they are great PGs. The point is as it stands right now, Simpson is the only player capable of primary ball handling on the returning roster besides Paul . This is going to translate into PT for Paul if he comes back.
If Hyatt is starting at the 3 next year that is a really really bad sign
You could argue that hoping Hyatt can somehow become a starting caliber 3 in the B1G in his 6th year in college is more wishful thinking than Gavin being a 5 star who is ready to play and start as a freshman
Hyatt has proven he cannot play the 3 in the B1G effectively and likely doesn't develop much more in year 6 to change that around after being benched for Oskar
I said Mag 3, Hyatt 4. Not the other way around. I think Mag can replace Caleb. Hyatt the 4 until Griffiths can replace him, if and when he’s ready.
Am I the only one who read this thread?
If everyone returns...
Paul Cam Gavin Mag Cliff
If Paul leaves, either Simpson or portal replacement starts depending on who we land
If Cliff leaves, hope we land a stud portal 5 or at least someone decent enough to be interchangeable with Wolf
Simpson playing major minutes off the bench as the offensive spark 6th man
Ndongo in the rotation at 3/4, ideally passing Hyatt in pecking order.
Hyatt maybe larger role early in the season that fades. Could start if Mag isn't ready and Griffiths and Gavin take time to adjust to college ball
Wolf backup 5
Davis Chol likely further down the bench but potential to surprise and contribute more
Portal players TBD
In reality, it is somewhat pointless trying to predict this stuff until we see what the final roster looks like though. Any portal stud will have a big impact on depth chart and rotations
Don’t see how anyone leaves Simpson out of starting 5. Clearly better than Paul on both ends. We’re not getting a starting guard from the portal with 1 and 2 locked up, whether or not Paul stays and is a backup. Next year when Cam is gone, maybe. Not this year.
Yup - Paul, Hyatt and Cliff are still uncertainties.
Mag most likely will be 100% or close by November but still an uncertainty.
3 Freshmen would could be impact players
Who comes from the portal? Could they have as big of an impact as Cam did?
Long shot - what if Ace Bailey reclassifies to 2023 and is on campus this fall?
On the bright side - plenty of stuff to wildly speculate about this offseason
Lot of questions still. Warren actually mentioned he was considering reclassifying in an article after he committed. Not sure it's likely that either will be it can't be ruled completely out
If Paul leaves we might land a starting caliber PG. Simpson could potentially still beat that person out for the job, but either way we will have major minutes to offer at guard if Paul leaves so we should land someone good
Simpson has a lot of potential and flashed a ton of promise, but he was still an inefficient shooter and has some questions about ball handling and ability to run an offense. He has shown he can definitely get to the basket and get shots up as a scoring guard
We could still use a true PG. I think Davis can be, but he's a true freshman. An experienced PG would be a huge get for the team is Paul's gone otherwise there is a ton of pressure on Simpson
Shack--I don't think you're in the minority. Just not in the VOCAL high posting negative on players one here.
This group could be a NCAA contender if back together. A RU rarity over decades. No reason not to make a run with the additions to the fold.
This group could be a NCAA contender if back together. A RU rarity over decades. No reason not to make a run with the additions to the fold.
Agree with everything ! It will be fun to shuffle the lineups as we bring transfer players in and get updates on our own guys. We will probably shuffle the lineups on this board 10 times lol.
The one thing is there is no starting 5 with Paul on the ball. On the wing sure, but he can not be our dominant on the ball PG.
No argument from me on his game. He can just not Start at the 1. We need to turn the page on that.
Everyone knows that, Pike more than anyone. Question is, does the favoritism continue ?
Oh I agree! Cost us the tournament bud this year. Hopefully he learned his lesson.
Just curious -- by "NCAA contender" do you mean a contender to win the national title?
I meant contender to make the tourney.
BUT nowadays with parity and what we have seen this year (and our history of #1 wins etc), any team in the tourney has a chance to go deep, so to clarify, yes with Cliff, Paul, Simpson, Hyatt Griffiths and any portal yes.
BUT nowadays with parity and what we have seen this year (and our history of #1 wins etc), any team in the tourney has a chance to go deep, so to clarify, yes with Cliff, Paul, Simpson, Hyatt Griffiths and any portal yes.
I fear the same. Pike rode him this year and cost us a tournament bid. If he returns he will probably do the same. Hopefully on the wing and off the ball
I guess you would have preferred Jalen Miller playing up to 15 mins a game so they could have rested Paul and let him recover from his injuries?
Or play the better more athletic PG in Simpson. Pike knew the answer but values loyalty and it cost him and us. Jalen shouldn’t have touched the floor but depth was a problem.
If they sat Paul to rest him due to his injuries for a few games then Miller has to play to spell Derek and Cam. It's not just play Derek...lol. And therein lied the problem once Mag went down, there wasn't enough bench depth to be able to sit Paul or Caleb. Either of them playing was better than the alternative.
BTW Derek should have been playing over Hyatt not Paul. I said that from the minute Mag was lost for the season. Now he may not have been ready to play those minutes right then but he should have gotten more and then taken over for Aundre 3-4 games before he did.
Agreed Paul on the wing for Hyatt and DS at PG instead of Paul which I believe I said. It’s all over now . Pike pulled the wrong levers and came up empty. Learning experience for Pike. Shouldn’t be an issue this year.