Big man grad transfer Ralph Agee on campus for a visit
- Thread starter dpwhite
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Well his numbers are bad but I watched his highlight reel and they had this dude playing like point forward and initiating the offense and trying to make plays off the bounce. San Jose State was a truly terrible team so they had to rely on this, I guess. Get him out of that role and maybe there's something there.
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My biggest takeaway is that this just re-enforced that the mountain west has the best conference tournament Court in all of college basketball. So there is that
I am a bit concerned that we would be his fourth college.
In the past, that would send up a red flag. With the current state of college hoops, with the portal and extra year due to Covid, I don't think it's anything to be concerned about.
I know we have benefitted a lot in football, but I do think the whole transfer portal is going to destroy loyalty between players and schools and between fans and players. I started losing interest in pro sports once free agency started. That is where we are at now with college kids.
Bad? He averaged 11 & 5 last season.
Arguably SJSU's best player, but don't know if his game can translate to B1G competition.
He averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes a game. Hardly, bad numbers.
Best of Luck,
Groz
The school just hired Tim Miles, who went after players via the transfer portal immediately. Agee is one of five players that are not returning next season. They likely didn’t have a choice.
If it makes you feel any better Agee's journey took him from a Division II program to a JuCo to a Division I mid major and is now being recruited by a high major Division I program.
He must have a very good work ethic.
Please do not quote per-game numbers, they are meaningless. Efficiency is a much better indicator and his offensive rating in two seasons at SJSU was below average. And it got much worse in games against better competition. In 22 career games against Tier A+B opponents (basically Quad 1 and 2, similar to the competition he'd face every night in the Big Ten) he shot 39-95 on two pointers. That's 41%, which is terrible for a big man. That's worse than Montez Mathis last season and Mathis was maddeningly inefficient. Myles Johnson last season was at 61% and Shaq Carter in 2020 was 56%, just to give you an idea.
So, okay, that's bad. He turned it over 22% of the time. That's worse. That's basically Jacob Young's turnover rate but with barely any assists to cancel it out. He's a 60% free throw shooter, which fits in here but ain't great.
Can he rebound? I dunno. His rebounding numbers (percentage of available rebounds gotten) against Mountain West competition are roughly the same as Caleb McConnell against Big Ten schools. McConnell's a good rebounder for a wing but that's not a flattering comparison. If a guy is moving from the MWC to the Big Ten, you'd ideally like to see him dominating to some degree. Akwasi Yeboah at Stony Brook was the #3 defensive rebounder in the America East conference and #14 in offensive rebounding. Agee in the Mountain West (a better league, to be sure) was the #24 offensive rebounder and not in the top 30 of defensive rebounding.
Can he defend? He blocked 1% of shots. (Cliff last year blocked 5% and I think we'd agree he has a ways to go defensively). San Jose State as a team had some of the worst 2 point defense in the country. In their Mountain West tournament game a freshman from Wyoming went 12-14 (all two pointers). If a random freshman from Wyoming can do that, what's it say about his ability to protect the rim against Big Ten caliber players?
There is absolutely no argument to be made based on the numbers, which is why I went and watched his tape. And then... I guess I can kinda see it but it's a VERY big metaphorical leap. It would take a lot of things going right. He'd have to accept and learn a new role very quickly, seeing as it's already basically July. He'd have to actually have the skills to do so at a Big Ten level, which is an open question because it's ALWAYS a question with transfers moving up like this. Possible? Yes. Likely? I wouldn't bet on it. 11 and 5 means nothing. Dean Reiber could have put up 11 and 5 at San Jose State if he played 25 minutes/game like Agee did.
I don't know if Agee can help us or not but I will leave that to Coach to decide. I think 88 is being a bit harsh. Look at the stats for the entire San Jose team. Perhaps Agee was double teamed very often as none of the numbers of any of the players jump out at me. He just might have had so much better numbers if he was surrounded by much better players.
Yeah, that's going to help. San Jose State is so overmatched in their league that it's tough to get a full read. Agee should never have been tasked with the ball handling duties he was but their guard play was so horrific they had to roll with it. So what does it look like when he's in a completely different role? I don't know, but you generally don't find high major contributors on teams that bad.
Brandon Clarke is a big exception but his stats at SJSU were insanely good. Noah Baumann transferred from there up to USC but hardly played for Trojans.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Hes not great but we just need depth for 10-15 minutes a night. I think he can reasonably do that
The second you said per-game numbers were meaningless, I stopped reading.
This potentially doesn’t say much for Dean Reiber. Let’s hope you are missing something.
Cliff is our big man. We just need someone to give us serviceable minutes off the bench.
The FG% is not an indicator of skill level, it is an indicator of being limited offensively.
If you have no 10 to 15 foot shot, because you don't earn the coaching staffs trust to take the shot, then a staff is only going to ask you to post up and score OR crash the offensive glass.
I was on board with Paulicap and he is not as good an offensive player as Agee....his FG% and offensive rebounds for Paulicap are what makes his FG% higher. But it handcuffs your offense if you cannot pose a threat away from 8 to 10 feet. There were games where Myles Johnsons man just ran to the middle of the paint on defense, even if Myles (or anyone) was setting a pick to generate a driving lane for the wing/guard. That keeps the guards from having more space to drive and score and prevents driving and kick-outs for 3s or jumpers.
It doesn't take more than 3 to 5 minutes of watching Agee game tape and see he provides something RU has not had at the 4 or 5 in the Pike era.....someone who can screen and shoot or screen and make a play to score or pass.
The turnover percentage is high, because San Jose State actually asked him to make plays....you can't turn the ball over as a big, unless you are a primary hub within the offense.
It's not overly complicated, this (if RU and Agee are a match) expands what RU can do up front. Doucoure, Myles were duplicates as far as only being crash the glass and back to the basket bigs. For 12 to 20 minutes a game (depending on foul trouble or how much progress Reiber makes this summer), is a low risk, high reward pick up. I don't see the downside here at all.
If you have no 10 to 15 foot shot, because you don't earn the coaching staffs trust to take the shot, then a staff is only going to ask you to post up and score OR crash the offensive glass.
I was on board with Paulicap and he is not as good an offensive player as Agee....his FG% and offensive rebounds for Paulicap are what makes his FG% higher. But it handcuffs your offense if you cannot pose a threat away from 8 to 10 feet. There were games where Myles Johnsons man just ran to the middle of the paint on defense, even if Myles (or anyone) was setting a pick to generate a driving lane for the wing/guard. That keeps the guards from having more space to drive and score and prevents driving and kick-outs for 3s or jumpers.
It doesn't take more than 3 to 5 minutes of watching Agee game tape and see he provides something RU has not had at the 4 or 5 in the Pike era.....someone who can screen and shoot or screen and make a play to score or pass.
The turnover percentage is high, because San Jose State actually asked him to make plays....you can't turn the ball over as a big, unless you are a primary hub within the offense.
It's not overly complicated, this (if RU and Agee are a match) expands what RU can do up front. Doucoure, Myles were duplicates as far as only being crash the glass and back to the basket bigs. For 12 to 20 minutes a game (depending on foul trouble or how much progress Reiber makes this summer), is a low risk, high reward pick up. I don't see the downside here at all.
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Best case, he can be somewhere between a CJ Gettys and a Shaq Carter type of contributor at 6'8 235. He did start to figure things out last 10-12 games of 2020-21. The team and coaching staff isn't great, 7-24 and 5-16 last 2 years. SJSt- 2 winning seasons the last 3 decades. Not sure how good SJSt facilities or his schools before them were, but he might excel when he has access to a top notch staff and athletic center to work out daily in if he vibes well with the team.
Went from 220 to 235, Jr to Sr.
Wants to play professionally overseas like Gettys did.
Went from 220 to 235, Jr to Sr.
Wants to play professionally overseas like Gettys did.
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Good write-up here...
https://www.onthebanks.com/2021/6/2...SrXbVyzWxuznB_PbN0tx_lXRbg6uW0J5nN_oQwxap6YQw
https://www.onthebanks.com/2021/6/2...SrXbVyzWxuznB_PbN0tx_lXRbg6uW0J5nN_oQwxap6YQw
This is really smart analysis that digs beyond the surface level stats. Nobody on this board thinks about Rutgers hoops as clearly and insightfully as you. Really good stuff as always.
This is what happens when you don't land targets at the height of the transfer market and you're stuck picking up the scraps left on the table in July.
Per game numbers have no context. Scoring 11 points per game on 15 minutes a night in the Big Ten is much, much different than scoring 11 points on 30 minutes a night in the Mountain West. Per 40/efficiency numbers tell a more accurate story.
The highlight reel shows you the shots he makes, not all the misses. He can hit a jumper the same way Montez Mathis can hit a three pointer: It's possible but it's a good outcome for the defense. Teams will be more than happy for possessions to end with an Agee jumper, I guarantee you.
Anyway, the reason to take Agee is because you think getting him off of one of the 20 worst teams in the sport can unlock something. But his role has got to change.
Look at Sam Sessoms from Binghamton: Did everything (33% usage) for a miserable Binghamton team. Went to Penn State and instead of being asked to fill a specific role he... pretty much did everything and led the team in usage. But since the Big Ten is a much better league than the America East, his offensive rating fell from 101 to 87. That's an example of poor coaching IMO.
Now obviously Pikiell is going to do a better job with Agee. And I'm not saying I wouldn't take him, just that there are a lot of obstacles to overcome for success.
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Pikiell has done a terrific job in getting the team to over achieve in the B1G resulting in Rutgers finally earning a NCAA bid and winning a game in the tournament.The issue going forward is replacing players that have left with better scorers at every position,The grind out games leaves little margin for error and the 2021-22 season will have fans in the stands meaning road wins will be very difficult.Rutgers fans are anxious to get back to the RAC and watch big time college basketball.Hopefully,some of the new players will be difference makers on offense and defense,
As always, over analyzing it.
You don't build a basketball team based on this kind of analysis. It's how guys play together on the court, how they fit into a system and how they embrace their role.
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LMAO ! Making a decision based on stats. Bad stats could mean a guy was misused, forced to do things he was not good at because of a poor supporting cast....Lots of factors could impact stats.
AND...If they looked at all those advanced stats for decisions and the stats are horrible as the other other guy stated....why are they targeting him?
Because they will make a decision on who to bring in based on the role they need a guy to fill for the team and they see him as a good fit for what they want to do as a team.
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Because it's almost July and they desperately need a big man. The pickings are slim.
How do you think coaches scout opposing players, by the way?
They scout by watching. Looking for Tendencies, what a player does well, does he go mostly right or left, are his passes crisp, how he handles pressure defense, etc, etc....Not by looking at an advanced stat sheet, lol.
Of course they look at the obvious things, for example: 3 point shooting to know they have to try to deny a guy those shoots.
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San Jose State is one of the losingest men's basketball teams of all time. I've lived in Northern California since 1986 and the Spartans have never been relevant. I think they snuck into the NCAA's once as a 16 seed - but it was a fluke appearance. My point is their culture of losing is so extreme, be slow to make any conclusions about Agee. The Spartans somehow played only two games at home this past season. I strongly suspect Agee was asked to do way too much and likely played out of position.
Good catch on the home games. And I absolutely agree that it's a very weird program historically.
They had Brandon Clarke (now in the NBA) and Ryan Welage (a 6-10 dude who made 40% of his threes for Xavier as a transfer) on the roster at the same time and still couldn't manage a winning record.
An experienced 6’8 power forward with moves, who seems to have good court awareness. I’d rather see us take him rather than leave a scholarship position open, if it comes to that. Gotta trust Pike and staff on this.
I said they look at some stats (like identifying 3 point shooters or good offensive rebounders). Advanced Stats don't tell you WHY something is happening for a specific player....you can only get that by watching.
So, knowing a guy like Myles Johnson is efficient and shoots 62% on 2's......won't help you develop a plan to defend him. It's because he only takes very high percentage shots and passes out of the low post way to much instead of challenging the defender by going hard to the rim.
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