BB Recruiting Coastal Carolina transfer G Rasheed Jones commits to Rutgers

[PSAL_Hoops]

Hah. You can't pick and choose the games you want to throw out. Regardless, you don't want to include Powers' performance against a much superior UCLA team? OK, I'll play that game. Lets not include Mark's hot 3-3 from 3 against Minnesota, one of the worst teams in the league. If we throw that one out then Mark shoots less than 17% from 3 on the season, which would be about 5 percentage points less than JMike shot as a freshmen, and about 15 percentage points less than, as you put it, Powers "brick-like' performance this past year. That's right - about 15 percentage points. It's OK though. I see where you're coming from. Mark has that extra star. You want him on that wall. You need him on that wall. Listen, I'm rooting for the kid. I hope he becomes the player you foresee, but as of right now, with the players who have come in so far, he should back up Davis, at least to start the season.

Your missing the point entirely. 3 point shooting wasn’t the skill that Lino brought to the table. He helped the team in other ways so the few games where he hit a couple to keep the D honest was just gravy on top.

We weren’t discussing J Mike - that’s a different conversation entirely. J Mike is a better shooter, but after 3 full seasons we basically know he’s limited in terms of playmaking skills for himself or others. He plays more disciplined now, but his play as a PG is predictable because he can’t beat anyone to the rim in penetration and opponents know it - and he’s not a crafty mid/short range style player like Tariq either. This limits the ceiling of his floor game as a distributor. Lino is the opposite. Not disciplined at all but possesses all the raw skills J Mike lacks. Again - different conversation entirely.

The comparison you raised was Powers shooting compared to Lino which is silly because Lino will never play the 2 or 3 and Powers will never play PG because he can’t handle the rock at all.

 

[Anon1751565407]

And Powers scored more than that in a half vs. UCLA. For the most part Mark was a brick layer.

Late season Lino was a baller.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Late season Lino was a baller.

He’ll tell you Powers earned more PT late too which is true, but the big difference is the way the earned their time and how that projects compared to next year’s roster.

Lino distinguished himself as the fastest guard on the team and the second best go to scorer on the team after Tariq. By the end of the season, he was on the court basically every second that TF sat and earned time at PG over J Mike for the skills he brought that J Mike lacks. We didn’t add another pure PG to the roster so the outlook for continuation of this trend is pretty good.

In contrast, powers earned more PT mostly by default due to lack of players bigger than 6-2 to play 3-5. For a variety of reasons (match up, fouls, etc.) EO couldn’t stay on the court for even half the game and DG got worse and worse each game - which meant guys like Buchanan ended up sliding over to play the 4 and 5. Powers and Zrno played the 3 out of necessity. They were both bad on D and neither was all that efficient on offense but we had no other options.

All this said - J Mike still played more than Powers late season even with Lino eating his PG time, which is what doesn’t bode well for Powers next season IMO (barring a ton of development). Whether TF proves able to play PG or not, to see meaningful minutes, Powers has to prove situationally that he can add more value than BOTH a 2 small guard line up (any combination of them) AND a combo line that includes 3 of Darin Smith, Jones, Buchanan or Sydnor (all 6-6 or bigger) at the 2-4. Because barring more than one of the new guys being complete busts, there’s basically zero chance we’ll ever play 2 small guards with 6-4 Powers at the 3 again (that’d mean 3 of the 4 above 6-6+ guys sitting at the same time). And this analysis doesn’t even factor in the possibility of either of 6-5 Wooten or 6-5 Duarte earning time for their defense (which projects to be better than where Powers is at right now too). Again - there is an opportunity for significant development in the offseason. But that’s true for everyone.

 

[RUDivision]

With all do respect neither kid should be playing more than 10 mins a game. Neither are ready to be Big ten impact guys

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Again - why would you compare Powers to the player Jones was 3 seasons ago? He’s obviously much improved now (after playing 2 additional seasons). You have no idea what Powers will be like after playing 2 more seasons - you (and all of us) can only guess since it hasn’t happened yet - but as BAC said, there’s very little chance Powers will be playing for Rutgers at that point anyway. So it really doesn’t matter.

At present time, Jones is a much better all around player. But beyond this - Jones took over half of his shots from 3 and shot over 36% on them en route to his 39.8% overall shooting mark. His 2 point shooting was around 43% and he got to the line for 114 shots along the way. Powers only took 44% of his shots from 3, shot over 32% on them and still didn’t break 35% overall shooting. Competition level difference or not 36.6% from two is simply horrendous when you barely draw any fouls. It basically means nearly all your twos are midrange jumpers and your not good at drawing contact on them either à la Tariq. This doesn’t mean Powers won’t get better but this is simply the reality of the math today. The fact that he was the worst defensive player on a historically poor defensive team is the cherry on top.

Why? For the 500th time, just to say that Powers will ultimately be a much better player than Jones is now. Are you paying attention?

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Your missing the point entirely. 3 point shooting wasn’t the skill that Lino brought to the table. He helped the team in other ways so the few games where he hit a couple to keep the D honest was just gravy on top.

We weren’t discussing J Mike - that’s a different conversation entirely. J Mike is a better shooter, but after 3 full seasons we basically know he’s limited in terms of playmaking skills for himself or others. He plays more disciplined now, but his play as a PG is predictable because he can’t beat anyone to the rim in penetration and opponents know it - and he’s not a crafty mid/short range style player like Tariq either. This limits the ceiling of his floor game as a distributor. Lino is the opposite. Not disciplined at all but possesses all the raw skills J Mike lacks. Again - different conversation entirely.

The comparison you raised was Powers shooting compared to Lino which is silly because Lino will never play the 2 or 3 and Powers will never play PG because he can’t handle the rock at all.

In today's college game 3 pt. shooting wasn't a skill the Rutgers point guard brought to the table - no need to read any further.

Late season Lino was a baller.

I won't count him out in the future, and I hope he becomes a great player, but last season he stunk up the court until we played teams with barely a pulse.

 

[RUfan1977]

I’m

In today's college game 3 pt. shooting wasn't a skill the Rutgers point guard brought to the table - no need to read any further.

I won't count him out in the future, and I hope he becomes a great player, but last season he stunk up the court until we played teams with barely a pulse.

No. You should go look at the box scores. At the beginning of the year, he was remarkably bad offensively and his inability to hit a 3 pointer was beyond exceptionally bad. He missed his first 18 3 pointer attempts. It was amazing that he was able to do that and it didn’t matter whether it was a weak out of conference team or a good one, his offensive game was beyond atrocious.

Then something clicked, in Big Ten play he shot 47% from the field and 30% from 3 and 75% from the line. In Rutgers last Big Ten game in the tournament against UCLA, he was the only Rutgers player in double figures scoring 17 points (6-11 from the field and 1-3 from 3 and 4-5 from the line) with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

During the course of the season, Mark progressed from an amazingly awful player offensively to a flashy and incredibly quick scorer that was really fun to watch whether it was against good or bad teams. Depending on whether he returns as the terrible player he was at the beginning of the year, the fast but flawed player at the middle of the season or the lightening quick jet with afterburners that looked like he could blow by people and score practically at will for most of the end of the season, will determine whether or not we regret getting a star point guard. If he plays like he did at the end of the season, we will have our star point guard!

 

[rsegall]

Its too soon to determine if the mens basketball team will even achieve a winning season because there are so many new players.

In my opinion there is one missing piece ...... a coach

 

[Anon1751565407]

I’m

No. You should go look at the box scores. At the beginning of the year, he was remarkably bad offensively and his inability to hit a 3 pointer was beyond exceptionally bad. He missed his first 18 3 pointer attempts. It was amazing that he was able to do that and it didn’t matter whether it was a weak out of conference team or a good one, his offensive game was beyond atrocious.

Then something clicked, in Big Ten play he shot 47% from the field and 30% from 3 and 75% from the line. In Rutgers last Big Ten game in the tournament against UCLA, he was the only Rutgers player in double figures scoring 17 points (6-11 from the field and 1-3 from 3 and 4-5 from the line) with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

During the course of the season, Mark progressed from an amazingly awful player offensively to a flashy and incredibly quick scorer that was really fun to watch whether it was against good or bad teams. Depending on whether he returns as the terrible player he was at the beginning of the year, the fast but flawed player at the middle of the season or the lightening quick jet with afterburners that looked like he could blow by people and score practically at will for most of the end of the season, will determine whether or not we regret getting a star point guard. If he plays like he did at the end of the season, we will have our star point guard!

Yes. He was an elite penetrator (and I do mean elite) by the end of the season. His ability to finish was remarkable considering he’s not exceptionally long…but he was able to create enough space with his defender trailing two steps behind. If he can use his ability to penetrate to draw other defenders to him and then can find the open man for wide open shots then he becomes an all BigTen type player.

 

[RAC93]

Your missing the point entirely. 3 point shooting wasn’t the skill that Lino brought to the table. He helped the team in other ways so the few games where he hit a couple to keep the D honest was just gravy on top.

We weren’t discussing J Mike - that’s a different conversation entirely. J Mike is a better shooter, but after 3 full seasons we basically know he’s limited in terms of playmaking skills for himself or others. He plays more disciplined now, but his play as a PG is predictable because he can’t beat anyone to the rim in penetration and opponents know it - and he’s not a crafty mid/short range style player like Tariq either. This limits the ceiling of his floor game as a distributor. Lino is the opposite. Not disciplined at all but possesses all the raw skills J Mike lacks. Again - different conversation entirely.

The comparison you raised was Powers shooting compared to Lino which is silly because Lino will never play the 2 or 3 and Powers will never play PG because he can’t handle the rock at all.

At the end of last season I said we need 6-8 new players as part of an entire revamped roster. Some here said that was crazy. I wanted as much turnover as possible to get rid of all the dead weight from last season. Well, we have 6 new guys and likely adding another. So that happened. I also said, if we bring guys back from last season, Tariq should be the only starter grouped up with 4 new starters. Still believe that’s what Pike should do. Everyone else we brought back is a Big 10 bench, role player (Buchanan, Lino, JMike, Powers). Nothing wrong with that, they have an important role to play. I said it before and will say it again, Pike should start Tariq, with Gurdak, Sydnor, Smith, and Jones, in other words, 4 new starters.

 

[RUfan1977]

At the end of last season I said we need 6-8 new players as part of an entire revamped roster. Some here said that was crazy. I wanted as much turnover as possible to get rid of all the dead weight from last season. Well, we have 6 new guys and likely adding another. So that happened. I also said, if we bring guys back from last season, Tariq should be the only starter grouped up with 4 new starters. Still believe that’s what Pike should do. Everyone else we brought back is a Big 10 bench, role player (Buchanan, Lino, JMike, Powers). Nothing wrong with that, they have an important role to play. I said it before and will say it again, Pike should start Tariq, with Gurdak, Sydnor, Smith, and Jones, in other words, 4 new starters.

Pikiel will likely start Francis, Gurdak, Sydnor, Smith, Jones, Mark, Davis, Buchanan, Powers, Buca and possibly Duarte, Wooten and Ware. The only question is when, why and how much. Last year, the only players who never started were Nwuli, Fall and Ware. Players are going to go in and out of the starting lineup as players get banged up, or to light a fire under them, because they are slumping, because they perform better in practice than games, or other players improved more as the season goes on. Last year the only players that started at least half the games were Grant and Ogbole who started 30 games each, Davis 22 games and Francis 21 games. Other than the center position, I don’t see anyone as a lock for starting and an argument could even be made to start Buca to win the opening tip and run the lob play.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

In today's college game 3 pt. shooting wasn't a skill the Rutgers point guard brought to the table - no need to read any further.

I won't count him out in the future, and I hope he becomes a great player, but last season he stunk up the court until we played teams with barely a pulse.

Teams with “barely a pulse”? Come on dude. He scored double digits in 8 of our last 11 games (all high major opponents) - and the 3 games he didn’t were vs Maryland (twice) - worst team in the conference and Minnesota.

Meanwhile - the guy you keep propping up as a future star only scored in double digits 5 times all season and most of them were games where we had the snot blown out of us as if him scoring a bunch in 30+ point losses to Michigan or Illinois means anything (Zrno had games like that too - who cares?) The flip side of what you’ve been saying about the competition Jones played against or Lino only having an impact against teams you say “have no pulse” - is - what did Powers do against all the teams with no pulses? Outside of his 5 double digit games - his metrics across the other 24 games he played in had to be scary bad. Again - if it’s “so easy” to put up these numbers and Powers would be a super star in the Sun Belt - why did he only have a major impact in 5 games? Your argument makes no sense.

 

[seansherm]

Teams with “barely a pulse”? Come on dude. He scored double digits in 8 of our last 11 games (all high major opponents) - and the 3 games he didn’t were vs Maryland (twice) - worst team in the conference and Minnesota.

Meanwhile - the guy you keep propping up as a future star only scored in double digits 5 times all season and most of them were games where we had the snot blown out of us as if him scoring a bunch in 30+ point losses to Michigan or Illinois means anything (Zrno had games like that too - who cares?) The flip side of what you’ve been saying about the competition Jones played against or Lino only having an impact against teams you say “have no pulse” - is - what did Powers do against all the teams with no pulses? Outside of his 5 double digit games - his metrics across the other 24 games he played in had to be scary bad. Again - if it’s “so easy” to put up these numbers and Powers would be a super star in the Sun Belt - why did he only have a major impact in 5 games? Your argument makes no sense.

You two are arguing over two guys who were both subjectively bad last year. Lino just has the one skill set that can make a difference early, speed. Their per 40 and 100 poss #'s are very similar, and that was with Powers being a terrible shooter all year. Most think his form suggests that will improve. Powers also distributed the ball better. He was terrible on D, needs to improve. We'll see, they both have potential.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

You two are arguing over two guys who were both subjectively bad last year. Lino just has the one skill set that can make a difference early, speed. Their per 40 and 100 poss #'s are very similar, and that was with Powers being a terrible shooter all year. Most think his form suggests that will improve. Powers also distributed the ball better. He was terrible on D, needs to improve. We'll see, they both have potential.

Actually - I was arguing that there is no point in comparing Powers to Lino as they don’t, and never will play the same position. The comparison was Powers vs. Jones and then he threw in a comment about Powers great game against UCLA and said he wasn’t a brick all season like Lino. That was the context Lino came up in, I believe.

Lino is in a very different situation than Powers in thinking about 2026-27 PT. He’ll be on the court in situations where he A) adds more value than J Mike (he’s faster and was by the end of the season a better defender) and B) also adds more value than playing without a pure ball handling PG (ie Pike chooses to use Tariq, Jones and Smith in combo without a real PG). Unless Lino’s progress is highly disappointing, I think there will be an average of at least 15 min per game where a combination including him at point is more optimal than alternative A or B.

In contrast, I believe Powers has much more of an uphill batter because of how far behind his starting point is compared (not to Lino) but to Jones and our other options for either the 2 or 3. He’s shorter than every option other than playing Tariq at the 2. And when Tariq does play the 2, Pike would likely favor a bigger line up 3-5 for balance all else equal.

 

[RUfan1977]

You two are arguing over two guys who were both subjectively bad last year. Lino just has the one skill set that can make a difference early, speed. Their per 40 and 100 poss #'s are very similar, and that was with Powers being a terrible shooter all year. Most think his form suggests that will improve. Powers also distributed the ball better. He was terrible on D, needs to improve. We'll see, they both have potential.

Based on the season as a whole Lino Mark wasn’t particularly good. However, his performance was different from Powers who had good and bad performances, but not as clear progression. In the beginning of the season Mark’s shooting was impressively awful, especially from 3 where he started 0-18. By the end of the season he was hitting his 3s, scoring off drives and using his speed to cut through defenses. Scoring in basketball plays off of mismatches and if other Big Ten teams don’t have a player that can keep up with him that will create good scoring opportunities especially if he improves his passing and has someone he can pass to that can score too.

Last year passing to Ogbole and Grant was not the greatest option inside. This year I expect Gurdak, Sydnor and Smith to be much better options while Francis and Buchanan will continue to be good options for Mark to pass to. Mark as a freshman reminds me of a more under control Jacob Young, which is someone I very much want to see play for Rutgers.

 

[seansherm]

Actually - I was arguing that there is no point in comparing Powers to Lino as they don’t, and never will play the same position. The comparison was Powers vs. Jones and then he threw in a comment about Powers great game against UCLA and said he wasn’t a brick all season like Lino. That was the context Lino came up in, I believe.

Lino is in a very different situation than Powers in thinking about 2026-27 PT. He’ll be on the court in situations where he A) adds more value than J Mike (he’s faster and was by the end of the season a better defender) and B) also adds more value than playing without a pure ball handling PG (ie Pike chooses to use Tariq, Jones and Smith in combo without a real PG). Unless Lino’s progress is highly disappointing, I think there will be an average of at least 15 min per game where a combination including him at point is more optimal than alternative A or B.

In contrast, I believe Powers has much more of an uphill batter because of how far behind his starting point is compared (not to Lino) but to Jones and our other options for either the 2 or 3. He’s shorter than every option other than playing Tariq at the 2. And when Tariq does play the 2, Pike would likely favor a bigger line up 3-5 for balance all else equal.

I'm worried Pike is going to go with a lineup of Tariq at the 1, with Jones and Smith next to him as his primary rotation. While Tariq can run the 1, I think he plays too slow for it to be effective over time

I understand the Jones v Powers debate, and while Jones is the better player right now, I also get the argument that by his 5th year of college Powers may be the better player. That also doesn't matter. I agree, Powers, right now, will be fighting more minutes. The one thing we know is that Pike doesn't decide on a rotation until the year is almost over, so everyone will get their chance. There could be times we see a PG, Powers, Jones, Smith or Syndor all on the court at times. There is flexibility in who plays where.

 

[RUfan1977]

I'm worried Pike is going to go with a lineup of Tariq at the 1, with Jones and Smith next to him as his primary rotation. While Tariq can run the 1, I think he plays too slow for it to be effective over time

I understand the Jones v Powers debate, and while Jones is the better player right now, I also get the argument that by his 5th year of college Powers may be the better player. That also doesn't matter. I agree, Powers, right now, will be fighting more minutes. The one thing we know is that Pike doesn't decide on a rotation until the year is almost over, so everyone will get their chance. There could be times we see a PG, Powers, Jones, Smith or Syndor all on the court at times. There is flexibility in who plays where.

I just don’t see Francis playing the 1. Lino and David are likely to split time at point guard and my sense is once they are in half court offense you will see a lot of almost positionless basketball with Francis, Smith and Sydnor with the ball in their hands making plays.

 

[seansherm]

I just don’t see Francis playing the 1. Lino and David are likely to split time at point guard and my sense is once they are in half court offense you will see a lot of almost positionless basketball with Francis, Smith and Sydnor with the ball in their hands making plays.

I hope so, I don't like Tariq at the point, even though he technically can play it. Think you have to add Jones in there as well.

 

[PhillyRU]

I'm worried Pike is going to go with a lineup of Tariq at the 1, with Jones and Smith next to him as his primary rotation. While Tariq can run the 1, I think he plays too slow for it to be effective over time

I understand the Jones v Powers debate, and while Jones is the better player right now, I also get the argument that by his 5th year of college Powers may be the better player. That also doesn't matter. I agree, Powers, right now, will be fighting more minutes. The one thing we know is that Pike doesn't decide on a rotation until the year is almost over, so everyone will get their chance. There could be times we see a PG, Powers, Jones, Smith or Syndor all on the court at times. There is flexibility in who plays where.

Good things generally happened when Tariq had the ball last season — high assist rate, staggeringly low turnover rate and a decent enough TS% based on his high FTRate. In lineups with Lino and TQ, I think it would be good to find Lino in transition. But I tend to believe Tariq would be a more efficient catalyst for offense, and perhaps more importantly, TQ would be completely average off the ball

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I'm worried Pike is going to go with a lineup of Tariq at the 1, with Jones and Smith next to him as his primary rotation. While Tariq can run the 1, I think he plays too slow for it to be effective over time

I understand the Jones v Powers debate, and while Jones is the better player right now, I also get the argument that by his 5th year of college Powers may be the better player. That also doesn't matter. I agree, Powers, right now, will be fighting more minutes. The one thing we know is that Pike doesn't decide on a rotation until the year is almost over, so everyone will get their chance. There could be times we see a PG, Powers, Jones, Smith or Syndor all on the court at times. There is flexibility in who plays where.

I don’t think you have to worry. Players like Jones and Smith were likely brought in to allow Tariq to be on the floor without a second small guard but that doesn’t mean he’ll be running the point. When JMike or Lino weren’t on the court with Tariq, he had to bring the ball up. We really didn’t have anyone else on the roster capable of even playing a “by committee role in it” (Buchanan or Bryce were our next best handlers). Jones and Smith both look to have significantly better handling skills.

That said, I still do expect that we’ll utilize one of the two traditional PGs (Lino or J Mike for more than half the game). But I could see Tariq playing without either of them for 10-15 or so mpg depending on the match up.

 

[NBKnight]

With all do respect neither kid should be playing more than 10 mins a game. Neither are ready to be Big ten impact guys

Guys can’t make a jump in Year Two? That is a very shortsighted take.

 

[NBKnight]

At the end of last season I said we need 6-8 new players as part of an entire revamped roster. Some here said that was crazy. I wanted as much turnover as possible to get rid of all the dead weight from last season. Well, we have 6 new guys and likely adding another. So that happened. I also said, if we bring guys back from last season, Tariq should be the only starter grouped up with 4 new starters. Still believe that’s what Pike should do. Everyone else we brought back is a Big 10 bench, role player (Buchanan, Lino, JMike, Powers). Nothing wrong with that, they have an important role to play. I said it before and will say it again, Pike should start Tariq, with Gurdak, Sydnor, Smith, and Jones, in other words, 4 new starters.

Keeping six guys is not as much turnover as possible.

 

[RUDivision]

Guys can’t make a jump in Year Two? That is a very shortsighted take.

Very fair!
Can they make a jump? Yes.

Will they? Most likely yes

Will that jump be enough to have an impact most likely No

it’s not their fault. They were thrown into the deep end of the pool. We have no experience or upperclassman for them to sit behind and learn.

I hope I’m wrong both players had 2-3 games where they flashed that potential.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Very fair!
Can they make a jump? Yes.

Will they? Most likely yes

Will that jump be enough to have an impact most likely No

it’s not their fault. They were thrown into the deep end of the pool. We have no experience or upperclassman for them to sit behind and learn.

I hope I’m wrong both players had 2-3 games where they flashed that potential.

I mean - in at least 6 of each of his last 9 games, Lino Mark did the following:

1) score at least 12 ppg
2) shoot at least 50% from the field (there was a 7th additional game where he scored 14 but was less efficient)
3) make at least one 3 while not attempting more than 3 (he was 44.4% from 3 over the last 9 games overall)
4) at least 6 rebounds/assists/steals in combo.
5) make a free throw (he got to the line in all but one of the games)

I’m not sure how one could argue this isn’t “flashing potential”.

 

[RUDivision]

I mean - in at least 6 of each of his last 9 games, Lino Mark did the following:

1) score at least 12 ppg
2) shoot at least 50% from the field (there was a 7th additional game where he scored 14 but was less efficient)
3) make at least one 3 while not attempting more than 3 (he was 44.4% from 3 over the last 9 games overall)
4) at least 6 rebounds/assists/steals in combo.
5) make a free throw (he got to the line in all but one of the games)

I’m not sure how one could argue this isn’t “flashing potential”.

Kenny I agree he showed flashes. Will choose to disagree that one made 3 is a flash. I believe he’s a year or two away but hopefully I’m wrong.

We are where we are at PG and it’s not good, but hopefully Lino takes a big step forward.

 

[NBKnight]

Very fair!
Can they make a jump? Yes.

Will they? Most likely yes

Will that jump be enough to have an impact most likely No

it’s not their fault. They were thrown into the deep end of the pool. We have no experience or upperclassman for them to sit behind and learn.

I hope I’m wrong both players had 2-3 games where they flashed that potential.

With the addition of Jones, the need for Powers to make a major jump has been reduced. Mark goes into the season as the likely starter at PG, he had more than 2-3 games where he showed potential. Neither were thrown in the deep end of the pool, both came off the bench at the start of the season. You learn more from playing instead of watching in any case.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Kenny I agree he showed flashes. Will choose to disagree that one made 3 is a flash. I believe he’s a year or two away but hopefully I’m wrong.

We are where we are at PG and it’s not good, but hopefully Lino takes a big step forward.

No not as a stand alone - but it’s all those things in combination. My point is during that entire late stretch he was not a brick from 3. Certainly a chance at least he started to turn a corner. That’s all.

 

[RUDivision]

With the addition of Jones, the need for Powers to make a major jump has been reduced. Mark goes into the season as the likely starter at PG, he had more than 2-3 games where he showed potential. Neither were thrown in the deep end of the pool, both came off the bench at the start of the season. You learn more from playing instead of watching in any case.

Playing significant minutes as a freshman and Starting out 0-18(?). From 3. Might be considered the deep end considering early production. All good we disagree

No doubt you learn from playing

He will learn a lot this year.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

With the addition of Jones, the need for Powers to make a major jump has been reduced. Mark goes into the season as the likely starter at PG, he had more than 2-3 games where he showed potential. Neither were thrown in the deep end of the pool, both came off the bench at the start of the season. You learn more from playing instead of watching in any case.

You never know whose going to develop, but look, I think anyone who says (not knowing the outcome) they’d pick our pre-season 2019-20 roster over our current projected roster for next season is either lying or has amnesia about what the outlook for that team was.

We lost our best player in Eugene - replaced him with a Stonybrook player who turned out to be good, but I’m not sure why he’d have been considered a better pick up than Sydnor or Darin Smith.

RHJ was a brand name because of his dad, but his frosh stats were basically a replica of Buchanan’s - he was up and down. Geo was solid, but I don’t think I’d have taken him over Francis. Also I don’t think I’d take Tez over Lino either. MJ and Shaq Carter didn’t even combine for 10 ppg / rpg. Neither played more than 17.5 min. They had promise but weren’t projected to be worlds ahead of the combo we have lined up for center either. Caleb had a solid frosh campaign but nothing outstanding. Peter Kiss kind of had a similar stat line to Powers. We had JY and Paul lined up to come in addition to Yeboah- but we have Jones, Smith and Sydnor.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Playing significant minutes as a freshman and Starting out 0-18(?). From 3. Might be considered the deep end considering early production. All good we disagree

No doubt you learn from playing

He will learn a lot this year.

I think starting that way and then ending 44.4% from 3 is a good sign. Certainly better than the reverse. Powers also missed his first 11 collegiate shots - but he was more up and down with a few isolated good games while Lino seemed to consistently build confidence as the season went on.

 

[RUDivision]

I think starting that way and then ending 44.4% from 3 is a good sign. Certainly better than the reverse. Powers also missed his first 11 collegiate shots - but he was more up and down with a few isolated good games while Lino seemed to consistently build confidence as the season went on.

Agreed the way they finished was promising. My point about the deep end is they had to assume major roles early because of the lack of upperclassmen.

Once again, not their fault and both handled it well. Hopefully it pays dividends

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Agreed the way they finished was promising. My point about the deep end is they had to assume major roles early because of the lack of upperclassmen.

Once again, not their fault and both handled it well. Hopefully it pays dividends

The good news is we’re not positioned where we need absolutely everything to go right to have a servicable offense. There are a variety of ways we could end up being pretty good at scoring. It’s the D that’s a major concern. Buca is a deep reserve guy and has by far the best defensive metrics on the team.

We have Jones, Buchanan, and Lino all slightly above average. J Mike solid but not a difference maker. Sydnor might be good but hasn’t played in 2 years plus that was on the MAAC. A lot of uncertainty there.

Everyone else is either a frosh unknown or at best, slightly below average. Some are poor.

 

[mjjoyce51]

You never know whose going to develop, but look, I think anyone who says (not knowing the outcome) they’d pick our pre-season 2019-20 roster over our current projected roster for next season is either lying or has amnesia about what the outlook for that team was.

We lost our best player in Eugene - replaced him with a Stonybrook player who turned out to be good, but I’m not sure why he’d have been considered a better pick up than Sydnor or Darin Smith.

RHJ was a brand name because of his dad, but his frosh stats were basically a replica of Buchanan’s - he was up and down. Geo was solid, but I don’t think I’d have taken him over Francis. Also I don’t think I’d take Tez over Lino either. MJ and Shaq Carter didn’t even combine for 10 ppg / rpg. Neither played more than 17.5 min. They had promise but weren’t projected to be worlds ahead of the combo we have lined up for center either. Caleb had a solid frosh campaign but nothing outstanding. Peter Kiss kind of had a similar stat line to Powers. We had JY and Paul lined up to come in addition to Yeboah- but we have Jones, Smith and Sydnor.

Interesting on where Yeboah would be rated compared to this year's transfer haul based on his 2018-2019 stats. He wasn't a good shooter and the advanced stats show he was just an average defender and a good defensive rebounder. I would definitely put him above Duarte but behind basically everyone else preseason.

 

[seansherm]

Interesting on where Yeboah would be rated compared to this year's transfer haul based on his 2018-2019 stats. He wasn't a good shooter and the advanced stats show he was just an average defender and a good defensive rebounder. I would definitely put him above Duarte but behind basically everyone else preseason.

Not sure I could disagree more. He was a more well rounded player than any of these guys. Better defender than each one. His last year at SB, he scored more per 100 possessions than all but Smith. Rebounded better than all per 100 possessions.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Not sure I could disagree more. He was a more well rounded player than any of these guys. Better defender than each one. His last year at SB, he scored more per 100 possessions than all but Smith. Rebounded better than all per 100 possessions.

He was a true 4 - different position from Jones and Smith. So pretty hard to compare. Sydnor was a frosh and is now a full season removed from game film but of age to be a junior. So again - also hard to compare him. Sydnor as a frosh was better IMO than Yeboah as a frosh but we don’t know if his development has progressed at the same rate or even at all. Seems like many folks keep pushing Sydnor aside as if he’s fighting back from an injury which isn’t true. Even some articles about him assume that. He’s our most important pick up by far in my opinion. Really need him to pan out.

 

[seansherm]

He was a true 4 - different position from Jones and Smith. So pretty hard to compare. Sydnor was a frosh and is now a full season removed from game film but of age to be a junior. So again - also hard to compare him. Sydnor as a frosh was better IMO than Yeboah as a frosh but we don’t know if his development has progressed at the same rate or even at all. Seems like many folks keep pushing Sydnor aside as if he’s fighting back from an injury which isn’t true. Even some articles about him assume that. He’s our most important pick up by far in my opinion. Really need him to pan out.

I think he was more a bigger Buchannon, could swing 3/4, strong enough to guard a 5 if needed. I'm commenting on the thought all our pick ups but Duarte are better. Its so wrong.
I agree Sydnor is our most important, if he can't man the 4, and defend at a high level, this team will be a mess.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I think he was more a bigger Buchannon, could swing 3/4, strong enough to guard a 5 if needed. I'm commenting on the thought all our pick ups but Duarte are better. Its so wrong.
I agree Sydnor is our most important, if he can't man the 4, and defend at a high level, this team will be a mess.

They aren’t “better” but I wouldn’t say they are necessarily “worse” either. Sydnor is really the only direct comparable in that he’s 6-8 and built more like Yeboah than the others. The others fill different needs on the team - we lacked ball handlers with length last season and that’s the most important skill Jones and Smith bring IMO. Both are pretty good distributors with ball skills. You don’t like Tariq at “PG” but you can’t assume the ball movement with him in the game without another smaller guard will look they way it did when the 4 guys on the floor with him (not J Mike or Lino) could not handle the ball. Smith and Jones both have much stronger ball skills than every other player on last year’s team. Yeboah obviously didn’t bring this skill but it wasn’t something we needed in 2019-20.

 

[mjjoyce51]

Not sure I could disagree more. He was a more well rounded player than any of these guys. Better defender than each one. His last year at SB, he scored more per 100 possessions than all but Smith. Rebounded better than all per 100 possessions.

Per Torvik, he leads the group in rebound rate and is second behind Jones in Defensive box plus-minus, but he's last among the group in TS%, 3P%, TO Rate, Assist Rate, and Offensive Rating.

That being said, he made improvements, some big improvements, in essentially every metric his one year at Rutgers and if the three transfers can play like that Yeboah then Rutgers is in good shape.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Per Torvik, he leads the group in rebound rate and is second behind Jones in Defensive box plus-minus, but he's last among the group in TS%, 3P%, TO Rate, Assist Rate, and Offensive Rating.

That being said, he made improvements, some big improvements, in essentially every metric his one year at Rutgers and if the three transfers can play like that Yeboah then Rutgers is in good shape.

But Sydnor is the only one who really plays the 4. The other 2 are wings. Only seems appropriate to compare rebounding rate for Sydnor for this reason and he was pretty close comparing his frosh season to Yeboah’s junior years.

I’ll add - the point I’m making in this. The comparisons are really:

Yeboah (SB transf) to Sydnor (MU transf)
RHJ (rising soph) to Buchanan (rising sr)
Geo (rising jr) to Tariq (rising sr)
JY (Tex transfer) to Lino (rising soph)
Tez (rising soph) to Jones (CC transf)
MJ (rising soph) to Gurdak (VT trans)
Caleb (rising soph) to Smith (CC trans)
Carter (reserve C) to Buca (reserve C)

Paul and Wooten both entering as frosh (I’m not sure frosh Paul did more than the value J Mike will add as a returning veteran PG). Duarte a wildcard and Kiss was expected to return but then left the team - powers isn’t good at D but doesn’t project worse than Kiss was. Any conclusion that 2019-20 clearly projected better overall is based on known outcomes after the fact. Caleb was not a lock down defender as a frosh. We didn’t know RHJ would make the jump he made and so on. The good thing about next year is even if everything doesn’t go right - if just a few things go better than expected - we’ll be a lot better.

 

[mjjoyce51]

But Sydnor is the only one who really plays the 4. The other 2 are wings. Only seems appropriate to compare rebounding rate for Sydnor for this reason and he was pretty close comparing his frosh season to Yeboah’s junior years.

All 4 are pretty different but I would consider Yeboah more of a wing than a traditional 4. Hoop Explorer breaks down each players shooting types and the majority came from the perimeter or transition. He only posted up on 5.8% of possessions.