I was thinking about MSU’s current challenges with their roster. The situation at center is odd because they have so many bodies that seem like talented players on paper. I would probably put Hauser at center most of the time for now.
Using a made-up Michigan analogy for their other issues - it seems like trying to replace Simpson with a back-court of Poole and Spike. Both guys can do some things effectively and you want them in your rotation…but neither is someone who should be playing 25+ minutes at PG for a contending team.
Meanwhile, Henry looks like what happened when we gave a lot of usage to Charles Matthews…only if Matthews forgot how to be an elite on-ball defender.
I pretty much agree. But he’s probably closer than anything else they’ve got on the roster. It’s not going to be Loyer because he can’t play more than a couple minutes at a time (if that). Losing Jalen Terry - though he’s not lighting it up as a freshman at Oregon - looks bad now IMO. I feel like he’d at least be good enough to put in for short stretches and look good for the following year. We will see how the rest of the year plays out. But it’s hard to see how this plays out.
When comparing seasons on Kenpom or whatever, is it better to use the raw numbers for adjusted efficiency or the team’s actual ranking?
Example: I’m looking at Iowa right now. From 2019 to 2020, their adjusted offensive efficiency fell from 117.4 to 117.3. However, their ranking improved from 15th to 5th. Did their offense improve?
KenPom says that teams efficiency numbers from different years can’t be compared. Or at least not to say one is better than the other because one number is higher. So yes I’d say they improved
Another example is the Stauskas era Beilein teams. They were amazing at offense and really efficient. Several years later and the sport has evolved enough that there are a lot more good offenses around.
I’m playing around with some of the toys on Kenpom’s site and found the Big Ten’s tempo stat interesting. Look at that insane stretch of blue before this year. For as long as the site has existed, the Big Ten has earned its reputation. Maybe we are starting to see a shift here though (Apologies for how zoomed out it is. I’m trying to capture the scope of the whole thing. Clicking on it should embiggen it).
That is really interesting. That’s a very large change from year over year. Will be interesting if that’s a trend or a fluke. Northwestern, Illinois, and Minnesota have made huge jumps in tempo
Hoggard has only played 62 minutes in his career. What did you want him to do in those 62 minutes when Izzo was going to split the PG time between Watts/Loyer??
Better question wouldn’t you want to know what you have in Hoggard in the case Watts/Henry return next year with Akins/Christie coming in?? I know one thing out of those 4 I mentioned one player is going to be left sitting on the bench and it won’t be Watts/Henry/Christie. Hasn’t Hall been absolutely awful defensively this year??
Michigan State has also made a huge jump in tempo. Looking back a few years they were consistently in the 200s before jumping up to 130 last year and 46 this year. Probably also helps that UM isn’t in the 300s anymore like they were under Beilein, though only up to 231 so far this year.
I don’t think his dad wanting him at PG because that would be his best position for future success is wrong. Rocket Watts going to check Mitchell/Booker/Thompson/Beal/some combo of Brown/Smart etc…??
Have an ORTG above 95? A TO rate below his AST rate? Shoot above 45% from 2 or 30% from 3?
I’m not trying to absolutely rail him, like you said he’s played 62 minutes and he’s a true freshman so he could clearly become a much better player. But the fact that he’s only played 62 minutes probably tells us what Izzo thinks of his ability to play quality minutes at this level. And a sub 100 ORTG against Minnesota, the 2nd worst defensive B1G team before last night, doesn’t really move the needle much.
If MSU starts playing Hoggard major minutes, either they expect him to now be the best PG on the team after starting the season 3rd on the depth chart (on doing nothing on the court to prove otherwise), or they’re starting to admit defeat on this season. And despite an 0-3 conference start, I think it’s way too early to do that, especially considering this is Izzo and MSU who haven’t missed the tournament or finished below .500 in the B1G in 20 years
So, one thing to keep in mind here is that offense nation-wide tends to improve throughout the year. Shooting numbers gradually increase month by month.
I am not saying Hoggard should be playing 25 mpg but if he can go out play 13-15 mpg which enables Watts to move to SG and be more comfortable wouldn’t that be a win for the team?? Out of all guards on the current roster doesn’t Watts have the highest ceiling?? If you can tap into that I can’t see how that would hurt the team. Like I said earlier if you can play Hoggard and then able to move Watts to SG and lessen the load of Loyer who as a junior still can’t handle the responsibility of a PG that would be a good thing.
Not sure if anyone is watching the Purdue Rutgers game, but Newman almost just had a dunk of the year candidate. He banked it off the back of the rim though hah
