I'm not even going to sugarcoat it. Nothing about Patrick's game makes me think he should be a starter.
He is praised often for his offensive ability, and how he is hard to guard because of his gliding sort of unconventional style of play, but his stamina and defensive efforts are just flat out bad several times. He seems to gas out quickly and needs to take a break, otherwise, he is playing one way, and it's obvious if you watch him. I often am praying the ball goes out of bounds so he can catch his damn breath. He's barely shooting 40% from the floor, and 25% from 3 which is basically what I would have guessed before even stat checking because it feels like every game he goes 1-4 or 1-5 from 3. There are some glaring issues that we just got exposed to last night, and against Illinois, some against Purdue and VA - Rebounding being the main one. I think an adjustment to the line-up and minutes distributed could play a significant role in fixing that.
Starting 5 IMO:
* Each of these guys should play no less than 18MPG - 3 of the 5 currently are playing less than that.
(1)- Ahron Ulis - Joe T is out of control. I feel bad because I love the kid and he's a gamer he just has been struggling. Really want to see him get out of this slump. Until then Ulis needs the keys, he is a good defender, a good free-throw shooter, a decent facilitator, and shooter, and has a high BB IQ. he's still learning but for the most part, he shows that he is in control. This is the one position I could have gone either way with Joe or Ahron on, they both have similar statistics but neither has proven to be solidified PG of this team.
(2)- Tony Perkins - without a doubt, he is an overall better player than Jordan. Jordan in my opinion is the perfect 6th man. Everyone knows his strength, everyone knows his weaknesses, he's easy to shut down and we don't have a team with consistent shooters, but we have guys who can knock down the occasional 3 balls. I will take Perkins' dog mentality on D, his ability to cut, his mediocre 3 point shooting, and his athleticism for 20+ minutes on the floor, starting every night, over JBo. He's also a better rebounder, although not great.
(3)- Kris Murray - He is a better player than Patrick at the 3. I stated earlier that Patrick should not be a starter, and my opinion was before I even investigated the season statistics. The analytics heavily support my claim, and I think the majority would say he passes the eyeball test.
Kris Murray
Per game: MPG - 18.4/ PPG - 10.4 / RBPG - 5.7 / APG - 1.0 / STL - .8 / BLK - .8
shooting splits - (FG%/2pt%/3pt%/FT%) - 50% / 52.3% / 46.4% / 64.3%
Per 40 min: (PPG/RBPG/APG/STL/BLK) - 22.7 / 12.3 / 2.2 / 1.7 / 1.7
Patrick McCaffery
Per game: MPG - 23.6/ PPG - 11.4 / RBPG - 2.8 / APG - 1.9 / STL - .4 / BLK - .3
shooting splits - (FG%/2pt%/3pt%/FT%) - 40.8% / 48.1% / 25% / 82.1%
Per 40 min: (PPG/RBPG/APG/STL/BLK) - 19.3 / 4.7 / 3.2 / .6 / .4
If you look at the advanced statistics Kris sits at the top just below his brother, 2nd on the team in eFG%, points produced, total rebounding percentage (just below Josh O), 3rd in block %, 2nd on WS/40, 2nd on +/- behind Keegan.
The sad thing is, Kris is 8th on the team in minutes played. Patrick has (by KM's MPG average) an entire game's worth of minutes played on Kris, and he still hasn't matched his production in almost every important statistic. Let alone the statistic we are struggling with the MOST - Rebounding.
Kris played 16 minutes last night because of his 2 fouls early on, but he still should not have left the floor in the 2nd half. He had a +/- of 11, the highest on the team. played 9 minutes less than Patrick, had 6 rebounds, 3 offensive to Patricks 4 total, and added 2 steals and 2 blocks, which Patrick garnered 1 block. Patrick isn't the exception here, the entire team played poorly, I'm just comparing a small sample within a larger pool of statistics.
Patrick can score, yes, and he does some other things well (run the floor, he's long and can disrupt passing lanes, and fast for his size) but almost all of the things he does well, Kris does as well, if not BETTER. Am I wrong thinking it's an abomination that Kris is not in our starting lineup? Tell me I'm wrong.
(4)- Keegan Murray - Far and above proven to be the best overall player on this team. Still learning how to distribute the ball out of double teams as well as Garza did, but that will come with time. He's not 100% right now, but with 8 days off I think we see as close to a 100% Keegan we've gotten in a couple of weeks.
(5) - Filip Rebraca - Gotta be him, even though he's not a true 5. He has struggled with his free throws and rebounding, but still is averaging over 6 per game in 20 minutes. So about on pace with what KM would average per 40. I think he is actually a pretty good defender given what he's dealt with and his size, and he's a lot more athletic than we have allowed him to be in our offense (I.E that dunk last night). He's our best option at the 5 and has a bit more offensive dynamics than Josh O, as well as a better grasp on the offensive it seems. I don't think Josh is too far behind though and I am all for him getting 10 MPG.
Reduce their minutes (time to pick on the vets):
PMac - second on the team, playing 23.6 - he's not deserved that with his inconsistent play and points I've already made before this, relative to KM.
JBo - Playing 23.3 - he could be good for 15-18 right now. IMO we could probably get the exact same production out of him and MORE from Tony swapping their minutes cuz he is only averaging 18.1
Connor - Playing around 16 MPG, but is averaging a team-low 1.1 PPG, and shooting 14% from 3. this post wasn't to rip on the McCaffery's because I think they are worthy of playing time and they both bring good things to this team, but honestly every time Connor steps on the floor now he's almost just a turnover if he shoots it. He also was crossed up horribly by Brockington last night and then later in the game committed a horrendous turnover into a double team to Keegan which was clearly not there. Connor has been a good player for us for a while, but a lot of that was because of the shooters around him and Garza, now that he's being asked to be a part of the scoring in this offensive again, he's not producing. Has he earned these minutes? Who should he be playing over? I say no, and his leash is very short if he has.
Go ahead and tell me I'm wrong. Our guys need to be better, but Fran needs to be better with his rotations/personnel. Our defense already isn't great, but he limits it even more with our lineups, or lack thereof, mixes. I'm sorry but it's painful to watch us go down by that much and force 3's with plenty of time to get 2's and TO's.
He is praised often for his offensive ability, and how he is hard to guard because of his gliding sort of unconventional style of play, but his stamina and defensive efforts are just flat out bad several times. He seems to gas out quickly and needs to take a break, otherwise, he is playing one way, and it's obvious if you watch him. I often am praying the ball goes out of bounds so he can catch his damn breath. He's barely shooting 40% from the floor, and 25% from 3 which is basically what I would have guessed before even stat checking because it feels like every game he goes 1-4 or 1-5 from 3. There are some glaring issues that we just got exposed to last night, and against Illinois, some against Purdue and VA - Rebounding being the main one. I think an adjustment to the line-up and minutes distributed could play a significant role in fixing that.
Starting 5 IMO:
* Each of these guys should play no less than 18MPG - 3 of the 5 currently are playing less than that.
(1)- Ahron Ulis - Joe T is out of control. I feel bad because I love the kid and he's a gamer he just has been struggling. Really want to see him get out of this slump. Until then Ulis needs the keys, he is a good defender, a good free-throw shooter, a decent facilitator, and shooter, and has a high BB IQ. he's still learning but for the most part, he shows that he is in control. This is the one position I could have gone either way with Joe or Ahron on, they both have similar statistics but neither has proven to be solidified PG of this team.
(2)- Tony Perkins - without a doubt, he is an overall better player than Jordan. Jordan in my opinion is the perfect 6th man. Everyone knows his strength, everyone knows his weaknesses, he's easy to shut down and we don't have a team with consistent shooters, but we have guys who can knock down the occasional 3 balls. I will take Perkins' dog mentality on D, his ability to cut, his mediocre 3 point shooting, and his athleticism for 20+ minutes on the floor, starting every night, over JBo. He's also a better rebounder, although not great.
(3)- Kris Murray - He is a better player than Patrick at the 3. I stated earlier that Patrick should not be a starter, and my opinion was before I even investigated the season statistics. The analytics heavily support my claim, and I think the majority would say he passes the eyeball test.
Kris Murray
Per game: MPG - 18.4/ PPG - 10.4 / RBPG - 5.7 / APG - 1.0 / STL - .8 / BLK - .8
shooting splits - (FG%/2pt%/3pt%/FT%) - 50% / 52.3% / 46.4% / 64.3%
Per 40 min: (PPG/RBPG/APG/STL/BLK) - 22.7 / 12.3 / 2.2 / 1.7 / 1.7
Patrick McCaffery
Per game: MPG - 23.6/ PPG - 11.4 / RBPG - 2.8 / APG - 1.9 / STL - .4 / BLK - .3
shooting splits - (FG%/2pt%/3pt%/FT%) - 40.8% / 48.1% / 25% / 82.1%
Per 40 min: (PPG/RBPG/APG/STL/BLK) - 19.3 / 4.7 / 3.2 / .6 / .4
If you look at the advanced statistics Kris sits at the top just below his brother, 2nd on the team in eFG%, points produced, total rebounding percentage (just below Josh O), 3rd in block %, 2nd on WS/40, 2nd on +/- behind Keegan.
The sad thing is, Kris is 8th on the team in minutes played. Patrick has (by KM's MPG average) an entire game's worth of minutes played on Kris, and he still hasn't matched his production in almost every important statistic. Let alone the statistic we are struggling with the MOST - Rebounding.
Kris played 16 minutes last night because of his 2 fouls early on, but he still should not have left the floor in the 2nd half. He had a +/- of 11, the highest on the team. played 9 minutes less than Patrick, had 6 rebounds, 3 offensive to Patricks 4 total, and added 2 steals and 2 blocks, which Patrick garnered 1 block. Patrick isn't the exception here, the entire team played poorly, I'm just comparing a small sample within a larger pool of statistics.
Patrick can score, yes, and he does some other things well (run the floor, he's long and can disrupt passing lanes, and fast for his size) but almost all of the things he does well, Kris does as well, if not BETTER. Am I wrong thinking it's an abomination that Kris is not in our starting lineup? Tell me I'm wrong.
(4)- Keegan Murray - Far and above proven to be the best overall player on this team. Still learning how to distribute the ball out of double teams as well as Garza did, but that will come with time. He's not 100% right now, but with 8 days off I think we see as close to a 100% Keegan we've gotten in a couple of weeks.
(5) - Filip Rebraca - Gotta be him, even though he's not a true 5. He has struggled with his free throws and rebounding, but still is averaging over 6 per game in 20 minutes. So about on pace with what KM would average per 40. I think he is actually a pretty good defender given what he's dealt with and his size, and he's a lot more athletic than we have allowed him to be in our offense (I.E that dunk last night). He's our best option at the 5 and has a bit more offensive dynamics than Josh O, as well as a better grasp on the offensive it seems. I don't think Josh is too far behind though and I am all for him getting 10 MPG.
Reduce their minutes (time to pick on the vets):
PMac - second on the team, playing 23.6 - he's not deserved that with his inconsistent play and points I've already made before this, relative to KM.
JBo - Playing 23.3 - he could be good for 15-18 right now. IMO we could probably get the exact same production out of him and MORE from Tony swapping their minutes cuz he is only averaging 18.1
Connor - Playing around 16 MPG, but is averaging a team-low 1.1 PPG, and shooting 14% from 3. this post wasn't to rip on the McCaffery's because I think they are worthy of playing time and they both bring good things to this team, but honestly every time Connor steps on the floor now he's almost just a turnover if he shoots it. He also was crossed up horribly by Brockington last night and then later in the game committed a horrendous turnover into a double team to Keegan which was clearly not there. Connor has been a good player for us for a while, but a lot of that was because of the shooters around him and Garza, now that he's being asked to be a part of the scoring in this offensive again, he's not producing. Has he earned these minutes? Who should he be playing over? I say no, and his leash is very short if he has.
Go ahead and tell me I'm wrong. Our guys need to be better, but Fran needs to be better with his rotations/personnel. Our defense already isn't great, but he limits it even more with our lineups, or lack thereof, mixes. I'm sorry but it's painful to watch us go down by that much and force 3's with plenty of time to get 2's and TO's.
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