Isaiah Whaley is back!, thread cleaned up

[Ajs120102]

Polley did like a few tweets about him coming back. EXTREMELY speculative at best.

 

[gsmooth]

I acknowledged his FG % was down in my post - on more FGA. His points/assists/rebounds were all up and he actually shot threes this year. That’s not the eye test and those aren’t advanced statistics.

of course his points/assists/reb would be up from last year overall because he was glued to the bench for the first half of last year which would decrease last season's numbers heavily.
you did acknowledge the FG % drop. But the FT % is a huge drop as well (27%). I bet the drops in FG% and FT% are more significant when you compare it to the games later in the season last year when he started and got hot. I haven't drilled down to the games he started last year so maybe I am off on that, but it sure seemed like that. I simply posed the question because lots of people here posted that the missed close-to-the basket shots were a problem for the team this year. Whaley definitely had a part in that as his shooting touch near the basket seemed more inconsistent. But the shooting issues wasn't limited to just him.

Again, I am super excited that he decided to return as he brings so much to the table.

 

[imno1]

Do we really have a clue about Akok status.?

No but I expect a more explosive Akok and hopefully he has improved his shooting since he's had a lot of time to work on that part of his game

 

[PAHusky]

of course his points/assists/reb would be up from last year overall because he was glued to the bench for the first half of last year which would decrease last season's numbers heavily.
you did acknowledge the FG % drop. But the FT % is a huge drop as well (27%). I bet the drops in FG% and FT% are more significant when you compare it to the games later in the season last year when he started and got hot. I haven't drilled down to the games he started last year so maybe I am off on that, but it sure seemed like that. I simply posed the question because lots of people here posted that the missed close-to-the basket shots were a problem for the team this year. Whaley definitely had a part in that as his shooting touch near the basket seemed more inconsistent. But the shooting issues wasn't limited to just him.

Again, I am super excited that he decided to return as he brings so much to the table.

They're per game numbers.....

 

[Waquoit]

Whaley's made himself into a top player. I love watching the guy. Great news for the program.

 

[auror]

Bottom-line you said we have more talent than last season, which contradicts your view that Bouknight will go high lottery. What high lottery guy is coming in or developing with high confidence? No wonder you lose bets so often you can’t make good.
I never threaten to sue anyone. Where’s your evidence on that accusation?

We're losing Bouknight, but also potentially losing three players and replacing them with 2 top 50 and 1 top 100 recruits and hopefully an impact transfer. Aside from that, our most talented players other than Bouk were underclassmen and will get better (Sanogo, Jackson) or injured (Akok).

 

[Magic32]

Anyways, nice to have Whaley back.

 

[temery]

Let's try this again. Hide the crazy, especially when there is good news.

 

[Chief00]

If he stays out of foul trouble, Whaley will help the defense, shot blocking and rebounding. Missing layups is on him, and he has the opportunity to not over hurry and improve in that area. As well as improving from the foul line. He would be wise to focus on these two offensive areas and not his outside shot, beyond a 12-15 footer. Without Bouknight, there will be less of those open good look opportunities.
Hawkins is the incoming guy who can efficiently manufacture some points in the shooting department. By his sophomore year, Chief can see him average 13-17 points per game.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

He would be wise to focus on these two offensive areas and not his outside shot, beyond a 12-15 footer. Without Bouknight, there will be less of those open good look opportunities.

Huh? The whole point of having a four that can shoot threes is that he spaces the floor. The reason he got so many open looks had much more to do with teams making a conscience decision not to guard him that far out than it did with Bouknight. He will almost certainly continue to get those open looks until he shows the confidence and ability to take and hit the open shots he’s presented with (and if they start to guard him tighter, that accomplished the goal here). And working on that would be a huge benefit to both the team as well as his future pro prospects.

 

[3rdbass]

If he stays out of foul trouble, Whaley will help the defense, shot blocking and rebounding. Missing layups is on him, and he has the opportunity to not over hurry and improve in that area. As well as improving from the foul line. He would be wise to focus on these two offensive areas and not his outside shot, beyond a 12-15 footer. Without Bouknight, there will be less of those open good look opportunities.
Hawkins is the incoming guy who can efficiently manufacture some points in the shooting department. By his sophomore year, Chief can see him average 13-17 points per game.

There is no way that that he shouldn't be taking alot of 3's this summer as he will get chances with people converging on Sanogo when he gets the ball in the post. That and our guards will be pentrating and dishing out. Whaley needs to to take 3-4 3 pointers a game if possible. He has the form but just needs the consistency to hit that shot more often. I hope he comes back with this skill as we could have 4 shooters on the outside with Sanogo playing in the post. That would be a fun offense.

 

[tzznandrew]

Whaley making 3s at a good clip (35% or better) is a game changer for our team and its spacing as well as being the sort of thing he needs to be able to have a long career professionally.

 

[Waquoit]

All threes are not created equal. The open 3 from the top of the arc is the best shot in the game. It's basically a free throw with a bit more lift, and a 50% bonus. He has a nice corner jumper already, just stretch that back to the arc. Master those three spots, leave the elbow 3's to the guards.

 

[Chief00]

There is no way that that he shouldn't be taking alot of 3's this summer as he will get chances with people converging on Sanogo when he gets the ball in the post. That and our guards will be pentrating and dishing out. Whaley needs to to take 3-4 3 pointers a game if possible. He has the form but just needs the consistency to hit that shot more often. I hope he comes back with this skill as we could have 4 shooters on the outside with Sanogo playing in the post. That would be a fun offense.

You don’t think that’s exactly what other teams are trying to trick us into? I know he hit a few this year but minus the 2-3 bank ones then you get the more realistic picture.
And next year Isiah won’t be taking them as wide open minus a reported lottery pick - who naturally gets doubled.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

You don’t think that’s exactly what other teams are trying to trick us into? I know he hit a few this year but minus the 2-3 bank ones then you get the more realistic picture.

Other teams are trying to trick us into Whaley practicing the outside shot this year so that he can hit outside shots at a respectable clip and space out the floor? You’re on a real weird line of logic here that’s about 15 years past the expiration date.

 

[bendm]

You don’t think that’s exactly what other teams are trying to trick us into? I know he hit a few this year but minus the 2-3 bank ones then you get the more realistic picture.
And next year Isiah won’t be taking them as wide open minus a reported lottery pick - who naturally gets doubled.

sounds like you are rather pessimistic about next year's team.

would polley returning move the needle for you, or would we still need a starting SG level transfer? are you on the grind for one?

a threesome of whaley, polley, and a kolek type to unofficially redshirt is the most i'm hoping for unless staff throws a hail mary

 

[Edward Sargent]

sounds like you are rather pessimistic about next year's team.

would polley returning move the needle for you, or would we still need a starting SG level transfer? are you on the grind for one?

a threesome of whaley, polley, and a kolek type to unofficially redshirt is the most i'm hoping for unless staff throws a hail mary

I think the pessimism comes from knowing we will have essentially the same team we had when Bouk went down and that team was .500 at best in the conference.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I think the pessimism comes from knowing we will have essentially the same team we had when Bouk went down and that team was .500 at best in the conference.

That is an accurate statement as long as you believe that a) none of our returning players will improve; 2) none of the three top-70 recruits will contribute; and 3) Akok will again not be able to play much at all.

When you start basically recruiting nothing but 4 star level guys, they tend to get better year over year. That’s why we should expect to be pretty darn good next year.

 

[navery12]

I think the pessimism comes from knowing we will have essentially the same team we had when Bouk went down and that team was .500 at best in the conference.

Except we won't, we'll have the same team plus 3 highly ranked freshman and a healthy Akok. And a real summer of practices for the staff to coach up the returning players

 

[Edward Sargent]

Except we won't, we'll have the same team plus 3 highly ranked freshman and a healthy Akok. And a real summer of practices for the staff to coach up the returning players

I guess I am not in the overly excited camp about those prospects. I sure hope all of those ifs work out

 

[navery12]

I guess I am not in the overly excited camp about those prospects. I sure hope all of those ifs work out

The only ifs are the freshman so even if you operate under the assumption that every player is the same as this year and we play .500 in the Big East that's about a 20 win team and on the bubble. That's a pretty damn good floor for a worst case scenario

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I guess I am not in the overly excited camp about those prospects. I sure hope all of those ifs work out

I don't think anyone would be accused of being "overly excited" if they thought that 3 top 100 recruits, a healthy return by a guy who only played 20 minutes this season, and incremental improvements by existing players were going to make the team better. It's probably more accurate to say that someone who doesn't think those things make a difference is being overly pessimistic.

 

[BGesus4]

I don't think anyone would be accused of being "overly excited" if they thought that 3 top 100 recruits, a healthy return by a guy who only played 20 minutes this season, and incremental improvements by existing players were going to make the team better. It's probably more accurate to say that someone who doesn't think those things make a difference is being overly pessimistic.

The real comedy is how people are gushing over how stacked Seton Hall is with their transfers when Williard would give his left and right to have our roster and recruiting class.

 

[CTBasketball]

You don’t think that’s exactly what other teams are trying to trick us into? I know he hit a few this year but minus the 2-3 bank ones then you get the more realistic picture.
And next year Isiah won’t be taking them as wide open minus a reported lottery pick - who naturally gets doubled.

Speaking of bank shots.

Did you know Rashad Anderson made 234 3-pt shots in his career. He didn’t use the backboard once.

 

[Chief00]

Speaking of bank shots.

Did you know Rashad Anderson made 234 3-pt shots in his career. He didn’t use the backboard once.

Now you made me have to work and look up stats - LOL
IW made 8 of 23 threes for 35%
Minus his 3 banks that's 5 for 23 or 22%
So 37% of his made threes were bank shots, which Chief writes off to luck. I know we have many well intentioned Casual Fans pushing this Whaley 3 narrative and even coaches, but is this really what we want to hang our hat on?
He missed 1/2 his foul shots, why not work on that?
He missed 73 two point attempts, many lay-ups. Why not work on that? Chief thinks there’s a better payoff working on these two things.

If Chief was an opposing coach, I would design a defense to encourage IW’s 3 attempts.