I think Brunson makes his team better.
Printable View
I think Brunson makes his team better.
Dunn played a giant role in leading a top 25 team last season, and their tourney game went off the rails as soon as he picked up two early fouls. He will have an even bigger role to shoulder this season with Henton gone and lack of size on the interior, but I expect him to do enough to lead Providence back to the tournament. Brunson is lucky enough to come into a very established team, and I would not be surprised if he becomes a key cog on that team. However, he has to prove himself on the college level, especially compared to the returning Big East player of the year.
My opinion has less to do with what Kris Dunn has done to date and what kind of pro prospect he is and more to do with Brunson being one of those impact players like Tyus Jones who can run the team. To me Dunn is a scoring point guard and Brunson a pure point like Jones.
Again, just my opinion.
I'll always defer to experience until the young guy proves it on the court. Dunn was CBS Third Team All-American, First Team All-Big East, Big East POY, and Big East DPOY. I think Brunson will be a great player, but I wouldn't crown him until he's outdoing Dunn on the court.
We all saw Dominic James come in and be better than most, if not all, point guards in the Big East at leading the team as a freshman.
I don't consider Dunn a pure point guard like Brunson. He's like MCW of the Bucks. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
Dunn had the highest assist rate in the country last year. He had the ball in his hands a lot (using 30% of Providence's possessions when on the floor), but that because he was so good at facilitating offense (both for himself and others).
Ed Cooley's system is a dynamic point guard's dream. Vincent Council, Bryce Cotton, and Kris Dunn have all been incredibly efficient both in scoring and assisting the ball. Their assist rate rankings have been phenomenal:
2012 - Vincent Council 43.0% (7th best in the country)
2013 - Vincent Council 42.9% (5th best in the country)
2014 - Bryce Cotton 34.8% (20th best in the country)
2015 - Kris Dunn 50.0% (1st best in the country)
All of these guys also scored the basketball, but very few players coast to coast are as good at providing for their teammates as the Providence point guards are. I expect Dunn to continue that as a junior, and have a feeling Ricky Council may be groomed next for the role of PC point guard.
For what it may be worth, only one Villanova player has been in the top-250 in assist rate over that same period. In 2012, Maalik Wayns had a 32.5% assist rate, good enough for 60th in the country.
For those of you interested in coaching vacancies, Mullin still has an assistant coach opening. Based on chatter on their board, he wanted Ed Pinckney.
Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA 1m1 minute ago
Denver coach Michael Malone has hired well-regarded Ed Pinckney as his top assistant, league sources tell Yahoo. He had been with Bulls.
@NYPost_Brazille: Ed Pinckney staying in NBA not a surprise. Top candidates for last spot, I'm hearing, are Mitch Richmond and Greg St. Jean. #sjubb
Q&A with Jay Wright
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...-jalen-brunson
I've always respected Wright and the Nova program. He had one sub-par season, but he rebuilt the program quickly. I think Wojo can do the same at MU.
Wright has recruited a lot like MU has the past dozen years or so, getting a fair share of Top 100 recruits but only occasionally getting Top 40 recruits. Every few years he will land what I call an "anchor class" with three Top 100 recruits and then usually get one or two Top 100 recruits in other classes as kind of complementary pieces to the puzzle.
I think we're a year away from getting back to Nova/GTown status, but I do think Wojo will get us there.
In a way, Wright's success at Nova is very similar to Ryan's at UW - with the exception of that one season the Wildcats failed to make the NCAA Tournament. It's kind of weird that Wright doesn't get greater props for what he's achieved.
I also find it strange that very seldom is Wright part of the rumor mill when high-profile jobs open up. You almost never read his name when all the speculation runs rampant, which is a major contrast to all the Crean and Buzz rumors.
By the way, I think my favorite non-MU team over the past 15 years or so to watch was that Nova group that played four guards (Ray, Foye, Nardi, and Lowry) along with a forward (Sheridan) the year Sumpter missed due to injury. Man they were exciting/entertaining. Had Sumpter not been injured that year, I think Nova could have won the whole thing.