One year late?

[AlexJesswein]

You add Carlino to last year's team and we make the Sweet 16.

[Markedman]

I think that is a big stretch......might have made the tournament....maybe

[AbovetheRim]

Junior made others better offensively. We haven't had a PG that fits that description since and given his gunner mentality, I'm not sure Carlino makes anyone better on that end either.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Honestly, the last PG we had that I was really happy with was Travis Diener. DJ was great on defense, but a poor shooter and just incomplete as an offensive player. Junior was sub-par defensively, a poor shooter, but made up for it with good passing and a knack for the clutch play. Derrick is poor offensively but good defensively. For a school that takes so much pride in its point guards, it's been a long time since we had one worth bragging about. Hopefully Wojo can find someone on the transfer wire, because I don't see Duane being that guy next year either, though he's probably got the most upside of anyone since TD.

[Nukem2]

Honestly, the last PG we had that I was really happy with was Travis Diener. DJ was great on defense, but a poor shooter and just incomplete as an offensive player. Junior was sub-par defensively, a poor shooter, but made up for it with good passing and a knack for the clutch play. Derrick is poor offensively but good defensively. For a school that takes so much pride in its point guards, it's been a long time since we had one worth bragging about. Hopefully Wojo can find someone on the transfer wire, because I don't see Duane being that guy next year either, though he's probably got the most upside of anyone since TD.

Totally disagree. DJ and Junior had their weaknesses, as did Travis on defens often, but they made their teammates better. Derrick is really a small forward this year and is doing well defensively and rebounding, but to have the ball in his hands with 10-12 seconds onthe shot clock ( as we saw quite a bit today ) is simply not very productive. Duane can at least create things.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Totally disagree. DJ and Junior had their weaknesses, as did Travis on defens often, but they made their teammates better. Derrick is really a small forward this year and is doing well defensively and rebounding, but to have the ball in his hands with 10-12 seconds onthe shot clock ( as we saw quite a bit today ) is simply not very productive. Duane can at least create things.

Derrick as a senior was better than Junior as a senior in terms of offensive rating, 2-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, eFG%, offensive and defensive rebounding, rebounds, assists, and steals per game, turnover rate, turnovers per game, and free throw rate.

Junior scored more, shot free throws better, and had a better assist rate. However he also took 20.4% of the team's shots on a team with Vander, Mayo, Gardner, Jamil, Otule, and Lockett, all of whom were more efficient offensively. The only reason Junior scored more despite shooting worse is because he took a higher percentage of shots, and when I have a sub-par shooting PG (both Junior and Derrick are) the last thing I want him doing is shooting more. And none of this mentions that Derrick, while not necessarily an elite defender, is a much, much better defender than Junior.

Given the choice between Junior and Derrick as seniors, I would absolutely take Derrick. No question. If the choice is James, I'd take James, but he was not without his flaws. Derrick and DJ are actually surprisingly comparable. James obviously shot more and thus scored more, but all of their shooting percentages are very close, both protected the ball and played defense. Derrick was a little better rebounder, James was better at assists, but how much of that was a product of having Jerel, WesMat, and Lazar instead of Carlino, Duane, and Fischer?

Not saying Derrick is a stud, but ranking them, I'd say James > Derrick > Junior. Travis was well ahead of all of them. Also, I have a feeling Derrick's assist rate would be quite a bit higher if Duane and Luke weren't missing no-footers.

[Nukem2]

Derrick as a senior was better than Junior as a senior in terms of offensive rating, 2-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, eFG%, offensive and defensive rebounding, rebounds, assists, and steals per game, turnover rate, turnovers per game, and free throw rate.

Junior scored more, shot free throws better, and had a better assist rate. However he also took 20.4% of the team's shots on a team with Vander, Mayo, Gardner, Jamil, Otule, and Lockett, all of whom were more efficient offensively. The only reason Junior scored more despite shooting worse is because he took a higher percentage of shots, and when I have a sub-par shooting PG (both Junior and Derrick are) the last thing I want him doing is shooting more. And none of this mentions that Derrick, while not necessarily an elite defender, is a much, much better defender than Junior.

Given the choice between Junior and Derrick as seniors, I would absolutely take Derrick. No question. If the choice is James, I'd take James, but he was not without his flaws. Derrick and DJ are actually surprisingly comparable. James obviously shot more and thus scored more, but all of their shooting percentages are very close, both protected the ball and played defense. Derrick was a little better rebounder, James was better at assists, but how much of that was a product of having Jerel, WesMat, and Lazar instead of Carlino, Duane, and Fischer?

Not saying Derrick is a stud, but ranking them, I'd say James > Derrick > Junior. Travis was well ahead of all of them. Also, I have a feeling Derrick's assist rate would be quite a bit higher if Duane and Luke weren't missing no-footers.

Derrick does not feed the post very well. Junior could get Davante the ball. BTW, JaJuan did a very nice job of feeding the post in his minutes yesterday. A heavy proportion of Derrick's assists have been passing the ball to Jake and Matt these past 2 seasons. Derrick's best work this season has been in the back of the zone and in rebounding and attacking the basket when that is available.

[Phantom Warrior]

Sultan,

If you would really take Derrick as a senior over Junior as a senior as our point guard, then you do not understand the game.

The best part of Derrick's game this year is his rebounding, and that's partially because he is often playing on the bottom of the zone. The primary function of a point guard is to run the offense and be the coach on the court. Our offense sucks in large part because Derrick is not really a point guard.

He does not see the flow of the game on offense and anticipate it. He does not make the pass that leads to the pass that is the assist. He does not get his teammates the ball at exactly the right time in the right place.

Derrick is an off guard who can not shoot and can not create his own shot. He is not, and never will be, a point guard.

He does not create baskets in transition. He pushes the ball with the dribble rather than the pass. He makes poor decisions on the break.

Junior was as good a point guard as we have had at pushing the ball up court via the pass - often after one dribble, sometimes two.

When the shot clock was winding down, Junior could at least get off a mid-range shot, especially as a senior. Derrick has zero mid-range game - zero.

Derrick still often stands at the top of the key and dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, all the while standing in place. There is virtually no ball movement when he does that. None. And our entire offense grinds to a screeching halt.

Put Junior on this team with Carlino, Duane, and Luke, and I will tell you straight out - all three of those guys are much more effective offensively than they are now with Derrick running the show.

If you don't see that, don't understand that, then I don't know what else to tell you. If Junior were at point this year instead of Derrick, we would have at least three or four more wins. And that is the bottom line.

Junior was much maligned during his career because many fans did not recognize what he brought on offense. He was as under-appreciated as any player I've seen in the program in the last 20 years.

Derrick over Junior as a starting point guard? Ugh!

[TheSultan]

Sultan,

If you would really take Derrick as a senior over Junior as a senior as our point guard, then you do not understand the game.

I stopped reading after this sentence.

[Nukem2]

I stopped reading after this sentence.

I stopped after reading that sentence. . Seriously, Junior was simply the superior PG. Buzz knew what he was doing. Otherwise, Derrick would have played far more as a soph. As Phantom notes, Derrick does not create for others. Yes, he is a surer ball handler than Junior was and a better defender. But, the PG needs to create and help others. As PW notes, Derrick just dribbles around and can't get his own shot. Just not a natural PG. Love all the other things he does, but he is simply not a playmaker. Most of his assists are to 3 point shooters in ball rotation.