Providence Game Thread II

[Chicagojayfan]

Outside of the past few games the 4 spot has been a solid contributor this year, and I think they'll get back into the flow here as well

A quick comparison:
Kaluma last year:
30 mpg, 11.8 ppg, 6 rebounds a game, 1.6 assists, Usage 23.2%
Miller + Traudt this year:
34.7mpg, 9.5 ppg, 5.7 rebounds a game, 1 assist, Usage 12.5

and that's including the downturn these past few games. They are being productive with having almost no plays run for them and deferring to every other guy on the court for offense

You can't be serious.

Traudt shot it great against Florida A&M and Central Michigan - phew. He scored 30 of his 78 points this season vs. those two scrub teams.

Now run your analysis during conference play when we actually play real opponents. Miller + Traudt in Big East play ... 6 ppg on on 35% shooting + 5 boards in 33 mpg. That's before mentioning the 4 has been the worst position defensively for us this season.

From my standpoint - the 4 has been the least productive position for us by far.

Kaluma was a 2nd year starter at that point, and you're comparison his overall numbers to their conference numbers:

Kaluma in conference was 11.2 / 6.9 in 30mpg. Still not the same, but Kaluma had a ton more shots (that maybe he wouldn't have gotten this year with Baylor and Trey's usage going up - Baylor 21.1 to 25.7, and Trey up 21.3 to 26.6)

I suppose someone has to be the worst defensive guy on the floor, but they've generally done a good job and outside of Telford ripping anyone who tried to defend him our forwards playing D have been fairly solid

[Trifecta]

Outside of the past few games the 4 spot has been a solid contributor this year, and I think they'll get back into the flow here as well

A quick comparison:
Kaluma last year:
30 mpg, 11.8 ppg, 6 rebounds a game, 1.6 assists, Usage 23.2%
Miller + Traudt this year:
34.7mpg, 9.5 ppg, 5.7 rebounds a game, 1 assist, Usage 12.5

and that's including the downturn these past few games. They are being productive with having almost no plays run for them and deferring to every other guy on the court for offense

You can't be serious.

Traudt shot it great against Florida A&M and Central Michigan - phew. He scored 30 of his 78 points this season vs. those two scrub teams.

Now run your analysis during conference play when we actually play real opponents. Miller + Traudt in Big East play ... 6 ppg on on 35% shooting + 5 boards in 33 mpg. That's before mentioning the 4 has been the worst position defensively for us this season.

From my standpoint - the 4 has been the least productive position for us by far.

Spot on. I'm not some anti-analytics guy but there are things that per 40 or basketball reference ratings won't capture. Several here have already pointed some of those things out, especially in comparison to what we lost with Kaluma from a defensive and athletic perspective.

[Chicagojayfan]

...

Spot on. I'm not some anti-analytics guy but there are things that per 40 or basketball reference ratings won't capture. Several here have already pointed some of those things out, especially in comparison to what we lost with Kaluma from a defensive and athletic perspective.

I'm not disagreeing that there's been a drop off, but even Kaluma's stats dropped in conference and while that doesn't make it an even trade, we've gone from a 4 with over 20% USG (who was also the least efficient shooter among the starters) to a combo of guys at the 4 getting only 10% USG with that other 10% going to Alexander and Baylor

One of the potential issues last year was that in terms of Usage (full season numbers here) among the starters Kaluma was the lead at 23.2, with Trey at 21.3, Baylor 21.1, Ryan 20.1, Kalk 19.9

This year we have Trey 26.6, Baylor 25.7, Kalkbrenner 22.5, Ashworth 18.3, Miller/Traudt 11.2/13.8

We need a heckuva lot more from the 4 spot than we've gotten these past 3 games, but over the course of the year, it hasn't been all that bad -- someone has to be the last offensive option on the floor

And outside of some bad matchups (Telford), Miller's D has been solid much of the year, IMO, but he gets knocked around by the bigger guys, and he's not quick enough to play shooting guard types on the wing even though I think we usually put Baylor on the PF types. I probably overestimated (was going to say underestimated how much he'd struggle defensively) how good Traudt could be in post defense this year. I do think an offseason of S&C will get him ready for next year though

[HandDownManDown]

By that logic you have to consider the addition by subtraction of Kaluma’s rotten shot selection and his urge to prove to the NBA that he had handles that anyone could see he didn’t actually have.

There were several times last season he looked like he was a double agent in cahoots with our opponent, including the Arkansas game where for 34 minutes it looked like he was trying to throw the game.

If we are getting away from analytics here that needs to be considered. When Art was on the same page he was great and could save us, as he did in the Nova home game when he stripped Dixon on the rebound with a minute left which led to us taking the lead, but he went off script far too often for my liking. I dont miss him.

[HandDownManDown]

What I really want is the 3 hitting Miller who knifes in from the wing to steal offensive rebounds here and there, or the one who saves the ball (while hovering out of bounds and prone to the floor) to Scheierman for a 3 that should have won us the game except for a presumptive whistle.

That guy would be fine for this team, because as Chicago mentioned a lot of the Kaluma production has been co-opted in a more efficient manner. We don’t need Art back, we need that guy.

Someone should slap his face on the side of a milk carton, because he was once here and has now vanished.