Blers42 wrote:
RamblinTank22 wrote:
I'd rather have Aher over Welch. Welch doesn't do too much on offense right now. At least Aher has the ability to drive and make explosive plays. We've seen it from him before. I haven't seen anything from Welch that makes me confident in his offensive abilities yet.
He hasn’t really seen many minutes, I’m more interested in seeing him develop. Aher’s development has been pretty stagnant, and while he’s super athletic his lack of confidence and shooting is just too much of a liability for me. I think something needs to change, Krut is going to get doubled all year and Aher is going to be exposed for his lack of shooting.
Aher can be valuable to the team with his defense... he's not valuable to this team as a starter. I think it's fairly obvious now that he is what he is offensively. It's disappointing, but it doesn't mean he can't contribute. I think he can be an important tool defensively to sub in and out late in games we're trying to close out, and at the end of first halves. I also think he's defense can be valuable in second half scenarios where we have a 10 to 12 point lead, provide relief minutes.
If you look at the Davidson game, in 28 minutes, Aher goes 2-4 with 2 turnovers while Krutwig is getting double teamed the whole game - I just don't see how he's helping us, even if he is good defensively. I tend to agree that Pipkins, even if he isn't as great defensively, gives us a better chance to open things up more for Krutwig to work and gives us a better chance to win.
Aher is not a BAD player. In my opinion, he's a role player who should not start or play above 20 minutes a game. I would rather see Porter find a way for him to thrive as a role player off the bench (i.e. Aundre Jackson) rather than disappoint as a starter. In 2017-2018, Jackson was averaging under 19 minutes per game, giving 11 points off the bench. Uguak, this year, is averaging 24 minutes per game as a starter, giving us just 5.5 points per game.
In every one of our losses this year, Uguak has played more than his 24 minute average:
1) Furman - Furman has a good center. Uguak plays 33 minutes (scores 8, but turns the ball over 5 times).
We only score 63 points. LOSS.
2) Coppin State - Uguak plays 28 minutes (scores 5 points, turns the ball over 4 times)
*We do, however, score 72. but LOSS.
3) South Florida - Uguak plays 32 minutes (scores 5 points, 1 turnover)
We only score 55. LOSS.
4) Colorado State - Uguak plays 24 minutes (scores 4 points, 3 turnovers) -
We score only 60. LOSS.
Davidson - Uguak plays 28 minutes, (scores 5 points, 2 turnovers) -
We score only 56. LOSS.
Then look at the wins we've got against decent teams (not counting the cupcakes):
1) Vanderbilt game -- Uguak only plays 16 minutes (4 points, one turnover) --
Pipkins plays 19 minutes (7 points 2 turnovers),
We put up 78 points! WIN.
2) Ball State game - Uguak plays 19 minutes (5 points, 1 turnover).
Pipkins plays 19 minutes (7 points, 1 turnover).
We put up 70 points! WIN.
3) Old Dominion - Uguak plays just 6 minutes;
Pipkins plays 25 mins (8 points, 0 turnovers)
Krut nets 22 points and 8 rebounds);
We put up 68. - WIN.
(Blowout wins against UC Davis, IUPUI, Quincy, and Norfolk don't really factor in when comparing minutes to production)
To date - Saint Joe's is his best game - 34 minutes - 12 points. That game was not that close though.
But the bottom line is -- against decent teams, the more minutes Uguak plays, the less points we score as a team (mid fifties to low 60s), and the less minutes he plays, the more points we score (high 60's to high 70's). In competitive games where he plays sparingly, we win.
If Pipkins is a more aggressive slasher, scorer and shooter, I'd like to see him start playing now over Uguak. the chances of Pipkins defense getting better with more playing time is far greater than the chance of Uguak's offense getting better with the same playing time he's getting now.