Questions/Concerns about this team..

[beast of the east]

Love revisiting old threads, especially ones that I started. Most of the concerns early in the year did not get resolved, which is why we are all somewhat disappointed in where we are right now. While Wheeler has come on strong, it wasn't around the rim where we most needed help. Soriano has improved but has limitations. Pinzon may have been the back up PG(no sure thing) but didn't get the chance. Mathis has had his moments offensively, but I still say he was better suited to come off the bench. As he was doing at Rutgers. Anyhow, we are where we are. Let's hope for strong finish,
to make some post season noise, and to grab some impact players in the off season. 

Disagree about wheeler not making an impact inside. I think lost in his shooting streak is the easy bucket he’s getting to supplement them. Some easy drop offs for dunks, and some drives of his own.

In BE play he’s shooting 56% from 2 on 5.8 attempts.

And 42% from 3 on 4.6 attempts. 

He's definitely scored some points on the inside, but the large majority of his scoring has been away from the basket. And he's also helped on the low post D, but he hasn't exactly been a force down low on D. None of this is meant to be a knock on the kid, who has come on like gang busters in league play and exceeded all expectations. But he has predominantly been a perimeter player, not a low post player.  

He rolls to the hoop extremely well and may have as many slam dunks as 3's.

 

[Amaseinyourface]

Love revisiting old threads, especially ones that I started. Most of the concerns early in the year did not get resolved, which is why we are all somewhat disappointed in where we are right now. While Wheeler has come on strong, it wasn't around the rim where we most needed help. Soriano has improved but has limitations. Pinzon may have been the back up PG(no sure thing) but didn't get the chance. Mathis has had his moments offensively, but I still say he was better suited to come off the bench. As he was doing at Rutgers. Anyhow, we are where we are. Let's hope for strong finish,
to make some post season noise, and to grab some impact players in the off season. 

Disagree about wheeler not making an impact inside. I think lost in his shooting streak is the easy bucket he’s getting to supplement them. Some easy drop offs for dunks, and some drives of his own.

In BE play he’s shooting 56% from 2 on 5.8 attempts.

And 42% from 3 on 4.6 attempts. 

He's definitely scored some points on the inside, but the large majority of his scoring has been away from the basket. And he's also helped on the low post D, but he hasn't exactly been a force down low on D. None of this is meant to be a knock on the kid, who has come on like gang busters in league play and exceeded all expectations. But he has predominantly been a perimeter player, not a low post player.  

It’s semantics but I don’t think you need to be a low post player to make an impact inside. Not sure I would consider Moore a post player and he had a huge impact finishing plays inside last year. If he ever posted up it was very rare.

I think Wheeler has done a great job finding spots on the baseline and is finishing these opportunities much better than early in the year. Which has helped a team with only one true post option get some easy points in the half court. Would I say he’s a perimeter player first? yeah probably, but he has really made a concerted effort to not float around the arc.

FWIW he’s taken 99 2’s this season, his 3 years at Purdue he took 133 total. He also never took more 2’s than 3’s in any of his 3 years at Purdue. This year he’s at 99 2’s and 81 3’s. 

 

[beast of the east]

Love revisiting old threads, especially ones that I started. Most of the concerns early in the year did not get resolved, which is why we are all somewhat disappointed in where we are right now. While Wheeler has come on strong, it wasn't around the rim where we most needed help. Soriano has improved but has limitations. Pinzon may have been the back up PG(no sure thing) but didn't get the chance. Mathis has had his moments offensively, but I still say he was better suited to come off the bench. As he was doing at Rutgers. Anyhow, we are where we are. Let's hope for strong finish,
to make some post season noise, and to grab some impact players in the off season. 

Disagree about wheeler not making an impact inside. I think lost in his shooting streak is the easy bucket he’s getting to supplement them. Some easy drop offs for dunks, and some drives of his own.

In BE play he’s shooting 56% from 2 on 5.8 attempts.

And 42% from 3 on 4.6 attempts. 

He's definitely scored some points on the inside, but the large majority of his scoring has been away from the basket. And he's also helped on the low post D, but he hasn't exactly been a force down low on D. None of this is meant to be a knock on the kid, who has come on like gang busters in league play and exceeded all expectations. But he has predominantly been a perimeter player, not a low post player.  

It’s semantics but I don’t think you need to be a low post player to make an impact inside. Not sure I would consider Moore a post player and he had a huge impact finishing plays inside last year. If he ever posted up it was very rare.

I think Wheeler has done a great job finding spots on the baseline and is finishing these opportunities much better than early in the year. Which has helped a team with only one true post option get some easy points in the half court. Would I say he’s a perimeter player first? yeah probably, but he has really made a concerted effort to not float around the arc.

FWIW he’s taken 99 2’s this season, his 3 years at Purdue he took 133 total. He also never took more 2’s than 3’s in any of his 3 years at Purdue. This year he’s at 99 2’s and 81 3’s. 

I bet those numbers are much better than Tariq Owens.

 

[NCJohnnie]

Amaseinyourface wrote:

It’s semantics but I don’t think you need to be a low post player to make an impact inside. Not sure I would consider Moore a post player and he had a huge impact finishing plays inside last year. If he ever posted up it was very rare.

I think Wheeler has done a great job finding spots on the baseline and is finishing these opportunities much better than early in the year. Which has helped a team with only one true post option get some easy points in the half court. Would I say he’s a perimeter player first? yeah probably, but he has really made a concerted effort to not float around the arc.

FWIW he’s taken 99 2’s this season, his 3 years at Purdue he took 133 total. He also never took more 2’s than 3’s in any of his 3 years at Purdue. This year he’s at 99 2’s and 81 3’s. 

Other thing I'd add on Wheeler is that while he is certainly not a low post player, he has also helped defensively in the post. Johnnies are currently 2nd in Big East in blocked shots, with Soriano averaging 2 per game and both Champ & Wheeler  averaging right around 1 per game. Wheeler is a versatile help defender which is one of the things I've liked about him from the start. He does make coverage mistakes from time to time but imho has cut down on those as the season has progressed and his confidence has increased.