Betching about Biggie...

[lbodel]

i'm actually kinda glad to see someone shoot if he's not guarded. its doesn't have be a 3 just try to score when the centers are the focus of the defense. make them guard you and the middle will open. 3's are ok with me. the shooters on the team will seldom get a shot that is uncontested. contested shots are not always bad shots

The problem with Maryland was the quantity, on top of the timing. For example, when we had a late run in the second half, Swanigan shot a very quick 3. It's great if you make it, but the miss led to a Maryland 3, which led to the end of the game for us. Momentum killer.

It wasn't a bad look - but so early in the shot clock, and having missed his others in the game, did not make it a good shot.

 

[mathboy]

If Biggie had hit one or two of those 3-pt shots, the entire complexion of how MD guarded our bigs would have been different. I can't say we would have won the game, but the whole situation shifts in our favor. It was not just the points, it was the place the shots came from. Biggie hits those shoots and Painter is a genius. MD has to shift their defense of Hammons, and maybe he gets more open looks inside.

Maybe the different textures and weights of the odd-ball balls (SIC) made a difference in our ability to shoot at Maryland? Bottom line, Biggie is a good shot from the outside, so I have no issue with him taking an open shot.

 

[Dryfly88]

If Biggie had hit one or two of those 3-pt shots, the entire complexion of how MD guarded our bigs would have been different. I can't say we would have won the game, but the whole situation shifts in our favor. It was not just the points, it was the place the shots came from. Biggie hits those shoots and Painter is a genius. MD has to shift their defense of Hammons, and maybe he gets more open looks inside.

Maybe the different textures and weights of the odd-ball balls (SIC) made a difference in our ability to shoot at Maryland? Bottom line, Biggie is a good shot from the outside, so I have no issue with him taking an open shot.

The only point I want to make is you say Caleb is a good shot from the outside. He is currently shooting 28% from 3pt range. That is not a good % by any standard. If you are ok with him continuing to shoot them, you certainly have a right to that opinion. But please don't use the "fact" that he is a good outside shooter to justify it.

I'm personally ok with him taking an open 3 once in a while. But in no game should he be 0-5 and certainly not in one that is a one or two possession game with 5 minutes to go. This team, this year, needs him in the paint rebounding, setting screens and taking good open shots (not from 3pt range). If he wants to expand his game to include 3pt shooting, then he needs to work on that this summer and show next year that he can hit a reasonable %. At that point I will be fine with him taking 5 in a game.

 

[Statey]

The only point I want to make is you say Caleb is a good shot from the outside. He is currently shooting 28% from 3pt range. That is not a good % by any standard. If you are ok with him continuing to shoot them, you certainly have a right to that opinion. But please don't use the "fact" that he is a good outside shooter to justify it.

I'm personally ok with him taking an open 3 once in a while. But in no game should he be 0-5 and certainly not in one that is a one or two possession game with 5 minutes to go. This team, this year, needs him in the paint rebounding, setting screens and taking good open shots (not from 3pt range). If he wants to expand his game to include 3pt shooting, then he needs to work on that this summer and show next year that he can hit a reasonable %. At that point I will be fine with him taking 5 in a game.

Clear your cards for the next game folks... we have a Bingo.

 

[mathboy]

The only point I want to make is you say Caleb is a good shot from the outside. He is currently shooting 28% from 3pt range. That is not a good % by any standard. If you are ok with him continuing to shoot them, you certainly have a right to that opinion. But please don't use the "fact" that he is a good outside shooter to justify it.

I'm personally ok with him taking an open 3 once in a while. But in no game should he be 0-5 and certainly not in one that is a one or two possession game with 5 minutes to go. This team, this year, needs him in the paint rebounding, setting screens and taking good open shots (not from 3pt range). If he wants to expand his game to include 3pt shooting, then he needs to work on that this summer and show next year that he can hit a reasonable %. At that point I will be fine with him taking 5 in a game.

You make a great point Dry Fly, and I agree with your perspective. However, had Caleb hit those 5 shots in the Maryland game, his 3-pt % would now be 37.5%, which is a good shooting percentage. I put forth a strawman that is based on him hitting those shots, which hard to argue against because it is based on "If's". Those are hard to disagree with because there are few "facts" involved.

 

[02Boilermaker]

Heading into the Rutgers game (5 games ago for Biggie), he was shooting 34.1% from 3. That made him just about as good as any other option at the time. While he took a few questionable attempts, the overall results didn't scream for him to be a whole lot more selective. Now that his 3pt% has fallen consistently the last couple of weeks, that changes things. I'm sure Painter is stressing shot selection a lot more now & I'm guessing Biggie is listening.

In his 1st 5 B1G games, Biggie averaged 3.6 TO/g. That was obviously way too many. He seems to have made a real effort to correct that issue as he is averaging 1.6 TO/g over his last 5 games.

The kid seems to be smart, willing to work, take direction,and make changes. He certainly still has a lot of room for potential improvement. However, just because he's not a finished product right now doesn't mean it's not valuable to have him on the floor.

 

[Dryfly88]

Heading into the Rutgers game (5 games ago for Biggie), he was shooting 34.1% from 3. That made him just about as good as any other option at the time. While he took a few questionable attempts, the overall results didn't scream for him to be a whole lot more selective. Now that his 3pt% has fallen consistently the last couple of weeks, that changes things. I'm sure Painter is stressing shot selection a lot more now & I'm guessing Biggie is listening.

In his 1st 5 B1G games, Biggie averaged 3.6 TO/g. That was obviously way too many. He seems to have made a real effort to correct that issue as he is averaging 1.6 TO/g over his last 5 games.

The kid seems to be smart, willing to work, take direction,and make changes. He certainly still has a lot of room for potential improvement. However, just because he's not a finished product right now doesn't mean it's not valuable to have him on the floor.

I don't think anyone has said "he shouldn't be on the floor". What I and others have said is that he needs to do the things that this years team needs when he is on the floor. 3 pt shooting isn't one of them. Get that big body inside and rebound and put back easy buckets. Also play as well on the defensive end as he can and again, rebound.

He does that and he is maximizing his positive input to this team.

 

[Statey]

You make a great point Dry Fly, and I agree with your perspective. However, had Caleb hit those 5 shots in the Maryland game, his 3-pt % would now be 37.5%, which is a good shooting percentage. I put forth a strawman that is based on him hitting those shots, which hard to argue against because it is based on "If's". Those are hard to disagree with because there are few "facts" involved.

You're not wrong, but hold on a minute here. Prior to those 5 misses, Biggie was shooting just 31.4%, which was the lowest on the team of anyone that plays, save for Johnny who is 0-3 on the year. To me, that doesn't qualify as being "a good shot" as you stated earlier.

Using your same example of 'what if he hit those 5 shots', I'll point out that if PJ had 5 more 3-point makes on the year, he'd be at 48.1% and good for 24th best in all of the NCAA. But he hasn't, and instead he sits at 38.9%. And I picked PJ because he presently has the best percentage on the team (outside of AJ and JT each being 50% on very limited attempts). And interestingly enough, even though PJ has the best percentage on the team, Biggie has shot 2 more 3-pointers than him. I can see where you're going with the hypothetical, I just don't understand why you seem to be advocating for Biggie to do things that don't take advantage of his best skills and instead exploit his marginal ones.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

I don't think any sane person would say he's going anywhere after this year. He may not even be going anywhere after next year, so I wouldn't even worry about discussing it at this point. He's got a lot to improve on and he knows it - he's a hard worker.

The most important thing Swanigan can do for himself is to not worry about the hype, not worry about the NBA, etc. He's already young for his age - the more he is distracted by that kind of talk, the worse it will be for him. I think at the beginning of the year, that was a problem. He's still making some freshman decisions/mistakes, but he's getting better.

I think you are right about Biggie staying after next year as well. I'm not sure about the one and done's for 2017, but it appears that class is HEAVY with big men (at least according to ESPN). He hasn't really shown a next level ability to guard the 4 or even work in an offense as a 4 in the NBA. For example, he would be guarding Draymond Green next year and there is no way, right now, he wouldn't get blasted all day by Green. Biggie needs another two years of developing his body, trimming down, and improving lateral quickness the way AJ has shown to get to the level.

Also, for those that haven't seen Biggie's improvement this year are simply blind. It is very hard to make improvements to ones game in season and it is crystal clear he has done just that. He has become more efficient with the ball in his hands and has cut down on his turnovers while also allowing the offense to flow much better. The next phase of his game that needs improvement is better shot selection within the frame of the offense and improved shooting outside of 15 feet. He hasn't had a game where everything clicks and he takes over a game yet this year and tonight would be a great night.

 

[mathboy]

You're not wrong, but hold on a minute here. Prior to those 5 misses, Biggie was shooting just 31.4%, which was the lowest on the team of anyone that plays, save for Johnny who is 0-3 on the year. To me, that doesn't qualify as being "a good shot" as you stated earlier.

Using your same example of 'what if he hit those 5 shots', I'll point out that if PJ had 5 more 3-point makes on the year, he'd be at 48.1% and good for 24th best in all of the NCAA. But he hasn't, and instead he sits at 38.9%. And I picked PJ because he presently has the best percentage on the team (outside of AJ and JT each being 50% on very limited attempts). And interestingly enough, even though PJ has the best percentage on the team, Biggie has shot 2 more 3-pointers than him. I can see where you're going with the hypothetical, I just don't understand why you seem to be advocating for Biggie to do things that don't take advantage of his best skills and instead exploit his marginal ones.

I like how you took my line of BS and extened it to the horizon. Nice job! All I can really add to this is that Biggie did have open shots when he lofted those 3-pt attempts. At least far more open than our normal (?) 3-pt shooters. It seemed nobody was able to hit that basket at Maryland when we shot with their odd balls. Fundamentally, I agree with your perspective. Get him underneath and let him go to work.