Sure would be nice if Davis
- Thread starter slidde01
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He is way too hesitant offensively....not aggressive at all. Passes up open shots all the time. I don't know if it is him or if Painter is restricting him too much. He is a much better scorer than he is playing and Lord know we need help on offense.
Hurt or not (and he may very well be certainly), he is hurting Purdue...he is a huge liability on the offensive end, and he has hurt them as well at the other end where he was dominant a year ago...he has not been the same since his injury, but he was not the same before it either seemingly.
Going into today’s game, Ray’s output has actually been quite similar to last season on a per 40 minute basis (he is averaging 5 fewer min per game this season, so his game avg's are a bit lower this year):
2014-2015 per 40 min: 13.7 pts, 5.6 reb, 3.3 ast, 1.1 stl, 2.4 TO, 2.9 PF
2015-2016 per 40 min: 13.6 pts, 5.1 reb, 3.1 ast, 0.7 stl, 2.2 TO, 2.4 PF
Despite those similar numbers, he has definitely been in an offensive funk during B1G play. He’s been held to single digits in points in 6 of 8 B1G games. Ray scoring in double figures seems to be an important metric for Purdue's success the last 2 years:
-Last season Purdue was only 8-8 in games where he scored in single digits. Purdue was 13-5 in games where he scored in double figures last year.
-Purdue is only 4-4 when he has scored in single digits this year. Purdue is undefeated otherwise.
Based on everything I've read & seen, Ray is a fighter & competitor...if there is one guy on the team I trust to be working his butt off to make this team successful, it's Ray.
2014-2015 per 40 min: 13.7 pts, 5.6 reb, 3.3 ast, 1.1 stl, 2.4 TO, 2.9 PF
2015-2016 per 40 min: 13.6 pts, 5.1 reb, 3.1 ast, 0.7 stl, 2.2 TO, 2.4 PF
Despite those similar numbers, he has definitely been in an offensive funk during B1G play. He’s been held to single digits in points in 6 of 8 B1G games. Ray scoring in double figures seems to be an important metric for Purdue's success the last 2 years:
-Last season Purdue was only 8-8 in games where he scored in single digits. Purdue was 13-5 in games where he scored in double figures last year.
-Purdue is only 4-4 when he has scored in single digits this year. Purdue is undefeated otherwise.
Based on everything I've read & seen, Ray is a fighter & competitor...if there is one guy on the team I trust to be working his butt off to make this team successful, it's Ray.
Great stat based perspective. Thank you for this. We need Ray the balance of the year for this team to go deep in March.
No, I disagree. No facts needed here, let's go with raw emotion and kick him off the team, and fire Painter while we're at it.
Really all 3 seniors had a poor second half. First possession, Hills passed right to Iowa for a break away lay up and started the flood gates. Not to overstate one possession, but let's start the second half making sure Hammons makes a play or certainly value that we need a specific play designed.
When you have 3 seniors start the second half of a Big ten game on the road, you got to get more toughness, smarts and production.
When you have 3 seniors start the second half of a Big ten game on the road, you got to get more toughness, smarts and production.
I agree with this. We needed production from Davis but we especially needed production from Hammons. He more or less disappeared in the second half. When the team goes into a funk (every team does) it's up to the leader and the best player on the team to bail them out or give them at least a chance. That's what Uthoff did in WL.
He is averaging 11 and 8 in his last 5 games. He has shown pretty good improvement earlier in the year but those numbers (11 and 8) are about his career averages. He averaged 11 and 6 in his freshman year. We need the assertive Hammons back.
scoring may not be under his control...rebounding is more under his control. AJ plays a better total game when he is scoring. Course if he is scoring...is that indicative that the other team is not as good and it also makes it easier to board. I do think AJ is "more focused" when he is on his offensive game, but again that is not totally on him...
I'm as big of a stats guy as anyone. But this seems to be a level headed thread - no raw emotion here. If you compare B10 numbers, his stats are down. That may be due to injury; it may not. Whatever the cause, I think his minutes should be reduced because he doesn't seem to be the defensive stopper he was last year. If he's not shutting his guy down, then what is he contributing? Anything less than a shut down on that end fails to balance out his ineffectiveness on the O end.
I posted this in another thread - it'd be fine if he wasn't the focal point of the offense as long as he made it flow better. This is subjective, but I thought Ryne Smith was great at this - the ball moved so much better when Smith was in the game, even if he wasn't contributing any stats. Kramer was the same way. Davis seems to be the opposite. The ball, to me, flows a ton better with Mathias in the game than with Davis.
All this being said, Iowa is really good and this was one of the 3 B10 games that I had penciled in as a loss at the beginning of the season.
I posted this in another thread - it'd be fine if he wasn't the focal point of the offense as long as he made it flow better. This is subjective, but I thought Ryne Smith was great at this - the ball moved so much better when Smith was in the game, even if he wasn't contributing any stats. Kramer was the same way. Davis seems to be the opposite. The ball, to me, flows a ton better with Mathias in the game than with Davis.
All this being said, Iowa is really good and this was one of the 3 B10 games that I had penciled in as a loss at the beginning of the season.
I wasn't able to watch the game, but it's much easier for a defense to take away a big, especially when guard play is weak. If the focus is to not let Hammons beat you, a team is going to be able to keep him in check. Until others step up, that's the way it's going to be. It's why guard play is much more important.
I wouldn't say Iowa took Hammons out though. In the second half, he was really not aggressive getting into position, setting screen, asking for the ball... Especially when their back up big was guarding him. Iowa bigs were much more aggressive on both ends of the floor IMO.
RD and VE are vital on the offensive end, especially when we are shooting poorly. We are very vanilla on offense and need to be more multi-dimension. Teams have figured out how to slow down our inside game if that is all we are trying to do. Defenses against us have evolved but our offense has not.
It was more than coincidental that Ray had 4 turnovers. Iowa went after him hard. He almost gave it away a few other times. Painter says "pick your poison". Iowa chose to impede our bigs ( with a little help from the refs) in the first half, but were most successful pressuring Ray.
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