tribecalledquest wrote:Help me understand the optimism that Loyola will have better shooters this season.
The Ramblers shot 39.6% from three in the MVC last year and three of the top four shooters (Townes, Kaifes and Custer) won't be playing in 19-20. The only guys coming back who shot it from deep are Williamson (a solid 10 for 23, 42.5% in the MVC) and Skokna (9 for 31, 29% in the MVC).
I understand hope springs eternal in the offseason but who are going to be better shotmakers (excluding Williamson) than those three? Especially considering opposing perimeter defenses will take notice of them.
I don't believe I said better shooters, I should just say we'll have more. While Townes could go off from deep last year in spurts, he was honestly wasn't a great shooter (ended the year at 34% from 3). Then the only two we really had were Kaifes and Custer (Custer slumped hard at times last year, but still finished at 37%). Moser system relies on efficiency from deep. You get open looks, but you also need to make them. Last year the team had three players shoot above 35% from deep, and one of them only played 16 games.
The Ramblers had 6 over 35% in 18-19, 5 in 17-18, 5 in 16-17, 4 in 15-16 and 7 in 14-15. Last year we didn't have enough efficient shooters that could make open shots. Uguak and Skokna didn't have confidence to shoot behind the arc, and a lot of times it led to ball stopping and the offense having to reset. Uguak found his role remolded to a more traditional 4, getting rebounds and occasionally posting up with much more success near seasons end, but he still couldn't stretch defenses at all.
This year the Ramblers added:
-Clemons who shot 47% his freshman year of JUCO, then 40% with a higher sample size as a sophomore;
-Hall shot 43% as a sophomore
-Wojcik was known as a sharpshooter at La Lumiere.
-Pipkins was okay, but not ideal at 35.8% as the only D1 athlete at Paris
-Welch and Kennedy also shot the 3 well at times in high school (though I don't know if it'll completely translate to the next level).
-Norris, isn't eligible this year, but was outstanding as a freshman at Oakland and ended his season shooting 48% from 3 (67-138)
I'm not saying they'll all be successes, but every addition this year has demonstrated the ability at some level to knock down an open shot. The overall team percentage may not sky rocket, but hopefully the wealth will be spread a bit more making them tougher to defend. I think the biggest weakness last year is they relied SO HEAVILY on those 3 guys + Krutwig to produce. My hope is that now there are more guys to pick up the slack.
