Sam is pretty good

[Newsdreams]

But how do easy rebounds translate?

Rebotes fáciles

[Jay Bee]

Crazy, but Sam has never had a 26% or higher usage game in his career. Markus has 34. Koby has 34.

http://latenighthoops.com/projecting-marquettes-2018-19-usage/#.W1noDNVKjIU

[Tha Hound]

Just for fun let's do a Henry comp...

Sam is a better shooter, better passer, better defender, better 3point shooter, better free throw shooter, and better shooting percentage/EFG.

Hank was a better rebounder. 

... and hank went in the first round, pick 18 in what I think was a pretty weak draft.

Sam should do better than that, even next year.

Not sure how many times this has to be said, but: Henry was NOT drafted for his current skills. He was picked on upside and scouts' projections of his future performance.

[wadesworld]

Crazy, but Sam has never had a 26% or higher usage game in his career. Markus has 34. Koby has 34.

http://latenighthoops.com/projecting-marquettes-2018-19-usage/#.W1noDNVKjIU

Why do you project Joey to have a higher usage as a freshman than Sam as a junior?  Fewer minutes but more usage?  Do you project Sam as a starter and Joey coming off of the bench?

[Stretchdeltsig]

Sam is a very good college player.  I am not sure his combination of size and speed translates to the NBA.   6'7 small forward who shoots well but doesn't beat people off the dribble.  I will be I interested to see his lateral quickness this year post hip surgery.

Correction... Sam is 6'8".

[tower912]

OK.   Does that fundamentally affect the rest of the narrative?

[Jay Bee]

Why do you project Joey to have a higher usage as a freshman than Sam as a junior?  Fewer minutes but more usage?  Do you project Sam as a starter and Joey coming off of the bench?

Usages are diff based on watching them over the years - just how they play - and statistical analysis.. for Joey, especially him on the adidas circuit.

Yes, would project lower mins for Joey with Sam starting & him coming off the bench. Could see Joey potentially starting at some point during the year tho.

[Floorslapper]

Crazy, but Sam has never had a 26% or higher usage game in his career. Markus has 34. Koby has 34.

http://latenighthoops.com/projecting-marquettes-2018-19-usage/#.W1noDNVKjIU

Hard to have 30+% usage when you aren't a primary ballhandler AND have a hard time creating your own shot.  That said, Sam greatly improved his low post game, and see that as an area where he can create his own shot an up usage.

[Class71]

I love Sam, but he isn't Doug McDermott.  McD was a three time all American and national player of the year.  Sam hasn't even made Honorable Mention all Big East.

If Sam does anything close to McD in the NBA, it will be way more than I currently am expecting.

Doug shot and shot and shot. How was his defense vs. Sam's? Sam needs more showmanship and be more selfish if the priority is to emulate Doug McBuckets. That is not Sam.

On the other hand Marcus has the flash while Low key Sam just gets the job done as needed, as a team player. Marcus or a Doug M. have/had a better chance of all American honors because of their showmanship and shooting talent but who is the better player to win games?  I loved to watch Doug M. and, of course Marcus is our man. But, there is a special place in my heart for a guy who contributes in all aspects of the game, who is reliable, steady and confident. Sam is my guy because he wins games by playing hard both ends of the court while being a team player. He wills us to win.

[GGGG]

Doug shot and shot and shot. How was his defense vs. Sam's? Sam needs more showmanship and be more selfish if the priority is to emulate Doug McBuckets. That is not Sam.

On the other hand Marcus has the flash while Low key Sam just gets the job done as needed, as a team player. Marcus or a Doug M. have/had a better chance of all American honors because of their showmanship and shooting talent but who is the better player to win games?  I loved to watch Doug M. and, of course Marcus is our man. But, there is a special place in my heart for a guy who contributes in all aspects of the game, who is reliable, steady and confident. Sam is my guy because he wins games by playing hard both ends of the court while being a team player. He wills us to win.

I mean I love Sam too.

But I think a lot of the things you are saying about Sam you can say about McD too.  He was a .600+ EFG shooter with a high usage rate.  Of course he was going to shoot a lot.  You'd be dumb NOT to have him shoot a lot.  And I don't think his defense was poor.  And I never heard that he wasn't a "team player" or didn't "will them to win" either. 

Love Sam all you want, but I think people who think he's going to be better than McD are trending toward "wearing blue and gold goggles" territory.

[MuMark]

I certainly didn't mean to start a debate about Sam being as good as Mcdermott. Doug was National player of the Year as a senior.

I think it's silly to think Sam is going to reach that level. Jus thought it was an interesting stat to show that Sam is in some pretty good company based on his play his first 2 years.

[brewcity77]

Love Sam all you want, but I think people who think he's going to be better than McD are trending toward "wearing blue and gold goggles" territory.

I don't think it's saying better than McD. I think Sam's numbers, however, are as much a product of his environment as McDermott's were. Put Sam on a New Mexico team that was deep but had no one playing more than 67% of minutes and no one taking even 25% of the shots and I think he easily could've been a 20/8 guy and in the mix for an All-American team. If he's the go-to guy against Mountain West opposition? He definitely could have posted monster numbers. I think he could've had a similarly massive impact on St. Louis in the A-10, Western Kentucky in C-USA, or Bradley in the MVC.

Maybe Sam's ball deference is simply in his nature, and McDermott's ball dominance was in his. But Sam has played in systems that are designed around primarily dynamic scoring guards while McDermott played in a system where they ran everything through him. I don't think Sam will end up with the accolades McDermott was given. I do think if you swapped them at the same periods of their lives, Sam could've put up McDermott numbers and McDermott would've put up Sam numbers.

Doug played with less dynamic scorers alongside him than Sam did and against inferior opposition. I don't think either of those things are really debatable. Who knows exactly what could've been for either of them, but I think they are a lot more similar than you give them credit for, especially when you look at the advanced metrics.

[MarquetteDano]

Hard to have 30+% usage when you aren't a primary ballhandler AND have a hard time creating your own shot.  That said, Sam greatly improved his low post game, and see that as an area where he can create his own shot an up usage.

Being picky I know but I would say Sam improved his mid post game ala James Worthy.  Didn't really post low too much.

[MU82]

Correction... Sam is 6'8".

And Novak was listed at 6-10.

So right there ... that's 2 fewer inches than those who though Sam was listed at 6-7 and Novak at 6-11.

Maybe Novak had 2 inches on him. Maybe.

[MU82]

Just for fun let's do a Henry comp...

Sam is a better shooter, better passer, better defender, better 3point shooter, better free throw shooter, and better shooting percentage/EFG.

Hank was a better rebounder. 

... and hank went in the first round, pick 18 in what I think was a pretty weak draft.

Sam should do better than that, even next year.

Henry was an excellent passer. Sometimes tried to be too fancy with his passes, but he was good at finding open teammates.

Henry was probably a better ballhandler. Very comfortable bringing the ball up court, often led fast breaks (sometimes with a bad result, but sometimes not).

Henry obviously was a better rebounder. Taller, heavier and stronger.

Henry was 18, was recruited by bluebloods, and many NBA teams loved his potential before he ever played a game for the Warriors. Sam was crapped on by Wisconsin - which I still find effen hilarious - and had to earn the respect he has gotten.

[Jay Bee]

Just for fun let's do a Henry comp...

Sam is a better shooter, better passer, better defender, better 3point shooter, better free throw shooter, and better shooting percentage/EFG.

Hank was a better rebounder. 

... and hank went in the first round, pick 18 in what I think was a pretty weak draft.

Sam should do better than that, even next year.

You're not looking at usage. Sam as a frosh had a usage of 13.6%. You're not going to find many SFs who had a usage in the low to mid teens in college playing in the NBA. Henry's usage was almost double Sam's frosh year.

[Lennys Tap]

Re Sam vs Henry and McDermott:

Because Henry spent (wasted) so much of his time hanging out around the 3 point line chucking (poorly) and Sam plays (too much?) within himself, I'd rate Sam the better college player - but Henry still has the talent/size edge, hence much more NBA interest.

Sultan is spot on re Sam vs McDermott - it's no contest, very good vs great. Only blue and gold slurpers and maybe Mr and Mrs Hauser would disagree.

[Silkk the Shaka]

You're not looking at usage. Sam as a frosh had a usage of 13.6%. You're not going to find many SFs who had a usage in the low to mid teens in college playing in the NBA. Henry's usage was almost double Sam's frosh year.

JFB, Sam's kindred spirit mentality/efficiency-wise, went 14.1 / 20.6 / 21.4 usage his 3 years at MU and he's a top 5 two-way wing in the NBA

[Jay Bee]

JFB, Sam's kindred spirit mentality/efficiency-wise, went 14.1 / 20.6 / 21.4 usage his 3 years at MU and he's a top 5 two-way wing in the NBA

Defense.

[MuMark]

 It Jimmy and Sam are not really comparable players on the court.

Jimmy was/is an athletic slasher who got to the free throw line a lot  and was a great defender. Didn't shoot many 3s.....tough as nails.

Sam is just not that guy.....both very good college players but very different in what they brought to the table.

[Class71]

Re Sam vs Henry and McDermott:

Because Henry spent (wasted) so much of his time hanging out around the 3 point line chucking (poorly) and Sam plays (too much?) within himself, I'd rate Sam the better college player - but Henry still has the talent/size edge, hence much more NBA interest.

Sultan is spot on re Sam vs McDermott - it's no contest, very good vs great. Only blue and gold slurpers and maybe Mr and Mrs Hauser would disagree.

Burp! I like my colored glasses! 

[Lennys Tap]

Defense.

Exactly. Buzz sicked JFB on Tu Holloway (Xavier's best player/scorer and a quick PG) and Jimmy embarrassed him. Sam is a solid defender but not in that league.

[brewcity77]

So would anyone care to address the question of whether Sam could be a 20/8 guy or better as the primary option on a mid-major team, or is the "McDermott is better, I'll dodge the actual question" going to be the stock answer?

[Stretchdeltsig]

Henry was an excellent passer. Sometimes tried to be too fancy with his passes, but he was good at finding open teammates.

Henry was probably a better ballhandler. Very comfortable bringing the ball up court, often led fast breaks (sometimes with a bad result, but sometimes not).

Henry obviously was a better rebounder. Taller, heavier and stronger.

Henry was 18, was recruited by bluebloods, and many NBA teams loved his potential before he ever played a game for the Warriors. Sam was crapped on by Wisconsin - which I still find effen hilarious - and had to earn the respect he has gotten.

No. Sam is much better than Henry, who was careless with the ball and not the shooter that Sam is.

[GGGG]

So would anyone care to address the question of whether Sam could be a 20/8 guy or better as the primary option on a mid-major team, or is the "McDermott is better, I'll dodge the actual question" going to be the stock answer?

Sam could be a 20/8 guy on a mid-major team.

AND

McDermott is better