Van Vleet a top 10 impactfull sophomore

[tropicalshox]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=collegebasketballnation&id=84927&src=desktop

[DwShock]

Nice find. Thanks.

[RoyalShock]

When I first saw that link this morning my first thought was, "I wonder if Ron Baker is included?" Then I see FVV and am like, "whoa, how much talent do we have that FVV wasn't my first thought?" Love it!

[wufan]

FVV and Ron Baker got all the praise in the dance, but the pendents didn't get to see Evan Wessel. That's a nice 1/2/3 in the class of 2016!

[shocksrbest]

FVV and Ron Baker got all the praise in the dance, but the pendents didn't get to see Evan Wessel. That's a nice 1/2/3 in the class of 2016!

True dat

[Aargh]

Let's throw a next-year Jr. into the group and call them the Fab 4. Add Wiggins to the mix and the rotation at 1/2/3 may be tough for a talented Fr (Green) to crack.

Let's hope that some very talented players are happy to get a few minutes on a winning team as opposed to getting a lot of minutes on an average team.

[Rlh04d]

Let's throw a next-year Jr. into the group and call them the Fab 4. Add Wiggins to the mix and the rotation at 1/2/3 may be tough for a talented Fr (Green) to crack.

Let's hope that some very talented players are happy to get a few minutes on a winning team as opposed to getting a lot of minutes on an average team.

Going to be a rough depth chart. I love it.

[Rlh04d]

I was arguing with a Missouri State fan and calculated the stats out for Ron Baker vs Marcus Marshall on a per-minute-played basis (I think per-game, the way stats are usually calculated, is garbage, because it doesn't take into account significant differences in minutes played, which hurts most WSU players in comparison to other Valley players). I thought they were pretty interesting:

Marshall vs Baker
FG% 40.9% vs 39.8%
3P%: 31.4% vs 35.7%
FT%: 80% vs 82.2%
REB: 0.098 vs 0.124
AST: 0.067 vs 0.068
BLK: 0.002 vs 0.0107
STL: 0.018 vs 0.0299
PF: 0.0596 vs 0.0832
TO: 0.044 vs 0.049
PTs: 0.372 vs 0.335

If you look at Baker's stats only since his return, his offensive stats jump pretty significantly, to .385 points per minute, .147 rebounds per minute, 44% from the field, 41.2% from 3, 90% from the line. Assists/blocks/steals all drop a bit, and fouls/TOs increase, though.

Or in other words, Marshall averaged 11.5 points per game last season, and Baker, given the same minutes-per-game, would have averaged 10.36. (FVV would have averaged 7.95 ppg, Wessel 8.68 ppg, Cotton 8.19; Wiggins actually would have averaged 11.45 ppg. Early would have averaged 16.67). Wiggins' numbers are probably inflated some by playing a lot of garbage time minutes.

I thought it was interesting given all of the hype regarding Marshall as the guy that will carry Missouri State, whereas I wouldn't be shocked if Baker was the fourth leading scorer on our team next season.

Also as a side note: Carl Hall's points-per-minute numbers increased between his junior and senior seasons from 0.375 to 0.438. Armstead's jumped from .31 his junior year to .37 his senior. Rags jumped from .33 his junior year to .489. Stutz's increased significantly every season. EO is probably the only player we've had in the last few seasons that has regressed over time. Pretty good evidence to expect the points per minute numbers of most of our players to increase next year. If Early has a Hall/Armstead/Rags level JUCO jump, though, he's a national POY candidate.

[60Shock]

Nice job, Rlh04d.

[WuDrWu]

With all the pendents and granite around here....we've gotten off track.

I look forward to Fred leading the team this fall.

[ABC]

I couldn't find the thread where many folks were saying Vanvleet had zero shot at the NBA.

Does the fact that Mekel is getting serious looks change anyone's mind about Fred?

[pinstripers]

Not really, no.

[SubGod22]

Mekel's size helps him a lot. At this point, I'll still say FVV is a long shot, but that doesn't mean he can't be one hell of a college PG.

[AZ Shocker]

I still kinda think Fred is the next Steve. The NBA will love him!

[OKC Shocker]

Mekel's size helps him a lot. At this point, I'll still say FVV is a long shot, but that doesn't mean he can't be one hell of a college PG.

Ummm...Shane Larkin was just drafted outside the lottery and he is the same size