Keita

[Itacoatiara22]

Keita should be playing more than Lovering.

[palos_verdes_ute]

yep. and plays better D.

[palos_verdes_ute]

meanwhile, Hunter Erickson has completely crapped himself in this game.

[LetItRide]

This game????
Other than 1 game he has struggled. turnovers and can’t shoot.

We so desperately need a defensive back up point guard.

Oh yeah we have one …….sitting in street clothes.

[Minnesota Ute]

Turnovers I’ll grant you but 50% from floor and 27% from 3 is not bad, with over 5pts per game on the season in 23 min a game. Not trying to make myself into a Hunter apologist but just dont think he is being evaluated objectively. He’s a serviceable backup PG and I dont think Exacte is going to be a step up.

I’ll also say that many of his turnovers are errors of commission on attempted assists, vs I recall many of Exacte’s seemed to be over dribbling, getting caught in lane with nowhere to go, or skipping passes that get picked. Erickson is out there trying to make things happen. Do I hate that he looks like the douche from katate kid, yeah i do. But from what i’m seeing, he’s not getting a fair shake on this board.

[Staples]

I agree that Hunter has been serviceable at times, but most of the advanced metrics have him among the worst on the team. WS/40, Box Plus/Minus, etc. he’s 9th on the team if you remove Brandon Haddock from the rankings (because he’s apparently done really well in his 2 garbage time appearances.) It’s mostly because of an incredibly high turnover rate of nearly 28%. For comparison sake, Rollie is at just under 13%. To be fair, I think he’s been thrust into a role that wasn’t the plan for him coming in to the season. Smith was supposed to be the second PG, and Erickson should have just been in the mix as a combo guard/wing option along with Exacte. He’s hard nosed, plays pretty solid defense (I thought he did a really nice job being physical when BYU tried to post their guards,) and he does distribute the ball well (24% AST rate, second on the team.) So I would say some of the criticism is warranted, but maybe not to the level that some have for him. I will say, I don’t think Exacte would be the answer at backup point either. We have to hope that Rollie stays healthy, and/or Smith wins his waiver appeal.

[Minnesota Ute]

Yeah I’m a big fan of the +/- because it does a nice job of capturing some intangibles like simple solid defense. So I appreciate the point. I’d be interested to know what Exacte’s looked like last year because to my eye, I just didnt see very many positive plays other than he seemed to be able to make an open 3 when it came up. His D, especially off ball help was suspect at best.
Also good point on role, I doubt he ever expected 23 min per game and being #2 floor general. Time will tell but if Exacte hasn’t significantly improved, I see Hunter getting most of the minutes even when he’s back in the mix. But i also see him cleaning up the turnovers and improving those impact stats.
No matter what its fun to see craig starting to build a competitive squad. My brother s**t on craig from day one but he doesnt watch the same way i do. And for me, a majerus disciple, having suffered through three bad coaches, i see a LOT that i like about craig. Cant wait to see my brother change his tune and pretend like he was always all in.
Go Utes. Narrow miss on tourney last year, i think we creep in this year.

[Staples]

Basketball Reference has the advanced stats for a few years back at least. Exacte last year had a BPM of -2.1 (OBPM -2.7, DBPM 0.6). Erickson so far this year is also at -2.1 (OBPM -2.1, DBPM 0.0.) Pretty even LOL

[Yergensen]

Free Keba…10 pts and 6 boards in 14 minutes? Doesn’t make sense.

[Ute Dub]

Tell him to stop getting in foul trouble. He played more than Lovering last game, but got in early foul trouble this game.

[Author]

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