Dickinson

Hate to bad mouth a guy that is routinely dropping double doubles, but hasn't he ever thought to work on his vertical leap? I swear I've never seen hime jump more than 4 inches. Passes routinely went over his head tonight while he stood (basically) flatfooted.

...And has anyone ever seen him dunk in traffic? He routinely gets the ball within a foot of the basket and then tosses it up off the glass. He needs to follow KJ's lead and JUST DUNK THE DAMN THING. Shooting percentage goes way up that way, and at his size, who's gonna stop him?

#sigh...frustration finding it's way into my keyboard

My unimportant take is that Hunter is simply not very athletic, at least not compared to most of the guys at this level. He has very good touch on his shots, but doesn't jump or slide his feet well. It would certainly help the team's defense if he were a stronger force in the middle and more of a rim protector, but that's just not who and what he is.

It's been bugging me too, and it's hard to knock the guy based on his stats. Nevertheless, I do get the feeling that we could be getting more out of him...or that he's not as much of a "dominant" player as much as he's "a really good" player.

Definitely a head scratcher as he has yet to be the guy who will put the team on his back and carry them to victory. Kevin and KJ seem to have that in them. Harris kind of does. Just don't see a lot of him saying, "just give me the ball, I got this."

But the stats are there...19 points, 11 rebounds per game...58% shooting.

Great point. Complimentary is exactly correct.

I'm cutting Furphy a break. He's a freshman who just emerged as a threat recently. Up until a few games ago he wasn't even starting, and he quickly went from bench, to starter, to rockstar. So up until a couple games ago the scouting report likely listed him as a 3 point shooter who gets limited time. NOW the scouting report is reflecting a couple of of VERY big games.

In other words, he was flying under the radar for a while and was able to take advantage of it. Now he's CLEARLY on the radar and likely (for the first time) getting special defensive attention directed at him. K-State obviously scouted him and adapted their defense to limit him. This was a new development for Furphy and now he needs to adapt that he can no longer sneak onto the court unnoticed, and instead has a guy (or guys) guarding him who know his tendencies.

This just happened to coincide with a night were the veterans crapped the bed.

Another way to look at this is that Hunter doesn't seem likely to get drafted. He might be back next season.

A key stat to show a player's offensive aggressiveness or willingness to play into contact is FTA per 40 minutes. Since 1985 we have had 169 players have seasons where they averaged 10 minutes per game or more. Of those, Kevin this season ranks as the 12 most FTA per 40 minutes at 7.08. Joel Embiid in 2014 is 1st at 8.97. Most of the top players in this stat are bigs. In fact, of the top 25 seasons, every player is a power forward or center with the exception of;

Andrew Wiggins - 2014 - 2nd place at 8.74
Frank Mason - 2017 - 10th place @ 7.32
Kevin McCullar - 2024 - 12 place @ 7.08
Devon Dotson - 2020 - 25th place @ 6.53

This season Hunter is shooting 3.61 FTA per 40 minutes. That ranks a pathetic 103rd of 169. As a matter of fact, of the 23 players I have labeled as true centers, he ranks 22nd. Only David Padgett in 2004 ranks below him. Even Landon Lucas as a sophomore ranks above him. I would say that based on this stat, which is an important and indicative stat, Hunter's offensive game is very soft. Now we must also realize his game is very effective. Of those same 23 centers, he is also the most offensively effective with the possible exception of Joel Embiid in 2014. So while we can certainly ding Hunter for being a non-aggressive offensive player, he is certainly not ineffective.

Another stat that is important is the EffFG%. Since Hunter shoots 3's you would think that he would compete for being way up there in this stat. But he ranks 10th of the 23 centers. Udoka Azubuike ranks 1st, 2nd and 3rd for his 2018, 2020, and 2019 season. Landen Lucas ranks 4th and 5th in 2016 and 2017. Hunter shoots an EFFFG% of 61.1%. Udoka averaged over 70% for his career and Landen was in the 63% range for his career. Hunter's EFF FG% is not terrible but my argument is that if he played into contact more he would score more points and have a better EFF FG% because he would shoot more FT's. Hunter is a skilled big and an effective player but he leaves some on the table so to speak by not adding to his repertoire.

Having said all that, Hunter is from an overall rating standpoint our most dominant player. My player rating for the season shows the overall cumulative rating. And for all the improvements Hunter could make if he would add to his skillset, he is already a highly rated and highly effective player.