(11-26-2019 08:05 PM)Miggy Wrote: I’ve seen Forrester play both in the Bahamas and in Temple scrimmages. He’s athletic but his bb skills are limited. Don’t get your hopes up.
Temple was fine without D.Moore in the USC game where they kept USC’s two-point percentage down. If he can’t play in the Maryland game, Temple should be alright without him as D.Moore is not very quick defensively, has not been shooting well, and Maryland players are. Temple can play with Hamilton or play small ball without him.
1) I beg to differ about Forrester. If pre-season scrimmages meant anything important, JPL wouldn't have played more than a minute or two in games 1-4, much less averaging 12.3 mpg, and never would have led the team in scoring @ USC. It also applies the other way 'round: Scott played well in preseason, but hasn't in games 1-4.
My view is that
pre-season play can be very misleading, especially for players who don't expect to play much, if at all in the season ahead. Everyone, including Forrester expected him to be redshirted this season, and he thus got little playing time in observable scrimmages. This may well have had the effect of lowering his energy and motivation level in practice.
While he may get off to a slow start, due to having no expectation to play this season, he has been getting good coaching and practicing with the team. The team will really need Forrester to contribute at least a few minutes per game, fairly soon, at least as long as Damion is out of the lineup.
Beyond that, since Forrester has only 3 remaining seasons of eligibility,
Coach McKie isn't going to want to waste his first season at Temple. We should expect the whole coaching staff to devote all the attention needed to get him fully up to speed in short order.
One of the important benefits of playing Forrester in the low post is that this may well help Moorman to play in his accustomed 4 position most/all of the time, and this could help him to regain his shooting prowess.
The main factor in Forrester's favor, beyond the fact that he is needed to fill the gap at the 5 position, is that
he proved at Indiana that he can contribute nearly 1 positive stat (pts,rb,ast,stl,blk) for every minute he's on the court. Very few Owls play that productively.
2) Damion Moore's FG% has dropped noticeably, it's true, and he's not one of the quickest players, but his statistical productivity on a per minute basis has been outstanding (12.8 pts, 17.6 rb, 1.6 stl, 1.6 blk per 40 min., which equals
0.84 positive statistics per minute of playing time). The only other starting player on the team who has been more productive, statistically, is NPL.
--Moreover, his PER (16.2) is comparable to those of Rose and A Moore, and
much better than Hamilton's PER of 9.6, Moorman's 9.1, and Park's 13.4.
--While his offensive efficiency has lagged, due to his .429 FG%,
his defensive BPM and defensive rating (DRtg) are higher than Perry's, which is noteworthy, since Perry is considered one of Temple's better defenders.
--Thus, while his mpg indicate that he is more of a role player than a typical starter,
he has been an effective player in his role who has out-performed the team's starting PF. Despite sub-.500 FG% in games 1-4,
there is every reason to expect that his FG shooting will improve to the 0.633 FG% range that he achieved last season, to lead the entire team, if his back fully recovers this season.
--Given his capabilities, Damion is more than just "a role player." When healthy, he has often played a vital role on the team.
Hope we get him back at near 100%.