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The departed

Robbie Beran finally fell out of the starting lineup, but responded by scoring a season-high 9 points, 4 boards and 3 assists, and hitting more threes in that game (2) than he had previously all season (1). Beran had been providing blocked shots and little else, his replacement in the lineup is two inches shorter but a much better rebounder.

Roper has established himself as a starter on a historically bad Notre Dame team, and has a larger role in the offense than he ever had at NU. Unfortunately there's not much else positive to say given how bad the team is. Curious how CC would have used him in the rotation if he stayed here, but it's safe to say he wouldn't be getting the 30 mpg that he's getting with ND.

Ryan Young remains the backup center for Duke, however instead of being in rotation with a raw lottery-pick freshman like last year, this year the main starter is 2nd-year Mark Mitchell, and thus Young's minutes share looks a lot more like the end of last season already. There is also a freshman third center who gets a few spot minutes here and there. As a result, Ryan is seeing career lows in minutes, shots and points, along with career highs in assists, turnovers and free throw rate.

Casey Simmons is part of Yale's 8-man rotation, with a season high 20 minutes and a career high 11 points in his last game against Quinnipiac. Statistically his numbers don't look that different from his year at NU, other than that he is drawing more fouls.

Rowan Brumbaugh got Wally Pipped, missing a game for illness and subsequently not recovering his starting spot in the last three games, which has coincided with the return of K State transfer Ish Massoud. He's the third guard behind two guys who average 33 and 27 mpg respectively.

Jordan Lathon, in his 6th year of college and at his 3rd school, is an established starter for a Morehead State team that will be favored to win the Ohio Valley Conference. He's more of a shooting guard now, averaging 11.7 points/game with career highs in shooting percentage and rebounding, and career lows in assists and turnovers.

Now do Carl Richardson.
 
Duke is playing Kyle Filipowski at the 5 this season.
Sophomore Mark Mitchell is starting at the 4 this year after starting all 35 games last year at the 3.
Duke has 4 freshmen who were all rated in the national Top 25 by 24/7 sports, so a down year for them.
This year Duke uses 3 guards - primarily Tyrese Proctor and Jeremy Roach plus one of the two freshmen guards.
The other two freshmen are forwards and they get some minutes too.

At this point, Ryan Young gets about half of the minutes available when either Filipowski or Mitchell is out of the game. Several of the freshmen have mistaken him for one of their uncles.
 
Duke is playing Kyle Filipowski at the 5 this season.
Sophomore Mark Mitchell is starting at the 4 this year after starting all 35 games last year at the 3.
Duke has 4 freshmen who were all rated in the national Top 25 by 24/7 sports, so a down year for them.
This year Duke uses 3 guards - primarily Tyrese Proctor and Jeremy Roach plus one of the two freshmen guards.
The other two freshmen are forwards and they get some minutes too.

At this point, Ryan Young gets about half of the minutes available when either Filipowski or Mitchell is out of the game. Several of the freshmen have mistaken him for one of their uncles.
He got 2 minutes last game but he had a hell of a run the first 2/3 of last season. Lots of national exposure. And a graduate degree from Duke. One of the best offensive rebounders in the country. But rim protection is important when you play the 5. You can’t use good footwork and head fakes to contest shots and switch on pick and roll. You need some quickness and explosiveness, especially at 6’9”.
 
Roper out with a foot injury tonight as the Irish lose by 20 to The Citadel. 🤦‍♂️
Unrelated, but Shrewsbury’s kid continues to start. 0-8 today, including six from three. Shooting under 30% on almost 7 three attempts per game.

3rd in minutes, 2nd in shots, 5th in points. (Roper came in 2nd in minutes, 3rd in shots, 4th in points…)

I imagine the coach’s son is real popular. (Also, only reinserted into the starting lineup due to injury, but he can sure chuck it.)
 
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Unrelated, but Shrewsbury’s kid continues to start. 0-8 today, including six from three. Shooting under 30% on almost 7 three attempts per game.

3rd in minutes, 2nd in shots, 5th in points. (Roper came in 2nd in minutes, 3rd in shots, 4th in points…)

I imagine the coach’s son is real popular. (Also, only reinserted into the starting lineup due to injury, but he can sure chuck it.)


Guessing the coach's son isn't one of those he's looking to have transfer out...
 
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“We are a performance-based culture, mostly.” 😳😳

Truly too bad for Roper. He needed to go somewhere for the minutes, which he’s gotten. He’s shot well, too.
"He needed to go somewhere for the minutes..."

Roper entered the transfer portal on March 27. So did Ryan Langborg.

At that time Chris Collins knew Ty Berry would be back.
Buie and Audige had declared for the NBA draft.
Sure, maybe Collins believed Buie was coming back, but that was not certain and Roper wouldn't know.

Unless Roper has a crystal ball and thought Ty Berry was better than him, it doesn't make sense to think Roper left for playing time.
 
"He needed to go somewhere for the minutes..."

Roper entered the transfer portal on March 27. So did Ryan Langborg.

At that time Chris Collins knew Ty Berry would be back.
Buie and Audige had declared for the NBA draft.
Sure, maybe Collins believed Buie was coming back, but that was not certain and Roper wouldn't know.

Unless Roper has a crystal ball and thought Ty Berry was better than him, it doesn't make sense to think Roper left for playing time.
Your statements are true.

But what is also true is that three backcourt starters could have come back, that Barnhizer is more of a wing than a four, and that Roper was entering his junior year. There was not a path to guaranteed starter’s minutes at NU.

Minutes were more easily available elsewhere. Starters minutes at baaaaaad ND, as it turns out; I think many here expected those minutes in the MAC or Horizon or Valley.

He could have gotten starter’s minutes at NU. Starter’s minutes were a virtual lock elsewhere.

I have no inside knowledge, of course. Maybe he was simply no longer gruntled and was headed out regardless.
 
Jordan Lathon is killing it in Bloomington right now
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"He needed to go somewhere for the minutes..."

Roper entered the transfer portal on March 27. So did Ryan Langborg.

At that time Chris Collins knew Ty Berry would be back.
Buie and Audige had declared for the NBA draft.
Sure, maybe Collins believed Buie was coming back, but that was not certain and Roper wouldn't know.

Unless Roper has a crystal ball and thought Ty Berry was better than him, it doesn't make sense to think Roper left for playing time.
Maybe Collins was honest and said they were looking for a transfer to replace Audige. Collins said he reached out to Langborg the second he hit the portal. And he said would have recruited him even if Audige stayed.

I watched a few minutes of the Georgetown game and Roper had one of the most incredible shots I have ever seen. He stole the ball, raced down court and then flipped the ball over his head in between two defenders with his back to the basket. I had to watch it a couple of times to see how he made it.
 
Not to mention playing for Shrewsberry at this time last year might have been really appealing. His arrow was definitely pointing up.
 
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Maybe Collins was honest and said they were looking for a transfer to replace Audige. Collins said he reached out to Langborg the second he hit the portal. And he said would have recruited him even if Audige stayed.

I watched a few minutes of the Georgetown game and Roper had one of the most incredible shots I have ever seen. He stole the ball, raced down court and then flipped the ball over his head in between two defenders with his back to the basket. I had to watch it a couple of times to see how he made it.
I like Roper and think he could have helped, but CCC was going out to get another shooter no matter what. He would probably be the 4th guard at NU in most games. He left for good reasons.
 
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"He needed to go somewhere for the minutes..."

Roper entered the transfer portal on March 27. So did Ryan Langborg.

At that time Chris Collins knew Ty Berry would be back.
Buie and Audige had declared for the NBA draft.
Sure, maybe Collins believed Buie was coming back, but that was not certain and Roper wouldn't know.

Unless Roper has a crystal ball and thought Ty Berry was better than him, it doesn't make sense to think Roper left for playing time.
Roper is just a guy. No big loss.
 
Roper is just a guy. No big loss.
Roper got offers from Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
He was very highly recruited, by Northwestern standards.
Chris Collins thought Roper as a freshman was good enough to start in front of Ty Berry in 13 of his 18 Big Ten games. And he played fairly well on a dysfunctional team.

He's a good player. Probably didn't buy into what Collins/Lowery were demanding.
 
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Roper got offers from Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
He was very highly recruited, by Northwestern standards.
Chris Collins thought Roper as a freshman was good enough to start in front of Ty Berry in 13 of his 18 Big Ten games. And he played fairly well on a dysfunctional team.

He's a good player. Probably didn't buy into what Collins/Lowery were demanding.

And what was that? Playing defense?
 
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And what was that? Playing defense?
I think its fair to assume Collins recruited Roper on the Stretch 5 NBA style that he (Collins) was trying so hard to play at the time. After the Gragg reset and the Lowery hire, Collins shifted his focus to defense first, grind-it-out approach on offense, work your ass off on defense, guards crash the defensive boards and limit the turnovers..
It fit Ty Berry, but Roper always seemed like a guy who wanted to play uptempo, use his athleticism to get up and down the floor and (perhaps) didn't want to work that hard or didn't enjoy that style - even though he was a pretty good defender.
 
I think its fair to assume Collins recruited Roper on the Stretch 5 NBA style that he (Collins) was trying so hard to play at the time. After the Gragg reset and the Lowery hire, Collins shifted his focus to defense first, grind-it-out approach on offense, work your ass off on defense, guards crash the defensive boards and limit the turnovers..
It fit Ty Berry, but Roper always seemed like a guy who wanted to play uptempo, use his athleticism to get up and down the floor and (perhaps) didn't want to work that hard or didn't enjoy that style - even though he was a pretty good defender.
CCC has always been a defense first type of Coach. He just didnt have the horses to pull that wagon during the Nance/Young/Kopp timeframe.
 
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I hope Roper doesn’t end up regretting his decision, seems like a good kid. I think he was a solid player for us and it seemed like, before his injury, he showed noticeable improvement shooting the three.

I like the team we have, and I think Roper would have been a nice piece this year.
 
I hope Roper doesn’t end up regretting his decision, seems like a good kid. I think he was a solid player for us and it seemed like, before his injury, he showed noticeable improvement shooting the three.

I like the team we have, and I think Roper would have been a nice piece this year.

And most likely a starter next season.
 
How are our former players doing in mid-January?

Ryan Young is still at Duke, typically backing up Kyle Filipowski at center, but sometimes playing alongside him. For the season Young is averaging 12 minutes a game, 3.5 pts, 3.5 rebounds and 1 assist.
Most recently, he played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting, with 4 offensive rebounds and 5 defensive rebounds in an 84-79 win over Georgia Tech. Season high in points and rebounds. He did, however get posterized on a dunk.

Robbie Beran struggled mightily in his first 9 games with Virginia Tech, losing his starting role after a 1 for 7, 1 rebound effort against Louisville. At that point in the season he had made 1 of 15 three point attempts. Coming off the bench for the next 5 games, he started to play better and is back in the starting lineup. Since that initial demotion, he has played 7 games, averaged 21 minutes, made 7 of 11 inside the arc, made 10 of 22 outside the arc and has 7 offensive rebounds and 26 defensive rebounds, 9 assists, 6 blocks, 5 steals, 11 turnovers. Playing much better since mid December.

Julian Roper started the first 10 games for Notre Dame and played about 31 minutes per game. He suffered a minor injury, missed two games, the first of which ND got blown out by the Citadel in South Bend. Shrewsberry went off about lack of effort and commitment, and Julian lost his starting job for the next 4 games, regaining it for ND's most recent loss to Florida State. He has 0 total assists and 0 turnovers in his last 5 games, playing about 22 minutes per game, grabbing 3 rebounds per game, making 4 of 12 inside the arc and 4 of 16 from distance. Not going well lately for Julian.

Casey Simmons is at Yale, averaging 14 minutes off the bench. 4 points per game, 2.5 rebounds. Simmons started the first 7 games of his career at NU, while Audige was unavailable, but ahead of Barnhizer and Roper, in that ill-fated 2021-22 season.

The only stats guy who publishes player ratings (Evan Miyakawa) has Ryan Young as the 26th most valuable player in the ACC. Robbie Beran is currently 70th. Julian Roper is 83rd (of 131 rated players). Young is an efficient role player on a good team.

Chase Audige is with Capital City in the G-League and has played 21 games, averaging almost 14 minutes, 4.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.6 steals per game, shooting 32% on 3's and 39% on 2's.

Pete Nance is with the Cleveland Charge in the G-League and is starting at center and power forward after coming off the bench for about 5 games. He's playing 30 minutes a night, 13 ppg, 72 of 120 (60%) inside the arc, 29 of 79 outside (37%). 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks per game. On Jan 10th he had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists! On Jan 13th, he had 12 points, 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Going well for Pete.
 
How are our former players doing in mid-January?

Ryan Young is still at Duke, typically backing up Kyle Filipowski at center, but sometimes playing alongside him. For the season Young is averaging 12 minutes a game, 3.5 pts, 3.5 rebounds and 1 assist.
Most recently, he played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting, with 4 offensive rebounds and 5 defensive rebounds in an 84-79 win over Georgia Tech. Season high in points and rebounds. He did, however get posterized on a dunk.

Robbie Beran struggled mightily in his first 9 games with Virginia Tech, losing his starting role after a 1 for 7, 1 rebound effort against Louisville. At that point in the season he had made 1 of 15 three point attempts. Coming off the bench for the next 5 games, he started to play better and is back in the starting lineup. Since that initial demotion, he has played 7 games, averaged 21 minutes, made 7 of 11 inside the arc, made 10 of 22 outside the arc and has 7 offensive rebounds and 26 defensive rebounds, 9 assists, 6 blocks, 5 steals, 11 turnovers. Playing much better since mid December.

Julian Roper started the first 10 games for Notre Dame and played about 31 minutes per game. He suffered a minor injury, missed two games, the first of which ND got blown out by the Citadel in South Bend. Shrewsberry went off about lack of effort and commitment, and Julian lost his starting job for the next 4 games, regaining it for ND's most recent loss to Florida State. He has 0 total assists and 0 turnovers in his last 5 games, playing about 22 minutes per game, grabbing 3 rebounds per game, making 4 of 12 inside the arc and 4 of 16 from distance. Not going well lately for Julian.

Casey Simmons is at Yale, averaging 14 minutes off the bench. 4 points per game, 2.5 rebounds. Simmons started the first 7 games of his career at NU, while Audige was unavailable, but ahead of Barnhizer and Roper, in that ill-fated 2021-22 season.

The only stats guy who publishes player ratings (Evan Miyakawa) has Ryan Young as the 26th most valuable player in the ACC. Robbie Beran is currently 70th. Julian Roper is 83rd (of 131 rated players). Young is an efficient role player on a good team.

Chase Audige is with Capital City in the G-League and has played 21 games, averaging almost 14 minutes, 4.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.6 steals per game, shooting 32% on 3's and 39% on 2's.

Pete Nance is with the Cleveland Charge in the G-League and is starting at center and power forward after coming off the bench for about 5 games. He's playing 30 minutes a night, 13 ppg, 72 of 120 (60%) inside the arc, 29 of 79 outside (37%). 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks per game. On Jan 10th he had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists! On Jan 13th, he had 12 points, 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Going well for Pete.
Thanks for the updates. It’s nice to check up on these guys from time to time.

I thought Simmons would have more of an impact at this point in his career. Definitely wrong about him. He was a good athlete with good length and his pull-up jumper was not bad.

And glad Ryan is getting more minutes and playing better. He had a long stretch of games where he was in single digit minutes and was not playing well. Hard to get in any kind of rhythm playing 4 minutes a half. 26th most valuable player is pretty funny, though.
 
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I know this is not exactly on target, but why weren't we in on Max Christie's little brother who is now one of the top freshman in the conference at Minnesota? Didn't we have a family connection to them? I can't remember the details now. We could have competed with Minnesota I'd think.
 
The other team eats as well.
I think people misread Young on the defensive end. He wassn't "big" for a Big Ten center. 6'10" 240 basically.
Definitely couldn't jump (or can't). But he was fundamentally sound and knew how to position himself.
He struggled mightily with Zach Edey and Kofi Cockburn - guys who were quicker and bigger than him - and I am pretty sure thats why a lot of people around here think he was a bad defender.

If you watch the Penn State game from a few years back when John Harrar destroyed Pete Nance, but got his ass kicked by Ryan Young, it tells a different (clearer) story.
 
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