Time to worry about Andrius?

by krackatoan on Feb 3, 2010 1:49 PM EST Comment 8 comments

Well now that the Cuse is 22-1 and looks to be rolling after whatever the hell happened at DePaul, I think it's time to start looking at Andy Rautins play the last 3 or 4 weeks. It's starting to become more and more ragged and it might be cause for concern for the Orange going forward. Rautins is the only knockdown 3 point shooter they have (I know Wes shoots a good percentage but doesn't have the volume of shots) and they need him to make better decisions going forward. Andy's last 10 games..

Pts 11.3

FG % - 38%

3pt % - 33%

assists- 4.7

turnovers -3/game

All those numbers besides ppg are worse than his season averages. Is this a long slump or something to be concerned with? This is a true team in a sense no one player needs to be on every night but in the NCAA tourney, the Cuse can't have Andy stringing together 3 or 4 games of mediocre play.

Talking with some friends last night it's gotten to the point where you're holding your breath when he's dribbling the ball about whether he's going to make the right pass or throw it off of someone's face. That shouldn't be happening with a 5th year senior. For some perspective, Rautins is turning the ball over 1 every 4 times he has a possession (dribble or shot). That is now the worst on the team passing Wes.

The question is how confident are you that Rautins can turn this around and be who he was the 1st 13 games and not the last 10?

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I am confident.

He has had slumps before. It’s not an anomaly or a new thing. He’ll get back to form sooner or later, but definitely in time for the tourney. It’s frustrating, but I for one am not concerned.

by NOLACuse on Feb 3, 2010 2:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Most if not all 3 point shooters have "slumps"

Andy is in fact human and can not bury long shots consistently game after game. You would like to see him “warm” up in March/April compared to Jan/Feb

Go Orange(men)!

by SUmonkey on Feb 3, 2010 2:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

but

It’s not the shooting I’m concerned with. I know he’ll find a stroke eventually and hopefully sooner rather than later.

My concern is his shakiness with the ball. He doesn’t seem to know where to pass the ball when he has it and he seems to always try to make the spectacular play rather than just working through the offense.

Say what you will about his shooting, and I still want him shooting a three if we need one at the end of a game, but the turnovers are starting to become a big issue for the team, and specifically Rautins.

Having said that, I’m confident he’ll come around shortly.

by nickfeely8 on Feb 3, 2010 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This

is the point I was getting at. The shooting will probably be ok. Averaging 3 turnovers a game when you’re not the primary ball handler is disconcerting. This shoudl be getting better through the season. Not worse.

by krackatoan on Feb 3, 2010 3:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunetly he is essentially 40-50% handling the ball

True he is not bringing the ball up with regularity, however, most of the offense does run through him to the big guys than sometimes back out to him for a 3.

This stems from the true “problem” with our offense (if we have one) is that our PG is a freshman who can not always be relied upon. Rautins assist/TO ratio is actually better than Trishe, not to mention Rautins gets 2 more assists per game than Trishe as well. The lack of a stable PG has led to lots of TOs from other players (hell, I love Wes to death, but he can be sloppy with the ball), but these guys are forced to handle the ball more than they should because Trishe is not “ready” yet. I think Trishe can/will be great, but he isn’t yet.

Turnovers are actually not a problem for Rautins, comparatively speaking, not at all. Hence why I commented on the shooting.

Go Orange(men)!

by SUmonkey on Feb 5, 2010 8:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Meh, I think he'll be okay.

I’d say last game, he knew he was having issues. It’s pretty unlike Andy to keep forcing threes if they’re not falling; he was not in rhythm and he knew it (heck, when he was scoreless in a game a week or two ago he had something like 7 assists?). The Orange always has a meltdown at this time of year when players start doing unusually stupid things and we start losing. Then, we almost always focus in time for the BE tourney. Andy’s the one doing dumb things, and we’re not in our rhythm quite as well as we have been (it’s certainly not a full out meltdown), and we’re still getting W’s. I’ll take it, and when tourney times comes, I’m very okay with Andy getting the ball.

by FatK44 on Feb 3, 2010 7:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Andy always seems to me to be somewhat inconsistent.

He either has a spectacular game or a really bad one; I’ve rarely seen him have just a “good” game. He IS, however, clutch, and will make necessary shots when his name is called upon. He usually does well when he plays his role properly; he’s not an offensive playmaker and when he tries to make something happen himself it fails more often than not.

by adselver15 on Feb 4, 2010 11:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

shot selection

Andy is one of the purest shooters in the college game. I really don’t think he’s in a ‘slump’ so much as taking bad shots. when he curls around a high screen and shoots off balance, that’s not a good shot. He makes 30%, but when he shoot upwards of 40-42% on shots where his feet are square this is a huge stepdown.

The shot selection is partly due to teams keying their defense to him. As great as Wes is, he’s not a guy who’s going to beat anyone off the dribble. He scores alot on off rebounds and 14-17 foot jumpers. This results in the defense keying more in on rautins and smothering him with a tight man-man.
His turnovers have been a big problem, but I think the bigger issue going forward is his improvement of shot selection.

by EvilGerry44 on Feb 6, 2010 8:38 AM EST reply actions 0 recs