St. John's basketball in review: 2008-09 Quincy Roberts

#10 - Quincy Roberts

2008-2009 Class: Freshman

Position: Guard

Height: 6'5"

Weight: 190

Age/ DOB: 19/ December 31, 1989

Home: Harrisburg, PA

stats taken from Statsheet, kenpom.com, and my own calculations

2008-2009 Highs

As stated months ago, Quincy Roberts struggled a bit during his freshman season. But he was most exposed as the sole ball handler while Malik Boothe was out with a thumb injury; and on a team where possessions often end without a shot, a turnover-prone ballhandler is a killer.

Roberts started every game from the Miami contest on December 27th through the West Virginia game on January 28th. He played 31 minutes or more in each of those games; and 39 minutes against Miami and 40 minutes against Providence. TyShwan Edmondson also received more playing time, but made a minimal impact.

What if the starting role dragged Quincy's numbers down?

Short Answer

Roberts' shooting in the meat of the schedule was uninspiring, and one would have wanted to see more out of the player in terms of shot selection but more in terms of shot accuracy; Paris Horne's scoring ability was hinted at by the end of his freshman year, and Quincy doesn't have that to hang his hat on. But he looks like he has ability.

Long Answer

I am posting a table below that brings up as many questions as answers. If you want to skip the numbers, scroll past the arrow points.

Methodology: To make it easy to do and understand, I use the approximate percentage of available minutes played, effective field goal percentage (fg% with weighting to account for 3-pointers), the % of free throw attempts to field goal attempts, the % of field goal attempts that are 3-pointers, and the rest of the numbers are per-40 minute stats (that is, what Quincy would record in 40 minutes at his pace).

I took a look at the pre- and post-starting splits along with his numbers while starting at point because the non-conference schedule was very poor. And there are spikes in the starting numbers - in where Quincy took shots, in how well he rebounds, and in his turnovers. Some notes:

• Pre 12/27, Quincy shot less in 16 minutes/ game, but with a much higher percentage overall before starting, and before the tough opponents. His shooting remains fairly constant for the rest of the year.
• His shooting early in the year was very good in limited time. His shooting while playing the point consisted of fewer 3-pointers and less accuracy overall. And after going back to 13 minutes per game... his scoring got worse inside the 3-point arc, and slightly better from beyond the arc. But still poor shooting.
• Obviously his assists per 40 minutes would go down if he is not playing the point (and after Boothe returned, he did not play much as the lead guard). But his turnovers remained high, though lower than when he was the principal ballhandler.
• Roberts went back to being a solid rebounder from the guard position without the point guard responsibilities, which included getting back on defense (see the dip in offensive boards).
• Quincy increased his ability to get to the line in the course of the year, it seems.

One hopes to see that it was only the burden of being point guard that caused an erratic performance, but that's not what we see. Like D.J. Kennedy last year, the problem with his game could also be a tough adjustment to a tough conference slate; the creampuffs and pastries of the first two months didn't prepare him enough.

But Quincy is nearly an 80% free throw shooter; and physically, he has good form on his shot. He has deceptive quickness and some hops. There is material here to make a decent shooter/ scorer, perhaps, and he certainly has been able to get his shots off from the jump shot or with the one-handed runner he displays.

Impact on the 2009-2010 Season

There is a lot to work on as Quincy goes into his second year. The remaining member of the 2008 recruiting class is a "combo guard." Very few combo guards are actually good point guards, in my experience; good point guards who can run the team, man the pace, handle and pass efficiently are not that easy to find. But he wasn't lights-out as a scorer, so he needs to work to find his niche on upcoming Red Storm teams. Some ideas on what he needs to improve from this blog:

Ball Control. Roberts' showing as a lead guard were fairly poor in terms of ball control; his passing was errant and he wasn't able to hang on to the ball or get the ball in positions for players t make plays. But he does seem to have some passing sense. While playing off the ball Quincy simply needs to be stronger and more decisive, to not find himself trapped with the ball in a corner.

Shooting Stamina/ Accuracy. The shots looked good. The form wasn't terrible. But many of Roberts' shots simply did not go in. This can change with practice and drills. I think he has the ability to be a solid shooter. Additionally, Quincy can work on his stamina and strength, so he can use his leaping ability to get to the basket instead of settling for the one-handed runner. At his size with his burst of quickness, Quincy should be drawing fouls.

Improved Defensive Speed. Quincy Roberts has good quickness and length on defense. But if he can improve his foot speed and stay in front of tall-ish opponents, he can pick off a few more passes and be a disruptive force on D.

I wouldn't expect Quincy Roberts to receive a lot of minutes this year; the incoming class has a deep shooter, a slasher, and a point guard to cover the roles that Quincy can possibly fill. If he can take a redshirt year and play in 2010-11 and start in 2011-12, that might be a great way for him to increase his skills and showcase himself for his basketball future.

If Quincy does play, I would expect to see him get some spot minutes when one of the incoming recruits proves to be unready. And in truth, I would not be at all surprised to see him come out and take a rotation spot out of the blue... the freshman numbers don't show it, but he has a good amount of athletic ability.