Wendell Green's Impact

[toddc 13,194]

Think y’all are selling Wendell short 

The Little Engine That Did

Wendell Green Jr. was even better than you thought he was during Auburn's SEC title run. That bodes extremely well for his second season on the Plains.

Justin Ferguson   7 hr ago   4

 

 

PG Wendell Green Jr. (Jacob Taylor/Auburn Athletics)

There are countless advanced basketball analytics that go beyond the basic box score and dig deeper into how well a player is actually playing. When it comes to impact on a team’s performance, few can compare to net rating.

Net rating, in the simplest terms, is how much better or worse a team is when a specific player is on the court. It’s calculated by subtracting a player’s defensive rating from their offensive rating. The end result is something like a point differential, based on possessions, to show a player’s two-way impact. Think of it as a tempo-free plus/minus.

When a team wins more than 80% of its games like Auburn did last season, it makes sense that there are multiple players who posted good numbers in net rating.

But who would you have expected to be the best on the team? 

How about Jabari Smith, a potential No. 1 overall pick who racked up plenty of All-American and national freshman of the year honors? Or maybe Walker Kessler, the national Defensive Player of the Year who was the game’s most dominant rim protector in more than a decade and a near-automatic bucket on the inside?

Both of those would be great guesses. They’re both projected first-round picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, after all. 

Yet the answer wasn’t found in Auburn’s tallest and most talented frontcourt in the modern era. No, it was a 5-foot-11 point guard who wasn’t a blue-chip prospect coming out of high school and had to sign with a small school first.

Wendell Green Jr. led Auburn in net rating during its SEC championship campaign by a considerable margin. According to CBB Analytics, Green’s net rating for the season was +15.3, which was almost twice as high as Kessler at No. 2 (+7.9) on the team.

Against conference opponents alone, that number exploded. Green’s net rating in SEC play was a massive +28.0, which was in the 99th percentile of all Division I players. The next-closest was, again, Kessler — all the way at +12.2.

Edited April 20, 2022 by toddc

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,648]

Thanks for passing the article along! It’s a shame the spacing, system and some young erratic tendencies from Wendell allowed defenses to key in on our PnR as they did. He was an incredible offensive threat before those adjustments were made 

[gravejd 3,269]

Excited to see what Wendell can do next season. I felt like he kind of hit a wall last season towards the end. We've had good luck with transfers making big improvements from year 1 to year 2 and if we can get that same kind of improvement from Wendell and Zep then we will have 2 really good PG options. 

[Rednilla 5,383]

14 hours ago, gravejd said:

Excited to see what Wendell can do next season. I felt like he kind of hit a wall last season towards the end. We've had good luck with transfers making big improvements from year 1 to year 2 and if we can get that same kind of improvement from Wendell and Zep then we will have 2 really good PG options. 

...What transfers have we had make big improvements from year 1 to year 2?

I think Zep might have already reached his ceiling (not that he's in a bad place at all), but Wendell strikes me as having room for at least a little bit of growth. Time will tell.

[gravejd 3,269]

9 hours ago, Rednilla said:

...What transfers have we had make big improvements from year 1 to year 2?

I think Zep might have already reached his ceiling (not that he's in a bad place at all), but Wendell strikes me as having room for at least a little bit of growth. Time will tell.

Samir and McCormick both made huge strides from year 1 to year 2. Wendell definitely has more upside but i think Zep can bring a lot more from the offensive side of the ball as well. He needs to look for his shot a bit more but i also think he can improve at just being an all around PG. Understanding the offense a little better and having more time to mesh with his teammates and understand their strengths. The coaches understand better now what Zep can do well.....i don't see how you can say a guy in year 1 of a system has reached his ceiling. 

[Rednilla 5,383]

46 minutes ago, gravejd said:

Samir and McCormick both made huge strides from year 1 to year 2. Wendell definitely has more upside but i think Zep can bring a lot more from the offensive side of the ball as well. He needs to look for his shot a bit more but i also think he can improve at just being an all around PG. Understanding the offense a little better and having more time to mesh with his teammates and understand their strengths. The coaches understand better now what Zep can do well.....i don't see how you can say a guy in year 1 of a system has reached his ceiling. 

I suppose that's fair enough, but the reason I suggested that Zep has reached his ceiling is that he's a sixth year senior, and usually that type doesn't have much room for growth.

[NoALtiger 3,849]

He definitely hit a wall last year and it hurt us down the stretch. Huge upside and obviously has a ton of talent. Really hopes he can elevate his game a little more as a game manager when it really counts and maybe a little more consistent on the mundane shots. He clearly has a knack for the long distance bombs, especially when he’s hot. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,133]

I loved him but in a few close games we tried to run offense through him and he waited to long to start the offense. I would love to see him work on this aspect and have more movement instead of just him dribbling out front.

[gravejd 3,269]

7 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I loved him but in a few close games we tried to run offense through him and he waited to long to start the offense. I would love to see him work on this aspect and have more movement instead of just him dribbling out front.

Lack of ball movement was a big problem for just about everyone. Way too much 1on1 action at the end of last season. 

[toddc 13,194]

On 4/25/2022 at 11:05 PM, Rednilla said:

...What transfers have we had make big improvements from year 1 to year 2?

I think Zep might have already reached his ceiling (not that he's in a bad place at all), but Wendell strikes me as having room for at least a little bit of growth. Time will tell.

I thought Zep was better at the end of the season with shooting the ball, and KD got better about looking for an option to pass rather than play one on one ball.  If these two continue to develop I think we’ll be okay.