Since Ish Massoud is currently one of 2 contributors returning next year, I thought I'd look a little bit at his numbers and see if there is some hope for him to be a solid player for the Cats next year. I think there is.
Ish started the year fairly well. He started the first 11 games and scored 8.6 points per game, made 36.7% from 3 (on over 4 per game), but was also only 36.7% on 2s. He made all of his FTs and was grabbing 3.9 rebounds per game. His offensive rating in that stretch was 0.95, which is just below average for the Big 12. Of course some of that came against >250 opponents, against the top 150 (6 games) he scored 9.5 PPG with 3.4 rebounds per game while hitting 31.7% from 3. So he scored more, but was less efficient, mainly due to really poor games against Arkansas and Wichita State. He was solid in the other 6 games scoring at least 9 points per game.
Then the middle of the season and Big 12 play came around and Massoud really struggled. Over the course of 9 games Massoud scored only 2.3 PPG (no more than 5 in any game), averaged 1.1 boards, and hit 17.6% from 3. His offensive rating was 0.82 and it looked like he might be a comple bust.
However, Massoud turned it around to finish the year with only 1 poor game (ISU) in his final 8 games. He averaged 8.8 PPG, had an efficiency of 1.00, averaged 2.8 rebounds, and hit 35.5% from 3. So at his best to bookend the year, he was around 8.5 points per game, 36% from 3, and 3.5 rebounds. Then you look at his sophomore year at Wake and he scored 8.3 PPG, hit 33.6% from 3, grabbed 3.4 rebounds and had an efficiency of .91 because he hit under 34% on 2s. As a FR he scored 4.8 PPG and averaged 2.0 boards, but hit 39.8% from 3. During his career, over 60% of his shot attempts have been 3s, though at K-State it was the lowest for any season at 56%.
So I look at that and see some hope. He's got another transition to deal with, and the struggle to being the Big 12 was clearly a struggle last year, but he does know the league now and should know what to expect. Hopefully Tang and his staff can tap into the best of Ish, I see a guy that can be a 8-10 PPG scorer, grab 4-5 boards, and hit 35% or better from 3. I'd certainly take that from the 4 spot next year if that's Ish's to lose (which right now it might be). Matt Mayer has been mentioned as a comp and that's probably a good one, the last 2 seasons at Baylor he's been around 8-10 PPG, 4-5 RB, 36% from 3, and about 44-45% of his shot attempts have been 3s.
Ish started the year fairly well. He started the first 11 games and scored 8.6 points per game, made 36.7% from 3 (on over 4 per game), but was also only 36.7% on 2s. He made all of his FTs and was grabbing 3.9 rebounds per game. His offensive rating in that stretch was 0.95, which is just below average for the Big 12. Of course some of that came against >250 opponents, against the top 150 (6 games) he scored 9.5 PPG with 3.4 rebounds per game while hitting 31.7% from 3. So he scored more, but was less efficient, mainly due to really poor games against Arkansas and Wichita State. He was solid in the other 6 games scoring at least 9 points per game.
Then the middle of the season and Big 12 play came around and Massoud really struggled. Over the course of 9 games Massoud scored only 2.3 PPG (no more than 5 in any game), averaged 1.1 boards, and hit 17.6% from 3. His offensive rating was 0.82 and it looked like he might be a comple bust.
However, Massoud turned it around to finish the year with only 1 poor game (ISU) in his final 8 games. He averaged 8.8 PPG, had an efficiency of 1.00, averaged 2.8 rebounds, and hit 35.5% from 3. So at his best to bookend the year, he was around 8.5 points per game, 36% from 3, and 3.5 rebounds. Then you look at his sophomore year at Wake and he scored 8.3 PPG, hit 33.6% from 3, grabbed 3.4 rebounds and had an efficiency of .91 because he hit under 34% on 2s. As a FR he scored 4.8 PPG and averaged 2.0 boards, but hit 39.8% from 3. During his career, over 60% of his shot attempts have been 3s, though at K-State it was the lowest for any season at 56%.
So I look at that and see some hope. He's got another transition to deal with, and the struggle to being the Big 12 was clearly a struggle last year, but he does know the league now and should know what to expect. Hopefully Tang and his staff can tap into the best of Ish, I see a guy that can be a 8-10 PPG scorer, grab 4-5 boards, and hit 35% or better from 3. I'd certainly take that from the 4 spot next year if that's Ish's to lose (which right now it might be). Matt Mayer has been mentioned as a comp and that's probably a good one, the last 2 seasons at Baylor he's been around 8-10 PPG, 4-5 RB, 36% from 3, and about 44-45% of his shot attempts have been 3s.
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