Tossing out our disappointment in his late in the process departure, do many people really feel he made an intelligent decision to leave? There were some positives in going with Syracuse that are pretty obvious:
-Playing in the ACC, a historically good conference.
-Playing for a school with a very good basketball reputation.
-Playing for a HoF coach. In reality, how much are you going to learn from HoF'er in a year?
Syracuse did have a winning record, but 19-15 didn't exactly wow anyone and they didn't make the tourney. Obviously North Carolina was the beast, but after that you had Duke and Louisville at 13-14, and FSU at 24, so not really a great year for that conference overall. To be fair, the B1G was flat out awful, but that could have given him a greater chance to shine individually. Speaking of individual shining, here are comparative stats from Junior to Senior years.
TEAM MIN FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
SYR 37.2 5.9-13.3 .441 3.3-8.2 .403 3.5-4.1 .837 4.6 1.1 0.4 1.6 2.1 1.6 18.5
NEB 29.7 5.7-11.9 .481 2.6-6.2 .412 2.5-3.3 .775 5.9 0.6 0.3 1.1 2.6 1.6 16.6
As I hope you can see, the only dramatic increase in any area was minutes played. Shooting percentages went down everywhere but at the FT line. Rebounds fell off a bit, and only minor fluctuations in most other areas. Looking at the roster he went to, if the idea was he would be getting more looks because of a less crowded backcourt, that was a mistake. White led the team in scoring, but he was sharing the scoring with 2 other guards. A senior transfer from CSU, who was solid in about every offensive category, and a freshman with a similar game to White, who both scored in double figures. They also had a soph forward who shot the 3 well, was probably the best player on the team and drafted by the Nuggets in round 1.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but if White had stuck around, used his knowledge of how to play with his Nebraska teammates learned over the last 2 years, used his experience playing against the teams in the B1G and top competition at KU, don't we think he would have had a far greater chance to shine at Nebraska? I seriously doubt he would have only scored 18 points a game logging 37 minutes a game. I seriously doubt we would have seen the late season crumble with a little more offense and senior leadership. All in all, I think White substantially hurt his professional opportunities by leaving Nebraska. He easily could have been scoring 22+ a game. He had 2 guards who like to drive and needed a good kickout man. He had played with most of that team for 2 years, but went to a team that not only was unfamiliar to him, but was putting the point responsibility in the hands of another senior year mercenary. The guy did well, but it still was a hill to climb that he didn't really need, and I think he didn't get to show his abilities as well as he could have if he'd stayed at Nebraska.
I don't know if it's a meaningless topic, but I see such a trend to jump and run at the drop of a hat these days, and guys don't seem to recognize that getting really into a groove with teammates can elevate you so much faster. Just 2 or 3 easy looks you get from a teammate who knows where you are going to be a little sooner, and a little more frequently. 2, 3, even 4 more baskets a game can be a 4 to 12 point swing. 18.5 points a game is nice, but 80 other players scored that much or more last year, and nearly all did it playing fewer minutes. If he stays at Nebraska and is scoring at 23 a game, which I think was definitely possible, he's in the top 8 scorers in the NCAA and that would get him a few more looks. If his only thought was playing for a shot at the Final Four, I kind of get that, but Boheim would usually get deep in the tourney because of his intense trapping defenses, and White wasn't that strong on the defensive end. To me, it just seems someone was talking to him, and they ended up giving him some really poor advice.
-Playing in the ACC, a historically good conference.
-Playing for a school with a very good basketball reputation.
-Playing for a HoF coach. In reality, how much are you going to learn from HoF'er in a year?
Syracuse did have a winning record, but 19-15 didn't exactly wow anyone and they didn't make the tourney. Obviously North Carolina was the beast, but after that you had Duke and Louisville at 13-14, and FSU at 24, so not really a great year for that conference overall. To be fair, the B1G was flat out awful, but that could have given him a greater chance to shine individually. Speaking of individual shining, here are comparative stats from Junior to Senior years.
TEAM MIN FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
SYR 37.2 5.9-13.3 .441 3.3-8.2 .403 3.5-4.1 .837 4.6 1.1 0.4 1.6 2.1 1.6 18.5
NEB 29.7 5.7-11.9 .481 2.6-6.2 .412 2.5-3.3 .775 5.9 0.6 0.3 1.1 2.6 1.6 16.6
As I hope you can see, the only dramatic increase in any area was minutes played. Shooting percentages went down everywhere but at the FT line. Rebounds fell off a bit, and only minor fluctuations in most other areas. Looking at the roster he went to, if the idea was he would be getting more looks because of a less crowded backcourt, that was a mistake. White led the team in scoring, but he was sharing the scoring with 2 other guards. A senior transfer from CSU, who was solid in about every offensive category, and a freshman with a similar game to White, who both scored in double figures. They also had a soph forward who shot the 3 well, was probably the best player on the team and drafted by the Nuggets in round 1.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but if White had stuck around, used his knowledge of how to play with his Nebraska teammates learned over the last 2 years, used his experience playing against the teams in the B1G and top competition at KU, don't we think he would have had a far greater chance to shine at Nebraska? I seriously doubt he would have only scored 18 points a game logging 37 minutes a game. I seriously doubt we would have seen the late season crumble with a little more offense and senior leadership. All in all, I think White substantially hurt his professional opportunities by leaving Nebraska. He easily could have been scoring 22+ a game. He had 2 guards who like to drive and needed a good kickout man. He had played with most of that team for 2 years, but went to a team that not only was unfamiliar to him, but was putting the point responsibility in the hands of another senior year mercenary. The guy did well, but it still was a hill to climb that he didn't really need, and I think he didn't get to show his abilities as well as he could have if he'd stayed at Nebraska.
I don't know if it's a meaningless topic, but I see such a trend to jump and run at the drop of a hat these days, and guys don't seem to recognize that getting really into a groove with teammates can elevate you so much faster. Just 2 or 3 easy looks you get from a teammate who knows where you are going to be a little sooner, and a little more frequently. 2, 3, even 4 more baskets a game can be a 4 to 12 point swing. 18.5 points a game is nice, but 80 other players scored that much or more last year, and nearly all did it playing fewer minutes. If he stays at Nebraska and is scoring at 23 a game, which I think was definitely possible, he's in the top 8 scorers in the NCAA and that would get him a few more looks. If his only thought was playing for a shot at the Final Four, I kind of get that, but Boheim would usually get deep in the tourney because of his intense trapping defenses, and White wasn't that strong on the defensive end. To me, it just seems someone was talking to him, and they ended up giving him some really poor advice.
