On the subject of Cat vs. Tyler, I think a lot of fans overrate Tyler’s performance in comparison to Cat’s.
Cat was better than Lewis this season in the following categories:
FG%
3FG%
eFG%
TS%
OREB%
DREB%
STL%
BLK%
TO% (that’s right, Tyler turned the ball over more often)Tyler was better at FT%, AST%, and A/T. But not by as much as I suspect most think. Tyler’s AST% was 32.8%, compared to 27.5% for Cat… And that is far better than Tyler as a freshman (17.5%). Tyler’s A/T ratio was much better than Cat’s this year, but Cat’s was 2.0, not far behind Tyler’s 2.2 as a freshman… And Tyler was passing to a much more experienced and offensively talented team as a freshman than Cat was this year.
More important than those metrics, Cat had a better +/- and Roland Rating than Tyler this year, showing that the team performed better overall (including both offense and defense) with him on the floor.
IMO Cat’s future is bright.
From your mouth to God’s ears. There’s a reason MG only turned to WBS when Cat feel into a deep slump (and then it was only 50/50). Cat’s the better player, and as a freshman, he has significantly more room to get better. You impact just as many possessions on defense as you do offense.
Corchiani was so quick that V used him to guard really good centers from time to time, because he would pick their pockets clean. I’m not old enough to have seen Towe play live, but I would bet my bottom dollar that he wasn’t a cipher on defense either.
Oh, and his senior year…Corch won the collegiate three-point shooting contest. He beat Monroe in the finals (granted, Monroe wore himself out in the prior round, which was by far the best anyone shot in the entire competition).
Lewis’ similarities were only the very superficial. He was/is short and caucasian. I would describe him much more (accurately IMHO) as a poor man’s Justin Gainey.
But you don’t have to believe me…believe the market. If he has much in common with Corch and Towe, then high major programs will be lining up to sign him as a transfer. If my take is more accurate…he’ll end up at a lesser power conference school or mid-major, and be a solid (not great) player.
I wish Lewis the very best, but the minutes he played were what he earned here, and he saw the writing on the wall going forward. I have no doubt our staff was honest with him about it.
People are more apt to “identify” with Lewis than with Cat, and often have their evaluations get thrown off as a result.
