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What type of stats will Oscar need to put up to win NPOTY again this upcoming season?

Ky-troutbum said:
I believe Ralph Sampson and Bill Walton did.
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You are correct and they are the only 2 and both won it 3 straight. So its been 40 yrs since a college player has repeated as NPOTY, that should tell you just how great a player Oscar has an opportunity of being this season. The term Generational Talent doesn't do Oscar justice; more like Once in a Lifetime Talent.
 
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I doubt very seriously it will happen, even if he improves his numbers slightly. Voters are fickle. unrealistic expectations, UK bias. Etc.

His rebounds will go down. From time to time, he'll play out on the floor, more than last year and because of that he'll miss a couple rebounds per game. The new big dude will probably snag a couple a game that he would otherwise get (even though I doubt they'll be on the floor together a lot). Toppin will likely get a couple extra rebounds per game over last year. And so forth.

I'm thinking 19 and 12. I'd love to see 20 and 15.
 
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Things in is favor to repeat: he's older, more experienced, knows the ropes andplayers strive to improve facets of their game every year. Things against his repeat: He may have a better cast of players around him who can score reducing his ppg average. He may have better rebounders beside him if cal plays a constantly bigger 4.
 
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BlueBomb said:
I doubt very seriously it will happen, even if he improves his numbers slightly. Voters are fickle. unrealistic expectations, UK bias. Etc.

His rebounds will go down. From time to time, he'll play out on the floor, more than last year and because of that he'll miss a couple rebounds per game. The new big dude will probably snag a couple a game that he would otherwise get (even though I doubt they'll be on the floor together a lot). Toppin will likely get a couple extra rebounds per game over last year. And so forth.

I'm thinking 19 and 12. I'd love to see 20 and 15.
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I think his offensive game will be improved in multiple ways. This past year, when he went outside to set picks, he would often roll to the basket too soon for the pick to be particularly effective, but this had the positive effect of getting him in rebounding position sooner. If he improves his picks, he might miss out on a few rebounds.

Furthermore, I think his FG% will improve. Oscar was a bit Moses Malone like in that many of his offensive rebounds were off his own misses. If he misses fewer shots his offensive rebounds will go down.

Given the above, I'll still be surprised if he drops below 15 RPG simply because of how motivated he is.

I'm finding it hard to predict his scoring. Might go up, might go down. A lot depends on the other guys. If they're scoring well, we might see more balanced scoring overall with all 5 starters in the 12-15 PPG range. I think we'll know a lot more after the Bahamas.

Regardless of his stats this coming year, I agree with others that it will be hard to win NPOY again. He would really have to outshine all his competition by a big margin to win it.
 
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chroix said:
2021-22: 17.4ppg 15.1rpg
2022-23: 21ppg 13rpg

Hit some threes and boost scoring. Rebounding will take a slight hit. Add more assists.
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He's an offensive rebounding machine. take him further away from the basket and those numbers will dip. I don't think he needs to be a three point threat, but will need more range for the NBA. His 15 foot jumpers from the free throw line last year were almost automatic.
 
How many offensive rebounds did he average per game?

I hope that we aren't brick city and those opportunities are limited this year :)
 
My lowly two cents is we see a slight decline in both points in rebounds, simply because of the cast around him. 14 and 14 sounds about right to me, which is still ridiculous to average.
 
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I don't think Oscar will put up the numbers needed to win it again because we have some dogs that will take more rebounds. Wallace, Toppin and Livingston will grab a bunch of boards this year.
 
Concur w/ what others have said. I expect his RPG to drop based on talent around him, and other teams focusing so much on him (more than last year). That said, team success is more important to him, just a hunch. Barring a disappointing effort, he'll be in the conversation all season long.
 
I'm expecting 14 and 12 from him this year. That would be good news for us, but bad news for Oscar's award chances.

14 and 12 means Toppin stops acting like a wuss on the glass and averages more than the 3 rebounds per game he averaged last year. It also means guys like Livingston, Collins, and Ware upped their rebound output.

14 points/game means we didn't need Oscar to play like Tim Duncan in the low post and probably means we had a more balanced scoring attack from guys like Toppin, Reeves, Wallace, etc.

I personally don't want us to be so heavily reliant on the kid. I want more balance with 7 or 8 guys scoring 7 to 14 points/game.

I think the key to the season is actually going to be how developed Toppin at Livingston will be. If they play like dogs, we're probably Final Four bound. If not, we probably exit early. We need some beasts at the 3/4 spots.
 
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Hoping he gets rebounds 30 a game and hits 5 3’s. But seriously doubt he will repeat way to much basis against UK and his numbers would have to be other worldly. Like Alien like I mean you know what I mean, I think.
 
STL_Cat said:
I’ll be happy as hell if he simply duplicates what he did last year, it’ll be hard to do better.

And his team needs to help him in the tournament too.
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Me too. I am concerned that he will try to develop a three point shot in order to improve his draft prospects. He just needs to work on his offensive game down low which got much better as the season progressed.
 
I expect his numbers to take a slight dip simply because he is theoretically surrounded by better players. The most absurd stat from last season is that Oscar has more offensive rebounds than any teammate had total rebounds. That speaks to not only how dominant he was on the glass, but also how he got no help from his guys.
 
You have to think he's the odds on favorite to win it again. He just rebounds like someone we never seen before. This is against power 5 teams. He can score at well inside with no problems
 
Oscar doesn't need to shoot 3's to make the league. He needs to be able to put the ball on the floor and make a play. He was very robotic in movements at beginning of last season. That dwindled through last season as he expanded his game.

To be honest....I'd be surprised if he doesn't win NPOY this year. He is just getting better and better.

Pre-conference play last year
15.8 ppg
15.2 rpg
1.5 blk
1.3 stl
1.0 ast

After Jan 1 last year
18.3ppg
15.1rpg
1.7 blk
2.0 stl
1.1 ast

He became much more comfortable moving on floor late in the year.

I expect he will be utilized similarly but we will see more ball fakes off extended elbow and movement to goal. He is far less to robotic now and has some serious skill.
 
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I thought the selling point for him coming back was to work on his perimeter game. So is he going to start shooting threes now, or is Cal going to use him the same? I will be interested to see what happens.
 
I think Oscar is better suited in the role of cleaning the glass, making hi percentage shots, and working on free throws.

Based on last year, he has a certain type of touch when shooting that could be improved.

But I'd rather have his rebounding IQ than a soft touch shooting the ball.
 
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HerrosHeroes said:
Ralph Sampson won the award 3 yrs in a row from 1981-1983 and Bill Walton won it 3 straight seasons as well from 1972-1974.
Those 2 are the only repeat award winners:

www.basketball-reference.com

NCAA College Basketball Naismith Men's College Player of the Year Award Winners | Basketball-Reference.com

Naismith Men's College Player of the Year Award Winners
www.basketball-reference.com www.basketball-reference.com
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Basketball is a team sport...quit focusing on individual statistics which are meaningless...focus on championships.
 
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