I'm really starting to worry that Cooper is hitting a wall. Granted, all perimeter shooters can be streaky, but it's a little worrisome lately to be getting such little production from a shooting guard averaging 33 minutes a game.
My main concern with Coop is his entire game is played on the perimeter, which makes it tougher to get out of a slump. It's not in his game or nature to score in the lane or draw contact, because an astonishing 68% of his shots are taken from behind the arc and he's only been to the FT line 32 times in 27 games (yes, you read both of those stats correctly).
Devon had a very good game when we hosted vcu two weeks ago (14 points on 5-9 shooting), but here's what he's done in the four games since against St. Joe's, Fordham, vcu and GW:
—Scored 5, 5, 3 and 3 points. In the previous 23 games, he was only held to single digits five times
—Shot 24% from the floor overall and 18% from three (4-22)
—Of his 25 shots, only 3 have been inside the arc.
—He hasn't attempted a single free throw, a streak that dates back nine games to February 2 against St. Louis when he was 1-2.
DeVon Cooper has been a great addition to this team, and he's too good of a shooter to not figure this out. Here's hoping we see him catch fire right as we head into this last stretch and the A10 tourney.
