Felton is undoubtedly a talented player, and I appreciate his style of play. However, in my opinion, he's not suited for the role of the primary usage player on a good team. I believe he would thrive better as the 4th to 6th top scoring option on an NIT or NCAA caliber team. In such a setting, he could focus on defense, rebounding, and making the most of open shot opportunities. Essentially, what I've been expressing is that I don't view him as the ideal number one option or the highest usage player on a competitive team.
Up to this point, ECU's standing in NET has been at 223rd, following a previous season where it ranked 188th, both coinciding with his position as the highest usage player. I hope he continues with ECU, and the team can surround him with stronger players, allowing him to thrive in a different role.
When Felton was voted 2nd team All AAC over prominent players like David Jones, Vald Goldin, and Caleb Mills, whom I previously mentioned should have made the team ahead of him, it unsurprisingly received significant pushback from the ECU fanbase. My rationale behind this dissent was his inconsistent performance and a subpar true shooting percentage last year (.493%). Furthermore, considering his primary guard position, his assist rate remains notably low, which can be challenging if he's expected to be the primary offensive force.
Although Felton's stats this season might appear impressive at first glance, I believe they only reveal part of the story. While it's common for players to elevate their performance in big games or against weaker opponents, Felton's level of variance this year stands out to me. He has showcased tremendous statistical performances but has been plagued by inconsistency in his career, ultimately contributing to his .493 true shooting percentage last year. (The college basketball average last season was .54%.)
Here were Felton's numbers vs Campbell, Upstate, and Delaware State.
Two of these games were blowouts where those contributions weren't really needed, and the other was a close loss where it wasn't enough.
These are the numbers for the other 10 games on the season.
Felton's true shooting percentage in these games stands at .489%, similar to what it was last season. This trend is particularly noticeable the last month of decline and against the tougher portion of the schedule (still it's a bad schedule: 342nd SOS on Kenpom), leading me to anticipate further regression to the mean during conference play as they hit the road more and he has to shoot on different rims and backdrops.
Typically, players at the AAC level tend to build up their stats in the non-conference games and bank value before conference play in the AAC. However, it's worth noting that the new AAC isn't what it used to be.
Kenpom Tier A and B represent top 50 and top 100 opponents, respectively, adjusted for game location
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I included the Georgia Southern game among the ten games analyzed because, it was not as crazy as the other three. It was however another instance of a blowout against a terrible team where he banked a lot of his value. If this game were also excluded as well, the numbers worsen: FG: 37-103 (35.9%), Three: 7-37 (18.9%), FT: 30-40 (75%), resulting in a .46 true shooting percentage. Additionally, there's a concerning trend with only one explosion occurring in the last nine games.
I've seldom seen a player with such extreme highs and lows in performance. It seems to come down to Felton's three-point shooting - when it's on, it can be exceptional for a game here and there. when it's off, it's really off, reminiscent of JJ Miles more than any other player. Unfortunately, it seems to be off approximately 80% of the time, especially in the crucial games this season when he was needed the most. It's challenging to derive all of a season's value from games against teams like Delaware State or Campbell, ranked 342nd in the OOC on Kenpom, to support a competitive team.
Felton could excel as a great player in the right role. However, in my opinion, expecting him to be the primary offensive force of a team isn't the role suited for him. This might explain how the team ended up ranked around 200th in the past two seasons with him as the highest usage player. While he can certainly deliver impressive performances when his three-point shot is on target, consistency has been extremely lacking overall.
