Offensively NO WAY! Not even close. Look what happened when AO went down as a senior. We win that NC going away with AO while Ricky sheet the bed in that NCCAT.
Don't get me wrong Rick was a great 4 year player that worked very hard and got better every single year. He was a beast on the boards and really understood how to defend in our system especially as a senior, but he was iffy on offense despite the high FG percentage. He was a great finisher and an excellent passer for a big. He should be proud of what he accomplished, but please don't tell me he was even close to AO offensively.
This, to me, is where people underrate guys like RJ and a host of others who came here and didn't go on to huge nba careers nor did they have all-american college careers. Let's do it in list form:
1) People love to say "he was a great rebounder but ..."
Here are the SU players since the mid 80s (when I began following the team and basically 25 years) to average more than RJ's 10.3 rpg: Derrick Coleman. That's it. Let's not write that off so quickly. Oh, and 930 career boards places him 8th all time.
2) Rick was "a good defender but ... "
RJ adequately handled the 4 but also operated as the lone legit big for huge stretches of games last season. The fact that a guy who was 240 pounds played almost 36 mpg tells you all you need to know about how valuable his defense was. When he was off the floor, we were in bad shape.
3) Rick was "iffy" or "brought next to nothing to the table" or "RJ laid an egg" offensively ...
RJ finished with about 1,200 points in his career -- good for somewhere around 40 on the all-time list. He reached double-figures in 16 of 20 BE games (including 2 in the tourney) and in two of the games he didn't reach double-figures he scored 9 in each and had a combined 31 rebounds. Two seasons ago (the 30-5 year), he reached double-figures eight times in conference play as the fourth or fifth option on the floor at all times. His offense was not his calling card. No one would argue that. He never came along offensively the way I think all might have hoped, but the kid was a very solid offensive big man, who passed the ball well, kept his turnovers at an acceptable rate and scored consistently while shooting a high percentage.
4) RJ came up small in big moments
The guy had his share of struggles, but I don't really get where this comes from. Every big east game is a difficult one. He had 16 and 8 in a tight win vs. NC State; 10 and 12 in a close win vs. Michigan, 10 and 14 in a tight win vs. Georgia Tech; 17 and 16 vs. MSU; 13 and 13 in W vs. UConn; 18 and 12 in close call vs. RU; etc. I just think people remember particular moments in particular games, but tend to overlook the fact that he had a really consistent all-around season.
5) Fab will do X, Xmas will do Y, and BMK will do Z
Anyone care to venture a guess as to how many games these three combined will reach double-figures this year? I could be wrong, but I'm still guessing Fab has a ways to go and he's the only one with any sort of impressive offensive trait at this point.
Conclusion: No, RJ wasn't a scoring machine. No, there won't be any problem finding guys to take his shots and boost their scoring averages to make up for his loss. BUT, having a guy to pass the ball to in the low post that opponents have to respect is a really valuable thing. Until one of the new bigs can score effectively and stay on the floor, we will absolutely miss RJ on the offensive end.