The backcourt (if Johnson is what they say) will easily be top10....maybe even top 5...
Caleb and Cody Martin
- Thread starter michstfr
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I think the focus should be on the number of league wins versus just a .500 record which can be padded with a easy out of conference record.I would like to see Rutgers win at least 5 B1G games which would be a sign of progress.
Johnson hasnt played a minute I wouldnt project anything...we only have his time at KSU which was spotty.
and even if the backcourt may be in the top half of the league, when every other position plus bench is better at the other schools then you realize, we have the least talented team in the league
Where i, and BAC, could be wrong is if players buy in to solid strength and conditioning and a strong commitment to improvement in the off season. If Sanders and Johnson come in to camp in super shape and are + defenders AND Sanders has an improved outside shot we may be wrong.
Freeman was also missing and he was putting up similar numbers to what Kadeem Jack did.
I thought this thread was supposed to be on the Martin twins. No one has said anything about them in at least the last 40 plus postings.
Freeman hasn't scored a point in the B1G. He is undersized. In the small sample of minutes he played he wasn't a good rebounder. he was a poor defender
Kadeem Jack or rashod kent comparisons need to stop. i think it is possible that Freeman can be a more valuable player than a Jack, at least as a senior.
Exactly. We have some fans who operate in a vacuum. The other 13 teams are also holding offseason workouts, too. We have to improve more than they improve to move out of the basement. I'm confident we'll cut down on the number of asskickings we receive, hopefully eliminate OOC losses to low major and win maybe 4 conference games.
The bench is a problem I admit that . But there are probably going to be 4-5 teams minimum whos starting 5 will be equal to or worse than ours.
Here is the reality...
We have NO idea on what we have
If we get Thiam and the twins...We have a bunch of 3 and 4 star recruits that have all SHOWN flashes of really good potential....but we don't know what they have
A good coach really could put this team together and make a run with it. Now, what's a run? Maybe .500 this year (more than that is a lot, team has to learn to win close games even if it is competitive)...and a NIT/NCAA bubble in the second year.
But that requires
-a total buy in to the new staff
-team commitment to S&C
-team commitment to working hard in this off season
-buying into the team concept. Guys who got lots of minutes in necessity need to adjust to lesser minutes and possible being passed on the depth chart...means accepting their roles
Steve P has some raw athleticism nad basketball talent to work with. This will test quickly what kind of coach he is and can be...
We have NO idea on what we have
If we get Thiam and the twins...We have a bunch of 3 and 4 star recruits that have all SHOWN flashes of really good potential....but we don't know what they have
A good coach really could put this team together and make a run with it. Now, what's a run? Maybe .500 this year (more than that is a lot, team has to learn to win close games even if it is competitive)...and a NIT/NCAA bubble in the second year.
But that requires
-a total buy in to the new staff
-team commitment to S&C
-team commitment to working hard in this off season
-buying into the team concept. Guys who got lots of minutes in necessity need to adjust to lesser minutes and possible being passed on the depth chart...means accepting their roles
Steve P has some raw athleticism nad basketball talent to work with. This will test quickly what kind of coach he is and can be...
While thrown in with the strength in conditioning current players will need to be reprogrammed or programmed with playing with the effort and intensity and smarts that is required to win against good teams.
Who are "they"? Eddie Jordan is the only one to tout Johnson as "better than Corey". Even if they can both score some points, the backcourt is woefully undersized for this league.
Just look at the bottom of the standings and pick them. Minnesota and Illinois were trainwrecks at the end of the season just like us. Penn State and Nebraska each lose their best player off of mighty 7-11 and 6-12 campaigns.
I wonder how many people know the best returning players on each team or what teams lost players to transfers/graduation.
I know OSU lost about 4 players. I think Purdue's center is gone. Iowa's best shooter Ulhtoff (sp) is gone. Yogi's gone.
Without looking it up, name the top returning centers in the B1G ?
I know OSU lost about 4 players. I think Purdue's center is gone. Iowa's best shooter Ulhtoff (sp) is gone. Yogi's gone.
Without looking it up, name the top returning centers in the B1G ?
We have a lot of the same pieces back and Johnson played with us last year so it shouldn't take long to "gell". Although I do agree teams need to learn to play together. I just don't think a team that returns as many players as we do should need as long, but you have a fair point. Learning how to win isn't a real thing. What has happened in previous years doesn't matter. This is a new team with a new coach and a new identity. Just like when the team recruited guys like Mack and Rosario from St. Anthony's and people said well they "know how to win". How did that work out? Winning is talent + good coaching. There is enough talent on this team to win 14 games.
Meant that after his third year RU fans will be thinking Pikiell is the coach that will be bringing RU to the tourney on a constant bases.
I said: "Year 3 of the Pikiell is when I expect the RU MBB program to start showing it can win on a regular bases and the 4th year start doing that."
But should have explained that I expected the NCAA appearances to start in his fifth year.
You can say I expect a winning season in his 4th year and year 3 will start showing Rutgers is headed in the right direction and will be a season that is close to being above.500
Minnesota has all those suspended players back plus a top class coming in. Ilinois was decimated as hard as RU by injuries and those players will be back and they have perhaps the best player in the conference returning. Penn State has the top recruiting class in the Big 10 coming in with 3 Philly players. Nebby blew RU out by huge margins so that gap is pretty large there
sure but the opponents are more talented...just because RU might be playing better does not mean that they are better than the rest of the Big 10 talent...on a neutral court, RU has the least talent..that does not mean that every matchup goes to the most talented but RU has a long way to go to cut the gap
After 25 years of futility, there are still some fans that continue to say Rutgers has talent compared to league competition.The won/loss record continues to say no to that conclusion.
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I think seels may be jumping the gun a bit....but I see his point
I saw glimpses of and stretches of things from Sanders, Laurent, and Williams to know they are pieces that, if coached right, toward building a mid level competitive big ten level players. Think Freeman can join that group, but did not see quite enough of him to say that.
Need to see them step up...and show development and consistency. Coaching can help that a lot
Conversely, it might be more than one year to get them going....
And we need big man development and Johnson to develop and show quickly
This is why I say we have a bunch of three and a few four star talent that is underdeveloped...and if the development catches on ....we could progress faster
It's really unknown
I saw glimpses of and stretches of things from Sanders, Laurent, and Williams to know they are pieces that, if coached right, toward building a mid level competitive big ten level players. Think Freeman can join that group, but did not see quite enough of him to say that.
Need to see them step up...and show development and consistency. Coaching can help that a lot
Conversely, it might be more than one year to get them going....
And we need big man development and Johnson to develop and show quickly
This is why I say we have a bunch of three and a few four star talent that is underdeveloped...and if the development catches on ....we could progress faster
It's really unknown
Cannot remember where I saw it,but it was an article rating the newcomers for each BTN school. We were third from last--but only because the two teams below us had only one newcomer. The average for our three newcomers was about 79; the two schools "below" us both had the one recruit, and they both were over 90. Of the schools listed above us, the lowest recruit average was 87, compared to our 79. Going to be a process. Who among you very occasional posters is going to be the first to want to fire the staff next March, in favor of your newest flavor of the month? Seen this movie before. Exaggerated opinion of our players, and if the team doesn't play up to what you think those players should accomplish, fire the coach Kind of thinking that brought us the spectacularly awful FHJ.
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Just show me progress and the ability to recruit. We have sanders for one more year so enjoy it. He's a very solid player and I think he really blows it out this year And shows how he makes everyone else better. But the future of this program has to be based on 4 year players who can grow and mature. I think we could could have a 12-13 win season and if a few things go our way, maybe a few more wins. We can't focus on the record just yet and I'm finally excited on this rebuilding process. The coach is solid but the assistants really make this program better than its been in 20 years plus,
The twins are supposedly visiting Nevada this weekend. the original list had California, RU, DePaul, Providence, Old Dominion and Providence. Shortly after East Carolina was added and I guess Nevada was also added. I know visits were made to East Carolina, RU and now Nevada. I think California was cancelled. I think this might go on for a while. I just hope that the Thiam situation will be finalized soon. As of now we still only have 9 scholarship players.
I'm sure the staff has it figured out as far as what really needs to be done and what are the alternatives. I think a few extra wins are a must because the type of recruits we need are only going to accept improvement to a point. Your not fixing the program as much as changing the concept and playing philosophy. It will be interesting and hopefully a little quicker then must fans think. I'd be happy if we can figure out how to not go 4-5 without scoring against anyone we play.
Once again I have not seen Johnson I can only trust the reports of multiple people, 35 points per game between the pair is not out of reason.
They just added Nevada to go party in Vegas celebrating their Rutgers decision
