We need Ogbole back in form. To have any shot of hanging on in the tournament vs a Maryland type team we 100% need him and all 5 of his fouls to give on Queen.

Greene Rice FIG said:

Would Grant and Dortch be better if they played from Day 1? YES, but not by that much
As far as the NIL $...all speculation because none of us probably know how it works, but cant disagree with premise
Shortening the bench? disagree here...we keep rotating the bench guys who should and shouldnt be in rotation
Derkack kept us in Michigan State game
Martini has oscilated from the worst player ever to decent

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I respectfully disagree. Getting 2 solid complimentary players is not a wild speculative idea. We wouldn't be competing for stars, just solid, consistent players that would jump at the chance to play with our 2 stars. Shortening the bench would dissuade Pike from his too frequent pulling of players that have just made a couple of baskets instead of keeping the player in the game. You don't think these kids know they're on a short leash every time they enter a game and feel pressured to either make a play or not screw up?

RU848789 said:

Good hoops points, but there was simply no reason to trash Schiano in this post - it doesn't make your hoops points any stronger and, in fact, it detracts from them, by hurting your credibility.

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No, it’s relevant. Double standard. Judging by conference competitiveness, Pike has been much more successful.

He landed elite recruits. Why does Schiano get a pass for never having done that? So stupid to excuse Schiano’s losing because he doesn’t have the talent to win in the conference.

Mholinko said:

HO HUM?

All due respect and appreciate the rest of your post but acting like we need to celebrate and throw confetti for a B10 win is why our expectations and complacency for average play is so skewed.

Were asking our team to win literally 50-55% of their big ten games per year (10-10 or 11-9) and not screw up the non-conference to secure a bid year in and year out... so celebrating a B10 win like its a march madness game or the national championship each time we win one is silly and speaks to why we are stuck in delusion of being able to rebound or turn things around when the path to success is thinner by the day

That being said it was a good win but pack it up and move on to the next one it was probably our 2nd worst B10 win this year from a quality win standpoint

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See that is the problem. No one celebrated and threw confetti. That is just your made up bullshit. But a Big 10 win is still a BIG 10 win that posters like you a few weeks ago were saying we wouldn’t win another game.
USC was no cupcake. They beat Michigan State , they beat Illinois at Illinois before Illinois current issues. Claude got hurt and missed a few games and that hurt them. We beat them with both Claude and the great freshman Yates and the rest of their healthy team. It was a really solid good win . You’re minimizing it is shallow and ridiculous but you I guess are entitled to that shitty opinion .

ScarletNut said:

I'll play the what if game since I've been bitching about Pike's roster construction and rotations for weeks.
What if Grant and Dortch got minutes since the OOC schedule?
What if Pike didn't stretch his NIL money on 4 mediocre players and instead used it for 2 P4 type players?
What if Pike had shortened the bench much sooner instead of playing everyone (except Grant and Dortch)?
My answer to the what ifs is we would have won more games, the 2 frosh would be even further along in their development and we would be talking about NCAA seedings instead of making the B1G tournament.
My answer to the what ifs is that we would have won more games

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All valid questions. But at the end of the day, I still think the injuries/illnesses we've encountered this year to Dylan, Ace, Ogbole (who was rounding into decent form when he got hurt), Acuff, and JWill would've limited our ceiling.

Now maybe you're saying if we would have spent more money on 2 players instead of spreading it out to 4, we would've been in a better position to withstand these other injuries/illnesses. I suppose that's possible IF the 2 portal players we would've gotten in that scenario were starting-quality players instead of the 4 role players we ended up with.

But even then, it's highly speculative to think what might have happened, and I still think losing Dylan and Ace for the time we lost them would've wreaked havoc on our season. We are 6-3 in Big Ten games in which Ace and Dylan were both healthy, and just 1-7 in games in which one of them was not healthy.

goru7 said:

Who said we are done. Pike and staff have to go get 2 two guards that are scorers something JMike cannot do consistently . Lino Mark will contribute offensively but not consistently as a freshman. Kaden also a freshman. Williard identified 3 mid major 2 way players and stepped in shit. Pike has to do the same and also get a rim protector. If he gets all 3 in the portal , we will compete well

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Well if we keep everyone and bring in 4 frosh we can only add one more, correct? Or are there no more schollie limits? I can’t keep track of the rule changes.

I want a starting 5 who plays defense and I don’t think we’ll get that if Lathan stays so I will not be upset to see him go.

Greene Rice FIG said:

Sorry......

Why does Pike get credit for this game? Because the team made FTs and perimeter shots?

That's trash.

He made a mistake down the stretch letting USC somewhat back in the game for inexplicably taking out the group that gave us the lead and were playing good D. JaMike for sure. Dortch and/or Martini? maybe

Did Pike get the team to play hard? NOT REALLY

35 missed USC shots and we only rebounded 17 of them. Some guys were going hard at loose balls and rebounds but a lot weren't.

Did Pike get Ace and Dylan to play hard most possessions? They rebounded 2 of the 35 misses.

I can't stand Pike gets outcoached when we lose and does a great job when we win. I can't stand team shows heart when we shoot it well but don't have heart when we soot it bad.

Is this the BLUEPRINT for this team....unfortunately YES. That is why we are 14-14 and a mess defensively.

Last night staistically was one of our 5th worst defensive night of the year. Crazy we are 4-1 in those 5 games. Prin,St Pete, Mon, Nebraska, USC

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He deserves credit for the development of Bryce Dortch. I have no idea what he looked like early on but I see potential there. In both ends.

I agree with you on the shooting. Nothing to do with coaching. We made shots.

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RULoyal said:

Login to view embedded media

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RIP! Will always remember him from the glory days of MSG and 1994.

PSAL_Hoops said:

I’m not worried about losing any of them. The question is really how many do we end up wanting to keep TBH. We’re losing 5 players to graduation / NBA and we have 4 frosh coming in. Our defense is historically bad and not a recipe for long term winning. We need to bring in players that will help correct that at all costs but we also need to replace over 60% of our offensive production. We will not have a competitive team if we simply retain our existing roster and bring in only one new player from the portal.

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Who said we are done. Pike and staff have to go get 2 two guards that are scorers something JMike cannot do consistently . Lino Mark will contribute offensively but not consistently as a freshman. Kaden also a freshman. Williard identified 3 mid major 2 way players and stepped in shit. Pike has to do the same and also get a rim protector. If he gets all 3 in the portal , we will compete well

ashokan said:

It turned-out he was a pro boxer (Renaldo Snipes) who had fought Larry Holmes for heavyweight title.
He had scarred hand and I asked what it was.
He said that was where Holmes had stabbed him with scissors after the fight.
guy.

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Larry is my neighbor. Really nice guy. Don’t see him around much any more, though he still owns the home. I think he spends most of his time in Florida. Saw him in December. He is aging really well. Still looks great.

1991, my fiancé now wife was Christmas shopping in Lord and Taylor at the Bridgewater Commons. At some point in the evening I was done. I was leaning against the landscape wall outside of the lower entrance to the store. Some other dude came along, obviously as exasperated as me. I glanced over as he leaned against the same wall next to me. It was Tom Brokaw. We exchanged hellos and that was it.

Wife and I bumped into Elliott Spitzer in Central Park a few years ago. Didn’t say anything.

Took a leak next to the guy that played the principal in Saved by the Bell (Dennis Haskins) in Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney. Wife thought I was nuts until he got up on stage and led the whole restaurant singing the theme song.

Daughter and I bumped into Mario Andretti in a mall in the Lehigh Valley. He was not nice.

Had a beer with the guys from Blue Oyster Cult at a bar in Allentown, PA. They were quiet. Nobody bothered them. It was after a bar show. The place emptied out and only a handful of people were left.

Darryl Dawkins used to coach a semi pro basketball team in Allentown. Used to bump into him often at the local Wegmans. Another nice guy. Always said hello. His daughter was in my daughters lacrosse league.

Finally Ice T sat at the table next to me at the Liberty House last summer. I was too scared to say anything. Actually recognized his wife first.

29PAS said:

Extinguisher

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Bomb

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MadRU said:

Fire

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Extinguisher

Such a solid announcer. So sorry to see him pass at an early age.

R.I.P. Al

https://nypost.com/2025/02/24/sports/al-trautwig-longtime-voice-of-msg-network-dead-at-68/

ScarletNut said:

I'll play the what if game since I've been bitching about Pike's roster construction and rotations for weeks.
What if Grant and Dortch got minutes since the OOC schedule?
What if Pike didn't stretch his NIL money on 4 mediocre players and instead used it for 2 P4 type players?
What if Pike had shortened the bench much sooner instead of playing everyone (except Grant and Dortch)?
My answer to the what ifs is we would have won more games, the 2 frosh would be even further along in their development and we would be talking about NCAA seedings instead of making the B1G tournament.
My answer to the what ifs is that we would have won more games

Click to expand...

Would Grant and Dortch be better if they played from Day 1? YES, but not by that much
As far as the NIL $...all speculation because none of us probably know how it works, but cant disagree with premise
Shortening the bench? disagree here...we keep rotating the bench guys who should and shouldnt be in rotation
Derkack kept us in Michigan State game
Martini has oscilated from the worst player ever to decent

rutgershoopsinsider said:

Agreed - Rutgers does NOT deserve an at-large bid

Only path to NCAAT is to win the B1G Tourney

Doesn't matter if they go on a streak and make it to the championship and lose

Body of work is what matters most not a winning streak this late in the year

I said earlier, losses to Kennesaw State, Princeton, Iowa, and mediocre wins against bad competition is what the NCAAT Committee will see

Also, let's not kid ourselves, Rutgers just beat two of the worst teams in the B1G in the past week. If you want to believe this team can go on a run they gotta steal a win at Michigan or Purdue to show they can be dangerous. They haven't put together more than a two-game winning streak against Big Ten competition this year.

Glad they beat Washington and USC, but let's also not forget the defense has been absolutely PUTRID. I believe last night's defensive performance in their win over USC was the 5th worst of the season.

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Going 3-0 in the next 3 is a long shot beyond long shots so none of this discussion really much matters.

That said, I don’t care how little the conference tournament games matter for resume purposes. If we did what you suggested and finished 21-15 amongst one of the toughest schedules in the country. That’d be 6 games above 500 and a better winning percentage overall than the 19-14 teams.

We talk a lot about loss count, and not as much about win count because of all the gaudy mid-majors, but I’m curious how many 20+ win teams that played a top 20 overall SOS schedule have ever missed the tournament. My guess is not many - and 21+ probably none.

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Loyal_2RU said:

Working towards 10-10 this season still.

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predicting 9-11

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Loyal_2RU said:

GRF, maybe you need to rearrange your mind over the fact that we are 4-1 in the fishers that the statistics say we played other worst defense in.

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my mind isn't doing any rearranging until I know what a fisher is.

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