I have been a huge Pike supporter because there are reasons things happen game to game that make sense from a basketball perspective. I analyze it and then I either agree or disagree.
Last night had to be Pike’s worst game plan in 9 years. There is no way to defend it and some will say the players can be blamed equally , but that was not the case last night.
In what world would you allow Loyer and Smith to hit 7-8 uncontested 3’s with no one and the same zip code on almost all of Loyer ‘s threes. I can live with Kaufman Renn getting his 20 -25 down low because Lathan can only do so much. But anyone with a clue about beating Purdue and Pike knows how , would never let them shoot 3’s uncontested. It was so baffling that our guys were not guarded their guys closely.
A shame because the game started great and after our 8 point possession to go up 27-19 , I immediately said great just do not give up 3’s , let them claw back 2 points at a time while they were not stopping us. We do the exact opposite and give up a 3 and then Dylan not guarding closely initially gives up a 4 point play when he tries to contest. You let them score 7 points in 2 possessions instead of 3 or 4 possessions and they changed the momentum. Again , I ask why the failure to guard our men closely ? We have 3 point guard assistant coaches and not one of them saw that we had to get up on Purdue. They are not very athletic and it should have been a mandatory part of the game plan but it wasn’t. Pike deserves the blame but worse he doesn’t correct it after 1-3 of Loyer’s open shots and leaves him uncovered. Robby Hummel on the broadcast was baffled saying Rutgers is treating Loyer like he is not on the court leaving him all alone and then they laughed that he must have a contagious illness because no Rutgers player was anywhere near him. That’s embarrassing and that is on Pike. A coach that is considered an outstanding defensive coach could not figure out the adjustment . Steve did a terrible job last night and maybe I am the only one that believes it , but if he guarded the 3 Ann’s gave up 2’s to Kaufman Renn , the game would have been competitive to the end.
One other point , you never and o mean you never take out a player when he is hot. ACE on both ends shooting , driving and rebounding and blocking shots in the first 5-6 minutes looked like he was going to put up a 30 piece. Pike ‘s sub was unnecessary.
Pike ‘s subbing of his first team was unnecessary. Lathan started well , Grant started well , ACE was on fire , Jeremiah was okay and only Dylan was slow starting. Keep them in the game to the 10 minute mark and see what happens instead of just subbing for subbing sake.
I am bitterly disappointed in this year and in Pike and we have the talent and ability to be much better than 14-16 and the things I saw tonight with the supposed game plan and the lack of adjustments was bad. Purdue in my opinion is not that good. Smith and Kaufman Renn are very good but Loyer and the rest of the cast are not very good and because we left them unguarded they made us pay.
