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“I’m worried for Steve Pikiell”: Coaching Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper might be challenging for Rutgers HC, claims basketball analyst

Goodman is a clown. Clearly upset they wouldn’t go on his podcast. Makes a big generalization about the one and dones of today.
 
What the analysts are missing is that in years past, Pikiell’s teams could hold their opponents to 64 points, but we would have trouble scoring 65 points.

This year, I anticipate opponents will score, say, 74 points on us, but we’ll have no problem scoring 75.

Not suggesting we’ll go undefeated, but I think we’ll win 21 games and will make it to the big dance.
 
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Pretty sure Goodman almost got fired last year unless I’m misremembering. Had a really unprofessional rant trying to defend Cooley. I wouldn’t listen to anything he says.
 
These types of statements are actually insults toward Ace and Dylan. Goodman and LaTulip are basically saying that Ace and Dylan are just 5-star kids who want to score and won't do the hard work of playing defense and rebounding, etc.

More locker room material to prove these idiots wrong.
 
These types of statements are actually insults toward Ace and Dylan. Goodman and LaTulip are basically saying that Ace and Dylan are just 5-star kids who want to score and won't do the hard work of playing defense and rebounding, etc.

More locker room material to prove these idiots wrong.
Exhibition game that was the case.
 
I didn't bother reading or listening/watching the linked stuff. Who cares what anybody outside the program thinks at this point.

However, the subject itself is an interesting one and nobody really knows for sure how things will go. It's the future and we're all just speculating at this point.

I'm a big fan of Pike and his coaching. So I'm hoping he'll do just fine. But here's just some of the things he'll have to deal with:

- Two superstars with very NBA futures who will have priorities not necessarily fully aligned with Pike's priorities.
- Two superstars who might wind up having superstar egos as the season progresses, we don't know yet.
- A large batch of new players with whom Pike has only 2 games firsthand experience instead of years.
- Increased visibility and media draw due to the superstars.
- Immensely increased external expectations and all the pressure that comes with that.
- A recruiting situation whereby the likely two best players will be gone at the end of the season after only one season.
- Lots of other stuff I'm overlooking or unaware of at the moment.

He's been coaching a while, is smart, and has lots of experience. So obviously it's not all entirely new. But some is new and most of it will be dialed up to a much greater magnitude than he's had to deal with in the past.

And I have found his demeanor in press conferences leading up to this season to be noticeably different than in prior seasons. I would characterize the difference as Pike seemingly being way more stressed now in I've ever seen him in the past. Which is understandable (I'd be a little worried if he wasn't stressed because it would signal a lack of awareness of the situation).

Perhaps the clearest way to see what I'm talking about is in how he's responded to direct questions about the high expectations or the pressure that comes with it. In his answers (that I've seen), he's either deflecting or overcompensating. Which is a sure sign of stress and a tacit acknowledgement that there's a lot riding on this season for RUMBB.

This will surely be the most intense and widespread media attention for an RUMBB season in its entire history. Pike will be under a powerful microscope and the results will be seen by everyone.

I hope the fanbase cuts him some slack since it's undeniably somewhat of a learning situation for Pike and staff. There will likely be some growing pains.
 
In my analysis of our prospects for this year the 2 main things I am looking at.....
not center position
not how the new pieces fit in

1. Will Dylan and Ace buy in to playing both sides of the floor and will they be good teammates?
2. What will their 3 point shooting percentage be and their overall offensive efficiency?
 
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Exhibition game that was the case.
Enough already about an exhibition game that was held around the same time midnight madness used to take place, three weeks before the start of the regular season. To paraphrase the immortal Allen Iverson, practice? We talking’ about practice?
 
In my analysis of our prospects for this year the 2 main things I am looking at.....
not center position
not how the new pieces fit in

1. Will Dylan and Ace buy in to playing both sides of the floor and will they be good teammates?
2. What will their 3 point shooting percentage be and their overall offensive efficiency?
I don’t think you give Steve and his staff enough credit, nor Bailey and Harper. If there is an issue, it’s at the five.
 
I don’t think you give Steve and his staff enough credit, nor Bailey and Harper. If there is an issue, it’s at the five.
I am an enormous Pike fan. It is incredible how he turned the program around. I don't blame him for Gavin not working out, but I question why he would bring him in to this program.
 
Shaka Smart and Archie Miller are great examples who won with under the radar talent getting under the radar players to play hard and win. They both move on to better schools and recruit a different caliber of talent and it not work out.

We are asking a defensive minded coach that has gotten all out of players, many who were not highly recruited. Now we are asking him to win with offense with guys that are one and dones.

We have NO DOUBT that this staff can coach defense and win. Offense is a completely different story.
 
Enough already about an exhibition game that was held around the same time midnight madness used to take place, three weeks before the start of the regular season. To paraphrase the immortal Allen Iverson, practice? We talking’ about practice?
2 guys that are going to make at least $100,000,000 playing basketball as a profession. It is almost a given. They have to wait 1 year to start really monetizing their abilities and are forced to play in college. If you are going to say their 1st ever game at the RAC is just "practice" then playing on a Tuesday night in late January at Penn State at 6PM in front of 3,000 fans will be no different
 
This idea that the freshmen are just gonna not give a crap, not try and win games is just so absurd and goes against any logic and is just a boomer take. Maybe cause of experience they’ll fail at some situational moments, be slow on rotations etc but these kids want to win and are incentivized to! You really think NBA scouts just want to watch these players do nothing to win and just chuck shots? Even if Dylan and Ace came with selfish intentions, those intentions line up with us winning
 
This idea that the freshmen are just gonna not give a crap, not try and win games is just so absurd and goes against any logic and is just a boomer take. Maybe cause of experience they’ll fail at some situational moments, be slow on rotations etc but these kids want to win and are incentivized to! You really think NBA scouts just want to watch these players do nothing to win and just chuck shots? Even if Dylan and Ace came with selfish intentions, those intentions line up with us winning
There are levels of caring.

I do agree if I was Bailey or Harper's agent I would make it well known scouts are looking at more than talent and putting the ball in the basket. These 2 guys are going to potentially be drafted as the face of the franchise. How they conduct themselves on the court, how hard they try, their willingness to accept instruction and how they interact with teammates are going to be very important in where they are ultimately drafted.

Given that they choose Rutgers I am very confident they chose us because of our focus on defense. I know Harper knows how to play defense based on watching him play in HS. They still need to be programmed off of the AAU game and at least Harper needs to get in better cardiovascular condition.
 
2 guys that are going to make at least $100,000,000 playing basketball as a profession. It is almost a given. They have to wait 1 year to start really monetizing their abilities and are forced to play in college. If you are going to say their 1st ever game at the RAC is just "practice" then playing on a Tuesday night in late January at Penn State at 6PM in front of 3,000 fans will be no different
So, are you suggesting that Pike shouldn’t have recruited two 5 stars and instead stuck to his knitting and recruit a couple of lunch bucket kids instead because they’d play defense? Really?

Pike didn’t fall off the turnip truck. He’s been around. He knows how to use his players. We finally got some super talent and now folks are complaining that he’s the wrong guy to coach this team. C’mon.
 
2 guys that are going to make at least $100,000,000 playing basketball as a profession. It is almost a given. They have to wait 1 year to start really monetizing their abilities and are forced to play in college. If you are going to say their 1st ever game at the RAC is just "practice" then playing on a Tuesday night in late January at Penn State at 6PM in front of 3,000 fans will be no different
I just checked the B1G and Big East standings, hey what do you know? RU and the Johnnies are both 0-0! It was a glorified practice. Of course, lessons can be learned in practice, but the Penn State game in early January on the other hand will really count. If I understand your thinking correctly, Mets exhibition games in Port St. Lucie and NY Giants pre-season games in August are just as important as a road game in the middle of the actual regular season? I'm with The Answer on this one. The season starts next week, I think both the team and Pike will be fine. Go RU!
 
How about a 10th grade teacher being in charge of a 3rd grade class.

Or how about Brad Stevens coaching the Celtics.

BEST EXAMPLE
Buddy Ryan as your new offensive coordinator
Steve is still coaching college basketball, right?

That is a stupid example, he was never hired as an OC.

The whole idea that Steve coaches a different game than every other coach, is so overblown.
 
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You can't say that their D issues were any worse than is expected to be case for typical freshman in their (not even) first game. Saying it was due to being a one and done is pretty clearly faulty logic.
I think I have been pretty clear. There is a combination of being tired and both guys not wired to playing hard on both ends of the floor. I think over time that can be fixed.

As far as bad D because of one and done….they dedinitrly dont have to prove they should be on the court. They essentialy are getting 32 minutes no matter what.
 
Such silly arguments being made. The stars will not be motivated? How many more millions will they make if they are seen working hard to win over just treating live games as "practice" until they get paid?

You don't get to where they are without being motivated to improve and WIN. Are they just going to turn that off?
 
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Such silly arguments being made. The stars will not be motivated? How many more millions will they make if they are seen working hard to win over just treating live games as "practice" until they get paid?

You don't get to where they are without being motivated to improve and WIN. Are they just going to turn that off?
Have you ever watched a AAU game?
 
The first shot defense was serviceable against SJU I thought, it was the 21-4 ORB deficit that really did RU in — especially when 10 of them come to Ejefor under the basket.

It’s definitely a concern, but Pike last year managed to turn an incompetent rebounding team into a fairly average one, and we now have a much longer roster.
 
Have you ever watched a AAU game?

You realize that other programs have recruited 5 stars without issue, correct? You're creating controversy where there is none. Why are you so concerned that our two are going to be lazy and unmotivated bad apples? It's absolute lunacy. Enjoy the ride and stop worrying so much.
 
We arent like other programs. We win with defense and effort. This program doesnt (or hasnt) win with offense.

I will enjoy the ride, but my optimism is not much higher than it has been in the past
 
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There is basis for most of their points. We are asking a chef that works in an Italian restaurant to make us a burrito. I am sure you like your meal, but how good will it be.
Could be a chef who has only made Italian food because he lacked the right ingredients for burritos. Maybe a good chef with the needed ingredients can make other things. Trust in our chef.
 
These guys are basically idiots, they are trying to make case for the presumption you can have too much talent, just unreal that’s why they are sitting in front of mic’s doing podcasts. As an opposed to doing something meaningful with the sport.
It will take some doing to get all the new pieces integrated and playing cohesively.
Biggest issue to be overcome by Ace and Dylan is realizing they don’t need to do everything and the pieces around them are much higher quality than what they played with in HS. Pike’s biggest challenge is blending the pieces in a way that allows the team to function at a high level on both ends of the court
 
Could be a chef who has only made Italian food because he lacked the right ingredients for burritos. Maybe a good chef with the needed ingredients can make other things. Trust in our chef.

Romance Love GIF by BuzzFeed
 
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I think I have been pretty clear. There is a combination of being tired and both guys not wired to playing hard on both ends of the floor. I think over time that can be fixed.

As far as bad D because of one and done….they dedinitrly dont have to prove they should be on the court. They essentialy are getting 32 minutes no matter what.
I think their defense was better than the average freshman at this level in their first game. It wasn’t good, especially for a Steve Pikel team. But better than most players who’ve come through here who’ve eventually turned into good defenders.
 
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