10 things we learned tonight

[RU-ROCS]

1. Miami ain't Hartford.
2. We are not YET nearly ready for prime time, but our staff can coach and our team has fight.
3. Our defense especially in transition and around the rim is not nearly where it needs to be.
4. We can't shoot.
5. Freeman may struggle at the the 4 against more athletic, Big 10 front courts.
6. If Freeman didn't miss a hundred lay ups we might have won! ;)
7. A still rusty sophomore Doorson looked better than 5th yr. Sr. Getty's against a big, athletic Big10-like front court.
8. Mike Williams can ball.
9. We can't shoot. (Worth 2 mentions).
10. There is HOPE!

 

[CornerTavern]

#2

 

[AreYouNUTS]

I'm pretty sure we knew about our shooting issues BEFORE this game lol!

 

[S_Janowski]

Freeman will be fine i think he just had one of his worst games. It's Getty's and Doorson I would be more concerned with vs. the big and athletic front courts.

 

[bac2therac]

agree with everything and yes I think Freeman's size is going to be a big factor against the Big 10 schedule

 

[RU MAN]

1. Miami ain't Hartford.
2. We are not YET nearly ready for prime time, but our staff can coach and our team has fight.
3. Our defense especially in transition and around the rim is not nearly where it needs to be.
4. We can't shoot.
5. Freeman may struggle at the the 4 against more athletic, Big 10 front courts.
6. If Freeman didn't miss a hundred lay ups we might have won! ;)
7. A still rusty sophomore Doorson looked better than 5th yr. Sr. Getty's against a big, athletic Big10-like front court.
8. Mike Williams can ball.
9. We can't shoot. (Worth 2 mentions).
10. There is HOPE!

Even so, if we play this game at the RAC, we win this game. As athletic as Miami is with their top ten class, if Freeman didn't miss so many chippies we would have been very close to pulling this upset. The fact we lost by 12 (4 possessions) gives me hope. Last year's team would have lost this game by thirty. I love Pikiell and his staff. We have an excellent coach and staff and we will surprise especially at home in B1G play.

 

[ScarletLongIsland]

Our shooter Williams didn't shoot until 4 mins left

 

[bac2therac]

Our shooter Williams didn't shoot until 4 mins left

yeah thats a head scratcher tonight, Nigel played alot first half, I really wasnt paying attention to Williams minutes tonight but it seemed he was out of the loop

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Also Williams has earned much more playing time, more than the 19 he got tonight. He's been a consistent scorer this year and, historically streaky or not, we need points wherever we can get them even if it means having to go smaller. We all know he'll hustle all over the floor.

Thiam has gotten a lot of love on this board as a quote unquote 6-9 guard, but, honestly, the production outside of a few threes has not been there. 22 minutes, 2 shot attempts, 0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists tonight. That's pretty invisible.

And Johnson can be flashy but you can't go 1-8 from the field.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

11. Issa has to (in April) change his shot.

 

[Bdodger2]

A few things come to mind for me:

We are a well coached squad. We do not give up when things go badly - in years past this would have been a blowout halfway through the first half. We have a fair amount of athleticism.

The problems we will encounter v good teams are pretty obvious. We do not have any inside threats offensively. Gettys is at a disadvantage v high level athletic big men. Freeman is sufficiently athletic but is simply undersized. Due to a lack of any post up game, other teams can play defense with a huge advantage which is enhanced by our lack of consistent, quality outside shooting. This leads to a disjointed half court offense that leaves us with too many poor offensive e possessions.

All in all the team looks much better to me than the last several years. We will win games v the lower level and perhaps some mid level conference teams. Not all, but definitely some. It will take time. Right now we have a lot of athletes who have limited basketball skills. In time some of these guys will become better basketball players. A kid like Thiam has both athleticism, basketball skills, and length. He needs strength and adapt to high level competition. I expect to see a lot from him in the future.

I originally felt this was a 12 win team. After watching a bunch of games, but particularly this one, I think 15 wins is doable. I also believe we will be far more competitive than expected against many teams. There is a way too go, but for someone like me who has been so down on the program for decades, I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[mikefla]

after our last 3 years,,,anyone that thought we were ready for the big time has to be delusional

We played a decent game....down by 6 in each half but roaring back both times

Miami is as talented a team as we will face all year with about 3 exceptions in the B10

Everyone but OSU has at least 1 loss in the B10

The next 5 games are all winnable

We could be 11-1 going into the SHU game

If we beat SHU,,,4 B10 wins= a winning season(16 wins)

 

[4theknights]

Confident in the coaching... we will get better

 

[ColonelRutgers]

One thing that the fans will appreciate is that no matter what happens this team is not going to fold its tent. Don't think this coaching staff will tolerate it. And that will allow us to stay in games and maybe steal a few. And after enduring some absolutely embarrassing blowouts the past 3 years, that is a welcome change.

 

[wngarbarini]

Our defense sucked. We let guys go full court by everyone many times and no one stopped them. We gave them so many layups and close shots. They killed us on the boards. They blocked so many of our layups. We did show heart and fight.

 

[RU MAN]

Our defense sucked. We let guys go full court by everyone many times and no one stopped them. We gave them so many layups and close shots. They killed us on the boards. They blocked so many of our layups. We did show heart and fight.

WRONG!!!

 

[bac2therac]

A few things come to mind for me:

We are a well coached squad. We do not give up when things go badly - in years past this would have been a blowout halfway through the first half. We have a fair amount of athleticism.

The problems we will encounter v good teams are pretty obvious. We do not have any inside threats offensively. Gettys is at a disadvantage v high level athletic big men. Freeman is sufficiently athletic but is simply undersized. Due to a lack of any post up game, other teams can play defense with a huge advantage which is enhanced by our lack of consistent, quality outside shooting. This leads to a disjointed half court offense that leaves us with too many poor offensive e possessions.

All in all the team looks much better to me than the last several years. We will win games v the lower level and perhaps some mid level conference teams. Not all, but definitely some. It will take time. Right now we have a lot of athletes who have limited basketball skills. In time some of these guys will become better basketball players. A kid like Thiam has both athleticism, basketball skills, and length. He needs strength and adapt to high level competition. I expect to see a lot from him in the future.

I originally felt this was a 12 win team. After watching a bunch of games, but particularly this one, I think 15 wins is doable. I also believe we will be far more competitive than expected against many teams. There is a way too go, but for someone like me who has been so down on the program for decades, I am cautiously optimistic.

great post...I agree with you with those wins, I was thinking 12-13 but the improved play in the previous 6 games and the play tonight to me shows we have a realistic shot at 15 or 16 wins which is around 500. I think RU has cut the talent gap with a few of the other bottom Big 10 teams but we still have ways to go toward the mid tier schools but because of Pikiell and the way he has his team fighting, I expect to pick off an Iowa type team at the RAC

Pikiell's big task is to recruit and end the bad perception around Rutgers. Bdodger what are you hearing in terms of any kind of perception shift with RU finally investing in facilities and now finally having a full fledged competant coaching staff?

 

[Unionst]

If we can't shoot and we can't score from the inside against bigger teams we need to press and run. We've shown in flashes we can do that.

 

[TMCB]

Miami is above average athletic team. Ru
Has many teams on our schedule we can beat. I love our coaching and hustle.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

WRONG!!!

Defense got a B-

We make up for deficiencies with length.

We got our hands on a lot of balls, but

Interior defense was bad
Many times help was late or didn't come
We didn't box out enough

 

[coachkos]

since its the beginning of the year with a new coaching staff . This team will bet better and better as the year goes on. Team might lose to out of conference games but we will win some games in teh big 10 I say 5-6 We will shoot better on some night Time will tell but super excited to see this team develop

 

[Bdodger2]

Bac - it is too early to see any meaningful change in perception. If we continue to improve and play competitively for the entire year that is when people will start to take notice. The perception was so bad that early season success is not moving the needle.

One positive is that there is a ton of northeast talent in the Class of 2018. With the recruiting ability this staff possesses, a solid season this year gives us time to get kids to think about us. Honestly, the fact that the new facility will not be open by the Fall of 2018 hurts. If we have a good year, however, we will at least be in the conversation with kids. If Sanders matures this year and he and the core return next season a true buzz could develop. Lots of northeast kids would find RU a potentially positive destination.

A long way to go, but there is a noticeable difference. If it continues, the 2018 class could be quite good.

 

[Scarletwoman]

WRONG!!!

He is definitely so wrong.

 

[RU-ROCS]

Even so, if we play this game at the RAC, we win this game. As athletic as Miami is with their top ten class, if Freeman didn't miss so many chippies we would have been very close to pulling this upset. The fact we lost by 12 (4 possessions) gives me hope. Last year's team would have lost this game by thirty. I love Pikiell and his staff. We have an excellent coach and staff and we will surprise especially at home in B1G play.

We absolutely need to bring back the RAC home court advantage and then you may be right. I hope the students buy in and pack the RAC. This team deserves their support.

 

[RU-ROCS]

yeah thats a head scratcher tonight, Nigel played alot first half, I really wasnt paying attention to Williams minutes tonight but it seemed he was out of the loop

Agreed!

 

[RU-ROCS]

A few things come to mind for me:

We are a well coached squad. We do not give up when things go badly - in years past this would have been a blowout halfway through the first half. We have a fair amount of athleticism.

The problems we will encounter v good teams are pretty obvious. We do not have any inside threats offensively. Gettys is at a disadvantage v high level athletic big men. Freeman is sufficiently athletic but is simply undersized. Due to a lack of any post up game, other teams can play defense with a huge advantage which is enhanced by our lack of consistent, quality outside shooting. This leads to a disjointed half court offense that leaves us with too many poor offensive e possessions.

All in all the team looks much better to me than the last several years. We will win games v the lower level and perhaps some mid level conference teams. Not all, but definitely some. It will take time. Right now we have a lot of athletes who have limited basketball skills. In time some of these guys will become better basketball players. A kid like Thiam has both athleticism, basketball skills, and length. He needs strength and adapt to high level competition. I expect to see a lot from him in the future.

I originally felt this was a 12 win team. After watching a bunch of games, but particularly this one, I think 15 wins is doable. I also believe we will be far more competitive than expected against many teams. There is a way too go, but for someone like me who has been so down on the program for decades, I am cautiously optimistic.

Good stuff.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Bac - it is too early to see any meaningful change in perception. If we continue to improve and play competitively for the entire year that is when people will start to take notice. The perception was so bad that early season success is not moving the needle.

One positive is that there is a ton of northeast talent in the Class of 2018. With the recruiting ability this staff possesses, a solid season this year gives us time to get kids to think about us. Honestly, the fact that the new facility will not be open by the Fall of 2018 hurts. If we have a good year, however, we will at least be in the conversation with kids. If Sanders matures this year and he and the core return next season a true buzz could develop. Lots of northeast kids would find RU a potentially positive destination.

A long way to go, but there is a noticeable difference. If it continues, the 2018 class could be quite good.

this is what matters

 

[RU MAN]

Defense got a B-

We make up for deficiencies with length.

We got our hands on a lot of balls, but

Interior defense was bad
Many times help was late or didn't come
We didn't box out enough

I agree with what you said, and it's fixable.

 

[MadRU]

Mike picked up his second foul in the first half and coach sat him. That limited his minutes early.

 

[RickB113]

There are 7 guys in NJ alone in the top 150 in 2018. Have to land three.

 

[RUBigFrank]

Miami got off to a good start and took Freeman out of the game - noticed that we had to many one and done possessions early. We played catch-up the rest of the game. Our rebounding picked up later in the game - but never made up for the early drought.