2022-23 Men's Basketball Season Preview - Rutgers University Athletics
2022-23 Men's Basketball Season Preview
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2022-23 Season Preview: Rutgers Men’s Basketball Looking to Go “Back-to-Back-to-Back” for 1st Time in School History
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I've always said that the NCAA tournament being canceled the 1st time we would have made it in in 30 years is the trope codifier of the RU Screw.
Riot squad needs to get a giant cutout of Katz driving the Rutgers bus for the student section behind the basket
If I ever run into Andy, I’m buying…. The man deserves many rounds on me!
We have the number 1 or 2 Big man in the conference.
We have the number 1 defender in the conference.
We have the number 1 assist leader in the conference.
We have a good coach, we have maybe the best length in the conference , we have a good bench, Cam will be one of the best shooters in the conference and may lead conference in FT%. ++++
I think this is definitely a tournament team that teams will not want to play.
Get ready for a fun season.
We have the number 1 defender in the conference.
We have the number 1 assist leader in the conference.
We have a good coach, we have maybe the best length in the conference , we have a good bench, Cam will be one of the best shooters in the conference and may lead conference in FT%. ++++
I think this is definitely a tournament team that teams will not want to play.
Get ready for a fun season.
We should have a good year. We know that guys like Caleb, Mag, and Miller will bring the defensive intensity, while Paul and Cliff will be steady. Can we get enough D from Hyatt, Cam, Dean, Simpson, Woolfolk, Chol, and Oskar? If we see that in the early season, especially in the tougher OOC games, then my expectations for this team will go way up.
I will always say we were an NCAA team in 2020, so even though the 2020 tourney was cancelled, we've already had back to back to back NCAA seasons, IMO.
I wish they would have chosen a field anyway, even if no games were to be played. But that would have been tough given that most conference tournaments could not be completed.
The jury is out on how good the bench is. Let’s not discuss how many points it scored in Dayton on that March night.
And part of that bench is starting. We also have a guy we are counting on to score that fans groaned (it was audible) whenever he shot 3s at home.
I generally agree with you and I don’t entirely disagree here either. But occasionally I have to keep your skepticism check, Green. 😄
1) Your post should be toned down to read - and “a guy from” that bench is starting. Fair?
2) That other “guy” your referring to isn’t remotely a high volume 3 point shooter to begin with (in 30 mpg of playing time he attempted less than 2 3s a game).
3) While we can’t pretend the first 5 games of the season didn’t happen, it should be noted that after going a dreadful (and inexplicable) 0-10 in those games against horrible competition - “that guy” actually averaged a respectable 32.6% the rest of the way in the remaining 27 games from long range when he finally calmed down.
His lifetime numbers are dreadful and could almost lead to the conclusion that 95% of fans had before 1 game changed it…..he shouldn’t shoot 3s.
we also don’t know how many players from last years bench will start. We all are assuming that a guy from a lousy low conference is all of a sudden be 30+ MPG guy. Could happen. There will be a huge adjustment defensively. Ask Hyatt. Offensively there is a huge adjustment too. Big difference getting a shot off against a 6’5’’ Navy perimeter player and a 6’9’’ wing from Michigan State.
we also don’t know how many players from last years bench will start. We all are assuming that a guy from a lousy low conference is all of a sudden be 30+ MPG guy. Could happen. There will be a huge adjustment defensively. Ask Hyatt. Offensively there is a huge adjustment too. Big difference getting a shot off against a 6’5’’ Navy perimeter player and a 6’9’’ wing from Michigan State.
Exaggerate much? He had one really bad year - the one he was supposed to red shirt because he wasn’t really ready to come back but since it was a free year decided to give it his best shot. When he started last season 0-10 from long range, it’s no wonder our fans were booing his perimeter shots last year. But then he turned it around and proved he could be servicable from the perimeter if left open which is all we ever needed from him.
If you take 2020 (the year he came back early from injury) out of the equation he’s 30.3% for the rest of his career (that includes horrible stretch to start last year). Not great - but not nearly as bad as your making it out to be considering he doesn’t take that many 3s. Jacob Young was a career 28.7% shooter from 3 for perspective.
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Let's just say I am very worried about what we look like on the offensive end. We can win some games 59-57, but not many. The thought of Cliff being a threat from 3 sounds great.......until we lose on some possessions the guy that used to make 65% of his shots.
Spencer scored almost all his points off the dribble creating his shot and getting to the foul line against an extremely big and athletic UNC.
Although he mainly should be a spot up 3 point shooter, he's crafty and a good passer. His floor spacing alone will help everyone on offense
I’m not saying we don’t have some open questions, I just don’t see Caleb’s perimeter shooting as that big of issue. Our other two starting guards are 36.6% (Paul) and 38.8% (Cam) career perimeter shooters.
One thing we need to hear from Pike…..he has to reference how surprised or how good Cam is defensively. Like to hear…we know he could shoot but we are surprised with how he has done defensively.
it is going to be very difficult to fill Geo’s shoes on offense. It is the defensive end that has me as worried. Geo was very good defensively last year. I’ll bet Cam has never had to fight above screens before.
it is going to be very difficult to fill Geo’s shoes on offense. It is the defensive end that has me as worried. Geo was very good defensively last year. I’ll bet Cam has never had to fight above screens before.
Yes it is. Every high school is playing games against some teams that only have 1-2 or less scholarship players on them max.
His defense is a question mark, but he doesn’t seem like the type of kid that doesn’t put effort in on that end. Getting Caleb back for defense was really important.
Depends on the player. When Paul was playing most teams in his conference were a joke, but some recruits that play for certain schools probably play competition that is very Patriot League like.
I probably am not in my lane here though.
I do know Patriot League to B1G is a huge step on both ends.
The top guys in the Pat League can generally hang but I agree that it would be a surprise if Spencer was a star here. Santi Aldama was an NBA pick recently. Jamir Harris is in the rotation at Seton Hall -- and even at American he was kind of a one dimensional guy, whereas Spencer was a more complete player at Loyola. Nate Sestina went from Bucknell to being a rotation piece at Kentucky.
One interesting thing is that while Spencer had great offensive numbers, Loyola was better on defense last season. I think their center was pretty decent defensively. It looks to me like their major problem was depth, they had five players with offensive ratings at 99 or above, but everyone else was under 92.
I don’t claim to be a national expert either, but regionally it would not be case (NY / NJ area). There may be a handful of teams with multiple D1 scholarship bound guys on them, but the majority of opponents factored into the average are still going to be made up of kids who at best will try to walk on to D3 teams. Just such a broad range of levels at the HS level and the drop off from a team with 10+ Schollie Patriot league kids to a high school team with mostly kids that aren’t good enough to play college ball is massive. Now AAU all star leagues are different, but those are hard to gage true stats also because each kid is focused on personal stats rather than winning (not team basketball oriented).
I expect Cam to be an excellent help defender off the ball. He must read plays well to get so many steals and have quick hands
The concern is his on ball defense when it comes to lateral movement and foot speed
The clip of Miller easily driving past him is concerning
Richie has said the team will be better defensively this year so that is nice to hear
The concern is his on ball defense when it comes to lateral movement and foot speed
The clip of Miller easily driving past him is concerning
Richie has said the team will be better defensively this year so that is nice to hear
Less athletic is actually okay, as crazy as that sounds. We have Caleb back on the help defense when he gets beat to bail him out. What we can’t have is what we got with Hyatt last season who is athletic but just not a smart defensive perimeter player. Not getting caught in screens isn’t about athleticism. It’s about reading the offense as a defender. We need for him to do that well.
Getting through screens is great but that's not everything. We need him to not be a liability getting burned off the dribble in man to man defense
I didn’t say it because I don’t want to knock Paul. He’s worked hard to get his defense to a servicable level. But Caleb and MJ bailed him out for years on the help off penetration and we were able to get by. Granted MJ would get in foul trouble because of it sometimes, but I guess what I’m trying to say is getting beat off the dribble can be compensated to an extent with help defense. Leaving guys wide open for easy 3s on the perimeter because you read the offense wrong and got cut off can’t.
Cam was coming off serious hip surgery last year, had a great year and should be in even better condition this year. He led the Patriot league in steals. He has the same genes as his brother, who is athletic enough to play in the G league after one year of college ball, which only Harper from our team has been able to achieve in the last decade.
No, Pat Spencer, who was an All American Lacrosse player, who went on to play one grad transfer season for the Northwestern basketball team, and now is heading into his second year in the G league. Cam is taller and a better shooter than his brother.
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