ADVERTISEMENT

Bad half, great comeback, tough loss, but wow Paul and Cliff! Maybe next year won't be so bad?

RU848789

RU848789

Legend
Gold Member
Jul 27, 2001
60,561
39,141
113
Metuchen, NJ
I think we've all been worrying about what will happen when Ron and Geo leave and for good reason, given how much of our offense they usually are, but tonight may have been a not-so-bad glimpse into the future. Paul with 31/7/7 and 4 steals and almost willing this team to win, while Cliff with 22/6, with a bunch of those points off of great PM feeds. Bad game, of course, for Geo (his worst ever probably) and from Caleb, who got benched for most of the 2nd half and just ok from Ron with 16/7, hitting all 5 FTs (but people saying he was horrible are clueless), but Reiber played some decent minutes and Mag played some good defense. The point is that if we can get a serious slasher/scorer wing type player, we might be decent to pretty good next year, not a bottom feeder as most seem to be assuming. We'll see of course, but Paul and Cliff are great pieces to build around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Loyal-Son, PiscatawayMike, new jersey1 and 3 others
Plum Street said:
The Paul-Cliff connection tonight only matters if they both come back next year and pike brings in more talent.
Click to expand...
Why wouldn't they come back? Yeah I know there's the portal, but Cliff has to be salvating at having Paul feeding him all next year and I think Paul is growing into being more of a leader and scorer and his passes are just great. We do need more talent though...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Unionst and Scangg
RU848789 said:
Why wouldn't they come back? Yeah I know there's the portal, but Cliff has to be salvating at having Paul feeding him all next year and I think Paul is growing into being more of a leader and scorer and his passes are just great. We do need more talent though...
Click to expand...
Because it’s college basketball and no one is safe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Greene Rice FIG
RU848789 said:
I think we've all been worrying about what will happen when Ron and Geo leave and for good reason, given how much of our offense they usually are, but tonight may have been a not-so-bad glimpse into the future. Paul with 31/7/7 and 4 steals and almost willing this team to win, while Cliff with 22/6, with a bunch of those points off of great PM feeds. Bad game, of course, for Geo (his worst ever probably) and from Caleb, who got benched for most of the 2nd half and just ok from Ron with 16/7, hitting all 5 FTs (but people saying he was horrible are clueless), but Reiber played some decent minutes and Mag played some good defense. The point is that if we can get a serious slasher/scorer wing type player, we might be decent to pretty good next year, not a bottom feeder as most seem to be assuming. We'll see of course, but Paul and Cliff are great pieces to build around.
Click to expand...


you are way optimistic than me. Yes Paul and Cliff can be a potent combo but unless we have about 3 impact players coming I dont think they will be able to be effective against most Big 10 schools not named Northwestern and Iowa
 
  • Like
Reactions: winfield102
Transfer portal is always a risk now but a starting 5 of something like Mulcahy, transfer 2, Mag/McConnell, transfer 4, and Cliff with the other of Mag/McConnell, Hyatt, and Reiber as first 3 off bench might not be too terrible. Possibly NIT level to NCAA bubble. We’d really need to bring in a lot of talent for the following year though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg
GORU2014 said:
Transfer portal is always a risk now but a starting 5 of something like Mulcahy, transfer 2, Mag/McConnell, transfer 4, and Cliff with the other of Mag/McConnell, Hyatt, and Reiber as first 3 off bench might not be too terrible. Possibly NIT level to NCAA bubble. We’d really need to bring in a lot of talent for the following year though.
Click to expand...

would need VERY good transfers at the 2 and 4 - players that can score!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RUJMM78 and GORU2014
RW90 said:
NW may just have been fool's gold for Paul and Cliff. Most B1G teams are far more athletic and physical. But if those two give half the effort as they did tonight, it will make a big difference.
Click to expand...
This is a great post. Most of the Big 10 is too athletic for Paul to do what he did in abusing the Northwestern guards so doubtful he will have an encore. But he was masterful tonight and a scoring passing point guard that we desperately needed. A shame we lost this game and his performance did not result in a victory.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RUJMM78
RU848789 said:
I think we've all been worrying about what will happen when Ron and Geo leave and for good reason, given how much of our offense they usually are, but tonight may have been a not-so-bad glimpse into the future. Paul with 31/7/7 and 4 steals and almost willing this team to win, while Cliff with 22/6, with a bunch of those points off of great PM feeds. Bad game, of course, for Geo (his worst ever probably) and from Caleb, who got benched for most of the 2nd half and just ok from Ron with 16/7, hitting all 5 FTs (but people saying he was horrible are clueless), but Reiber played some decent minutes and Mag played some good defense. The point is that if we can get a serious slasher/scorer wing type player, we might be decent to pretty good next year, not a bottom feeder as most seem to be assuming. We'll see of course, but Paul and Cliff are great pieces to build around.
Click to expand...
You need a solid 9 man rotation in the B1G....
 
I’m not saying Paul isn’t a B1G player but he’s the kind of guy that would score 28+ per game at a mid major. That’s not a knock. He has a very good offensive game that would kill it against less athletic players.
 
bitnez said:
I’m not saying Paul isn’t a B1G player but he’s the kind of guy that would score 28+ per game at a mid major. That’s not a knock. He has a very good offensive game that would kill it against less athletic players.
Click to expand...
We have not agreed lately on these threads , but I totally agree about Paul being able to score against less athletic players as he was able to abuse the less athletic guards and use his height against Northwestern that he will unlikely be able to do against Michigan State , Ohio State , Illinois , etc. . His height is a tremendous advantage and if he continues to use it to shoot over players instead of passing and deferring , it will help us immensely. He will not score 31 but 15 is realistic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg and bitnez
Paul and Cliff excelled because of matchups which allowed dunks and dribble drives to the basket.Those two players along with Harper scored 69 points of the total 78 points.The failure of Baker and McConnell to even score a point is very disappointing.Games are 40 minutes and Rutgers slow starts are haunting the team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg
bac2therac said:
you are way optimistic than me. Yes Paul and Cliff can be a potent combo but unless we have about 3 impact players coming I dont think they will be able to be effective against most Big 10 schools not named Northwestern and Iowa
Click to expand...
Bingo.
Against most B1G programs we probably will not see this performance.
Pike better make huge gains in recruiting for next season .
 
Cliff Paul and Dean continue to play better as the season goes on. If they all come back next year ………. Let’s just say with a little magic from the portal who knows.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Loyal-Son
Some real illuminating comments in this thread. "We probably won't see that again from Paul". Well duh he scored 31 freaking points! Obviously we cant expect Paul to average 25/7/5 but this shows that this team is more than just Ron and Geo and a bunch of role players.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scarlet83, shields, ChasRC69 and 1 other person
Mr Magoo said:
Some of this stuff is hilarious. Many people were clamoring for Mag to replace Paul in the starting lineup as recently as a couple of days ago. He has an incredible game and people are now going through the roof and it seems like some think he’s going to do this consistently. He’s not nearly as bad as his last horrible game and not nearly as good as he played last night.
I thoroughly enjoyed his performance last night, but I highly doubt Cliff or anyone else figures Paul’s play to be much of a factor on their decision to returncollection
Click to expand...
Paul's leadership will be a big big factor next year.
And I believe finding a player to out perform
Geo's play of last night will be quite easy.
Geo wanted to be payed, so I will start a collection, so where do I send the 25 cents?
 
Mulcahy had the game of his life. You can't expect him to repeat that performance, but it is clear he is a leader and works to make his teammates better. I agree we need to land at least one scoring option (preferably two) in the portal. If we can pull that off and have Paul, Cliff, Mag, (transfer guard), (transfer 4), we can make an NCAA run next year. (Assuming some growth from Hyatt, Miller, Jones, Reiber, and the incoming freshmen).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg
Head scratcher from @RU848789
I'm very worried about Cliff leaving this off season. Nothing is safe, especially with NIL money and no sit out rules.
smarten up numbers. Smarten up.
 
Supposedly Cliff loves Rutgers. Mods have said he will stay. Just bc a lot of players move these days doesn't mean everyone always is

Cliff figures to be a bigger part of the offense next season and Paul feeding him a few dunks a game is another reason to stay
 
Scangg said:
Supposedly Cliff loves Rutgers. Mods have said he will stay. Just bc a lot of players move these days doesn't mean everyone always is

Cliff figures to be a bigger part of the offense next season and Paul feeding him a few dunks a game is another reason to stay
Click to expand...
Exactly - have heard the same things and not from the mods. Could he leave? Sure, anyone could, but he's in a great place to keep improving, as he did substantially from last year to this year, so I think he stays.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg and Greene Rice FIG
Pending portal happenings, I could see Dean getting his minutes at the four. Of course, everything depends upon matchups.
 
zebnatto said:
Pending portal happenings, I could see Dean getting his minutes at the four. Of course, everything depends upon matchups.
Click to expand...
Really thought Pike was going to keep Dean in and take Oscar out especially since we were in zone and Dean has good agility and length. Would have liked to see Dean and Cliff together especially since Cliff was not close to being in foul trouble. I think it was a missed opportunity to get Dean more minutes.
 
RU848789 said:
I think we've all been worrying about what will happen when Ron and Geo leave and for good reason, given how much of our offense they usually are, but tonight may have been a not-so-bad glimpse into the future. Paul with 31/7/7 and 4 steals and almost willing this team to win, while Cliff with 22/6, with a bunch of those points off of great PM feeds. Bad game, of course, for Geo (his worst ever probably) and from Caleb, who got benched for most of the 2nd half and just ok from Ron with 16/7, hitting all 5 FTs (but people saying he was horrible are clueless), but Reiber played some decent minutes and Mag played some good defense. The point is that if we can get a serious slasher/scorer wing type player, we might be decent to pretty good next year, not a bottom feeder as most seem to be assuming. We'll see of course, but Paul and Cliff are great pieces to build around.
Click to expand...
After tonight, I feel even better about this post and our future after Ron (presumably) and Geo leave RU. 2nd game in a row we see the blossoming of Paul Mulcahy as an offensive force, penetrating and scoring, dishing beautifully, and even hitting outside shots. 15 points and 12 assists - 12 assists! When was the last time an RU player had 12 assists in a game and we had 21 assists on 30 made baskets?

Good passing is contagious. And for the 2nd game in a row, the biggest beneficiary of Paul's passing wizardry was Cliff, again, who had another great game with 17/4 and 2 blocks. But it also relieves pressure on every other player on offense, as the defense can no longer ignore Paul and cheat to help out other defenders. So many open looks for Ron and Geo, who were 5-13 from deep, which is almost 40% and 6 players in double figures including Reiber! Like Ron said in the thread I just started, if PM isn't B1G player of the week, I'll break my phone, lol.

And of course, there was that awesome sequence where Pike put Paul, Dean, Mag, Miller, and Caleb on the floor with 14:48 left, with us up 50-45, after a Geo turnover and after the next MSU basket to cut it to 50-47 with 13:57 left, we had the best 10-0 run in a long time, with essentially next year's team (sans Cliff) on the floor against the #13 team in the country upping the lead to 60-47, when we got the under 12 minute TO with 11:53 left. I'm not saying that lineup will be a top team, but it's better than most of us, including me, have thought, as they're really starting to all play better and if we can augment that group with an impact player or two from the portal, we might just have a pretty good team next year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Loyal-Son, Scangg and RW90
RU848789 said:
After tonight, I feel even better about this post and our future after Ron (presumably) and Geo leave RU. 2nd game in a row we see the blossoming of Paul Mulcahy as an offensive force, penetrating and scoring, dishing beautifully, and even hitting outside shots. 15 points and 12 assists - 12 assists! When was the last time an RU player had 12 assists in a game and we had 21 assists on 30 made baskets?

Good passing is contagious. And for the 2nd game in a row, the biggest beneficiary of Paul's passing wizardry was Cliff, again, who had another great game with 17/4 and 2 blocks. But it also relieves pressure on every other player on offense, as the defense can no longer ignore Paul and cheat to help out other defenders. So many open looks for Ron and Geo, who were 5-13 from deep, which is almost 40% and 6 players in double figures including Reiber! Like Ron said in the thread I just started, if PM isn't B1G player of the week, I'll break my phone, lol.

And of course, there was that awesome sequence where Pike put Paul, Dean, Mag, Miller, and Caleb on the floor with 14:48 left, with us up 50-45, after a Geo turnover and after the next MSU basket to cut it to 50-47 with 13:57 left, we had the best 10-0 run in a long time, with essentially next year's team (sans Cliff) on the floor against the #13 team in the country upping the lead to 60-47, when we got the under 12 minute TO with 11:53 left. I'm not saying that lineup will be a top team, but it's better than most of us, including me, have thought, as they're really starting to all play better and if we can augment that group with an impact player or two from the portal, we might just have a pretty good team next year.
Click to expand...
Good passing is contagious is so so true. Our last good stretch we also saw much better passing and movement.

Miller's on ball pressure with Mag and Caleb denying the wings is a really strong defensive lineup. It's hard for the other team to get into their offense. Could be a good tool to break up a team if they are getting in a rhythm against us
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scarlet83 and RU848789
RU848789 said:
After tonight, I feel even better about this post and our future after Ron (presumably) and Geo leave RU. 2nd game in a row we see the blossoming of Paul Mulcahy as an offensive force, penetrating and scoring, dishing beautifully, and even hitting outside shots. 15 points and 12 assists - 12 assists! When was the last time an RU player had 12 assists in a game and we had 21 assists on 30 made baskets?

Good passing is contagious. And for the 2nd game in a row, the biggest beneficiary of Paul's passing wizardry was Cliff, again, who had another great game with 17/4 and 2 blocks. But it also relieves pressure on every other player on offense, as the defense can no longer ignore Paul and cheat to help out other defenders. So many open looks for Ron and Geo, who were 5-13 from deep, which is almost 40% and 6 players in double figures including Reiber! Like Ron said in the thread I just started, if PM isn't B1G player of the week, I'll break my phone, lol.

And of course, there was that awesome sequence where Pike put Paul, Dean, Mag, Miller, and Caleb on the floor with 14:48 left, with us up 50-45, after a Geo turnover and after the next MSU basket to cut it to 50-47 with 13:57 left, we had the best 10-0 run in a long time, with essentially next year's team (sans Cliff) on the floor against the #13 team in the country upping the lead to 60-47, when we got the under 12 minute TO with 11:53 left. I'm not saying that lineup will be a top team, but it's better than most of us, including me, have thought, as they're really starting to all play better and if we can augment that group with an impact player or two from the portal, we might just have a pretty good team next year.
Click to expand...
Well we got our answer on the 12 assists question - was the most since Earl Johnson in 1997.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg
Loyal_2RU said:
Rutgers john mcfadden once held the MSG college record with I think 11, 12, or 14 assists, can't remember which. Either way, 12 is a bucketful of assists.
Click to expand...

Bringing this back up, because it seems to me that the improvements we've seen in the play of Paul and Cliff are a major part of the improvement we've seen during this amazing 4-game win streak against top 15 teams - combined with a level of intensity, especially on defense, that is off the charts, as per Underwood's comments last night about RU simply playing harder than everyone else we play.

As I said in my "defensive intensity" thread about the wins at MD and at home against Iowa, intensity has historically been our best way to beat good teams, but hasn't always been reliable, as that intensity has ebbed and flowed some over the season. But when we combine high end defensive intensity and teamwork with significantly improved play by Paul and Cliff, which makes everyone else better, too, well, that's how we beat 4 ranked teams in a row, including two blowouts, a win on the road going away, and a nailbiter with an amazing finish. And who knows what else we can accomplish with this combo...

https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/t...ainst-iowa-too-not-so-much-against-mn.233170/
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg
RU848789 said:
Bringing this back up, because it seems to me that the improvements we've seen in the play of Paul and Cliff are a major part of the improvement we've seen during this amazing 4-game win streak against top 15 teams - combined with a level of intensity, especially on defense, that is off the charts, as per Underwood's comments last night about RU simply playing harder than everyone else we play.

As I said in my "defensive intensity" thread about the wins at MD and at home against Iowa, intensity has historically been our best way to beat good teams, but hasn't always been reliable, as that intensity has ebbed and flowed some over the season. But when we combine high end defensive intensity and teamwork with significantly improved play by Paul and Cliff, which makes everyone else better, too, well, that's how we beat 4 ranked teams in a row, including two blowouts, a win on the road going away, and a nailbiter with an amazing finish. And who knows what else we can accomplish with this combo...

https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/t...ainst-iowa-too-not-so-much-against-mn.233170/
Click to expand...
The defense has been giving the offense energy but also the offense giving the defense energy. It's a great cycle we are in currently
 
  • Like
Reactions: RU848789
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Good-Knight

Cold Hard Truth on Noah Fernandes

Replies
56
Views
2K
Men's Basketball
Jerseylegends
J
RU848789

My voice is gone and my head hurts from screaming - I love Rutgers Basketball!!

Replies
11
Views
606
Men's Basketball
Greene Rice FIG
G
bac2therac

GAME 22 Maryland: That was a great win

Replies
32
Views
1K
Men's Basketball
robjknight
R
G

Nebraska was different and provides hope for this year

Replies
8
Views
390
Men's Basketball
Shelby65
S
D

Rapid Reaction - Indiana

Replies
48
Views
1K
Men's Basketball
kcg88
kcg88
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back