Gavin is the biggest reason for the change to playing faster this season.
Comparing ALL teams to look at one stat to predict NCAA appearance isn’t worthwhile
Cliff disses Paul
- Thread starter Fat Koko
- Start date
Comparing ALL teams to look at one stat to predict NCAA appearance isn’t worthwhile
Have you seen Gavin play?
Both Cam and Castle will be starting. Castle is positionless, has great size, excellent ballhandler, passer and scorer. Whether he is the “point guard” or not, once UConn gets into the front court, he will have the ball in his hands and will control the offense. I think he has a great chance to be freshman of the year, his game has elevated significantly over the past year. Cam will be more of a traditional shooting guard at UConn. He will not handle the ball nearly as much, but will get lots and good looks and wouldn’t be surprising if he leads UConn scoring with teams trying to collapse on Castle and Clingan. Hurley loves him.
This is not applicable to this conversation. Cliff said what many, including me on many occasions, saw and stated on this board. Mulcahy held on to the ball way too long, dribbled into a corner trap, and brought the offense to a grinding halt on many many occasions. That's it. Being faster this year doesn't mean a wild out of control style, it just means that we gonna make it harder to defend us because of overall team speed and more motion. Paul dribbling himself into a corner with two guys guarding him made defense too easy for the opponent on too many occasions.
Instinctual player who dragged the team down the last half of the season. Derek, who happens to embody the fast tempo Cliff is referencing, elevated the team down the stretch and gave us hope of an NCAA berth. I look forward to a changing of the guards (literally, on the court and also at captain).
Cliffs friend is a player that drives and dishes. I thought Paul and Cam were excellent in this area. Cliff hasn't shown yet that he is a guy who should be getting the ball when posting up on the low block.
If these speedy guards are willing to dish, cliff could lead the country in dunks this year.
If these speedy guards are willing to dish, cliff could lead the country in dunks this year.
Part of the reason RU can play faster is because two slow guards, one of them the point guard, are no longer on the team.
I'll go on the record in saying "better means better".
Paul certainly had a lot to do with RU's success, but he did bring the ball up the court very deliberately. My guess is that you are going to see a very different plan with this team and speed is going to be one of the factors.
It’s Simpson, Fernandes, and Davis for the pace. Cliff being able to out run bigs down the court. Gavin is unbelievable and will be Big Ten freshmen of the year but he is not the main reason for the pace change
No room for him on this team with the style we are going to play. He wouldn’t get the time he wants or needs. Best of luck
So isn't Clif validating the critisms of the offensive style over the years that got shouted down here.
Faster tempo
More points
More 3pt attempts
All things that some have been saying we needed to strive for.
Before some gives the lame "but we didn't have the players".
Sure. Both things can be true - we needed a better offensive system and ALSO needed better players.
But anyone who said we didn't need a better system (we win with defense) has pretty much proven wrong by Clif and HC Pike it seems.
Faster tempo
More points
More 3pt attempts
All things that some have been saying we needed to strive for.
Before some gives the lame "but we didn't have the players".
Sure. Both things can be true - we needed a better offensive system and ALSO needed better players.
But anyone who said we didn't need a better system (we win with defense) has pretty much proven wrong by Clif and HC Pike it seems.
You're really underestimating the players aspect
Trying to run and chuck 3's with slow players and poor shooters isn't a winning system
Pike knows what he's doing and is a smart enough coach to not be married to a system and adjust his philosophy based on the skill sets of the players. That's the key takeaway
Every time I see this thread title I read it in the voice of John Lennon at the end of Strawberry Fields.
And I don’t like the Beatles.
And I don’t like the Beatles.
Paul probably left because Pike brought in a player to be his starting point guard.
Uptempo faster thing……lets talk at the end of January and really see if there is a noticeable difference in how we play.
While Paul was evaluating his options, which never realistically included sniffing the NBA. Was Pikiell supposed to wait around on that? What if Paul still decides to transfer after all that and we didn't have Fernandes?
Faster play is a given with the roster changes. The question is how fast...
Agreed but Paul lost his job and the team last year . Ferenandes great veteran piece and depth in the backcourt. Everyone inside the program happy and relieved Paul left
Childish title. Mystifies me that posters on a message board would be so interested in using click bait.
Posters, however, turned the the thread into an interesting discussion about team speed.
It'd be interesting to revisit this discussions during the season.
Posters, however, turned the the thread into an interesting discussion about team speed.
It'd be interesting to revisit this discussions during the season.
Good point - if coaches changed nothing - and it was just roster turnover - we'd be playing faster because we have faster players who are better at creating shots
I never said he should have waited around.
Pike didn't wait around for Eugene and got Yeboah.
Coaches have to do this.
All of the above, but the discussion is around tempo. The reason is faster quicker players
I appreciate Paul and Cam for what they brought to the table and what they gave to us but we're doing exactly what we have to do because we've hit the ceiling of what we could accomplish with that slow and deliberate style of offense. We haven't even cracked top 200 PPG yet under Pikiell so getting to just an average high major offense allows us to unlock the next level of success.
A lot of that is obviously due to the talent level he started with. Now that upgrades have arrived and with much more coming next year, it's time to take advantage of the increased skill and athleticism. Think about it another way, do we really believe 5 stars like Bailey, Harper, Acuff, etc want to play in that plodding offense? Race cars don't want to sit in traffic.
A lot of that is obviously due to the talent level he started with. Now that upgrades have arrived and with much more coming next year, it's time to take advantage of the increased skill and athleticism. Think about it another way, do we really believe 5 stars like Bailey, Harper, Acuff, etc want to play in that plodding offense? Race cars don't want to sit in traffic.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” said Omoruyi, who played at high school powerhouse Roselle Catholic. “The way (Spencer and Mulcahy) were messaging me, asking me if I was coming back before I made my decision. ‘Are you coming back? Are you coming back?’ Then, after I said I was coming back (on May 31), not a week later, Paul said he was transferring. I said, ‘Well, okay.’
This stood out to me, weird behavior from 2 players that were starters for most of the year. They wouldn't feel as bad leaving if Cliff comes back or Cliff coming back is why they both left, just very odd.
This stood out to me, weird behavior from 2 players that were starters for most of the year. They wouldn't feel as bad leaving if Cliff comes back or Cliff coming back is why they both left, just very odd.
Yea pretty candid response there. At least Cliff staying was the most important of the 3
Our program has been built on defense. We destroyed OOC because of defense. Everytime we have had a losing streak Pike has tweaked the rotation in favor of those who defend.
I find it hard to imagine after losing a OOC game Pike thinking we just need to make more shots and be better on offense. Defense will still ride the bus. Playing uptempo wont help us with the D.
I find it hard to imagine after losing a OOC game Pike thinking we just need to make more shots and be better on offense. Defense will still ride the bus. Playing uptempo wont help us with the D.
I also know Cliff can be an offensive weapon and GG is supposed to be a lights out shooter. Running offense and reversing the ball will get better shot opportunities for Cliff and GG. When we rush down the court and jack up the 1st opportunity we aren't getting the best looks.
We need to get back to Cliff shooting 60-70% from the field. Yes good looks come in transtition....BUT time and time again when games get important (all teams) the pace almost ALWAYS slows down.
We need to get back to Cliff shooting 60-70% from the field. Yes good looks come in transtition....BUT time and time again when games get important (all teams) the pace almost ALWAYS slows down.
Rutgers finished 252nd in bart adjusted tempo. I doubt we go from 252 to under 100.
Maybe just as fast but not faster. Danny loves setting up his sets in close games
Uh what? Wide open 3PAs for the best shooter on the team lol
Speed is good. But we'll need to be able to shoot. Whether we'll have enough of that will, once again, be a big determinant of how well the team does.
Running will help Cliff up his percentage. He can beat every big down the court. If the team runs, Cliff will get more transition dunks and put backs
Last year was impressive as we destroyed the cupcakes with defense. I was genuinely happy to see how the team never lost focus. We didn't get to the tournament though. I'm not sure our defense can get better than it was last year. Offense is the lever to pull for the program to take the next step up.
