Did not see this coming! the bad Purdue

[goru7]

Tonite was so incredibly bad but definitely not expected. After the Stony Brook, Hartford sequence followed by the bad defensive game against Purdue, I thought the team was starting to lose it but they got off the mat beat Wisconsin, and then took Michigan State to OT on the road. As recently as the Michigan game and the subpar effort, the team played hard against Nebraska and lost a tough one. After the Penn State loss , I fully expected a complete effort tonight and we got the worst turnover prone, lack of rebounding, lousy defensive game of the year . Losing Mike has had bigger effect on this team , emotionally as the heart and soul player that got the tough rebound, or shut down the best defensive player or hit some drives or threes to keep us in games. Losing Eugene in the second half made things worse but we were already down 25 at that point . We are getting worse not better as the season goes on, not the same team that played Florida State, Michigan State twice
And Seton Hall toe to toe, and beat Wisconsin and Iowa very recently.

The offense has regressed badly and I am wondering what we were running tonight . The entire second half was a one on one pickup game as I do not think Coach set up one play. There was no attempt to get Duke or Shaquille on the block like the last couple of games as they combined for 1 shot, they ran few ball screens, back door cuts or any semblance of an offense. Coach has to take a little hit for not stabilizing the game and letting it get out of control. There was no spacing causing numerous turnovers tonight. Just 5-6 games ago we were turning it over the least in the entire league and tonight 25 big ones. Corey has gone in a funk , our entire team has forgot to offensive rebound, gotten worse defensive rebounding, and our bigs do not block any shots anymore as anyone who wants drives in for layups. . To give up 90 points to Illinois is almost incomprehensible. Are the guys still playing burnt out? Issa takes a step forward and tonight 3 steps back. Corey has been a shell of himself since Mike went down. Geo hits a wall because of his playing too many minutes and Deshawn , the consistent double double machine has become unrecognizable. To see the season take this recent turn for the worse , I never saw it coming. Frankly, most of this board did not either and although we were going to lose , the conference losses would be competitive with a chance for a victory and falling short because our shooting or talent was lacking. To lose like this , is so depressing and another kick in the gut to our long suffering fan base.

 

[Antnee79]

Like a mirage in the desert, the promise of an accelerated timetable to respectability after SHU and the gutsy play against FSU and MSU has quickly dissipated with inexplicable shoddy play that not only has fully exposed the lack of offensive talent and basketball IQ of this team, but has unfortunately also exposed an inability of this coaching staff to develop players and/or create situations that put players in a position to succeed. The inability to run an offense that takes advantage of whatever talent we have after 25 games is astonishing. Not only have the players not improved, almost to a man they have regressed. The loss of Mike Williams does not explain all of this team's problems; they were beginning to rise to the surface before he went down (SB and Hartford). We fans have endured over a generation of mediocre to bad basketball. 27 years (and counting) without an NCAA appearance can drain the enthusiasm let alone the patience of the most ardent fan. And realistically we are looking at no less than another 3-4 years to get a sniff at the Tourney, assuming a SUBSTANTIAL upgrade in recruiting. I love RU but it's games like this that lead me to believe that we may never break the cycle of disappointing hoops. I am beginning to believe that the RAC was built on an Indian burial ground.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

This isn't a slump. This is who we are . Michigan 78-0 in football Now this?Enough already. This is not losing.This is a continuing national joke.I get my jollies dropping one liners aroundv here .but what is going on ain't funny anymore.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Like a mirage in the desert, the promise of an accelerated timetable to respectability after SHU and the gutsy play against FSU and MSU has quickly dissipated with inexplicable shoddy play that not only has fully exposed the lack of offensive talent and basketball IQ of this team, but has unfortunately also exposed an inability of this coaching staff to develop players and/or create situations that put players in a position to succeed. The inability to run an offense that takes advantage of whatever talent we have after 25 games is astonishing. Not only have the players not improved, almost to a man they have regressed. The loss of Mike Williams does not explain all of this team's problems; they were beginning to rise to the surface before he went down (SB and Hartford). We fans have endured over a generation of mediocre to bad basketball. 27 years (and counting) without an NCAA appearance can drain the enthusiasm let alone the patience of the most ardent fan. And realistically we are looking at no less than another 3-4 years to get a sniff at the Tourney, assuming a SUBSTANTIAL upgrade in recruiting. I love RU but it's games like this that lead me to believe that we may never break the cycle of disappointing hoops. I am beginning to believe that the RAC was built on an Indian burial ground.

This team certianly has not improved and it appears to be the opposite.

As far as the players are concerned, more of them have stagnated or regressed than have gotten better. However, so many of our players are one-dimensional and are not B1G players, that is difficult to pin that all on the coaches. There is such limited upside on a lot of these players, and a few of them don't even belong in D1. As good players on other teams get better, our players become more exposed. You can't have 3-4 players on the court at one time who do one thing well (at best).

Eugene has improved this year and maybe some others too but I'm hard-pressed to name them. Sanders hasn't improved in three years. Baker seems to be the only player other than Sanders that is even capable of creating his own shot. That's simply amazing. It looks like Mathis will be another next year and that's not nearly enough in the B1G.

It's simple enough to ask how many of these players would start on other B1G teams? Perhaps, Sanders and Baker, and if so, they would be starting on teams at the bottom of the league. Everyone else is a role player, at best.

I think Pikiell is a stand-up guy (requirement #1 around here with all the fiascos), and a capable coach, but only if and until he can recruit some studs, will this team turn the corner. I think Mathis is a piece, and hope that Carter is one too (albeit for two years only), but that's only enough to tread water at the bottom of the B1G. The 'under-the-radar" type kids have to be the exception, rather than the rule.

 

[superfan01]

This isn't a slump. This is who we are . Michigan 78-0 in football Now this?Enough already. This is not losing.This is a continuing national joke.I get my jollies dropping one liners aroundv here .but what is going on ain't funny anymore.

Get mad monk. Get mad.

 

[RUChoppin]

We were a team with a razor thin margin of error already... then we lost a crucial piece in Williams, and now another crucial piece in Omoruyi.

We are now playing with 9 scholarship players:
Guard: Sanders, Baker, Mensah
Wing: Thiam, Bullock
PF: Freeman
C: Doucoure, Doorson, Sa

Compare to two years ago under EJ:
Guard: Sanders, Williams, Daniels, Grier, Goode
Wing: Laurent
PF: Foreman
C: Lewis

 

[koko2315]

Terrible game, but the same logic applies as after the MSU and shu games. Not as good or as bad as you think you are
If you don’t think omoruyi and Sa have improved since last year, I don’t know what to say

 

[RUChoppin]

Terrible game, but the same logic applies as after the MSU and shu games. Not as good or as bad as you think you are
If you don’t think omoruyi and Sa have improved since last year, I don’t know what to say

And both Omoruyi and Sa left the game with an injury. Omoruyi's looks serious, and I really hope it's not as bad as it looks/sounds. Sa got raked across the eye and only played 4 minutes last night.

 

[RUJMM78]

Player improvement at Rutgers has been microscopic as compared to the competition they face in a power conference.Better recruiting is the only way out of the consecutive losing seasons problem which negatively impacts all aspects of the program.

 

[RUonBrain]

We were a team with a razor thin margin of error already... then we lost a crucial piece in Williams, and now another crucial piece in Omoruyi.

We are now playing with 9 scholarship players:
Guard: Sanders, Baker, Mensah
Wing: Thiam, Bullock
PF: Freeman
C: Doucoure, Doorson, Sa

Compare to two years ago under EJ:
Guard: Sanders, Williams, Daniels, Grier, Goode
Wing: Laurent
PF: Foreman
C: Lewis

Wow

That really puts things in perspective.

When Pike took over, he barely had enough players to form a team.

It isn’t that much better at this point (especially considering the injuries to Williams and Eugene).

The only way to fix this is to recruit a full roster of at least useful players.
Love to get high major players.
But I think just having 12 or so who can enter a game and not require you to cover your eyes in horror will make a huge difference.

Next year we should be closer to that.

But really can’t afford any more misses in recruiting or the build really grinds to a halt.

 

[RUChoppin]

Wow

That really puts things in perspective.

When Pike took over, he barely had enough players to form a team.

It isn’t that much better at this point (especially considering the injuries to Williams and Eugene).

The only way to fix this is to recruit a full roster of at least useful players.
Love to get high major players.
But I think just having 12 or so who can enter a game and not require you to cover your eyes in horror will make a huge difference.

Next year we should be closer to that.

But really can’t afford any more misses in recruiting or the build really grinds to a halt.

Next year there will be more depth - talent/production remains to be seen. Assuming no early departures/transfers:

Guard: Sanders, Baker, Mathis, Kiss, Mensah
Wing: Thiam, Harper, Bullock
PF: Carter, Omoruyi
C: Doucoure, Doorson, Johnson

When was the last time we had 13 active players on a roster?

 

[RUonBrain]

Next year there will be more depth - talent/production remains to be seen. Assuming no early departures/transfers:

Guard: Sanders, Baker, Mathis, Kiss, Mensah
Wing: Thiam, Harper, Bullock
PF: Carter, Omoruyi
C: Doucoure, Doorson, Johnson

When was the last time we had 13 active players on a roster?

I agree

More depth, but TBD how the newcomers will perform

Fingers crossed; they can’t be worse than what we are bringing off the bench now.

Would love to somehow bring in 2 more in 2018 class. A guard and a big (Vlad?)

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Michigan 78-0 in football Now this?Enough already.

Agreed. "Enough already" in quoting that score from 2 years ago... we lost to Michigan 35-14 this year.