Encouraged by Hoops, Not down at all

[Degaz-RU]

I am actually more discouraged now than I have been all of 2018. We are staring at a 10-12 win season again. Mulcahy and Young are good, but are they eight more wins good? Probably not. And by the time everyone is "ready" we are going to need to find someone to replace Omoyuri who graduates after next year. We need to hope that Pike lands at least a couple top 50 type players for me to even say now that anyone on this team will ever see the postseason.

That is why I really wanted this team to be a NIT contender this year. It is obviously not the case.

Unfortunately, I'm with seels here - the Fordham and SHU games made it abundantly clear that our offense has a LOOOOOOONG way to go. The offense basically looks like last year's offense, with Omoruyi playing the Freeman role, Mathis playing the Mike Williams role, and Geo playing the Corey Sanders role (except without the elite athleticism). Three point shooting is struggling mightily against better competition, and with it, we will struggle to exceed 65 points in most games.

That's just not going to get it done on any sort of consistent basis. We are looking at 7-3 OOC and 4-16 B1G, for an overall record of 10-19. I had hoped we could win 6 or 7 games in the B1G, but after these abysmal offensive performances, I'm just not seeing it.

The only thing that this negative viewpoint might be missing is the fact that both the Fordham and SHU games were on the road, where any team -- especially young teams -- struggle. So I concede that I may be overstating my negativity based on a somewhat limited sample size. But we didn't look very good against BU at home either, so there's that.

All in all, after a 10-game sample size, I just don't think our offense can get us more than 10 or 11 wins. I pray that the young kids develop over the next few weeks and make me eat crow.

 

[bowlgoal]

Unfortunately, I'm with seels here - the Fordham and SHU games made it abundantly clear that our offense has a LOOOOOOONG way to go. The offense basically looks like last year's offense, with Omoruyi playing the Freeman role, Mathis playing the Mike Williams role, and Geo playing the Corey Sanders role (except without the elite athleticism). Three point shooting is struggling mightily against better competition, and with it, we will struggle to exceed 65 points in most games.

That's just not going to get it done on any sort of consistent basis. We are looking at 7-3 OOC and 4-16 B1G, for an overall record of 10-19. I had hoped we could win 6 or 7 games in the B1G, but after these abysmal offensive performances, I'm just not seeing it.

The only thing that this negative viewpoint might be missing is the fact that both the Fordham and SHU games were on the road, where any team -- especially young teams -- struggle. So I concede that I may be overstating my negativity based on a somewhat limited sample size. But we didn't look very good against BU at home either, so there's that.

All in all, after a 10-game sample size, I just don't think our offense can get us more than 10 or 11 wins. I pray that the young kids develop over the next few weeks and make me eat crow.

You may right on the win total and that seems like a step back but this is the year without Corey and we were clearly dependent on him since he arrived at Rutgers so finding the scorers is taking time. I thought maybe 15 wins this year before the Big 10 tourney but we probably fall short.

 

[shu2x79]

We didn’t play well. Omuyuri missed a lot of shots and Harper can’t seem to buy a 3ball. The offensive isn’t clicking just yet. It will get better. They’ve had much better teams in the past and they are very beatable. Powell is a beast but imagine how bad they would be without him?

You say you didn't play well. RU played good defense and great on the boards. What RU didn't do well was make baskets. Looking at your year to date stats (297th in fg %), that is about par for the course.

 

[bowlgoal]

You say you didn't play well. RU played good defense and great on the boards. What RU didn't do well was make baskets. Looking at your year to date stats (297th in fg %), that is about par for the course.

That's correct. We didn't play well offensively and missed some key shots that changed the game. For example, being down 1 point in the first half quickly became 7 on two very quick, back to back 3 pointers; eventually leading to a 9 point deficit. Starting slowly in the second half and getting into a deeper hole made it difficult to come back and win. What I did like is that we had the poise to stay in the game and never gave up. Not that it matters to a Seton Hall fan and I can't even believe that so many of you are on our Rivals Board, but this is a big transition year for Rutgers. I hope Powell is good enough to get to the league but I hope he's here one more year to get another shot at him at the Rac.

 

[RUKnights86]

Bottom line from that game was missed shots. They actually moved the ball well & found open looks the problem is when you struggle from beyond the arc the open looks that you got there as a result of offensive rebounds or ball movement are wasted. Going into the year anybody who follows the program knew there would be highs & lows & honestly when half of your rotation is 10 games into their college P5 career, there is a lot to be optimistic about & a lot to be curious about. In short,

-Geo is playing out of position, he is a combo guard playing the point & therefore is going to tire more and make some mistakes. He is being asked to do a lot.

-Eugene: Grown a lot offensively, I would not call him a Freeman as I have more confidence in his scoring ability. I think he wants to be the guy to take over like Corey did last year & at times that does come with some ugly shots. Others stepping up will help solve that.

-Harper & Mathis: Harper needs to see some shots fall from 3 when he gets the good looks, they seem a little flat or strong at times. Mathis as he develops will get the drives to fall but I do like his aggression. Lay off the 3 for now have not seen a mid range game from him yet.

-Issa: Always been a catch & shoot guy, is not going to create off the bounce often. I am fine with that but he needs to hit the shots when open. Play great defense & that is a way to add to your value.

-Kiss: His takes can be wild at times but he can make a mid range. Think it would be more valuable if he pulled up like Geo does at times rather than trying to go into the trees if he is forced off the 3 point line.

All in all we are 10 games into a campaign with a lot of new faces, understanding each other's strengths & playing off each other take time to get a feel for.

 

[RU_DIO]

Speaking of Kiss, where is the 40" vertical?

 

[soundcrib]

While success under Pikiell does not look like a sure thing at the moment, your “are Mulcahy and Young 8 wins good” question neglects the fact that the current roster also has a year to get better individually and as a team. There is no doubt there will be a ton of imrpovement with the guys playing right now.

All the teams we play against get better too.

 

[SJScarlet]

All the teams we play against get better too.

Lol. Nope!

 

[Scangg]

Speaking of Kiss, where is the 40" vertical?

He definitely attacks the rim like he had a 20" vertical. I want to see him take it to the rim and use those hops to finish with authority