Final thoughts and moving forward.

[bowlgoal]

First, I’m in the boat as most who overestimated the win total this year. Some of it was a couple of unexpected OC losses and some injuries. I thought we could make up for the loss of Nigel and Getty’s but that didn’t happen either. As it turned out, the offense struggled a lot more than I thought it would. The defense was still very solid but as most people have now observed, of you can’t knock down the 3 ball with multiple shooters, there’s not enough time in the game to make up the scoring differential. Most of the other teams in the league also improved and Illinois is going to be a very good team. That coach is an animal and plays with as much intensity as anyone.


I haven’t lost any confidence in Pikiell and feel like we are finally building a program. I am disappointed with the season as I feel like we took one step back but that happens a lot in year 2. I hope the coaching staff remains intact for next year.

Moving forward, I’m hoping we have some additional spots open up for next year as the roster is still light in a few areas. I’m not trying to sound harsh and thank any player who cams to Rutgers but bullock and Mensah are not at this level and I think we got everything we are going to get from Shaq and can use his scholarship.

My hope. We bring in Strickland, Hyatt and another power forward or center. That would give us a very young team for next season that will still struggle a bit but reap big rewards in. 2019 and 2020. Even if 2 out of the 3 spots open, it would help tremendously. In this league,we can’t waste a single scholarship.

 

[higgins3]

I agree with you. I had us atr 15-17 wins. Just like you said, we were a better team last year.

I think going forward, Carter will be an upgrade to what we have right now. I feel good about that.

Furthermore, it is equally important that Pikiell has these talks with some of our players who are not meant for this level.

If Sanders stays, we will be a better team next year than this year. I am very confident about that.

If he leaves, and is replaced by Strickland, the team will remain about the same as this year, maybe two or three wins better. Why? Thiam takes another jump, Baker takes another BIG jump, Omoyuri another. Carter is a upgrade. And overall generally depth improves.

S&C will be very important for many of our players going forward. Something makes me thinks some of our players will be following the jump Omoyuri made.

 

[bowlgoal]

I agree with you. I had us atr 15-17 wins. Just like you said, we were a better team last year.

I think going forward, Carter will be an upgrade to what we have right now. I feel good about that.

Furthermore, it is equally important that Pikiell has these talks with some of our players who are not meant for this level.

If Sanders stays, we will be a better team next year than this year. I am very confident about that.

If he leaves, and is replaced by Strickland, the team will remain about the same as this year.

S&C will be very important for many of our players going forward. Something makes me thinks some of our players will be following the jump Omoyuri made.

I want sanders to stay and get Strickland. We need better ball handler in the game. Even dadicka opened the offense a bit yesterday and our guys dropped some great passes and missed some shots. I know Geo was sick but like Corey, he’s really not the ball handler either. If you put Strickland into the rotation, you can get away with it, but a guard like him or Mulcahy in 2019 is what’s needed. Damn shame we lost Maclung.

Kiss adds a lot next season and hopefully Mathis does as well but this is going to be a very young group. Hopefully Doucoure improves and Corey returns. You are right about Eugene.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

Anyone , I mean anyone, who thinks and continually says that Rutgers bball will be "as good" without Sanders next year is fooling themselves.

WE NEED SANDERS BACK NEXT SEASON

Otherwise you are going to witness the most painful season of offensive basketball in your life. And thats saying a lot for a Rutgers bball fan. But i'm confident in that.

Nobody on this current roster can create shots and score with consistency. Geo showed brief flashes, but far from consistent. And don't for a second think any incoming freshmen, four star or not is going to be able to do that. Docure was essentially a ghost this year.

I think keeping Corey to bridge next season will be absolutely huge for the program. Then we can get to the 2019 season with some more seasoned guys and hopefully an influx of talented, "Pikell" guys.

 

[RUSONIC]

I think Cory staying will retard the team. He has shown what he is these past 3 years and I do not see him improving much next year. When he is in the game the others players seem to do nothing but try to get the ball to Cory. I can see Cory taking next season as a opportunity to show off Cory not to make the team and in turn other teammates better. If we can get Stickland for the future I would gladly let Cory go.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Moving forward, I’m hoping we have some additional spots open up for next year as the roster is still light in a few areas. I’m not trying to sound harsh and thank any player who cams to Rutgers but bullock and Mensah are not at this level and I think we got everything we are going to get from Shaq and can use his scholarship.

I know of a good grad transfer candidate. He appears to be a great teammate. Lead his team in both offensive rebounding and blocks per minute. He never forces anything and shoots 64% from the floor. He is 7 foot and plays for a major conference team getting about 10 minutes per game.

 

[higgins3]

I want sanders to stay and get Strickland. We need better ball handler in the game. Even dadicka opened the offense a bit yesterday and our guys dropped some great passes and missed some shots. I know Geo was sick but like Corey, he’s really not the ball handler either. If you put Strickland into the rotation, you can get away with it, but a guard like him or Mulcahy in 2019 is what’s needed. Damn shame we lost Maclung.

Kiss adds a lot next season and hopefully Mathis does as well but this is going to be a very young group. Hopefully Doucoure improves and Corey returns. You are right about Eugene.

I agree. Dadika has done a great job with his opportunity. Baker can share the PG spot, but will have to improve his dribbling over this off season.

I do not see McClung performing at a high level at Georgetown. I don't think it would have happened here.

The team will be young, and hopefully have energy to press a little bit more, and set some traps.

If the team can all look at Eugene, they will be a lot better going forward.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Otherwise you are going to witness the most painful season of offensive basketball in your life. And thats saying a lot for a Rutgers bball fan. But i'm confident in that.

we are 306th out of 351st right now in offensive efficiency. 303rd was the low water mark set in 2015-16.

I am witnessing the most painful offensive basketball right now. I am fairly confident it improves next year no matter who the point guard is.

 

[RUJMM78]

First, I’m in the boat as most who overestimated the win total this year. Some of it was a couple of unexpected OC losses and some injuries. I thought we could make up for the loss of Nigel and Getty’s but that didn’t happen either. As it turned out, the offense struggled a lot more than I thought it would. The defense was still very solid but as most people have now observed, of you can’t knock down the 3 ball with multiple shooters, there’s not enough time in the game to make up the scoring differential. Most of the other teams in the league also improved and Illinois is going to be a very good team. That coach is an animal and plays with as much intensity as anyone.


I haven’t lost any confidence in Pikiell and feel like we are finally building a program. I am disappointed with the season as I feel like we took one step back but that happens a lot in year 2. I hope the coaching staff remains intact for next year.

Moving forward, I’m hoping we have some additional spots open up for next year as the roster is still light in a few areas. I’m not trying to sound harsh and thank any player who cams to Rutgers but bullock and Mensah are not at this level and I think we got everything we are going to get from Shaq and can use his scholarship.

My hope. We bring in Strickland, Hyatt and another power forward or center. That would give us a very young team for next season that will still struggle a bit but reap big rewards in. 2019 and 2020. Even if 2 out of the 3 spots open, it would help tremendously. In this league,we can’t waste a single scholarship.

The last sentence about wasting scholarships has particular relevance to Rutgers because they are always in catch up mode.Recruiting project type players don't work for bottom tier programs because the talent of league rivals is simply too strong.

 

[Duff366]

Lot of good posts here, the sky isn't falling. Like someone said, lots of Year 2's for coaches there is a step back. Last year's team with Gettys, Nigel and a healthy Williams was better than this team. Pike got his team to play hard a majority of the time, and that is hard to do when losses pile up and the team can't rely on any offense to bail them out.

Look forward to next year: hopefully some more signings and roster turnover, better chemistry, better depth, and a team of Pikiell players (workers, team players)

 

[BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine]

I agree. Dadika has done a great job with his opportunity. Baker can share the PG spot, but will have to improve his dribbling over this off season.

I do not see McClung performing at a high level at Georgetown. I don't think it would have happened here.

The team will be young, and hopefully have energy to press a little bit more, and set some traps.

If the team can all look at Eugene, they will be a lot better going forward.

Dadika has been serviceable but other teams know he's no real threat to score. So after harassing him on the dribble they slide off and hedge on our other guards on the floor---Sanders in particular. It's almost a 5 on 4 advantage for the defenders.

 

[derleider]

Really, its all about the year after next year.

 

[Degaz-RU]

I thought we would go 11-2 OOC and 6-12 in league this year, for an overall 17-14. The StoneyHart losses killed us, and then, just when we thought we had gotten through the gauntlet of our tough early season conference schedule, Mike Williams goes down. That injury, and then the subsequent one to Eugene, absolutely KILLED us. Not an excuse, just an explanation for how the season went off the rails. I believe we would have gotten those three additional wins had they not gotten injured.

This is what you get with a talent-challenged roster -- the team falls apart when it loses one or two of its key pieces. In future years, I don't think we will have this kind of roster situation. We basically had four empty roster spots this year from jump street -- Myles Johnson redshirt, Peter Kiss sit-out year, and Bullock/Mensah just not D1A players. So we basically had NINE players, and three of them -- Doucoure, Doorson and Sa -- were really just there to play defense, rebound, and facilitate, not really scoring threats.

So then your roster is down to SIX players who can actually score the basketball -- Sanders, Baker, Williams, Thiam, Freeman, and Omoruyi. And of those six, two (Freeman and Omoruyi) have almost no chance of hitting a three pointer. Of the other four, only Thiam and Baker shot over 35% from three, but Thiam couldn't create his own shot and was dependent on being open in order to get his shot off; and Sanders and Williams both shot around 25% or less. Just abysmal.

Hopefully things improve with additional pieces like Kiss, Mathis, Carter, Harper and Johnson (heard good things about his post offense); improvements from Omoruyi, Thiam, Baker, and Doucoure; and a return of Sanders. {Yes, Sanders needs to return, or else I fear a worse offense next year, if that's even possible}.

 

[RUBOB72]

Dadika though a nobody walk-on actually possesses more of the things I would hope from Sanders. As good an athlete as Corey Sanders he is far from being a complete player in year 3. Here are the good and bad: 1 ) Corey can jump with the best of them . At times hecan be a highlight reel 2 ) When Sanders is on he's hard to stop. 3 ) I don't have a 3-4 -5 . On the flip side 1) He doesn't shoot that well from mid range to 3 point area. 2 ) He doesn't handle the ball exceptionally well. 3) He doesn't shoot free throws well. He is streaky at best and sometime this is ok. At Rutgers with his surrounding cadre he has to lead more. He will never be a leader with others around him at least not at RU.He does play D but that stat gets lost and is over shadowed by the negatives. Add 6-7 more D1 PLAYERS and Corey's weaknesses disappear. I don't think he'll return for next season.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Rutgers is #30 in defensive efficiency. There are only 5 guys on the court. Given that i wouldn't call any RU defender a PLUS defender (other than Corey and maybe Eugene) he has to be a real big reason why we are so good defensively.

Jake got toasted a lot yesterday.

 

[RUChoppin]

We're gaining some more height/length, too, next year, which should also help defensively if the newcomers can get up to speed in Pike's system.

We're looking to replace minutes from:
6-1 Dadika (105 min)... graduating
6-2 Williams (504 min)... graduating
6-2 Mensah (181 min)... 13th/14th on depth chart
6-4 Bullock (72 min)... 13th/14th on depth chart
6-7 Freeman (768 min)... graduation
6-9 Sa (375 min)... graduation

With minutes from:
6-4 Mathis
6-5 Kiss
6-6 Harper
6-9 Carter
6-10 Johnson

 

[shields]

Agree with GreenFig, guy sitting next to me said Jake could not guard anyone. 25 minutes was too many minutes. Still I am optimistic. Chambers won 22 games first two years in the conference.

 

[mikefla]

At the end of the day I trust Coach P has considered every single thing we have brought up on this board & is scouring the country for the type of kids he NEEDS to further the program.

I have to believe he will see something in a player or two that stands out....& he gets a couple "under the radar" players we know nothing about at present.

Coach P wants to succeed as much as any of us

I trust his vision and his work ethic.