Last night is NOT how we should look in year four. Our players stunk last night, and Pike was completely outcoached. I’m starting to doubt we even hit .500 this year.
First time I’m saying this - worried Pike is not the answer
- Thread starter RUSCFORMERLYRULOU
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I was always surprised when people anointed him the answer. Players don’t develop under him, team can’t do the most fundamental things. Losing your most important player doesn’t help, but I had them at 12-19 this season. Not sure what people saw to think it would be a season with 17-19 wins.
There are good pieces, but few are reliable. Having one Big Ten Center is not enough. The kids play hard, not doubting that. Nice guy, mediocre coach.
There are good pieces, but few are reliable. Having one Big Ten Center is not enough. The kids play hard, not doubting that. Nice guy, mediocre coach.
Give it time, going in the right direction.
It's almost like you missed Eugene Omoruyi's three years here, how McConnell looked on day one last year vs. game 30, how Geo has been able to go from a stationary player to being able to get to the net, how Myles Johnson has improved, how Corey Sanders learned to play defense...
I think people are too quick to judge coaches as successes or failures.
Has he made some progress and had some success? yes.
Was the bar for measuring success when he arrived pretty low based on the situation he inherited? - yes
Are there some concerning signs on multiple fronts right now? yes
Lets see how the season plays out and then evaluate the situation. I see little room for backsliding given what has been accomplished thus far.
Has he made some progress and had some success? yes.
Was the bar for measuring success when he arrived pretty low based on the situation he inherited? - yes
Are there some concerning signs on multiple fronts right now? yes
Lets see how the season plays out and then evaluate the situation. I see little room for backsliding given what has been accomplished thus far.
Typical RU fans. Just waiting to jump on the negative. Look that was NOT pretty last night and quite frustrating but please with each loss resulting in the coach sucks syndrome.
also, I’m really not sure why everyone thought we would all of a sudden shoot well from the outside this year
a prominent local Parent who I know well and has two kids playing in D 1 college on scholarships told me a month ago that RU will be RU and Pike won’t last. (he loves Pike btw)
I said your crazy.
he said “just watch”
let’s be a bit patient here and stop with we are either dancing or Pike needs to go with each W & L.
This team can win anywhere from 12-18 games. So it’s gunna be a LOT of ups and downs.
can we try and ride it out a bit?
looks like some shooters are coming next year.
Hopefully Big man Cliff...
also, I’m really not sure why everyone thought we would all of a sudden shoot well from the outside this year
a prominent local Parent who I know well and has two kids playing in D 1 college on scholarships told me a month ago that RU will be RU and Pike won’t last. (he loves Pike btw)
I said your crazy.
he said “just watch”
let’s be a bit patient here and stop with we are either dancing or Pike needs to go with each W & L.
This team can win anywhere from 12-18 games. So it’s gunna be a LOT of ups and downs.
can we try and ride it out a bit?
looks like some shooters are coming next year.
Hopefully Big man Cliff...
I’m sorry, your post implies we have gotten rid of coaches to soon. Who did we get rid of to soon? Certainly not Eddie or Hill Jr. Rice had to go after the fallout. Only argument is maybe Waters.
Waters. If we didn't get rid of Waters........
Easy to rewrite history.......we keep Waters there would have been no Hill to fire and replace with a loser who had to be replaced with a guy who slept watching potential recruits.
All that counts is getting closer to the NCAA bubble. We aren't in sniffing distance.
If we do move on at some point I hope the next coach has a philosophy that goes beyond "play hard." Hill and Jordan didn't have much of anything going on. Rice and Pikiell got/get really good effort but we're seeing that can only take you so far.
Hopefully Pike will make it here. If not, we need to invest more in people not just facilities.
I would say the jury is still out . What I find troubling is that pike’s best player here was a Jordan guy in Sanders and it’s not even close . And this is in year 4 with sanders gone for 2 years . He’s not getting the talent in here . He had a lot of success in at stony brook with warney, who was the best player in that league for a nice chunk of pike’s tenure there . Warney got pike this rutgers job . Pike gets credit for Warney, but does he even have a top 20 BIG player here at Rutgers ?? He needs his warney at Rutgers or pike is certainly not the answer.
Your sense of smell gets better when we go 9-21 from 3. Let's reassess after we see more games and we shoot closer to our average......whatever that average is
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
Corey had no vision and couldn't shoot. Other than that.........
Before you argue back that Sanders had no talent.......there is no one remotely close on this roster that had the talent of Freeman. Tons of players that help you win basketball games more, but no one remotely close in skill and athletic ability than Freeman.
This is the biggest reason right now to hold off on panicking. Geo Baker is not a 27% three-point shooter. Jacob Young is not a 17% three-point shooter. Ron Harper... well he might actually be a 27% three-point shooter.
Everything I've seen from jacob young is that he may be in fact a 17% 3 point shooter. He has awful form from the line and from 3.
It goes both ways....fans think players coach better and players play harder when the shooting is good. It is imperative when evaluating things that you try and look past the randomness (from the mean) in shooting.
I hated a lot of things about the games. Our warts were seen in broad daylight. We played like sh!t and lost on the road in the ACC by 11 shooting 4-23 from 3.
If we shot 9-23 from 3 we win the game and our coach did a great job. Myles and RHJ are warriors for getting double doubles. The Wisconsin game is a given and we are making plans to be in Albany in mid march.
The difference is 5 3 point shots.....that is it. even 8-23 34.8% cover the margin of victory.
I hated a lot of things about the games. Our warts were seen in broad daylight. We played like sh!t and lost on the road in the ACC by 11 shooting 4-23 from 3.
If we shot 9-23 from 3 we win the game and our coach did a great job. Myles and RHJ are warriors for getting double doubles. The Wisconsin game is a given and we are making plans to be in Albany in mid march.
The difference is 5 3 point shots.....that is it. even 8-23 34.8% cover the margin of victory.
Some have developed under him. Eugene certainly did. I agree, though, very mediocre coach, and perhaps the worst in a league loaded with good coaches. That, plus weak recruiting, does not equal success.
I think he's a solid coach. Bringing the team from where it was when he came (RPI-killer for opponents) to where it is now (you have to play well to beat them) was a tremendous accomplishment.
I don't think he's a HOFer but I think he's a keeper until one comes along...
I don't think he's a HOFer but I think he's a keeper until one comes along...
My main problem is the state of recruiting. Picking through the leftovers after the power 5 teams take what they want is a recipe for failure.
Just a little perspective....
Two of the three kids coming in are ranked in the mid-high 300s nationally. Malick Kone was around 300 and Justin Goode was around 400. So, these shooters are perceived to be between these two but closer to Goode than Kone, for what that's worth.
Your thoughtful/rational/accurate thoughts have no place on this board! Take a walk! ;)
I want a coaching staff that teaches fundamentals that are then seen on the playing court.The half court offense doesn't even match Bryant in execution. Rutgers won the game because they had better talent which wasn't the case against Pitt and teams they will face in the B1G.
I thought Pike coached a real stinker last night, but I'm nowhere near ready to give up on him. Improvement of our downtrodden hoops program is not linear; nor is in-season development. It may often be two steps forward one-step back. I will assess where we are at the end of the season. I am concerned, however, about this year's recruiting class if Pike can't land Omoruyi. I expected better in year 4, especially coming off last year's substantial improvement in conference record and with a new state-of-the-art practice facility. You can coach and develop all you want but a team of 4 and 5 stars will usually beat a well-coached team of 2 and 3 stars.
You need players. Pike just isn’t doing nearly well enough bringing in difference makers. We now have a complete roster of solid players. But 11 nice players does not get you to the NCAA Tournament from this league. Last year’s recruiting class was weak and this year’s is a disaster. Future does not look bright. Sad but obvious.
Green you're absolutely right. I would be okay with 5/23 in that a 35% average is more like I think we will be. And yes you're right, we would have pulled out a close win.
What had me deeply concerned about last nights game, is that we didn't seem to run any set plays. We did the weave and passed around the perimeter until forced to chuck up a last second three, but when we couldn't run, our half sets were either non-existent or deplorable. Why no high and low screens? Why not several cuts to the basket?
When I played we always set up a play either in isolation or a high-low screen that created mismatches on the outside or inside. I see none of that right now.
I've been wondering if practicing in the new facility and playing games in the RAC will be an issue. Has no relevance to away games, of course... other than it is another arena.
I would look to see what their FT and 3 point rate is in practice in the facility compared to in games to see if there is a notable difference.
I would look to see what their FT and 3 point rate is in practice in the facility compared to in games to see if there is a notable difference.
We have one senior who barely plays and one graduate transfer. That's a ton of youth playing a ton of minutes. If we're playing this way in a couple of months I'd be surprised.
No question about it. Gene leaving was more impactful than I thought? Here’s the other issues so far and as tough as it is to win on the road, we definitely don’t look like the same group that plays at the RAC. At some point we need to play better on the road and steal a few games?
Issues:
I hoped Yeboah would replace Eugene but he’s just not hitting the 3 point shots. Does good things but one less inside presence.
We just don’t have a point guard or quick enough passing to get open shots. Paul looked lost last night. He will have to play better as the pace only gets faster.
We don’t hit free throws. Myles just steps to the line and throws up the shot. He needs to focus
The rest of our conference is getting better and better.
I’m unsure of the quality of this years recruiting class? Maybe it’s great but we just don’t know at this time?
It’s a very long season so we will see what happens but I’m definitely a little concerned.
Pike is not s great recruiter but he is absolutely a good coach. He took a team almost totally devoid of talent and turned them into one of the best rebounding teams in the Big 10. And we continue to rebound very well every year. A far cry from the previous 20 years.
He absolutely develops his players. Whoever said otherwise above is not paying attention.
His teams typically handle the press very well. Also something rarely seen at RU in the last 20 years.
His failing so far is recruiting. His "lack of offense" stems from having less athleticism and talent. As was mentioned, no real point guard.
I don't think many of you realize how difficult it is to win recruiting battles against successful programs when we haven't had a winning record in 14 years.
We really need to finish above .500 this season. It will make Pikiell's job selling the program much easier. Believe me, opposing coaches are more than happy telling blue chippers RU's last winning season occurred before they were in kindergarten. Simply put, recruiting will improve after one or two winning seasons.
We really need to finish above .500 this season. It will make Pikiell's job selling the program much easier. Believe me, opposing coaches are more than happy telling blue chippers RU's last winning season occurred before they were in kindergarten. Simply put, recruiting will improve after one or two winning seasons.
I'm very happy we can finally have this conversation in year four without people losing their damned gourd. I said this in year 3 and could not even have a conversation. I'll still say that Pike was the right coach at the time. He is exactly what we needed to build some optimism and hope for the future. But his ceiling as a coach here is the NIT. When the time comes, he'll have to be replaced and I predict that will be after year 6.
Still too early to tell.
No coach is perfect, no teacher is perfect, no employee is perfect.
Your weaknesses just can't be big enough to slaughter your performance. Your strengths must be important to the craft.
I am in support of Pikiell. I hope he can have continued success as he has had some here already.
No coach is perfect, no teacher is perfect, no employee is perfect.
Your weaknesses just can't be big enough to slaughter your performance. Your strengths must be important to the craft.
I am in support of Pikiell. I hope he can have continued success as he has had some here already.
Ok fine. But my point is that pike got his career advanced off Warney, who was the best player in that league . Does pike even have a top 20 BIG player on this roster ? He needs to find his poor man’s Warney at Rutgers to have success or he should be fired at the end of next season .
