Freeman
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What I saw from Freeman last night was a mixed bag of emotions...at some points in the game he looked disengaged as the team was pulling closer or in the final minutes while in OT he looked engaged in celebration. I attribute that to being tough for him to sit as a DNP with only a handful of games left in his career. It is easier said than done to remain engaged, especially for a college kid.
I have found that you can tell in the first 5 minutes what kind of game D will have, he makes a basket or two early he is engaged and gets confident. A couple misses or thoughts of being fouled and he seems to get out of control and press and not benefit the team.
What you cannot question a majority of the time is his effort (despite his inabilities to finish around the rim at times). He certainly has the moves out of the post, and yes it drives me nuts when he gets it low and the offense stalls, but part of me wonders how much that is due to him being selfish, or like the debate with Corey, knowing we need him to score for a shot to win? If we had more balance would he kick the ball out and reset or for a jumper to a shooter?
Regardless the past couple years this team has been way better off with him on our roster than not. The only perks of Eddie Jordan are him getting Corey & D. D deserves to be sent off on senior day with all our support.
I have found that you can tell in the first 5 minutes what kind of game D will have, he makes a basket or two early he is engaged and gets confident. A couple misses or thoughts of being fouled and he seems to get out of control and press and not benefit the team.
What you cannot question a majority of the time is his effort (despite his inabilities to finish around the rim at times). He certainly has the moves out of the post, and yes it drives me nuts when he gets it low and the offense stalls, but part of me wonders how much that is due to him being selfish, or like the debate with Corey, knowing we need him to score for a shot to win? If we had more balance would he kick the ball out and reset or for a jumper to a shooter?
Regardless the past couple years this team has been way better off with him on our roster than not. The only perks of Eddie Jordan are him getting Corey & D. D deserves to be sent off on senior day with all our support.
I hope that Deshawn can bounce back these last few games and finish his career in style. He has had a decent career at RU. I think just at times he thinks he can make the good play and it sometimes doesn't work out. He does usually hustle and works very hard. I hope he can become a success after Rutgers and that his RU degree will pay dividends.
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As someone who watches all the games, I can certainly understand the sentiment of getting frustrated with Freeman at times due to ill-advised shot selection and decisions. However, you cannot question the kid's effort and heart out there. You just always want to be sure he reels it in and plays within himself.
That being said, last night's benching may be the best thing for him. I hope he comes out focused and ready to do his job, play hard like always does, and stay within the team concept. I'll be rooting hard for 33 and the rest of the team the rest of the way, and I look forward to hopefully Deshawn and Mike getting a great sendoff on senior day.
That being said, last night's benching may be the best thing for him. I hope he comes out focused and ready to do his job, play hard like always does, and stay within the team concept. I'll be rooting hard for 33 and the rest of the team the rest of the way, and I look forward to hopefully Deshawn and Mike getting a great sendoff on senior day.
Ive said it before> I do NOT understand some "fans" need to trash Freeman.
He is our 2nd leading scorer and leads the team in
rebounds
steals
blocks
double doubles
He may miss a few chippies
but thats a LOT better than the 1-11 Baker had last night ..& Corey has some nights
He is under sized...
Hey we have a 7 footer that cant seem to get a bucket a game & averages 3 REBs
He is our 2nd leading scorer and leads the team in
rebounds
steals
blocks
double doubles
He may miss a few chippies
but thats a LOT better than the 1-11 Baker had last night ..& Corey has some nights
He is under sized...
Hey we have a 7 footer that cant seem to get a bucket a game & averages 3 REBs
I'm all for discipline...but would like some transparency: what was the infraction?
We're 13-15? If Corey had played the first half of Stony ? I suspect we would be @ least 14-14.
On the other hand...Corey is our best option for scoring period.
In the last 6 or seven games (not looking it up) Corey has had two, 30 point games as well as an o-fer.
MO
PS Thiam demonstrates a quick step and ability to get to the rim.
If he can fine tune his mentality (become a shooter / scorer)....he could be a monster.
Although Freeman usually plays very hard, especially in the offensive end, some people have the impression that he is more about “getting his”.
He appears to make terrible decisions on the court (e.g. numerous attempted putbacks against much larger players, trying to lead fast breaks, spin dribbles into nowhere, rarely kicking the ball back out, etc).
However, in all fairness to him, there has never seemed to be any ramifications for his bad decisions.
Fans dissatisfaction with Freeman falls as much, or more, or the coaching staff, than it should with Freeman himself. IMO, if he was coached properly, he’d be a crowd favorite.
He appears to make terrible decisions on the court (e.g. numerous attempted putbacks against much larger players, trying to lead fast breaks, spin dribbles into nowhere, rarely kicking the ball back out, etc).
However, in all fairness to him, there has never seemed to be any ramifications for his bad decisions.
Fans dissatisfaction with Freeman falls as much, or more, or the coaching staff, than it should with Freeman himself. IMO, if he was coached properly, he’d be a crowd favorite.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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I cannot believe some in here still dont think were better off withiut freeman next year. Ive said this time and time again and now pikiell is showing it and people still disagree. Freeman almost cost us the seton hall game. Freeman dug us a hole we were very lucky to dig out of
Hoping the benching lights a fire under him. He can be a really excellent cog in the wheel for us... but he sometimes focuses too much on being the axle the wheel spins around. Seeing that the team can go on (and win) without him might help him see that he doesn't have to do it all himself, and that he can play his part.
Wouldn't mind seeing Omoruyi (and Sa, for that matter) start the next couple of games, though. I think Sanders/Baker/Thiam/Omoruyi/Sa is one of our better combinations right now, and Freeman can come in as a spark off the bench.
Senior day should see Sanders/Williams/Thiam/Freeman/Sa get the start.
Wouldn't mind seeing Omoruyi (and Sa, for that matter) start the next couple of games, though. I think Sanders/Baker/Thiam/Omoruyi/Sa is one of our better combinations right now, and Freeman can come in as a spark off the bench.
Senior day should see Sanders/Williams/Thiam/Freeman/Sa get the start.
Freeman is going against players bigger and taller - by default he is our answer to a post scoring option. If Sa and or Doorson could post up more - I bet you would see better close rate on Freeeman's shot.
This is a very disappointing thread.
Totally agree with this. I expect that he will play hard as a sub in order to finish his RU career on a positive note.
But if he sulks I would give him the start on Senior Day and then let him find a seat at the end of the bench.
Coach Pike is the face of the program now. That is the best investment bet for RU fans at this time IMO.
You cite this stat as if it is something we do not already know. We as a team miss a ton of open shots and open threes(either Issa or Mike earlier in the year or Geo hitting the freshman wall) and we as a team miss a ton of open layups or 5 footers( Deshawn, Duke, Eugene, Sa, and Shaquille). If we make even half of the easy open shots we have missed we would be clearly above 1.0 points per possession , and have a lot more wins and would be closer to being a really good team. However, we are that 30-35%shooting team, most nights worse than that , and despite that we have a chance in all these games which is a tribute to the coaching staff and to the players refusing to quit when the shots don’t fall. That last point is really hard to get a player to do and Coach has done it which is miraculous. The offense shooting except for Corey for the first thirty six minutes last night was atrocious as well. But we got the win as some shots started to fall. If it happpened in five to six other games we would have turned losses into wins. We are a consistent three wing shooter and an offensive center that can score around the rim from really competing for the top of this conference .
I gave you shit for dissing Freeman when the memories of last year were still fresh in my mind..but in my defense I feel like he's worse now than he was at that point earlier in the season. How that's even possible I have no idea. It's like his strategy is "flail arms wildly and hope you don't get a foul"
He wasn't last night..give Eugene the minutes. He did well and stepped up his rebounding (with thiam)
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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Eugene is a guy who doesnt try to do too much, he knows what hes good at, knows what hes bad at and plays a very efficient game. I cannot wait to see what he looks like next year after seeing the leap he made this year
To be fair, Freeman was also a large part of why we beat Iowa and Wisconsin:
Iowa: 14pts & 8 reb on 6/11 shooting
Wisconsin: 15pts & 4 reb on 6/12 shooting
Not saying i don't like Eugene at the 4 but I dont see why we need to kill a kid that's played his tail off for us for 3 years..
Knowing what you do well and don’t do well is the most underrated skill there ever was. Even in life.
Lol well Melo early on with the Knicks when he was the best back to the basket scorer in the NBA.
Love Freeman he is a baller - more of a street baller like Corey who tries to create buckets for himself. He was more effective last year because he had a center who could score, rebound AND pass out of the post. If we are better next year it will because other players step up - not because he graduated.
Might be better off if he saw fewer minutes, but we're certainly not deep enough to be better without him.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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Next year? We’ll be fine depth wise without him. Up front we’ll have Eugene, Duke, Myles Johnson, Shaq D, Shaq Carter, and a chance of a grad transfer too. Were much better off without him next year
He actually played 7 games in the 2015-16 season before he injured his knee and received a red shirt season so this is his third year on our team.
Why does this have to be a damn hate fest
Look....everyone can see that there is something different in Freeman this year than last year that is resulting into to many looks at the basket when the ball needs to be kicked
The coach allowed it for most of the season ...and he isn’t stupid. If he didn’t think having DF on the floor enhanced our chances to win even he has playing like he does...I have FULL confidence that coach P would have reigned him in much more. Coach wants the name on the front to be first priority.
Anyone that has a doubt needs to think back to the short leash that Nigel had by the second half of the season when is focus and effort wasn’t satisfactory
DF isn’t an effort issue...it’s la basketball judgement issues ...and I’ll defer to the coach who sees him every day to decide how to handle it and what tolerance on it is best for Rutgers basketball.
Otherwise, I think everyone needs to chill big time on this
A big chill
Look....everyone can see that there is something different in Freeman this year than last year that is resulting into to many looks at the basket when the ball needs to be kicked
The coach allowed it for most of the season ...and he isn’t stupid. If he didn’t think having DF on the floor enhanced our chances to win even he has playing like he does...I have FULL confidence that coach P would have reigned him in much more. Coach wants the name on the front to be first priority.
Anyone that has a doubt needs to think back to the short leash that Nigel had by the second half of the season when is focus and effort wasn’t satisfactory
DF isn’t an effort issue...it’s la basketball judgement issues ...and I’ll defer to the coach who sees him every day to decide how to handle it and what tolerance on it is best for Rutgers basketball.
Otherwise, I think everyone needs to chill big time on this
A big chill
On Freeman in my humble opinion:
- From all accounts, Freeman is a very shy quiet reserved kid.
- Pikiell in several court club meetings made it his point to tell us how good of a kid Freeman is and how the 2 of them would speak quite often.
- I think Freeman at times this year tried to do too much out of his skill set to impress scouts eyeing a professional career.
- Given this was Freeman's next to last home game - and I sincerely hope that I am wrong - for Pike and Staff to sit him for the whole game - I would have to think whatever occurred was quite serious enough in Pike's eyes to warrant a full game sit down as opposed to simply a sit down for the 1st half or 10 minutes.
For Freeman's sake,I hope he puts this behind him ; gets back in the good graces of the Coaching Staff and goes out in style and grace as a graduating senior and helps us win / compete in our last few remaining games.
- From all accounts, Freeman is a very shy quiet reserved kid.
- Pikiell in several court club meetings made it his point to tell us how good of a kid Freeman is and how the 2 of them would speak quite often.
- I think Freeman at times this year tried to do too much out of his skill set to impress scouts eyeing a professional career.
- Given this was Freeman's next to last home game - and I sincerely hope that I am wrong - for Pike and Staff to sit him for the whole game - I would have to think whatever occurred was quite serious enough in Pike's eyes to warrant a full game sit down as opposed to simply a sit down for the 1st half or 10 minutes.
For Freeman's sake,I hope he puts this behind him ; gets back in the good graces of the Coaching Staff and goes out in style and grace as a graduating senior and helps us win / compete in our last few remaining games.
(To your 4 items in parenthesis: Yes, Nauseating please pass it to the Guard on the break!, Oh boy, and yes).
Agree he's one of our best players, although his game is flawed, but whose isn't on this team? He generally plays hard, if not always smart, and is our best rebounder, is often very good around the basket, except when he forces things and has become a decent FT shooter.
He could be so much more than he is if he just learned to draw a defender and pass to someone open.
If only he knew what you know, or if only the coaches taught him the things you would teach him, he’d be so much more than he is.
Couple of points: It had to be very tough to sit out the entirety of next to last home game. I think he tried to root for the team but his heart wasn’t in. Don’t hold that against him.
As for his floor play, he has been too much about Deshawn and while I think the word “warrior” fully applies to Mike, not to with DF. Offensively, he has been selfish and defensively unfocused when his man is off the ball and soft when risking a foul may take him to the bench—not playing smart, playing soft.
As for his floor play, he has been too much about Deshawn and while I think the word “warrior” fully applies to Mike, not to with DF. Offensively, he has been selfish and defensively unfocused when his man is off the ball and soft when risking a foul may take him to the bench—not playing smart, playing soft.
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More emotional thought than b-ball IQ. No need to bash one of our players. DF is one of our best players. Anyone with a brain can see that. He’s just not a high-caliber player that folks are pining for. We need better recruiting for that,
understand but the comment was "played his tail off for us for 3 years"....not been on the team for three years. Finished 7-25 that year. I can't round 7 of 32 (.22%) up to get anywhere near a 3rd season. 2.2 does not = 3. that's all. (technical response :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:)
well, that would be wrong. as much as I'd like to burn the Jordan years from memory...
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