Freshman on the road......

[NewJerseyHawk]

It's still an obvious thing that freshman are going to be wildly inconsistent, even super skilled/talented ones like Harper and Bailey and even Zoom Diallo for Washington.

But there were a lot of people on threads earlier this week, who arent qualified to talk about toughness or talent in terms of basketball, trying to downplay the talent of the 4 RU freshman.

65 total points
(22 of 28 from FT line)
5 of 13 from 3 point range (38.4%)
13 rebounds
4 assists
2 blocks
5 steals
7 turnovers

And with these types of numbers, the roster just needed something from its other contributors, which it did tonight from

JWill timely baskets and plays (2 3s) .

Acuff (1 3 pointer) and decent minutes.

JMike playing within the gameplan.

Martini adding an assist in 16 minutes.

Even a Derkack with a steal and a 3 before the untimely 2 turnovers or rushed passes in the 1st half and total of 5 minutes.

It's very tough to ask for 50 to 60+ points, 15 to 20 rebounds, 5 to.7 assists and 5+ blocks/steals from the freshman in order to win.....especially a B1G road game.....but that's where this roster is right now. Debating how we got here is already obvious, there's little point to argue about nonsense when this was always my reality and where RU sports is, in this NIL environment.

I don't know if there are too many wins the rest of the way unless there's this equation of productivity. But it takes some patience that knowledgeable hoops fans understand is part of the process.

Inconsistent play is most of the equation with freshman, so it's anyone's guess on what to expect the rest of the way. But I'm on board willing to see it play out with freshman logging minutes.

 

[RUJMM78]

Rutgers won because they got 52 points from Bailey and Harper.They almost loss the game because the defense allowed 85 points .The margin for error is so small especially when Bailey got in early foul trouble.This was a great win because it enhances Rutgers chances of playing in the B1G Ten Tournament.

 

[nutfromSEC117]

Their top 2 scorers fouled out

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Another way of looking at it - Rutgers won because we shot 47.4% from 3 compared to our season average of 33.3%. Shoot our average from deep and we don’t win this game. Even with a great game from the stars.

 

[wheezer]

Their top 2 scorers fouled out

There is merit in that
Harper driving to the basket probably was an issue for them

It is not an excuse why we won

 

[RCBeta79]

I like more offensive movement, quick shot decisions and guards driving to the basket to get 30+ foul shots.

Since we play 10 players, I would set up a full court/half court press after made baskets and free throws.
The last 5 minutes of each half will be challenging for opposing teams with a short bench.

 

[fatsam98]

We won because Harper was feeling himself against a bad team, and ONE of the supporting cast (JWill) had a good game.

Grant was ok and the predominant feeling on this board is the hope that he stays.

So by lumping the freshman stats together... Are you trying to argue that Lathan played well? I read your posts and often have no idea what the point is you're trying to make.

 

[RUJMM78]

At crunch time Rutgers won the game at the foul line.Bailey and Harper scoring 52 points is what is needed to win league games especially with the woeful defense allowing 85 points.The margin for error is so small for Rutgers .The team should get a shout out for staying the course and earning a hard fought victory on the road.Rutgers really needs to win the two home games against USC and Minnesota.

 

[RUsojo]

Why do people think it’s a win to do victory laps on outlier performances?

 

[fluoxetine]

Why do people think it’s a win to do victory laps on outlier performances?

Because they don’t understand what they’re watching, which is ironic given the condescending tone of the 10% of the text wall I actually read.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

We won because Harper was feeling himself against a bad team, and ONE of the supporting cast (JWill) had a good game.

Grant was ok and the predominant feeling on this board is the hope that he stays.

So by lumping the freshman stats together... Are you trying to argue that Lathan played well? I read your posts and often have no idea what the point is you're trying to make.

Yeah the frosh thing is a horrible take.

The bottom line is even your first statement isn’t true as a stand alone. The game ends in a loss if our pair of statistically poor long range shooters (J Will and Jordan were at 25% entering the game) don’t go a perfect 3-3 from three in regulation.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Their top 2 scorers fouled out

They fouled out OR RUs players and talent fouled them out of the game. 27 to 16 fouls is about freshman making plays.

I think there's a pattern of downplaying wins, which is odd to me. If we were in an ACC, playing Stanford, California, Miami, Boston College or even some teams in the Big East like Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall or Georgetown, i would see the apathy being real.

Someone has to finish 16th, 17th or 18th in the B1G.....someone like South Carolina, who is winless in the SEC, will finish last. But I don't think fans understand how wide the gaps are growing between the SEC, then the B1G and Big 12, from the rest of "major CBB.

I feel fairly certain Washington is better than a lot of teams in the 8 to 10 range in other conferences. It's not an accident that there are so many teams in the 6 to 7 win range in the B1G now, because the talent and league is very competitive.

Doesn't make it easy. I'm just watching the games on a week to week basis.

Keep in mind, with Lathan Sommerville having literally no idea what he was doing in Octobee and Dylan Grant being another freshman, we played 40 minutes of high level basketball against what may actually be the best CBB of all time in Rick Pitino and played St Johns toe to toe.

So 2 things are either true or need to be looked at with 2025 reality.

A) St Johns is really not a Top 10 school ( they're ranked in the Top 10 this week) AND

B) The Big East is simply a watered down league with very few challenges on a weekly basis.

That means that if RU is 12th to 15th in the B1G and played St Johns without Lathan Sommerville knowing what he's doing and no Dylan Grant, that RU probably is in NCAA discussion if they're in the Big East.

And St Johns is nowhere near the Top 10, as such a poor shooting 3 point team, they're no better than Illinois or Oregon IMO today.

It doesn't mean RU has had the season we expected (losing to Princeton and Kennesaw with Dylan injury etc), but this notion that Washington wouldn't be ahead of Butler, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Depaul and possibly Providence in the Big East is crazy. Washington is easily as talented as half the Big East conference in 2025.....so is Minnesota and certainly RU as well.

RU has to meet the standards of recruiting and coaching in a Top 2 or 3 league of college sports. That is the reality of 2025. But to look at each league like the Big East and ACC as "Equal", is simply not the case.....

 

[fluoxetine]

I am baffled as to what the point is

 

[FAT MOON]

I am baffled as to what the point is

think he's saying that we'd be a tournie team if we weren't in the B1G, SEC or B12 🤷‍♂️

my favorite thing he said was...

"But there were a lot of people on threads earlier this week, who arent qualified to talk about toughness or talent in terms of basketball..."

now that's big FACTS right there...

kinda losing me with the St. Johns stuff, however.

 

[Local Shill]

I am baffled as to what the point is

Big Ten good. Big East and ACC bad. That's my guess

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Their top 2 scorers fouled out

Rutgers put pressure on them and that's why they fouled out. It wasn't by chance. That's part of the game.

 

[fatsam98]

I am baffled as to what the point is

Are you dense? We lost a preseason scrimmage to St Johns which means Washington is a decent team therefore Lathan is good.

Not sure what you don't understand.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

They fouled out OR RUs players and talent fouled them out of the game. 27 to 16 fouls is about freshman making plays.

I think there's a pattern of downplaying wins, which is odd to me. If we were in an ACC, playing Stanford, California, Miami, Boston College or even some teams in the Big East like Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall or Georgetown, i would see the apathy being real.

Someone has to finish 16th, 17th or 18th in the B1G.....someone like South Carolina, who is winless in the SEC, will finish last. But I don't think fans understand how wide the gaps are growing between the SEC, then the B1G and Big 12, from the rest of "major CBB.

I feel fairly certain Washington is better than a lot of teams in the 8 to 10 range in other conferences. It's not an accident that there are so many teams in the 6 to 7 win range in the B1G now, because the talent and league is very competitive.

Doesn't make it easy. I'm just watching the games on a week to week basis.

Keep in mind, with Lathan Sommerville having literally no idea what he was doing in Octobee and Dylan Grant being another freshman, we played 40 minutes of high level basketball against what may actually be the best CBB of all time in Rick Pitino and played St Johns toe to toe.

So 2 things are either true or need to be looked at with 2025 reality.

A) St Johns is really not a Top 10 school ( they're ranked in the Top 10 this week) AND

B) The Big East is simply a watered down league with very few challenges on a weekly basis.

That means that if RU is 12th to 15th in the B1G and played St Johns without Lathan Sommerville knowing what he's doing and no Dylan Grant, that RU probably is in NCAA discussion if they're in the Big East.

And St Johns is nowhere near the Top 10, as such a poor shooting 3 point team, they're no better than Illinois or Oregon IMO today.

It doesn't mean RU has had the season we expected (losing to Princeton and Kennesaw with Dylan injury etc), but this notion that Washington wouldn't be ahead of Butler, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Depaul and possibly Providence in the Big East is crazy. Washington is easily as talented as half the Big East conference in 2025.....so is Minnesota and certainly RU as well.

RU has to meet the standards of recruiting and coaching in a Top 2 or 3 league of college sports. That is the reality of 2025. But to look at each league like the Big East and ACC as "Equal", is simply not the case.....

This seems like a major reach. Washington is what their record says they are. A 13-13 team. Your also missing the point that we needed a massive statistical anomaly on 3 point shooting to even get the game to OT. We’re a bad 3 point shooting team. We had several players who are usually extremely poor from 3 shoot lights out. We needed that along with a great fame from Dylan and several other things to go our way to force OT. We’re not a good team.

 

[seansherm]

Freshman put up 70% of our #'s because they play 70% of our minutes. Got it.

We won because we played a team worse than us. UW still shot better from 2, equal from 3. Fouls are why we won, Dylan getting to the basket. Two of Osobor's fouls, I'm still waiting for him to actually make contact w an RU player.

At any rate, any road win is a good win.

And as for part of the "process". There is no process here because the two biggest cogs are gone 30 days.

 

[fluoxetine]

massive statistical anomaly on 3 point shooting

It's not a massive statistical anomaly, it's just a good game.

A 33.3% chance will happen 9+ out of 19 tries 14.5% of the time.

 

[SHUSource]

A) St Johns is really not a Top 10 school ( they're ranked in the Top 10 this week) AND

B) The Big East is simply a watered down league with very few challenges on a weekly basis.

That means that if RU is 12th to 15th in the B1G and played St Johns without Lathan Sommerville knowing what he's doing and no Dylan Grant, that RU probably is in NCAA discussion if they're in the Big East.

And St Johns is nowhere near the Top 10, as such a poor shooting 3 point team, they're no better than Illinois or Oregon IMO today.

It doesn't mean RU has had the season we expected (losing to Princeton and Kennesaw with Dylan injury etc), but this notion that Washington wouldn't be ahead of Butler, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Depaul and possibly Providence in the Big East is crazy. Washington is easily as talented as half the Big East conference in 2025.....so is Minnesota and certainly RU as well.

RU has to meet the standards of recruiting and coaching in a Top 2 or 3 league of college sports. That is the reality of 2025. But to look at each league like the Big East and ACC as "Equal", is simply not the case.....

This ignores the fact that St. John's is a much better team than they were at that point in the season. They had a lot of new faces who took some time to fit together. You're correct that they are a very bad three-point shooting team, but it works and they keep beating people. This could prevent a deep run in the NCAAs, but as much as I can't stand him, I'll never count a Pitino team out. But they're certainly better than Oregon and, really, Illinois, which never impresses me. Washington stinks, too.

The Big East is more down this year than it has been, but it's no cakewalk. It never is. It doesn't have the sheer volume of teams the Big Ten does, so it won't appear as deep (and is, in fact, not this year), but aside from Seton Hall and DePaul, there are no automatic wins. Butler, Providence, and Georgetown are all wildly inconsistent but look very good sometimes. Those teams are very much like the Big Ten from, say, Oregon or Ohio State on down. The Big Ten does lack any automatic wins, as even though Penn State, Washington, and Northwestern stink, they still have all had moments this year.

But the sheer volumes of Big Ten programs notwithstanding, which provides the illusion of clearly superior quality, the leagues are pretty similar from year to year, aside from the Big Ten's quarter-century national championship drought and the fact that the Big East has won four of the last eight of them.

I tend to enjoy your posts and very often agree with them, but this has been a theme of yours for years and it's never really been borne out by the evidence.

 

[ClassOf02]

I guess it’s my own fault that I keep reading threads like this (though I admit I sometimes nap between a post because it’s too long to read in one sitting).

A scrimmage against St John’s from 3+ months ago???

 

[Knights2003]

The game stats pretty much tell the story. The game was just about as equal as it could be, except for the foul differential. I think RU got some nice whistles (Bailey falling down and the foul being called on Breidenbach and Grant not being called for the charge when he made the bucket). But Dylan taking it to the hoop and drawing fouls was not by accident. He was a force and was the main reason why RU won. He got to the line and converted at a high rate. That's why I was so frustrated with his 25 foot heave at the end of regulation. He should have driven to the hoop. Chances are he would have gotten fouled or converted a bucket.

In any close game, one can look at individual plays saying "if this didn't happen, Team X would have won." But that's just speculation. Those things did happen and the game played out like it did.

The rest of the RU freshman basically played to their season averages. I don't think an advanced analysis is needed here.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

It's not a massive statistical anomaly, it's just a good game.

A 33.3% chance will happen 9+ out of 19 tries 14.5% of the time.

Your math sounds off. I’m not saying the 47.4% is the massive anomaly compared to the 33%. That’s just a very good day, I agree. Though I did note it’s telling that even on a very good shooting day we still need OT to win.

The anomaly is Derkack and J Will combining to go 3-3. They both entered the game at 25% - same percentage. The odds of a 25% three point shooter going 3 for 3 on any 3 attempts is 1.6% - yes? That seems low enough to me to count as an anomaly.

 

[fluoxetine]

Your math sounds off.

It isn't:

Binomial Distribution Probability Calculator

Binomial Calculator computes individual and cumulative binomial probability. Fast, easy, accurate. An online statistical table. Sample problems and solutions.

stattrek.com

(enter .333 for probability of success, 19 for number of trials, 9 for number of successes. Probabilty >=9 is 0.14542)

This can be verified from a second source:

Binomial Distribution Applet/Calculator

homepage.divms.uiowa.edu

I’m not saying the 47.4% is the massive anomaly compared to the 33%. That’s just a very good day, I agree. Though I did note it’s telling that even on a very good shooting day we still need OT to win.

Yes I agree the win shouldn't be changing anyone's opinion about the team.

The anomaly is Derkack and J Will combining to go 3-3. They both entered the game at 25% - same percentage. The odds of a 25% three point shooter going 3 for 3 on any 3 attempts is 1.6% - yes? That seems low enough to me to count as an anomaly.

Yeah I guess though if you start slicing the data all kinds of ways to look for "anomalies" you are going to find lots of 1.6% type stuff. Also do we really think Davis is a 25% shooter at this point?

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

This ignores the fact that St. John's is a much better team than they were at that point in the season. They had a lot of new faces who took some time to fit together. You're correct that they are a very bad three-point shooting team, but it works and they keep beating people. This could prevent a deep run in the NCAAs, but as much as I can't stand him, I'll never count a Pitino team out. But they're certainly better than Oregon and, really, Illinois, which never impresses me. Washington stinks, too.

The Big East is more down this year than it has been, but it's no cakewalk. It never is. It doesn't have the sheer volume of teams the Big Ten does, so it won't appear as deep (and is, in fact, not this year), but aside from Seton Hall and DePaul, there are no automatic wins. Butler, Providence, and Georgetown are all wildly inconsistent but look very good sometimes. Those teams are very much like the Big Ten from, say, Oregon or Ohio State on down. The Big Ten does lack any automatic wins, as even though Penn State, Washington, and Northwestern stink, they still have all had moments this year.

But the sheer volumes of Big Ten programs notwithstanding, which provides the illusion of clearly superior quality, the leagues are pretty similar from year to year, aside from the Big Ten's quarter-century national championship drought and the fact that the Big East has won four of the last eight of them.

I tend to enjoy your posts and very often agree with them, but this has been a theme of yours for years and it's never really been borne out by the evidence.

It's only ignored on the surface because Nova and UConn have won national championships. And in MOST cases across CBB and CFB, the easier a path is for a program during the regular season, the more the flaws get hidden and the lighter the workload.

While PSU stinks, they're much better than Depaul.....Nebraska is not deemed a Top team and won at Creighton earlier this year.

St Johns played a tough game against Creighton on Sunday and their reward is a road trip to Chicago and Depaul for their next game.....not exactly the toughest game and much easier to experiment and develop depth, when you're playing soft opponents in January and February.

Nebraska played a road game vs Northwestern on Sunday and travels to PSU Wednesday and lose by 20+....the margins for error are much smaller in the B1G and SEC and Big 12. It's just the reality of what it is over 4 months.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We played sh!t defense the entire regulation. It really doesn't matter what the freshman did on the offensive end if they can't bring it on the defensive end.

We will win the occasional game like tonight when we make a high percentage of shots. It is not reasonable to expect us to shoot it that good everynight. To beat most teams in the B1G we would have had to be even better than that offensively.

 

[richthedentist]

They fouled out OR RUs players and talent fouled them out of the game. 27 to 16 fouls is about freshman making plays.

I think there's a pattern of downplaying wins, which is odd to me. If we were in an ACC, playing Stanford, California, Miami, Boston College or even some teams in the Big East like Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall or Georgetown, i would see the apathy being real.

Someone has to finish 16th, 17th or 18th in the B1G.....someone like South Carolina, who is winless in the SEC, will finish last. But I don't think fans understand how wide the gaps are growing between the SEC, then the B1G and Big 12, from the rest of "major CBB.

I feel fairly certain Washington is better than a lot of teams in the 8 to 10 range in other conferences. It's not an accident that there are so many teams in the 6 to 7 win range in the B1G now, because the talent and league is very competitive.

Doesn't make it easy. I'm just watching the games on a week to week basis.

Keep in mind, with Lathan Sommerville having literally no idea what he was doing in Octobee and Dylan Grant being another freshman, we played 40 minutes of high level basketball against what may actually be the best CBB of all time in Rick Pitino and played St Johns toe to toe.

So 2 things are either true or need to be looked at with 2025 reality.

A) St Johns is really not a Top 10 school ( they're ranked in the Top 10 this week) AND

B) The Big East is simply a watered down league with very few challenges on a weekly basis.

That means that if RU is 12th to 15th in the B1G and played St Johns without Lathan Sommerville knowing what he's doing and no Dylan Grant, that RU probably is in NCAA discussion if they're in the Big East.

And St Johns is nowhere near the Top 10, as such a poor shooting 3 point team, they're no better than Illinois or Oregon IMO today.

It doesn't mean RU has had the season we expected (losing to Princeton and Kennesaw with Dylan injury etc), but this notion that Washington wouldn't be ahead of Butler, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Depaul and possibly Providence in the Big East is crazy. Washington is easily as talented as half the Big East conference in 2025.....so is Minnesota and certainly RU as well.

RU has to meet the standards of recruiting and coaching in a Top 2 or 3 league of college sports. That is the reality of 2025. But to look at each league like the Big East and ACC as "Equal", is simply not the case.....

That’s why if we can keep our core group of freshmen going forward and that to me includes Somerville which I don’t understand because as you say he had and still has a lot of learning to do and people still want to compare him to Cliff but he is light years better than Cliff offensively and that is the 5th year Cliff!!
Give him an offseason of strength and conditioning and I think he will be very good next year
Your opinion Hawk? Which unlike many others I really respect
Thanks

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Biggest thing people glosses over or didn't want to admit with the SJU scrimmage. RU played to win with HArper and Bailey stupidly playing a ton of minutes. Pitino evened out his minutes and I also believe they had an ijury

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

It isn't:

Binomial Distribution Probability Calculator

Binomial Calculator computes individual and cumulative binomial probability. Fast, easy, accurate. An online statistical table. Sample problems and solutions.

stattrek.com

(enter .333 for probability of success, 19 for number of trials, 9 for number of successes. Probabilty >=9 is 0.14542)

This can be verified from a second source:

Binomial Distribution Applet/Calculator

homepage.divms.uiowa.edu

Yes I agree the win shouldn't be changing anyone's opinion about the team.

Yeah I guess though if you start slicing the data all kinds of ways to look for "anomalies" you are going to find lots of 1.6% type stuff. Also do we really think Davis is a 25% shooter at this point?

you are living in the past.....just ask ChatGpt

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Freshman put up 70% of our #'s because they play 70% of our minutes. Got it.

We won because we played a team worse than us. UW still shot better from 2, equal from 3. Fouls are why we won, Dylan getting to the basket. Two of Osobor's fouls, I'm still waiting for him to actually make contact w an RU player.

At any rate, any road win is a good win.

And as for part of the "process". There is no process here because the two biggest cogs are gone 30 days.

They play 70% of the minutes because Pike overestimated the talent of the transfers. In an ideal situation, the freshmen play in spots to help their development. The failure of the transfers speaks more to them than the freshmen. If there was quality upperclassmen surrounding Ace and Dylan, that should be enough to be a good team battling for a March bid. The upperclassmen sidekicks are so bad, no matter what Ace or Dylan do is never enough. Henceforth, the other freshmen provided a better chance to win. The problem starts with Pike and how he assembled the team.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

It isn't:

Binomial Distribution Probability Calculator

Binomial Calculator computes individual and cumulative binomial probability. Fast, easy, accurate. An online statistical table. Sample problems and solutions.

stattrek.com

(enter .333 for probability of success, 19 for number of trials, 9 for number of successes. Probabilty >=9 is 0.14542)

This can be verified from a second source:

Binomial Distribution Applet/Calculator

homepage.divms.uiowa.edu

Yes I agree the win shouldn't be changing anyone's opinion about the team.

Yeah I guess though if you start slicing the data all kinds of ways to look for "anomalies" you are going to find lots of 1.6% type stuff. Also do we really think Davis is a 25% shooter at this point?

Davis didn’t take any 3s in the game. Jordan and J Will were 3 for 3. And going beyond this season, they are now both an identical lifetime 26.4% from 3 - 91 out of 345 combined. Before going 3 for 3 in the game they were 88 of 342 putting them at career shooting of 25.7% so slightly better than 25% but pretty dang close.

The point is these are the last 2 guards your want taking those 3 shots because they are statistically poor - and it wasn’t close to the expected outcome for them to be perfect from long range.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

They play 70% of the minutes because Pike overestimated the talent of the transfers. In an ideal situation, the freshmen play in spots to help their development. The failure of the transfers speaks more to them than the freshmen. If there was quality upperclassmen surrounding Ace and Dylan, that should be enough to be a good team battling for a March bid. The upperclassmen sidekicks are so bad, no matter what Ace or Dylan do is never enough. Henceforth, the other freshmen provided a better chance to win. The problem starts with Pike and how he assembled the team.

If the game was offensive ONLY I could agree with this.
Defense is 50% of the game and they are liabilities there.

Supporting cast did fine last night. Ace and Dylan played great offensively and we still needed OT to beat a bad Washington team.

People are overestimating what type of college basketball players Ace and Dylan are.

 

[SHUSource]

It's only ignored on the surface because Nova and UConn have won national championships. And in MOST cases across CBB and CFB, the easier a path is for a program during the regular season, the more the flaws get hidden and the lighter the workload.

While PSU stinks, they're much better than Depaul.....Nebraska is not deemed a Top team and won at Creighton earlier this year.

St Johns played a tough game against Creighton on Sunday and their reward is a road trip to Chicago for their next game.

Nebraska played a road game vs Northwestern on Sunday and travels to PSU Wednesday and lose by 20+....the margins for error are much smaller in the B1G and SEC and Big 12. It's just the reality of what it is over 4 months.

That dynamic doesn't seem to have impeded Kansas or Baylor in the near past. Nor has it ever helped the perennial contender in Gonzaga, which always had the easiest path playing in a league that was beneath it, and never won the thing. I think by the time we get to the Final Four, flaws have all been exposed for what they are, and you see the best teams win it. Fluky may even carry a team to the final (and that is so rare), but that team never wins it all.

Nebraska and Creighton is a huge rivalry, so that's always going to have those kind of results. It's also only one game.

I remember a few years ago when DePaul won three Big East games but was 4-0 against the Big Ten. I did not extrapolate from that that DePaul would be undefeated in the Big Ten. But it did show me that at least that year, the bottom of the Big East was better than the bottom of the Big Ten. This year, the opposite is true.

 

[goru7]

Yeah the frosh thing is a horrible take.

The bottom line is even your first statement isn’t true as a stand alone. The game ends in a loss if our pair of statistically poor long range shooters (J Will and Jordan were at 25% entering the game) don’t go a perfect 3-3 from three in regulation.

You cannot make that statement claiming Jeremiah hit 2 and Jordan hit 1 so that is why the game was won. That is such shallow analysis of someone who never watched the game. If they did watch , tons of things happened but I can think of 2 things off the bat that won the game ; Dylan getting 34 points and Jeremiah ‘s steal.

 

[DHajekRC84]

It's still an obvious thing that freshman are going to be wildly inconsistent, even super skilled/talented ones like Harper and Bailey and even Zoom Diallo for Washington.

But there were a lot of people on threads earlier this week, who arent qualified to talk about toughness or talent in terms of basketball, trying to downplay the talent of the 4 RU freshman.

65 total points
(22 of 28 from FT line)
5 of 13 from 3 point range (38.4%)
13 rebounds
4 assists
2 blocks
5 steals
7 turnovers

And with these types of numbers, the roster just needed something from its other contributors, which it did tonight from

JWill timely baskets and plays (2 3s) .

Acuff (1 3 pointer) and decent minutes.

JMike playing within the gameplan.

Martini adding an assist in 16 minutes.

Even a Derkack with a steal and a 3 before the untimely 2 turnovers or rushed passes in the 1st half and total of 5 minutes.

It's very tough to ask for 50 to 60+ points, 15 to 20 rebounds, 5 to.7 assists and 5+ blocks/steals from the freshman in order to win.....especially a B1G road game.....but that's where this roster is right now. Debating how we got here is already obvious, there's little point to argue about nonsense when this was always my reality and where RU sports is, in this NIL environment.

I don't know if there are too many wins the rest of the way unless there's this equation of productivity. But it takes some patience that knowledgeable hoops fans understand is part of the process.

Inconsistent play is most of the equation with freshman, so it's anyone's guess on what to expect the rest of the way. But I'm on board willing to see it play out with freshman logging minutes.

I have really (for the most part) respected your posts over the many years but I have go to say you really need to knock all this condescending crap off. You've been historically better than that. The moment I read it I shut you off and that's a shame since I least give your comments a thought and consideration. Take it for what it is worth (which I'm pretty sure is zilch).

"there were a lot of people on threads earlier this week, who arent qualified to talk about toughness or talent in terms of basketball"

 

[richthedentist]

You cannot make that statement claiming Jeremiah hit 2 and Jordan hit 1 so that is why the game was won. That is such shallow analysis of someone who never watched the game. If they did watch , tons of things happened but I can think of 2 things off the bat that won the game ; Dylan getting 34 points and Jeremiah ‘s steal.

We still were crap from the foul line missed 11 and the front end of 2 one and ones so that’s 13 missed foul shots that’s what almost cost us the game

 

[NickRU714]

The fact that the Big Ten is superior to the ACC and that St. John's would be at the bottom of the Big Ten doesn't really matter.

That's what the conference money is for.

When people say Woodson underperformed or Howard finished last in the Big Ten, does it come with the caveat "but the Big Ten is different so it isn't as bad. Someone has to finish last. They would be tournament teams in other conferences."

Is anyone actually saying "South Carolina is in last place but it's not a bad thing because SEC"?

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I have really (for the most part) respected your posts over the many years but I have go to say you really need to knock all this condescending crap off. You've been historically better than that. The moment I read it I shut you off and that's a shame since I least give your comments a thought and consideration. Take it for what it is worth (which I'm pretty sure is zilch).

"there were a lot of people on threads earlier this week, who arent qualified to talk about toughness or talent in terms of basketball"

There is nothing wrong with stating the truth....I have former players in other sports, commenting about how soft Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are in other threads.....they are NOT qualified to talk about how they perceive someone to be soft or whatever.

Just because I am a RU fan, doesn't mean I start skewing off nonsense about how the women's Soccer coach needs to be replaced or talking about lacrosse or other sports that I don't follow closely.

I also can read these boards for years and can tell right away that fans don't watch basketball on a consistent basis and only watch RU sports and think things don't occur elsewhere with other programs.

There is a lack of awareness about CBB sports and it starts with posts that I don't have all day to explain how bad these takes are. We have fans who have a right to not like our coaches, as long as it's a legit criticism or supported with facts.....

I'm comfortable with belief that what I post is accurate, even if not agreeable or acceptable at that time. Usually, over a certain amount of time, these things usually land correctly.

The fact remains that in 2025 that this league is NOT the same as other leagues. And I'm not going to have someone downplay an accomplishment, because they think every 16th to 18th place team in every conference is the same.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

The fact that the Big Ten is superior to the ACC and that St. John's would be at the bottom of the Big Ten doesn't really matter.

That's what the conference money is for.

When people say Woodson underperformed or Howard finished last in the Big Ten, does it come with the caveat "but the Big Ten is different so it isn't as bad. Someone has to finish last. They would be tournament teams in other conferences."

Is anyone actually saying "South Carolina is in last place but it's not a bad thing because SEC"?

I am saying South Carolina and Washington are WAY better than the teams at the bottom of other leagues.....and that RU winning vs Washington is not a given.

I dont look solely at Kenpom but there's a reason why the SEC has almost all of their teams in the Top 100 and other leagues have teams around 200 (ACC and Big East).