Game 10: NJIT Thoughts

[bac2therac]

Well that was a dreadful game to watch. Pretty much and I some other expected this though coming off the emotional game where they played their hearts out for 40 minutes vs Michigan State. Very predictable to come out listless and unfocused. What is surprising is the team actually shot well. It was the absolute horrendous effort on the glass and defensively which allowed NJIT to take 25 more shots than RU.

RU played well enough in spurt in the second half where they went up 17-4. Corey simply overmatched anyone else on the court and Eugene had a quick flurry and that gave RU breathing space. It was disappointing that after they got up 61-44 and looked they were showing signs of the Rutgers we have seen this year, they basically let up and totally lost their focus once again allowing NJIT to I think creep within 8, good thing NJIT was bricking shots all over the place

A win is a win....RU Pete said it best in the game thread, sometimes you just need to slog through these games and win. Still you can clearly see this team has a small margin of error when it gets into the heart of league play. It will not win games unless it plays at full strength, you see the drop off when they played weaker teams and how they struggle. Some game 1 of the dangerous 3 trap games is done and RU cannot afford to sleepwalk against FDU and Fordham as they will be tougher test but I am expecting a much different energy level for the next game

 

[jonS]

Agreed. No energy, no focus , no boxing out , poor defense, and horrible number of turnovers. Also big drop off in foul shooting . Previous games much better effort at the charity line. That said , NJIT was opportunistic on defense and well coached. Baker probably played his poorest floor game--uncharacteristic turnovers. In the past we might have lost this game so good to get the "W" and escape to the FDU game.

 

[BigEastPhil]

- The lack of energy; focus etc was expected. I felt the same way to be honest.

Good things about game:

- We withstood the poor performance and still won.
- Corey played very well.
- Team shot very well.
- Thought Issa had a good all around game and want to see him play more inside especially in a height matchup advantage
- Pikiell sensed the lack of focus and make quick bench moves with Baker and Freeman at beginning of game due to turnovers etc
- I thought the refs were actually favorable to us in the 1st half though they reverted back for the 2nd half with some questionable calls.
- Earl Walton stayed for the whole game (ref who left 2 seconds early in BET game vs St Johns - with Higgins and Burr).
- Nice student section turnout.

Things to improve on:

- Souf's ballhanlding. He does not protect the ball and every team will scout and exploit this. The ball is stolen from him every game and he only plays 3-5 minutes per game
- Free throw shooting was poor
- We didn't go after the ball strongly on the defensive side.
- Would have liked to see Dourcore be more aggressive.
- Looked like Sa was the 2nd center tonight ahead of Doorson

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Corey was the steadying force in this game. No turnovers when the game was a game, NJIT guards were silent, and he was our leading scorer.

Mike Williams had a stamp on this one too. He was called on in the1st 90 seconds. If I am Pikiell I give him the start vs FDU and really try to limit Bakers minutes.

The team gets a pass from me. Pikiell gets an A + for being on this team from the get go.

FDU hopefully will be another ugly win and then we move on.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Maybe the Dadika thread needs to be revsisited. There has to be a Rutgers kid playing intramural basketball with a better handle and more equipped to play D. I know in my day they existed on Livingston or cook college intramural.s

 

[sct1111]

I know it's been said before but Dadika is simply better than Souf. He's a better ball handler, passer, better bball IQ, and also a better defender which I though was Souf's strength. He's a much more serviceable backup and should be taking his minutes.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Yeah I’m not going to be too critical here. Third game in five days, and the first two were emotionally draining and physically draining losses to two top 15 teams. Tonight was bound to be a letdown, but we fought through.

Saturday will be the 4th game in seven days. Pike needs to expand the rotation so these guys don’t get burned out.

 

[satnom]

Maybe the Dadika thread needs to be revsisited. There has to be a Rutgers kid playing intramural basketball with a better handle and more equipped to play D. I know in my day they existed on Livingston or cook college intramural.s

Souf might have the worst pg handle since Wenzel gave a schollie to a player by the name of Pete Chilcote (sp?). We would play against him at the Rec gym and most of us wondered how the heck he was a scholarship b-ball player at RU. Souf might be better off in the lb corp for RU football. The pg for NJIT looked good though. Announcers said he played at St Anthony’s. RU could use as a backup.

GO RU

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Looking at kenpom stats the one thing NJIT has going for them is generating turnovers

One thought. Pikiell called a play "wide post" and it got a post up for Thiam and an easy basket. Why didn't we ever go back to feeding him on the block?

 

[RU-ROCS]

I was hopeful that after a couple decent minutes v. MSU Souf was turning the corner. Unfortunately, he was overmatched again tonight against

Maybe the Dadika thread needs to be revsisited. There has to be a Rutgers kid playing intramural basketball with a better handle and more equipped to play D. I know in my day they existed on Livingston or cook college intramural.s

I was hopeful that after a couple decent minutes v. MSU Souf was turning the corner. Unfortunately, he was overmatched again tonight against a lower level D1 team. That’s a big problem going forward.

 

[RUChoppin]

In 51 game minutes against Div-I teams, Souf has: 1 point (0-4 FG, 1-3 FT), 4 rb, 5 ast, 0 stl, 5 TO, 11 PF

In Div-I play, he's averaging a foul or a turnover every 3.2 minutes.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

In 51 game minutes against Div-I teams, Souf has: 1 point (0-4 FG, 1-3 FT), 4 rb, 5 ast, 0 stl, 5 TO, 11 PF

In Div-I play, he's averaging a foul or a turnover every 3.2 minutes.

I doubt he's on the roster next season.

 

[RUonBrain]

I doubt he's on the roster next season.

No Souf for you!

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Win is a win

Getting back on track Saturday is critical

Souf scares me. Really worried we can't count on him

We really need to think about giving Eugene some minutes at the three, not playing souf and keeping three guards 30 min max. Mike getting healthy is critical

Geo legs show wear in every 2nd half shot he takes

Think mpg needs to be this

30'minutes at guard for Corey and Geo
20 minutes at guard at Mike and 10
Minutes at the 3 spot
22 minutes a game for thiam at the 3
8 minutes a game for Eugene at the 3 and 17 minutes a game at the four
23 minute a game for Freeman at the 4 and 7 minutes a game at the 5
20 minutes a game for doucoure at the 5
13 minutes a game for doorson and sa

30 Corey
30 geo
30 mike
30 deshawn
25 Eugene
22 thiam
20 doucoure
13 doorson or sa

 

[JQRU91]

We shot better from the field than from the free throw line in this one. That doesn't happen too often.

 

[mikefla]

:zzz:I was amazed how few times we boxed out for O REBS...:zzz:
:boom:NJIT outrebounded the leading B10 rebounding team(us):boom:

Souf gets his "pocket picked" every game.....:thumbsdown:he is NOT D-1 material....:thumbsdown:
[jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][thumb2]~Dadika please~[thumb2][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile][jumpingsmile]

[banana][banana]Omoruyi, Thiam, Sa, Cory, Baker and Freeman played well in spurts[banana][banana]

A lesson was learned tonight,,,(by me especially) :chairshot:(thats me in the green)
even a "so so team" has talent & can rise up & get a win if you dont play hard from the getgo

[cheers]a win is a win[cheers]

 

[dpwhite]

Thoughts: lots of teams start out flat against inferior talent and struggle through games. The better teams rarely lose them. The days of Eddie are over and we are getting better. Not there yet and there is still the possibility of a WTF game but improvement continues.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Considering NJIT beat Princeton and St. Peters in scrimmages and that RU shot almost 60% from the field, this was by far the best sign of life for the program.

I don't think we are going to get a game where RU shoots 50% from the field, outrebounds it's opponent by a dozen and shoots 80% from the FT line.

The mentions about Shack spreading minutes out makes the most sense....especially when we are getting good contributions off the bench from Eugene.....Eugene is averaging 11PPG and if you remove the FSU game, he's still doubling his 3-4 PPG last year.

And we won with 1 shot by Doucoure.....lots to be positive about.....

Were the turnovers not good.....??....yeah but I think the team needed a shooting game like this more than a 40% from the field with a slower pace to avoid turnovers.

Glad to see Mike get some layups as well....I think he will have a little bit of a better stretch in the next 5-6 games...

 

[RUonBrain]

Why doesn't Dadika play?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Regarding rebounds. Specifically offensive rebounds. We got our fair share of offensive rebounds. We only missed 24 FGs and got 9 OREBs.

Maybe should do a hair better. Defensive rebounding numbers weren't good.

 

[soundcrib]

Dadika >Souf

 

[RUJMM78]

Win is a win

Getting back on track Saturday is critical

Souf scares me. Really worried we can't count on him

We really need to think about giving Eugene some minutes at the three, not playing souf and keeping three guards 30 min max. Mike getting healthy is critical

Geo legs show wear in every 2nd half shot he takes

Think mpg needs to be this

30'minutes at guard for Corey and Geo
20 minutes at guard at Mike and 10
Minutes at the 3 spot
22 minutes a game for thiam at the 3
8 minutes a game for Eugene at the 3 and 17 minutes a game at the four
23 minute a game for Freeman at the 4 and 7 minutes a game at the 5
20 minutes a game for doucoure at the 5
13 minutes a game for doorson and sa

30 Corey
30 geo
30 mike
30 deshawn
25 Eugene
22 thiam
20 doucoure
13 doorson or sa

I don't think Baker and Williams can effectively play 30 minutes a game because of strength and health issues.The lack of bench replacements will be really felt when B1G competition are the only games remaining.More production is needed from the center position and Thiam needs more minutes and shots around the basket because of the height advantage.

 

[higgins3]

Baker will regroup. He needs to be out there for 28-34 minutes. Just the player you need. Rutgers will beat fdu. They turn the ball over a ton, and their best player fouls a good amount. Not worried for the program after tonight's game. I wonder if Pikiells tries dadika soon, or rolls with his struggling struggling player because he is on scholarship.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Baker needs his minutes cut immediately. Not in love with Eugene taking those minutes, but given our position I think it is logical. We saw for a brief stretch last night Eugene as the 3, but essentially playing as a 4 offensively.

 

[RUDead]

Baker definitely needs some rest, maybe even skip a game. He's not going to make it through the season at this pace. He's such a good player but you can see the fatigue in his jumper the last few games.

 

[kcg88]

Baker hasn't shot 50% since the Bryant game, but this is the price we pay for having only eight guys you can really put out there who will be decent or at least not a total negative (if you combine Sa and Doorson's minutes into one). For what feels like the 100th time, I reiterate that we can't be completely wasting five roster spots (Kiss, Bullock, Mensah, Johnson, and the other half of Sa/Doorson).

 

[bac2therac]

yeah that part of the roster filling out didnt work out well but Pike had to get bodies in. I would have think Bullock would have transferred after last year. Mensah is a total whiff, I mean not even serivcable. As for Johnson that he has to be redshirted when we could use him, gives me some concern

Sanders had to play way too much last night because the team couldnt put awayNJIT...35 minutes is too much but you cannot trust Mensah at all, he came in and immediately screwed up costing a foul on RU on the inbound

 

[RUChoppin]

Baker hasn't shot 50% since the Bryant game, but this is the price we pay for having only eight guys you can really put out there who will be decent or at least not a total negative (if you combine Sa and Doorson's minutes into one). For what feels like the 100th time, I reiterate that we can't be completely wasting five roster spots (Kiss, Bullock, Mensah, Johnson, and the other half of Sa/Doorson).

Not sure why we're expecting him to shoot >50%, but okay.

Since Bryant, he's gone 14/47 (29.8%), 5/19 3P (26.3%). His per game numbers are: 31.6 min, 8.8 pts, 2.4 rbs, 2.4 ast, 2.4 to, 0.6 stl, 2.8 pf

He definitely needs to acclimate a bit to the step up in competition

 

[RUChoppin]

As far as roster management...
Mensah: Need to have a conversation with him about his prospects at this level, hopefully resulting in a transfer (in his case, to a very low level Div-I conference, or a Div-II team). Pike needs to free up this roster spot.

Bullock: Not sure what's going on here, but have to think there is an intent to transfer if he's not seeing the court at all. Pike also needs to free up this spot.

Johnson: Doesn't seem to be ready to compete with Sa/Doorson for minutes, or he'd likely be playing. Hopefully the redshirt year helps him, because we'll need him next year.

Kiss: Redshirting this year, and hopefully will bring good value next year at the guard spot. At the very least, should force the conversation with Mensah that he won't be seeing the court. If Sanders stays, Mensah would be the 5th guard behind Sanders, Baker, Mathis, and Kiss.... if Sanders goes, Pike will almost certainly bring in another PG.

Given these four above, we're really playing with just 9 scholarship players, which is tough on rotations.

As for Sa/Doorson: These two really are used situationally, it seems - depending on the size/foot speed of the other teams' bigs. Sa is a defender/rebounder and will be gone after this year, so that will open up a spot. I'd assume Doorson would be back - and if he makes it this whole season healthy, he should be better as a 5th year senior. Looking like next year's center rotation would be Doucoure/Doorson/Johnson. If Doorson doesn't come back, will definitely be in need of another big.

 

[kcg88]

Not sure why we're expecting him to shoot >50%, but okay.

Since Bryant, he's gone 14/47 (29.8%), 5/19 3P (26.3%). His per game numbers are: 31.6 min, 8.8 pts, 2.4 rbs, 2.4 ast, 2.4 to, 0.6 stl, 2.8 pf

He definitely needs to acclimate a bit to the step up in competition

I don't expect him to shoot 50% for the season. I'm just saying that going five games in a row without doing so once is not ideal.

 

[TDIrish27]

Very hard to expect much more than a flat effort last night.

Three games in 5 days is NBA like and factor that 2 are very high end opponents and IMO you take a win and move on.

 

[higgins3]

Baker needs his minutes cut immediately. Not in love with Eugene taking those minutes, but given our position I think it is logical. We saw for a brief stretch last night Eugene as the 3, but essentially playing as a 4 offensively.

Why?After one game of not controlling the ball and 7 games of controlling the ball and distributing better than anyone on the team?

 

[higgins3]

I just looked at Jake Dadika's numbers in his time here. I say give it a shot. Nothing outstanding, but they look very similar to Mensah's. I know if Dadika gets to the line too, he can at least make one.

The Mensah-Dadika talks. Hopefully they don't have to continue much longer and Dadika gets at least a shot. I am not judging coach, and we are by no means experts. As mentioned, I saw Mensah shoot free throws. He is very, very new to the game from a shooting aspect.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I think sanders/Baker have to be 40 minutes at the 1 AND optimal minutes are.......
Sanders 32
Baker 28
Williams 28
Freeman 26

Total 114 minutes

Duocore 20
Sa/Doorson 12

Total 146 minutes

Eugene 24 playing 3 thru 5 (D really is 5 when E and D are in there)

total up to 170

that leaves Thiam.

We have NO margin for error, foul trouble or injuries.

Next year hopefully it all changes. Thiam's default 20+ minutes are gone. He has to be better than Harper, Mathis and Kiss to see meaningful minutes. That makes our offensive efficiency go up dramatically.

 

[hoquat63]

If any one is interested game is being replayed on BTN now

 

[soundcrib]

At this point get Bullock some burn.

 

[Rutgers25]

Johnson was a reach. He is a major project.

 

[LC-88]

#FreeDadika

 

[BoxStater]

I think sanders/Baker have to be 40 minutes at the 1 AND optimal minutes are.......
Sanders 32
Baker 28
Williams 28
Freeman 26

Total 114 minutes

Duocore 20
Sa/Doorson 12

Total 146 minutes

Eugene 24 playing 3 thru 5 (D really is 5 when E and D are in there)

total up to 170

that leaves Thiam.

We have NO margin for error, foul trouble or injuries.

Next year hopefully it all changes. Thiam's default 20+ minutes are gone. He has to be better than Harper, Mathis and Kiss to see meaningful minutes. That makes our offensive efficiency go up dramatically.

Hard to project from an undersized team such as last night but wasn’t Thiam one of the most offensive efficient players showing he needs more touches?

He scored from 3, driving to the basketball and posting up in the paint.

 

[RUChoppin]

I don't expect him to shoot 50% for the season. I'm just saying that going five games in a row without doing so once is not ideal.

Definitely not ideal, but shooting has been a challenge all around the team. Sanders also hasn't gone .500 since Bryant. Freeman and Williams went over .500 against NJIT for the first time since CCNY.