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GAME 10 Seton Hall: Part of the process

While SHU earned this one.. great shooting in 2nd half..

What happened to the team offense we saw vs Purdue?

Is adding Geo the difference? Do the players think he is some Superman and they don't have to work and share the ball on offense if he is out there?

I saw one play where Geo looked like Mulcahy out there.. that is.. he has the ball at the top of the key and looks for some cutters.. some motion.. and there was none.

This team is impossible to understand. I just don't get it.

And someone get to work on Big Cliff...

1) he needs to stop dribbling.. AT ALL (again, that's the lack of motion.. people making themselves available for a pass)

2) he needs to stop reaching, stop running at guys on defense.. use his feet and think positionally. How about forcing him to practice with his elbows strapped tight to his chest.. make him use his legs and body position.. not his reach and hands.

Lastly.. seeing Bo Boroski was enough to chalk it up as a loss. Some insane calls in that game. When will they ever call travels again? At least 6 points and a few fouls came after blatantly obvious travels. Not why we lost.. just saying.. tired of being on the short end of calls from these guys.
Yeah same thing against Purdue they traveled 5 times in the first half and tonight I said to my daughter again I guess traveling is not a violation anymore
 
It is this type of comment that is part of being completely unaware of basketball or matchups....

Purdue struggled today vs NC state at the Barclay Center.....and NC states best player, Manny Bates, is out for the year....

What does #1 have to do with much, if the matchup with #1 is more favorable than a matchup with a completely different of play....?? Seton Hall could be #1 or could be #21.

Hyatt and Jones are legitimate ba ll players....why do "they need to be out of the rotation "....?? Do you watch the games....?? What exactly does Paul Mulcahy actually do, that Jaden Jones can't do....??

Let's not make this a situation of where I am ripping a player but be realistic about what you are watching...

Does Mulcahy play good defense, on the ball.....??

Does Mulcahy create his own offense off the dribble....??

Does Mulcahy have or shown any ability to expand his game on the ball, when he has the ball.....does he jump-stop....does he use his 6'6" height to draw contact......does he square and shoot over the smaller defenders....?? Can he actually square himself and shoot the ball, within the flow of the offense??.....

If I give Jaden Jones 16 to 20 minutes and Jaden Jones "needs to improve defensively".....he has essentially played less than 10 games in his RU career.....Mulcahy is in YEAR 3, of the system....

We have a game where you have something called "Plus -Minus"......it is not a sole determination of all things for basketball but if Mulcahy doesn't shoot, doesn't score, doesn't rebound, and is a minus defender, isn't there a better solution somewhere??

We played Jalen Miller to try and find stops on defense at guard, because of the matchup being bad.....but when is there an actual good matchup, if you are asking Mulcahy to defend quicker guards....At least if I have Jones on the floor, I have the threat of a jump shot, I get the same length on defense and even if Jones isn't dialed in on defense, he is not scoring zero points.

The other "factor", is Aundre Hyatt is at least strong enough to grab an occasional rebound IF you play him more than the occasional 15 to 16 minutes....does Agee grab any rebounds.....does he create space in traffic?? Can Hyatt at least get a shot up going towards the basket, which is at least a positive towards scoring.

This is a basic math item.....if you are playing 4 on 5 on offense with Mulcahy AND you are playing 4 on 5 on defense, because Mulcahy doesn't score, how much more do the other 4 players have to do??

You're not getting points on one end of the court and not getting stops from Mulcahy, who can't keep his man in front of him or out of the paint....how does that make sense to play him instead of Jones, does not make sense.....
Agree 100% and everyone says I am all over the kid but everything you stated here I have been saying for 2 years
He even was taking him in the Purdue out for Miller on defense and with him sitting tonight maybe Pikell is finally realizing this and will cut his minutes back appropriately
 
Playing Purdue with a young forward like Ethan Horton or another non offensive player, is fine to have Mulcahy on the court.....those players are not exposing him on offense for Purdue, because they don't play 1 on 1 streetball and if you understand what an opponent runs on offense, you can be an OK defensive player.

I
ok will Harper score 30

if Hyatt and Jones are not even good enough to make a barely 6 man rotation then what does that say about Pikiell

I think you said the same thing about how horrible Jacob Young played his 1st 10 to 15 games in the 2019-20 season....the overreaction to players in 1 month of a season, is silly.

Mag has been in the system for now a full 18 months and even though he didn't play much last year, he at least looks like he is figuring it out.....I would be very leery of trying to say Hyatt and Jones aren't good enough, 10 games into a season....

We have Mulcahy in Year 3 of the system.....are we holding everyone accountable to the same standards, same criticism.....????....why is Paul in the rotation.....what has he earned as to have earned a free pass.

Be reasonable man.....I am not sure you are holding the same standards, this is the B1G, not a Saturday AM LA Fitness league....
 
Playing Purdue with a young forward like Ethan Horton or another non offensive player, is fine to have Mulcahy on the court.....those players are not exposing him on offense for Purdue, because they don't play 1 on 1 streetball and if you understand what an opponent runs on offense, you can be an OK defensive player.

I

I think you said the same thing about how horrible Jacob Young played his 1st 10 to 15 games in the 2019-20 season....the overreaction to players in 1 month of a season, is silly.

Mag has been in the system for now a full 18 months and even though he didn't play much last year, he at least looks like he is figuring it out.....I would be very leery of trying to say Hyatt and Jones aren't good enough, 10 games into a season....

We have Mulcahy in Year 3 of the system.....are we holding everyone accountable to the same standards, same criticism.....????....why is Paul in the rotation.....what has he earned as to have earned a free pass.

Be reasonable man.....I am not sure you are holding the same standards, this is the B1G, not a Saturday AM LA Fitness league....


You are mistaking my thoughts on Hyatt and Jones. I do want them to play more. Ive been very consistent in that.

I am just trying to indulge GRF argument a bit
 
Pike coached fine, we played to our abilities. The issue is just theres a very large talent gap between these two teams this year. Ultimately roster construction does fall on pike though. Were probably like a 5-15ish big ten team, the range is probably between 4-16 to 6-14 big ten record
It’s less about his coaching though it’s very obvious he needs an offensive mind on the staff. The bigger issue is recruiting. There was a clear and obvious talent difference where there should be one in our favor if anything. You can’t consistently win being undermanned. Especially when you don’t have any semblance of an offensive system.
 
Well, you may recall Purdue wasn't going to the NCAA's 2 years ago after we beat them at their place to end the season. And that was in Painter's 12 or 13th season. How can that be?? A rebuilding year in year 13??? Perposterous!! Fire that loser!! Lol
I just love guys who think all programs are supposedly improving their records every single year of their coaches careers. Its not linear...
 
I could see us going winless on the road in the B1G. This is that type of team. And if this team can lose to Lafayette at home, they’re not going to run the table at home in the B1G. Not a tourney team this year. Would have thought differently if we won last night.
 
Well, you may recall Purdue wasn't going to the NCAA's 2 years ago after we beat them at their place to end the season. And that was in Painter's 12 or 13th season. How can that be?? A rebuilding year in year 13??? Perposterous!! Fire that loser!! Lol
I just love guys who think all programs are supposedly improving their records every single year of their coaches careers. Its not linear...
The difference is future outlook. What makes you think we’ll be better next year or even 2 years from now for that matter?
 
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This is a game where basketball age and basketball experience won.

Seton Hall played 4 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 1 Sophomore in their 8 man, not sure how Seton Hall plays out with 6th, 5th, 4th, etc, and all that, but Seton Hall just seem to play like the older, more experienced team. Kadary Richmond saw a lot of time for Syracuse last year as the only Sophomore that played. Seton Hall has a lot of seen that done that players, and frankly we lack that in certain matchups like this, especially on the road.

Rutgers played 2 5th yr Geo, Gonzales-Agee, 2 4th yr Caleb, RHJ, 2 3rd yr Paul, Hyatt, 2yr Cliff, and Mag, Jones still feel like 1st year with Miller. One team knew how to play this game and 4 of our players had experience in a Rutgers-Seton Hall matchup, Paul only played 13 minutes and seemed overmatched in the blowout win, his first in 2019.

Their six, Cale, Rhoden, Richmond, Yetna, Samuel and Aiken played better than our 6, RHJ, Caleb, Cliff, Mag, Geo, and Hyatt.

*Edit* Pike has to find a way to get Jaden Jones going over the next 3 games to "find his game" in a 15-20 minutes capacity, so when RHJ struggles offensively that Jaden can pick up the slack in scoring. He is the future guy we need to replace RHJ after this year.
 
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The difference is future outlook. What makes you think we’ll be better next year or even 2 years from now for that matter?
Because Pike has found portal players like Akasi and Young. Yes he’s has misses too, but there’s not going to be perfection here.
 
Because Pike has found portal players like Akasi and Young. Yes he’s has misses too, but there’s not going to be perfection here.
6 of SHU’s 9 man rotation THIS YEAR are transfers. If you think pike lands 3-4 impact transfers this offseason when hes gotten just 2 in 6 years then you have a lot more optimistic view of his strategy than me
 
Agee minutes in first half killed us. He’s awful and such a team negative and was on court and primarily responsible for 14-0 hall run towards end of first half

Couldn’t come up with big stops down 6 several times in 2nd half

Too many second chances allowed.

Kudos to Caleb who was awesome.

Miller not playing in first half was not good move

Seton Hall better team for sure. They’re very well balanced and well coached.
Agee is so hot and cold. There is no middle ground.

It appeared that the players who have not played in this rivalry were overwhelmed. Mag looked so nervous.
 
ok will Harper score 30

if Hyatt and Jones are not even good enough to make a barely 6 man rotation then what does that say about Pikiell
Same thing it says about Pikiell bringing in Kiss and Duke 3-4 years ago.

Your point about Harper is precisely the reason the Purdue game didn’t change my thinking about this team. My takeaway was it was a nice win and my story was Mag possibly being an important piece of the future.
 
I will never accept losing to shoe, especially after we had pulled ahead of them the last couple of years. Willard brought in the transfers to build back better. Pike has not.
 
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I don’t know if Paul’s been spending too much time on social media seeing all the criticism he gets (mostly deserved), but something has gotten in his head. He was really bad last night. Coach gotta tell him: “Paul, just get out there and ball.” Hope for the kid’s sake w limited minutes he can turn this around.
 
Same thing it says about Pikiell bringing in Kiss and Duke 3-4 years ago.

Your point about Harper is precisely the reason the Purdue game didn’t change my thinking about this team. My takeaway was it was a nice win and my story was Mag possibly being an important piece of the future.

oh I agree with you there, I didnt shift too much on my opinion of the team, I think yes there is potential there but be careful, I am having a hard time envisioning a 10-10 mark in the Big 10 because I am yet to see any consistency from game to game in energy and from each player. One step forward then another back and away we go. What is interesting is the next 9 league games are very winnable games, these are all lower half schools which probably includes Michigan at home. Here is the problem you can bring energy at the RAC vs Purdue, but can you replicate at Penn State or at Northwestern.

RU won vs Clemson because they finally found their lunch pails, worked to close out the game and they were simply better than a team with similar abilities, that was a significant improvement. The abysmal performance at Illinois was hardly surprising given how little margin of error we have. The Purdue performance was grand but it was thread the needle. No not a total fluke but how the hell can you use the game as a blueprint to win games. From Pike's post game comments last night, I fear thats the plan, try to muck it up, hang around, grind it out and hope your star players get hot down the stretch. Thats kind of the stuff we did during Bannon and some Waters years. We need to get to the point where we are playing well from the get go and taking control. Last night we were setting pace and then melted down led by a bad lineup and all the usual mistakes cropped up and suddenly down 14 after the game was tied. I will give credit that this team didnt lay down and curl up, they could have done 2x, progress is being made but it might not be at the level we want. I see what Pike is trying to do and how to win games I just do not think he has the horses to do it.
 
We struggle against quicker guards and it showed again last night. In years past we did things to overcome this issue, this team hasn't been able to do that. The defense and rebounding are not making up for the offensive ineptitude.
 
I think the Purdue and Clemson have to be the blueprint. It also carries us forward to 2022-23 and beyond.

We have learned in Pike's 6 years to not count players out. Conversely the opposite holds true. With that being said I have a tough time envisioning the fit of Hyatt and Jones in the program. Especially considering we already have Baker, Paul and Ron who are all either low energy defensively or are severly lacking in the lateral quickness department.
 
I think the Purdue and Clemson have to be the blueprint. It also carries us forward to 2022-23 and beyond.

We have learned in Pike's 6 years to not count players out. Conversely the opposite holds true. With that being said I have a tough time envisioning the fit of Hyatt and Jones in the program. Especially considering we already have Baker, Paul and Ron who are all either low energy defensively or are severly lacking in the lateral quickness department.


then we will not win many games, eh? Playing to play it close, sounds like Bannon years except without the extreme likability that guys like Billet, Clark, and Hodgson brought to the program.
 
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The thread here is really awful, loaded with bad information and a strange lack of understanding what the word "matchup" means....matchup does not necessarily mean one team is drastically worse than another one or is not going to have a successful season.....

Some teams play a certain style of football or basketball and depending on who or how your opponent plays, dictates the tempo of the game or the result. This is not an indication of anything with RU, SHU is just built to play a 1 on 1 style of basketball that if you don't have great individual defenders, you will struggle.

I watched Nova vs Baylor earlier today and I don't care how many times you play a Top 10 Baylor roster, vs a Top 10 Nova roster, Baylor plays a style of defense, has a different level of athletic ability and is as well coached as anyone in the country on the defensive end.....

Villanova is a catch and shoot, slower methodical team, that counts on your opponent not having elite athletes and counts on your defensive lapses, to give up open shots. Baylor is well drilled and does not surrender any points, gives up very few offensive rebounds and smothered Nova....you can play that matchup 10 times and Baylor eats up Nova 10 times out of 10.

In RU, for football, Michigan actually won the B1G this year, by finally defeating Ohio State.....but how did RU fare vs the team that won the B1G and the team that finished 2nd in Ohio State??

Style and "how you matchup" dictates your results....RU and Michigan are more conservative styles and doesn't have dominant speed all over the field like Ohio State.

I could argue that RU will beat Michigan before ever or never ever beating Ohio State in football.....Ohio State plays a style that Schiano has literally no system, lacks the athletes at linebacker and in the secondary, to match up with 4WRs and explosive players....but is more than fine playing football "in the box", vs a Harbaugh team that likes to run, play action pass and play more conservative football.

In RU vs This years version if SHU, the matchup favors SHU....more athletes and at home, they're going to make tougher shots that they would not take or make on the road....doesn't mean SHU is 14 points better 10 out of 10 times, but if you have slower players who need to play half court (Mulcahy, Caleb are not speed players), you are going to struggle in this matchup....Add in Harper and the others on the roster for RU....it's not built for a speedy Illinois or a quicker, more mature athlete like SHU has this year.

If I rewind to 2019, SHU was significantly less athletic at the RAC, was not really versatile.....and relied solely on Myles Powell.....and when he was off his game, we saw the bloodbath of a result....add in the RAC and you could play that game 10 out of 10 times at the RAC, SHU is not winning that game in our building, with that roster in 2019......and factually, RU was significantly better than SHU last year, but that matchup and lack of a game, should not be lost in the larger picture....if RU played as it should have last year at SHU, I have RU winning that game and the series looks or feels a little different.

If this game was at the RAC and the SHU tough shots made are made consistently, then SHU will be a tough out.....I'm not sure just yet....I think it's more a lack of footspeed on this year's RU roster and just not the best matchup for this year's SHU team.

As we move into B1G play, are there teams as athletic and old as SHU.....?? Sure, we saw one in Illinois and will see others like that....

But there are more teams built like RU in the B1G and that's why I am not sure where RU is.....but I am not throwing in the towel, just because one matchup isn't ideal, especially off a huge win and you are on the road, with pieces not 100% and not healthy.

RU can clearly improve and needs to find roles for Jaden Jones and somehow either has to find success when Mulcahy has an even matchup, against opponents that are not solely 1 on 1 players like SHU.

Time for RU fans to see what we can do, by expanding the role for Jones, Hyatt.....we have something we can work with as a glue guy with Mag....there are pieces to work with.......

Probably best to see where RU improves in the next 2 weeks or so.....not sure I would throw in the towel just yet......Lot of basketball still to be played, sorted out.
Great analysis and perspective!
 
then we will not win many games, eh? Playing to play it close, sounds like Bannon years except without the extreme likability that guys like Billet, Clark, and Hodgson brought to the program.
We beat #1 playing defense 1st. What was the +/- of the starting 5? I understand every team isn’t Purdue that puts 3 ultra talented offensive players on the court and has 2 that aren’t tough to defend.
 
I think the Purdue and Clemson have to be the blueprint. It also carries us forward to 2022-23 and beyond.

We have learned in Pike's 6 years to not count players out. Conversely the opposite holds true. With that being said I have a tough time envisioning the fit of Hyatt and Jones in the program. Especially considering we already have Baker, Paul and Ron who are all either low energy defensively or are severly lacking in the lateral quickness department.
We also shot above our norms In the Clemson and Purdue games. Last night did have some fleeting moments where we matched the defensive intensity of those games as well. I think the bigger issue is our lack of an offense than defense. It's unreasonable to expect RHJ to score 30 a night, and nor have we recruited the puzzle pieces to total those same points consistently as a group.
 
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We beat #1 playing defense 1st. What was the +/- of the starting 5? I understand every team isn’t Purdue that puts 3 ultra talented offensive players on the court and has 2 that aren’t tough to defend.


is every game at the RAC...will they get up for teams not ranked? did we get Purdue's best? will Ron score 30? will we rely on a miracle shot from the leg of the R to win the game?
 
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B1G (1-1), 18 left

PSU(2) 2-3, H 1-1, R 1-2
*Purdue(1,R) won 4 straight*
*NW(1,R) won 5 of last 6*
Maryland(2) won 2 of last 3, H 1-1, R 1-0
Nebraska(2) 3-2 last 5, H2-0, R1-1, N0-1
*Minnesota(1,R) won 5 out of 6*
Illinois(1,H) 2-3 last 5, H2-0, R0-2, N0-1
*Indiana(1,R) won 6 of last 7*
Michigan(2) never beat 0-13
tOSU(1,H) 1-6 last 7
MSU(1,H) 1-11, won last home game
Wisconsin(2) 2-3, H2-1, R0-2
Iowa(1,H) 2-4, last 6, H1-2, R1-2

You have to see the bigger picture of B1G teams in categories that he wins, splits and rarely wins, not a "we suck and can't beat anyone" kind of argument. You see the teams Pikiell has good chance to win based on history against(4,4-0,3-1?), Purdue(1R left), NW(1R), Minn(1R), Indiana(1R). 50/50(9,6-3,3-6?) teams PSU(2), Maryland(2), Nebraska(2), Illinois(1H left), Wisc.(2), teams he struggled to win(5, 2-3,1-4?, he will win at least 1) Michigan(2), tOSU(1H), MSU(1H), Iowa(1H). The range of records I could see Pike winning as high as 12-6 to as low 7-11 or somewhere in between, most likely win the next 3 OOC games, 8-5. Potentially 15-16 to 20-11 as the ceiling if everything falls right and players develop roles and rotations, full strength for the B1G schedule.

The fortunate thing about the schedule is teams he knows how to coach against and has regularly beaten home or road, all road games, all the teams he has struggled against, he has 4 out of 5 games at home, very favorable to finish higher in the standings.
 
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We also shot above our norms In the Clemson and Purdue games. Last night did have some fleeting moments where we matched the defensive intensity of those games as well. I think the bigger issue is our lack of an offense than defense. It's unreasonable to expect RHJ to score 30 a night, and nor have we recruited the puzzle pieces to total those same points consistently as a group.
If we shot 50% from 3.....we win by 1 last night......

Your point is spot on.
 
is every game at the RAC...will they get up for teams not ranked? did we get Purdue's best? will Ron score 30? will we rely on a miracle shot from the leg of the R to win the game?
all but 9 of our games are at the RAC.

There is no right answer....unfortunately there may not be an answer.

Defense and rebounding is what Pike teams have done here. Changing a formula because of a bad year is a bad idea IMNHO. I think we need to keep the foundation in place and keep the standards for PT the same. I realize and understand that things aren't exactly equitable and there are double standards. I do find issue with that.
 
is every game at the RAC...will they get up for teams not ranked? did we get Purdue's best? will Ron score 30? will we rely on a miracle shot from the leg of the R to win the game?
Ron doesn’t have to score 30 every game but the elephant in the room is that Ron was 3 for 12, only had two rebounds and was torched repeatedly on D. Everyone is quick to jump on Paul but that was a really poor game by RHJ too. I know it’s hard after Purdue….
 
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Ron doesn’t have to score 30 every game but the elephant in the room is that Ron was 3 for 12, only had two rebounds and was torched repeatedly on D. Everyone is quick to jump on Paul but that was a really poor game by RHJ too. I know it’s hard after Purdue….
As Harper goes so does the Rutgers team which means wins at home and losses on the road.
 
IDK we can try to analyze it to death but from Harper and Geo on down we just are very inconsistent from game to game. Caleb is on a bit of run but it would not shock me if he has a 5/3 night next week. I guess we have too many bad match ups but at some point that must be an indictment of the talent level in the program. The conference may be down but it is clear we are contributing big time to that downward trend.
 
Feel bad for Mulcahy. He is a Rutgers guy through and through, but this is getting ugly. Clearly not a big 10 starter and likely maxed out with his limited role last season.
People were saying the same thing about Caleb McConnel following the UMass loss, showing complete disregard for the overall body of work. Now people are saying he's carrying the team.

Paul Mulcahy has had several outstanding games against Big 10 competition in his career and will continue to do so. No question he's in a slump right now but the last 3 years tells us he's going to be fine.
 
IDK we can try to analyze it to death but from Harper and Geo on down we just are very inconsistent from game to game. Caleb is on a bit of run but it would not shock me if he has a 5/3 night next week. I guess we have too many bad match ups but at some point that must be an indictment of the talent level in the program. The conference may be down but it is clear we are contributing big time to that downward trend.
Have you watched much of the Big 10 this year. Several teams are way down and with the exception of some elite players , Davis at Wisconsin, Murray at Iowa , Lidell at Ohio State , that are wing players mostly except Lidell is expanding his range to 15-20 feet and is more of a 3-4 than a center but can play there , plus Kofi, JTD , Williams and Dickerson at the center position , there are no players that are close to elite. Ron and Geo are in the next category but need to find consistentcy as the year progresses. The rebounding , effort and intensity will determine who is successful. This year is nothing like the last 2-3 years in the Big 10 where was arguably the best conference in the country.
 
People were saying the same thing about Caleb McConnel following the UMass loss, showing complete disregard for the overall body of work. Now people are saying he's carrying the team.

Paul Mulcahy has had several outstanding games against Big 10 competition in his career and will continue to do so. No question he's in a slump right now but the last 3 years tells us he's going to be fine.

I agree to an extend. Unfortunately, pike went all in on Paul being the starting point guard this season and playing 30 minutes a game. Looks like he should assume that 7th man role again and 15ish minutes.
 
People were saying the same thing about Caleb McConnel following the UMass loss, showing complete disregard for the overall body of work. Now people are saying he's carrying the team.

Paul Mulcahy has had several outstanding games against Big 10 competition in his career and will continue to do so. No question he's in a slump right now but the last 3 years tells us he's going to be fine.


the problem is that we are at the point where we cannot afford funks from players if we want to have any goals for the season. One player gets fixed, another goes into a funk, then another player gets fixed, someone else goes AWOL. The players do not seem to be on the same page and thats an issue and Pike has a difficult job figuring out rotations and identifying rolls for players. The horrible performance by the starters mainly Paul, Caleb and Geo in the early season games really set the development of the bench back enormously
 
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