GAME 12 Lafayette : Pouncing the Leopards

[bac2therac]

Overall not much to say. This was a great way to go into Christmas. The team came out with the right focus and emotions which snuffed out any chance that Lafayette could compete in this game. Game was effectively over 7 or 8 minutes in the game where the lead was at two touchdowns. After some early season games had RU coming out really slow, the last 3 RU has knocked their opponents in the teeth setting the tone and sending the message that this our home court and we are going to kick your ass. In all 3 games RU was able to show that strong defense was going to be the blueprint for winning each game. Coach Pikiell has done a great job this stretch with focus, energy, reliance on D and letting the team push the tempo on offense and attacking the basket.

I think Geo Baker set the tone early this game. He is our mainstay, gave RU early points and I think it just sets a leadership tone for others to be called on and to step up. If Geo is aggressive and successful early it makes the opponent pay more attention to him which is going to open up opportunities for others. We started to get the ball to Myles and he dominated and then subs came in and just continued the success of the first teamers. Paul Mulcahy particularly had his best game as a Knight. This was the type of opponent he could get more comfortable. Such great court vision with his passing but it was also nice to see some fearless offensive touches. His rapport with Myles is becoming noticable. 5 assists, 4 steals, 5-6 shooting on 10 minutes in I believe a career in points and minutes at 10 and 25. Better and better each game and cannot wait until he has progressed enough to take over the point guard opportunity full time and do. Mulcahy had a key stretch where he had 2 steals, 2 back to back buckets and then 3 straight assists to Myles. This was a pleasure to watch and his play today was THE biggest takeaway and positive for me.

Myles was simply a monster.....18 points, 14 boards, career night, 9-11 shooting, 2 blocks and it was all in 24 minutes. An incredibly efficient day for him is an understatement. Lafayette was a perfect team for him to just physically dominate. When Myles takes that next step up and can succeed offensively vs the Georgies and Garzas of the world the program will be at another level. That process is happening now but not there yet, let us see it, I have no doubt though its coming.

If you told me that Mathis, Yeboah and Harper would go a combined 3-18 for just 8 points, I would probably say that RU would have lost this game...that they won easily by 19 and could have won by 30 with these guys having such subpar games really shows that after years of RU being limited offensively in terms of options, things are starting to change. Its not to say its good that these guys struggled vs a team that they shouldnt but I am going to give them a pass for a game like this. I think what trips Mathis up is that he sometimes gets in the habit of trying to do too much and that will get his minutes cut. Ron just wasnt on all game but we know what he can do. Yeboah just was off from the get go with his shot and then there were some other questionable shots and decisions. I think he and RU in general make too many ill advised offensive moves with the elbow that get called for fouls.

I think in the game thread, we all were picking out some negatives because RU was just playing so well overall. It was nitpicking but to me illustrates that RU has really improved in many key areas and is now getting close to being a really good team. I dont think it was that big of a deal that the game closed on a 23-10 Lafayette run, only 10 points in the last 11 minutes and in the first half a struggle toward the end of the half with no scoring for the last 5 minutes. Thats about a 15 minute out of 40 a dry spell. Alot of that has to do with losing focus after being up by so much, I see a bit of showboating trying to creep in and I see some players taking some selfish shots especially from longer range. I think that stuff can be cleaned up going forward but we really need to talk about Young. With him in the game our offense consistenly malfunctions, either by some poor decisions by him...be it a full court drive airball or a why did you take that 3 early in the shot clock . I am beginning to see a pattern developing and also somewhat concerned of the substitution pattern which has Mulcahy and Young in at the same time. Not sure that is the most efficient lineup to see. Young 4 points, 0 assists and 4 turnovers in 17 minutes vs Lafayette is not what was anticipated coming into the season. With Caleb being his steady self and Mulcahy getting more comfortable and succeeding, I think the Young situation will take care of itself eventually

So take this very good win. An easy relaxing type for the fan and we know from Hartford and Stoney Brook and Fordham that these games can swing the other way and we have also seen other programs around the country and in the Big 10 slip up against the perceived weaker opponents on the schedule. I think we are beginning to see what kind of team we have, we are seeing our strengths start to develop in front of our eyes and we are seeing what the weaknesses are. RU is heading into the 2020 part of the Big 10 schedule in a good spot and defending the home court of the RAC in an intimidating and pouncing fashion

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

DEFENSE
DEFENSE
OFFENSE vs. man was actually pretty bad

The intensity we came out with defensively was off the charts. Big credit to the players, coaches and especially Geo who had Jaws.

LOVED LOVED LOVED seeing Paul throw himself on the floor to get a loose ball.

This is the way I want my team to play basketball.

 

[Knight Shift]

.

 

[seels2662]

As always great job Bac.

You always talk about taking the next step, the next step is to win Nebraska/PSU. It will show we can finally win on the road and then take care of our home court in what will be a quad 1 win. Take that step and all of a sudden there will be a definitive path to the postseason.

 

[bac2therac]

As always great job Bac.

You always talk about taking the next step, the next step is to win Nebraska/PSU. It will show we can finally win on the road and then take care of our home court in what will be a quad 1 win. Take that step and all of a sudden there will be a definitive path to the postseason.

That's a good point. Rutgers is looking great at home but in the 3 road games against various levels of competition we were subpar. Getting off to these strong starts is a good habit hopefully this translates away from home

 

[nukem]

Overall not much to say.

I'd hate to see when you have a lot to say.

 

[BillyC80]

Great recap bac, nice job and well written as usual.

Regarding winning on the road, it seems as though our D has found a formula with guys knowing their roles and switches, etc., and as they say, defense travels well, so hopefully that means we keep things tight and find a way to steal a couple away games.

 

[Groz]

Great recap again Bac. We can write all we want, but our rest of the season will be decided by playing tough defense every game. If we can continue to play it game in and game out, we will be successful even when our offense sputters some.

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[richthedentist]

I think the bigger problem with the minutes Young is getting is he is taking minutes away from Caleb McConnell and he is by far our best shooter and I would actually like to see him shoot more

 

[BillyC80]

DEFENSE
DEFENSE
OFFENSE vs. man was actually pretty bad

The intensity we came out with defensively was off the charts. Big credit to the players, coaches and especially Geo who had Jaws.

LOVED LOVED LOVED seeing Paul throw himself on the floor to get a loose ball.

This is the way I want my team to play basketball.

Glad you mentioned that floor dive by Paul. Hustle like that (and a couple by Caleb too) are catalyst plays that will energize the team in key spots this year. Paul has a tremendous attitude imo, always focused, always active and alert. As the game continues to slow down for him, his contribution will soar.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Nice job as usual, bac, you hit on all the right notes, except I think McConnell deserves a mention. He only had 6 points, but it was on three very nice (and important, in the flow of the game) buckets. He really has such a nice mid-range game. Now Pike needs to run some plays to get him some looks from 3-point range.

Myles “Muttonchops” Johnson was an absolute BEAST today.

 

[RU848789]

Nice recap - was mind boggling to see so much criticism in the game thread when we destroyed a decent Lafayette team, especially defensively, suffocating their offense into countless bad shots and not giving up any rebounds, on our way to a 17-0 start with them not scoring until almost 9 minutes in! That's the story of this game, not some turnovers or occasional poor shooting or losing some defensive and offensive focus after being up 30 points. Great win. Most excited I've been for conference play since the Waters Era.

 

[jonS]

Fine summary of the game but I thought Rutgers engaged in too much showboating during the game. The Jordan years weren't so long ago that Rutgers should have forgotten that you don't disrespect your opponent. Granted they got off to a 17-0 run and the game was never in doubt but at times their defense became lackadaisical and their offense undisciplined.

 

[Upstream]

Fine summary of the game but I thought Rutgers engaged in too much showboating during the game. The Jordan years weren't so long ago that Rutgers should have forgotten that you don't disrespect your opponent. Granted they got off to a 17-0 run and the game was never in doubt but at times their defense became lackadaisical and their offense undisciplined.

I don't think you can say that Rutgers disrespected the opponent when the team came out energized and playing hard defense, pretty much the same as we came out versus Seton Hall or Wisconsin.

Once we got a huge lead, the team eased up the pressure. That's something that has to be worked on. But I think that has to do with the size of the lead, not with disrespecting the opponent.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

It's another great summary where the only thing left out, was the high amount of experimenting done for extended stretches.

The one I would highlight that was done, was Mathis inbounded the ball to Baker in the backcourt and Mathis brought the ball up the court to initially start the offense. Granted it was the 2nd half of a blowout game, but for those critical of Jacob Young, if you have Mathis doing this and he's capable of doing so, you can cut down Young's minutes.

The other possessions in the 2nd half had Mulcahy in that spot, looking to slow things down and get something organized.

I am not advocating burying a talented defender like Young, when we play so many talented guards in the B1G, but if I had to hitch my wagons to Mathis and Mulcahy, I know one can be dominant at times on defense (Mathis) and one can ultimately find open players (Mulcahy).

If Mulcahy stays aggressive and takes shots, you ultimately don't need Young's defense being offset by turnovers. It's also another opportunity to find another 8 minutes for McConnell for the minutes Young seemingly doesn't understand why a stop on defense is great, as long as you don't turn it over on the other end.

Playing against Cam Ward at Nebraska twice in January, Phinisee from Indiana, Frazier from Illinois and Myles Dredd and others from PSU, requires little to no missed assignments giving up open 3s.....if Mathis, Mulcahy and McConnell can lock in on defense, there's no real reason to play Young with 3 to 4 turnovers a game.

Mulcahy and his defense is the key....we do need to get easy baskets in transition but I don't know if we will get those in B1G games, to risk Young playing a ton of minutes....Those turnovers in B1G games where you are looking at 1 or 2 possessions being the difference will be important.

 

[RUJMM78]

Fine summary of the game but I thought Rutgers engaged in too much showboating during the game. The Jordan years weren't so long ago that Rutgers should have forgotten that you don't disrespect your opponent. Granted they got off to a 17-0 run and the game was never in doubt but at times their defense became lackadaisical and their offense undisciplined.

Showboating is only good when you make the dunk.Rutgers needs work on finishing fast breaks because they should be easy baskets.

 

[RUinOhio]

Mulcahy looked great...he can be pass first, but it's important he look for his shot more, like he did yesterday.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

When you are worried about your backup catcher or your team showboats too much it is highly likely your team is decent.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We have played 4 games against P5 teams. Those are really the only relevant games to determining the minutes between Young and Mulcahy.

Mulcahy has had 24 assists to 6 turnovers in non P5 games and 5 to 4 in P5 games.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

If you want to get negative about yesterday's game

1. 63 points in 71 offensive possessions against Lafayette which bart has rated #268th on defense. If you look at only the possessions where they played man it was real bad

2. Lafayette is rated 339th in causing TOs yet we had 18

3. 1 for 9 from 3.

4. 40% from the field when you take Myles out of the equation. Yeboah 1-9

5. We scored only 6 fastbreak points

6. Backup center....Shaq Carter had to be replaced by Duke at one point in the game because of 2 straight defensive lapses

7. We made only 2 FTs all game

Thank goodness our D was incredible. That had to have been the best I have ever seen us play defense in a OOC game

 

[zebnatto]

I think Caleb’s and Paul’s minutes and place in the rotation will and should be moving up at the expense of Montez and Jacob. I think Geo and Myles (and likely Ron) are the given starters with the rest up for grabs.

 

[bac2therac]

If you want to get negative about yesterday's game

1. 63 points in 71 offensive possessions against Lafayette which bart has rated #268th on defense. If you look at only the possessions where they played man it was real bad

2. Lafayette is rated 339th in causing TOs yet we had 18

3. 1 for 9 from 3.

4. 40% from the field when you take Myles out of the equation. Yeboah 1-9

5. We scored only 6 fastbreak points

6. Backup center....Shaq Carter had to be replaced by Duke at one point in the game because of 2 straight defensive lapses

7. We made only 2 FTs all game

Thank goodness our D was incredible. That had to have been the best I have ever seen us play defense in a OOC game

when you go up 17-0 and then later by 32, stuff like this doesnt matter much, you just want to fast foward to the end. The biggest takeway is Lafayette was snuffed out within minutes, that is enough for every fan to takeaway from this game. The game was over 5 minutes into it.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

when you go up 17-0 and then later by 32, stuff like this doesnt matter much, you just want to fast foward to the end. The biggest takeway is Lafayette was snuffed out within minutes, that is enough for every fan to takeaway from this game. The game was over 5 minutes into it.

It doesn't matter until you have a 17 point lead at home against Iowa and then lose because of empty offensive possessions.

It doesn't matter until you are in the meat of your B1G schedule and despite playing hard and being good on D you end up with a 6-14 record because you just aren't a very good offensive team.

With every game things have been emerging. A lot of the perceived issues we/I had preseason don't appear to be problems, but underlying everything is the fact that we haven't been all that good all year offensively.

Numbers and eyeballs are matching up (think I am taking that from NJH)

Offense we are ranked 101st (bart numbers)
Defense we are ranked 12th

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Rutgers scored .892 points per possession yesterday (raw numbers)

That is the fewest points per possession this year for Lafayette

Their schedule has been attrocious too.

We have cracked the magical 1 point per possession only 5 out of 12 games. We have had a very weak schedule too.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

I think Caleb’s and Paul’s minutes and place in the rotation will and should be moving up at the expense of Montez and Jacob. I think Geo and Myles (and likely Ron) are the given starters with the rest up for grabs.

Those minutes for Caleb and Paul may have already begun since they each played more than Mathis and Young (though by very little). And don't forget Yeboah. We haven't lost a game since he started.

 

[BillyC80]

Rutgers scored .892 points per possession yesterday (raw numbers)

That is the fewest points per possession this year for Lafayette

Their schedule has been attrocious too.

We have cracked the magical 1 point per possession only 5 out of 12 games. We have had a very weak schedule too.

How much is that stat affected by turnovers? We turned the ball over 18 times. Can’t score on a possession if you don’t get a shot up. Suppose we had 5 fewer turnovers and scored on 2 of those possessions? I say this because we played too loose with the ball once we had a 20+ lead.

 

[RUDead]

The defense has been outstanding for the last couple of weeks. Offense better than last year and trending the right way. This is what i hoped for this season. Keep it up!

 

[littlenis5]

To GRFIGs point #7, I’m less concerned about Young being replaced when the going gets tough than what happens when Myles sits in conference play. Shaq Carter looks terrible defensively and watching Doucore it’s tough to believe he actually was a contributor two years ago at all. It turns out that we miss Eugene most as someone who could’ve played 10 backup center minutes a game.

need to see if we can trot out a super small lineup at times and get away with it.

 

[RUChoppin]

To GRFIGs point #7, I’m less concerned about Young being replaced when the going gets tough than what happens when Myles sits in conference play. Shaq Carter looks terrible defensively and watching Doucore it’s tough to believe he actually was a contributor two years ago at all. It turns out that we miss Eugene most as someone who could’ve played 10 backup center minutes a game.

need to see if we can trot out a super small lineup at times and get away with it.

Carter has looked better defensively this year than last, imo. He's definitel a step down from Johnson, but we'll be fine unless foul trouble forces him to contribute starter minutes.

 

[bac2therac]

It doesn't matter until you have a 17 point lead at home against Iowa and then lose because of empty offensive possessions.

It doesn't matter until you are in the meat of your B1G schedule and despite playing hard and being good on D you end up with a 6-14 record because you just aren't a very good offensive team.

With every game things have been emerging. A lot of the perceived issues we/I had preseason don't appear to be problems, but underlying everything is the fact that we haven't been all that good all year offensively.

Numbers and eyeballs are matching up (think I am taking that from NJH)

Offense we are ranked 101st (bart numbers)
Defense we are ranked 12th

they werent playing Iowa, there was no sense in trying to win by 50 yesterday. Pike could have kept all the starters in and Baker could have had 30 and Myles 40 and RU win 100-50 but what would be the point

i have no purpose for statistics other than win/losses, sos and net ranking. I dont care about Bart or Kenpom or efficiency or anything like that.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

1st half 33 points in 34 possessions.

If someone were to tell me before the season started....Rutgers would be ranked 30th in bartovik with a victory aganst Wisconsin and a blowout win against Seton Hall I'd believe them...........

BUT if they went on to say we'd be ranked 12th defensively and 100 something offensively I would think my leg was being pulled.

We MUST improve offensively. There will be teams we just won't be as good defensively against and we will have to score.

 

[goru7]

1st half 33 points in 34 possessions.

If someone were to tell me before the season started....Rutgers would be ranked 30th in bartovik with a victory aganst Wisconsin and a blowout win against Seton Hall I'd believe them...........

BUT if they went on to say we'd be ranked 12th defensively and 100 something offensively I would think my leg was being pulled.

We MUST improve offensively. There will be teams we just won't be as good defensively against and we will have to score.

Greene, the turnovers pissed me off more than anything, but that was about it. Harper checked out after he hit that first three and Akwasi could not hit open shots yesterday and we were still up 32. Think about that for a second and we didn’t go to the line. At one point late in the first half we were shooting 75% from 2 point range and for 33 minutes we were still shooting 66.66 % from 2. That is a tremendous improvement in offense. On top of that we actually got some pick and roll stuff to work with Geo and Paul and Myles for dunks , which I have been clamoring for . I still want Myles getting the ball on the block and playing inside out , but finally the guards are getting Myles the ball, and he is flushing it. You just have to be excited about it. You also have to love how Paul at the high post is getting our guys great looks and having 5 assists and no turnovers is pretty damn good for a freshman we are not asking to do too much. Geo started aggressive early and also was not needed yesterday . So sit back and let this thought hit your head that we were up 30 midway through the second half without Ron, Geo or Akwasi being impactful. The other team hitting a few late threes was just fluff. We would have kicked Iowa’s ass all the way back to Des Moines with the way we played defense and came out ready to play . If you do not like 9-0, 14-0, and 17-0 to start games , then I do not know how you cannot see it. By the way , go look up when the last time we did that against 3 decent teams. I will wait for your Answer.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I am talking about the offense. The defense has been off the charts. We won’t go anywhere if we don’t improve offensively.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We are 312th in the amount of 3s taken (30.3% of shots)
We are 308th in 3 pt % at 28.6%
We are 237th in TO % at 20.5% of possessions
We are 300th in fT % at 65.2%

On a positive note
41st in 2 pt FG % at 54.4%
36th in OREB % at 34.4%

Defense we are doing everything good except FT defense. Opp shooting close to 70% :WideSmile:

 

[bac2therac]

we arent going to win the national championship

 

[goru7]

We are 312th in the amount of 3s taken (30.3% of shots)
We are 308th in 3 pt % at 28.6%
We are 237th in TO % at 20.5% of possessions
We are 300th in fT % at 65.2%

On a positive note
41st in 2 pt FG % at 54.4%
36th in OREB % at 34.4%

Defense we are doing everything good except FT defense. Opp shooting close to 70% :WideSmile:

I didn’t think , I would say this in this day and age where three point shooting is the rage and usually absolutely necessary, but we can win this year being a good to great 2 point shooting team. Geo , Caleb and Akwasi and Ron have great mid range accuracy and all can get off their shot pretty easily . With the way we offensive rebound and have been playing defense , that is a winning formula against anyone. We just cannot have one of those games that the other team hits 10 of them. If we hit between 4-7 a game , with the mid range game , we win most games. Now we have guys that should be consistent 75 % foul shooters , like Geo, Akwasi, Caleb, Ron and even Jacob , but that has alluded us so far , and I really do not know why.

 

[BillyC80]

we arent going to win the national championship

Not the way we defend free throws.

 

[Rhuarc]

When Mulcahy feeds Johnson on the baseline it's a thing of beauty. 3 times, 3 scores. We need to see that about 50 times a game.

 

[rubaseball78]

We are 312th in the amount of 3s taken (30.3% of shots)
We are 308th in 3 pt % at 28.6%
We are 237th in TO % at 20.5% of possessions
We are 300th in fT % at 65.2%

On a positive note
41st in 2 pt FG % at 54.4%
36th in OREB % at 34.4%

Defense we are doing everything good except FT defense. Opp shooting close to 70% :WideSmile:

Probably because we are worried about the in the offensive players cylinder call. :Wink:

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

When Mulcahy feeds Johnson on the baseline it's a thing of beauty. 3 times, 3 scores. We need to see that about 50 times a game.

That is because they played a few possessions of zone.