Final score 77-63 not indictive of what a truly embarrassing beatdown today was for the program exposing it for where it stands right now. But we have all seen this coming right. I was shocked the spread on this game was only 3. The way this team was coming into the game didnt give me great confidence about today. Make no mistake about it, Pike had this team doing great things early in the season and certainly it was reasonable for the fans to feel optimistic about progression going forward. RU won on the road at Miami and then followed it up with competitive close losses to Michigan State and Wisconsin. Reasonable expectations from those games and the level of performance would be that RU would be overmatched most games but would find ways to win their share. But the last month has just been one mess of a basketball team. Spiral started at Fordham and continued right through being handled by SHU (late comeback aside) and just some funky showings against dregs like Columbia, Brown and Maine. Those reasonable expectations have dissipated. We tried to reason our way out of it but its quite apparent. The last 6 games have brutal for the team and its safe to say unfortunately what you are seeing is what you are going to get. Today the team put up about 10 minutes of solid play and then folded like a wet chalupa. Yes this team is truly as bad as it looked for much of the game today. Rutgers has been exposed and the challenge is where to go from here.
Montez Mathis like in the Maine game continues to be the best player with the most upside and potential going forward. He seems to be one of the only ones with enough confidence and IQ right now. 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists in 29 minutes getting the starting nod. Huge huge huge folks. I think he has solidified his spot as a starter and going forward Mathis must now become more of a focal point in the offense. It is clear that some other options like Kiss/Thiam have disappeared as those options and Harper is still behind. Mathis is the future, a bright spot we can rally around. Shows that Pike can recruit and he will have to recruit more Mathis. I dont expect perfection from him, he still misses some he should make at times but that is part of the learning process. More Mathis, less of some others going forward.
So where else do we go....well unfortunately reality is what it is. RU will get 2-4 league wins this years...and there is a decent possibility that Pikiell could be 9-21 in his third year. Pikiell will not be judged on wins and losses YET...given the moribundity of the program he inherited. However year 4 the gloves will be off. He will have to have this program reaching 500 or above, he will have to land a big 2020 recruiting class to replace all too many the complimentary players on this current team. Every coaching rebuild hits a crossroad point where the fans will know if the program is going in the right direction. In football, Ash's implosion this year was pretty much proof he is failure here and he basically lost the fanbase. Pikiell certainly gets more leeway considering the shitshow the hoops program has been in. Still he is getting near that point..its going to come in the offseason with recruiting and results wise next year. Key for him is can he keep positive vibes about the program going in the offseason off a 9-21 season..that will be tough. Can he somehow reverse this teams fortunes and get 5-6 league wins where we look at this Maryland game as an aberration. While I have faith in Pikiell his job becomes harder after a month like this team has had. It is clear that the coaching staff never anticipated that Thiam and Kiss would be so insignficant and that Baker would go into a funk. When 3 players you count on for points are struggling to do anything right well then how can you expect any wins.
So this year while not as big for wins/losses is going to have an impact on the leash Pikiell gets from fans going forward. No he isnt on any hot seats but this is a critical time for him and his players for development and in practice and for goals. We may not see it on the court but its something that internally the staff and program have to be working on and asking themselves. Just where are we headed and how do we keep it moving forward rather than have it crater backward. The goodwill is still there with Pike but it will not be there forever. You have to continue to move forward while that door is still ajar.
Montez Mathis like in the Maine game continues to be the best player with the most upside and potential going forward. He seems to be one of the only ones with enough confidence and IQ right now. 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists in 29 minutes getting the starting nod. Huge huge huge folks. I think he has solidified his spot as a starter and going forward Mathis must now become more of a focal point in the offense. It is clear that some other options like Kiss/Thiam have disappeared as those options and Harper is still behind. Mathis is the future, a bright spot we can rally around. Shows that Pike can recruit and he will have to recruit more Mathis. I dont expect perfection from him, he still misses some he should make at times but that is part of the learning process. More Mathis, less of some others going forward.
So where else do we go....well unfortunately reality is what it is. RU will get 2-4 league wins this years...and there is a decent possibility that Pikiell could be 9-21 in his third year. Pikiell will not be judged on wins and losses YET...given the moribundity of the program he inherited. However year 4 the gloves will be off. He will have to have this program reaching 500 or above, he will have to land a big 2020 recruiting class to replace all too many the complimentary players on this current team. Every coaching rebuild hits a crossroad point where the fans will know if the program is going in the right direction. In football, Ash's implosion this year was pretty much proof he is failure here and he basically lost the fanbase. Pikiell certainly gets more leeway considering the shitshow the hoops program has been in. Still he is getting near that point..its going to come in the offseason with recruiting and results wise next year. Key for him is can he keep positive vibes about the program going in the offseason off a 9-21 season..that will be tough. Can he somehow reverse this teams fortunes and get 5-6 league wins where we look at this Maryland game as an aberration. While I have faith in Pikiell his job becomes harder after a month like this team has had. It is clear that the coaching staff never anticipated that Thiam and Kiss would be so insignficant and that Baker would go into a funk. When 3 players you count on for points are struggling to do anything right well then how can you expect any wins.
So this year while not as big for wins/losses is going to have an impact on the leash Pikiell gets from fans going forward. No he isnt on any hot seats but this is a critical time for him and his players for development and in practice and for goals. We may not see it on the court but its something that internally the staff and program have to be working on and asking themselves. Just where are we headed and how do we keep it moving forward rather than have it crater backward. The goodwill is still there with Pike but it will not be there forever. You have to continue to move forward while that door is still ajar.
