Game 14: Stony Brook rant

[bac2therac]

First, congrats to Stony Brook, they deserved it. They outplayed, outclassed, outcoached RU tonight and the plays at throughout showed they truly wanted it more. This game could have gone into twelve overtimes and Stony Brook would have won each time. RU had about a dozen chances to close this one out but said here we do not want it, you have it. How on earth can you lose a game when you have a 5 point lead WITH POSSESSION after a Stony Brook walk with only 12 seconds left.Thats simply brutal and is on both the coaches and the staff for just lack of maturity,awareness, and preperation.

This is a body blow not just a WTF game. The only positives to take is that perhaps the players egos that seemed to ballooned have deflated back to reality. Everyone knew that there would be a letdown against SHU, thats predictable. Still it would only take a few plays here or there to close out the game and go home winner. Seriously it would have just one inbounds somewhere..one stop, one something. RU was simply atrocious in every catagory except surprisingly 3 point shooting,.

It was a tale of two halves. I actually thought RU played pretty solid D in the first half but once again its ineptitude on offense showed and basically everyone took the half off offensively save for Freeman,. Sanders was particularly bad and you cannot have that as your junior leader, you just cannot. That set the tone. RU allowed Stony Brook back in after opening an 8 point lead...crucial because from there on it was a nip tuck game that made everyone nervous and we all know the longer you keep an inferior team in the game they become extremely dangerous.

RU shot pretty good in the 2nd half...I think 19-31....thats pretty good for them but it didnt matter because the bread and butter on the defensive end wasnt there. Outrebounded by the Seawolves by 8, this was one of the worst defensive efforts I have seen by RU in a half. Open shots galore from the perimeter and getting inside with absolute ease....no help defense in the paint. Eugene had a particularly frightening game. RU was a step too slow and it just seemed like they were trading baskets, everytime RU needed a stop they ended up giving up a 2nd shot or a 3 or a layup plus the foul. Just incredible bad. And as bad as the player were executing defense, the coaching staff just did not seem to be prepared or instructed the players on how to handle the SB offense which by the way looked way more fluid than the RU clunky offense.

I have beat home the mantra of this team has to play will full effort because of the SLIM MARGIN OF ERROR...i beat it home during the cupcake games, I beat it home when they took off for stretches at a time vs Bumbleebee University where 22 point leads turn into 11 points leads in 90 seconds. This game was a microcosm of all the little negatives one could find from the earlier season non conference games. If you do not bring it against better competition, you will lose and that they did in stunning meltdown fashion

I really didnt know what to think after the SHU game of where this team was. I think NCAA talk was way premature given our limitations. Also the test of how to handle being the hunted...this was really the first game where RU enters with the rep and props and the other team is looking to gain respect, usually its the other way. RU just not there yet...thats why expectations need to simmer down. Is this team ready to put strings of wins together against Big 10 teams. I do not know that yet. Not enough information. A game like tonight says slow down the horses, we are improved but we are not there yet. Mental game and maturity need work. I had RU 10-4 at this point and they are exactly where they are. I still think that 6-12 in league 17-14 is a reasonable goal right now and I would sign on for that today just like I said earlier this year. You cannot pencil RU in for any wins in league, just as besides a few games pencil them in as losses but again one thing is clear the team cannot win in league if they are not giving that full effort in rebounding and defense

Saw some posts calling people upset tonight negative...well hello sure we are going to be negative. Tonight was extremely frustrating for a fanbase who tasted a big win on Saturday and then was served a steaming turd in the next game. When you do that you get the typical Same Old Rutgers thrown at us because until they break the cycle, thats what it is. Tonight not the end of the world but a major body blow to perhaps post season for the NIT and yeah thats why it matters. Every school has WTF losses, some like Cuse and PSU did tonight, Indiana the other night and every Big 10 school in our vicinity has at least one. Still to do it with the ball and a 5 point lead and 12 seconds left is a bitter reality check so excuse the venting. Disappointed in the players tonight, disappointed in the coaching staff so lets see what they learn from this. Fans were ready to cheer if they had anything to...big crowd tonight too surprised me.

 

[RocktheRac]

Playing Stony Brook was a requirement when a coach has a contract extension and leaves. This was a 2 game requirement so we will never see Stony Brook on the floor again regular season

 

[bac2therac]

you say that but someone said a 5 year deal...Ill try to find it

 

[ColonelRutgers]

you say that but someone said a 5 year deal...Ill try to find it

Home and home, it's done.

 

[bac2therac]

perhaps I am confusing it with Fordham..hopefully I am, in fact I am thinking I am..its Rose Hill we are at next year...third game of 5 year deal

 

[RocktheRac]

Joe Boylan explained on post game.

 

[read option]

Losing tonight to a 4-8 mid major after beating a Top 20 in-state rival is just classic Rutgers. No school in the universe knows how to let the air out of the balloon and fast like RU. Need to beat Hartford and Wisconsin is still a big game, but to lose this one tonight is why RU just doesn’t get the average NJ basketball fan to really invest emotion into the program. You beat SHU and it’s all pats on the back and dreams of bigger things this season. You lose your worst game of the season in literally the next game and the excitement that was starting to build comes to a halt now until we win another big game (like Wisconsin). Disappointing that anyone could see this coming (as our coaching staff and players should have) and we allowed it to happen. Very, very frustrating result tonight.

 

[bac2therac]

Wisconsin is big because if they dont beat them they are looking at 0-5 to start league play, RU isnt winning at Purdue or Michigan State so yeah its almost a must win. And as bad as they are struggling they can easily turn it on and beat RU even at the RAC. Not sure their style is what we want either.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Fordham I believe is a 5 year contract.

The roster is still 8 players in length or maybe 9....the reality is every team in the conference has multiple Top 100 players at every level, whether it's upperclassmen or underclassmen....when you are playing with just a few pieces, you need max effort at every level PLUS you can't be bad from the FT line.

The plus side is you don't have to worry about any more Stony Brooks next year.......the down side is the B1G goes to 20 conference games vs 18, so as much as 8 players should spring an occasional upset, the longer term rebuild requires your roster have 10-12 serviceable players you can go to and right now, it's just not there for the staff.

RU is in a spot where you can skate by this year, playing 9 players for the most part, but it's going to take a full learning curve next year with a couple of freshmen, Shaq Carter and Peter Kiss.....why am I talking about 2018-19 and 2019-20, in the Stony Brook thread...??

It's as simple of watching now almost 6 weeks of college basketball and probably watching each B1G team at least 5 times on TV.....every roster has either more talent and skill, more size, more strength or more depth.....As much as I'm thrilled to have Geo Baker, part of me is wondering how Baker can look so solid, but we need 5 more of him and/or better at all positions....

As much as fans are upset about tonight and are some still giddy over last Saturday, the longer term goals remain the same....how does the staff solve the last 1 or potentially 2 or 3 recruiting spots after this season.....and can the staff find a Top 5-7 rotational player or two if an when spots open.

There is no "typical" RU, when you carry the least amount of depth and talent in the league....I know it's not going to be popular, but recruiting is ultimately the problem solver and it's not about Stony Brook....the program is going to get better or show improvement over the 16 remaining league games.....and the 20 league games next season....

Add talent, add depth, continue to build and develop the talent, win some along the way, take a couple of lumps, get better and stronger with some steps forward, get knocked down, bounce back, keep recruiting.....rinse and repeat and enjoy the climb....!!

 

[richthedentist]

Fordham I believe is a 5 year contract.

The roster is still 8 players in length or maybe 9....the reality is every team in the conference has multiple Top 100 players at every level, whether it's upperclassmen or underclassmen....when you are playing with just a few pieces, you need max effort at every level PLUS you can't be bad from the FT line.

The plus side is you don't have to worry about any more Stony Brooks next year.......the down side is the B1G goes to 20 conference games vs 18, so as much as 8 players should spring an occasional upset, the longer term rebuild requires your roster have 10-12 serviceable players you can go to and right now, it's just not there for the staff.

RU is in a spot where you can skate by this year, playing 9 players for the most part, but it's going to take a full learning curve next year with a couple of freshmen, Shaq Carter and Peter Kiss.....why am I talking about 2018-19 and 2019-20, in the Stony Brook thread...??

It's as simple of watching now almost 6 weeks of college basketball and probably watching each B1G team at least 5 times on TV.....every roster has either more talent and skill, more size, more strength or more depth.....As much as I'm thrilled to have Geo Baker, part of me is wondering how Baker can look so solid, but we need 5 more of him and/or better at all positions....

As much as fans are upset about tonight and are some still giddy over last Saturday, the longer term goals remain the same....how does the staff solve the last 1 or potentially 2 or 3 recruiting spots after this season.....and can the staff find a Top 5-7 rotational player or two if an when spots open.

There is no "typical" RU, when you carry the least amount of depth and talent in the league....I know it's not going to be popular, but recruiting is ultimately the problem solver and it's not about Stony Brook....the program is going to get better or show improvement over the 16 remaining league games.....and the 20 league games next season....

Add talent, add depth, continue to build and develop the talent, win some along the way, take a couple of lumps, get better and stronger with some steps forward, get knocked down, bounce back, keep recruiting.....rinse and repeat and enjoy the climb....!!

Also Syracuse lost to St. Bonaventure!!

 

[BigEastPhil]

Why we lost:

- No defensive intensity. No one crashed the boards. Usually you'll see Freeman; Williams; Eugene, Sanders etc crash the boards which I only saw a handful of times today.
- Too many 2nd chance points for Stony Brook as defense was atrocious.
- Pikiell was outcoached - flat and simple. Toals adjusted; exploited us.
- The inbound plays of Mike Williams and Eugene at the end of the game were pathetic.
- And again offense was lazy settling for outside shots for the majority of the 1st half when no one had the hot hand.
- Geo should have taken charge during the OT as quite frankly he's the guy I am most confident with the rock in his hands.

 

[wheezer]

with all the mistakes, the biggest, and most obvious, was the inability to inbound the ball.... two inbounds in the last few seconds killed us....

 

[King of S]

27 years and counting since a NCAA appearance. Unbelievable.

 

[ruready07]

Losses like this are an important part of program development , it reinforces the mantra of playing hard all the time and not underestimating anybody.

Coaches can say it - but going through this lesson is the best way to learn.

Hell, even Pike and the staff got served tonight. Good for them too. Now back to work and stop reading the press clippings

 

[TDIrish27]

Agree completely RUR----as most things in sports and life in general the hardest lessons you learn stick with you

Rutgers will be better for this------pretty confident in saying that.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I don't think it was reading press clippings or anything associated with being outcoached...if you go 8-19 from the FT line and a team outworks you on the glass, you can lose a game....the reality is it could have been this game against a better opponent and the margin of defeat could have been 10-12

This happened a couple of times this year, it just was hidden because the opponent didn't get as many offensive rebounds or RU made enough FTs....

RU is fine folks...18 months without an upset is pretty good...Stony Brook has played a ton of tough teams and almost picked off Providence this past Sunday...we are much closer to being towards the goal of an N CAA team than we realize. There are 3 -4 more clunkers that will happen in the B1G....

There are no USFs, Depauls, Georgetown or teams that can implode at a moment's notice like SHU in the BiG this year....teams like Ohio State Iowa, Nebraska and Indiana are all capable of beating anyone.....this is the most balanced and best coached league around, along with the ACC.... There's no free 3-4 conference wins like non Power 5 leagues have built in to their schedules..

RU is going to land more recruits and take over the tri-state area after this season and it's already the biggest story today....enjoy the ride folks, it's being built the right way, no questions about it....

 

[mikefla]

I still see it as a WTF game
I saw mistakes I havent see all year....
-like instead of hauling in a REB EVERYONE sprinting back to be on D
-questionable D in the final minutes
-People MAY blame Corys 4-14 & 8pts but he also had 7REBs, 4 assts, 3 steals 2 blocks
-Omoruyi had ONE point in an un characteristic game
-We got OUT rebounded !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-And Coach P...it wasnt his best game either
PLENTY of blame to go around
~We learned a painful lesson~

St Bonaventure beat Cuse 60-57 @ Cuse yesterday
Rider beat Penn State 71-70 @ PSU yesterday
New Mex State beat Illinois 74-69

I am still loving the SHU win,,,,
I still LOVE this team
I still love coach P

We lace em up next week and go right back at it vs Hartford
after which
Its Big 10 play that matters

 

[Degaz-RU]

This was like the Cincy drubbing our football team suffered one week after the glorious Louisville win in 2006. It’s extremely difficult to be so high after a huge win and match the intensity in the next game, especially with exams and Christmas.

Not excuses, just reality.

 

[Scarlet83]

Why we lost:

- No defensive intensity. No one crashed the boards. Usually you'll see Freeman; Williams; Eugene, Sanders etc crash the boards which I only saw a handful of times today.
- Too many 2nd chance points for Stony Brook as defense was atrocious.
- Pikiell was outcoached - flat and simple. Toals adjusted; exploited us.
- The inbound plays of Mike Williams and Eugene at the end of the game were pathetic.
- And again offense was lazy settling for outside shots for the majority of the 1st half when no one had the hot hand.
- Geo should have taken charge during the OT as quite frankly he's the guy I am most confident with the rock in his hands.

What killed me was the two easy lay ups by Stony Brook in a row off the same simple play...guard has the ball on the wing, back screen at the elbow, simple pass to the cutter. I think the second time we fouled the lay up for a 3 Point play. I was yelling, “same play” the second time when I saw the screener begin to set the screen. I thought, but can’t be sure that it was Freeman getting screened. Either way, horrible defense, especially the second time.

I love our guys, but we have a small margin for even mediocre play. Gotta play D like our hair is in fire every single game.

 

[higgins3]

Body blow? Every team in America has a loss like this.

 

[richthedentist]

Even though I am furious too; Don't forget UNC lost to Wofford this week also!!!

 

[RU_IN_Q]

First, congrats to Stony Brook, they deserved it. They outplayed, outclassed, outcoached RU tonight and the plays at throughout showed they truly wanted it more. This game could have gone into twelve overtimes and Stony Brook would have won each time. RU had about a dozen chances to close this one out but said here we do not want it, you have it. How on earth can you lose a game when you have a 5 point lead WITH POSSESSION after a Stony Brook walk with only 12 seconds left.Thats simply brutal and is on both the coaches and the staff for just lack of maturity,awareness, and preperation.

This is a body blow not just a WTF game. The only positives to take is that perhaps the players egos that seemed to ballooned have deflated back to reality. Everyone knew that there would be a letdown against SHU, thats predictable. Still it would only take a few plays here or there to close out the game and go home winner. Seriously it would have just one inbounds somewhere..one stop, one something. RU was simply atrocious in every catagory except surprisingly 3 point shooting,.

It was a tale of two halves. I actually thought RU played pretty solid D in the first half but once again its ineptitude on offense showed and basically everyone took the half off offensively save for Freeman,. Sanders was particularly bad and you cannot have that as your junior leader, you just cannot. That set the tone. RU allowed Stony Brook back in after opening an 8 point lead...crucial because from there on it was a nip tuck game that made everyone nervous and we all know the longer you keep an inferior team in the game they become extremely dangerous.

RU shot pretty good in the 2nd half...I think 19-31....thats pretty good for them but it didnt matter because the bread and butter on the defensive end wasnt there. Outrebounded by the Seawolves by 8, this was one of the worst defensive efforts I have seen by RU in a half. Open shots galore from the perimeter and getting inside with absolute ease....no help defense in the paint. Eugene had a particularly frightening game. RU was a step too slow and it just seemed like they were trading baskets, everytime RU needed a stop they ended up giving up a 2nd shot or a 3 or a layup plus the foul. Just incredible bad. And as bad as the player were executing defense, the coaching staff just did not seem to be prepared or instructed the players on how to handle the SB offense which by the way looked way more fluid than the RU clunky offense.

I have beat home the mantra of this team has to play will full effort because of the SLIM MARGIN OF ERROR...i beat it home during the cupcake games, I beat it home when they took off for stretches at a time vs Bumbleebee University where 22 point leads turn into 11 points leads in 90 seconds. This game was a microcosm of all the little negatives one could find from the earlier season non conference games. If you do not bring it against better competition, you will lose and that they did in stunning meltdown fashion

I really didnt know what to think after the SHU game of where this team was. I think NCAA talk was way premature given our limitations. Also the test of how to handle being the hunted...this was really the first game where RU enters with the rep and props and the other team is looking to gain respect, usually its the other way. RU just not there yet...thats why expectations need to simmer down. Is this team ready to put strings of wins together against Big 10 teams. I do not know that yet. Not enough information. A game like tonight says slow down the horses, we are improved but we are not there yet. Mental game and maturity need work. I had RU 10-4 at this point and they are exactly where they are. I still think that 6-12 in league 17-14 is a reasonable goal right now and I would sign on for that today just like I said earlier this year. You cannot pencil RU in for any wins in league, just as besides a few games pencil them in as losses but again one thing is clear the team cannot win in league if they are not giving that full effort in rebounding and defense

Saw some posts calling people upset tonight negative...well hello sure we are going to be negative. Tonight was extremely frustrating for a fanbase who tasted a big win on Saturday and then was served a steaming turd in the next game. When you do that you get the typical Same Old Rutgers thrown at us because until they break the cycle, thats what it is. Tonight not the end of the world but a major body blow to perhaps post season for the NIT and yeah thats why it matters. Every school has WTF losses, some like Cuse and PSU did tonight, Indiana the other night and every Big 10 school in our vicinity has at least one. Still to do it with the ball and a 5 point lead and 12 seconds left is a bitter reality check so excuse the venting. Disappointed in the players tonight, disappointed in the coaching staff so lets see what they learn from this. Fans were ready to cheer if they had anything to...big crowd tonight too surprised me.

 

[RU_DIO]

I was obviously disappointed in this game but the only thing that really was inexcusable was getting destroyed on the glass. That's just a lack of effort in my opinion and unacceptable.

 

[dpwhite]

Annoying game, but if handled right by the coaching staff, this could be a wake-up call for effort the rest of the year. Rutgers had a few stinkers last year too, against Hartford, Penn State at home and Iowa at home. And they always woke up right after and gave excellent effort for a bunch of games after that. Last night stunk, but I still say it's part of the learning process.

 

[zebnatto]

So much poor play. Twenty-three offensive rebounds, 42 second half points, 8-19 on FTs, can't inbound the ball.

This poing about how stats can lie. Deshawn was something like 8 of 11. I would have pulled him. His defensive from beginning (on pick'n rolls) to end was awful. You can't simply give away baskets so as not to foul. You still have to play defense.

 

[RUJMM78]

Wisconsin is big because if they dont beat them they are looking at 0-5 to start league play, RU isnt winning at Purdue or Michigan State so yeah its almost a must win. And as bad as they are struggling they can easily turn it on and beat RU even at the RAC. Not sure their style is what we want either.

A team with no margin for error can't afford losses to teams like Stony Brook.Rutgers now needs to win a minimum of five league games for a winning season assuming a win over Hartford.Rutgers probably will be the under dog in every B1G road game and many of the home games .Just one bad loss dramatically changes the outlook for the remaining season.

 

[BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine]

They completely outworked us--not acceptable.

 

[RUChoppin]

It was a painful game to watch from the beginning.

Early on, the defense was doing a pretty good job, but the offense was just awful. They looked lost out there. It was like "wait, where am I supposed to be? oh yeah, over here... but where's my screen?" Corey and Geo would call for a screen, and no one would come. There were very few drives to the basket. It was like we decided not to have an inside game all of a sudden.

At one point late in the first half, I knew we were in trouble when we were shooting 41% to their 21%, with them shooting 1/13 from the arc.... and we were only up by 6 points. It was maddening how many extra shots they were getting, and how many second chances we were missing.

A few observations:
Players:
- We struggled to finish around the basket. There was one possession where we missed three layups right under the rim. Can't imagine what our "points in the paint" differential was.
- We passed up so many shots. It seemed like no one wanted to take the shot, they just wanted to pass it out to someone else. Again we ended up with the "ball in Corey's hands with time running down" offense.
- Corey seemed to be wearing ice skates. He was sliding all over the court and just couldn't get traction. He kept wiping off the bottoms of his shoes with his hands, and then would slip the very next play. One play he ended in a full split in the lane - and others slid as he tried to plant and change direction, or start moving for a drive. He needs to throw out those sneakers.
- Mensah came in and didn't mess up - which was good, I guess? It might have been a testament to how well the team was playing that there was no noticeable dropoff when he was on the floor.
- Geo was invisible in the first half. Tentative, seemingly unwilling to take shots. Don't know if he took a pull up mid-range jumper all night, and that's his bread and butter. Assuming Pike talked to him at half and told him to get more involved, as all 15 of his points came after the break.
- FT shooting was abyssmal. 3/10 in the 1st half, 4/8 in the second (3 of the 2nd half makes were by Geo). And I think three misses on the front ends of 1-and-1s. Without Baker, the team shot 5/15 for 33%

Coaching:
- The substitutions were crazy. Thiam had a hot hand, and he goes to the bench. On an inbound with the clock winding down, Freeman comes in for Thiam (losing height and FT%), only for Thiam to come back once the ball went out of bounds. Really weird.
- No idea why Thiam only played 26 minutes. He had a decent game, other than the stretch with the two fouls. 12 pts, 6 rbs (led the team with 4 OReb), 2 stls.... and largely played good defense. No idea why he wasn't out there more, especially with Omoruyi getting 29 min to produce 1 pt, 4 reb (1 OReb).
- Our bigs largely sat on the bench. Just 27 minutes for Doucoure/Doorson/Sa tonight... and not because of foul trouble. Duke had 15 min and just 2 fouls - no idea why coach had him sitting most of the game. Doorson/Sa played a combined 12 minutes and somehow picked up no fouls. While they were in the game, they went a combined 3/3 with 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. No idea why they didn't play more.

Other:
- Officiating was erratic. At some points they seemed to be calling absolutely everything under the basket, and at others they were ignoring obvious holds/shoves. This went both ways, and I don't know if it was tilted one way or the other - though the final missed call on the travel just happened to be the bad call that we didn't have time to recover from.
- Crowd was pretty good, and they seemed at points to really want to get into the game. Got loud at points on defense, only to watch our D play for 25 seconds and then evaporate... which quieted the crowd. And when we did get a stop, we then did something deflating on the other end. The team had the crowd at their back if they could have used it... but they couldn't seem to capitalize on it and feed that energy.

Overall, just a brutal brutal ugly ugly ugly game from the beginning, which favored Stony Brook. They didn't have a great game either, but they had more hustle, better execution, and better coaching last night. Their defense stifled us, their heart came through on the boards, and their players stepped up with some big shots. They were the better team on the court last night.

 

[BillyC80]

Beat Purdue or MSU on the road and all is forgiven. Otherwise, fuhgeddabuodit!

 

[RU-ROCS]

Also Syracuse lost to St. Bonaventure!!

The Bonnies also beat Maryland, so they are no slouch (and a lot better than Stony Brook).

 

[SirScarlet]

I was very worried going into this game.

my biggest issue is that we got out-rebounded. they wanted it more last night

the FTs are still an issue with this team and will be a concern for at least another year. the younger guys are much more composed and consistent from the FT line

this is college bball and these things happen. am I happy about it...hell no. but we're in good hands with Pike.

let's see how the team rebounds (pun intended) from this.

 

[RedChucken123]

Didn’t catch the game live, but after hearing that we lost, I watched it on BTN with a critical eye. Some observations...

- Why were we playing small ball down the stretch? It seemed like it was Freeman, Omoruyi, Sanders, Baker, Williams for extended minutes down the stretch. It seemed like their team was a lot of taller versatile guards/forwards. I don’t care how well our guards can rebound compared to typical guards their height. Height still accounts for something.

-Where was Thiam down the stretch? He probably matched up better with some of their players in terms defense and rebounding.

-Williams’ inbound play...I don’t blame him. The question is, why the hell was he inbounding the ball? You have their tallest player, Petras, jumping up and down on the inbound. Of course, he can’t see anything. Omoruyi though? That was pretty bad on the whole team.

-Williams had a lot of minutes this game. Maybe more than usual. Hopefully there was a real reason as opposed to just getting him his 1000 point milestone. He made some shots in OT, but his second half was questionable. Forcing some, maybe trying to justify his extra minutes. If that is so, that is on the staff as much as the players. The bigs needed more time (Doucoure/Doorson/Sa/Thiam). I don’t care if Williams had 999.99 points. If he needs to sit, sit him.

 

[Degaz-RU]

A team with no margin for error can't afford losses to teams like Stony Brook.Rutgers now needs to win a minimum of five league games for a winning season assuming a win over Hartford.Rutgers probably will be the under dog in every B1G road game and many of the home games .Just one bad loss dramatically changes the outlook for the remaining season.

If we beat Hartford next week, we will be 11-2 OOC, with one loss to top 25 FSU and the other loss a come-down against Stony Brook after the high of the SHU rivalry win. I think just about everybody would have signed up for this back in October.

This still sets us up for a winning record if we can go 6-12 in league (of course, we're already 0-2, so we will need to go 6-10 from here on out).

 

[BoxStater]

It was a painful game to watch from the beginning.

Early on, the defense was doing a pretty good job, but the offense was just awful. They looked lost out there. It was like "wait, where am I supposed to be? oh yeah, over here... but where's my screen?" Corey and Geo would call for a screen, and no one would come. There were very few drives to the basket. It was like we decided not to have an inside game all of a sudden.

At one point late in the first half, I knew we were in trouble when we were shooting 41% to their 21%, with them shooting 1/13 from the arc.... and we were only up by 6 points. It was maddening how many extra shots they were getting, and how many second chances we were missing.

A few observations:
Players:
- We struggled to finish around the basket. There was one possession where we missed three layups right under the rim. Can't imagine what our "points in the paint" differential was.
- We passed up so many shots. It seemed like no one wanted to take the shot, they just wanted to pass it out to someone else. Again we ended up with the "ball in Corey's hands with time running down" offense.
- Corey seemed to be wearing ice skates. He was sliding all over the court and just couldn't get traction. He kept wiping off the bottoms of his shoes with his hands, and then would slip the very next play. One play he ended in a full split in the lane - and others slid as he tried to plant and change direction, or start moving for a drive. He needs to throw out those sneakers.
- Mensah came in and didn't mess up - which was good, I guess? It might have been a testament to how well the team was playing that there was no noticeable dropoff when he was on the floor.
- Geo was invisible in the first half. Tentative, seemingly unwilling to take shots. Don't know if he took a pull up mid-range jumper all night, and that's his bread and butter. Assuming Pike talked to him at half and told him to get more involved, as all 15 of his points came after the break.
- FT shooting was abyssmal. 3/10 in the 1st half, 4/8 in the second (3 of the 2nd half makes were by Geo). And I think three misses on the front ends of 1-and-1s. Without Baker, the team shot 5/15 for 33%

Coaching:
- The substitutions were crazy. Thiam had a hot hand, and he goes to the bench. On an inbound with the clock winding down, Freeman comes in for Thiam (losing height and FT%), only for Thiam to come back once the ball went out of bounds. Really weird.
- No idea why Thiam only played 26 minutes. He had a decent game, other than the stretch with the two fouls. 12 pts, 6 rbs (led the team with 4 OReb), 2 stls.... and largely played good defense. No idea why he wasn't out there more, especially with Omoruyi getting 29 min to produce 1 pt, 4 reb (1 OReb).
- Our bigs largely sat on the bench. Just 27 minutes for Doucoure/Doorson/Sa tonight... and not because of foul trouble. Duke had 15 min and just 2 fouls - no idea why coach had him sitting most of the game. Doorson/Sa played a combined 12 minutes and somehow picked up no fouls. While they were in the game, they went a combined 3/3 with 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. No idea why they didn't play more.

Other:
- Officiating was erratic. At some points they seemed to be calling absolutely everything under the basket, and at others they were ignoring obvious holds/shoves. This went both ways, and I don't know if it was tilted one way or the other - though the final missed call on the travel just happened to be the bad call that we didn't have time to recover from.
- Crowd was pretty good, and they seemed at points to really want to get into the game. Got loud at points on defense, only to watch our D play for 25 seconds and then evaporate... which quieted the crowd. And when we did get a stop, we then did something deflating on the other end. The team had the crowd at their back if they could have used it... but they couldn't seem to capitalize on it and feed that energy.

Overall, just a brutal brutal ugly ugly ugly game from the beginning, which favored Stony Brook. They didn't have a great game either, but they had more hustle, better execution, and better coaching last night. Their defense stifled us, their heart came through on the boards, and their players stepped up with some big shots. They were the better team on the court last night.

Great observations.
If there’s a silver lining in this, it’s that Coaching staffs need wake up calls and reality checks too.

And for many of the folks around here that have been calling for more of the 3 guard line up with Williams-Sanders-Baker, they saw what can happen when it’s countered with length.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Turn the page. Awful game for the RU players. Awful game for the RU fans. Awful game for the RU coaches.

With that said, still...

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

They were 7-29 from 3 and beat us.

Sugarcoat this all you want. Tell yourself this happens to all teams. Shooting 7-29 and still beating us?!?

This is a very flawed team. I still see us at 13 or 14 in B1G.

Light is flickering at the end of the tunnel. The next 2 years recruiting are essential.

Based on what I see we have win with pieces, but missing the few win because pieces needed.

 

[bac2therac]

They were 7-29 from 3 and beat us.

Sugarcoat this all you want. Tell yourself this happens to all teams. Shooting 7-29 and still beating us?!?

This is a very flawed team. I still see us at 13 or 14 in B1G.

Light is flickering at the end of the tunnel. The next 2 years recruiting are essential.

Based on what I see we have win with pieces, but missing the few win because pieces needed.

for my 99K post, I will say I agree with you...this team is flawed and more likely to win 5-6...but I think we get out of the 13-14 spots and maybe get 11-12...every night schools bring it or they do not in this league, its a crapshoot. I see RU beating someone like Ohio State at home but losing to Nebraska at home. I think wins you think we should have we will not get but then we get a surprise somewhere else. I do think the team really really really had an inflated ego after the SHU win, I dont really know why, I thought this team was a little different, but they got too caught up in a big rivarly upset.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I left with 9 minutes left so I can only vouch for what I saw. It seemed they let down whenever they got ahead. I do think there was not enough respect for Stony Brook. This was the best cupcake on the schedule.

 

[RUJMM78]

It was a painful game to watch from the beginning.

Early on, the defense was doing a pretty good job, but the offense was just awful. They looked lost out there. It was like "wait, where am I supposed to be? oh yeah, over here... but where's my screen?" Corey and Geo would call for a screen, and no one would come. There were very few drives to the basket. It was like we decided not to have an inside game all of a sudden.

At one point late in the first half, I knew we were in trouble when we were shooting 41% to their 21%, with them shooting 1/13 from the arc.... and we were only up by 6 points. It was maddening how many extra shots they were getting, and how many second chances we were missing.

A few observations:
Players:
- We struggled to finish around the basket. There was one possession where we missed three layups right under the rim. Can't imagine what our "points in the paint" differential was.
- We passed up so many shots. It seemed like no one wanted to take the shot, they just wanted to pass it out to someone else. Again we ended up with the "ball in Corey's hands with time running down" offense.
- Corey seemed to be wearing ice skates. He was sliding all over the court and just couldn't get traction. He kept wiping off the bottoms of his shoes with his hands, and then would slip the very next play. One play he ended in a full split in the lane - and others slid as he tried to plant and change direction, or start moving for a drive. He needs to throw out those sneakers.
- Mensah came in and didn't mess up - which was good, I guess? It might have been a testament to how well the team was playing that there was no noticeable dropoff when he was on the floor.
- Geo was invisible in the first half. Tentative, seemingly unwilling to take shots. Don't know if he took a pull up mid-range jumper all night, and that's his bread and butter. Assuming Pike talked to him at half and told him to get more involved, as all 15 of his points came after the break.
- FT shooting was abyssmal. 3/10 in the 1st half, 4/8 in the second (3 of the 2nd half makes were by Geo). And I think three misses on the front ends of 1-and-1s. Without Baker, the team shot 5/15 for 33%

Coaching:
- The substitutions were crazy. Thiam had a hot hand, and he goes to the bench. On an inbound with the clock winding down, Freeman comes in for Thiam (losing height and FT%), only for Thiam to come back once the ball went out of bounds. Really weird.
- No idea why Thiam only played 26 minutes. He had a decent game, other than the stretch with the two fouls. 12 pts, 6 rbs (led the team with 4 OReb), 2 stls.... and largely played good defense. No idea why he wasn't out there more, especially with Omoruyi getting 29 min to produce 1 pt, 4 reb (1 OReb).
- Our bigs largely sat on the bench. Just 27 minutes for Doucoure/Doorson/Sa tonight... and not because of foul trouble. Duke had 15 min and just 2 fouls - no idea why coach had him sitting most of the game. Doorson/Sa played a combined 12 minutes and somehow picked up no fouls. While they were in the game, they went a combined 3/3 with 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. No idea why they didn't play more.

Other:
- Officiating was erratic. At some points they seemed to be calling absolutely everything under the basket, and at others they were ignoring obvious holds/shoves. This went both ways, and I don't know if it was tilted one way or the other - though the final missed call on the travel just happened to be the bad call that we didn't have time to recover from.
- Crowd was pretty good, and they seemed at points to really want to get into the game. Got loud at points on defense, only to watch our D play for 25 seconds and then evaporate... which quieted the crowd. And when we did get a stop, we then did something deflating on the other end. The team had the crowd at their back if they could have used it... but they couldn't seem to capitalize on it and feed that energy.

Overall, just a brutal brutal ugly ugly ugly game from the beginning, which favored Stony Brook. They didn't have a great game either, but they had more hustle, better execution, and better coaching last night. Their defense stifled us, their heart came through on the boards, and their players stepped up with some big shots. They were the better team on the court last night.

Excellent recap of a brutal game to watch.The most alarming aspect was the way Stony Brook dominated offensive rebounding.

 

[wheezer]

I left with 9 minutes left so I can only vouch for what I saw. It seemed they let down whenever they got ahead. I do think there was not enough respect for Stony Brook. This was the best cupcake on the schedule.

---
stony brook played like we played against the Hall.... we kept digging when we were down against the Hall, and wanted it more at the end

in this game, I think SB wanted it more...maybe playing against their former coach a big incentive...maybe just because we were one of the bigger games on the schedule.