ADVERTISEMENT

GAME 15 Penn State: Feeble

Some observed individual flaws:

Paul: Not a 1v1 player like Geo and Ron. So if he can’t beat players individually like some of Nebraska’s guards, he should not have the ball at the top. Zone breaking guy in the middle? Sure. Driving/cutting or spot up shooting off the wing? Sure. If he isn’t a threat to drive and beat his player at the top, he shouldn’t be at the top.

Geo: The most streaky, emotional player on this team. If I see him start smiling at all at any point, I’d bet money he’ll have a decent game because he’s loose enough to laugh a little. He needs to pep talk himself in the mirror before every game or something. Lol.

Cliff: For as athletic as he is, he should be so much better at rebounding. I think his positioning could improve. Be like Dennis Rodman and just study his teammates shooting and where the ball could land.

Caleb: Decent mid-range shooter and post-up shooter when he gets good looks. One of our most consistent drivers into the interior, but nothing consistently results from it. Maybe he can be a pick and roll guy.

Ron: Our best shooter, but sometimes his shot selection is terrible when he gets frustrated. A good rebounder, but could be a better one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BillyC80 and Scangg
bethlehemfan said:
The frustrating part is this team is way better (potentially) than Penn state but because they are soft as shit mentally they allow themselves to get taken to the woodshed.
Click to expand...
Yes. They need to work on mental practice instead during practice 😂do some guided meditations or some shit idc anyway to free their minds at away games
 
Scangg said:
Pike needs to show Caleb's effort to Geo and Ron. It's one thing to have an off night, but the effort can always be there. Unfortunately only 1 of those 3 showed effort tonight
Click to expand...
Mybiggest concern coming in to the year was effort on a game in game out basis from ron and Geo. We saw it last year. when things dont go their way the effort drops off.

2 minutes left in the game Ron had the ball 5 feet from the basket. Instead of going up strong he passed in to the center who was in full sprint to the basket. He then made a motion when the center turned it over.
 
The early 1 on 1 set the tone for the entire game, as if they see the Penn St jersey and Ron, Geo and Caleb are playing 3 games of 1 on 1 with Paul and Cliff on the floor. Pike let it happen for the first 8 minutes of the game before substitutes, It just made no sense whatsoever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Unionst and RUShea
When Harper’s shot is not falling he just disappears and no effort. Why wasn’t he driving to the hoop? Geo was bad too but at least there was effort. Caleb turnovers in first half were pretty poor. Just an awful effort. Two steps forward, one step back. At last Cliff showed up. Disappointing to say the least and shooting atrocious. Time for a psychologist or much more practice in the shoot around, because whatever we are doing it’s not working. Bummed. This was a winnable game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: biazza38, RedChucken123, Danprusa_4 and 1 other person
Greene Rice FIG said:
Mybiggest concern coming in to the year was effort on a game in game out basis from ron and Geo. We saw it last year. when things dont go their way the effort drops off.

2 minutes left in the game Ron had the ball 5 feet from the basket. Instead of going up strong he passed in to the center who was in full sprint to the basket. He then made a motion when the center turned it over.
Click to expand...


what I also dont like is that these two set the tone for paul and caleb and it trickles down to the bench...I think Pike sometimes does not have the feel of the game, to be using Palm instead of Hyatt is puzzling to me
 
Scarlet Shack said:
Bac

Excellent choice of words...we were so soft on offense from a team of upperclassman

More disturbing is Harper ...he honestly didn’t look like we wanted to be there
Click to expand...
Harper does not look like he is ready for the NBA. Some nights he plays like an All American. Other nights he shows no fire,no effort, no energy. Sulking when things do not go your way will not endear you to NBA scouts.

As some of the more obnoxious Penn State fans were chanting whenever Harper missed a shot, "Not your father!" Pretty funny, actually.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg
Greene Rice FIG said:
Mybiggest concern coming in to the year was effort on a game in game out basis from ron and Geo. We saw it last year. when things dont go their way the effort drops off.

2 minutes left in the game Ron had the ball 5 feet from the basket. Instead of going up strong he passed in to the center who was in full sprint to the basket. He then made a motion when the center turned it over.
Click to expand...
Yea its an issue. Their effort and play is all over the map. Consistency being a major concern from senior 4/5 year starters is very frustrating
 
BOGDANOVICH said:
Harper does not look like he is ready for the NBA. Some nights he plays like an All American. Other nights he shows no fire,no effort, no energy. Sulking when things do not go your way will not endear you to NBA scouts.

As some of the more obnoxious Penn State fans were chanting whenever Harper missed a shot, "Not your father!" Pretty funny.
Click to expand...
If you're a fringe NBA prospect, this isn't the type of effort you want to put on tape. It shows a lack of effort and focus. Shot off? Fine take it to the rim. Will your way to 20. Didn't see it tonight
 
  • Like
Reactions: RW90 and Greene Rice FIG
Problem remains that we can't reliably create any easy baskets on offense. We got on a hot streak with shooting but that's a sugar high that only lasts so long.

The first three possessions this game were pull up two point jumpers by three different players. Tells you all you need to know. Compare that to how we used to start with alley oops to Myles or an open three pointer (even if we miss).

We lost to Lafayette in large part because we shot 40% on two point shots. We were 38% tonight. The history of these players told us the jump shooting wouldn't last and there's no other options. No guard to break a defense down, no big man with any post moves, no wing to bully smaller defenders or go by slower ones.

This team was clearly fatally flawed in game 1 when Lehigh took it to OT. Nothing has changed. We can beat anyone and we can lose to anyone, with losses more likely. If you can't enjoy that for what it's worth then now is the time to tune out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RUChoppin, biazza38, RedChucken123 and 3 others
aplus29 said:
We had a 4 game win streak against 3 awful teams and a down Michigan team with no bench due to Covid. This team still sucks and wait til next year with no Geo, Ron, and Cliff transfers.
Pikiell screwed the pooch with his sh*t recruiting. Best 2 year run in years and dud nothing to capitalize in it. Recruiting like the American East in B1G will never work.
This team will be buried by the time Hobbs cuts bait.
Click to expand...
Wtf?
aplus29 said:
You think he is going to stick around to play with Oscar, Mulcahy, Hyatt, and Rieber?
Click to expand...
Harper probably comes back tbh. Also you forgot Miller, Mag and Jones.
 
sct1111 said:
Wtf?

Harper probably comes back tbh. Also you forgot Miller, Mag and Jones.
Click to expand...
Jones is coming back as he racks up DNP’s? More terrible coaching. He will transfer somewhere with an actual offensive system and average 12 a night.

Miller has no offensive ability

Mag is a big talent, but can’t stay on the court.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 60au9
Rutgers56 said:
Why would anyone ever expect this team to win on the road? Could it? Sure. Is it ever the expected result? Never.
Click to expand...
Until proven other wise fans should expect Rutgers to be the underdog in every league road game.Its hard to explain Rutgers futility on the road after four impressive home games.The skillset at home disappears on the road even against mediocre teams.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rutgers56
aplus29 said:
Jones is coming back as he racks up DNP’s? More terrible coaching. He will transfer somewhere with an actual offensive system and average 12 a night.

Miller has no offensive ability

Mag is a big talent, but can’t stay on the court.
Click to expand...
Jones is still a freshman, and has had a lot of issues with defense.
 
Terrible shot selection in the first half, especially in the 1sy 5-8 minutes. Settled for way too many contested 2's, some a foot inside the 3. I thought PSU made our defense work harder than our offense made their defense work to defend.

Caleb going iso a few times in the 1st half, turning it over 2x. He is not in the same class as geo and Ron.

3 moving screens on RU (were there more? I flew thru the last 5 minutes).

Basically no post touches for cliff and none for Ron.

What the offensive plan tonight? Couldn't see one. It's like the team didn't know they had a game on the schedule today until 30 minutes to tip off.
 
RedChucken123 said:
Some observed individual flaws:

Paul: Not a 1v1 player like Geo and Ron. So if he can’t beat players individually like some of Nebraska’s guards, he should not have the ball at the top. Zone breaking guy in the middle? Sure. Driving/cutting or spot up shooting off the wing? Sure. If he isn’t a threat to drive and beat his player at the top, he shouldn’t be at the top.

Geo: The most streaky, emotional player on this team. If I see him start smiling at all at any point, I’d bet money he’ll have a decent game because he’s loose enough to laugh a little. He needs to pep talk himself in the mirror before every game or something. Lol.

Cliff: For as athletic as he is, he should be so much better at rebounding. I think his positioning could improve. Be like Dennis Rodman and just study his teammates shooting and where the ball could land.

Caleb: Decent mid-range shooter and post-up shooter when he gets good looks. One of our most consistent drivers into the interior, but nothing consistently results from it. Maybe he can be a pick and roll guy.

Ron: Our best shooter, but sometimes his shot selection is terrible when he gets frustrated. A good rebounder, but could be a better one.
Click to expand...
Agree with these points. Cliff had a good game but he so easily could have had a GREAT game, if he had better hands and better defensive positioning, especially on box outs. He should have had 6 more points and 5 more rebounds.

Geo, Ron, Caleb, Paul and Hyatt missed too many makeable shots to give us a chance. And in general we just had too many unforced errors that kept us from closing the gap enough to tie the game, or to take the lead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scangg and RedChucken123
Give PSU credit. They forced our guys to go right and wouldn’t even allow picks to go left. very smart. Shooters go left, slashers go right (Right handed players).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 60au9
The lack of intensity and urgency that this game was really important is just so baffling as is the road. The court is the same size , the basket is 10 feet high , but we need a psychologist to mentally work on our players because it is almost impossible to play 2 games back to back that we’re so different. The easy shots were front rimmed all night and the interior defense and rebounding was in the toilet. As upsetting as Ron and Geo’s shooting nights were , they didn’t do anything else to help the team. No defense , no steals , no rebounds. No crisp passing leading to easy shots. So disappointing from both of them , and Caleb and Paul were not much better.

Pike also did not do anything to make things difficult for Penn State . Penn State ran the same high ball screen for the last 10 minutes of the game. They ran 1 play over and over again. No switch to a zone since Geo and Miller or Caleb or Paul couldn’t stay in front of Sessoms . No doubling of Sessoms to get the ball out of his hand , no defensive trapping. Absolutely nothing to change the tempo. Penn State was content is using 20 + seconds of every clock and we never tried to get out and run and change tempo to get an easy bucket. The commentators and the studio were praising Penn State’s defense for staying in front of us but we never attacked the basket and were content pulling up for shots that for some reason did not go down. If shots do not go down , and we knew that early , like the first 6-7 minutes of the game , you take it to the hole and make the refs call fouls . Pike didn’t demand it and it was disappointing. When your players are struggling and your seniors are not helping or leading , your coach has to do it. Pike did not tonight . Such a disappointing effort tonight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LeapinLou, RU_kidding_me, Groz and 2 others
Feeble is a good word for it. Just a weak game by almost everyone, except Cliff - great night for him. Beat MD and we're fine, lose to them, also, and we really have a big hill to climb.
 
aplus29 said:
You think he is going to stick around to play with Oscar, Mulcahy, Hyatt, and Rieber?
Click to expand...
No one knows what the roster will be next season and you are intentionally leaving out certain players to try to make your point
 
bac2therac said:
there were several points in this game where it got to 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 when a big stop and some leadership could have gathered the team to make a serious run. Instead there was no serious run EVER..usually there is some kind of run, tonight anytime they cut the lead within seconds it was back up to 8-12 again

That is the disturbing part. I could live with being beat by a Penn State team that shot lights out and was really tough on defense, but that really wasnt the case here

We saw the Rutgers with no purpose out there again
Click to expand...
Right. Every time a stop and score would have put us right back in it, we failed.
 
This was a pathetic performance.
I don’t want to rip the players individually so I won’t call anyone out.
I’m just tired of performances like this one. I know this was already mentioned, but it can’t be mentioned enough… We don’t get any easy baskets. There are serious issues when Ron and Geo aren’t on fire. They’ve played their ass off in some games this year, but they can’t be All conference every game. It’s a serious issue and frankly that’s on coach and the makeup of the team. This is the team he assembled and the offense he runs. Major major flaws. It why you see us lose to Lafayette, but beat Purdue, and then not break 50 tonight.
When we play well and beat Michigan and Nebby, it’s a lot of fun. Butttttttt we know games like this are always around the corner. It happens too often and I’m sick of it.
We had big games late last year against UMD and Nebby where we straight up got run out of the gym in both.
Losing is okay. It happens. But we lay too many duds. An unacceptable amount if we’re being honest. This needs to be fixed.
As for Jaden Jones. Coach needs to figure it out. That’s his job.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RU_kidding_me
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D

Rapid Reaction - Penn State

Replies
30
Views
714
Men's Basketball
Kbee3
Kbee3
bac2therac

GAME 28 MICHIGAN: Crowd Pleaser

Replies
51
Views
1K
Men's Basketball
G- RUnit
G
bac2therac

GAME 29 NEBRASKA: They are exactly what they are

Replies
139
Views
3K
Men's Basketball
kcg88
kcg88
D

Maybe Steve Pikiell and Company are still good coaches?

Replies
20
Views
919
Men's Basketball
RUBOB72
R
bac2therac

GAME 25 MINNESOTA: Back to the drawing board

Replies
92
Views
2K
Men's Basketball
REDRICH65
R
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back