Today sucked but is anyone totally surprised. These kind of losses happen to most schools in the Big 10 and have happened to Rutgers before. I was very hesitant to get on board about talking about the implications of beating Purdue and what possibilities lay ahead until RU went 2-0 vs Maryland and Iowa. I feared the Maryland game more than this one, that I got wrong but my concerns were valid. To take that leap to the next level. If you want to dream big dreams and compete for a Big 10 title, a game like Iowa is one you HAVE to win on your own home court. Its why those Big 10 analysts raised the issue that they were going to wait to see with Rutgers because they have a habit of following up big wins with a drop in performance vs middle of the road Big 10 schools. Iowa is getting better no question but they are not a top 5 team in the league. Honestly there is nothing wrong with losing to Iowa. It happens. They made big shots, repelled every run and followed an impressive gameplan by Fran.
Have to say the Big 10 is an absolute bear this year. Its a friggin Saskwatch! Throw out Minnesota who is atrocious. On any given night any of the other 13 can jump up and beat each other. I see Northwestern just won at Indiana and Maryland knocked off Ohio State. Iowa comes into the RAC and takes down Rutgers. Take nothing for granted. Do not sleep on any team. Sorting out the standings will not be easy at seasons end. One or two results can be the difference between a 5 seed or a 12 seed. Its absolutely crucial to protect one's home court. It absolutely crucial to match your opponent and be ready to play. Unfortunately for Rutgers, they did not do those two things. Not that Rutgers didnt give effort or play hard. Its thats they did not play at the level that Iowa brought. Credit the Hawkeyes, its more that they won this game rather than Rutgers lost. For starters they established themselves by killing RU on the boards early while hitting their early shots. They controlled tempo. RU missed their bunnies and were playing catch up the entire game and they never did. RU played exactly into Iowa's hands. Vs a great offensive team you ABSOLUTELY must get off to a solid start and make shots and RU didnt and RU's defense was subpar as well to begin the game. Tone was set. Game was lost in those first 5-10 minutes. RU may have cut it into the lead 2x to 4 in the first half and then 5 in the 2nd half, but this game was never close. Iowa dominated RU in every facet of the game from playmaking to shotmaking to intensity to ball movement to purpose to coaching to adjustments. Iowa exploited RU's inefficenty and lack of urgency on offense.
Fran takes a lot of heat on this board but the guy is an excellent coach. Proved it today. His team was not intimidated at all playing here and showed confidence early and then poise late. The way they work and rotate the ball to the open guy is a work of art. Defensively I was shocked RU struggled with just a bit of Iowa pressure so Fran did a good job there. RU simply has to be better and its a real blueprint that is coming on on how to disrupt our already shaky offense. Pike was not able to win a chess match and while you can say "well he does not shoot the shots" I felt there were key moments to could have been game changers even if it wasnt RUs night anyhow. RU cut the gap to 34-30, Cam got his third foul, he was taken out, Woolfolk misses one and one then fouls 3 pointer and RU down 39-30 and it would balloon to 42-30. RU who had just cut it to 4 went scoreless the last 4 minutes or so without Cam on the court. I know its hindsight but I said it in the game thread as well. I also thought there were times Cam wasnt in the game and I was like what is going on. Plus too much Derek Simpson, kid cannot be taking our most shots on the team. There were other things that I am displeased about with Pike but that centers around WTF is going on with Cliff
Sandfordt on Iowa answered his call and came out of nowhere to nail this win down. At 55-50, RU was repeatedly beat on defense leading to back to back wide open shots. Suddenly its 61-50 and the game is basically out of reach again. Sandfordt would hit another open shot and then a jumper. He was unstoppable and got hot at the wrong moment. 11 straight points and 14 of their final 21. On the other end, Rutgers had nothing, cutting the gap to 6 but lacked any real lack of urgency or fire to pull off a realistic comeback. Lebraca was the go to guy in the first and the Murray hit some timely shots that were daggers. The guards on Iowa went a combined 6-24 so thats interesting to see. We overplay and double team and we got burned by an unknown.
Overall our defense on the day was trash in the first half. You wonder what Pike was preparing for. Thats not the RU play that we expect. On offense, RU couldnt finish early and then they got predictably passive which carried into the 2nd half. The only time RU looked good in this game was about a 7 minute stretch when they did force turnovers and convert in transition going on a 14-1 run that got the RAC loud and wanting more. Alas it took one 3 to basically end that rally. That we couldnt buckle down in a 2-3 possession game was disppointing
Cliff now has become an offensive hole. He has bad hands and his shot is not even close anymore. He is even having trouble making dunks. Its tough to come down so hard given we just came off a 5 game in streak but the writing has been on the wall as of late. Cliff ended with 9 and 9 yet only 2 fg attempts in the 2nd half. For an offense that is struggling, it cannot happen. Teams are doubling him and he isnt fighting through or quick enough to pass it out. Defensively, Cliff was beaten early and often early by Rebraca and we were forced to do alot of doubling which left the perimeter open the majority of Iowa's possession. Rutgers cannot get to where the fans want it to go without a better Cliff period. I do not have the answers. That is for Pike to figure it out. Pike goes to Cliff early and he repeated cannot hit an easy bunnies. Those are misses that sets the tone and today we paid dearly for it.
As for everyone else....Mulcahy struggled and didnt make his presence known much anywhere. Cannot have your leader going 2-10 with one assist,,,bizarro game from him. Caleb not always making the right decision and costly late turnover but he was 6-8 fg, 12 points, 7 boards, 4 steals and was most consistent of anyone today. Mag was lost early, got better but damage was done. Hyatt was Hyatt and thats not a bad thing, maybe could have had some of Mags minutes. Cam didnt get enough looks or touches. Derek wasnt good. I realize he made a couple of plays but too many missed defensive assignments and taking too many shots especially one ill advised at 55-48. Derek took 11 shots, 3-11, 0-4 from 3, that is just not right for this team. No one can give me an argument otherwise. Wolf was really bad in his 2 minutes. Reiber just not applicable for this game. Pike not his best gameplan or in game coaching this year, might be his worst.
Overall Rutgers just did not get it done for whatever reason. The vaunted D was not there and its clear RU is beatable at the RAC. Cannot dwell but at the same time need to remember you need to bring it every night. The basketball gods are cruel. In one week we win at #1 Purdue, return to the RAC to bully Purdue and then a disappointing loss to a middle pack type Big 10 school at home. Northwestern up next and they are brimming with confidence, tied for first in Big 10 and have the talent to beat RU. Every night is different, every night is a war, never look more than one game ahead. How this team responds to this loss will tell alot. Its a cliche but you do not want to start losing in bunches in this league.
The loss is just one...its okay, these things can happen. We can recover
Have to say the Big 10 is an absolute bear this year. Its a friggin Saskwatch! Throw out Minnesota who is atrocious. On any given night any of the other 13 can jump up and beat each other. I see Northwestern just won at Indiana and Maryland knocked off Ohio State. Iowa comes into the RAC and takes down Rutgers. Take nothing for granted. Do not sleep on any team. Sorting out the standings will not be easy at seasons end. One or two results can be the difference between a 5 seed or a 12 seed. Its absolutely crucial to protect one's home court. It absolutely crucial to match your opponent and be ready to play. Unfortunately for Rutgers, they did not do those two things. Not that Rutgers didnt give effort or play hard. Its thats they did not play at the level that Iowa brought. Credit the Hawkeyes, its more that they won this game rather than Rutgers lost. For starters they established themselves by killing RU on the boards early while hitting their early shots. They controlled tempo. RU missed their bunnies and were playing catch up the entire game and they never did. RU played exactly into Iowa's hands. Vs a great offensive team you ABSOLUTELY must get off to a solid start and make shots and RU didnt and RU's defense was subpar as well to begin the game. Tone was set. Game was lost in those first 5-10 minutes. RU may have cut it into the lead 2x to 4 in the first half and then 5 in the 2nd half, but this game was never close. Iowa dominated RU in every facet of the game from playmaking to shotmaking to intensity to ball movement to purpose to coaching to adjustments. Iowa exploited RU's inefficenty and lack of urgency on offense.
Fran takes a lot of heat on this board but the guy is an excellent coach. Proved it today. His team was not intimidated at all playing here and showed confidence early and then poise late. The way they work and rotate the ball to the open guy is a work of art. Defensively I was shocked RU struggled with just a bit of Iowa pressure so Fran did a good job there. RU simply has to be better and its a real blueprint that is coming on on how to disrupt our already shaky offense. Pike was not able to win a chess match and while you can say "well he does not shoot the shots" I felt there were key moments to could have been game changers even if it wasnt RUs night anyhow. RU cut the gap to 34-30, Cam got his third foul, he was taken out, Woolfolk misses one and one then fouls 3 pointer and RU down 39-30 and it would balloon to 42-30. RU who had just cut it to 4 went scoreless the last 4 minutes or so without Cam on the court. I know its hindsight but I said it in the game thread as well. I also thought there were times Cam wasnt in the game and I was like what is going on. Plus too much Derek Simpson, kid cannot be taking our most shots on the team. There were other things that I am displeased about with Pike but that centers around WTF is going on with Cliff
Sandfordt on Iowa answered his call and came out of nowhere to nail this win down. At 55-50, RU was repeatedly beat on defense leading to back to back wide open shots. Suddenly its 61-50 and the game is basically out of reach again. Sandfordt would hit another open shot and then a jumper. He was unstoppable and got hot at the wrong moment. 11 straight points and 14 of their final 21. On the other end, Rutgers had nothing, cutting the gap to 6 but lacked any real lack of urgency or fire to pull off a realistic comeback. Lebraca was the go to guy in the first and the Murray hit some timely shots that were daggers. The guards on Iowa went a combined 6-24 so thats interesting to see. We overplay and double team and we got burned by an unknown.
Overall our defense on the day was trash in the first half. You wonder what Pike was preparing for. Thats not the RU play that we expect. On offense, RU couldnt finish early and then they got predictably passive which carried into the 2nd half. The only time RU looked good in this game was about a 7 minute stretch when they did force turnovers and convert in transition going on a 14-1 run that got the RAC loud and wanting more. Alas it took one 3 to basically end that rally. That we couldnt buckle down in a 2-3 possession game was disppointing
Cliff now has become an offensive hole. He has bad hands and his shot is not even close anymore. He is even having trouble making dunks. Its tough to come down so hard given we just came off a 5 game in streak but the writing has been on the wall as of late. Cliff ended with 9 and 9 yet only 2 fg attempts in the 2nd half. For an offense that is struggling, it cannot happen. Teams are doubling him and he isnt fighting through or quick enough to pass it out. Defensively, Cliff was beaten early and often early by Rebraca and we were forced to do alot of doubling which left the perimeter open the majority of Iowa's possession. Rutgers cannot get to where the fans want it to go without a better Cliff period. I do not have the answers. That is for Pike to figure it out. Pike goes to Cliff early and he repeated cannot hit an easy bunnies. Those are misses that sets the tone and today we paid dearly for it.
As for everyone else....Mulcahy struggled and didnt make his presence known much anywhere. Cannot have your leader going 2-10 with one assist,,,bizarro game from him. Caleb not always making the right decision and costly late turnover but he was 6-8 fg, 12 points, 7 boards, 4 steals and was most consistent of anyone today. Mag was lost early, got better but damage was done. Hyatt was Hyatt and thats not a bad thing, maybe could have had some of Mags minutes. Cam didnt get enough looks or touches. Derek wasnt good. I realize he made a couple of plays but too many missed defensive assignments and taking too many shots especially one ill advised at 55-48. Derek took 11 shots, 3-11, 0-4 from 3, that is just not right for this team. No one can give me an argument otherwise. Wolf was really bad in his 2 minutes. Reiber just not applicable for this game. Pike not his best gameplan or in game coaching this year, might be his worst.
Overall Rutgers just did not get it done for whatever reason. The vaunted D was not there and its clear RU is beatable at the RAC. Cannot dwell but at the same time need to remember you need to bring it every night. The basketball gods are cruel. In one week we win at #1 Purdue, return to the RAC to bully Purdue and then a disappointing loss to a middle pack type Big 10 school at home. Northwestern up next and they are brimming with confidence, tied for first in Big 10 and have the talent to beat RU. Every night is different, every night is a war, never look more than one game ahead. How this team responds to this loss will tell alot. Its a cliche but you do not want to start losing in bunches in this league.
The loss is just one...its okay, these things can happen. We can recover
Last edited:
