Game 17 Northwestern: Coulda Woulda Shoulda

[bac2therac]

Listen this team played hard and credit to their comeback. I have no problem with the effort and the level of play in the 2nd half but this team will be kicking itself for losing this game.Despite a strong start, the tone for this game was set in the first half and ultimately played a role in RU losing. RU just played some piss poor defense in the first half. They were lucky to be down only 7. Northwestern got basically any shot they wanted in their offense. Pardon just shredded us in the paint and they got hot from the perimeter but RU just was not playing a defense that they need to play in a home game. The offense was slow and sputtered and just too many turnovers.

I said in the game thread the only way that this team was going to come back was with some adjustments on both ends. Credit Pike and the players. Pardon was neutralized in the 2nd half. I thought all our bigs did a great job of contesting him in the 2nd half and I thought RU created some havoc in the passing lanes for steal which turned into instant offense. They contested NW shots and all of suddent the Cats went 5 minutes with out a basket. You could feel the momentum shift as Montez Mathis took over the game for a stretch. One would think that after getting with 1 once, and then getting it back to a deadlock at 49, RU would be able to pull out as the crowd got involved. Seemed like Northwestern was primed to be killed.

But that wasn't to be...and a major reason was RU's awful foul shooting, 2 missed one and ones....4 lost points, a missed and one by Mathis, Geo and Doorson making only 1 of 2. Sorry but that will not cut if you want to win. Beyond the foul shots, down the stretch it was simply....Northwestern with their experience made plays...made 3s, made foul shots, made defensive stops......Rutgers missed 3, missed foul shots, missed defensive assignments. A week prior a young RU team made the plays to be an experienced OSU, tonight that simply didnt happen. Make no mistake about it, this was a game that RU had every opportunity to win. They even got help from the refs who after blowing a call that led to a 5 point swing, seemed to call a foul on Northwestern everytime RU drove into the lane.

Its a tough one because Northwestern was probably the 2nd most winnable game on the schedule left, Penn State at home being the most. You want to judge progress against teams close to you in the standings and Northwestern is likely an 11th place type team in the league. You have to win the games you have the opportunity to win. Yes Eugene being out hurt, I think we would have won with Eugene but no one is feeling sorry for RU because they have an injured player. All schools have players go down at some point. Who knows when he is coming back. I am concerned how limited this teams window is for wins in games without him. Despite the emergence of the frosh, its still not enough to win games and RU is still not getting contribution from certain players in the way they need. So yes a better effort for sure than the last two steaming turds but still not enough and I fear just the start of alot of losing to come with such a tough Big 10 schedule coming up.

Special shoutout to Montez Mathis....another leap forward in his game. 5-10 shooting 16 points, 4 boards, 2 steals. He dominated the game for a time with his play on both ends. How many times did he take it the hoop and get fouled. Mathis went to the line 10 times and while he missed some key ones there. We are starting to a see a signal of the transferring of the torch a bit from Geo to Montez as our current #1 option with Eugene out. He has the size, speed, and ability to do it and we are just scratching the surface. So despite the loss, still a positive growth patch for tonight. Also another nice game by Shaq Carter. 9 pts, 10 boards in 34 minutes. Played much better D in the 2nd half. He is going to start for Doorson I think when Eugene comes back. Really nice development there.

 

[dpwhite]

There's no margin for error with this team and even less so without Omoruyi.

 

[zebnatto]

Agree, missed foul shots were huge, killed momentum.

I think “positive growth patch” is a reach.

 

[RU MAN]

We would have won this game if we had Eugene. But we still should have won this game if it weren't for lax defense in the first half and terrible FT shooting. We shot 60% from the charity stripe while Northwestern shot 82%. And forget Thiam and Kiss. They are not what we need from the outside. Ryan Taylor came from Evansville University. He is the catch and shoot kind of player Pike needs to get us over the hump. Every time we fought back in the second half and got it down to 1 or 2 or tied, we had the chance to take the lead and missed wide open threes.

Baker was awful tonight shooting the ball. I really think Pike is making a mistake having Baker as the PG. It's tiring the kid out and he has no legs on his shots. Nearly every important shot he missed in the second half, he shot short. That's because he's not using his legs when he shoots to springboard him in the air enough.

Pike HAS TO find a catch and shoot guy. HAS TO! Every good team not only has one of these kind of players but at least two. Those are the guys that knock down threes when the game is on the line. Something we haven't had since Douby and Jerome Coleman.

 

[MCKnight2004]

Mulcahy will be the starting PG on this team and a 25-30 minute player next season, mark it down. Pike knows this, Paul knows this. He will
Make Geo and the rest of the team so much better. Especially Geo who we all know including Pike, is a natural combo guard, not a pg. Baker will look much better next year. Paul will be “oldest” freshman we have had. His game is so mature. Mulcahy, Baker, Mathis and Young is our Future. Pike will sink or swim with that core

 

[bac2therac]

There's no margin for error with this team and even less so without Omoruyi.

this team blinked and let NW hit some shots in the 2nd half, it didnt have to be that way. I also thought that Geo chucking up that 3 right away down 6 with 1:40 or so was bad decision making. I didnt see a sense of calm the last few minutes. They really need Eugene

 

[bac2therac]

Agree, missed foul shots were huge, killed momentum.

I think “positive growth patch” is a reach.

when it comes to Mathis....absolutely is

 

[RU MAN]

Mulcahy will be the starting PG on this team and a 25-30 minute player next season, mark it down. Pike knows this, Paul knows this. He will
Make Geo and the rest of the team so much better. Especially Geo who we all know including Pike, is a natural combo guard, not a pg. Baker will look much better next year. Paul will be “oldest” freshman we have had. His game is so mature. Mulcahy, Baker, Mathis and Young is our Future. Pike will sink or swim with that core

Very good post. But don't forget Johnson underneath and Carter for one more year. Still, Pike needs to find a quality catch and shoot kid like Ryan Taylor and one more quality small forward who can shoot and dribble drive to the basket. I think we are two more players away from actually being consistently good.

 

[dpwhite]

this team blinked and let NW hit some shots in the 2nd half, it didnt have to be that way. I also thought that Geo chucking up that 3 right away down 6 with 1:40 or so was bad decision making. I didnt see a sense of calm the last few minutes. They really need Eugene

Yeah, but that's part of what I mean. There's no leadership and little experience... so no margin of error. They have to play a perfect game and while they played a good game tonight, they didn't play a perfect game relative to their talent to win.

 

[BigEastPhil]

Game was lost when we tied it up late and could not score in the next 4 possessions or so. Had chance to bury them and we let them off the hook. Collectively there were some bad shot selections as well. Agree big time with other post in terms of why the hell is Thiam in at the end of the game as Taylor had open 3s with Thiam guarding him. Thought Kiss played reasonably well today and would have preferred to see him in there towards the end vs Taylor or Harper.

 

[bac2therac]

Yeah, but that's part of what I mean. There's no leadership and little experience... so no margin of error. They have to play a perfect game and while they played a good game tonight, they didn't play a perfect game relative to their talent to win.

well they didnt have to play perfect, Northwestern isnt that good...and I think Nwstern should be better than they are. I then ask is beating Nwstern too much to ask. They have Pardon and Law...what do we have. But then again RU showed last week that they could beat a better team that has more experience.

but still you cannot go 1-19 and just blame it on youth. This team somehow has to claw to minimum 4 league wins..anything over than that is really going to look bad

 

[bac2therac]

Game was lost when we tied it up late and could not score in the next 4 possessions or so. Had chance to bury them and we let them off the hook. Collectively there were some bad shot selections as well. Agree big time with other post in terms of why the hell is Thiam in at the end of the game as Taylor had open 3s with Thiam guarding him. Thought Kiss played reasonably well today and would have preferred to see him in there towards the end vs Taylor or Harper.

I think a couple of 3 point shots there rather than going with what was working which was inside and possibly getting fouled, also late the shot selection was bad when they were down 5-6

 

[BOGDANOVICH]

All signs point to a dismal 1-19 B10 record.

This is Pike's third year with little real progress shown.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

BAC and I saw this game the exact same way.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

All signs point to a dismal 1-19 B10 record.

Is Eugene out for the year?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

What would have been the score with 5 minutes left if banked 3 pointers didn't count?

Rutgers 49
NW 43

 

[RU-ROCS]

Eugene’s absence is huge. In addition to better foul shooting, this team has been desperate over the last several years for at least one 40%+ 3-point shooter. Most every other Big 10 team has two of them and RU has NONE! Pike gets some heat for not getting that guy on campus yet.

 

[pawildcat]

well they didnt have to play perfect, Northwestern isnt that good...and I think Nwstern should be better than they are. I then ask is beating Nwstern too much to ask. They have Pardon and Law...what do we have. But then again RU showed last week that they could beat a better team that has more experience.

but still you cannot go 1-19 and just blame it on youth. This team somehow has to claw to minimum 4 league wins..anything over than that is really going to look bad

Actually, NU had about half of Law. He sat on the bench with a back injury last game against Michigan (not a team you want to be shorthanded against) and didn't look all that great tonight. Biggest problem for the Cats this year is the lack of a true point guard. The guy they had recruited was dropped for an off-court incident prior to the start of school. The league this season is not one you want to play in without a good PG.

 

[jonS]

All signs point to a dismal 1-19 B10 record.

This is Pike's third year with little real progress shown.

The trap so many of us have fallen into is that we continue to compare this Rutgers team to past teams and see a noticeable talent upgrade. And there has been. The problem is that we should be comparing this team to the rest of the Big Ten and ask if the talent gap is closing. Unfortunately, it appears not and it all comes down to recruiting. What we need are more top 100 recruits who can close the gap and bring Rutgers closer to middle of the pack. Pike can coach --what he needs to do is prove he can land that one top recruit who can really make a difference. Montez Mathis is a good start. But we need more top talent like him. Mulcahy appears to be of the same mold but we need more talent.

 

[wheezer]

NW had bad stretches in the game, but when we got to within one late, one of their guys hit a killer three, and they made other baskets from the outside..... we needed them to continue to struggle, but when they needed the big baskets, NW got them.....
they got theirs, and we could not match it, shot for shot, at that point in time....

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

In warm ups had Law had a ridiculous 360 windmill dunk. If he was hurt something doesn’t add up.

 

[pawildcat]

In warm ups had Law had a ridiculous 360 windmill dunk. If he was hurt something doesn’t add up.

If so, probably not the smartest thing to be a warmup warrior coming off a back injury. His line of 2-10 shooting (0-5 for three-pointers) is certainly not typical Vic Law. He was outscored by all three of NU's bench players, including two freshmen. But Rutgers plays pretty good D. Maybe it was that.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

If so, probably not the smartest thing to be a warmup warrior coming off a back injury. His line of 2-10 shooting (0-5 for three-pointers) is certainly not typical Vic Law. He was outscored by all three of NU's bench players, including two freshmen. But Rutgers plays pretty good D. Maybe it was that.

Mathis was super focused on the defensive end and was in his face and physically on him all game.

 

[RutHut]

Most memorable part of being at the game was the non-foul call against Geo that they kept showing on the big screen. It is becoming more and more apparent every game that only Mathis has the strength to create his own offense and get to the hole.

 

[RUJMM78]

The trap so many of us have fallen into is that we continue to compare this Rutgers team to past teams and see a noticeable talent upgrade. And there has been. The problem is that we should be comparing this team to the rest of the Big Ten and ask if the talent gap is closing. Unfortunately, it appears not and it all comes down to recruiting. What we need are more top 100 recruits who can close the gap and bring Rutgers closer to middle of the pack. Pike can coach --what he needs to do is prove he can land that one top recruit who can really make a difference. Montez Mathis is a good start. But we need more top talent like him. Mulcahy appears to be of the same mold but we need more talent.

Spot on comment regarding comparing Rutgers talent versus league rivals.Getting better recruiting from a Rutgers perspective is irrelevant when B1G teams continue to defeat Rutgers home and away.The inability to recruit shooters/scorers has been the downfall of Rutgers in the B1G .It has very little to to do with the players being young or experienced but rather the skill set of the players.Scholarships are precious .and Rutgers has brought in too many complementary type players and two few difference makers.Its not by accident that Rutgers remains mired at the bottom of B1G rankings.

 

[goru7]

Most memorable part of being at the game was the non-foul call against Geo that they kept showing on the big screen. It is becoming more and more apparent every game that only Mathis has the strength to create his own offense and get to the hole.

Yeah but that was such a crucial sequence as that was a 5 point swing. Geo not getting the foul call and 2 potential points and while complaining about the no call , they hit the three. We were making a run right there and had to dig out of another 10 point deficit that we did, but probably would have taken the lead. We never got the lead despite tying it at 49-49 and having three trips to get it. Getting the lead there might have been enough to get the win.

 

[knights1212]

We played right into NW's hands. We did so much better when we pushed the ball. Way too often we hardly moved the ball and had to take a horrible shot when the shot clock was winding down. I am getting afraid that I am getting older and might never see RU get a winning season much less make it to the NCAA. This is so frustrating year after year. I have been going to games since 1971. We really need a bigger guy who can hit threes. Is he out there somewhere?

 

[zebnatto]

when it comes to Mathis....absolutely is

A weird way to say “Mathis continues to improve.”

 

[Scarlet83]

Most memorable part of being at the game was the non-foul call against Geo that they kept showing on the big screen. It is becoming more and more apparent every game that only Mathis has the strength to create his own offense and get to the hole.

Huge kudos to the video board operator to show that replay over and over. It got us fans in a huge lather and we were booing louder and louder during that time out.

1) We immediately got at least two make up calls.
2) The crowd got more intense.
3) The freakin refs were being held accountable right there in mid-game.
4) I think it spurred the team on too.

The video board operator needs to do this MORE!

 

[bac2therac]

Yeah but that was such a crucial sequence as that was a 5 point swing. Geo not getting the foul call and 2 potential points and while complaining about the no call , they hit the three. We were making a run right there and had to dig out of another 10 point deficit that we did, but probably would have taken the lead. We never got the lead despite tying it at 49-49 and having three trips to get it. Getting the lead there might have been enough to get the win.

It was a key sequence because of the 5 point swing but it led to RU getting virtually every call after that...the next play the refs called a foul and Geo missed on the one and one. I think it helped RU momentum wise and got the crowd into it

 

[bethlehemfan]

We did start getting some calls but they weren’t make up. They were obvious fouls that should have been called all along. Then we need to make a damn free throw so in the end it wasn’t the refs. They did their job finally that’s all.

 

[mikefla]

IMO....free throws and
GEO going 4 -14 was the key....he has to do better than that

 

[gflip01]

Most memorable part of being at the game was the non-foul call against Geo that they kept showing on the big screen. It is becoming more and more apparent every game that only Mathis has the strength to create his own offense and get to the hole.

Most memorable part of being at the game was the girl sitting in the front row on the floor across from the RU bench with the low cut scarlet top. She even got some scoreboard time. Any idea who that was?

 

[jonS]

IMO....free throws and
GEO going 4 -14 was the key....he has to do better than that

Just a bad game by our guards. Caleb had a bad game as well --too many turnovers.

 

[RUonBrain]

We played right into NW's hands. We did so much better when we pushed the ball. Way too often we hardly moved the ball and had to take a horrible shot when the shot clock was winding down. I am getting afraid that I am getting older and might never see RU get a winning season much less make it to the NCAA. This is so frustrating year after year. I have been going to games since 1971. We really need a bigger guy who can hit threes. Is he out there somewhere?

Stay healthy, my friend!

 

[Debtbubble]

TLDR

 

[RUJMM78]

We played right into NW's hands. We did so much better when we pushed the ball. Way too often we hardly moved the ball and had to take a horrible shot when the shot clock was winding down. I am getting afraid that I am getting older and might never see RU get a winning season much less make it to the NCAA. This is so frustrating year after year. I have been going to games since 1971. We really need a bigger guy who can hit threes. Is he out there somewhere?

I share your pain and disappointment as a long time season ticket holder.Sadly,the only thing that has changed over decades of futility is the names of players and coaches.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Huge kudos to the video board operator to show that replay over and over. It got us fans in a huge lather and we were booing louder and louder during that time out.

1) We immediately got at least two make up calls.
2) The crowd got more intense.
3) The freakin refs were being held accountable right there in mid-game.
4) I think it spurred the team on too.

The video board operator needs to do this MORE!

I wonder if that is allowed. When it was happening I thought to might be a fineaable infractions.

Refs are human and doing their best. At the time I love seeing the replay, but as an ex ref I dont think it is right.

 

[Sideline20]

I wonder if that is allowed. When it was happening I thought to might be a fineaable infractions.

Refs are human and doing their best. At the time I love seeing the replay, but as an ex ref I dont think it is right.

It seems to me that Rutgers is extremely (overly) careful not to break any rules so replays must be permissible.

Actually, since the replay board was installed, a few years ago, I know I enjoy watching the replays of great passes and shots that are available to us fans at the game (just like it is for those watching the game on TV). I am sure the refs will include this "incident" in their report to the league. I would expect that the B1G will probably follow the lead of MLB and not allow replays of controversial plays (plays under review) in the venue next season.

 

[rcube1994]

I wonder if that is allowed. When it was happening I thought to might be a fineaable infractions.

Refs are human and doing their best. At the time I love seeing the replay, but as an ex ref I dont think it is right.

The refs were definitely aware of the video, they were looking up and discussing it. One ref walked over from the baseline and talked to someone at the scorers table twice, I thought he was telling them not to play it, but they kept playing it. The ref did not look too happy.