In a sense, you really can’t put it on the players. For the most part, they played to their ability. I think you have to look at Pike (whom I appreciate for what he’s done) more for the recruiting which has been A10 level. It’s portal or doodoo.
GAME 19 Maryland: What Could Have Been....
- Thread starter bac2therac
- Start date
Fatts hit as many 3s last night as he did in his previous nine games combined (5-25, so it's not like he was not putting any up over that stretch). We gave him open looks, he got hot and knocked them down. It doesn't make him a good outside shooter overall.
The future looks ominous. A few seasons ago, every time we were subbing guys in I would say to myself, "He's coming in? Good!" Didn't really matter who it was, I had confidence that eight guys (at least) could bring good things to the floor. Right now, our bench contributes close to nothing.
Some of the Caleb shots last night were in the flow. Geo drives, draws help, kicks it out to a wide open Caleb, and he misses. At other times, he seemed to be in "gonna get mine" mode and forced ill-advised shots early in the clock. But that's not unique to him. When we share the ball (20+ assists multiple games in a row), we get good looks and are effective. When we struggle and start playing hero ball without the passing, it all falls apart.
The future looks ominous. A few seasons ago, every time we were subbing guys in I would say to myself, "He's coming in? Good!" Didn't really matter who it was, I had confidence that eight guys (at least) could bring good things to the floor. Right now, our bench contributes close to nothing.
Some of the Caleb shots last night were in the flow. Geo drives, draws help, kicks it out to a wide open Caleb, and he misses. At other times, he seemed to be in "gonna get mine" mode and forced ill-advised shots early in the clock. But that's not unique to him. When we share the ball (20+ assists multiple games in a row), we get good looks and are effective. When we struggle and start playing hero ball without the passing, it all falls apart.
#1 & #3) McConnell inexplicably firing miss after miss drove us into the ditch early and we never could pull out of it.
Maryland losses this year
George Mason 10-19 rim, 4-15 mid, 12-24 3
Louisville 12-23 rim, 3-10 mid, 6-27 3
VA Tech 8-15 rim, 6-25 mid, 9-20 3
Northwestern 8-17 rim, 13-28 mid, 6-18 3
Iowa 17-23 rim, 5-18 mid, 8-20 3
Illinois 15-20 rim, 5-18 mid, 8-30 3
Wisconsin 14-17 rim, 6-19 mid, 5-20 3
Rutgers 11-16 rim, 6-18 mid, 10-22 3
Michigan 15-16 rim, 12-24 mid, 8-20 3
Last night 11-26 rim, 3-14 mid, 8-24 3
All of the game plans In Maryland losses look the same, shot distribution, where they took the shot, who took the shot, balance 19-20 rim/mid/3s, adjusts based on what the team gives you through the game, and who has the best chance to make that shot. Design a game plan in what you do well vs what the opponent doesn't do well when they lose or play in close games. That's why it is impossible to go undefeated in College these days. It's also why this Rutgers team struggles to be consistent offensively, when who is supposed to take the shot on a possession hesitates on their shot, someone else ends up taking the shot that's not supposed to, and why some shots feel forced or not in rhythm during the game. The freshman are all learning the analytics nightmare that college basketball has become, but also why you see more and more upsets each year even from low or mid major teams during OOC schedules.
Caleb went off analytic script last night and turn the first half into a shit show, and battled an uphill climb the rest of the game.
Maryland saw Minnesota beat us hitting 3s from spots on the floor or certain designed plays, playing zone, they did the same last night and beat us, Monkey see, Monkey do, Analytics. All sports are becoming robotically analytical, which is good and bad.
George Mason 10-19 rim, 4-15 mid, 12-24 3
Louisville 12-23 rim, 3-10 mid, 6-27 3
VA Tech 8-15 rim, 6-25 mid, 9-20 3
Northwestern 8-17 rim, 13-28 mid, 6-18 3
Iowa 17-23 rim, 5-18 mid, 8-20 3
Illinois 15-20 rim, 5-18 mid, 8-30 3
Wisconsin 14-17 rim, 6-19 mid, 5-20 3
Rutgers 11-16 rim, 6-18 mid, 10-22 3
Michigan 15-16 rim, 12-24 mid, 8-20 3
Last night 11-26 rim, 3-14 mid, 8-24 3
All of the game plans In Maryland losses look the same, shot distribution, where they took the shot, who took the shot, balance 19-20 rim/mid/3s, adjusts based on what the team gives you through the game, and who has the best chance to make that shot. Design a game plan in what you do well vs what the opponent doesn't do well when they lose or play in close games. That's why it is impossible to go undefeated in College these days. It's also why this Rutgers team struggles to be consistent offensively, when who is supposed to take the shot on a possession hesitates on their shot, someone else ends up taking the shot that's not supposed to, and why some shots feel forced or not in rhythm during the game. The freshman are all learning the analytics nightmare that college basketball has become, but also why you see more and more upsets each year even from low or mid major teams during OOC schedules.
Caleb went off analytic script last night and turn the first half into a shit show, and battled an uphill climb the rest of the game.
Maryland saw Minnesota beat us hitting 3s from spots on the floor or certain designed plays, playing zone, they did the same last night and beat us, Monkey see, Monkey do, Analytics. All sports are becoming robotically analytical, which is good and bad.
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was that before or after the 5 point play (made bucket foul, missed rebound, then 3 by ayala). That's when I called it.
They got up 16. I called it. However I believe we quickly got it back to 10 and I thought I might have internally called the death of 2021-22 premature.
I like Pike a lot and credit him for bringing college basketball back to Rutgers from the depths of the Eddie Jordan debacle years. Nevertheless , as many have said, Pike's poor recruiting has jeopardized the progress that has been made. Unfortunately , my gut sense is that some coaches are born good recruiters and others are not. There are exceptions but generally speaking coaches do not develop into fine recruiters. And unfortunately I'm not confident that Pike will ever be a " good recruiter" due to his personality or his preferred style of play that emphasizes defense over offense.
Great write up (as always).
I'm heart broken that this era is over. An era that really started at MSG in March 2018, gained momentum in the winter of 2019, and reached it's emotional zenith in March 2020 beating a ranked Maryland at home and then Purdue in West Lafayette.
The 2020-2021 season was the coronation, and that team was officially the first to "punch their ticket", but something went seriously awry after Ohio St and we've been inflected downward ever since.
This year has been that fizzle out season. The old saying was true -- it didn't end with a bang, but with a whimper. I'm saddened by it. I don't know if we'll get back there.
I'm heart broken that this era is over. An era that really started at MSG in March 2018, gained momentum in the winter of 2019, and reached it's emotional zenith in March 2020 beating a ranked Maryland at home and then Purdue in West Lafayette.
The 2020-2021 season was the coronation, and that team was officially the first to "punch their ticket", but something went seriously awry after Ohio St and we've been inflected downward ever since.
This year has been that fizzle out season. The old saying was true -- it didn't end with a bang, but with a whimper. I'm saddened by it. I don't know if we'll get back there.
Yes, that's an amazing accomplishment by Pike that the rest of the league noticed immediately. Rutgers basketball is not an easy out now. He did that.
In 2015 nobody wanted to play "RPI Killer" Rutgers. Now, nobody wants to play tough/solid Rutgers, especially at Jersey Mike's...
Yep, sadly “gonna get mine” is how the game is played today. Happens everywhere. After 1 steal in the first half Caleb forced shots on the next three possessions. And teammates passed to him for exactly that reason. Even Reiber forced a few which were worse than Caleb’s.
This comes from the NBA where players get their # of allowed shots based on the pecking order, regardless of whether the shots fall.
I suppose you can’t blame the players because the coaches enable it.
Agreed, but how about that Paul Mulcahy? He seems happy setting up others and leading the league in assists, and he's good at it. I think a lot of teams would like to have him...
The key to the season was the loss of Jacob Young. We have no one quick enough to guard/stop the quicker guards, it has shown up at SHU, Minny and now Maryland.
The first play of the game was beautiful
Geo kept us in the game in the first half.
Ron again didn’t show up in the first half and too little too late in the 2nd half.
Good to see Cliff bounce back but center burned him early.
Probably Paul’s worst game?
Nothing from bench at all.
Caleb’s shooting actually improved as game went along but just put us in such a deep hole. He can’t be first option off the bat. Ron has to realize two halves to a game.
In non game stuff:
What the heck is up with the pep band?
Used to be so good. The tuba solos, which I am guessing are fun for band members, made a dead RAC even quieter. Note to pep band it’s a pep band not a recital.
Counted 30 people in the half empty Eisner Lounge. So freaking stupid and penny wise and pound foolish. Such a folly. 118 Remembers.
Paul is sometimes too unselfish, which can be frustrating. Once teams realized how often he would pass rather than shoot, they would play him for the pass when he drove. That would sometimes lead to avoidable turnovers. He has looked for his shot more this year in those cases, although he hasn't finished at a high rate in multiple games. I do think he is a guy that makes his teammates better on offense more often than not.
the loss of JY is enormous yet I still get a sense a group of people want to keep downplaying what he brought to the team. The inconsistency was maddening but he was the reason we had an offense last year. We won games because of JY because he was the only one to able to generate offense when the team was in a funk. Without him you get what you saw last night, which is what you saw at Seton Hall, Lafayette, Penn State and Minnesota.
Jones was supposed to be the replacement to give offense and its a pretty big failure on Pikes part with that situation.
agree that Eisner lounge is stupid and way overpriced. I assume that they are making money off of seats that are not being used but still.
what is troubling to me is that the success of 2020 and 2021 has not led to any bump in recruiting. How is that possible and that with the much talked about practice facility. Then had the NIL bs and immediate transfer portal and I do not think that is Pike's strong suit. Plus the staff...just who is the shark? Needs a shakeup.
The downplaying of JY was a reaction to a group of posters who made him out to be the next Michael Jordan and basically insisted he carried the entire team on his back. The same group also tried to blame Pike for his leaving, because Pike supposedly didn't play him enough (he played the most minutes on the team) or utilize him properly (he was better here than he has been on either of his other two teams).
He was obviously an important piece, as was Myles Johnson.
well I think those thread were as bad as the ones fawning over Geo, just like the one saying Pike should be fire and the ones who then bumped those threads and said oooh look at Pike now after we beat Purdue. 5
The fact is our remaining players are limited and our coach didnt replace the two that left and arguably even the third who was inconsistent was not replaced. Then you have comments about being the best team ever and Jerry Carino and other media fawning and slobbering over those comments. So now you have some pissed off fans.
The fact is our remaining players are limited and our coach didnt replace the two that left and arguably even the third who was inconsistent was not replaced. Then you have comments about being the best team ever and Jerry Carino and other media fawning and slobbering over those comments. So now you have some pissed off fans.
JY also shuts down Fatts (MD), Aiken (Shoe) and Willis (Minny). That said he wasn't returning to RU. He was set to go pro somewhere, but then was convinced ORE and Altman could get him ready for a better pro level opportunity.
He certainly brought it defensively every game. I hate the team chemistry comments. I don’t care about chemistry if the team wins. The late 70’s Yankees hated each other and they won. Now we are hearing that Michael and Scotty and Kukoc didn’t love each other. Sometimes you need the passion and desire to win at all costs. That’s part of chemistry too. Maybe Pike or especially the assistants should have re-recruited JY much stronger.
Maybe. The guy tweeted that he was peace-ing out like 30 minutes after a gut wrenching loss. I am skeptical that rerecruiting him had much chance of success.
People tend to speculate about chemistry and the team giving up and various other stuff anytime someone looks sad after missing a shot or whatever. It's mostly bullshit IMO. That said I wouldn't be surprised if there were more issues last year than usual because of all the weird covid stuff and just general weird circumstances. Basketball in 2020-21 didn't sound like a lot of fun for anyone, and this is especially true after getting off to such a hot start, getting expectations way up, and having it be somewhat downhill from there.
You're lost if you think Hyatt and Jones are better overall players than Mulcahy.
Do you think Pike will ever develop into a good recruiter? If not why not? And if you have a shark on staff, don't you still need a coach who can close the deal? And is Pike that closer? And why do you think the "immediate transfer portal is not Pike's strong suit?"
I sense that Pike has a loyalty to returning players. I realize he thought Hyatt and Jones would be key parts of this team this year, was he aggressive enough in trying to land another cog i the wheel or did he trust too much in Paul and Caleb who are okay players but they are not replaceable....how about for next year, do you think Pike would take a one year player and cut minutes of Paul and Caleb as seniors.
Just look at the players...there are alot of questionable players on this roster
Cliff...big time get but forced to do too much right now offensively and defensively with no back up
Jones/Hyatt....highly thought of, certainly Big 10 capable level players....jury is out
Caleb/Paul/Mag...would be role players on other schools
Reiber
Miller
Palmquist
Simpson? not highly recruited at all.
does not seem athletic, talent wise probably last in the conference meaning the coaching would need to be at a very high level to make them overacheive
Just look at the players...there are alot of questionable players on this roster
Cliff...big time get but forced to do too much right now offensively and defensively with no back up
Jones/Hyatt....highly thought of, certainly Big 10 capable level players....jury is out
Caleb/Paul/Mag...would be role players on other schools
Reiber
Miller
Palmquist
Simpson? not highly recruited at all.
does not seem athletic, talent wise probably last in the conference meaning the coaching would need to be at a very high level to make them overacheive
Or just devastated after an emotional loss? He had heart and brought effort every game, not talking about displeasure after missing a shot. Went from going pro in Europe or Asia to playing for Oregon. Somebody should have had a better feel for the pulse. Where were the assistants? IMHO it’s the missing piece this year.
Somewhat downhill? A basket away from beating Houston, a rematch with Cuse and the Final Four? I don’t think that was “somewhat downhill.”
I'm not trying to insult the guy, to be clear. I just don't think he wanted to be here anymore. I think it's pretty clear he had already made his mind up about that based on how quickly he put out that message. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just the way it is.
Meh. We played well in the tournament. We played far, far worse from Jan 5-Mar 12 than we had from Nov 25 to Jan 2. Like not even on the same level.
Meh. No road wins. The Maryland win, Minny win, the Clemson win, Houston should have been a win. A little bit selective in ebbs and flows of a season.
I can't remember the last time that we could defend the "hot shooter" on any type of a consistent basis. I'm talking...decades...it's crazy.
Great Recap again Bac. We just have to take it 1 game at a time......
I think now of the Tiffany(original Tommy James and the Shondells) song, "I think we're alone now". Only the diehard Rutgers fans will be paying close attention to the rest of the season. I think we are a small group and we're alone now.......
Best of Luck,
Groz
I think now of the Tiffany(original Tommy James and the Shondells) song, "I think we're alone now". Only the diehard Rutgers fans will be paying close attention to the rest of the season. I think we are a small group and we're alone now.......
Best of Luck,
Groz
This team is Jekyll and Hyde. They play lights out one night then the next do a saunter up and down the court. Play blistering defense one night, then an incredible offense another night but not on the same night. It is very frustrating to watch.
I have no doubt this team has all the tools, Firepower, shot making, player we need but they just have not been able to put forth a full 40 minute all out effort minus the Perdue game. I thought we were over the shot hesitancy with the nebraska game but it seems it is back. I saw guys with huge open looks feign like they were going to shoot them pass to another guy who would do the same and pass, Feign the shoot and pass, around the horn. Just somebody take a friggin shot. I will continue to watch but I will be honest it is very tough to because these guys have it in them to do it but it has not materialized when it counts.
I have no doubt this team has all the tools, Firepower, shot making, player we need but they just have not been able to put forth a full 40 minute all out effort minus the Perdue game. I thought we were over the shot hesitancy with the nebraska game but it seems it is back. I saw guys with huge open looks feign like they were going to shoot them pass to another guy who would do the same and pass, Feign the shoot and pass, around the horn. Just somebody take a friggin shot. I will continue to watch but I will be honest it is very tough to because these guys have it in them to do it but it has not materialized when it counts.
I'm sure whoever it is will be his best scoring guard ever and he will be very happy with his backcourt.
I used to LIKE PIKE... but I'll be damned if he doesn't remind me of Bob Wenzel in his later years. Watching games going south and not calling timeouts to hope to check the other team's momentum. If your team captains cannot fix what's going wrong on the floor.. the head coach better... or at least be seen to TRY.
And now I am thinking of all those fans who called out all the critics after we beat Purdue and after we beat Michigan... I told you guys then that you were just begging those with doubts to come back at you after losses. I won't do anything more than mention that situation. And it is very similar to what we saw with Rutgers football offense this season. Some people saw the problems very early and said so.. and others called them out for doing so.... and in the end, unfortunately, they were proven correct.
This basketball team has issues and those of us who doubted an NCAA appearance could happen after the losses to DePaul, Lafayette and UMASS... well.. more and more it looks like we saw the future despite wanting the best for this team. And if the team reads something like this and proves us doubters wrong I will be very happy for them.
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On a team that has a woeful offense Mulcahy can't play over 30 minutes and not score and McConnell shouldn't be taking 15 shots.
Disagree. The crowd that continued to doubt JY did so bc of a hyper focused obsession on TOs. It blinded them to everything else.
I also don't think most believe Pike forced him out
He doesn't have the explosiveness to get to the rim
That said he needs to learn to use his body to bully his way to the basket and finish against smaller guards. We have seen some flashes of it but he just has a pass first mentality
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