It don't come easy
You know it don't come easy
It don't come easy
You know it don't come easy
Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues
And you know it don't come easy
You don't have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy
Forget about the past and all your sorrows
The future won't last
It will soon be your tomorrow
I don't ask for much, I only want trust
And you know it don't come easy
There are two recaps I am torn with going with and cannot decide on either. The first one says that RU grinded out another needed win inching closer to securing their first NCAA tourney bid since 1991. RU wins by 14 finishing the game on a sick 60-36 run after going down 10 early in the game. A smothering defensive performance where Myles Johnson just stymied anything that Northwestern could generate inside forcing Northwestern to try shooting way more shots from outside than they would like. A game in which RU simply dominated the boards 44-31. A game in which Northwestern was held to a season low 50 points on just 33% shooting. What was impressive is that RU stuck to their guns ultimately when things were not going well. The grind and the chop. It was their defense that kept things from unrravelling and when things got close it was the defense that generate some turnovers which led to easy transition buckets and eventually enough to break open the game where RU closed the game strong.
A couple of key junctures. Down 14-4, RU would go on an unbelievable 33-13 run. I do not care how bad a team is, its very hard for one school to do that to another school at this level. That this was the second time in two games vs Northwestern (see the 31-11 run the first meeing) makes it all the more impressive and shows you what Rutgers is capable of when they really are hitting on all cylinders. RU shot too many 3s in that stretch going 0-5, that is not their game. It seems as if the first few possessions were just way too much degree of difficulty. Basketball isnt that hard. When RU got used to moving the ball around and getting it inside to Myles, they flourished. Harper got his midrange game going. The good Justin Young in control and making good decisions and taking good shots. Caleb making some sweet passes for assists. In the meantime the defense was oppressive limiting Northwestern to one shot and out and to a 9 minute stretch from first to 2nd half with no fgs. Proving its the defense that RU needs to dig into to get the offense functioning with confidence
Then 2nd half and RU struggling mightily on offense as it went into is usual funk...8 minutes without a bucket and the lead cut to 43-40. Then Myles the Monster took over. Myles had 6 boards including 3 on the offensive end and 2 blocks in a 4 minute stretch where RU built its lead from 45-40 to finally what probably sealed the game, a Geo for 3 that put RU up 54-42. Myles had 10 in the first half on 5-5 shooting but it was his job in the paint tonight that won him the MVP tonight. A whopping 14 boards to go with his 12 points and 2-3 at the line Myles was perhaps the only player tonight who played consistently well all game long. Also forced to play alot of minutes at 32, this was such a bounce back effort from a woeful foul ridden ineffective disappearing act at Iowa. Geo was absent much of the night but a couple of his shots in then 2nd half were at key moments..one at 41-38 and as alluded to most likely the game sealer to put RU up 12. Harper was big too...big spark for RU early and then came up big defensively down the stretch collecting a bunch of rebounds. A quiet double double for RU with 14 and 11 despite 5 turnovers. You get the feeling that bustout game from him is coming soon. Have to make special mention of Caleb. I mean those two 3s as ugly as the offense looked were big shots and sometimes its better to get points than to look pretty. I think without those 3s , RU may have still won but you are likely looking at death struggle to end like 53-50. Overall Caleb struggled shooting but he also contributed with 7 boards and 3 assists. Caleb does not have to be the flashiest guy. He just needs to positively contributed and he did that today in a key juncture.
Free throw shooting..wow amazing...14-16, everyone was hitting. Sometimes its contagious
The win puts RU one step closer to clinching that elusive NCAA tourney bid. Some may disagree with me but I think RU is one game away from effectively clinching a bid. Time will tell but RU is in a driver seat position right now and compared to others around the bubble, I just cannot see a scenario developing where they do not make it.
Okay well thats the good now for the negatoid in me. This team is maddening to watch. They lose leads and momentum in a snap of a finger. Like an earlier game vs OSU with a chance to go up 16, here RU could have gone up 43-27 on NW but a Geo fast break turned into a weak jam attempt from him not taking contact and it was blocked. RU would then go 7 more minutes without a fg and was outscored 11-0 and all of a sudden it was a game. The offense reverted back to what we saw in the 4 game losing streak. Missed bunnies, bad turnovers, too many fouls, too many 3s. All the things we have seen from this team and fear showed up. We had hoped this was behind them but alas its a part of this team. I think its not going away. The key is just to try to limit those moments and work through it. Seems like players like Young and Mathis still continue to make the same mistakes and not learn their lesson. In addition RU completely abandoned any notion of gettng the ball inside and players like Geo looked like they saw a ghost, tentative and afraid to do anything. RU got bailed out by two back to back 3s by Caleb where the passing and set ups looked awful.
The inability to have a killer instinct is a concern as we look forward and yes its fair for us to look forward at the NCAA tournament. My concern is tough to rely on play that is so spotty from certain players themselves. We all know the issues with Jacob but now what is up with the passivity of Geo. With Mathis proving ineffective and Myles basically our entire 5 there is such a small margin for error. The kind of game played tonight will not beat Michigan or win at Minnesota or even beat Maryland/Indiana. I am just wondering when will we get the kind of performance we got in the Illinois game or at Indiana. I know this team is a capable of it. We saw the 33-13 run tonight. Am I nitpicking? Maybe? But I would like to see this team rise to the ability I know they are capable of. Something seems to hold this team back and they get in their way. I do not know if its confidence or what but they tend to multiply their mistakes like rabbits. Yes I have expectations. I think this team COULD be dangerous in the NCAA tourney but will they be. Offensively they have to get things going or its going to bite them in the ass. Today was a win and that is important and winning does not have to be pretty. There are no style points for winnings. I embrace winning yet this team leaves me worried when I think about matchups with Michigan and a first round matchup against a more experience 10 or 11 seed. The good news is that RU is good enough where we can nitpick a little and have expectations because this damn RU team is ready to make history and I would love to see this team elevate its confidence level to reach its full potential. More trust between teammates and more leadership down the strecth can make a world of difference in how far we go come tourney time
You know it don't come easy
It don't come easy
You know it don't come easy
Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues
And you know it don't come easy
You don't have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy
Forget about the past and all your sorrows
The future won't last
It will soon be your tomorrow
I don't ask for much, I only want trust
And you know it don't come easy
There are two recaps I am torn with going with and cannot decide on either. The first one says that RU grinded out another needed win inching closer to securing their first NCAA tourney bid since 1991. RU wins by 14 finishing the game on a sick 60-36 run after going down 10 early in the game. A smothering defensive performance where Myles Johnson just stymied anything that Northwestern could generate inside forcing Northwestern to try shooting way more shots from outside than they would like. A game in which RU simply dominated the boards 44-31. A game in which Northwestern was held to a season low 50 points on just 33% shooting. What was impressive is that RU stuck to their guns ultimately when things were not going well. The grind and the chop. It was their defense that kept things from unrravelling and when things got close it was the defense that generate some turnovers which led to easy transition buckets and eventually enough to break open the game where RU closed the game strong.
A couple of key junctures. Down 14-4, RU would go on an unbelievable 33-13 run. I do not care how bad a team is, its very hard for one school to do that to another school at this level. That this was the second time in two games vs Northwestern (see the 31-11 run the first meeing) makes it all the more impressive and shows you what Rutgers is capable of when they really are hitting on all cylinders. RU shot too many 3s in that stretch going 0-5, that is not their game. It seems as if the first few possessions were just way too much degree of difficulty. Basketball isnt that hard. When RU got used to moving the ball around and getting it inside to Myles, they flourished. Harper got his midrange game going. The good Justin Young in control and making good decisions and taking good shots. Caleb making some sweet passes for assists. In the meantime the defense was oppressive limiting Northwestern to one shot and out and to a 9 minute stretch from first to 2nd half with no fgs. Proving its the defense that RU needs to dig into to get the offense functioning with confidence
Then 2nd half and RU struggling mightily on offense as it went into is usual funk...8 minutes without a bucket and the lead cut to 43-40. Then Myles the Monster took over. Myles had 6 boards including 3 on the offensive end and 2 blocks in a 4 minute stretch where RU built its lead from 45-40 to finally what probably sealed the game, a Geo for 3 that put RU up 54-42. Myles had 10 in the first half on 5-5 shooting but it was his job in the paint tonight that won him the MVP tonight. A whopping 14 boards to go with his 12 points and 2-3 at the line Myles was perhaps the only player tonight who played consistently well all game long. Also forced to play alot of minutes at 32, this was such a bounce back effort from a woeful foul ridden ineffective disappearing act at Iowa. Geo was absent much of the night but a couple of his shots in then 2nd half were at key moments..one at 41-38 and as alluded to most likely the game sealer to put RU up 12. Harper was big too...big spark for RU early and then came up big defensively down the stretch collecting a bunch of rebounds. A quiet double double for RU with 14 and 11 despite 5 turnovers. You get the feeling that bustout game from him is coming soon. Have to make special mention of Caleb. I mean those two 3s as ugly as the offense looked were big shots and sometimes its better to get points than to look pretty. I think without those 3s , RU may have still won but you are likely looking at death struggle to end like 53-50. Overall Caleb struggled shooting but he also contributed with 7 boards and 3 assists. Caleb does not have to be the flashiest guy. He just needs to positively contributed and he did that today in a key juncture.
Free throw shooting..wow amazing...14-16, everyone was hitting. Sometimes its contagious
The win puts RU one step closer to clinching that elusive NCAA tourney bid. Some may disagree with me but I think RU is one game away from effectively clinching a bid. Time will tell but RU is in a driver seat position right now and compared to others around the bubble, I just cannot see a scenario developing where they do not make it.
Okay well thats the good now for the negatoid in me. This team is maddening to watch. They lose leads and momentum in a snap of a finger. Like an earlier game vs OSU with a chance to go up 16, here RU could have gone up 43-27 on NW but a Geo fast break turned into a weak jam attempt from him not taking contact and it was blocked. RU would then go 7 more minutes without a fg and was outscored 11-0 and all of a sudden it was a game. The offense reverted back to what we saw in the 4 game losing streak. Missed bunnies, bad turnovers, too many fouls, too many 3s. All the things we have seen from this team and fear showed up. We had hoped this was behind them but alas its a part of this team. I think its not going away. The key is just to try to limit those moments and work through it. Seems like players like Young and Mathis still continue to make the same mistakes and not learn their lesson. In addition RU completely abandoned any notion of gettng the ball inside and players like Geo looked like they saw a ghost, tentative and afraid to do anything. RU got bailed out by two back to back 3s by Caleb where the passing and set ups looked awful.
The inability to have a killer instinct is a concern as we look forward and yes its fair for us to look forward at the NCAA tournament. My concern is tough to rely on play that is so spotty from certain players themselves. We all know the issues with Jacob but now what is up with the passivity of Geo. With Mathis proving ineffective and Myles basically our entire 5 there is such a small margin for error. The kind of game played tonight will not beat Michigan or win at Minnesota or even beat Maryland/Indiana. I am just wondering when will we get the kind of performance we got in the Illinois game or at Indiana. I know this team is a capable of it. We saw the 33-13 run tonight. Am I nitpicking? Maybe? But I would like to see this team rise to the ability I know they are capable of. Something seems to hold this team back and they get in their way. I do not know if its confidence or what but they tend to multiply their mistakes like rabbits. Yes I have expectations. I think this team COULD be dangerous in the NCAA tourney but will they be. Offensively they have to get things going or its going to bite them in the ass. Today was a win and that is important and winning does not have to be pretty. There are no style points for winnings. I embrace winning yet this team leaves me worried when I think about matchups with Michigan and a first round matchup against a more experience 10 or 11 seed. The good news is that RU is good enough where we can nitpick a little and have expectations because this damn RU team is ready to make history and I would love to see this team elevate its confidence level to reach its full potential. More trust between teammates and more leadership down the strecth can make a world of difference in how far we go come tourney time
