Game 22: Nebraska Thoughts

[bac2therac]

Disappointed tonight

Coulda, shoulda, woulda

Game was there for the taking. First I will say yes Nebraska is a better team, they run a better offense, they are athletic, they shoot better, they hustle, they play solid defense and are well coached. Yet still the game was for the taking. Nebraska was off tonight. They were ripe for the picking and RU didnt take advantage. So so many opportunities but even before it got to crunch time, a key 2 minute stretch early in the 2nd half basically gave them the breathing room they needed....a quick 10-0 buoyed by two back to back 3s versus some lethargic RU defense was killer for RU. RU blinked and all of a sudden they were down 9. They had to play catch up the rest of the game but could never come up with the needed big play to win the game...thats whats disappointing because they had several chances to.

Credit RU defense. After that run, RU played some incredible defense on Nebby. Defense that should be good enough to win the game. Did you know that RU held Nebby to just 9 points in 12:23 of the second half...and just TWO fgs...one a killer 3...but this is quite notable. If there is a bright spot tonight this is where it is. Thats simply outstanding and shows that RU kept to its task and strength of defense first and rebounding...RU outrebounded Nebby....up until that 2 minute mark..we will get to that later. So this game followed the typical Pike blueprint, we know the offense sucks so we keep rebounding, play with intensity and keep the game close..and thats where it was...50-48 at home after a 16-9 run over 12:23....this is exactly where RU should have came up big but instead came up meek.

RU with the ball and crowd into it at 50-48 with 3:20 left
Corey Sanders turnover
Nebraska missed shot and rebound
Nebraska missed shot and rebound
Nebraska Watson makes shot....52-48 at 2:29
Freeman tip shot in after 2 RU misses....52-50 with 1:52 left
Sa foul, Nebby makes 2 ft....54-50 1:34
Sa makes layup 54-52 1:16
Nebby misses 3 but rebound
Watson burns Sanders for layup 56-52 29 seconds
Sanders misses awful layup attempt in trees
Sa rebound and fouled
Sa misses free throw, Eugene rebound
Sanders turnover
Nebby drains two more ft 58-52 game over basically

thats it right there...we had Sanders turning it over twice in huge moments and getting burned on defense. We had our strong defense go south missing out on major rebounds that could have kept it at one position. RU had it down to 2 several times and one time had the ball with a shot to take the lead. Unfortunately down the stretch Sanders came up small and Baker disappeared. Overall disappointing because RU should have been able to make a play to win at home and they didnt. Not much more to say. Simply not good enough and need guys who can shoot. Not going to win when Thiam is basically AWOL with his shot and Eugene isnt scoring alot. It is what it is and we probably will see more of these close games the rest of the year. Just need better recruits. Do not question the effort, this team just is not good. 500 season is probably in peril at this point but I think even just not finishing last is the goal right now

 

[kcg88]

Must be nice to hit back to back threes and put together a quick run.

 

[RUJMM78]

Disappointed tonight

Coulda, shoulda, woulda

Game was there for the taking. First I will say yes Nebraska is a better team, they run a better offense, they are athletic, they shoot better, they hustle, they play solid defense and are well coached. Yet still the game was for the taking. Nebraska was off tonight. They were ripe for the picking and RU didnt take advantage. So so many opportunities but even before it got to crunch time, a key 2 minute stretch early in the 2nd half basically gave them the breathing room they needed....a quick 10-0 buoyed by two back to back 3s versus some lethargic RU defense was killer for RU. RU blinked and all of a sudden they were down 9. They had to play catch up the rest of the game but could never come up with the needed big play to win the game...thats whats disappointing because they had several chances to.

Credit RU defense. After that run, RU played some incredible defense on Nebby. Defense that should be good enough to win the game. Did you know that RU held Nebby to just 9 points in 12:23 of the second half...and just TWO fgs...one a killer 3...but this is quite notable. If there is a bright spot tonight this is where it is. Thats simply outstanding and shows that RU kept to its task and strength of defense first and rebounding...RU outrebounded Nebby....up until that 2 minute mark..we will get to that later. So this game followed the typical Pike blueprint, we know the offense sucks so we keep rebounding, play with intensity and keep the game close..and thats where it was...50-48 at home after a 16-9 run over 12:23....this is exactly where RU should have came up big but instead came up meek.

RU with the ball and crowd into it at 50-48 with 3:20 left
Corey Sanders turnover
Nebraska missed shot and rebound
Nebraska missed shot and rebound
Nebraska Watson makes shot....52-48 at 2:29
Freeman tip shot in after 2 RU misses....52-50 with 1:52 left
Sa foul, Nebby makes 2 ft....54-50 1:34
Sa makes layup 54-52 1:16
Nebby misses 3 but rebound
Watson burns Sanders for layup 56-52 29 seconds
Sanders misses awful layup attempt in trees
Sa rebound and fouled
Sa misses free throw, Eugene rebound
Sanders turnover
Nebby drains two more ft 58-52 game over basically

thats it right there...we had Sanders turning it over twice in huge moments and getting burned on defense. We had our strong defense go south missing out on major rebounds that could have kept it at one position. RU had it down to 2 several times and one time had the ball with a shot to take the lead. Unfortunately down the stretch Sanders came up small and Baker disappeared. Overall disappointing because RU should have been able to make a play to win at home and they didnt. Not much more to say. Simply not good enough and need guys who can shoot. Not going to win when Thiam is basically AWOL with his shot and Eugene isnt scoring alot. It is what it is and we probably will see more of these close games the rest of the year. Just need better recruits. Do not question the effort, this team just is not good. 500 season is probably in peril at this point but I think even just not finishing last is the goal right now

BAC- another excellent recap of a must win game at home which Rutgers gave away because of the usual offensive woes.Its incredible to watch a team work so hard on defense and then be missing in action on offense for 40 minutes with not one go to scorer on the floor from the beginning to the end of the game.

 

[bac2therac]

The window of opportunity again remains small...however RU was there....they timed it right, they played great defense but the offense once again came up weak. I didnt like some of our shot selection namely Corey's drive down 4 was simply awful. I think Pike really needs to get some better late game plays set up. I know you want to have Corey have the ball in his hand but he was running into trees alot again tonight

 

[RU-ROCS]

Disappointed tonight

Coulda, shoulda, woulda

Game was there for the taking. First I will say yes Nebraska is a better team, they run a better offense, they are athletic, they shoot better, they hustle, they play solid defense and are well coached. Yet still the game was for the taking. Nebraska was off tonight. They were ripe for the picking and RU didnt take advantage. So so many opportunities but even before it got to crunch time, a key 2 minute stretch early in the 2nd half basically gave them the breathing room they needed....a quick 10-0 buoyed by two back to back 3s versus some lethargic RU defense was killer for RU. RU blinked and all of a sudden they were down 9. They had to play catch up the rest of the game but could never come up with the needed big play to win the game...thats whats disappointing because they had several chances to.

Credit RU defense. After that run, RU played some incredible defense on Nebby. Defense that should be good enough to win the game. Did you know that RU held Nebby to just 9 points in 12:23 of the second half...and just TWO fgs...one a killer 3...but this is quite notable. If there is a bright spot tonight this is where it is. Thats simply outstanding and shows that RU kept to its task and strength of defense first and rebounding...RU outrebounded Nebby....up until that 2 minute mark..we will get to that later. So this game followed the typical Pike blueprint, we know the offense sucks so we keep rebounding, play with intensity and keep the game close..and thats where it was...50-48 at home after a 16-9 run over 12:23....this is exactly where RU should have came up big but instead came up meek.

RU with the ball and crowd into it at 50-48 with 3:20 left
Corey Sanders turnover
Nebraska missed shot and rebound
Nebraska missed shot and rebound
Nebraska Watson makes shot....52-48 at 2:29
Freeman tip shot in after 2 RU misses....52-50 with 1:52 left
Sa foul, Nebby makes 2 ft....54-50 1:34
Sa makes layup 54-52 1:16
Nebby misses 3 but rebound
Watson burns Sanders for layup 56-52 29 seconds
Sanders misses awful layup attempt in trees
Sa rebound and fouled
Sa misses free throw, Eugene rebound
Sanders turnover
Nebby drains two more ft 58-52 game over basically

thats it right there...we had Sanders turning it over twice in huge moments and getting burned on defense. We had our strong defense go south missing out on major rebounds that could have kept it at one position. RU had it down to 2 several times and one time had the ball with a shot to take the lead. Unfortunately down the stretch Sanders came up small and Baker disappeared. Overall disappointing because RU should have been able to make a play to win at home and they didnt. Not much more to say. Simply not good enough and need guys who can shoot. Not going to win when Thiam is basically AWOL with his shot and Eugene isnt scoring alot. It is what it is and we probably will see more of these close games the rest of the year. Just need better recruits. Do not question the effort, this team just is not good. 500 season is probably in peril at this point but I think even just not finishing last is the goal right now

Thiam missing so many wide open 3s was the biggest key to the loss. It’s really the first really bad game he’s had all year, so I’ll cut him some slack. His defense was, as always, very good tonight. As for Corey and Baker fading down the stretch, you’ve got to wonder whether all of the games with too many minutes are catching up to them in late game situations. Especially since Williams went down, these guys are logging too many minutes - period!

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

These staff's in the conference all scout AND typically know what you want to run...the sequences of a Shaq turn and baby hook, Candido small hook shot and Eugene working hard for layups were what Tim Miles wanted to see...we made those possessions count.

That is lost on the same comments about lack of offense...There is simply no skill set in the front court that can compliment the guards, so the guards dont see a path out of the way.

We picked up 2 of the 3 "50-50" games in league games so far...if we carry that defensive effort to Penn State and at Illinois, we will be in great shape...Nebraska is clearly just a more game ready roster and fought through a tough 2 game trip to earn a split.

Lots of steps forward with a learning curve for Issa Thiam placed front and center...drain 4 vs Iowa and come up empty vs Nebraska...

The buying of minutes to find rest for Baker and Corey with Souf, Jake and Bullock is almost criminal when Nebraska has 3 experienced guards and essentially didn't use 4* PG freshman Thomas Allen, who barely played.

Impossible to assess this until the roster is turned over and given a year to get sorted.out...but while that happens, we need a.couple of shots by Baker and Corey and we will be OK in next 2.

 

[goru7]

Any recap of the game has to start with the refs! Any one that was in the arena witnessed the worst reffed game against us ever. Before I elaborate, if Issa does not go 0-7 from three and hits even 1 we likely win, and if he hits 2 we definitely win. He missed wide open shots on balls swung to him from Corey , from Geo and even from Deshawn. If Deshawn grabs that damn rebound with 47 seconds and doesn’t fall asleep and let Copeland get to it , we have the ball down 2 with the place rocking. Some costly turnovers down the stretch by Corey and Deshawn resulting in steals also were killers especially in a 2point game down the stretch .

Now back to the refs. They missed at least 10calls at least tonight. BAC , you cannot recap the end of the game, and forget the walk they forgot to call when Robby fell to the floor and then they had the nerve to give him the timeout when we had the tie up and the possession. Or the 4-5 balls that went out of bounds off Nebraska and instead the ball was given to them. Corey driving and being bumped and no calls all night. Then the bull crap flop by Watson calling Corey for an offensive foul with 14 seconds left. Or the walk by Roby at the foul line they missed and then call us for the foul. Or the 2 other walks by Nebraska by Palmer and their other guard Gill that was missed. They affected the entire game and prevented us from getting over the hump. An absolute travesty. That one ref called 10 straight calls against us.

Yeah , our lack of shooting and having 10 more shots than Nebraska and not converting on a ton of shots around the rim has been our Achilles Heel all year and reared it’s ugly head again.

The only real positive difference I saw tonight was We actually gave the ball to Sa and Shaquille on the block and they each converted on a move. I have been harping on this the last 2 -3 game recaps and I am hopeful we see more of feeding those 2 and Duke in the post or on the block .

As hard as the guys played tonight , I am absolutely heart broken for them as this was a real tough loss to swallow. Hard to play this hard over and over and not reap the reward but Coach remarkably gets them back off the mat. Just damn frustrating!

 

[wngarbarini]

Corey can’t be careless with his dribbling and go one on three in crunch time. Doesn’t work

 

[bac2therac]

I dont make any recaps actually with refs..that to me is just part of the game. RU had so many shots to take control of the game and didnt. Refs or not. I do agree it seems like Nebby seemed to get the calls at the worst time for RU but I also thought Nebby made their own luck...they got almost all the 50/50 balls and rebounds. They seem to get them the most when it mattered. You have to make your own luck and RU didnt...they were outhustled in the end game by a team that hustled harder than them

 

[mrslate]

I'm wondering if some of you guys watched the game. Rutgers lost for two reasons: Issa and Thiam. He was horrible. If he makes one or two more shots, Rutgers wins the game. Sure, Sanders made some bad plays down the stretch, but it should never have come to that, and I can't blame him for trying.

 

[goru7]

I dont make any recaps actually with refs..that to me is just part of the game. RU had so many shots to take control of the game and didnt. Refs or not. I do agree it seems like Nebby seemed to get the calls at the worst time for RU but I also thought Nebby made their own luck...they got almost all the 50/50 balls and rebounds. They seem to get them the most when it mattered. You have to make your own luck and RU didnt...they were outhustled in the end game by a team that hustled harder than them

Then you are blind and only tell half the story. Do you think if the refs gave us the ball on those out of bounds calls , that Nebraska ending up converting , that we don’t take a lead and have a margin for some of the late turnovers ? I know you hate harping on the refs in every thread you have ever posted, because our board blames them all the time. I get that thought. But not tonight it affected the entire game and the entire outcome. Our entire section thought the one light skinned black ref that called at least 7-10 bad calls on us , was on the take and ran to his bookie to collect. It was a travesty that you clearly missed.
Unfortunately, we are not a good enough shooting team , or a really good team period to overcome 8 on 5.

 

[bac2therac]

it didnt effect the game, RU had several shots at rebounds and stops and they had several shots at the basket. Listen we will just agree to disagree.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

it didnt effect the game, RU had several shots at rebounds and stops and they had several shots at the basket. Listen we will just agree to disagree.

I’m not one to come on these boards and complain about the refs because I agree that upon further review it is usually misguided and almost always tiresome but have to side with goru7 here. The ref he referred to made a number of head scratching calls on basic out of bounds type plays and this crew was all over the map tonight. Just blatantly incompetent. And those lost possessions definitely cost us. I cannot remember being so exasperated with the officiating because a lot of these were not judgment calls and the inconsistency was maddening.

 

[RUChoppin]

it didnt effect the game, RU had several shots at rebounds and stops and they had several shots at the basket. Listen we will just agree to disagree.

It *did* affect the game. It was not the *reason we lost* - as we still had chances to win despite a really badly officiated game.

Bad officiating can alter the complexion of a game (as it did tonight) and still not "take the blame" so to speak for the loss. Had Thiam hit just a couple treys, the game would have been very different - or if we had played better in the endgame, etc. We had opportunities, and we didn't capitalize. BUT, that doesn't mean the game was littered with BS calls.

goru7 missed the phantom 2nd foul on Doucoure when he was boxing out under the basket, the illegal screen when the screen was never used, the phantom double dribble on Geo, etc. There were a lot of untimely poor calls that either halted RU momentum or directly led to NU points.

We apparently don't get the benefit of "home cookin"... I guess we ordered takeout tonight.

 

[bac2therac]

I’m not one to come on these boards and complain about the refs because I agree that upon further review it is usually misguided and almost always tiresome but have to side with goru7 here. The ref he referred to made a number of head scratching calls on basic out of bounds type plays and this crew was all over the map tonight. Just blatantly incompetent. And those lost possessions definitely cost us. I cannot remember being so exasperated with the officiating because a lot of these were not judgment calls and the inconsistency was maddening.

I am not saying I didnt see bad calls because I did and they seemed to happen in bad spots, but Im not dwelling on them and especially this game where RU had a plethora of opportunities to do something and didnt. You assume that if they got those calls that they might have done something positive but this was one of those games where I just never got the sense that RU would make the plays needed to win.

Only one year did I really think the refs were out of control with RU and that was in Rice's 2nd year...a few really atrocious games such as Gtown away and ND away.

 

[goru7]

It *did* affect the game. It was not the *reason we lost* - as we still had chances to win despite a really badly officiated game.

Bad officiating can alter the complexion of a game (as it did tonight) and still not "take the blame" so to speak for the loss. Had Thiam hit just a couple treys, the game would have been very different - or if we had played better in the endgame, etc. We had opportunities, and we didn't capitalize. BUT, that doesn't mean the game was littered with BS calls.

goru7 missed the phantom 2nd foul on Doucoure when he was boxing out under the basket, the illegal screen when the screen was never used, the phantom double dribble on Geo, etc. There were a lot of untimely poor calls that either halted RU momentum or directly led to NU points.

We apparently don't get the benefit of "home cookin"... I guess we ordered takeout tonight.

Thank you Ru Choppin as those are three more I could not recall but had me scratching my head and screaming at the refs. You put it perfectly, that the calls hurt Rutgers momentum and directly led to Nebraska points. That was especially true with our crowd tonight. It might have been a small crowd by numbers but it was loud and engaged , and every time the crowd was about to amp up and really affect Nebraska ‘s possessions, a bad whistle came and deflated the crowd instead of the crowd building to a crescendo. You cannot give Nebraska 2 or 3 tries on a possession and the refs assured they would get that many.

 

[winfield102]

The Duke foul for boxing out and dadika foul on the screen seemed so weird. It was like they were makeup calls for something else.

 

[RU MAN]

What was noticeable in this game even more than Michigan was how much we miss Mike Williams. All of the tangible and intangible things he does on the court was sorely missed. Corey got his pocket picked twice at the most inopportune time. Corey missed several 18 foot shots that he should make regularly by now and missed them. I think he shot something like 6-22. That doesn't cut it. And his outside shooting along with Thiam was way off tonight. Thiam started to drive to the basket more in the second half, which for the life of me, I don't know why he doesn't do more of that. He thinks of himself as an outside shooter, but his shot tonight was really off. If he can learn how to pick his moments and drive more to the basket it'll keep his defender more honest.

I thought Freeman overall played pretty well tonight and didn't miss a lot of chippies. Baker had some nice moments, but he too how some difficulty knocking down open looks.

You can see in Nebraska just how athletic they are. They have two grad transfers. One from Miami and one from Georgetown. Those two players made the difference n this game.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I rarely sit downstairs and never sat this close to either benches and I try not to be a referee guy, but the refs were very bad in general.

One exchange with the diehard behind me, Miles response to "ref you are terrible", Miles looked towards our fan and actually said "which one".....which I felt was hilarious.

Apparently the coaches know the referees on rotation for conference games and 2 of the 3 referees were not apparently refs they are used to seeing or have seen in a while.....Even one of the Nebraska assistants had an exchange with the fans asking "who are these guys"?? and that tells me they weren't happy with the whistle either.

So, what possibly could Nebraska have to complain about?? They must've called or yelled "illegial screen" at the refs about 10 times.....and that is something called working the refs and if the referee is bad, he will have rabbit ears and listen to that coming from the benches....I was watching myself, hoping our guys would hold their screens and I'm pretty certain they did so tonight and even had at least 2-3 offensive fouls called against us.

There were a couple of charges that were blown by the refs (I felt Omoyuri was moving or sold 2 of the 4 charges, but the push offs by Nebraska players was so blatant against Eugene, that the ref had to call it)......and the charge call on Sanders, Watson wasn't in front of Corey on the last charge call...there is a "myth" that you cannot be moving to have a charge called, which is false, but you also can't be so far out of position defensively to dive into a call either, it should be a "no call and play on"....but you cannot sell it and expect a "no call" with bad refs, if you are driving out of control, which is where most of the Nebraska charges were and Sanders was going way too quickly at the end.....

If Sanders settles for his jump shot and doesn't try to "outquick" his opponent, and trusts his shooting from three or a long two, RU probably wins...Sometimes, being quick gives the referees more options to not give you calls because your moving so quick that you cannot show the contact against you by the defenders.

The charge/block calls were not, but the refs didn't even go to the monitor in front of me to at least check on a couple of those out of bounds calls that went off Nebraska, but spent a ton of time in between timeouts, trying to see if Baker had his foot on the line, on the corner three that he made as the shot clock expired.....almost looking to see if it was a 2 and not a 3....very strange and bad officiating IMO for most of the night, neither staff was happy, based on what I saw, but I do think the perceived "better" team, will get calls and because Nebraska on paper is slightly better, its going to be hard for an RU to get those 50-50 calls, until they add another named recruit with Mathis next year....

Adding a name recruit (top 100-150) would create more credibility with average refs and in the impression of the program.....these items are things that programs have to overcome to win 50-50 games, so the refs also believe your program and players are better.....as a ref, you cant listen to "illegial screen" and get 3 calls, when the RU player never moved or never touched the opposing player.

 

[shields]

How many times did Nebraska have a high dribble almost to the shoulder and they did not call that? The Robby fall to the floor was just a joke.

 

[G- RUnit]

Way too harsh on Corey. Thiam goes for 1-10 and Gio goes 3 for 13. That’s the ball game. Make just two more threes we win.

For those complaining about Corey’s drives he is getting hit on the body and fouls are never called. Refs won’t call fouls because Corey is athletic enough to even attempt these drives.

To ignore the refs in these reviews does a real disservice and is just not a fair review of the game. Time and circumstance are crucial. More than mere numbers. Fouls clearly do not balance out in the end.

Tough loss.

 

[RickB113]

There was actually a time in the first half where we had Dadika, Souf and Bullock in at the same time. This is not an exaggeration but that was worst lineup on the floor in the history of the big ten and there is not even a close second.

On Souf I will give him credit that he has upped his game to the point where he is no longer just handing the other team points. He is serviceable on D.

 

[RUinOhio]

agree 100% .... bad bad bad.....The no call walk when the Nebraska player fell to the ground was ridiculous, then give him the timeout on top of it? the only questionable call RU got was a charge on Palmer and on that play he did lower the shoulder a little but I would have let it go. I was amazed at some of the bad calls. I stayed off the game thread on purpose it was so bad the whole night. Even coach was really on the refs tonight more than usual it seemed.

Any recap of the game has to start with the refs! Any one that was in the arena witnessed the worst reffed game against us ever. Before I elaborate, if Issa does not go 0-7 from three and hits even 1 we likely win, and if he hits 2 we definitely win. He missed wide open shots on balls swung to him from Corey , from Geo and even from Deshawn. If Deshawn grabs that damn rebound with 47 seconds and doesn’t fall asleep and let Copeland get to it , we have the ball down 2 with the place rocking. Some costly turnovers down the stretch by Corey and Deshawn resulting in steals also were killers especially in a 2point game down the stretch .

Now back to the refs. They missed at least 10calls at least tonight. BAC , you cannot recap the end of the game, and forget the walk they forgot to call when Robby fell to the floor and then they had the nerve to give him the timeout when we had the tie up and the possession. Or the 4-5 balls that went out of bounds off Nebraska and instead the ball was given to them. Corey driving and being bumped and no calls all night. Then the bull crap flop by Watson calling Corey for an offensive foul with 14 seconds left. Or the walk by Roby at the foul line they missed and then call us for the foul. Or the 2 other walks by Nebraska by Palmer and their other guard Gill that was missed. They affected the entire game and prevented us from getting over the hump. An absolute travesty. That one ref called 10 straight calls against us.

Yeah , our lack of shooting and having 10 more shots than Nebraska and not converting on a ton of shots around the rim has been our Achilles Heel all year and reared it’s ugly head again.

The only real positive difference I saw tonight was We actually gave the ball to Sa and Shaquille on the block and they each converted on a move. I have been harping on this the last 2 -3 game recaps and I am hopeful we see more of feeding those 2 and Duke in the post or on the block .

As hard as the guys played tonight , I am absolutely heart broken for them as this was a real tough loss to swallow. Hard to play this hard over and over and not reap the reward but Coach remarkably gets them back off the mat. Just damn frustrating!

 

[RUDead]

I feel like teams realize RU has improved and are upping their defensive effort. We are not good shooters in the first place and with someone in our face we are worse. They know we have no inside game so they can press hard on the outside. We need to adjust or this is going to continue.

Those are some pretty poor shooting numbers from our three best outside scoring options Never going to win that way. .

 

[higgins3]

Some things that stood out most

1) With the influx of new Rutgers players getting time (Bullock, Dadika,Mensah, Doorson), there are likely players on the court who have little idea of what they are doing. It was very apparent when the team packed the paint while on offense, and had almost no spacing. It left them without many options.

2) Copeland and Palmer Jr really know each other, and are the best two man combos out of anyone in the big ten. Very good players. They play exceptionally well together.

3) Obviously Thiam had a rough night. Very little ROI on his shots, and they took up a lot of offensive possessions. The team was not doing much anyway there.

4) Omoyuri should get the ball more, face up, and drive. Have you ever seen a player draw more charges in the history of RU basketball? He has at least two every game.

Great Nebraska team. Rutgers was right there, even with the careless ball possession.

 

[kcg88]

Nebraska is a bad shooting team. They're 249th in the country in eFG%.

And yet... they're in the mix for the NCAA tournament because they do the same things we do: play great defense and don't turn it over.

We're an awful shooting team, 344th in the country in eFG%. We rebound better than them, turn it over even less than them, and play even better defense. But all of those things can't make up for the difference between merely-bad shooting (them) and completely terrible shooting (us).

 

[RUJMM78]

Then you are blind and only tell half the story. Do you think if the refs gave us the ball on those out of bounds calls , that Nebraska ending up converting , that we don’t take a lead and have a margin for some of the late turnovers ? I know you hate harping on the refs in every thread you have ever posted, because our board blames them all the time. I get that thought. But not tonight it affected the entire game and the entire outcome. Our entire section thought the one light skinned black ref that called at least 7-10 bad calls on us , was on the take and ran to his bookie to collect. It was a travesty that you clearly missed.
Unfortunately, we are not a good enough shooting team , or a really good team period to overcome 8 on 5.

With all the questionable referee calls Rutgers still must have missed at least 10 shots around the basket plus the missed foul shots which are major reasons for the defeat.

 

[RUinOhio]

they also have Palmer and Copeland. RU has no one who can score like those 2 guys.

Nebraska is a bad shooting team. They're 249th in the country in eFG%.

And yet... they're in the mix for the NCAA tournament because they do the same things we do: play great defense and don't turn it over.

We're an awful shooting team, 344th in the country in eFG%. We rebound better than them, turn it over even less than them, and play even better defense. But all of those things can't make up for the difference between merely-bad shooting (them) and completely terrible shooting (us).

 

[TobyTyler1]

Geo and Issa combined 4 for 21

there only four scorers on the team. when two of them go 4/21 we won't win.

 

[kcg88]

they also have Palmer and Copeland. RU has no one who can score like those 2 guys.

This is, I think, the problem with the Corey Sanders debate. It seems crazy to think that we would be better off without him because of his athleticism, recruiting pedigree, and his raw point totals.

But at the same time, a 6-2 guard who shoots 43% on 2-pointers and 23% on 3-pointers should honestly not be that hard to replace or upgrade for a Big Ten team.

 

[bowlgoal]

it didnt effect the game, RU had several shots at rebounds and stops and they had several shots at the basket. Listen we will just agree to disagree.

I’m not one to come on these boards and complain about the refs because I agree that upon further review it is usually misguided and almost always tiresome but have to side with goru7 here. The ref he referred to made a number of head scratching calls on basic out of bounds type plays and this crew was all over the map tonight. Just blatantly incompetent. And those lost possessions definitely cost us. I cannot remember being so exasperated with the officiating because a lot of these were not judgment calls and the inconsistency was maddening.

Bac, I have to agree with Colonel here on this and you’re right in your recap because it was spot on as usual but I was court side last last night and the ref in question made almost every call for nebby. I was livid and he was in his own world not looking up to the crowd even once. It’s the type of game you want to report to the Big 10 to review so this guy is reprimanded or suspended. There’s something up with him that’s no good.

Now, if Thiam doesn’t shoot 1-10 from the floor which is very unusual, we win this game and it’s a game you can’t lose if your Rutgers. With that said, they are two- three players better on their roster and that’s the difference. We couldn’t stop #24, Copeland is a monster and their point guard is faster than Corey and Geo and made the key layup to seal it. Roby is very talented as well and had 8 rebounds. We were still right there and played great defense for most of the game.

One final thought. I don’t normally sit court side as my seats are right behind the radio booth but for those who get the opportunity to watch up close in a Big 10 game, it’s worth it to do it and see the difference. I don’t see the same game from my seats as I did last night. The physicality of the game is so insane. There’s no breathing room and the banging these guys take in just setting screens hurts just watching. Corey was elbowed in the face a few times guarding their little point guard. Of course it wasn’t called? To play at this level requires you to have your body in incredible condition. Bullock was dripping in sweat in just a few minutes of playing time. He needs to drop at least 20 pounds to keep up.

 

[urbanecane]

This loss was disappointing considering the circumstances. Nebraska had back to back road games, probably have been traveling non stop for the past 3-4 days, and had one day off between games. Simply put, this RU team does not have enough talent to put the necessary points on the board. I hope Pikiell takes a page out of Nebraska's book. Bring in a mix of transfers and respectable recruits. You cannot rely on 160 pound Issa Thiam to be your 3rd or 4th best player in the Big 10.

 

[zebnatto]

No big disagreement.

1) if Issa could have knocked down a couple of 3s . . .
2) if we could have made some of our moderately contested inside shots . . .
3) if we could have rebounded and scored when N’s bigs stopped Corey at the rim . . .
4) (even) if Corey didn’t get beat deep in the shot clock with under a minute left . . .

 

[Rutgers83]

I knew we were in trouble early on with the refs when a Nebraska player used a full extension football stiff arm, pushing defender three feet back and takes and makes a now open jumper. no call.

 

[TobyTyler1]

i listened to first half on radio and Recco and other guy were vehemently calling out the bad calls. particularly the other guy (forgot his name).

 

[ImBadRU]

Issa needed to stop taking threes, pump fake and drive to the hoop. He did it once and got a layup (his only bucket). Bardo was 100% right with his assessment of Thiam - take it to the hole. Second, there was no attempt to set up our bigs at all. Look, I know Doorson and Sa are hit or miss, but they were looking OK last night. Get it down to them a couple more times and see what happens. Third, Sanders taking it into three tall long defenders multiple times and getting stuffed. Offensive coaching was really questionable last night.

 

[RUinOhio]

second foul on Duke was horrible. Text book box out, ball takes a bad bounce off the rim, NU player grabbed the offensive rebound, Duke STILL called for the foul. I know he's foul prone but that was a head scratcher.

i listened to first half on radio and Recco and other guy were vehemently calling out the bad calls. particularly the other guy (forgot his name).

 

[RUChoppin]

Issa needed to stop taking threes, pump fake and drive to the hoop. He did it once and got a layup (his only bucket). Bardo was 100% right with his assessment of Thiam - take it to the hole. Second, there was no attempt to set up our bigs at all. Look, I know Doorson and Sa are hit or miss, but they were looking OK last night. Get it down to them a couple more times and see what happens. Third, Sanders taking it into three tall long defenders multiple times and getting stuffed. Offensive coaching was really questionable last night.

Issa's getting better at the pump fake - needs to incorporate it more. Last game he pump faked and the defender flew by and let him shoot an uncontested three, and this game he went in for the layup. Needs to develop both, but good to see it added to his repertoire.

 

[higgins3]

Issa's getting better at the pump fake - needs to incorporate it more. Last game he pump faked and the defender flew by and let him shoot an uncontested three, and this game he went in for the layup. Needs to develop both, but good to see it added to his repertoire.

Definitely. He is being scouted as only a three point shooter. He has to know they will fly out on him.

 

[G- RUnit]

Issa needed to stop taking threes, pump fake and drive to the hoop. He did it once and got a layup (his only bucket). Bardo was 100% right with his assessment of Thiam - take it to the hole. Second, there was no attempt to set up our bigs at all. Look, I know Doorson and Sa are hit or miss, but they were looking OK last night. Get it down to them a couple more times and see what happens. Third, Sanders taking it into three tall long defenders multiple times and getting stuffed. Offensive coaching was really questionable last night.

Big guys gotta catch the ball though.