Enough with the Garden. Mag getting hurt is the problem. mag would have guarded Hawkins at times.
GAME 25 ILLINOIS: Crossroads
- Thread starter bac2therac
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Wasted a really good first half and should have been up 10 not 4. Caleb and Paul aggressive as they are supposed to play and hitting mostly mid range shots except 1 three by Caleb but damn efficient for most of the half. Cliff was part of that offense until he got his second foul preventing us from extending the lead.
Pike was masterful changing defenses on trip after trip confusing Illinois and keeping them out of rhythm the whole first half. The guys were in the passing lanes and totally took Meyers and Shannon out of the game. Cliff’s foul trouble allowed Daigna to get an easy bucket but otherwise our guards scored 24 points to their like 10. We could be greedy and asked for a bigger lead but that was a really good first half.
The second half started good enough . I thought the Hyatt missed dunk , where has that changed our fortunes in the past , but we got the stops and Hyatt actually made another layup. We then let Hawkins get going , scoring on 2 paint drives and shots and then a three when Cliff couldn’t get out on him. In the first half , there was only 1 made three where they were totally unguarded , all others were defended and frustrated Illinois. All of a sudden gave up some open threes. Up until that point we were doing well on the boards but all of a sudden they started getting them and Norman got a couple giving them a second chance and a three. So now our defense was a little leaky and our rebounding got worse but we still could try to be aggressive offensively but didn’t. Paul stopped shooting , Caleb stopped penetrating and we were going one on one too much and we stopped passing the ball. Cliff went to the bench and Dean got abused plus missed at least 1 layup and another close shot and another 3 which went south. He more than anybody has really disappointed as he had the opportunity with Mag’s injury to solidify his minutes and has failed miserably to make a positive impact on the offensive or defensive end. When another team is on a run , you run a double screen , pin down , anything to break the streak. You do not allow one and one offense with low IQ passing and all of a sudden forced shots where you got anything you wanted in the first half by being aggressive. Paul has to stay aggressive. He cannot stop shooting. Yes we missed a lot of makeable shots but damn we made it harder on ourselves. Not being able to get Cam or even Oscar or even Hyatt a clean look off a set was a complete failure there. One 3 would have gotten things stabilized. With Cliff out there was no low post game and even when he was in , why is there no inside outside game where Cliff or Wolf or Dean get it and dish out to Cam or Oscar or Hyatt . The ball can come out and doesn’t need to go to the basket. Wolf got stripped trying to make a move , Cliff was pushed out too far . Now Cliff was passing to Mag who cut to the basket when he was doubled but we miss that now.
We really had control of that game for like 25 minutes and just let them take over and went on a drought on top of that. Really hard to believe. These last 3 games are beyond frustrating. MSU terrible first half , terrific second half. Indiana terrible first 10 minutes of first half and bench Oscar and Hyatt get us to 3 at half. Then we have every chance to win that game down the stretch and fail. Illinois great first half and first 25 minutes pretty decent but then drought hits. All 3 games winnable and only got 1. All because of us and very little to do with the opposition. I know all 3 were away from the RAC but the lack of upperclassman getting us home in all 3 was really disappointing and just sucks. I can live with the other team is better but we are better than all 3 and did not show it despite being capable.
Pike was masterful changing defenses on trip after trip confusing Illinois and keeping them out of rhythm the whole first half. The guys were in the passing lanes and totally took Meyers and Shannon out of the game. Cliff’s foul trouble allowed Daigna to get an easy bucket but otherwise our guards scored 24 points to their like 10. We could be greedy and asked for a bigger lead but that was a really good first half.
The second half started good enough . I thought the Hyatt missed dunk , where has that changed our fortunes in the past , but we got the stops and Hyatt actually made another layup. We then let Hawkins get going , scoring on 2 paint drives and shots and then a three when Cliff couldn’t get out on him. In the first half , there was only 1 made three where they were totally unguarded , all others were defended and frustrated Illinois. All of a sudden gave up some open threes. Up until that point we were doing well on the boards but all of a sudden they started getting them and Norman got a couple giving them a second chance and a three. So now our defense was a little leaky and our rebounding got worse but we still could try to be aggressive offensively but didn’t. Paul stopped shooting , Caleb stopped penetrating and we were going one on one too much and we stopped passing the ball. Cliff went to the bench and Dean got abused plus missed at least 1 layup and another close shot and another 3 which went south. He more than anybody has really disappointed as he had the opportunity with Mag’s injury to solidify his minutes and has failed miserably to make a positive impact on the offensive or defensive end. When another team is on a run , you run a double screen , pin down , anything to break the streak. You do not allow one and one offense with low IQ passing and all of a sudden forced shots where you got anything you wanted in the first half by being aggressive. Paul has to stay aggressive. He cannot stop shooting. Yes we missed a lot of makeable shots but damn we made it harder on ourselves. Not being able to get Cam or even Oscar or even Hyatt a clean look off a set was a complete failure there. One 3 would have gotten things stabilized. With Cliff out there was no low post game and even when he was in , why is there no inside outside game where Cliff or Wolf or Dean get it and dish out to Cam or Oscar or Hyatt . The ball can come out and doesn’t need to go to the basket. Wolf got stripped trying to make a move , Cliff was pushed out too far . Now Cliff was passing to Mag who cut to the basket when he was doubled but we miss that now.
We really had control of that game for like 25 minutes and just let them take over and went on a drought on top of that. Really hard to believe. These last 3 games are beyond frustrating. MSU terrible first half , terrific second half. Indiana terrible first 10 minutes of first half and bench Oscar and Hyatt get us to 3 at half. Then we have every chance to win that game down the stretch and fail. Illinois great first half and first 25 minutes pretty decent but then drought hits. All 3 games winnable and only got 1. All because of us and very little to do with the opposition. I know all 3 were away from the RAC but the lack of upperclassman getting us home in all 3 was really disappointing and just sucks. I can live with the other team is better but we are better than all 3 and did not show it despite being capable.
While I agree that we are still well positioned at 8-6 and that we may have lost the last two with Mawot, not sure more of Simpson solves our issues. What give you the sense he is ready to carry a larger load offensively?
I think Pike has been experimenting since MM went down. Tough to do against quality opponents but he has no choice. This will continue.
Cam’s forays into the lane have not been very productive and I am not sure why you think the issue with him is shying away from contact. He need to hit shots from the perimeter and needs help to get good opportunities.
Cliff is fine? Really? Do you feel good when he gets the ball on the offensive end? Where would place him right now when ranking conference big men?
I would be estatic if we go 4-2 the rest of the way.
Early season ball movement has disappeared. Paul holds the ball too long to start a possession and in each possession the ball stops in either Cliff’s or Caleb’s hands. Crisp ball movement is the way to perk up the offense.
We miss Mag of course but it’s been the absence of offense that has been killing us.
This season you can count on your 2 hands the number of times when the ball is thrown into Cliff that he passes back out. This allows teams to double and triple team him. His percent in the paint other than dunks is not great . More passing out would lead to more open shots from the perimeter and than less double teaming of Cliff. I think many on the board have noted how we start off with getting the ball into Cliff and then go away from it.
We also need to stop having him coming out on defense to guard someone beyond the three point line and end up with a needless foul and the same with going out 25 feet to set up a pick and getting called for a moving pick. Once he gets to 3 fouls we are cooked because he starts playing more conservative or is pulled. Too many times for fouls far from the basket. We have no good backup alternatives to Cliff.
Off the court, we need to focus on improving Wolf’s development . Early on we were all impressed with the freshman’s performance, it it has gone nowhere but down. Body wise he is the only one who could maybe not be such a big dropoff on defense to give Cliff a breather. Developing big men was a strength of Jay Young that we really miss
We also need to stop having him coming out on defense to guard someone beyond the three point line and end up with a needless foul and the same with going out 25 feet to set up a pick and getting called for a moving pick. Once he gets to 3 fouls we are cooked because he starts playing more conservative or is pulled. Too many times for fouls far from the basket. We have no good backup alternatives to Cliff.
Off the court, we need to focus on improving Wolf’s development . Early on we were all impressed with the freshman’s performance, it it has gone nowhere but down. Body wise he is the only one who could maybe not be such a big dropoff on defense to give Cliff a breather. Developing big men was a strength of Jay Young that we really miss
I don't think fans truly understand the obstacles Pikiell faces in a forty minute game with a offense that has difficulty right now scoring 60 points.There is no go to scorer to halt scoring droughts.The roster clearly lacks players that can consistently create and make shots off the dribble.More alarming is Cam having difficulty getting open for 3 point shots which means outside shooting comes to a stand still.Its truly disheartening that this team has so many experienced players yet Rutgers faces this crisis in scoring as the season only has six games remaining.There are no immediate answers to correct what is happening unless the RAC crowd can perform some magic.
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Cliff is not fine and reliable on defense. He hasn’t handled good big men all season going back to the Temple and Miami games along with big men in league competition
What effect does being. Rutgers fan have on your health and longevity? Asking for a friend….
What are you talking about? Mag is better than them on both ends of the floor. You keep digging a deeper hole when you talk about Mag. He is sorely missed and we win both games if he played.
Holy cow, you’re doubling down on your theory that losing Mag doesn’t impact our offense — which is flat wrong — and then asking for MORE Simpson?!
Simpson has not given any indication that he should be playing more than 10-15 minutes a night, and you want to put MORE responsibility on his shoulders? Yes, he is very athletic, but his shooting has been god awful most of the year, and he’s not a good distributor. Giving him MORE minutes and responsibility is not going to solve the problems we’ve seen the past two games.
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So far Hawk's ridiculous assertion that the team will be more dangerous and explosive without Mag is looking as silly as it did when he predicted it
Back to today Looks like standings after today will be:
Purdue 13-2
Indiana 9-5
Illinois 8-5
And 6 teams at 8-6—- RU, Maryland , MSU, NW, Iowa, Michigan
So we have some work to do for the double bye. We do play 2 of the teams (Michigan andNW). Both at home so that should help. Also some of them play each other and that will help. We need to hold serve at home and win 1 or 2 on the road for any chance of 3 or 4th place. Preferably 3rd 🥉 lace to stay out of Purdue bracket until the final.
Purdue 13-2
Indiana 9-5
Illinois 8-5
And 6 teams at 8-6—- RU, Maryland , MSU, NW, Iowa, Michigan
So we have some work to do for the double bye. We do play 2 of the teams (Michigan andNW). Both at home so that should help. Also some of them play each other and that will help. We need to hold serve at home and win 1 or 2 on the road for any chance of 3 or 4th place. Preferably 3rd 🥉 lace to stay out of Purdue bracket until the final.
I wouldn’t count Northwestern out yet vs Purdue. I think Purdue pulls it out, but bigger mountains have been moved.
Good recap. One stat to look at that is absolutely killing this team is Offensive efficiency. It is bad. Real bad.
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