Started writing this a halftime. Sometimes you are just overmatched and that is okay Rutgers. To make matters worse RU had to travel to Mackey right after Purdue laid an egg at Ohio State, only their 3rd loss of the season. If you didnt think they were going to regroup you were fooling yourself. Purdue ran through their non conference schedule with wins over Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee, Marquette...4 schools in the top 12 seeding list. At their best which you saw tonight, they are the national championship favorites. I know they have slogged off at times and looked beatable and ordinary vs good but not great teams like Northwestern and Nebraska and stunning loss to Ohio State. They have their vulnerabilities for sure but they have the highest ceiling of any team in America. Rutgers came out juiced and aggressive on offense but ran into a buzzsaw. There was nothing Steve Pikiell could have done to prepare or tinker with during the game to change it. Once it was appparent that Purdue was in sync, it was pretty much time to get off the blow and flush this one. No point in dwelling over just 1 fg in last 11 minutes in first half or no fg in almost 7 or letting Purdue shoot 70%, That will not have any bearing on the next opponent.
Some positives to take tonight. I though Gavin Griffiths had himself a game. He looked more comfortable and he did it on a big stage. Kudos to Pike for giving him an opportunity. I loved how he ran the break. Its a total different wrinkle than we have been used to seeing. No Gavin isnt perfect and it wasnt even a breakout shooting game but little things to look for are important. Making free throws, making long 3s that had Mackey gasping, making passes you wouldnt normally see from him. . These are very very positive developments. Perhaps not differing to others anymore. Especially when it seemed like the starters looked like they were going through the motions once the lead got over 20.
Egbole had his moments too. Work in progress but you see there is something to work with. It is unfortunate that he could not develop in the early season because its trial by fire right now.
Noah making the most of his minutes....Had a quick 8 points including back to back 3s when RU was just down a possession. Good on him for picking up the slack of his teammates. You will get this all year though...he will be good in some games and ghostin in others.
Cliff/Hyatt/Derek were simply awful tonight. That is disappointing but not surprising. Tapes are out J Will now, the surprise factor is gone. He has changed the team for the better but he is not a superman. This team still has all the flaws we have seen all year and without Mag in the lineup they are magnified. Purdue was ripe to expose and exploit them. Again you see how lack of depth with bad luck in portal and subpar recruiting continues to be a theme.
As Im getting to this short recap, RU down by 33 and its been as ugly as a turd can be...and Robbie Hummel just stole my FLUSH IT lines..so documenting that.
Onward and upward......Rutgers definitely has things to play for. Take one game at a time. Return to the RAC against Maryland in a matchup that was favorable to Rutgers down there. Not going to be easy as Maryland is as good on the road as at home. There is a toughness they have that RU will have to match. The NCAA may be far out of reach (just wait til you see the dreadful NET tomorrow) but if RU can get back to how they played during their 4-0 start they could definitely do damage in the Big 10 tourney given the right kind of draw. NIT is well within reach and is probably more appropriate for the talent level on this team. If you are a Rutgers fan I would not get too upset tonight. Losing by 10 or losing by 40 does not change what this team is. Its how they respond to this game that is more important
Some positives to take tonight. I though Gavin Griffiths had himself a game. He looked more comfortable and he did it on a big stage. Kudos to Pike for giving him an opportunity. I loved how he ran the break. Its a total different wrinkle than we have been used to seeing. No Gavin isnt perfect and it wasnt even a breakout shooting game but little things to look for are important. Making free throws, making long 3s that had Mackey gasping, making passes you wouldnt normally see from him. . These are very very positive developments. Perhaps not differing to others anymore. Especially when it seemed like the starters looked like they were going through the motions once the lead got over 20.
Egbole had his moments too. Work in progress but you see there is something to work with. It is unfortunate that he could not develop in the early season because its trial by fire right now.
Noah making the most of his minutes....Had a quick 8 points including back to back 3s when RU was just down a possession. Good on him for picking up the slack of his teammates. You will get this all year though...he will be good in some games and ghostin in others.
Cliff/Hyatt/Derek were simply awful tonight. That is disappointing but not surprising. Tapes are out J Will now, the surprise factor is gone. He has changed the team for the better but he is not a superman. This team still has all the flaws we have seen all year and without Mag in the lineup they are magnified. Purdue was ripe to expose and exploit them. Again you see how lack of depth with bad luck in portal and subpar recruiting continues to be a theme.
As Im getting to this short recap, RU down by 33 and its been as ugly as a turd can be...and Robbie Hummel just stole my FLUSH IT lines..so documenting that.
Onward and upward......Rutgers definitely has things to play for. Take one game at a time. Return to the RAC against Maryland in a matchup that was favorable to Rutgers down there. Not going to be easy as Maryland is as good on the road as at home. There is a toughness they have that RU will have to match. The NCAA may be far out of reach (just wait til you see the dreadful NET tomorrow) but if RU can get back to how they played during their 4-0 start they could definitely do damage in the Big 10 tourney given the right kind of draw. NIT is well within reach and is probably more appropriate for the talent level on this team. If you are a Rutgers fan I would not get too upset tonight. Losing by 10 or losing by 40 does not change what this team is. Its how they respond to this game that is more important
