GAME 29 PENN STATE: Don't Stop Believing

[Shelby65]

Teams and players get hot and cold. No way to separate funk (pun intended) from defensive performance. Guesswork and not analysis. Doesn’t matter.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

You are a denier and cannot even see it. If you do not see the struggle on offense and the lengths that Pike has to navigate with this roster without Mag , then I know you are just being stubborn. We know you talk basketball on here so you are not one of the clueless ones , but you refuse to say you are dead wrong . First, you choose to ignore Mag’s offensive contribution plus his more recent ability to make a big shot , a critical shot or a bucket or two to stop a run. We were getting almost 20 a game from the 4 spot with Mag and Hyatt. Last night we got 3 from Aundre and 6 from Oscar. If Mag was there he would have had at least 10 and played more because Aundre was terrible and if Oscar comes in and hits 2 that gets you to 16 instead of 9.
Secondly, not sure you saw the shit show on the backboards with Penn State getting 3 or 4 or 5 attempts on a possession. As much as Oscar can do , thankfully he has hit some impactful 3’s , he never gets a rebound on either the defensive or offensive glass. You would get killed by a Houston or any other team that crashes the offensive glass. Nothing more disheartening than giving up 3 offensive rebounds and then the team kicks out for a dagger 3.
Third , did you forget how good our press was with Mawot? We are getting almost no turnovers on the press without him and although we have played decent half court defense without him , we have also played some stinkers , where he would help Cliff or play tremendous team defense we are missing.
With this current roster there is now a ceiling and if we are being honest RU can only go so far, where before it was unknown where the ceiling was but a deep tourney run was likely the devastation. Continuing to double down on your ridiculous take makes you look foolish and I know you are better than that.

I'll give you the defense and the press is nothing more than token pressure to shave the shot clock down to 20 seconds when the opponent crosses half court.

The press also means RU is scoring to allow the press to be set up.

What you fail to realize is, the press only can be set up IF YOU SCORE.....you don't have that option unless someone else puts the ball in the basket.

The offense is better and the defense is worse. Why are you acting as if no one else is replacing the shot attempts that. Mag took when he played.

You are acting as if RU is playing 4 on 5 or that Palmquist, Simpson, Hyatt don't exist.

Mulcahy, Caleb, Cliff and Spencer are all playing 30+ minutes. The other points you made are valid on offensive rebounds, hustle plays etc.....you have to adjust how you play the game....refusing to adjust to how we play, nearly buried this team in the last game and most of the 1st half. It was Simpson, Palmquist along with Caleb, Cliff and Spencer that engineered the comeback. I will say again, Palmquist has 10 3s in limited minutes since the Minnesota game....Mag is not the stretch the floor shooter and Palmquist is nowhere the defender/rebounder that Mag was.

Why do you want to be limited on how we play or win?? Wouldn't it make sense to expand the offense??

The team had a hard ceiling as it was constructed with that lineup....if you can't see that, not sure what to tell you.

 

[G- RUnit]

I said we were elite in the 2nd half.

Again Lundy and Funk were 2-23. How many were contested? How much of that 2-23 do we credit RU defense and how much do we chalk up to luck.

We have had some unbelievable defensive performance this year with some of them being 40 minutes. We were very good overall yesterday, but not remotely near our best.

Watching that 1st half against Maryland I remember can't believing what I was watching. It wasn't them missing shots it was them not getting shots off.

Best defensive half performance then given the first half.

Maryland may be a better team but not as good as PSU offensively at home.

Maryland was at the RAC and was not playing particularly well at the time. PSU was on a four game winning streak and playing at home.

Another incredible state. PSU had one basket in the last 13:22. That’s a defensive half for the ages and best defensive half all year.

 

[LeapinLou]

Ricky Santos wasn’t the starter ? You sure ?

I must like you Shelby because I took the time to look this up for you since you were too lazy to do it yourself. :)

Santos, who got the starting job last week when Mike Granieri was lost with a knee injury, had them booing by the second half. Santos' scoring passes covered 55, 3, 11, 24 and 21 yards. He finished 30-of-40 with one interception.

 

[Shelby65]

Ok, good memory. Did not remember that. At least give me credit for not outright saying you were wrong.

 

[RUtrumpet92]

ESPN's win probability hit PSU 97.8% when it was 42-23 after the Lundy breakaway jam.

Michigan State's was 99.7% when they were up 91-78 with just over 1:30 to play.

Two unbelievable comebacks in league play in two days.

 

[Shelby65]

ESPN's win probability hit PSU 97.8% when it was 42-23 after the Lundy breakaway jam.

Michigan State's was 99.7% when they were up 91-78 with just over 1:30 to play.

Two unbelievable comebacks in league play in two days.

Curious, how is ESPN’s probability calculated ? Can’t possibly be scientific.

 

[Scangg]

I'll give you the defense and the press is nothing more than token pressure to shave the shot clock down to 20 seconds when the opponent crosses half court.

The press also means RU is scoring to allow the press to be set up.

What you fail to realize is, the press only can be set up IF YOU SCORE.....you don't have that option unless someone else puts the ball in the basket.

The offense is better and the defense is worse. Why are you acting as if no one else is replacing the shot attempts that. Mag took when he played.

You are acting as if RU is playing 4 on 5 or that Palmquist, Simpson, Hyatt don't exist.

Mulcahy, Caleb, Cliff and Spencer are all playing 30+ minutes. The other points you made are valid on offensive rebounds, hustle plays etc.....you have to adjust how you play the game....refusing to adjust to how we play, nearly buried this team in the last game and most of the 1st half. It was Simpson, Palmquist along with Caleb, Cliff and Spencer that engineered the comeback. I will say again, Palmquist has 10 3s in limited minutes since the Minnesota game....Mag is not the stretch the floor shooter and Palmquist is nowhere the defender/rebounder that Mag was.

Why do you want to be limited on how we play or win?? Wouldn't it make sense to expand the offense??

The team had a hard ceiling as it was constructed with that lineup....if you can't see that, not sure what to tell you.

The offense has been worse since Mag got hurt. We didn't even score 60 again

 

[kcg88]

The offense has been worse since Mag got hurt. We didn't even score 60 again

With Mag:

vs. Ohio State 0.96 points per possession
at Michigan State 0.90
vs. Penn State 1.05
at Iowa 1.06
vs. Minnesota 1.30


Without Mag:
at Indiana 0.95
at Illinois 0.87
vs. Nebraska 1.06
at Wisconsin 1.00
vs. Michigan 0.74
at Penn State 0.98

Given the higher caliber of defenses the dropoff has not been as large as you'd think with the exception of the Michigan disaster. We are playing noticeably slower the past three games although Wisconsin and Penn State also love to slow it down so that's part of it.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

This was found on another article.

The Scarlet Knights averaged 1.52 points per possession in the second half. On RU’s final 21 possessions — after trailing by 19 — it averaged 1.72 points. This from a team ranked last in the Big Ten in effective field goal percentage, last in 2-point field goal percentage and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage according to KenPom.com.

 

[RutgersClassof2004]

Teams and players get hot and cold. No way to separate funk (pun intended) from defensive performance. Guesswork and not analysis. Doesn’t matter.

Agreed

 

[RutgersClassof2004]

Curious, how is ESPN’s probability calculated ? Can’t possibly be scientific.

Somebody calls out a winning percentage down to a tenth of a percent at X point in the game

 

[urbanecane]

Mulcahy is so enigmatic. A true “the more I see, the less I know” vibe with his game. 2 seasons ago, he established a nice role feeding off JY and posting in the corner or at the free throw line. Wonder if we can get back to that with Simpson running the point. Simpson will still take his lumps, but it may be the only shot at a sweet 16 type run.

 

[Scangg]

Mulcahy is so enigmatic. A true “the more I see, the less I know” vibe with his game. 2 seasons ago, he established a nice role feeding off JY and posting in the corner or at the free throw line. Wonder if we can get back to that with Simpson running the point. Simpson will still take his lumps, but it may be the only shot at a sweet 16 type run.

I'd like to see a little of this

One main problem we still have is playing a full game well. Even in our post Mag wins we really haven't. Wisconsin Cam was red hot first half and we fought and clawed to hang on second half. PSU we were pretty bad first half and pulled out a miracle win due to Simpson and PSU extreme outlier poor shooting.

If we are going to make a run in the dance, we need to find a way to play a more complete full game. One good half isn't going to be enough

 

[fatsam98]

Had to post this somewhere. Amazing

 

[Scangg]

Had to post this somewhere. Amazing

View embedded media

That's a perfect cup and handle for the TA bros out there 🤣

 

[Scarlet83]

I have to step in front of this Simpson item, because it was not a specific endorsement of any player, it is strictly based on the needs of the team and what helps expand winning.

If RU had multiple guards with Simpson and his skill set, I would not demand Simpson play more minutes, he would have to compete and earn it. In this instance, the team lacks athletic ability at the guard position, so it was cut and dry. It was up to Simpson to deliver.

I don't know why fans are consistently discussing the Mag item, in relation to this current roster. My view of this current roster overrides any one player. My take, disagree or like or not is correct on Mag and Simpson and it's not up to me to make people agree with me. I am looking at the ENTIRE roster full of wings.

Palmquist (not someone I thought would be credible enough to contribute) doesn't get enough credit. He has TEN 3s in the last 8 games, in very limited minutes.

Hyatt (non existent in last 2 games) was lights out in the ugly Nebraska loss, but saved the game vs Wisconsin with 9 PTS, game winning putback/dunk. His 3s will be needed down the road.

Mulcahy is also in a deep valley, but it because he's truly a part time PG and is better suited as a wing player and 3 point shooter. His role on offense can match what Mag provided as the glue guy. He has to hit the reset button.

Caleb can also play the wing where Mag played IF you get Simpson the ball and reduce the workload of asking Paul and Caleb to be the primary ball handlers with Spencer mixed in.

You have with Palmquist FOUR different options to absorb the loss of Mag. It does not minimize what Mag does defensively but this team needs offense. If RU was 2nd nationally in defense, you MUST sacrifice some defense to get offense. It is being twisted into something else. It is looking at the roster as it's set today.

I'm not taking any victory laps, but Mag played 11 1st half minutes before the injury. RU won the MSU game after he left the game. This notion that RU was 1-4 without Mag, is being stretched. The team rallied and won after he left the game, in a game where his 7PTS, was the only bright spot in an ugly offensive 1H.

RU is 3 wins (MSU, at Wisconsin and now at PSU) without Mag playing any significant extended minutes. The defense in all 3 games has been more than adequate enough to win....all 3 teams held below 60 PTS.

Indiana, Illinois were very tough matchups irregardless of whether Mag would have played.

Nebraska was clearly a Pike/Brandon Knight error in pressing most of the game, speeding up Nebraska....that is not a Mag issue, it was a coaching malpractice item.

If you don't agree with this assessment that 4 players can try to make up for Mag's injury, if you reset the lineup with Simpson, it's just a refusal or denial of the facts.

Onto Minnesota and RU becomes extremely dangerous if they can get Hyatt on track and reduce the workload of Mulcahy having to handle the ball. It is a basketball team sport and evaluation. In team sports, this opens up what allows more speed and quickness for Simpson. I am not married to having Hyatt or Palmquist or Caleb or Mulcahy playing over anyone. Let whomever is clicking play and let Simpson sort out the rest.

You are wrong about Mag.

Mag provides good offense, plus he was improving his scoring and his offensive contribution as the season progressed. He rebounds EXTREMELY well and he defends half court and press EXTREMELY well.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

You are wrong about Mag.

Mag provides good offense, and he was improving his scoring as the season progressed. He rebounds EXTREMELY well and he defends half court and press EXTREMELY well.

No one is disagreeing with this.....what I disagree with is the inability to make up the difference by playing a different brand of offensive basketball and expanding the offense to other players. People are hell-bent on saying this is different or that is different and the overall game score numbers are the same pre and post injury.

This is about what gives the team more ways to win, not exaggeration of a players impact as if there's no other alternatives to play. Can you press and play great defense with Mag, mixed with some offense?? Yes...

But the offense can be expanded beyond what his production was and the same applies to Mulcahy and his current production. The team is last in the B1G in too many offensive categories, that has to change.

 

[Scarlet83]

No one is disagreeing with this.....what I disagree with is the inability to make up the difference by playing a different brand of offensive basketball and expanding the offense to other players. People are hell-bent on saying this is different or that is different and the overall game score numbers are the same pre and post injury.

This is about what gives the team more ways to win, not exaggeration of a players impact as if there's no other alternatives to play. Can you press and play great defense with Mag, mixed with some offense?? Yes...

But the offense can be expanded beyond what his production was and the same applies to Mulcahy and his current production. The team is last in the B1G in too many offensive categories, that has to change.

OK. Then, I agree with you on this point.

If you would accept some constructive criticism, your lengthy posts make your message difficult to understand.

 

[colbert17]

One thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned. We wouldn't have been sweating out those last 14 seconds if Caleb hadn't missed the front end of a one and one that would have put us up 5. This is the second time that he's done that this year (I can't remember the exact game but I remember it happening).
I love Caleb but we need our 5th year senior captain to come through there.

 

[rufeelinit]

One thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned. We wouldn't have been sweating out those last 14 seconds if Caleb hadn't missed the front end of a one and one that would have put us up 5. This is the second time that he's done that this year (I can't remember the exact game but I remember it happening).
I love Caleb but we need our 5th year senior captain to come through there.

Careful, this type of post might be flagged for containing "hateful" content (see other thread).

 

[bac2therac]

One thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned. We wouldn't have been sweating out those last 14 seconds if Caleb hadn't missed the front end of a one and one that would have put us up 5. This is the second time that he's done that this year (I can't remember the exact game but I remember it happening).
I love Caleb but we need our 5th year senior captain to come through there.

It was Ohio State and it was as costly as the refs out of bounds debacle