From what I have seen, RU will be a basement team in the Big Ten.
Now, it's a very short sample size thus far, they could easily start to gel and play much better too.
They better fix some stuff like real soon though, have to win the next few games
GAME 4: Honeymoon Over
- Thread starter bac2therac
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From what I have seen, RU will be a basement team in the Big Ten.
Now, it's a very short sample size thus far, they could easily start to gel and play much better too.
They better fix some stuff like real soon though, have to win the next few games
Thanks Goku.
I, too, am starting to waiver in my full faith in Pike. Last year in football, the Kansas debacle — and then Ash’s decision to keep playing Sitkowski at QB despite obvious signs that he couldn’t hack it — made clear that Ash was not a good head coach.
Now basketball is different from football, I get that. In football, you can learn a LOT from one game, whereas in hoops you need a larger sample size to pick up on the trends. Last year is proof positive of this. We looked AWFUL against Fordham, and barely squeaked our wins against a few other cupcakes (Columbia?), but then we looked like we “belonged” against the Big Ten, starting out 7-10 in league before losing our last three games.
So I’m not equating one St. Bonnies loss to Kansas. BUT, this loss, and the bad performances against Bryant and Drexel, are bricks in a Kansas-like wall.
Pike has A LOT of work to do with this team. Hopefully he can right the ship like he did last year and get this team playing together. Because if this sort of poor play continues in Year 4, he might not recover from the backslide.
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Agree on this. A reason that this matters so much is that he hasn't recruited the shooters in the back court that you need. So D, rebounding and scoring inside have been necessary to somewhat make up for that weakness. Yet even those things have only slightly upticked RU's place in the B1G standings, moving RU from the bottom of the B1G standings to near the bottom.
Unless he starts to coach them up again, and show that the loss of an assistant isn't some sort of team shattering event, he won't show the type of program improvement and coaching ability that he needs to eventually uptick his recruiting. Because I don't think he can recruit well absent that story and background.
Also let's revisit the Hayn hire. Instead of going out and getting somebody, Pikiell hired a buddy. I would've tried to get a recruiting ace like the guy Arizona State hired who is close with Cliff Omoruyi. But even if he didn't do that, bringing in somebody fresh would've been the way to go.
This team could really benefit from a different voice. Somebody who's been in a different program and maybe has some different schematic ideas or even just different drills to run in practice.
Instead he hired a guy who's been in the program for a while. I really hope that's not a sign that Pikiell isn't open to new ideas, because this program could use a new idea or two right now.
This team could really benefit from a different voice. Somebody who's been in a different program and maybe has some different schematic ideas or even just different drills to run in practice.
Instead he hired a guy who's been in the program for a while. I really hope that's not a sign that Pikiell isn't open to new ideas, because this program could use a new idea or two right now.
Pikiell biggest mistake was watching the game turn in the 1st half and waiting until the 5 minute mark to put back Myles Johnson back in to the game.
HE ONLY HAD ONE FOUL!
HE ONLY HAD ONE FOUL!
Its rather obvious Rutgers isn't a good man to man defense in stopping 3 point shots.
of course ,that's obvious ,but "necessarily" not indicative of the future--if you think a couple of games tells you what will happen down the road or in the immediate future you must lose a lot of bets
Who is our one top flight prospect I don’t see much in Mulcahy as much as I hate to say it to slow on defense and unfortunately another guard who cannot shoot. HOW COME WE CANNOT RECRUIT A SHOOTER!!!
And the other issue as much as Pikell seems to work hard on the recruiting trail his recruiting has just not been good we still have not one good shooter
To me, the Bonnies looked like they were really fast and we look really slow, like in quicksand slow. Our length did not help because they beat us to every spot. Will we ever get a kid from St. Pats?
I agree with you 100%.
Rutgers has been a nonentity for 3 decades.
The players who can make a difference aren't coming here because they want to play in the NCAA tourney. Eugene knew his chances of post season play were slim so he bolted to where his chances are better.
It's the same old chicken and egg situation.
Pike is a great guy. But he is in the same predicament as his predecessors. Rutgers is known as the cellar dweller where coming here makes your chances of playing in the big dance slim.
We can keep trying the same thing over and over but sooner or later we have to realize that our only chance of success is hiring the big name coach that can recruit.
We are spending the money in football and we may next need to do the same in basketball.
If we dont get to the tourney in the next couple of years we will be having that conversation.
If you watch Mulcahy shoot in warm ups he sets up in the corner and drains one after another. Great rotation on the ball, too. His foul shooting is good. So I am hopeful that when he actually starts taking shots he will prove to be a solid shooter.
Fred Hill got Mike Rosario to come here. Mike Rice had a top-15 class. It's absolutely possible to recruit to Rutgers. Look at what CVS is doing with the new facility vs. what Pikiell is doing.
.....So you know the facts..Paul had played all of 60 mins.in 4 games. He has only taken 10 shots and made 5 of them ..50% He has 10 rebounds, just 3 turnovers, and 9 assists.
Suggest you take a look at the 4 game stats PDF and compare him to the others guys..and then remember he is 4 games in. Didn't do the work but for a kid 4 games in his per minute numbers may be the best of any guard on the team.
Mike Rosario came here full of hope. He was a Jersey kid through and through. His goal was to get top NJ recruits to follow his lead. His intentions were good but never materialized.
In the end, like Eugene, he bolted to greener pastures to play in the tourney.
It was great to see RU beat Florida at the RAC with Rosario a member of that team.
This - has been my question all along. Key staff turnover may take time for everyone to gel.
While I understand this point in general, I'm hoping to see the defense pick up and become one of the better defenses in the country, which it has been before under Pike. If not, and if the loss of Jay Young makes that great a difference, I'd be worried. Pike's reputation as a coach rests largely on his teams defending exceedingly well. As I've mentioned before, if that was due to his assistant more than him, what exactly does Pike offer as a head coach?
I also am with one of the other posters (maybe not in this thread) who wondered whether Pike made the right move promoting from within when Young left. Unless that promotion was of someone who is a very strong recruiter, I question why Pike didn't use the opportunity to bring on staff the best person he could get for recruiting, an area that needs improvement. (I also hope that Hobbs/RU isn't going cheap on assistants.)
That said, it is only 4 games. I'm hoping Pike will get the D and rebounding cranked up and the players, who are still on the young side, improve skills/cohesion/shooting. Absent some disastrous wins, we'll get our best understanding of this team, as usual, during the B1G schedule.
Sorry but I am not buying this either. Whether or not Pike is the right , he does not own our thirty years of futility nor do I believe kids today really care about that. They need to believe in him and he should be selling them on being difference makers to finally get us to the post season again.
He has what was thought to be the key missing piece and that is a brand spanking new practice facility. It is early, but so far that is not translating into more noted recruits deciding to come here.
I also believe Pike owns this roster and it is reasonable for this fan base to expect continued improvement from a W/L record given what has transpired his first three years.
If he does not make it then maybe we spend more but while FB is spending, they are seem to be doing it based on sentimentality and hope that a round two can be as good or better than round one rather than aggressively determining who is the best candidate available.
I thought RU did spend on a staff for Pike. If they didn't there would not have been room for Brandin Knight. I thought it was the best one I had seen put together for basketball in quite some time. Recruiting is a part of it but right now they need to fix some things with regard to minutes which should be driven by who can play defense and who can be effective in running some semblance of a half court offense. No way St. Bonnaventure should be putting up 80 points on us.
The albatross in recruiting had been and still is the won/loss record.Recruits that have power conference options will mostly choose schools that have a history of recent success which means NCAA bids.Being a member of the B1G doesn't carry as much weight as some fans want to believe when the baggage of 13 consecutive seasons has to be explained.A winning season is a must happening for Pikiell and Rutgers to change perception.
RU gets what it pays for.
CVS was a big-name hired at an above-market salary. Pikiell was bought at the Englishtown Auction after winning 55% of his games at Stony Brook. When has RU ever paid the market rate for a men's basketball coach?
That was bad recruiting getting Rosario here. Jordan getting Sanders here was bad recruiting. This is what people fail to recognize. Recruiting has zero to do with what people think a player should do, but 100% on how that player helps the program.
Rosario was fine when he got here. He was a fan favorite. Its Hill that ruined him. Perhaps with a coach like Waters, Rosario would have had a different story here. Remember Hill also got Chandler and Echenique and we know what happened with those two as well.
If this is intended to show how good, or not good, of a coach Pikiell was at Stony Brook, it's misleading. He inherited a terrible team, under sanctions, that had only recently gone D1. After 3 tough seasons trying to turn it around, he got them over .500 in this 4th year and then won 22 or more 6 of the next 7 seasons. His tenure there is pretty darn impressive.
Kind of. But it's not an on-off switch. Players won't suddenly sign just because RU has, say, a 16-15 year.
Any coach trying to turn around a program must, to a significant extent, sell recruits on his vision of the program and also show the recruits, again to some extent, that he's got the ability to turn the program around. My impression is that, for Pike, he will have to lean more on showing recruits that he has the coaching chops to turn the program around and a bit less on his sales pitch about his vision. He'll have to do both, but he's a guy that needs to show that he can coach the hell out of a team.
I think there are 2 valid arguments but the same fans complaining about recruiting are OK to argue that point...
But.....
Then the same fans are crying the blues about losing Eugene to transfer, when on paper, he took 2 full seasons and playing time, to become a starting caliber player and was unranked and unknown.
So which is it??
If Eugene is a no name recruiting player out of HS with no major offers or even less interest than some of the 2020 recruiting pieces, how can he be irreplaceable in his junior and senior seasons, but the 2020 recruiting class, won't develop in the same way Eugene did??
I think if a recruit isn't an instant candidate to start, the player isn't good enough ASAP, then he needs to be replaced, according to some here......Eugene wasn't good enough to start as a freshman...factually, he was not good or belonged on the court at all, his 1st year.
Maybe the 2020 recruiting class will all be non contributors. I started a separate thread about Jay Young and Eugene and how the losses in defense were supposedly the reasons....somehow that got ignored or glossed over.
I don't know without a doubt that Pike will either close enough recruits to turn the corner OR develop enough players to make up the difference. I just know theories are or should be in supported with something beyond a statement.
But.....
Then the same fans are crying the blues about losing Eugene to transfer, when on paper, he took 2 full seasons and playing time, to become a starting caliber player and was unranked and unknown.
So which is it??
If Eugene is a no name recruiting player out of HS with no major offers or even less interest than some of the 2020 recruiting pieces, how can he be irreplaceable in his junior and senior seasons, but the 2020 recruiting class, won't develop in the same way Eugene did??
I think if a recruit isn't an instant candidate to start, the player isn't good enough ASAP, then he needs to be replaced, according to some here......Eugene wasn't good enough to start as a freshman...factually, he was not good or belonged on the court at all, his 1st year.
Maybe the 2020 recruiting class will all be non contributors. I started a separate thread about Jay Young and Eugene and how the losses in defense were supposedly the reasons....somehow that got ignored or glossed over.
I don't know without a doubt that Pike will either close enough recruits to turn the corner OR develop enough players to make up the difference. I just know theories are or should be in supported with something beyond a statement.
A lot of truth to what you say.
At the end of the day it is about acquiring pieces that will help you win games and forward in to the future the basketball program. A guy like Mulcahy can have immense value to the program even if he ultimately is a guy who plays the minutes Mike Williams does in his career.
I just hope the roster construction is done with an eye towards this goal and not the highest rated guy.
When playing stratego you can have the most powerful pieces on the board, but if your opponent has surrounded the flag with bombs and you have no 8s left you arent winning the game.
At the end of the day it is about acquiring pieces that will help you win games and forward in to the future the basketball program. A guy like Mulcahy can have immense value to the program even if he ultimately is a guy who plays the minutes Mike Williams does in his career.
I just hope the roster construction is done with an eye towards this goal and not the highest rated guy.
When playing stratego you can have the most powerful pieces on the board, but if your opponent has surrounded the flag with bombs and you have no 8s left you arent winning the game.
Not a slap at Pikiell, just the reality in recruiting B1G talent to Rutgers. CVS had over 500 career wins when RU hired her - 83% at Cheyney State and 76% Iowa. Did Pikiell build the SB program over his first 4-5 years into a top program in America East? Absolutely. But he was a budget hire for a B1G program, not a big-name, HOF kind of hire like CVS in 1995.
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