This team was a mess during the Princeton game and now 8 games into the season it remains quite a messy situation. Perhaps in some ways even moreso with more questions than answers. Laid out alot of frustration after the last game recap and I will keep things relative short tonight. RU was taken the woodshed tonight by a good not great Wake Forest. Almost an identical score to the Illinois loss and some similarities with a poor start, fools gold comeback and another embarrassing extended scoring drought turning the game into a laugher.
Cannot overthink this. We know the issues. Poor rebounding, poor defense, poor offense, poor energy out of the game, turnovers, etc. Are they fixable or is this an is what it is situation. Look at our roster. Its mainly made up of 7th and 8th men at most schools. Our top recruited freshman is struggling to get acclimated to the game and being judged on being a savior for a wretched offense. Our returning center has regressed to the point of stone hands and collecting 4 rebounds while taking 4 shots become a liability on the floor on both ends. Our much hyped sophomore guard has shown very little to indicate he is a difference maker. Our leader scorer is a guy with a streaky shot and a streaky level of interest on the court. Our 5th year portal point guard has been incredibly erratic. The Rutgers coaching staff has thrown darts onto the court with respect to their rotation. I will give them credit for trying somethiing new tonight by starting Gavin to jump start the offense but the same and even worse end result
Is this even fixable?IO This is the worst combo of offense/defense under Pike's tenure. 18-3 run to start the game and then giving up a hellish 18-0 run in the 2nd half both 6 minute type droughts that we saw even against the cupcakes RU faced earlier in the season. I did not find much solace that RU rallied a bit and got the game to 6 at half. RU pulled to 50-48 before being blown out of the building. RU was all out to do that. Every shot was a struggle for them. They gave up rebounds by the bunches to Wake forced to defend 2, 3, 4 shot attempts. Wake went cold for a stretch there. RU was hanging in but it was only a matter of time. RU was housed on the boards tonight 42-30 and Wake took advantage with 21 second chance points.
There are so many problems on this team. Not one stands out. Its all of them but the biggest may be this roster just simply does not have what it takes to compete for post season. A bunch of complimentary players who have shown very little consistency. Its not just consistency from game to game. Its within the game. Take Fernandes for example who had some very good minutes when RU pulled to within 2. However he also was responsible for every turnovers and ended up with 5 for the game on woeful 4-13 fg shooting and 1-6 from 3. Hyatt and Wolf probably were the best players in the first half. Hyatt was 3-4 fg from 3..probably fools gold but then he didnt take a shot for half the 2nd half and went 0-3 . Wolf didnt even get much minutes in the 2nd half. Cliff was non existant in the first half but most of the season rebounds in the 2nd. Tonight was a total awol zero...4 boards, 4 points does not cut it. Williams played so well vs Illinois but was awful all night long tonight. Derek ghosts during the game. Davis isnt ready and cannot make free throws. Gavin was a mess today but is not allowed to play through his mistakes so how can he get better. Palm might have had the most complete game and that is a damning indictment. Do not be fooled by Chol making a couple of baskets.
Its a scary roster folks. This team needed a Cam Spencer, a healthy Mag and probably Paul Mulcahy too. Alot of unfortunate events went down and it magnified some of the recruiting misses and chances (J Williams) that Pikiell took. Just a bad set of circumstances. So here we are. Is it too early to write this team off. Pike did it in other years because he had a better rosters with players that possessed something. There are no Geos or Rons or Yeboahs here to save this season. The team has a whole can get better, will they get better is the question. Perhaps as we get deeper in the year and mathmatically it looks like this team cannot make post season, Pike might be able to settle into a lineup that will have an eye to the future. For now I expect the same kind of tinkering we have been seeing which relies on inconsistent game to game performances where you cannot get 3 players or even 2 on the same page in a given night. Pike has no idea what player will show up and who he can count. Asked many times on this board, who is the go to guy. There still remains no answer and this team still has zero identity after 8 games. More problematic is that there is absolutely not one shred of leadership or communication going on right now. Its a mess for sure.
Seton Hall is winnable to me but only if this team can find some sort of toughness which has been absent. Abused is a common word the last two games and it could happen in Newark if this team does not start to show some energy to begin these games. Getting down early is only magnifiying the myriad of issues facing the program now. So to me this is looking more like a lost season. Yet the news today was incredible. Its going to keep the wolves at bay this season. Dylan is coming. Ace is coming. Forget about what you see this season because its a brand new ball game next year. It's just a matter of getting there with some dignity.
Cannot overthink this. We know the issues. Poor rebounding, poor defense, poor offense, poor energy out of the game, turnovers, etc. Are they fixable or is this an is what it is situation. Look at our roster. Its mainly made up of 7th and 8th men at most schools. Our top recruited freshman is struggling to get acclimated to the game and being judged on being a savior for a wretched offense. Our returning center has regressed to the point of stone hands and collecting 4 rebounds while taking 4 shots become a liability on the floor on both ends. Our much hyped sophomore guard has shown very little to indicate he is a difference maker. Our leader scorer is a guy with a streaky shot and a streaky level of interest on the court. Our 5th year portal point guard has been incredibly erratic. The Rutgers coaching staff has thrown darts onto the court with respect to their rotation. I will give them credit for trying somethiing new tonight by starting Gavin to jump start the offense but the same and even worse end result
Is this even fixable?IO This is the worst combo of offense/defense under Pike's tenure. 18-3 run to start the game and then giving up a hellish 18-0 run in the 2nd half both 6 minute type droughts that we saw even against the cupcakes RU faced earlier in the season. I did not find much solace that RU rallied a bit and got the game to 6 at half. RU pulled to 50-48 before being blown out of the building. RU was all out to do that. Every shot was a struggle for them. They gave up rebounds by the bunches to Wake forced to defend 2, 3, 4 shot attempts. Wake went cold for a stretch there. RU was hanging in but it was only a matter of time. RU was housed on the boards tonight 42-30 and Wake took advantage with 21 second chance points.
There are so many problems on this team. Not one stands out. Its all of them but the biggest may be this roster just simply does not have what it takes to compete for post season. A bunch of complimentary players who have shown very little consistency. Its not just consistency from game to game. Its within the game. Take Fernandes for example who had some very good minutes when RU pulled to within 2. However he also was responsible for every turnovers and ended up with 5 for the game on woeful 4-13 fg shooting and 1-6 from 3. Hyatt and Wolf probably were the best players in the first half. Hyatt was 3-4 fg from 3..probably fools gold but then he didnt take a shot for half the 2nd half and went 0-3 . Wolf didnt even get much minutes in the 2nd half. Cliff was non existant in the first half but most of the season rebounds in the 2nd. Tonight was a total awol zero...4 boards, 4 points does not cut it. Williams played so well vs Illinois but was awful all night long tonight. Derek ghosts during the game. Davis isnt ready and cannot make free throws. Gavin was a mess today but is not allowed to play through his mistakes so how can he get better. Palm might have had the most complete game and that is a damning indictment. Do not be fooled by Chol making a couple of baskets.
Its a scary roster folks. This team needed a Cam Spencer, a healthy Mag and probably Paul Mulcahy too. Alot of unfortunate events went down and it magnified some of the recruiting misses and chances (J Williams) that Pikiell took. Just a bad set of circumstances. So here we are. Is it too early to write this team off. Pike did it in other years because he had a better rosters with players that possessed something. There are no Geos or Rons or Yeboahs here to save this season. The team has a whole can get better, will they get better is the question. Perhaps as we get deeper in the year and mathmatically it looks like this team cannot make post season, Pike might be able to settle into a lineup that will have an eye to the future. For now I expect the same kind of tinkering we have been seeing which relies on inconsistent game to game performances where you cannot get 3 players or even 2 on the same page in a given night. Pike has no idea what player will show up and who he can count. Asked many times on this board, who is the go to guy. There still remains no answer and this team still has zero identity after 8 games. More problematic is that there is absolutely not one shred of leadership or communication going on right now. Its a mess for sure.
Seton Hall is winnable to me but only if this team can find some sort of toughness which has been absent. Abused is a common word the last two games and it could happen in Newark if this team does not start to show some energy to begin these games. Getting down early is only magnifiying the myriad of issues facing the program now. So to me this is looking more like a lost season. Yet the news today was incredible. Its going to keep the wolves at bay this season. Dylan is coming. Ace is coming. Forget about what you see this season because its a brand new ball game next year. It's just a matter of getting there with some dignity.
