GAME 9 MICHIGAN STATE: Simply Not Good Enough

[RUKnights86]

As BAC pointed out we have seen this script before, especially against Mich St where we are in it in the last 6-7min of the game and just cannot get over the hill. Absolutely a better performance on the road than at Pitt earlier in the week so that was encouraging, but still disappointing in that Mich St really has not looked to be the same as years past so I thought this was a game that we could maybe pull out (the optimist in me but I should know that Rutgers reality sets in).

The Good:

Young: Best game in an RU uniform. You will have to live with the wild TO or forced shot from time to time, but his defense and ability to drive and atleast get to the line has to help the confidence.

Mulcahy: Night and Day from earlier in the week at Pitt. Looked like a deer in the headlights much like Caleb did last year when he first got time, but showed composure, ability to drive and dish & make the extra pass. If he can continue to do that think his minutes go up. Him or Young need to grab the PG spot so that Geo can go back to the 2 off ball and hopefully free him up for some better looks.

Yeboah: Can see why Pike loves the guy. Hit some tough shots but most importantly, did not force shots and took them within the game. Even the 3 in transition I liked given his confidence. Big to have him as a 6th man and think he needs to stay that way.

The Bad:

Baker: Distributed well, but as one of our top 2 scorers cannot have him disappear like that. Too many times this year he has to take contested late in shot clock shots that are low percentage. Confidence looked off. He is making a more concerted effort to drive to the rim but cant seem to finish. Hopefully Young/Mulcahy emerge enough he can go back to off ball and maybe get some better looks.

Harper: Tough game for him. Better that he is looking to drive but I think they need to find a way to get him on the block more. His Mid range game is good. Would like to see him be more aggressive and really be the scorer for this team, he has the ability in him.

Myles: Just a tough night in foul trouble. Saw the offensive foul coming a mile a way, a reach in on the post that was unnecessary and then a moving screen. Cannot have those when he is our only true low post scoring threat.

Wednesday will be big for them. If they bring this type of effort against Wisconsin in our building I think we get the win as they need some confidence heading into the big rivalry with the Hall on the weekend.

 

[RU-ROCS]

Good OP Bac and many posters after that. I had no problem at all with the teams's effort last night. I know Geo has not been good (not aggressive enough on O). Part of that is the other team scheming to prevent him from scoring. I think he'll fight through that and be fine as the conference season gets fully underway. A much bigger concern for this team is at center. Myles has huge upside, but he needs to stay on the Court. We have ZERO depth at center. In his senior year, we can now proclaim that Carter is a BUST. Not as bad as Souf, but not a Big 10 caliber big man and another swing and miss at a JUCO player by Pike. Ducoure also looks lost out there, but at least he's only a soph and sometimes it clicks late for big men.

The bottom line is that when key players at other positions struggle - like Caleb, Geo and Ron did last night - there are others who can pick up the slack, like Yaboa, Mulcahy, Young, etc. But when Myles struggles with foul trouble there is no one! I don't see us beating any Big 10 teams in games where Myles gets in early foul trouble. Wish we still had the other Shaq!

 

[RUChoppin]

I thought Paul brought a spark of energy immediately and executed some beautiful assists for points and converted on such a beautiful play from Geo for his only 2 points.

You have him only with 2 points, and the box score only has 2 points, but I could have sworn he had 4. The feed under the basket by Baker, and the really high arcing shot from just past the FT line. Was that second one McConnell and not Mulcahy?

 

[bac2therac]

You have him only with 2 points, and the box score only has 2 points, but I could have sworn he had 4. The feed under the basket by Baker, and the really high arcing shot from just past the FT line. Was that second one McConnell and not Mulcahy?

not sure I went off the box score which showed 2, I know another poster had questioned whether he had 4

 

[RUckusbuck]

What did Mulcahy do that was great tonight? Was I watching a different game?

Paul actually settled the team down and looked more like the team leader tonight. The evaluation extends past the stat line.

 

[RUChoppin]

Few thoughts:

Young - Ultimately had a pretty good game by the end and dug himself out of the hole he put himself in early on. Wild drives to nowhere resulting in turnovers and bad shots, not passing the ball to open men, etc... I legitimately didn't want him touching the ball on offense, and when he and Mulcahy were in it felt like Mulcahy only had 3 targets to pass to.

Then MSU started bailing him out with fouls on poorly thought-through drives, and he hit his FTs. 4 trips to the line on drives to nowhere that would probably have been missed buckets if no one fouled him, which resulted in half his points... then 4 more on "right place, right time" offensive rebound putbacks (one of which was off his own miss after penetration).

He did start passing the ball a bit better toward the end of the game, though, and seemed to be playing a touch more unselfishly. It felt more like he was probing their defense and trying to draw fouls than just trying to play hero ball. Was solid defensively for most of the game, and was the only person I wanted on Winston with under 10 on the shot clock.

Mulcahy - Played much better against tough competition than against Pitt, which is great to see. Tough learning curve in this league, but he's adapting to it.

Yeboah - Looked great, needs to pull the trigger more. I think he's warming to the speed of the high major game and will start to see more minutes. He's too good a scorer not to.

Harper - Looked good when he was playing his game (midrange, posting up, playing around the hoop, threes in flow). Looked bad when he was trying to be something he's not (dribble penetration, fancy dribbling into step back threes, etc). We need to be better about putting him in positions where he will succeed.

Johnson - Oy. Just didn't look engaged out there at times, and seemed to have caught foul-itis. That moving screen was really really lazy - on the replay it looked like he was just wandering around playing bumper cars. Not sure what was going on last night. But Carter/Doucoure can't be our primary bigs in any game if we hope to win.

Baker - Who? I don't understand where his offense or his outside shot has gone.

 

[Degaz-RU]

A few thoughts:

1. This was probably as good as an effort we can reasonably expect on the road against MSU. The offense looked better than it did against Pitt, and the defense seemed pretty salty too. Just a shame Myles was in foul trouble all night.

2. Wisconsin is an ABSOLUTE MUST-WIN game. Cannot go 0-3 in the gauntlet with SHU looming as the fourth game.

3. McConnell seems tentative out there. I suspect Pike has instructed all of the players to NOT take threes early in the shot clock. But McConnell had a wide open three at one point, and didn't take it. Of all of our wings, HE NEEDS TO BE TAKING THAT SHOT 100% OF THE TIME.

4. Also, McConnell looks somewhat slow laterally out there, he's more lumbering than bouncy. I suspect that's why his minutes have been dwindling - he just doesn't have the quicks and bounciness that you want from a 6-7 wing player.

5. Young was like Jekyll and Hyde. Awful in the 1st half, with several stupid and wild drives into the paint that resulted in TOs. But he was very effective in the 2nd half, playing good defense and getting into the lane and scoring. If only Pike could bottle that 2nd half...

6. Baker is what he is at this point. He's not a good shooter, but he's a steadying influence on offense, and will occasionally go on a tear offensively. He's like a bad golfer - he hits enough good shots that keep him coming back to the course to play, even though he has a hard time breaking 100.

7. Baker, though, has been much better this year on defense. His perimeter play has been stellar, he gets a TON of steals, and he also gets a lot of blocked shots.

8. Think Pike needs to ride Yeboah and see if the hot shooting continues. We haven't had a guy get really hot from deep in consecutive games all year. Let's see if Kwasi can do it.

9. Myles HAS to be smarter on defense. He just HAS to.

10. Mulcahy was, indeed, quite good in this game. He is very average (to be kind) on defense, but boy is he a smart player on offense, really sees the court, good passer, and doesn't make dumb plays like most of our other players.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

He's like a bad golfer - he hits enough good shots that keep him coming back to the course to play, even though he has a hard time breaking 100.

Rutgers Basketball....we break 100 on a good day.

Yikes

 

[LotusAggressor]

Think Pike made a good adjustment by not settling for 3s.

Smart to not settle for shots you can't make.

 

[LotusAggressor]

If Mulcahy can get 4 points, 6 assists and 4 boards a night and be an effective facilitator at PG this team will be that much better. Don't need incredible stats

It's hard to be a facilitator scoring 4 points a game. A good PG is at least enough of an offensive threat to keep his team from having to play 4 on 5 every time down the floor.

 

[jtung230]

Smart to not settle for shots you can't make.

What do we do with FTs?

 

[LotusAggressor]

What do we do with FTs?

It's not like they've been forcing those shots either.