You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
They will be a game changer they said. They are headed to a special season they said. They are young they said. They just need some time they said. They played better in Vegas they said. We are Rutgers fan who went through a through 25 years plus of losing. We were sold a bill of goods for this season that was totally inaccurate. We expected Pike to assemble a team of competant back ups to compliment 2 top 5 NBA once in a lifetime talents. 9 games into the season and we as Rutgers fans are not impressed one iota by this team nor the coaching staff. All the fears from the St Johns loss right through mediocre performances at home, the horrid loss to Kennesaw and barely beating a bad Notre Dame team are front and center.
Rutgers is now 5-4. They do not have anything close to a positive on their NCAA resume. With 18 schools and 15 in total legit contending for a NCAA bid, the sense of urgency starts pretty early these days to setting the tone. Look it cannot be stressed enough, its very very very hard to win on the road in the Big 10. Purdue fell flat on their face at Penn State. Illinois could not do it at Northwestern. There is no shame in losing on the road and quite frankly this is the first road league game for this group and they will have trouble adapting albeit OSU's arena is one of the less hostile ones in the league. I do not have a problem with the loss. I do have a problem with how it happened and why it happened and why Rutgers is basically playing the same game every single night.
For starters, nine games into the season, Rutgers absolutely has zero identity. In the past, Pike teams were known for their lunch pail defense and his uncanny knack for threading the needle and getting his teams competing all game long. Can someone answer what this Rutgers team does well? Yeah they have Dylan and Ace and they are incredible individual talents who take and make their own shots but that is it folks. RU does not rebound, they dont play any semblence of help defense, they do not pressure, they do not trap, they do not move the ball well, they do not possess high IQ, they do not have have teamwork, they do not have court vision, they do not have that sense of toughness that their opponents have shown, they do not impose their will on their opponents. Pretty harsh right...too bad. I feel RU all year long same game plan...roll the ball out and just try to outscore the opponents. On some stretches RU will actually get a lead...alas its not sustainable and its a surefire way to end up in the bottom 4 of this league.
We were told they just need some time. Its new players blah blah blah. Well that is great and true if Ace/Dylan were here 2-3 years, we would all be salivating about whats to come in the future. The problem is this team needs to win NOW. There is no tomorrow. No 2025-26 season to look forward. They have to grow from Gerber babies to Jolly Green Giants in just a few months. That is the reality. Yet they are stuck in the infant, immaturity stage, and even worse not being held accountable by the staff. How could Pike and company hold them accountable. 2 guys getting NIL and going top 5 in the draft this spring, you think they are going to be molded by Pike. That carries over elsewhere where a whole bunch of players are simply not talented enough to play in this league. Pike assembled a bunch of low mid major players to compliment 2 NBA players and they have shot blanks.
Cannot win games without making shots. RU is capable...at times...of course they scored only 6 points in an almost 9 minute stretch before halftime with the 2 NBA stars so that is a can of worms to open in another thread about how brutal Pike's coaching has been this year. But equally important is not being able to make stops. Hit shots, stack stops. RU has failed in 5 games vs real teams barely surviving Notre Dame. I praised them for that win because they needed to have success but it looks like they are still so far away from knowing or even being capable of what it takes to win. The defensive effort was simply terrible in the first 10 minutes of the game where the same exact tone from games in Vegas were set. RU literally had major size advantage and were getting shredded in the paint often times the wrong player trying to defend under the basket. There were a few moments in the 2nd half where it appeared the window was open for RU and sigh, a slew of turnovers, wasted offensive possessions, missed rebounds and the usual 2nd chance points by OSU would do them in. RU does nothing to disrupt their opponents ball movement and how is it possible that OSU gets so many easy looks while on the opposite ends, RU has to rely on degree of difficulty shots by Ace and Dylan to role in. That to me is coaching. On the one end, Pike has a group that seemingly refused to commit to playing defense. On the other end, the offense is so disjointed and prone to so many wasted possessions where shots are either forced or the wrong players are taking the shots at the wrong time..see Grant/Lathan 3s.
What is the solution to get RU out of the sticky muck. Should Pike go bac2basics and burn it all down. I would not mind. Very obvious that proceeding at this rate is going to lead to a sub 500 season with some exciting play at times with the end result likely known by halftime. Pike needs to start by demanding ACCOUNTABILITY from his players. If he cannot do that this will be a LOST season. There is still time. RU is just 0-1 in league and Penn State up at home next is another opportunity for a quality win. Bac2therac I wouldnt expect anything less than this team coming out with a bit of chip on their shoulder but its a MUST WIN at this point. Rutgers has lost 4 of its last 5 games...losing a 5th to even out at 5-5 is an ENORMOUS hole to dig out of. Its going to happen one game at a time if it happens but if they cannot rebound and beat Penn State at home and the Lions will be ripe for their picking after coming down off the high of the Purdue win and a likely ranking. Its going to have to be a productive rest of the month for RU...to me Penn State, SHU, Princeton and Columbia are all MUST WINS make no doubt about it. Can they win them all though is up for doubt. The level of competition probably does not make a difference. This team needs a completely different mindset if its going to win games.
These recaps are getting shorter and shorter and less specifics. The box scores and stats do not matter because its not one play or one miss or one rebound that are the turning points. Its EVERYTHING....its starting and ending on the practice court and in the lockerroom and with the coaching staff and with their actions in the portal last season. Maybe we will be wrong. The light will go on and we will all be made to look like fools. Maybe just maybe the talent here is simply not good enough to be a NCAA bubble team. I am tired of maybes. I need to see some changes, some discipline and some fire back into the program. Right now I see a program stuck in its own way with a one year contract with the devil that may have major ramifications for the future of the program in the short term next couple of seasons.
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
They will be a game changer they said. They are headed to a special season they said. They are young they said. They just need some time they said. They played better in Vegas they said. We are Rutgers fan who went through a through 25 years plus of losing. We were sold a bill of goods for this season that was totally inaccurate. We expected Pike to assemble a team of competant back ups to compliment 2 top 5 NBA once in a lifetime talents. 9 games into the season and we as Rutgers fans are not impressed one iota by this team nor the coaching staff. All the fears from the St Johns loss right through mediocre performances at home, the horrid loss to Kennesaw and barely beating a bad Notre Dame team are front and center.
Rutgers is now 5-4. They do not have anything close to a positive on their NCAA resume. With 18 schools and 15 in total legit contending for a NCAA bid, the sense of urgency starts pretty early these days to setting the tone. Look it cannot be stressed enough, its very very very hard to win on the road in the Big 10. Purdue fell flat on their face at Penn State. Illinois could not do it at Northwestern. There is no shame in losing on the road and quite frankly this is the first road league game for this group and they will have trouble adapting albeit OSU's arena is one of the less hostile ones in the league. I do not have a problem with the loss. I do have a problem with how it happened and why it happened and why Rutgers is basically playing the same game every single night.
For starters, nine games into the season, Rutgers absolutely has zero identity. In the past, Pike teams were known for their lunch pail defense and his uncanny knack for threading the needle and getting his teams competing all game long. Can someone answer what this Rutgers team does well? Yeah they have Dylan and Ace and they are incredible individual talents who take and make their own shots but that is it folks. RU does not rebound, they dont play any semblence of help defense, they do not pressure, they do not trap, they do not move the ball well, they do not possess high IQ, they do not have have teamwork, they do not have court vision, they do not have that sense of toughness that their opponents have shown, they do not impose their will on their opponents. Pretty harsh right...too bad. I feel RU all year long same game plan...roll the ball out and just try to outscore the opponents. On some stretches RU will actually get a lead...alas its not sustainable and its a surefire way to end up in the bottom 4 of this league.
We were told they just need some time. Its new players blah blah blah. Well that is great and true if Ace/Dylan were here 2-3 years, we would all be salivating about whats to come in the future. The problem is this team needs to win NOW. There is no tomorrow. No 2025-26 season to look forward. They have to grow from Gerber babies to Jolly Green Giants in just a few months. That is the reality. Yet they are stuck in the infant, immaturity stage, and even worse not being held accountable by the staff. How could Pike and company hold them accountable. 2 guys getting NIL and going top 5 in the draft this spring, you think they are going to be molded by Pike. That carries over elsewhere where a whole bunch of players are simply not talented enough to play in this league. Pike assembled a bunch of low mid major players to compliment 2 NBA players and they have shot blanks.
Cannot win games without making shots. RU is capable...at times...of course they scored only 6 points in an almost 9 minute stretch before halftime with the 2 NBA stars so that is a can of worms to open in another thread about how brutal Pike's coaching has been this year. But equally important is not being able to make stops. Hit shots, stack stops. RU has failed in 5 games vs real teams barely surviving Notre Dame. I praised them for that win because they needed to have success but it looks like they are still so far away from knowing or even being capable of what it takes to win. The defensive effort was simply terrible in the first 10 minutes of the game where the same exact tone from games in Vegas were set. RU literally had major size advantage and were getting shredded in the paint often times the wrong player trying to defend under the basket. There were a few moments in the 2nd half where it appeared the window was open for RU and sigh, a slew of turnovers, wasted offensive possessions, missed rebounds and the usual 2nd chance points by OSU would do them in. RU does nothing to disrupt their opponents ball movement and how is it possible that OSU gets so many easy looks while on the opposite ends, RU has to rely on degree of difficulty shots by Ace and Dylan to role in. That to me is coaching. On the one end, Pike has a group that seemingly refused to commit to playing defense. On the other end, the offense is so disjointed and prone to so many wasted possessions where shots are either forced or the wrong players are taking the shots at the wrong time..see Grant/Lathan 3s.
What is the solution to get RU out of the sticky muck. Should Pike go bac2basics and burn it all down. I would not mind. Very obvious that proceeding at this rate is going to lead to a sub 500 season with some exciting play at times with the end result likely known by halftime. Pike needs to start by demanding ACCOUNTABILITY from his players. If he cannot do that this will be a LOST season. There is still time. RU is just 0-1 in league and Penn State up at home next is another opportunity for a quality win. Bac2therac I wouldnt expect anything less than this team coming out with a bit of chip on their shoulder but its a MUST WIN at this point. Rutgers has lost 4 of its last 5 games...losing a 5th to even out at 5-5 is an ENORMOUS hole to dig out of. Its going to happen one game at a time if it happens but if they cannot rebound and beat Penn State at home and the Lions will be ripe for their picking after coming down off the high of the Purdue win and a likely ranking. Its going to have to be a productive rest of the month for RU...to me Penn State, SHU, Princeton and Columbia are all MUST WINS make no doubt about it. Can they win them all though is up for doubt. The level of competition probably does not make a difference. This team needs a completely different mindset if its going to win games.
These recaps are getting shorter and shorter and less specifics. The box scores and stats do not matter because its not one play or one miss or one rebound that are the turning points. Its EVERYTHING....its starting and ending on the practice court and in the lockerroom and with the coaching staff and with their actions in the portal last season. Maybe we will be wrong. The light will go on and we will all be made to look like fools. Maybe just maybe the talent here is simply not good enough to be a NCAA bubble team. I am tired of maybes. I need to see some changes, some discipline and some fire back into the program. Right now I see a program stuck in its own way with a one year contract with the devil that may have major ramifications for the future of the program in the short term next couple of seasons.
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