Game observations - Wisconsin

[Degaz-RU]

1. Ethan Happ. Just unstoppable 1-on-1. But Pike was committed to NOT doubling him, to prevent the kickout and wide open threes.

2. Wisconsin plays good perimeter defense. Our guards and wings couldn’t get open looks much of the night. Don’t think I’ve seen so many air balls in one game.

3. Once again Kiss and Baker start out the game white hot, but then they cool off until the game is out of reach.

4. Pike needs to put an APB out on Issa Thiam. Kid has just disappeared in two straight games now. We’re not gonna win many games with our SF scoring 2 ppg.

5. Shaq Carter played a really nice game tonight, with 9 points, a few rebounds and decent defense. And it didn’t look flukey either. He legit looks like a smooth big guy with some deft moves around the rim. He’s going to help us. But one wonders, where exactly WAS he before this?

6. McConnell with another solid stretch in first half. Good to see him consolidating his success from the other night. Confidence growing.

7. Not much out of Myles Johnson or Tez Mathis tonight. But couple nice buckets from Harper.

8. BUT, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Harper is now 3-23 from three point range. Remember how we were saying that the new guys couldn’t POSSIBLY be worse that Sanders, Freeman and Williams from three point range? Well, take a look at the combined stats of Mathis and Harper. Ugh.

9. I LOVE Eugene, but damn does he make some bonehead plays and takes out of control shots at times. It’s like he THINKS he’s good enough to be a #1 “go-to” guy who can score at will, except he’s not at that level yet. So he’s forcing things a little too much.

10. That said, Gene and Geo ARE our two best players, so they need to score 30 ppg combined. So maybe we have to live with them forcing things at times.

11. We’ve played three really tough teams here in the last week, and the team can hold their heads up high with how they performed. If somebody would have offered us 1-2 in these games last week, I think we ALL would have taken It.

12. But this progress is absolutely MEANINGLESS if we don’t beat Fordham this Saturday. The team needs to come to play, because Rose Hill can get crazy when the Rams are playing well.

 

[bac2therac]

all great points.

Best thing to come from tonight is easily Carter....we have no idea what was going on early...its not like he played and was bad...Pikiell was bringing him in the last minute or so. So in fairness people were not necessarily wrong in being concerned. He was not a joke out there....he looked legit and comfortable.

I dont care how much we beat Fordham by, just win the game.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I forgot the game was tonight, thought it was tomorrow

Only lost by 5, not too shabby

 

[Local Shill]

I forgot the game was tonight, thought it was tomorrow

Only lost by 5, not too shabby

No words

 

[JQRU91]

9. I LOVE Eugene, but damn does he make some bonehead plays and takes out of control shots at times. It’s like he THINKS he’s good enough to be a #1 “go-to” guy who can score at will, except he’s not at that level yet. So he’s forcing things a little too much.

10. That said, Gene and Geo ARE our two best players, so they need to score 30 ppg combined. So maybe we have to live with them forcing things at times.

This team is lacking that true #1 go-to guy. At this point, Eugene and Geo are both solid number 2s. But they may yet develop into that. Geo really looked like a star in the first half, but then he disappeared for a chunk of time in the second.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

We lost to two of the top teams in the nation and we represented ourselves admirably.We still need to win some of these. And we will.

 

[RUChoppin]

Intentional shots on our two leading scorers that sent both to the ground hard enough to stop play, but neither was reviewed.

 

[BOGDANOVICH]

Rutgers played very well against MIchigan State and Wisconsin. No doubt. But it is time to start winning some of these games. In both games, RU started strong then faded. Both were winnable but the team seemed to run of steam. Maybe it's the youth.

 

[ru-baby]

So much good tonight . Pike still tweaking to get the core group for late game- harper and mathis out there late today.

Issa more to the hole
Kiss needs to move more without ball
Geo needs to chill on all the scolding
Carter do it again

 

[mikefla]

What I think I was seeing in the 2nd half was fatigue.
A still we lost by 5 to the #1 BTen #22 ranked team at THEIR place
and I wrong to be encouraged?

Overall.....we are ONE star away from being a team to reckon with

 

[TMCB]

Harper has to step up, love kiss and geo moxie. Good team thats growing.... so far so good

 

[TDIrish27]

Harper has to step up, love kiss and geo moxie. Good team thats growing.... so far so good

Agreed

I don't Wisconsin is elite----good club----certainly a tournament club but not elite.

Due to the pace and just the nature of the way they play they'll always be in close one's and FT shooting is going to cost them a game or two IMO.

Fourth or Fifth at the end of the year in the Big Ten is my guess.

 

[bac2therac]

Wisconsin is now #12 and if they beat Marquette they could wind up in the top 10 next week. Its a very good team, top 4/5 in league likely that because of their makeup could be a tough out in the NCAA tourney.

 

[rufeelinit]

I don't think fatigue should be a factor. We play enough guys. Geo looked a little winded in the second half. While he works hard on both ends, I think his fatigue becomes most evident on the defensive end and leads to cheap fouls or easy drives by his opponent.

BTW can we find a way to consolidate the post game analysis into one thread?

 

[Roy_Faulker]

So much good tonight . Pike still tweaking to get the core group for late game- harper and mathis out there late today.

Issa more to the hole
Kiss needs to move more without ball
Geo needs to chill on all the scolding
Carter do it again

Interesting comments on Baker. Don’t know if he is scolding or encouraging. Hopefully he is keeping positive.

Interestingly for me I think kiss needs to drive the lane with more authority. He got to the basket a few times yesterday and went up to soft.

 

[Mr Magoo]

I don't think fatigue should be a factor. We play enough guys. Geo looked a little winded in the second half. While he works hard on both ends, I think his fatigue becomes most evident on the defensive end and leads to cheap fouls or easy drives by his opponent.

BTW can we find a way to consolidate the post game analysis into one thread?

I agree that fatigue is just lack of conditioning. In the beginning of the 2nd half against Michigan State, some of our players were very winded. It s kind of surprising given the fact that we played 11 guys in the 1st half.

 

[RUMountie]

So much good tonight . Pike still tweaking to get the core group for late game- harper and mathis out there late today.

Issa more to the hole
Kiss needs to move more without ball
Geo needs to chill on all the scolding
Carter do it again

Love Geo, but he needs to pass a little more and shoot a little less. I know he is dead tired from working very hard, but his jumpers in the 2nd half start to come up short and he has teammates who are open for good shots or he could be more patient and move the ball so one of them could get a good shot. He has to start to trust that this year's team has more weapons than we have had in the recent past.

 

[MV9000]

Think we looked good. The Wisco forum noting wed knock off some teams and piss a lot of teams off this year.

Also Tai Strickland... Id take McConell every day of the week over him.

Carter uhhh is very good too. Was shocked. He is fluid, strong as hell and does not look lost. Not sure where he was hiding.

 

[bowlgoal]

Great game. We are getting closer and closer to turning the corner. I love this team. Gene needs to play within himself and not try to do everything all the time. I like when he posts and uses his body and the glass. The fade-away jumpers fall short and w can’t waste possessions. He’s done a great job so it’s hard to complain but give the ball to Geo and try to reposition yourself for better shots if it’s not there.

 

[wheezer]

Harper has confidence in shooting from the three, but it is not working as we have seen.

there was a sequence where he missed a three, got the ball back a couple of seconds later, and hit a shot a bit inside the three pt line..... the fact that he just missed did not phase him a bit, and the commentators remarked about it.....

Harper will turn out to be a player for us.... by the time he is a senior, watch out

Pike tried using Carter earlier in the year, one or two of the beginning games and he looked nothing like he did last night.....last night he looked like a completely different player, one that deserves POSSIBLY the first backup to Doorson

which brings me to Johnson, who showed a bit early on, then hardly anything in recent games, when it comes to offense..... I would move Carter as the backup, at least for now...

and Gio has to stop committing two fouls in the first half, sending him to the bench....a newish problem lately

good game, solid effort....we have to try to disrupt the repeated flow of games where we jump out, and give it all back by early in the second half.....

but here is the good thing.... I think teams still take us lightly, early on, then find out they really have to work to beat us....but, even with that work, they have a hard time doing it

Carter, Harper, Mathias, McConnell, are all going to get better as the year progresses.....there may be games we jump out on someone, and then they can't close

 

[bowlgoal]

We have to do a better job pushing the post players further away from the basket. I guess Happ and the younger kid are really that good and understand how to get the initial position and use their bodies to back us down. I thought we could have doubled up on some of them but then there’s an open 3 ball waiting to happen? Trice is very talented and you can’t leave him open for a second.

We are just a young team right now trying to find our identity . Couldn’t believe how much better Shaq Carter looked last night? We really have a nice rotation of players and our depth should wear teams down.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

1. I think our plan against Happ was fine. You don't want to double Happ. If you do you are 2 passes away from an open 3.
10. COMPLETELY disagree. If they score 30 PPG you probably have the offense last night where the ball is in their hands too much. We DESPERATELY need points out of our starting SF
12. COMPLETELY disagree. A loss to Fordham would be disappointing, but in no way would take away from the progress I have seen. We will have PEAKS and VALLEYS. I think you will find perimeter shooting on both sides will have a lot to do with results.

Agree with other points.

 

[RUSONIC]

1. Ethan Happ. Just unstoppable 1-on-1. But Pike was committed to NOT doubling him, to prevent the kickout and wide open threes.

2. Wisconsin plays good perimeter defense. Our guards and wings couldn’t get open looks much of the night. Don’t think I’ve seen so many air balls in one game.

3. Once again Kiss and Baker start out the game white hot, but then they cool off until the game is out of reach.

4. Pike needs to put an APB out on Issa Thiam. Kid has just disappeared in two straight games now. We’re not gonna win many games with our SF scoring 2 ppg.

5. Shaq Carter played a really nice game tonight, with 9 points, a few rebounds and decent defense. And it didn’t look flukey either. He legit looks like a smooth big guy with some deft moves around the rim. He’s going to help us. But one wonders, where exactly WAS he before this?

6. McConnell with another solid stretch in first half. Good to see him consolidating his success from the other night. Confidence growing.

7. Not much out of Myles Johnson or Tez Mathis tonight. But couple nice buckets from Harper.

8. BUT, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Harper is now 3-23 from three point range. Remember how we were saying that the new guys couldn’t POSSIBLY be worse that Sanders, Freeman and Williams from three point range? Well, take a look at the combined stats of Mathis and Harper. Ugh.

9. I LOVE Eugene, but damn does he make some bonehead plays and takes out of control shots at times. It’s like he THINKS he’s good enough to be a #1 “go-to” guy who can score at will, except he’s not at that level yet. So he’s forcing things a little too much.

10. That said, Gene and Geo ARE our two best players, so they need to score 30 ppg combined. So maybe we have to live with them forcing things at times.

11. We’ve played three really tough teams here in the last week, and the team can hold their heads up high with how they performed. If somebody would have offered us 1-2 in these games last week, I think we ALL would have taken It.

12. But this progress is absolutely MEANINGLESS if we don’t beat Fordham this Saturday. The team needs to come to play, because Rose Hill can get crazy when the Rams are playing well.

Thanks for writing all my thoughts, saved me time. You are right on with your post, good job.

 

[Degaz-RU]

1. I think our plan against Happ was fine. You don't want to double Happ. If you do you are 2 passes away from an open 3.
10. COMPLETELY disagree. If they score 30 PPG you probably have the offense last night where the ball is in their hands too much. We DESPERATELY need points out of our starting SF
12. COMPLETELY disagree. A loss to Fordham would be disappointing, but in no way would take away from the progress I have seen. We will have PEAKS and VALLEYS. I think you will find perimeter shooting on both sides will have a lot to do with results.

Agree with other points.

FIG, re: #10, if not Baker/Omoruyi, then who? I don't trust anybody else right now to consistently get 15 ppg, which is what Geo and Gene have been giving us. There are going to be nights when they score 40 combined, because they ARE our best players. I don't think you can count on anybody else to provide that POTENTIAL scoring punch night-in and night-out. So we have to live with what we saw last night, though I DO think that their decisionmaking can be tweaked to smooth out the rought edges we saw.

re: #12, I hope we don't have to find out what people think after a loss to Fordham, LOL!

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Kiss, Issa, Mathis, McConnell, Johnson, Carter, Doorson,

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

forgot Duke

 

[Scarlet Blind]

They could be winded from all the flights, to Miami Tuesday night, game Wed night, Miami to home late Wednesday night/Thursday morning, game Friday night and Flight to Wisconsin Sunday night, game Monday night.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Kiss, Issa, Mathis, McConnell, Johnson, Carter, Doorson,

What about them?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

they can be counted on to score

 

[Degaz-RU]

they can be counted on to score

But that wasn't my original point, FIG. My point (a few posts above this) was: "I don't think you can count on anybody else to provide that POTENTIAL scoring punch night-in and night-out."

And NONE of "Kiss, Issa, Mathis, McConnell, Johnson, Carter, Doorson, or Duke" (the names you listed, and you should probably have listed Harper too) have shown any CONSISTENT offense (with Kiss being closest), or frankly much offense at all in many games.

In contrast, Baker and Omoruyi have each been in double figures in 7 out of the 8 games we have played thus far. It hasn't always looked pretty, but I stand by my statement that they are the only guys on the team who can be counted on for consistent offense, with Kiss starting to come around to that level.

 

[Scangg]

they can be counted on to score

So the enitre team are scorers now? Lol. I mean technically anyone who scores is but if you actually mean a scorer in the sense most people use it then no. Doorson is obviously not a scorer.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

I'll be a little contrarian here regarding Issa and scoring in general. First, I love what Issa brings: height, great D, and tremendous hustle. I assume that Coach does not want the bulk of our scoring to rest in GB and EO's hands because we don't want to turn into a new version of last year's team with Corey and Freeman doing the scoring. Any coach would want balanced scoring (except at crunch time when you need a go-to guy) and, to me, one of the possible ways to balance it out is to feed the post more often. Carter, Johnson, and Shaq have each shown ability to get points down low, although Doorson's is mainly thorough lobs and offensive rebounds. It would be nice if Issa drove to the basket a little more, but until the two freshmen are ready to compete with him for minutes, I'm ok with Issa. Kiss has been looking pretty good the last two games. As everyone has said, this team is still developing and learning about each other, and bottom line, they're a hellavua lot of fun to watch.

 

[RU-ROCS]

This team is lacking that true #1 go-to guy. At this point, Eugene and Geo are both solid number 2s. But they may yet develop into that. Geo really looked like a star in the first half, but then he disappeared for a chunk of time in the second.

I would not write Kiss off yet as another go-to scorer. He's been a little inconsistent, but remember he missed a year of play so it may take time. He had a nice line in last night's game against major comp. And. he's been pretty good in all 3 of the last RU games against top teams.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

This team is at it's best when the ball moves and shot attempts are balanced. When Eugene is asking for the ball 21 feet from the basket with the intent of penetrating that possession more times than not will end empty. We also don't want to see Baker with a step back shot early in the shot clock when he can get that same attempt late in the shot clock.

Doorson has missed 1 shot all year.
Kiss and Issa will make a very high percent of open 3s
Our post players can be very good on the low block scoring and passing.

I want the ball in Baker's hand with 5 seconds on the shot clock. He should get more attempts than others, but the more balance the better we will be.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Who was Michigan's go to guy last year?

 

[goru7]

But that wasn't my original point, FIG. My point (a few posts above this) was: "I don't think you can count on anybody else to provide that POTENTIAL scoring punch night-in and night-out."

And NONE of "Kiss, Issa, Mathis, McConnell, Johnson, Carter, Doorson, or Duke" (the names you listed, and you should probably have listed Harper too) have shown any CONSISTENT offense (with Kiss being closest), or frankly much offense at all in many games.

In contrast, Baker and Omoruyi have each been in double figures in 7 out of the 8 games we have played thus far. It hasn't always looked pretty, but I stand by my statement that they are the only guys on the team who can be counted on for consistent offense, with Kiss starting to come around to that level.

I agree with what you are saying but it is actually reality. Eugene and Geo should be the consistent leading scorers every night but they cannot disappear for long stretches like Geo has done in a few games or take tougher than necessary shots, and Eugene doesn’t have to get the ball in the post and try to score every time but maybe get it to Kiss or Issa spotting up for the three or even diagonally to Geo at the top of the key.
He also has to cut down on his 2-3 boneheaded bad plays every game.

On the other hand, if we are to win these toss up games, Kiss, and Issa and Myles and Harper and both Shaquille’s have to become a reliable double digit option. One way to get there for the bigs are designed plays to feed the post. Both Shaquille ‘s and Myles have a low post move so feed them the ball more. Carter has shown in one game against tall trees that he can score down low and he should be a regular option. Enough with some of the aimless perimeter weave we run. Issa just ran away from the hoop all last night.

For Kiss, Harper, and Mathis they have to continue to be aggressive and attack the hoop but also continue to move to a three point spot so they are open for the kick out.
Finally I think Coach has to let them run a little more as the transition offense is the best I have seen in a number of years. Have to get some easy buckets and not have to rely on perfect execution or hot shooting off the double low block sets being run.

 

[rutger80]

I like what I've seen (small sample size) from Carter. He's actually able to finish around the basket. Remember those issues with Freeman?

In addition, this was only the second road game and first road conference games for the newcomers. So, give them credit for not folding in an extremely hostile environment.

 

[Scarlet Blind]

I think a lot of players are passing up their shots last 2 games which is kind of forcing Geo and EO to take more shots than they want or need to.