Those two guys contributed a lot last year and were major reasons why that was an NCAA tournament team. Cliff would have helped make up for losing Carter but nobody on this roster can replace Yeboah.
I underestimated the loss of Yeboah and Carter
- Thread starter knight82
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Ron is Yeboah this year. He's our spot up 3 point shooter who is strong, can box out and rebound vs taller 4s. He just hasn't had anywhere near the effort that Yeboah had all year last year the last few games. He's not banging for rebounds. He's playing slow and passive. Probably has todo with his injury.
Ron is under sized as a 4. If Reiber was ready he could play there but he really needed a more extended OOC schedule
And having to play Ron at the 4 means lose the physical advantages that you had with Ron at the 3. Also last year JY was not playing as much so we also usually had a big and physical backcourt and usually had a size advantage there as well. We were physically dominant.
I agree with you about Yeboah but I’m more concerned with the regressions of Johnson and Baker. Baker’s might be due to injury, however.
Cliff > Carter but we can t replace the maturity; poise and offensive / defensive skills of Yeboah. He did so much dirty work for us as well.
I never underestimated the loss of Yeboah. He went about business - like nobody else on this team. Their was no Yeboah replacement
Very good point. Yeobah was serious every game and brought intensity. Doesn’t seem like that intensity exists now.
Yeboah provided alot more to this team than his stats would show. He was the quiet but solid leader and maturity of that team.
I was thinking exactly the same thing but was so depressed by the loss I just didn't want to go to Rivals. Pike should have brought in a 5th year player.
Ron is the same height and 15 pounds heavier than Yeboah was, so if he’s under sized than so was Yeboah. The issue here is we were fortunate enough to stay healthy last year, but this year Cliff has been sidelined with an injury and Ron has been playing through an ankle injury the last few games. Reiber wasn’t supposed to be a part of the rotation this year because if Cliff weren’t injured, there’d be no room for him in the rotation.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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This. Yeboah was a true professional who was all business. The rest of the guys were a little immature and still are.
It has nothing to do with missing Yeboah or Carter, and everything to do with missing Cliff and injury bug this year that really threw off the chemistry and rotations of the first 5 games.
Start of the season
1st String was JY, Geo, MM, RHJ, Cliff
2nd String was 6 Paul, 8-10 Palmquist, Mag, Reiber, 7 Myles
3rd String was Brooks, Terry, Lobach, Nathan, Doucoure
McConnell R-Shirt
First 5 games, Cliff(101) was getting 22,22,21,15,21, as starter and Myles(103) was getting 15,16,19,28,25
RHJ 160 minutes, JY 172 minutes, MM 164 minutes, Paul 154 minutes
That is 6 players- 854 out of 1000 total minutes in 5 games(5-0)
Geo 37, Mag 47, Reiber 23, Palmquist 27 = 134
After we won the Illinois game and Cliff got hurt. 6-0, JY ailing since the fall, RHJ ankle hasn't been right for the last 3 games. We had to put our second string Center, Myles, as our starter, struggling to adjust to it, increased his minutes and fill the rest with our 3rd string Center and back up 4 to the 5. Now that the back up 4 is to the 5 and when Mag was hurt, we had to move Palmquist to a back up 2/3, he would get abused by most B1G 4s and Paul to the backup 4 when he isn't playing 1 because Geo, JY, MM are too short for the 4. which leads the other guard positions short. Why we have struggled to rebound against sized opponents like OSU and MSU. That's why Caleb coming back and getting Jaden Jones up to speed quick until Cliff gets back will pay dividends, wouldn't surprise me to see Jaden with minutes in the next game. We will be very deep at all position when everyone is healthy, then you will see them play like they did in games 1-6, and not the last 5.
1st team JY, MM, Caleb, RHJ, Cliff
2nd Paul, Geo, Jaden, Reiber, Myles
3rd Palmquist, Mag, Doucoure
Start of the season
1st String was JY, Geo, MM, RHJ, Cliff
2nd String was 6 Paul, 8-10 Palmquist, Mag, Reiber, 7 Myles
3rd String was Brooks, Terry, Lobach, Nathan, Doucoure
McConnell R-Shirt
First 5 games, Cliff(101) was getting 22,22,21,15,21, as starter and Myles(103) was getting 15,16,19,28,25
RHJ 160 minutes, JY 172 minutes, MM 164 minutes, Paul 154 minutes
That is 6 players- 854 out of 1000 total minutes in 5 games(5-0)
Geo 37, Mag 47, Reiber 23, Palmquist 27 = 134
After we won the Illinois game and Cliff got hurt. 6-0, JY ailing since the fall, RHJ ankle hasn't been right for the last 3 games. We had to put our second string Center, Myles, as our starter, struggling to adjust to it, increased his minutes and fill the rest with our 3rd string Center and back up 4 to the 5. Now that the back up 4 is to the 5 and when Mag was hurt, we had to move Palmquist to a back up 2/3, he would get abused by most B1G 4s and Paul to the backup 4 when he isn't playing 1 because Geo, JY, MM are too short for the 4. which leads the other guard positions short. Why we have struggled to rebound against sized opponents like OSU and MSU. That's why Caleb coming back and getting Jaden Jones up to speed quick until Cliff gets back will pay dividends, wouldn't surprise me to see Jaden with minutes in the next game. We will be very deep at all position when everyone is healthy, then you will see them play like they did in games 1-6, and not the last 5.
1st team JY, MM, Caleb, RHJ, Cliff
2nd Paul, Geo, Jaden, Reiber, Myles
3rd Palmquist, Mag, Doucoure
Reiber will never develop imo.
No natural skills, he’s a stiff
No natural skills, he’s a stiff
Jaden Jones will not be playing in the next game. He likely won’t see minutes for at least a few weeks, if any this year
I disagree with the notion that Myles has regressed from last year. The trajectory of his play this season is similar to last year. He starts out as a physically dominant player and then he has a setback and is a shadow of himself. I think he just has a fragile psyche. The turning point last year was I believe the first Illinois game and this year it was the first OSU game. Both games he played very limited minutes due to foul trouble. In short, as to compared to last year, he is the same player.
The loss of Yeboah shouldn’t impact the team this much. We have more than enough talent. If the problem is leadership, than that’s sad
I still believe that the injuries to Geo, Ron and Jacob have all set us back. I don't think that any of them are 100 % yet. Losing Cliff has changed the front court drastically as well. We need Cliff back and hopefully get the other 3 guys near to 100 % again. Geo doesn't seem to have the same step back or ups that he usually has. Ron seems a bit off as well. None of the 3 guys are taking it to the hole as they did earlier. Jacob is still lightning fast and is tough as there is but I think he is slightly less than 100 %. I think Jaden will join the rotation but not yet. It will not hurt at all if he plays games this season as he will still have 4 more years after this season to play with the NCAA rules for this season. I will never give up on these guys. Hopefully they can bounce back vs Wisconsin.
I don't agree that the team has more than enough talent.If that was the case,there would be no losing streak .The Pikiell teams are based on player development more so than talent ranking.It needs players like Harper,Baker and Mathis to have consistent double digit scoring.Right now Rutgers is having a hard time scoring 60 points as compared to 80 points in the early part of the season.
I have been saying we miss Akwasi for quite some time. We lack that second consistent rebounder that was Akwasi. And with Cliff hurt it definitely has impacted Myles' aggressiveness on defense and on the boards. With no reliable backup at center Myles needs to avoid fouling and that's hindered his play greatly. And I agree with your comments that Geo, Ron and possibly Jacob are not 100%. People forget that when Geo returned from injury last year his play was affected for a number of games before he really began to contribute. And a high ankle sprain is painful and takes a very long time to recover from. In football it can keep you sidelined for several months. Any ankle sprain takes a while to heal and regain one's confidence . Finally people are writing off this freshmen class way too soon. We've had a very limited OOC schedule so the freshmen have not been able to dip their toes , get some confidence and experience playing at the Div 1 level. It's a big jump from high school ball.
Trust me, there’s more than enough talent. Mathis, Mulcahy, Harper, and Cliff are all four stars. Jacob Young might be the most unique and dynamic player in the league. Myles can dominate on the defensive side of the ball. Geo has put in the work. Look at Iowa and Wisconsin. They don’t have much more talent than us if we’re going by rankings/stars. The difference between Iowa and us is basically Garza (Yes, I know that’s a big deal). We beat some damn good teams last year and some good teams this year; Illinois, Cuse, and won a conference game without Harper. There’s talent on this team. More than enough. I would take the guys on our team over at least 9 other teams in the conference
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