I don't think he was implying that.......I looked at bart and noticed similar stuff and it just reinforces how hard this is going to be and how much we will need to improve. The last 4 or 5 games the schedule gets a little easier.
KenPom Only Has Us Favored in 3 of Our Remaining 18 Big Ten Games
- Thread starter KK1827
- Start date
I am sick of hearing about the Alabama and Texas A&M close loss BS.
I learned more about this team finding a way to win vs SHU
I agree what you are saying but the rest of the roster aren't scoring enough points when they are on the bench.
yep...conference tourney performance does not matter all that much. Even bubble teams reaching the finals get left out so I have given up putting any stock in conference tourney performance
Unfortunately I cannot see a scenario where we are clearly in the field without some sweat. At Big 10 13-7 yeah but good luck with that, even at 12-8 while I think it puts us in, its still 10-11 seed territory where you are at the mercy of conference tourney upsets
sorry but that performance was dreadful, you are trying to be contrarian. I did see some better defensive moments in the 2nd half but I cannot get around the constant not being ready to play in the first half and being overwhelmed by a total shit offensive team where they posterize rutgers at the rac...vehemently disagreeing with you on that. If you want to praise them for finding a way to close out Penn State fine...but closing this historically bad Seton Hall team is Fred Hill level era brightsiding.
yup, its Dylan trying to literally do everything and force the issue sometimes when faced with a tough defense. Hopefully Pike can guide him through those situations. But it requires the bench stepping up in big moments
I actually disagree with this quite a bit. If we make a run I expect the most improved players to be Bailey, Sommerville, Williams, and Acuff.
I think you hit on the 4...as good as Ace has been...he needs to take a leap further. J Will whether hampered by injury or what just has to provide more. Sommerville is an X factor because he has offensive moves that can be problematic for opponents, just an extra board here or there or couple of defensive stops a game could help alot. Acuff too because he had the skills in the past but now providing not much
1. Maybe we miss FTs in the end because of the minutes (who knows)
2. Increase chances of injuries which would be devastating (who knows)
3. The wall (who knows)
I get the sentiment....this is why I wish we had a cushion and could afford a loss.
It was dreadful...as in 2nd worst game of the year behind kennessaw state....I know that. My point was more that close losses are losses and bad wins are wins.
Now the debate...a pure theroetical debate.
How random is the outcome of a game that is close....is it really a coin toss...or are some teams going to just be better. I am more in line with the coin toss meaning the outcome of the last few possessions is not different then the outcome of the first 68.
I think/hope/maybe don't hope that our post season is going to be contingent on how we do in the 8-14 games we will play where the outcome is determined by the last 3-4 possessions.
Pike can help him by keeping JMike off the floor and provide a threat of a shooter. Dylan and Ace being doubled and triple team is having an impact on the turnovers.
Hayes and Martini are the only guys that potentially alleviate that.
I think currently Martini is in a slump/having confidence issues right now that hopefully are short term.
That leaves us with Hayes and to a lesser extent Acuff.
I don't think the boost in offense is enough.....and neither does Pike
We shall see how it plays out but playing/starting a non D1 athlete will cost Pike his job.
this team is taking a painstaking long time to learn how to build leads or finish off games. Threading the needle with this bunch is going to lead to March sadness. The free throw shooting in the last 2 is abominable. I mean realy Ace????? Everyone says yeah if they make the free throws the last 2 games were not close but if my aunt had balls....its another potential red flag. This team gets better in one area and then others pop up..ie turnovers/free throws. There is no reason that after getting a 4 point lead at 51-47 and all the momentum in the building that RU was not able to pull away from SHU and instead we saw similar mistakes in other games that seem to plague them around the same spot wit 8 minutes to go.
any other year we would be raving about the potential for the future and next year but there is no next year, we need the turn the corner moment to happen soon
We may be a healthy team that finished 13-18. Pike isn't losing his job.
One bright spot I see is that I am less impressed with the Big 10 than I was 2 weeks ago. I think its another year of a bunch of good teams but nothing special and we have 2 of the specialist players in the league and Dylan is the best offensive player in the league...bloop
His buyout is too much. He aint going nowhere any time soon.
My brutally honest assessment about this team is we are probably at a low point, for me, in terms of how I view things. I see progress on the defensive end in spots, but there are areas and players I see regression. I couldn't imagine Harper being as good as he has been. My preseason prediction has been so wrong. My concerns were the efficiency of Harper and Ace as #1----CHECK. #2 Ace and Dylan buying in to playing defense, being good teammates and overall hustle----Dylan Check + and Ace developing grade. I incorrectly assumed there were enough of supporting pieces that enough would work out. I also didn't expect the D to be this bad.
I just see the supporting cast so flawed where they either can't shoot or can't play D. It is obvious Pike doesn't have a handle yet either of what to do, who to play, and what philosophies to embrace.
Right now I am clinging to threading the needle. Win close games, protect home court, get lucky and get teams when they are down.
I would feel better if we got something from our supporting cast to give m hope. Whether it is Martini figuring it out, Acuff getting healthy and being decent, Dylan Grant miraculously being the guy i am hoping for. I see a guy like Hayes that I know can shoot, but I have a tough time having a reliable role because of D. Good coaches in b1G will pick on him. Dercack is what he is but i don't see him all of a sudden shooting the 3 at a rate good enough. JWill has a long sample of just being a horrific outside shooter. Would be a real low probability event if he turned in to an acceptable shooter.
Michigan just TWO years ago, had 2 kids drafted in the Top 15, with an additional 6 Top 150 kids on their roster and finished 18-16 & 11-9 in the B1G.
One of the players was Hunter Dickinson, who was 2nd team all B1G (I think Zach Edey was 1st team)...
Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard went in the NBA draft at 11 and 15th.
The level of knowledge or awareness of college basketball is alarmingly bad on this message boards.
I want to say there have been numerous Michigan State players who went in the Top 5 or 10 in the NBA draft (Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr) who played on much deeper and better rosters than RU could ever assemble before a revenue sharing /NIL business model.
Indiana has had some hiccups (Romeo Langford missed time with an injury but made the lottery anyway) Illinois (Ayo Dousumu even as a 2nd rounder has outplayed other lottery picks
Ohio State (Malachi Branham (1st round Spurs) and others supporting cast players (EJ Liddell, etc) were 2nd round type of players.
Even Nebraska had a 1st rounder drafted in recent years (Bryce McGowens)....
Hoops is WAY more competitive than football folks....in football, you get a QB and some WRs and a decent gameplan and even SMU, Indiana and others immediately win games, BUT no one says they played a bunch of Q3 or Q4 opponents......LMAO.....This notion that football is difficult, is just false.....even UNLV and Cuse with a 1st time HC in Fran Brown (who fans would faint if he was RUs head coach) won games with a weak schedule that never gets scrutinized. Who exactly did Cuse play?? UNLV and Miami??? LOL
To compare the 2 sports is almost absurd at this point, no one could tell me Wisconsin at 5-7, that blew out RU, wouldnt give Cuse a game on any neutral field....
Wisconsin played Bama, Oregon, USC, Iowa, Minnesota and Penn State, but someone tell me how UNLV playing at Boise State last week, almost got them an opportunity to make the Top 16 or 12 bids for CFB playoff??
What happened if the Boise State running back Jeanty, who finished 2nd in the Heisman, played at RU and Monangai instead played at Boise State and ran against Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State and Wyoming?? Monangai would have taken 80% less hits and ran for 3000 yards in the Mountain West......
One of the players was Hunter Dickinson, who was 2nd team all B1G (I think Zach Edey was 1st team)...
Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard went in the NBA draft at 11 and 15th.
The level of knowledge or awareness of college basketball is alarmingly bad on this message boards.
I want to say there have been numerous Michigan State players who went in the Top 5 or 10 in the NBA draft (Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr) who played on much deeper and better rosters than RU could ever assemble before a revenue sharing /NIL business model.
Indiana has had some hiccups (Romeo Langford missed time with an injury but made the lottery anyway) Illinois (Ayo Dousumu even as a 2nd rounder has outplayed other lottery picks
Ohio State (Malachi Branham (1st round Spurs) and others supporting cast players (EJ Liddell, etc) were 2nd round type of players.
Even Nebraska had a 1st rounder drafted in recent years (Bryce McGowens)....
Hoops is WAY more competitive than football folks....in football, you get a QB and some WRs and a decent gameplan and even SMU, Indiana and others immediately win games, BUT no one says they played a bunch of Q3 or Q4 opponents......LMAO.....This notion that football is difficult, is just false.....even UNLV and Cuse with a 1st time HC in Fran Brown (who fans would faint if he was RUs head coach) won games with a weak schedule that never gets scrutinized. Who exactly did Cuse play?? UNLV and Miami??? LOL
To compare the 2 sports is almost absurd at this point, no one could tell me Wisconsin at 5-7, that blew out RU, wouldnt give Cuse a game on any neutral field....
Wisconsin played Bama, Oregon, USC, Iowa, Minnesota and Penn State, but someone tell me how UNLV playing at Boise State last week, almost got them an opportunity to make the Top 16 or 12 bids for CFB playoff??
What happened if the Boise State running back Jeanty, who finished 2nd in the Heisman, played at RU and Monangai instead played at Boise State and ran against Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State and Wyoming?? Monangai would have taken 80% less hits and ran for 3000 yards in the Mountain West......
whether it was 2 minutes or 5 minute or 7 minutes its enough to know there is nobody on the team that can run the offense as an independent shot creator or shot maker
dercack drives into traffic and draws a lot of fouls
sommerville is skilled but is an absolute black hole with the basketball and nobody seems to criticize that
hayes is best served moving off the ball looking for an open 3
acuff and williams are the best bets but not shown enough yet
how did that work out at Michigan, Ohio State and soon to be Indiana
all 3 coaches doing crap jobs especially Howard and Woodson isnt winning the way Indiana aspires to
but yeah bringing up bad jobs at other programs to try and excuse why RU might not make the NCAA tourney this year isnt exactly a ringing endorsement of Pike, its an indictment of his recruiting.
Recruiting = NIL....?? Are you saying RU is a NIL juggernaut?? LMAO
If you are complaining that RU isn't a blue bloods program, knock yourself out.
The coach is a victim of his own success to even be in the place to begin with.
90% of the players who play for Pike and transfer out, somehow seem to do worse after they depart, but it's an indictment on his coaching.....LMAO
The self hating RU fanbase is something to witness and see.....80% of other CBB programs must be inept I guess.
Why would Dylan and Ace be on the bench at the same time? There would have to be a very specific plan (LS post touches, plays for a 3 by Acuff or PJ, pick and roll with JWill, etc).
Pike is focusing on his strength. With this group of players, it isn't going to work out.
With Harper's efficiency, why are we slowing down on offense? He should have the opportunity to go for 30+ a night. His game is so good. His ability to finish drives is insane.
I think the staff realized that moving Harper around will make it easier for him to get good looks (as opposed to him bringing up the ball and immediately going ISO with no passes and the defense being in their best position to stop him). What is crazy is that he's still able defeat defenses when they are at their strongest.
I don't want to hear anything about hitting a wall for a one and done player. Is school work even a thing in the second semester? He has to play 35 minutes a night twice a week. From a recovery and nutrition standpoint, they need to be doing everything at the highest level.
Pike is focusing on his strength. With this group of players, it isn't going to work out.
With Harper's efficiency, why are we slowing down on offense? He should have the opportunity to go for 30+ a night. His game is so good. His ability to finish drives is insane.
I think the staff realized that moving Harper around will make it easier for him to get good looks (as opposed to him bringing up the ball and immediately going ISO with no passes and the defense being in their best position to stop him). What is crazy is that he's still able defeat defenses when they are at their strongest.
I don't want to hear anything about hitting a wall for a one and done player. Is school work even a thing in the second semester? He has to play 35 minutes a night twice a week. From a recovery and nutrition standpoint, they need to be doing everything at the highest level.
rutgers isnt paying dylan/ace a thing so they couldnt come up with something servicable to compliment them this year...alot of total misses in the portal
if RU has no money at all if you hint at in your post, then why bother being on this level because its never going to happen. Of course Kennesaw must have a bag if thats all its about
Definitely not a juggernaut but somehow found a way to land 2 of the top 3 kids in the country.
Mich, Indiana etc view themselves differently so they fire there coaches like Howard after he falls short. RU makes excuses on why it’s not the coaches fault in a 5 year decline.
I agree he’s a victim of his own success but his success was built on a certain type of player and recruit. Developing them into a team playing his brand of Bball! Well! NIL has taken that from him. Can he adjust? Failed miserably so far but will shall see
Those players you talk about not having success in other schools is much more an indictment on Pike. Those players aren’t even talented enough to get on the court for other programs let alone start or thrive.
I don't think this has been established. Yes, they are getting outside money but that isn't mutually exclusive from getting Rutgers-affiliated money.
Screw you. Don’t read the post and damn don’t comment on the post. You act like a child. The reason those games are important is they were played on a neutral court and against top 10 and 15 teams and we were ultra competitive. Which bodes well going into the tough BIG 10 gauntlet . If you do not want to hear that , then go bury your head in the sand.
By the way , I learned nothing about us in the Seton hall game other than we played like shit and still won.
Screw you.
Against SHU down the stretch we actually got stops (along with breakdowns inside). We lost to Alabama and Texas A & M because when push came to shove they scored on almost every possession. I will not pretend to say SHU is on the same planet as those 2 offensively.
So they can play together 80% of the game vs 60% (assuming 8 minutes of rest).
The same reason why hockey teams put their 4th line out. The goal is to give the rest of the team rest and they often times come in the game when the opponent puts out their 4th line. You are just hoping for no mistakes
That was the first message sent by Pike. Neither were playing D and pressing on offense. Pike set them down to send a message to the team and allow them to take a deep breath and reset . I’m tough on Pike but applaud the decision.
Yeah we got stops then we didn’t and they tied the game. Same defensive paint breakdowns , same allowing penetration because our guards cannot stay in front of their man. Nothing was learned or improved. You cannot get 2 stops out of 20 and say you saw something. Wake up. The whole defense has to play better but realistically no matter how much better and they have a long way to go , we will never have a good defense this year. We have no rim protector and we allow guards to drive uncontested to the basket and pick and roll defense is still bad.
But what can get better is the offense that has shown signs like first half Penn State. We will have to outscore teams.
SHU goes up 41-31 with 16:33
Final 28 defensive possessions.
XXX22XX
XXX2XX3
XX2XX23
XXX2X22
3 separate turkeys...I'll bet we had no turkeys in Las vegas
My fear is that Pike's plan during this time would be "let's shoot the ball with less than 10 seconds left on the clock". That would be his only instruction or plan for offense. Pike only knows "defense turns into offense". That's who he is. I'll be watching closely to see what we do.
We need Dylan and Ace to be Travis Hunter. 2 way players are rare but those 2 are special. 34-35 minutes a game for each of them.
Meanwhile we have Cliff shooting over 70% at Alabama because the coach clearly defined his role for him. You don't see him calling for the ball in the post. No 3's, no post ups. If the ball comes to his side, he immediately vacates. On our end, we have Lathan posting up and calling for the ball when Ace has it on the wing. That is absolute insanity. I see more awareness at my local YMCA on a Sunday morning
Sometimes I wonder if Pike even watches what we're doing on offense or if he's just dreaming about the next defensive possession.
Yup, and no sane person. as I stated before ( although one guy can't understand ) bet his house on future games based on kenpom .
speaking of which.....I think SHU picked up a player from your Y and gave him 4 minutes in the 1st half. Think he got a REB and a ASST.
