last possession in regulation...

[winfield102]

We really should have pushed the ball up quicker and got a shot off with a couple of seconds left. Make it and we're good, miss it and we have a chance at a put back(with everyone crashing).

Unfortunately a perfect game is required for RU to win due to the lack of shooters.

I love the hard work by the team. It's enjoyable to watch.

 

[RUfromSoCal?]

If I thought there was ANY chance the refs would call a foul, I’d agree with you.

But they wanted no part of an ru Win.

 

[RC1978]

If I thought there was ANY chance the refs would call a foul, I’d agree with you.

But they wanted no part of an ru Win.

This!!!

I seeing everyone tweeting and on FB that he should have driven in. There is no way those officials call a foul there. Izzo would have had their heads.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

We really should have pushed the ball up quicker and got a shot off with a couple of seconds left. Make it and we're good, miss it and we have a chance at a put back(with everyone crashing).

Unfortunately a perfect game is required for RU to win due to the lack of shooters.

I love the hard work by the team. It's enjoyable to watch.

What if they rebound the miss and get fouled? I always thought the idea is to take the last shot when the game is tied. Make sure nothing can go wrong. Different story if you're down , with the ball, of course.

 

[mikemarc1]

Last two offensive possessions for RU were brutal.

I’d rather have Gio or Williams take that shot if that is what we were going for.

If the plan was to keep it in Corey’s hands..Fine, but why not drive? That’s his strength. Shooting is his weakness. Just didn’t make sense, two possessions in a row.

 

[bac2therac]

Corey has to take that shot, perhaps he could have taken that shot a bit sooner. He was well covered by the MSU defender and the shot was just short...almost. That is his patented shot. Thats the kind of shot you want. I think earlier in regulation and later in overtime is where the limited offense really hurt..that possession where Corey was out, I think Williams took a wild 3?? not sure but you could tell we just struggled without him

 

[winfield102]

The defender did a great job of stopping 2 drive attempts by Sanders on the last possession. A couple more seconds and maybe he gets to take a 3rd stab at driving towards the rim.

MSU was heavily favored. It was not in our interest to play for OT. If we fouled them after a miss, so be it. Regulation was our chance to pull out a win.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

I’ll let Corey take that exact shot on the road against a top five team every time

He makes that five times out of ten

 

[bac2therac]

was that Langford...he really seemed to win the game for them

Tum Tum also played outstanding D for them off the bench

 

[rufeelinit]

I thought it was about as good a shot we can expect to get in that situation. While I questioned the lack of a TO in the game thread, I doubt we get a much better shot even if we try to run a set play. No way they were going to call a foul against MSU in that situation.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Had absolutely no problem with that last possession.

If we called timeout that would also give MSU a chance to organize their defense and deny Corey the ball. Other end game situations we've dribbled the ball away, had trouble getting the ball inbounds or ended up with the ball in the hands of someone that you don't want shooting.

Forget driving to the hoop. There will be contact but the refs would absolutely not blow the whistle.

Shoot earlier? Don't time it right and MSU potentially gets the last shot. Don't think our chances of getting an offensive rebound and putback against MSU was too high in that spot.

Corey got a decent look. Watching live I thought it was going down. At that point, you give it to the guy most capable of creating his shot and let him do make whatever move he is comfortable with.

But then again, it didn't go in, so maybe we should've done something else!

 

[Degaz-RU]

We literally missed beating MSU by one inch.

One inch.

 

[RUonBrain]

We literally missed beating MSU by one inch.

One inch.

Or 1 FT

If Geo hits both technical FTs vice just 1...

Or if Geo doesn’t have the pass from Corey go off his knee. Ugh.

I know he is a frosh, but...

 

[greenknight]

Think we should have attacked the hoop looking to create contact to get to the line. But Corey did get a pretty good look for the win

 

[blockm2]

I’ll let Corey take that exact shot on the road against a top five team every time

He makes that five times out of ten

Sanders is shooting 34% for the season on 2 point jumpers and 27% on 3s. That's all attempts including wide open shots. The odds with clock winding down and heavily guarded that he makes it are probably in the 10-20% range which is fairly typical for end of clock hero ball type jumpers. They just don't go in very often. I mean it's a good thing in that it lets the clock wind down and avoids chance of a TO, but they usually miss.

LeBron got criticized for years for not settling for those shots at the end of the game and often instead passing to a wide open teammate. Turns out, statistically he was correct to not force those shots.

 

[G- RUnit]

Those were very good looks. No problem at all with the shots. If somebody else can hit or create their own shot... but we just don't.

 

[goru7]

Sanders is shooting 34% for the season on 2 point jumpers and 27% on 3s. That's all attempts including wide open shots. The odds with clock winding down and heavily guarded that he makes it are probably in the 10-20% range which is fairly typical for end of clock hero ball type jumpers. They just don't go in very often. I mean it's a good thing in that it lets the clock winds down and avoids chance of a TO, but they usually miss.

LeBron got criticized for years for not settling for those shots at the end of the game and often instead passing to a wide open teammate. Turns out, statistically he was correct to not force those shots.

Just a few games ago, let’s see if you can think this far back, Seton Hall, your %’s meant nothing , and if your memory cannot go back to December 16, how about our last game on January 5th against Wisconsin, your %’s meant nothing. Pike gave the ball to his best player who he has recently seen was capable of doing it again. Corey is probably the only player that wants to take that shot to win. The options were limited, as Mike and Issa were not pulling the trigger or trying to drive for most of the night. It was the right move even though it did not go in this time.

 

[blockm2]

Just a few games ago, let’s see if you can think this far back, Seton Hall, your %’s meant nothing , and if your memory cannot go back to December 16, how about our last game on January 5th against Wisconsin, your %’s meant nothing. Pike gave the ball to his best player who he has recently seen was capable of doing it again. Corey is probably the only player that wants to take that shot to win. The options were limited, as Mike and Issa were not pulling the trigger or trying to drive for most of the night. It was the right move even though it did not go in this time.

No, the percentages mean something. It means sometimes it goes in. Just not nearly at the 50% rate that the poster I responded to suggests. Having examples of shots going in doesn't mean that they are likely to go in. We've all seen plenty of half court shots get made, but that doesn't mean they are a 50/50 proposition.


Like I said, I'm not saying it's the worst option for a Rutgers team that can't really score points in an easy fashion. It clearly limits chances of a TO. I'm just saying it's a play that is fairly unlikely to score and we shouldn't pretend it's a great high percentage chance.

Hero ball at the end of the game used to be a staple of the NBA, but now teams are moving away from it as advanced stats have repeatedly shown it's a low percentage play. It isn't the worst play possible, but it's unlikely to be the best either.

 

[RutgHoops]

Sanders is shooting 34% for the season on 2 point jumpers and 27% on 3s. That's all attempts including wide open shots. .

The Seton Hall game says hi. So does Nebraska last season as a matter of fact. And Wisconsin last week.

Sanders has shown our best option in that exact situation is a Corey Isolation. Didn’t go down this time. Would run the exact same set next time

 

[mikefla]

Corey certainly rose to the occiasion last night. Except for Sa's amazing 3 pointer he got almost NO help.

I am starting to want GEO to NOT be on the floor come crunch time. I would rather see Mike Williams in his place

 

[ScarletLongIsland]

Corey certainly rose to the occiasion last night. Except for Sa's amazing 3 pointer he got almost NO help.

I am starting to want GEO to NOT be on the floor come crunch time. I would rather see Mike Williams in his place

Yep, that fumbled catch was a killer

 

[winfield102]

He caught the ball too deep in the back court and didn't get up the court quick enough.
Corey is definitely the guy who is going to have the ball for the last shot. That shot was very well defended. If he had a couple more seconds and maybe he would have been able to get a better look (not necessarily a drive all the way to the basket).

 

[ScarletLongIsland]

Yes, we could have won this game on the last possession of regulation.

However, if we just had more depth in talent department on the offensive end (besides Corey), we would have won this game by 7 at least.

I am drooling thinking about what Pikiell will be able to do with more offensive talent. I am hoping that Kiss, Mathis, Harper, Carter and the player(s) to be named later are exactly the medicine that this team needs.

Aundre Hyatt, come on down baby!

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

keep in mind Corey's last two shot attempts came after the cramp. perhaps(?) if affected his ability to elevate a bit or drive hard there...or perhaps not.

 

[jellyman]

MSU did a great job on Sanders on RU's last 2 possessions of regulation. While he CAN make both those shots he missed, they were both 1-2 steps (2-3 feet) further outside than his preferred pull-up jump shots have been most successful this year. That is to MSU's defensive credit, keeping Sanders from getting enough penetration to take the step-back or pull-up jump shot from 16-17 feet instead of from 18-19 feet. And both shots were just a little bit short ... meaning a step or 2 closer and they had a better chance of being made shots instead of missed shots. Neither shots were bad shots ... in fact both were necessary shots, and reasonable, unforced shot attempts. But their degree of difficult was higher than they could have been because of the terrific on-ball defense of the defender covering Sanders.

OT was going to be tough for RU to prevail, at that stage, due to the foul trouble RU had (no Freeman or Omoruyi, then no Doorson and Baker later). That said, RU WAS tied with MSU at 67, with less than 2 minutes to go in OT, I think. And then again, to MSU's credit, they made their last 6 FT's to keep themselves JUST ahead of RU.

 

[blockm2]

The Seton Hall game says hi. So does Nebraska last season as a matter of fact. And Wisconsin last week.

Sanders has shown our best option in that exact situation is a Corey Isolation. Didn’t go down this time. Would run the exact same set next time

Nobody said it might not have been the best option, I'm just pointing out it wasn't a 50% chance of going in. Kobe Bryant in his prime didn't make that kind of shot 50% of the time.