Mathis @ Penn State

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

Averaging 16ppg over the past 5 games teams are really going to start to hone in on him and try and take him out of the game. I think this will be the first game in his career where the teams defensive effort will be focused on him. Will be interesting to see how he adapts to this and if he can still score, or drive and find others on the outside to open things up.

Looking forward to Saturday.

 

[MV9000]

I think he will be fine and easily get 10-12 points while Geo gets better looks. If the main focus is off Geo we will be able to flourish. Montez last 6 games were impressive:

Maryland: 11/8/3
Ohio State: 16/4/1
Minny: 8/4/2
Purdue: 19/3/0
Northwester: 16/4/1
Nebby : 20/9/1
Average:
15.0 / 5.3 / 1.3

I think teams have to of honed in on him a bit but still remain weary of leaving Geo with less attention. I think this will be good for us and good test for him going froward

 

[RU-ROCS]

Averaging 16ppg over the past 5 games teams are really going to start to hone in on him and try and take him out of the game. I think this will be the first game in his career where the teams defensive effort will be focused on him. Will be interesting to see how he adapts to this and if he can still score, or drive and find others on the outside to open things up.

Looking forward to Saturday.

Agreed, but that should also really help Geo!

 

[kcg88]

One play from Mathis against Nebraska that really impressed me is late in the game when a double came at him and he made a nice pass to Johnson for an easy dunk or layup.

Now, that was his only assist of the game, but it gives me a bit of confidence that he'll be able to handle being keyed on and not force things to an extreme degree. There were a few hopeless drives against Nebraska and I'm sure there will be against Penn State too but hopefully we see some good passing as well.

 

[zebnatto]

I think the question about MM getting, let’s say, 14 pts. Is “at what cost.” Will he be efficient?

 

[RUonBrain]

Averaging 16ppg over the past 5 games teams are really going to start to hone in on him and try and take him out of the game. I think this will be the first game in his career where the teams defensive effort will be focused on him. Will be interesting to see how he adapts to this and if he can still score, or drive and find others on the outside to open things up.

Looking forward to Saturday.

I am just as interested in who Tez locks up on D.

Let the other team focus on stopping him.
I think RU makes out when Tez focuses on stopping the best scorer of our opponent.

Who is he likely to cover Saturday?

 

[S_Janowski]

The emergence of Mathis is gonna do a lot to get better looks for guys like Geo and Kiss.

You saw this against Nebraska, hopefully we see it continue.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The key will be a lineup that includes Harper and Mathis to get out and run. Defensive schemes work in the half court, but have no relevance in transition.

PSU is 93rd ranked in OREB so that helps with running and not getting worried about getting transhed on the glass.

PSU is 138th in blocked shots% so they clearly lack a "SHOT BLOCKEr" Watkins has missed 5 games but I don't think that skews the numbers all that much. Watkins is still out of shape so i wouldn't mind an uptempo game.

Running is a lot easier at home then on the road, but I think Harper and Mathis will push every rebound they get and statistcly they combine to rebound 26% of all opponent misses.

 

[zebnatto]

I think that going forward, and especially next year, we're gonna be a team that runs the floor a lot more with MM a big part of that. I think the inclination and skill set is well ahead of the decision making.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Mathis took one bad shot 3 point vs Nebraska, everything else was in sequence in the offense. Myles Dredd is a good frosh guard for PSU, i think he'll draw the initial assignment and Mathis will need to keep Dredd from hitting 3s.

I spoke to a ref this summer and he doesn't follow RU too closely but mentioned that he heard RU had a couple of good freshmen coming in. So while it may not matter today, a player like Mathis that is highly regarded and starts to play well while attacking the basket and not settling for jumpers, is going to get the right amount of fouls called.

There have been some phantom no-calls that Geo didn't get and part of it was he hasn't been committed to attacking the basket like he did vs Nebraska and how Mathis drives with a purpose. It will take a couple more wins and players like Montez to start to get the referees attention so we get the proper calls due. As long as Mathis continues to improve, he's going to get FTs, which are just as important as making 3s.

Making 3s, is the clean and least effective way to impact a defense. Drawing fouls, getting to the FT, getting your opponents in foul trouble, into the 1 and 1s and eventually into 2 shots, matters much more.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

My $ is Josh Reaves is Mathis's assignment or Jamari Wheeler

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

This is a game where Issa may have some value on the defensive end. Lamar Stevens has been ice cold from 3.......until last game vs. minnesota where he went 3-3.

Think about a PSU lineup with Stevens as a 4 and Watkins as a 5. Do we want Shaq Carter defending Stevens? Do we want Eugene on 1 knee defending Stevens?

If Harper or Kiss aren't capable Issa is the logical choice.

 

[toby83]

My $ is Josh Reaves is Mathis's assignment or Jamari Wheeler

I actually was thinking same thing even though he is 6'4 or 6'5, if Mathis is getting in the lane a lot in first half will see Reaves on him in 2nd ,who is by far their best defender

 

[RUBigFrank]

Mathis has been drawing double teams already

 

[wheezer]

Mathis has been drawing double teams already

----
pretty much common sense that if we have two threats at guard, which hopefully we do, both will
get some open chances, or opening to the hole

 

[RUChoppin]

The more attention on Mathis, the less attention on Baker and less doubling Johnson/Carter/Omoruyi in the post. We finally have enough weapons to keep a defense more honest, rather than just selling out against 1-2 players.

 

[RUBigFrank]

offense is gelling nicely. Now if Kiss could find his three shot we could almost beat anyone.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I actually was thinking same thing even though he is 6'4 or 6'5, if Mathis is getting in the lane a lot in first half will see Reaves on him in 2nd ,who is by far their best defender

I think we were talking about who Mathis guards. I think Mathis has a lot of value guarding the "point guard" as his tight on ball defending can be disruptive in initiating half court offense.

Nebraska basically forced Caleb out of the game with tight man to man (I think Watson, Jr.)

 

[bowlgoal]

I thought that guys like Kiss and Thiam would be able to capitalize once Mathis got going. It could still happen but their shots have to go down . Thiam has really taken 3 steps backwards.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I thought that guys like Kiss and Thiam would be able to capitalize once Mathis got going. It could still happen but their shots have to go down . Thiam has really taken 3 steps backwards.

It is one thing to ask Mathis to take it to the basket hard. Asking him to take it to the basket hard and dish if help comes aggressively is another. Sanders never was able to take advantage of skill in getting in to the paint.

Issa and Kiss will be able to capitalize if Mathis gets the second sense of knowing when help comes and quickly making the right pass. I don't think freshman Mathis is going to be able to do this.

 

[toby83]

It is one thing to ask Mathis to take it to the basket hard. Asking him to take it to the basket hard and dish if help comes aggressively is another. Sanders never was able to take advantage of skill in getting in to the paint.

Issa and Kiss will be able to capitalize if Mathis gets the second sense of knowing when help comes and quickly making the right pass. I don't think freshman Mathis is going to be able to do this.

This skill is what separates the very good and the elite. Cannot be taught or coached.

 

[Scangg]

The key will be a lineup that includes Harper and Mathis to get out and run. Defensive schemes work in the half court, but have no relevance in transition.

PSU is 93rd ranked in OREB so that helps with running and not getting worried about getting transhed on the glass.

PSU is 138th in blocked shots% so they clearly lack a "SHOT BLOCKEr" Watkins has missed 5 games but I don't think that skews the numbers all that much. Watkins is still out of shape so i wouldn't mind an uptempo game.

Running is a lot easier at home then on the road, but I think Harper and Mathis will push every rebound they get and statistcly they combine to rebound 26% of all opponent misses.

Agreed they run the floor well and both can also attack on the secondary break. They don't need a break away to succeed. Mathis especially can take it to the defense before they are set when it's harder to get into the lane. With Mulcahey and Young next year we should be really dangerous in transition

 

[RUChow]

The emergence of Mathis is gonna do a lot to get better looks for guys like Geo and Kiss.

You saw this against Nebraska, hopefully we see it continue.

Since he scores most of his points driving to the basket at some point defenses are going to play off of him until he proves he can hit the three. If he can it will help others, if he can't they'll play off of him and it won't. That's my guess.

 

[higgins3]

Best player in a Rutgers uniform.

I think Rutgers will secure a win versus Penn State.

If they don't, they are really missing out on a great opportunity.

 

[goru7]

I think that going forward, and especially next year, we're gonna be a team that runs the floor a lot more with MM a big part of that. I think the inclination and skill set is well ahead of the decision making.

Although pushing the ball will play better to Mathis and Harper’s skill set and Mulcahy’s next year, we cannot allow what happened in the last10 minutes of that tight Minnesota game and most of the Purdue game, I. E. Fail to play transition defense and find our men while running back. We got caught with three guys running to the ball handling leaving guys open for wide open threes and layups. That has to be corrected before you can just get out and run. I truly believe in the Minnesota game if we continued to pound it down low, where we were having great success, that we would have won that game, if we did not let Coffey go nuts for 5-6 minutes. Instead, we pushed to fast and the deficit went from 5 to 15 and game was over. Very disappointing . We then followed that up with even worse transition defense against Purdue. This aspect of of our game has to be corrected because it is clear that Harper and Mathis can grab a rebound and go coast to coast.

 

[Big East Beast]

Although pushing the ball will play better to Mathis and Harper’s skill set and Mulcahy’s next year, we cannot allow what happened in the last10 minutes of that tight Minnesota game and most of the Purdue game, I. E. Fail to play transition defense and find our men while running back. We got caught with three guys running to the ball handling leaving guys open for wide open threes and layups. That has to be corrected before you can just get out and run. I truly believe in the Minnesota game if we continued to pound it down low, where we were having great success, that we would have won that game, if we did not let Coffey go nuts for 5-6 minutes. Instead, we pushed to fast and the deficit went from 5 to 15 and game was over. Very disappointing . We then followed that up with even worse transition defense against Purdue. This aspect of of our game has to be corrected because it is clear that Harper and Mathis can grab a rebound and go coast to coast.

Transition ball is not about going coast to coast, but rather quick outlets to a guard or wing who push. The ball often touches the floor only once before becoming a basket on the other end. The game has changed where now everyone is so athletic and long and so much motion offense is run. The subtle art is the odd man break or secondary break. That is how you transition from runout into your offensive set. A lot of baskets can be scored early in the shot clock if you can do this while the D still getting back to adjust.

Everyone needs to be conditioned to think & play this way and know the offense and their role cold. If they don’t, everything needs to slow down so it can be “setup” and look for direction.

It’s a mindset and so much fun to play with a group of guys for several years knowing what you are doing, seeing success come over time and taking advantage of less disciplined or younger teams. There are flashes of passing and movement where it is really exciting to watch. The second half of the year looks like it will be fun.