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MN post game observations

RU-ROCS

RU-ROCS

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The lack of depth at guard will dog this team all year. On nights like tonight when either Corey or Geo don’t have it, Pike has few options. Souf showed once again that he can’t play in the Big10, as he got his pocket picked again — although bailed out by a bad call. Mike Williams continues to hustle, but he not been the same since his knee injury. I’ve got to believe he’s not 100%, which really hurts. One of Corey’s worst games, but it happens so I will not pile on. Geo showed flashes, played great D for stretches and got some good looks. Hopefully, his shot will start to fall with some consistency. Love his poise and his overall game. He’s got some real upside potential.

Decoure and Omaruyi were terrific tonight, although Eugene was quiet in the second half. Both have tremendous potential. Freeman continues to miss too many bunnies fo my liking. But, he was a beast on the boards tonight. Thiam is giving great effort on D, but he needs to work on getting cleaner looks with a quicker release, or driving to the hoop when they overplay him on the perimeter. I love the fact that he continues to crash the boards.

The score was a blowout, but MN is probably the second best team in the conference and there were things to like about how RU is playing under Pike. We are a hard nosed team that plays with a lot of energy on D. We just need to find some more offense. I think this team will be ok on nights when our startingbguards playbwell and stay out of foul trouble.
 
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RU-ROCS said:
The lack of depth at guard will dog this team all year. On nights like tonight when either Corey or Geo don’t have it, Pike has few options. Souf showed once again that he can’t play in the Big10, as he got his pocket picked again — although bailed out by a bad call. Mike Williams continues to hustle, but he not been the same since his knee injury. I’ve got to believe he’s not 100%, which really hurts. One of Corey’s worst games, but it happens so I will not pile on. Geo showed flashes, played great D for stretches and got some good looks. Hopefully, his shot will start to fall with some consistency. Love his poise and his overall game. He’s got some real upside potential.

Decoure and Omaruyi were terrific tonight, although Eugene was quiet in the second half. Both have tremendous potential. Freeman continues to miss too many bunnies fo my liking. But, he was a beast on the boards tonight. Thiam is giving great effort on D, but he needs to work on getting cleaner looks with a quicker release, or driving to the hoop when they overplay him on the perimeter. I love the fact that he continues to crash the boards.

The score was a blowout, but MN is probably the second best team in the conference and there were things to like about how RU is playing under Pike. We are a hard nosed team that plays with a lot of energy on D. We just need to find some more offense. I think this team will be ok on nights when our startingbguards playbwell and stay out of foul trouble.
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I agree with everything you said until you got to the final paragraph. Yes, the box score will show it was a blowout, but this was no blowout. We were only down 8 or 3 possessions with 5+ left in the game when the wheels came off. Our team played them really tough all night.
 
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soundcrib said:
How did Minnesota become good so quickly?
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They have had really good recruiting now for the last four years. what makes them so tough is that they have three definite options on scoring in double digits and now they have the depth from frosh and sophomores that have added to their scoring. This team is a legit top 12 team. They can beat you inside and out.
 
RU MAN said:
I agree with everything you said until you got to the final paragraph. Yes, the box score will show it was a blowout, but this was no blowout. We were only down 8 or 3 possessions with 5+ left in the game when the wheels came off. Our team played them really tough all night.
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I agree with your take. I was just observing that the final score was not pretty in the end.
 
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Good analysis regarding the guards. I think this is really going to hurt the team at the end of games due to fatigue. Aside from the bad tech, which enabled Minn. to pull away, it seemed that the guards lost focus and got worn down in the last few minutes. Coach will have to get creative, imo, and maybe play a single guard for some stretches. (I didn't notice whether he did that this game).
 
RU MAN said:
They have had really good recruiting now for the last four years. what makes them so tough is that they have three definite options on scoring in double digits and now they have the depth from frosh and sophomores that have added to their scoring. This team is a legit top 12 team. They can beat you inside and out.
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Very impressed by Minnesota. Their entire starting five is very good , especially Murphy, Lynch and Mason. Definite final 8 team.....
 
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I feel like maybe Geo and Corey get tired from playing tough defense. Their offense has been down of late. At this point, I don’t really care if Souf scores or not. I just wish he could play lockdown defense and not make any turnovers. Give our starting guards a solid breather. Even if you have mental lapses, at least you can always give extra effort.
 
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RedChucken123 said:
I feel like maybe Geo and Corey get tired from playing tough defense. Their offense has been down of late. At this point, I don’t really care if Souf scores or not. I just wish he could play lockdown defense and not make any turnovers. Give our starting guards a solid breather. Even if you have mental lapses, at least you can always give extra effort.
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I agree about Souf. But so far he’s been unable to even do that, which is a big problem.
 
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Good summation by the OP. Just wish Corey would play a little more in control. Forces to many bad shots early in the set. I'd also like to see Thiam be more aggressive and take his shot when he has it.
 
1. Doucoure really showed a lot tonight, with 13 and 9. Nice mid range jump shot, good fouls shooting, and has a nice edge to him.

2. At this point, I trust Omoruyi with the ball more than Freeman. Omoruyi just has better footwork in the paint and is a better finisher. Freeman is out of control half the time. He’s a good rebounder though, and I’d rather see him get his points cleaning the glass rather than getting the ball in the post.

3. Thiam does have a quicker release this year, now he just has to become more consistent in hitting his shots.

4. What happened to Sa? He’s way down in the rotation. Doorson is getting his minutes, and I guess Omoruyi too.

5. Our offense is actually running pretty smoothly, but we just can’t shoot. So many shots just barely rim out.
 
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Only Mike knows for sure but I don’t know if you can say his knee is affecting his play. He’s lost minutes to Baker as well as to Issa who has been much more assertive this year. Because Mike can’t knock down open shots is that his knee or is that just the kind of player he’s been for 3+ years? He’s streaky - good and bad. And teams like Minnesota with so much size all around are going to Be a challenge for him.
 
Having multiple scoring threats on the court at the same time has been a ongoing problem since Rutgers joined the Big East many years ago.The team continues to play hard but the defense will not be as good because the opposition has better talent.The problem is clear but correcting the problem requires better recruiting comparable to league rivals.Minnesota has made a fast rise in just two years which shows it can be done.
 
RUJMM78 said:
Having multiple scoring threats on the court at the same time has been a ongoing problem since Rutgers joined the Big East many years ago.The team continues to play hard but the defense will not be as good because the opposition has better talent.The problem is clear but correcting the problem requires better recruiting comparable to league rivals.Minnesota has made a fast rise in just two years which shows it can be done.
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You have to wonder whether Richard Pitino learned any recruiting ploys from his father - Tricky Rick. I suspect that $100,000 payments to top recruits have a way of attracting them to your school even if it's in the frozen tundra of MN. ;)
 
I watched a lot of the minn game and some of the FSU game. I thought you played better yesterday.
 
Ole miss football - perennially the worst team in the SEC .. in a matter of 2 years they become the #1 team in the country and beat Bama .... comes out later they used highly illegal recruiting practices - what a shock.

Minnesota basketball - 2 years ago was the only team in the entire Big Ten that Rutgers beat ... had 6 scholarship players available at one point .. now ranked in top-10, have 3 of the best players in the B1G and some of the best in the country .. coach’s dad found to have orchestrated the largest recruiting scandal in NCAA history .. yea I’m sure it was Minnesota’s beautiful campus that got them to go there ......
 
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Once again thought the refs were brutal at times & mostly toward us. Early in the game our guys were getting hammered around the basket--no calls. I think that Pike has to fight for his guys or we will continue to get the short end. Very demoralizing & frustrating for our guys.
 
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TDIrish27 said:
Oh yeah they have better players than us they must be cheating.
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Not a certainty by any means, but to think it doesn't happen is naive. MN has never gotten the level of talent they have now even when Tubby was there. Just saying . . . .
 
Maybe the guy is a good coach and a good recruiter and people here were wrong on him.

You can sell UMinn---good school in a great city.
 
TDIrish27 said:
Maybe the guy is a good coach and a good recruiter and people here were wrong on him.

You can sell UMinn---good school in a great city.
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Certainly possible, but I always thought Rick Pitino was an excellent coach but also a sleazeball recruiter, so it's not too far fetched to think that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. But, admittedly, I'm totally just speculating, like fans love to do!
 
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I would not say elite recruiting is the reason why we got so good so quickly.

Amir Coffey is our only starter that was a top 100 recruit and the only guy who we faced stiff competition to get. Plus he was a local kid and his dad was a gopher legend so I don't think there was any shady business as to why he came here.

Murphy, Mason and Mcbrayer were rated somewhere in the top 110-150. Reggie Lynch was a transfer from Illinois State who put up decent numbers there but nothing crazy. We just happened to score a "hit" with all those guys and they all have made immense progress from the time they were freshman to now. So fantastic player development and finding underrated"diamonds in the rough" is probably a much bigger reason as to why we got so good so quickly instead of recruiting well.
 
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Kimani Young is a helluva NYC connection. McBrayer and Isaiah Washington were good gets. Don't know where their starting PG came from, but he is pretty good too.
 
PNJSF

Yes but it's a beautiful city 7-8 months a year----very hip---great downtown with much of it connected with above or below ground walkways.

One of my favorite arenas too--------the Midwest version of the Palestra.
 
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