Monmouth, Rutgers hoops set for closed scrimmage
- Thread starter MadRU
- Start date
Guys, we should all be excited. It wasn't too long ago that this scrimmage would've most likely been a blowout by Monmouth. Not only did we hang with them, by all accounts we beat them. Sure it didn't mean much, but it's better to play well in a scrimmage than to play poorly.
Yes wins are a measuring stick. If we only win 2 Big Ten games this year, it means we've improved by 100%. The bar isn't very high. Personally I'll be looking to see if we pass the "eye test" during our Big Ten games this year. That will tell us if we're headed in the right direction.
I understand and appreciate the skepticism
however, as pointed out somewhere above, the scrimmages in the past several years have been bad harbingers of what's to come. so it's not like these scrimmage reports have been pollyannish.
while not going out and predicted a winning season, I think we should all take this as a very good indicator
yes, of course, we need to play the games, and until we do, we won't know what we have.
but in message board world, this info (plus the recent tidbits from others on how we've looked...which again, hasn't been good the past few years), should be taken as good news, IMO.
I certainly hope that this is a reason for optimism, but I don't think it's a reliable indicator. FWIW, I was one of those posting not to take rumored "losses" to mid-majors when Eddy was coaching as a barometer either, for the same reasons I don't put much weight in them now. But, I certainly prefer rumors of a "win" to rumors of a "loss." ;)
Just given the fact that we lost nobody of consequence and have a full roster should mean that we will be better than last year. However, to put things in perspective, only 7 of our 25 losses were by 10 points or less. Even if we swing 100% of those close losses, we are still at just 13 wins. The real test is reducing the blow out losses. We had 12 losses of greater than 20 points, which is absurd.
I'm not saying that Eddie wasn't motivated and didn't work hard but.........let's face facts. He was at the tail end of his coaching career. He will never be a head coach at the D-1 or NBA level again. He went to a Final Four as a player and two straight NBA Finals as an assistant. He was given a lot of credit for NJ's success. I remember people said that Byron Scott use to wear a WWJD bracelet which really meant What Would Jordan Do?
What else was there for him?
Give him credit for stepping up and trying to help his alma mater (he did eventually graduate,didn't he?) when we were in the dumper. He'll always be remembered as the greatest point guard in RU history but he wasn't at a point in his life where he probably had the motivation or energy to rebuild one of the worst Power 5 programs in the nation.
Pikiell is an up and comer who has his career ahead of him. He has a hunger to make a name for himself and his team. Nothing he does this year will surprise me (unless we go 0-whatever). EJ just wasn't the right man at the right time for the job. If he had come here 10-12 years ago straight from the Nets maybe it would have been a different story. All that being said I'm looking forward to this year and more than a couple of surprises along the way.
Jordan did graduate but even if he had not Rutgers would have still been his alma mater since he did attend. One does not need to have graduated to call it that, but kudos to him for finishing.
I believe his major was Labor Studies and it will certainly prove useful in his future career. (Ok, that part was sarcasm.)
I believe his major was Labor Studies and it will certainly prove useful in his future career. (Ok, that part was sarcasm.)
To note. These scrimmage reports are to be taken with a grain of salt and mean nothing. Now of course if all of the buzz was that the team got hammered that would be a complete harbinger of things to come. LOL.
We are the bigger program, but certainly not the better program right now. Hopefully, under Pikiell, that will change soon.
Eddie wasn't motivated and didn't work hard.
But also lost to some dregs and zero ncaa wins or a weak league title. Hey they had a good yr but in the end, their monmouth lol
also
Rutgers hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991. That's 25 years ago. Baby steps. Actually, coming from rock bottom, competing with Monmouth in a scrimmage is a huge step up compared to how terrible the team was last year. And most of the past 25 years.
Just need signs of a pulse and then build from there. Last year = no pulse. The program was dead.
The Monmouth coach had some of the non-starters in there for quite some time from what I heard.
Don't make to much out of a scrimmage. Set expectations low and if it's better than great.
Don't make to much out of a scrimmage. Set expectations low and if it's better than great.
I get what you're saying, but you clearly don't know Rutger's history in these closed door scrimmages
