Moral Victories may be the highlight of the season.

[bac2therac]

To put things in perspective, expectations have fallen so low that today was almost like a moral victory. No one I mean no one thought RU was going to win. That they were even in the game was shocking in itself. Monmouth was a favorite. They were suppose to win and they were suppose to win easily. They have beaten far better teams than Rutgers. RU overachieved today, Eddie even coached a good game and the players gave better effort than we are used to. It is sad that actually I had a good time at todays game, RU battled back from a double digit defecit and had the RAC roaring shutting up the Monmouth crowd, there was finally some life back in the RAC. Well do not get used to it, today will likely be the highlight of the rest of the year. Monmouth is probably as good as the 5th through 8th place schools in the Big 10. They are good but matchup wise without a lot of size they weren't that bad of a matchup for us. Once Big 10 season rolls around, there is little chance to this team which is so deficient in depth and talent can compete with any school with a pulse. Maybe Penn State or Nebby on a good day for us and bad day for them but that's about it. Its sobering but reality. Even a loss today and I wasn't upset or all that broken up. If its apathy then the school has no one to blame but itself for 25 years of neglect. I guess if we keep expectations very low moral victories might taste sweet. If they continue with this regime another year, one can only imagine that schools like St Peters and FDU may outdraw RU at the RAC.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

If this is Eddie coaching a good game, I shudder to think what it's like to sit there 20 something times a year. lol

I had the opportunity to use a buddy's seats today. Had a great time and the game was entertaining, but the last thing I would walk out of there saying is Eddie coached a good game. I sat in 113 in a few rows back. To me, he barely "coaches" at all.

 

[bac2therac]

this was his best coached game this season. I saw a few plays run specifically that were called by him...and he got his players to play hard down 13 which usually they just curl into a ball. I cant fault his playcall to get Williams the open 3 he just flat out missed it but it was run perfectly by Sanders to draw attention to himself and kick it out.

he is a NBA coach and that will not chance, no sense of urgency, hopefully Hobbs pulls the trigger because if he doesn't than why the heck did we change ADs. He was hired to make the ballsy moves that would work politically so its an obvious choice right now

 

[MCKnight2004]

When the head coach is happy in the post game press conference after a loss there is a problem. He seemed satisfied with today's game. Maybe even surprised they were in it. his comments all about the teams effort and how hard they played....great, acceptance of defeat is ok now as long as the players try hard

 

[Knightmoves]

Anyone get the attendance from today's game ?

Was Hobbs in attendance ?

 

[ruhudsonfan]

I didn't see Hobbs--but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. I did bump into Andy Sisti on the way out. So, there was some brass in the building.

 

[bac2therac]

Anyone get the attendance from today's game ?

Was Hobbs in attendance ?

I saw Hobbs...the better question was Barchi there...I don't think so

they said 6600 on News 12...I was surprised by the turnout, I think the biggest crowd of the year, outdrawing SHU and Monmouth brought about 2K but it was cool hearing how the RU crowd really got loud late

 

[dollarbill]

I didn't see Hobbs--but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. I did bump into Andy Sisti on the way out. So, there was some brass in the building.

Hobbs was right across the court from you in the first row for most of the game. I wish these kids had walked out with the W. There won't be many high moments for this season. Cory played his heart out. It WAS fun for a change. $$$$

 

[knights1212]

Hobbs was there and near the end of the game he walked right by the student section during a time out and was high fiving the students for their loud support. That was nice to see.

 

[yanks7711]

When the head coach is happy in the post game press conference after a loss there is a problem. He seemed satisfied with today's game. Maybe even surprised they were in it. his comments all about the teams effort and how hard they played....great, acceptance of defeat is ok now as long as the players try hard

He was thrilled his team played with effort and intensity. If you a season ticket holder you would know that effort, hustle , and intensity are lacking in most games. We will be undermanned the rest of the way so we better bring effort every night or it could get embarrassing. That was what he was proud of not the loss!!!
By the way the best coaching job he has done all year, switching defenses ,trapping their point guard, and setting up 2 Princeton back door plays. He even got Bishop to play under control. If Williams hits the open 3 , Rutgers wins. Only criticism I have today down 3 with 27 seconds, Corey walking it up at first and then taking a bad 3 when they should have driven for the quick 2 and play defense and foul to make them earn it at the line and even if they make both you still have time for a 3 to tie.
That is the only thing you should be critical of Eddie tonight.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

He was thrilled his team played with effort and intensity. If you a season ticket holder you would know that effort, hustle , and intensity are lacking in most games. We will be undermanned the rest of the way so we better bring effort every night or it could get embarrassing. That was what he was proud of not the loss!!!
By the way the best coaching job he has done all year, switching defenses ,trapping their point guard, and setting up 2 Princeton back door plays. He even got Bishop to play under control. If Williams hits the open 3 , Rutgers wins. Only criticism I have today down 3 with 27 seconds, Corey walking it up at first and then taking a bad 3 when they should have driven for the quick 2 and play defense and foul to make them earn it at the line and even if they make both you still have time for a 3 to tie.
That is the only thing you should be critical of Eddie tonight.

They should have gone 2 for 1 with :56 left out of the dead ball stoppage. That was a coaching mistake. Instead, they took a shot with :30ish seconds left.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Foreman not resting a big negative. Goode has to get a few minutes in place of him.

 

[RU 77]

This site is dominated by non alums that are simply a drag. We have one who didn't attend college, one that attended a school on par with a community college, and one that went to a university in the south that doesn't require class room attendance. All they do is trash Rutgers players and coaches. Losers and has-beens on the internet gonna hate. What a drag every time I want to see how my school did. And their comments reflect their level of education which is low end. If only the Ledger weren't worse, I could just read that.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

This site is dominated by non alums that are simply a drag. We have one who didn't attend college, one that attended a school on par with a community college, and one that went to a university in the south that doesn't require class room attendance. All they do is trash Rutgers players and coaches. Losers and has-beens on the internet gonna hate. What a drag every time I want to see how my school did. And their comments reflect their level of education which is low end. If only the Ledger weren't worse, I could just read that.

A guy who gets it.

 

[megadrone]

Hobbs was there.

 

[ruman]

A guy who gets it.

Yes. This is our biggest issue.

BTW. We are 4-22 in our last 26 games. Negative Nancy's

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Yes. This is our biggest issue.

BTW. We are 4-22 in our last 26 games. Negative Nancy's

That's what a scandal does....you hit rock bottom, then you recover. I remember a stretch when Indiana was 2-25 in the aftermath of their scandal.

Of course Indiana is a school with a rich tradition and first rate facilities so they were able to recover after having 3 LOSING seasons in a row (6-25, 10-22 and 12-20). AND, remember, that is Indiana. Success at Rutgers over the last 25 years is sub .500 and just missing the NIT.

Again, a program like Rutgers can only attract great players by making a commitment by investing in facilities....something that will make a recruit say "Wow" when the come on an unofficial visit and get a tour of the locker rooms, weight room and practice facility.

Better players play good basketball. Bad players get the coach fired.

 

[RU-ROCS]

No problem with today's effort or coaching. The team played hard, but again with no results. Very depressing to think today was likely the high water mark if Freeman doesn't come back.

 

[RUskoolie]

It is what it is. This team is royally screwed this year. Best players on the team are underclassmen. 3 out of our 4 biggest players are hurt. This makes Greg Lewis change how he plays D because if he fouls out you're going to have Foreman at the 5 and 4 guards on the floor.

They played hard, just couldn't get a few shots to fall. Monmouth is the better team this year, good for them...but they're still Monmouth.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

The season is about developing sanders, Williams, foreman and Laurent

Corey is the real deal

I think the three bigs will be out for the year

Redshirt freeman and Doorson

Then you have a roster of 4 juniors (Williams, freeman, foreman and Johnson) and 5 sophs (sanders, Laurent, Goode, Diallo and Doorson)

And please find me a shooting guards

 

[wonchobody]

What did anyone say that was overly negative in this thread? I think people were happy more or less with the effort today.

 

[MGSA99]

Loveable losers. That is what the team is. A team you really will root for, and you want to see them succeed so badly simply because they are the ultimate underdogs. No one is expecting them to win ANYTHING, so when it does, like last year against Wisconsin, the reaction is less jubilation and more disbelief.

They are indeed very easy to like because none of this is their fault. As long as they put forth a good effort, it will be deemed acceptable. And we will continue to cheer them on no matter what, as good fans should do. It is easy to be a fan of a winner, but it is so much sweeter to cheer on the triumph of the ultimate underdog.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

The season is about developing sanders, Williams, foreman and Laurent

Corey is the real deal

I think the three bigs will be out for the year

Redshirt freeman and Doorson

Then you have a roster of 4 juniors (Williams, freeman, foreman and Johnson) and 5 sophs (sanders, Laurent, Goode, Diallo and Doorson)

And please find me a shooting guards

Absolutely, unless you get top talent, guys normally put it all together by their junior years. Lots of examples like that around college basketball.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

As I said before....if MU shoots the ball like they normally do we get in a 20 point hole that we never fight out of.

We came back when MU got to a 13 point deficit and then slowed down.

 

[RocktheRac]

Yes. This is our biggest issue.

BTW. We are 4-22 in our last 26 games. Negative Nancy's

How dare you criticize a team that has won only 4 games in 30 tries? What more do you want?

 

[bac2therac]

This site is dominated by non alums that are simply a drag. We have one who didn't attend college, one that attended a school on par with a community college, and one that went to a university in the south that doesn't require class room attendance. All they do is trash Rutgers players and coaches. Losers and has-beens on the internet gonna hate. What a drag every time I want to see how my school did. And their comments reflect their level of education which is low end. If only the Ledger weren't worse, I could just read that.

who the f are you talking about...what a ridiculous troll

 

[RutgHoops]

As I said before....if MU shoots the ball like they normally do we get in a 20 point hole that we never fight out of.

We came back when MU got to a 13 point deficit and then slowed down.

Thought we played good defense with the exception of anything that happened in the post. At this point I am baffled that any player at any level can get what they want inside against us. I liked our plan yesterday on the defensive end. We are so undermanned without Freeman, Diallo and Doorson.

We were pretty bad from the floor yesterday ourselves (Sanders 3-11, Williams 5-15, Foreman 2-9, Greg 2-8) and had a shot to win it late. I did not see a whole lot of bad shots yesterday. Not unhappy with that.

I said before the year and stick with it now in that I am looking for a team that plays hard and executes. Other than two games v. SHU and GW I have seen that thus far. SJU, Wake and Monmouth are three games that could have gone our way and we are unfortunately 0-3 in those games. Keep getting better and playing hard. All i ask. Eddie needs to keep them going forward which is never easy when you lose.

I'll stay in the minority and say, to me, this team is the first I've seen in a while that is headed in a proper direction.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We played good defensively in stretches with the RIGHT people in the game. I criticize Jordan for his substitutions and lack thereof. I believe Jordan brings Grier back in the 2nd half to give Sanders a break and then has to put Sanders right back in after Grier had bad possessions. Laurent can give rest to starters, but he had to get yanked for his lack of effort/defense.

MU had 44 points in the paint, no need to say more.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

http://www.scarletknights.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2015-2016/ru11.html

Looking back at the play by play box score.... FB=fast break

16:23 we were down 41-39
15:55 39-43 V 4 GOOD! LAYUP by James, Josh [FB/PNT]
15:29 39-45 V 6 GOOD! LAYUP by Tilghman, Austin [FB/PNT]
15:05 39-47 V 8 GOOD! LAYUP by James, Josh [FB/PNT]
14:02 41-49 V 8 GOOD! LAYUP by Tilghman, Austin [FB/PNT]
12:56 41-52 V 11 GOOD! LAYUP by Jones, Deon [PNT]
11:32 41-54 V 13 GOOD! DUNK by Stewart, Collin [FB/PNT]

 

[RutgHoops]

http://www.scarletknights.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2015-2016/ru11.html

Looking back at the play by play box score.... FB=fast break

16:23 we were down 41-39
15:55 39-43 V 4 GOOD! LAYUP by James, Josh [FB/PNT]
15:29 39-45 V 6 GOOD! LAYUP by Tilghman, Austin [FB/PNT]
15:05 39-47 V 8 GOOD! LAYUP by James, Josh [FB/PNT]
14:02 41-49 V 8 GOOD! LAYUP by Tilghman, Austin [FB/PNT]
12:56 41-52 V 11 GOOD! LAYUP by Jones, Deon [PNT]
11:32 41-54 V 13 GOOD! DUNK by Stewart, Collin [FB/PNT]

I am not one to call out our players, but.....

We are down to 8 scholarship players. Goode is overmatched right now on both ends, and wildly overmatched on the defensive end. I am simply baffled Lewis can't defend the post at all.

We are going to have bad stretches. That's inevitable with 8 scholarship players 6 of which are freshman or sophomores. SHU and GW got anything they wanted against us. That didn't happen yesterday. Thought we defended the 3 very well. The post? Not so much.

We were blown out zero times with Freeman. Not saying GW or SHU wouldn't have happened with him, but it is certainly a question. Wake, SJU, Monmouth even Cregihton and Clemson were games. I hate losing, but those were games we played hard and executed.

Freeman was/is the best player on an imperfect team. His injury has unquestionably made a difference. Yesterday, while painful, was not a bad game nor a bad sign. We are not far enough removed from Rice that a missed three by Mike or a few questionable makes by Monmouth impact my opinion. A more mature team with some time to grow? At that point wins and losses matter. I am just not there yet. I am looking for competitive basketball 80% of the time. We have played 5 competitive games in the 7 that matter. That's sort of fine.

Just my $0.02

 

[ruhudsonfan]

I haven't watched them enough to know the answer, but seeing them in person, the interior defense, both in scheme and execution, was a huge red flag for me.

We defended the 3 point line well and more or less kept Robinson out of the paint in the 2nd half. But Monmouth probably attempted 35 shots from inside 5 feet. You can't win against a CYO team with interior defense like that. It can't be that easy to get the ball in that deep, no matter how depleted your roster is. You're getting killed inside like that, go zone and pack it in deep. Force them to hit shots over the top.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The 8 scholarship players are a problem....and it could get lower with guys susceptible to injuries playing high minutes.

You take away that 5 minute stretch I outlined we get a B+ and probably beat MU

I suppose when you look big picture a young team doesn't put 40 minutes together....especially with 8 scholarship players.

To your point about Goode...I still would think Goode's 1st 6 minutes are more effective than Foreman last 6 minutes (out of 20 in 1 half). foreman did knock down that huge 3 in those "last 6 minutes."

I may go back and look at those 6 fast break possessions and see what really happened. I know 4 or 5 were because we jogged back....

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Watched a few possessions in that span.

1. we have to stop going for steals in transition. I have always been taught sprint back to the paint and then match up. Foreman tries for a steal on the 2nd FB layup and doesn't get it and is out of the play. Both layups Sanders was in the best position but didn't.

2. The offensive possessions proceeding the 2 FB layups are spacing is very good, proper cuts are being made, and we get 2 good shots. Our bigs are not looking to get OREBs, but also are not quick enough to get back on D.

 

[Caliknight]

That's what a scandal does....you hit rock bottom, then you recover. I remember a stretch when Indiana was 2-25 in the aftermath of their scandal.

Of course Indiana is a school with a rich tradition and first rate facilities so they were able to recover after having 3 LOSING seasons in a row (6-25, 10-22 and 12-20). AND, remember, that is Indiana. Success at Rutgers over the last 25 years is sub .500 and just missing the NIT.

Again, a program like Rutgers can only attract great players by making a commitment by investing in facilities....something that will make a recruit say "Wow" when the come on an unofficial visit and get a tour of the locker rooms, weight room and practice facility.

Better players play good basketball. Bad players get the coach fired.

By this logic, Monmouth must have incredible facilities.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The answer is somewhere in between. Freeman, Doorson and Diallo out means a lot.

Yes this was a moral victory. Definitely better to hear about MU's antics or us dropping the series vs. how we got blown out by 20 and why we aren't competitive against the likes of Monmouth and NJIT. It also gives hope of getting a few wins in B1G as MU is not much different than #9 thru #13 in B1G.

 

[RU 77]

who the f are you talking about...what a ridiculous troll

Notwithstanding 80,000 posts, you don't make the list. Like negative background noise- annoying but zero influence.

 

[Local Shill]

Notwithstanding 80,000 posts, you don't make the list. Like negative background noise- annoying but zero influence.

Oh my gosh. Who the hell do we think we are to turn away fans because they're not alums. You have some set of stones making a remark like you did at the beginning of the thread.

Big time programs have tons of non alum fans but we're above that?

I'm an alum and and I say the people you're referring to are more than welcome.

 

[RU 77]

Oh my gosh. Who the hell do we think we are to turn away fans because they're not alums. You have some set of stones making a remark like you did at the beginning of the thread.

Big time programs have tons of non alum fans but we're above that?

I'm an alum and and I say the people you're referring to are more than welcome.

Nobody is turning anybody away. You want to remake Rutgers in the image of some "big time" program. I want Rutgers to succeed as Rutgers. What shade of blue do you want to paint the field for our new spread offense?

 

[RUonBrain]

What the hell does "RUTGERS succeed as RUTGERS" mean?

 

[RU 77]

you figure it out brain