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Moving Forward - Next 6 Games

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ScarletLongIsland

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Sep 1, 2015
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I am really excited about our next 6 games. I would like to see the team follow up last night's performance with good showings in each of the next 6 games.

Sun, Jan 14 vs OSU
Wed, Jan 17 vs Iowa
Sun, Jan 21 @ Michigan
Wed, Jan 24 vs Nebraska
Sat, Jan 27 @Penn State
Tue, Jan 30 @ Illinois

I would like to see us go punch for punch with OSU (not necessarily needing a W), and then winning 3 (possibly 4) out of the next 5 (after OSU).
 
We have had a very nasty habit of following a good performance with head scratchers. Prior to Hartford, sanders was even quoted saying that they needed to avoid this. They still lost. Next step in the growth is to realize they are not that good and need to work for every win
 
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ScarletLongIsland said:
I am really excited about our next 6 games. I would like to see the team follow up last night's performance with good showings in each of the next 6 games.

Sun, Jan 14 vs OSU
Wed, Jan 17 vs Iowa
Sun, Jan 21 @ Michigan
Wed, Jan 24 vs Nebraska
Sat, Jan 27 @Penn State
Tue, Jan 30 @ Illinois

I would like to see us go punch for punch with OSU (not necessarily needing a W), and then winning 3 (possibly 4) out of the next 5 (after OSU).
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OSU is very winnable. Ive been saying do not sleep on them but if they beat Maryland this week, they are ripe for the picking on Sunday.

Iowa.....would seem to be a game where RU should win and be the fave but this is the kind of scary game where Iowa is circling it too coming in desperated. RU cannot afford slow starts in a game against a team like Iowa. Not going to be as easy a game as people think

at Michigan..tough environment, do not like the matchup as they can hit from the outside, expect RU to be competitive but going to be hard to keep pace in the end

Nebraska...much improved on the court and mentally from last year. Not the same on the road and I expect RU to win this game but will RU bring the same intensity...key here

at Penn State...very winnable but this is an up and down team. Last year they led all game until the RU rally to take over. If RU is going to win a game on the road its this one

at Illinois....better than you think but clearly a bottom 5 team, this is a total tossup type game.

Best case is that RU goes 4-2, worst case is they go 1-5. I feel RU will go 3-3 and would sign on for that right now.
 
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Really like Bac’s breakdown but the only thing that scares me is that the level of intensity, defense, hustle and toughness the last games against Wisconsin and Michigan State, especially last night is hard to sustain every single game . We are now on a 2 game a week schedule which helps and no more 6 day layoffs, like there was between Seton Hall and Stony Brook, Stony Brook and Hartford, and Hartford and Purdue. We seem to play better, more intense on short rest.
 
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worst case is 0-6. Your game by game analysis is spot on.

I can see them losing every game, but probably doesn't happen. What scares me is the 2 games we will be favorite i have an uneasy feeling. Iowa beat us pretty good the 2 times we played them last year. They are a bad defensive team, but I am not sure we have the ability to exploit that enough. Nebraska from a talent standpoint is pretty darn good.

I think ohio State is on a roll and combined with their talent it will be tough to keep the game close.
I expect michigan game to be close, but I have concerns about us closing out a close game in Michigan (see MSU game at the RAC)
I don't know what to expect out of PSU. I hate the way tony carr has played down the stretch of a few games.
At Illinois? They are home and at worst have equal talent to us.
 
RU has always done well chasing a target....throw out the Purdue game because RU was in no shape mentally to compete in that game after 2 horrific losses....if OSU beats Maryland, they are in first place in the league and very vulnerable coming to the RAC, lets see how OSU handles the roll of being the hunted not the hunter. I like RU' s chances in this game if they give the RU effort we have seen against similar talented schools, if not, yeah it could be a double digit loss. Need a big crowd, dont like the game being on at 7PM on a Sunday during playoff season..I bet this game would be close to a sellout if on Saturday
 
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Greene Rice FIG said:
We are going to see zone in the Iowa game:weary:
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I think we attack their lazy zone much better than Hartford’s. My issue with these next six is our mental toughness. This is a harder stretch mentally than anything we have to worry about regarding the talent on these next 6 teams. Hoping they can sustain their mental toughness.
 
We are pretty consistent each game on the energy and defensive end so I expect all 6 games to be competitive. I will be very disappointed if they are not competitive but as to predicting how many wins, that's just impossible. RU is so inconsistent on the offensive end and from the foul line that there is just no way of predicting who will show up. We coald win all six if they put together good shooting games but we could lose them all just as easily. With this group you never know.
 
Dpgru said:
We are pretty consistent each game on the energy and defensive end so I expect all 6 games to be competitive. I will be very disappointed if they are not competitive but as to predicting how many wins, that's just impossible. RU is so inconsistent on the offensive end and from the foul line that there is just no way of predicting who will show up. We coald win all six if they put together good shooting games but we could lose them all just as easily. With this group you never know.
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Definitely not true. Stony Brook,Hartford and Purdue were not even close to Wisconsin and Michigan State and locking down the other team..Now the question is how many games in a row can you bring that level of effort.
 
goru7 said:
I think we attack their lazy zone much better than Hartford’s. My issue with these next six is our mental toughness. This is a harder stretch mentally than anything we have to worry about regarding the talent on these next 6 teams. Hoping they can sustain their mental toughness.
Click to expand...

It certainly is a different zone. I want to see Issa in the game bombing from 25 feet.
 
djrc89 said:
We have had a very nasty habit of following a good performance with head scratchers. Prior to Hartford, sanders was even quoted saying that they needed to avoid this. They still lost. Next step in the growth is to realize they are not that good and need to work for every win
Click to expand...

Except that we just beat Wisconsin and then followed it up by taking #4 to OT...on the road...so, yeah, there's that!
 
goru7 said:
Definitely not true. Stony Brook,Hartford and Purdue were not even close to Wisconsin and Michigan State and locking down the other team..Now the question is how many games in a row can you bring that level of effort.
Click to expand...

So what is "definitely not true"? We have played 18games and we have been pretty consistent in terms of energy and defense. Not totally, but pretty consistent in terms of energy and defense. You pointed out three in which we weren't. I agree. That leaves 15. Now, my point on predicting wins is based on our offensive inconsistency. If we bring it on the offensive end I think we can win all six. I also think if we don't bring it on the offensive end we could lose all six regardless of our defensive intensity.
 
I'm going to go back to what happened last year with a limited roster/depth....

We had ugly performances at home vs Penn State (lost by 13), Iowa (lost by 20 and were down 12-15 points for a good part of the game and Iowa is extremely explosive) and Maryland....(another 15-20 point game)

We had encouraging performances on the road vs Northwestern, Ohio State and won at Penn State (another Corey Sanders special).

If we were a little deeper off the bench OR we were able to find points up front where Doucoure gives you 8-10 points like Purdue or a 13-15 point effort like he provided at Minnesota, then all games are within reach.

It's extremely unfair to ask for bonafide consistent performances from Baker and Doucoure, so it would not shock me to see more roller coasters this year and next....it's not a ramp up with no dips in performances with this many underclassmen learning on the job.

And teams usually struggle off an OT loss or OT game in general, and Ohio State is arriving red hot....I'm not the least bit concerned about anything else other than seeing if we can find or slow Doucoure down and keep him on the court for more than 20 minutes a game....can he play without getting excited and fouling?? Can he perhaps allow a basket on defense vs challenging everything and understand he's needed on the court....

Nothing against Candido or Shaq Doorson who play strong defense, but we need Doucoure to contribute on both ends if we are going to go 2-4 or even 3-3 in the next 6....then when we get Shaq's putbacks or Candido's points, those points push RU over the top vs not......Unless Corey puts up 6 straight 20+ point games with less than 2 turnovers, which teams will start to dial in on stopping.

We have to exercise patience.....I have ZERO doubt, we will get where we want to go, but every other team around the country that went through the progression, had 3-5 violent dips or valleys on the way over a 2-3 year span from nothing to something....I would love no turbulence, but it's highly unlikely.
 
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Aside from an extra WTF loss (I expected one), we are pretty much where we should be as far as the schedule dictates. Not sure what the uproar is about. Let's just see how the game against Iowa shakes out.
 
Local Shill said:
2 wins in the next 5 would be a minor miracle at this point.
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Can this team even score 60 points without Williams will be a major factor in the number of wins. I agree 2 wins will be difficult to achieve right now.
 
every team has injuries at some point, RU benefitted from injuries that Wisconsin had and injuries last year vs other teams, one guy out should not be the whole thing collapses, Williams is a very important part of the team but he isnt the team. Its up to Pike to make do with what he has
 
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I will sign on for two of these...and we have 4 winnable games...the two road games are winnable and RU needs to show some swagger at home vs medicore opponents
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
With no Williams they are a lot better. If we petition B1G to play 4 on 4 that would be a different story
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Losing Williams does not mean we should lose every game until he returns. That's an over-dramatization. While the depth is thin, other players can step up and fill in the gap, and I believe we can pick up a win or two against some bottom-feeders on the upcoming slate.

Against the bottom-feeders, maybe this a chance for Doucoure to improve and stay on the floor or for Freeman to get back to what works for him. Will Thiam and Omoruyi need to absorb some extra minutes...yes.
 
Losing Williams hurts, for sure, especially coming into this stretch BUT what it means is that every guy on the roster has to step up just a little more in all facets of their game, from opening tap to final whistle, period, no 5-7 minutes of "nothing" out there on the court EVEN IF we're not shooting well during that stretch.
 
ScarletLongIsland said:
Losing Williams does not mean we should lose every game until he returns. That's an over-dramatization. While the depth is thin, other players can step up and fill in the gap, and I believe we can pick up a win or two against some bottom-feeders on the upcoming slate.

Against the bottom-feeders, maybe this a chance for Doucoure to improve and stay on the floor or for Freeman to get back to what works for him. Will Thiam and Omoruyi need to absorb some extra minutes...yes.
Click to expand...


agree, cannot fall back on that excuse of one player out. A true test of what we have and coaching will be how we respond to adversity of having to regroup a bit.
 
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These are all going to be tough. I think our best bet is vs. Iowa on weds. Hoping to grab two wins from these games but certainly not counting on it.
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
You are minimizing
1. Loss of Williams
2. How we fare vs zones
3. How we did vs Iowa last year
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how did we do against SHU last year, how about Michigan State, We should not be afraid of Iowa, if RU is afraid of Iowa, then we should move to the MAAC. They are a bad team for a reason. If RU plays at the level they need to its a game at home, I thought the OSU level was quite poor similar to the Stonyhartford games
 
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Iowa goes with the Bohannon kid from what I've seen.

I really thought they would be better this year.

Good team to get healthy against offensively as they just can't guard.
 
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Losing Williams hurts much more than people realize. Because its not just losing Williams, its losing Williams + Kiss and Johnson redshirting + Bullock being ineligible + Souf not being ready for this level. There's only eight players left to play. We are back to the Eddie Jordan days in terms of depth.
 
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TDIrish27 said:
Good team to get healthy against offensively as they just can't guard.
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Not for teams without perimeter threats.

Iowa is real bad defensively. They are ranked by kenpom #170.
Hartford is much much worse. They are rated 299th. We couldn't solve their zone.

How is a lineup that always has a Souf or Corey AND a 4 and 5 that aren't perimeter threats going to beat a zone. We don't have the luxury of going small.
 
We need one of Omoruyi or Thiam to step up. To my eye, they've both improved since last season but it's time for one of them to step up and shoulder the scoring load. Omoruyi did it against Florida State, he needs to have that attitude every single game. And Thiam had a really nice drive to the basket early on against OSU (he missed the layup, of course). He needs to do more of that.

If neither of these guys step up then I don't see us winning a game without Williams.
 
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We simply need everyone to contribute. Freeman needs to have a double double again or at least close to it. He cannot have 2 points and 0 rebounds again. As Coach said last night without Williams some guys will need to get 2 more points or an extra rebound etc. Eugene should get several more minutes and will be at the three spot for several minutes.
 
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