My High School Coach played and coached in the EBA/EPBL - "You don't need better players, the players you have need to play better".

[RCBeta79]

My High School Coach played and coached in the EBA/EPBL (later became the Continental Basketball Association) - "You don't need better players, the players you have need to play better"!

We all miss Mag, but no excuse for playing sloppy basketball.

What I learned from my high school coach:
- Game Plan: Players practice against the opponent's offense and defense
- Execute: Players are responsible for executing the Game Plan offense and defense
- Discipline: Follow the game plan and trust what you did in practice
- Individual Player: execute on your designated game role
- Make the opponent's best shooters uncomfortable (make them pass when they are at their inside or outside best spots on the floor)
- Make Game Time Adjustments to offense (tell specific players what their adjusted role is in the game - i.e. specific player to shoot more, specific players go to the basket - leave hot shooters that night in the game longer) and defense (switch defenders to make a hot shooter uncomfortable - leave hot defenders in the game longer because of matchups)
- Passing Angles: Reduce offense turnovers by not putting a player in a bad passing position (i.e. double team down low to a big man and no one to pass back OR trying to force the pass when there is no good passing angle)....Rutgers turnovers in the last three games is guilty of this mistake.
- Figure out player combinations without Mag....Rutgers is still struggling with this task
- Build more confidence in players that are pressing instead of letting the game come to them...Cam is a great example whereby he is forcing shots..i.e. set up plays early in the game for Cam where the fifth pass is a wide open 3-pointer to get him started.
- When you have a shooting slump in a game, go to the basket - we should not care if we get a layup or score 2 points from the foul line
- No whining or blaming other players...or you can watch from the bench
- Each player pulls his own weight
- Never give up, even if you're getting blown out
- There is no "I" in team.

Overall, you cannot replace Mag, the second-best team defender and a smooth offensive player.
We need to take advantage of each individual player's strengths on offense and defense and find the right combination of players based upon the game situation.

Rutgers needs to figure out its new team identity.

 

[RUChoppin]

Yes, get our players to play better. Simple! Why has no one else thought about that!

I kid... your last two paragraphs were on point.

The schemes we've found success with (especially on defense) don't match as well the skill sets of our current available roster as they did with our previous roster - so we need to switch some things up.

We need to have a new game plan that puts our players in better positions to succeed. A hedge trimmer and a reciprocating saw both cut... but asking one to do the work of the other isn't going to go very well.

 

[Plum Street]

Quitters never win and winners never quit !!

The only one your cheating yourself!!

There is no “I” in team

 

[richthedentist]

Everything you say is on our coaches and they have not made adjustments they have to abandon the press and just play good tough defense in the half court the press isn’t working and since we are thinner you are making the remaining players work that much harder and we do see fatigue guys out of position and obvious wide open shots
Offensively well we run no plays to get Cam open but Paul has!! to shoot the ball!!

 

[RUPete]

Yes, get our players to play better. Simple! Why has no one else thought about that!

I kid... your last two paragraphs were on point.

The schemes we've found success with (especially on defense) don't match as well the skill sets of our current available roster as they did with our previous roster - so we need to switch some things up.

We need to have a new game plan that puts our players in better positions to succeed. A hedge trimmer and a reciprocating saw both cut... but asking one to do the work of the other isn't going to go very well.

I find it interesting that you went with cutting, a hedge trimmer and a reciprocating saw for your analogy given your board handle. 🙂

 

[RUPete]

Everything you say is on our coaches and they have not made adjustments they have to abandon the press and just play good tough defense in the half court the press isn’t working and since we are thinner you are making the remaining players work that much harder and we do see fatigue guys out of position and obvious wide open shots
Offensively well we run no plays to get Cam open but Paul has!! to shoot the ball!!

Totally agree with this on all counts.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Offensively well we run no plays to get Cam open but Paul has!! to shoot the ball!!

Pike is no dummy. Some guys can fly off the ball, catch, square, elevate and shoot. Some guys aren't effective doing this and they are pure catch and shoot or 1 dribble and shoot.

No one cares about me....I was catch and shoot with no elevation. I was comfortable taking one or a few dribbles to the left (I am a righty) and shooting.

Cam is not Tominaga or Funk. He will get his shots from ball movement and mistakes by the defense. It isn't a coincidence Hyatt got 18 shot attempts.

 

[Good-Knight]

I don't know how much we (or any team) can actually do about changing our fundamental philosophy and play set that took months to ingrain during the season while also preparing for the next team on the schedule in three days and squeezing in a rest day here and there. Pike has tried a few different guys and combination that hasn't worked or worked a little and then was shut down. Without Mags we are not a super elite defensive team. Without a super elite defense, we're not a top 40 team.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

How about making foul shots? In the last three games, the team is shooting 61% (10 points below the team average) with many of the misses being the front ends of 1 and 1s. Paul has only shot 1 for 5 in the last three games. I don't know whether it's fatigue or pressure or lack of concentration, but that must improve.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

How about making foul shots? In the last three games, the team is shooting 61% (10 points below the team average) with many of the misses being the front ends of 1 and 1s. Paul has only shot 1 for 5 in the last three games. I don't know whether it's fatigue or pressure or lack of concentration, but that must improve.

This has been a KILLER the last few games. Most don't think about it but, in terms of points, not getting the 2nd shots AND momentum, man NO GOOD!!!

 

[RCBeta79]

I don't know how much we (or any team) can actually do about changing our fundamental philosophy and play set that took months to ingrain during the season while also preparing for the next team on the schedule in three days and squeezing in a rest day here and there. Pike has tried a few different guys and combination that hasn't worked or worked a little and then was shut down. Without Mags we are not a super elite defensive team. Without a super elite defense, we're not a top 40 team.

Good Comment.
I agree with your assessment that radical change is not happening at this point in the season and player combinations have not worked very well over the last three games.

I do believe that we can be an elite defense, once the new mix of players better understand their role, learn to work in tandem with the other players in the game, and gain some confidence.

I see new players lacking confidence to fit the offensive and defensive assignments...and as you point out, not a good time in the season to scrap a practice plan that is engrained in them.

 

[Skull83]

My High School Coach played and coached in the EBA - "You don't need better players, the players you have need to play better"!

We all miss Mag, but no excuse for playing sloppy basketball.

What I learned from my high school coach:
- Game Plan: Players practice against the opponent's offense and defense
- Execute: Players are responsible for executing the Game Plan offense and defense
- Discipline: Follow the game plan and trust what you did in practice
- Individual Player: execute on your designated game role
- Make the opponent's best shooters uncomfortable (make them pass when they are at their inside or outside best spots on the floor)
- Make Game Time Adjustments to offense (tell specific players what their adjusted role is in the game - i.e. specific player to shoot more, specific players go to the basket - leave hot shooters that night in the game longer) and defense (switch defenders to make a hot shooter uncomfortable - leave hot defenders in the game longer because of matchups)
- Passing Angles: Reduce offense turnovers by not putting a player in a bad passing position (i.e. double team down low to a big man and no one to pass back OR trying to force the pass when there is no good passing angle)....Rutgers turnovers in the last three games is guilty of this mistake.
- Figure out player combinations without Mag....Rutgers is still struggling with this task
- Build more confidence in players that are pressing instead of letting the game come to them...Cam is a great example whereby he is forcing shots..i.e. set up plays early in the game for Cam where the fifth pass is a wide open 3-pointer to get him started.
- When you have a shooting slump in a game, go to the basket - we should not care if we get a layup or score 2 points from the foul line
- No whining or blaming other players...or you can watch from the bench
- Each player pulls his own weight
- Never give up, even if you're getting blown out
- There is no "I" in team.

Overall, you cannot replace Mag, the second-best team defender and a smooth offensive player.
We need to take advantage of each individual player's strengths on offense and defense and find the right combination of players based upon the game situation.

Rutgers needs to figure out its new team identity.

I enjoyed your post RCBeta79, but what is the EBA?

I tried to Google it and most of the hits were for the European Banking Association, although I did see a few for the fourth tier of Spanish professional basketball and for something called the Edmonton Basketball Association.

 

[SleepingGiantIsAwake]

Honestly, I’d be ecstatic if we could start with your 2nd sentence:

“….no excuse for playing sloppy basketball.”

Maybe it’s just me, but we seem to continue to have a plethora of knucklehead plays every game. Basic sh$t which is on the players. It’s a long list of stuff, but, for example, allowing a cutter on an under the basket inbounds for a layup. Should never happen. Stuff you should know from grammar school.

 

[RCBeta79]

I enjoyed your post RCBeta79, but what is the EBA?

I tried to Google it and most of the hits were for the European Banking Association, although I did see a few for the fourth tier of Spanish professional basketball and for something called the Edmonton Basketball Association.

The Eastern Basketball Association was a professional basketball league based in the United States. The league began in 1946 and was known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League. After one season the league changed its name to the Eastern Professional Basketball League. In 1979, the league changed its name again to the Continental Basketball Association.

In the 70's, the local team was the Trenton Pat Pavers and then the Trenton Colonials.
In high school, we knew it as the EBA.

 

[Skull83]

The Eastern Basketball Association was a professional basketball league based in the United States. The league began in 1946 and was known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League. After one season the league changed its name to the Eastern Professional Basketball League. In 1979, the league changed its name again to the Continental Basketball Association.

In the 70's, the local team was the Trenton Pat Pavers and then the Trenton Colonials.
In high school, we knew it as the EBA.

Thanks. I wasn’t familiar with the EBA.

 

[RUPete]

I was more familiar with the CBA so this provides a good reference point.

 

[RUBlackout]

This has been a KILLER the last few games. Most don't think about it but, in terms of points, not getting the 2nd shots AND momentum, man NO GOOD!!!

Bingo!! Front end 1:1 misses have been at critical times to which could have built momentum…crazy too that PM has been at the forefront of this with his supposed high %

 

[ScooterSports]

Everyone talking about the “needing to find a new identity” are off the mark. Before Illinois went on that 19-0 run, we were playing perfectly fine without Mag. We outscored MSU by 5 without Mag. We lost a close one @ a hot Indiana team with probably the NPOY runner up. And after 25 minutes, we were winning by 6 @ a good Illinois team. They don’t need to find a new identity, they just gotta figure out how to get out of this slump and play like they did the first ≈90 minutes after Mag got hurt.

 

[RUBlackout]

Everyone talking about the “needing to find a new identity” are off the mark. Before Illinois went on that 19-0 run, we were playing perfectly fine without Mag. We outscored MSU by 5 without Mag. We lost a close one @ a hot Indiana team with probably the NPOY runner up. And after 25 minutes, we were winning by 6 @ a good Illinois team. They don’t need to find a new identity, they just gotta figure out how to get out of this slump and play like they did the first ≈90 minutes after Mag got hurt.

I agree with you and my comment was more about wholesale subs…if you notice when we make sweeping changes to our lineup it really puts us in a lull and hard to snap out of

 

[bethlehemfan]

Is this a serious post. Seems like parody.

 

[needmorecowbell]

My High School Coach played and coached in the EBA/EPBL (later became the Continental Basketball Association) - "You don't need better players, the players you have need to play better"!

We all miss Mag, but no excuse for playing sloppy basketball.

What I learned from my high school coach:
- Game Plan: Players practice against the opponent's offense and defense
- Execute: Players are responsible for executing the Game Plan offense and defense
- Discipline: Follow the game plan and trust what you did in practice
- Individual Player: execute on your designated game role
- Make the opponent's best shooters uncomfortable (make them pass when they are at their inside or outside best spots on the floor)
- Make Game Time Adjustments to offense (tell specific players what their adjusted role is in the game - i.e. specific player to shoot more, specific players go to the basket - leave hot shooters that night in the game longer) and defense (switch defenders to make a hot shooter uncomfortable - leave hot defenders in the game longer because of matchups)
- Passing Angles: Reduce offense turnovers by not putting a player in a bad passing position (i.e. double team down low to a big man and no one to pass back OR trying to force the pass when there is no good passing angle)....Rutgers turnovers in the last three games is guilty of this mistake.
- Figure out player combinations without Mag....Rutgers is still struggling with this task
- Build more confidence in players that are pressing instead of letting the game come to them...Cam is a great example whereby he is forcing shots..i.e. set up plays early in the game for Cam where the fifth pass is a wide open 3-pointer to get him started.
- When you have a shooting slump in a game, go to the basket - we should not care if we get a layup or score 2 points from the foul line
- No whining or blaming other players...or you can watch from the bench
- Each player pulls his own weight
- Never give up, even if you're getting blown out
- There is no "I" in team.

Overall, you cannot replace Mag, the second-best team defender and a smooth offensive player.
We need to take advantage of each individual player's strengths on offense and defense and find the right combination of players based upon the game situation.

Rutgers needs to figure out its new team identity.

That’s all correct but it may be too much to figure out over the last 10 games. It would be a different story if Mag was injured 6 months ago.