That win the other night was crucial and important but unlike Indiana it was done with so many positive developments that renewed hope for this year can be found .Indiana was won where we played and shot terribly everywhere , turnovers and Indiana which we own played even worse especially from the foul line.
Nebraska played well the other night shot really well until the last 10 minutes,, hit 19-24 foul shots , hit 11 threes, went on runs , and Rutgers overcame all that despite bad bad foul shooting that we had to win the game 3 times in OT. The hope springs from :
1) Pike finally has locked into a starting lineup ,, Derek, Austin , Andre, Mawot and Cliff , a good blend of offense and defense , and he played them for the last 6 minutes of regulation and OT except for an offense/ defense sub Hyatt for JMike. When Pike gets a lead or one of those get hot , Pike has to leave them in the game for the run to play out. No subbing for the hell of it ;
2) Pike didn’t go to his 3 player sub at the under 16 timeouts. He didn’t sub 3 at a time. He was quick to yank people as Oskar came in for 2 minutes made 3 mistakes and was yanked out immediately for the rest of the half. That is definitely the formula going forward. Sprinkle in Noah, Gavin, Wolf and JMike but ride your starters unless 1 is having a terribly bad day ;
3). Derek Simpson played his most complete game as point guard. He got his teammates involved and set up. He hit Cliff 2x on rolls and could have had 2 more. He set up Mag and a great back door layup pass during the comeback. He didn’t drive recklessly to the hole and had his head up . Despite the 3-13 , it was his most complete game with 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Huge huge progress there which really can make a difference .
4) The players played to their roles. Austin continues to drive hard to the hole and gave us a huge bonus 3 from the Hyatt pass. It is a shame he missed his foul shots as he could have had 16-17 points from our 2 guard which would be huge going forward and he plays great defense. Aundre hit 4 huge threes in the game and the one in the corner at 71-71 was clutch. He has to keep shooting as he is our best 3 point shooter at 36%. Mag does everything, his offense is really picking up as is his shooting , but his rebounding and tremendous defense are always there. Plus he is toughness and the epitome of Rutgers basketball under Pike. That toughness is back. Cliff finally getting feed by Derek became energized and his ability on the offensive glass , which has been missing all year was back but also because he was near the basket a lot and not out at the 3 point line. His 1 rebound he corralled and then bullied Mast for the slam dunk was beautiful and hopefully back in his arsenal. We have missed him terribly but his defense and elite shot blocking , # 2 in the country in blocks is still there and getting stronger without fouling. So the players finally know their roles and it bodes well the rest of the way.
We are not a good shooting team which means there are plenty of offensive rebounds. Getting 25 of them is insane but getting offensive rebounds with Cliff, Mag and Austin should be mandatory going forward. That makes up for the 30% FG shooting every game. Fixing the rebounding on both ends has been a tremendous job by Pike and staff as it literally cost us 3 games at least this year.
Finally hitting 9 threes is not going to happen every game but if anyone is open, Hyatt, Gavin , Mag , Derek , Oskar or even Austin they have to be shot and we either have a huge make or crash the offensive glass. Like the new offensive sets against Michigan State that got us 3-4 back door layups and liked how Derek ran the offense against Nebraska. Put on those 2 tapes and let the players replicate and bring the rebounding and elite defense that has been showing up since Mag and Austin are healthy and back on the court and we are in much better shape the rest of the way than we were for most of the year where we were almost at rock bottom.
Nebraska played well the other night shot really well until the last 10 minutes,, hit 19-24 foul shots , hit 11 threes, went on runs , and Rutgers overcame all that despite bad bad foul shooting that we had to win the game 3 times in OT. The hope springs from :
1) Pike finally has locked into a starting lineup ,, Derek, Austin , Andre, Mawot and Cliff , a good blend of offense and defense , and he played them for the last 6 minutes of regulation and OT except for an offense/ defense sub Hyatt for JMike. When Pike gets a lead or one of those get hot , Pike has to leave them in the game for the run to play out. No subbing for the hell of it ;
2) Pike didn’t go to his 3 player sub at the under 16 timeouts. He didn’t sub 3 at a time. He was quick to yank people as Oskar came in for 2 minutes made 3 mistakes and was yanked out immediately for the rest of the half. That is definitely the formula going forward. Sprinkle in Noah, Gavin, Wolf and JMike but ride your starters unless 1 is having a terribly bad day ;
3). Derek Simpson played his most complete game as point guard. He got his teammates involved and set up. He hit Cliff 2x on rolls and could have had 2 more. He set up Mag and a great back door layup pass during the comeback. He didn’t drive recklessly to the hole and had his head up . Despite the 3-13 , it was his most complete game with 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Huge huge progress there which really can make a difference .
4) The players played to their roles. Austin continues to drive hard to the hole and gave us a huge bonus 3 from the Hyatt pass. It is a shame he missed his foul shots as he could have had 16-17 points from our 2 guard which would be huge going forward and he plays great defense. Aundre hit 4 huge threes in the game and the one in the corner at 71-71 was clutch. He has to keep shooting as he is our best 3 point shooter at 36%. Mag does everything, his offense is really picking up as is his shooting , but his rebounding and tremendous defense are always there. Plus he is toughness and the epitome of Rutgers basketball under Pike. That toughness is back. Cliff finally getting feed by Derek became energized and his ability on the offensive glass , which has been missing all year was back but also because he was near the basket a lot and not out at the 3 point line. His 1 rebound he corralled and then bullied Mast for the slam dunk was beautiful and hopefully back in his arsenal. We have missed him terribly but his defense and elite shot blocking , # 2 in the country in blocks is still there and getting stronger without fouling. So the players finally know their roles and it bodes well the rest of the way.
We are not a good shooting team which means there are plenty of offensive rebounds. Getting 25 of them is insane but getting offensive rebounds with Cliff, Mag and Austin should be mandatory going forward. That makes up for the 30% FG shooting every game. Fixing the rebounding on both ends has been a tremendous job by Pike and staff as it literally cost us 3 games at least this year.
Finally hitting 9 threes is not going to happen every game but if anyone is open, Hyatt, Gavin , Mag , Derek , Oskar or even Austin they have to be shot and we either have a huge make or crash the offensive glass. Like the new offensive sets against Michigan State that got us 3-4 back door layups and liked how Derek ran the offense against Nebraska. Put on those 2 tapes and let the players replicate and bring the rebounding and elite defense that has been showing up since Mag and Austin are healthy and back on the court and we are in much better shape the rest of the way than we were for most of the year where we were almost at rock bottom.
