Nice Guys Finish Last. A series of mistakes pike has made off the court the past 18 months

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

One thing we cannot question pike on is his personality but he needs to stop playing mr nice guy and realizing that winning supercedes all.

1) Hiring Steve Hayn. The list of top top top tier talented hires that couldve been made to take recruiting to the next level was off the charts. When that position opened pike had his pick of the litter regarding who he couldve brought in and he hired steve hayn because he had him as an assistant already on staff in a different role? Brutal

2) talented transfers being turned down. I know for a FACT the first school that BOTH luther muhammad and jahvon quinerly hit up when they wanted to transfer was RU. Pike told jahvon no (averaging 13 ppg in SEC this year), and told luther hed take him but only if he agreed to not apply for a waiver to play this year. This is inexcusable imo.

pike needs to drop the nice guy act or were gonna be dropping the nice guy in a couple years

 

[RUskoolie]

We will be fine. Team has hit a rough stretch. It's hard to go from hunter to hunted. No one sleeps on RU anymore. Combine that with these guys probably reading their own press clippings and you have the last few Ls. Tonight was the first time in a few weeks we looked interested to play. The worm will turn, this is a good team.

 

[SleepingGiantIsAwake]

Kyke, totally disagree with you on #2. Unless there were others (please share), we definitely didn’t need more guards. You don’t screw your guys who came on board when no else would and have close relationships with. Not worth it in the long term. Quinerly? Really? Out of curiosity were they a package deal? They played together in HS. And would’ve screwed up team chemistry.

Has nothing to do with being a nice guy.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

One thing we cannot question pike on is his personality but he needs to stop playing mr nice guy and realizing that winning supercedes all.

1) Hiring Steve Hayn. The list of top top top tier talented hires that couldve been made to take recruiting to the next level was off the charts. When that position opened pike had his pick of the litter regarding who he couldve brought in and he hired steve hayn because he had him as an assistant already on staff in a different role? Brutal

2) talented transfers being turned down. I know for a FACT the first school that BOTH luther muhammad and jahvon quinerly hit up when they wanted to transfer was RU. Pike told jahvon no (averaging 13 ppg in SEC this year), and told luther hed take him but only if he agreed to not apply for a waiver to play this year. This is inexcusable imo.

pike needs to drop the nice guy act or were gonna be dropping the nice guy in a couple years

If that's true with Luther, wow, smdh

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

If that's true with Luther, wow, smdh

How many minutes has Luther Muhammad played this year at Arizona State...

Quinerly is as me 1st as anyone seen in quite awhile and been up and down on Nate Oats rotation....

Muhammad has had a bad shoulder that may or may not have required surgery.......but of course the resident expert obviously knows that with all of the zero games and minutes played this year.

Try again my friend.....it is just easier to say "I don't like Steve Pikiell "....

In regards to being a nice guy in terms of recruiting and securing talent....while anyone could clearly argue that a better hire could have been made with Steve Hayn, it is not a given that a change could always be made in the future..... I and many others could have suggested a Brett McConnell as a candidate for that spot....the larger question goes beyond running the risk of hiring the ultimate shady bag men like UConn and Illinois have as assistant coaches on their staffs....and before says "I have no evidence that Kiwanis Young (Minnesota and now UConn with Danny Hurley) or Orlando Antigua (USF and now Illinois) are shady recruiters, their track record is already documented with NCAA violations or instances.

I could argue that same cause for football recruiting the same way when it comes to a lack of high-end front line talent. It is not what RU chooses to live in that realm on an annual basis like some schools do. And with the transfer portal as active as ever, I don't think it's as necessary like a decade or so before. If you have gaps on your roster, those can be filled via the portal.

 

[RU72]

Rutgers did not want Quinerly for loads of reasons. Just query why he has missed his last few games at Alabama. Also he didn't play at Nova towards the end for some interesting reasons.Luther had an injury issue and also Steve is not a huge proponent of taking kids from other Big Ten programs. He also views Hayn as a Jay Young clone. The finalists were Hayn,LaFluer and Brett MacConnell. Brett will be a head coach soon.The stuff about Antigua and Kimani is unmitigated nonsense. If you have an opportunity,read about Kimani's life story and speak with him some day. No point in making slanderous comments only to try and make a tortured argument.

 

[Mbash93]

One thing we cannot question pike on is his personality but he needs to stop playing mr nice guy and realizing that winning supercedes all.

1) Hiring Steve Hayn. The list of top top top tier talented hires that couldve been made to take recruiting to the next level was off the charts. When that position opened pike had his pick of the litter regarding who he couldve brought in and he hired steve hayn because he had him as an assistant already on staff in a different role? Brutal

2) talented transfers being turned down. I know for a FACT the first school that BOTH luther muhammad and jahvon quinerly hit up when they wanted to transfer was RU. Pike told jahvon no (averaging 13 ppg in SEC this year), and told luther hed take him but only if he agreed to not apply for a waiver to play this year. This is inexcusable imo.

pike needs to drop the nice guy act or were gonna be dropping the nice guy in a couple years

Woj Jr. Over here with his sources. But the luther point is a moot one since it would have not counted eligibility wise anyway.

 

[Mr_Twister]

We need talented players. We need folks who can shoot. Let the coach and staff work on the chemistry.

 

[Duff366]

If you would have given examples of power forward grad transfers he could have had then I would agree with you. C'mon with Quinerly or Muhammad, it's revisionist history, we were all ecstatic with our guards going into this year.

 

[cyrock3]

Agree on Hayn.

That was an obvious screwup.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Woj Jr. Over here with his sources. But the luther point is a moot one since it would have not counted eligibility wise anyway.

Wasnt an eligibility thing, pike didnt want to upset some of his guys in the rotation.

 

[Mbash93]

Wasnt an eligibility thing, pike didnt want to upset some of his guys in the rotation.

Fair, talking strictly Luther, he hasn't played this year so what guy would be effected? And he is a PG, so Baker and Young may be gone after this year anyway? I get Quinerly but not Luther. Also he probably didn't forsee Caleb missing time

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Ill agree with the nice guy thing with regard to player/team performance and refs,
I have no issues with players brought in.

 

[RURahh]

One thing we cannot question pike on is his personality but he needs to stop playing mr nice guy and realizing that winning supercedes all.

1) Hiring Steve Hayn. The list of top top top tier talented hires that couldve been made to take recruiting to the next level was off the charts. When that position opened pike had his pick of the litter regarding who he couldve brought in and he hired steve hayn because he had him as an assistant already on staff in a different role? Brutal

2) talented transfers being turned down. I know for a FACT the first school that BOTH luther muhammad and jahvon quinerly hit up when they wanted to transfer was RU. Pike told jahvon no (averaging 13 ppg in SEC this year), and told luther hed take him but only if he agreed to not apply for a waiver to play this year. This is inexcusable imo.

pike needs to drop the nice guy act or were gonna be dropping the nice guy in a couple years

Are you back from your march on the capital already, don't you need to plan out for this week??? Is Steve Hayn responsible for global warming or just covid??

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Fair, talking strictly Luther, he hasn't played this year so what guy would be effected? And he is a PG, so Baker and Young may be gone after this year anyway? I get Quinerly but not Luther. Also he probably didn't forsee Caleb missing time

Lou wouldve gotten a waiver if he came home

 

[Rufaninga]

We are in a bad stretch, BUT I believe in coach P.
Look at where we started when he was hired. The talent level, how we were getting blown out in games. Turned around our program entirely. We shout have made NCAAs last year, this year got ranked numerous weeks. We play in toughest conference, so when you don't play well, you generally be are gonna lose. This is a season of mostly conference games. No cupcakes to pad your records. We have talent, have a deep bench too. FT are bad and we are not shooting it well as of late.

I think coach will get us back on the winning track. I've got enough faith in Steve for all of us. He will get us in NCAA this year.

 

[mikeyo]

One thing we cannot question pike on is his personality but he needs to stop playing mr nice guy and realizing that winning supercedes all.

1) Hiring Steve Hayn. The list of top top top tier talented hires that couldve been made to take recruiting to the next level was off the charts. When that position opened pike had his pick of the litter regarding who he couldve brought in and he hired steve hayn because he had him as an assistant already on staff in a different role? Brutal

2) talented transfers being turned down. I know for a FACT the first school that BOTH luther muhammad and jahvon quinerly hit up when they wanted to transfer was RU. Pike told jahvon no (averaging 13 ppg in SEC this year), and told luther hed take him but only if he agreed to not apply for a waiver to play this year. This is inexcusable imo.

pike needs to drop the nice guy act or were gonna be dropping the nice guy in a couple years

Some people have incredibly short memories. Lets face it -- It
was just yesterday that the program was a complete laughingstock.
It was a program in tatters. We were circled as a guaranteed win
by virtually every team in the conference for years. That obviously is no
longer the case. A little perspective is in order I'm thinking

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Some people have incredibly short memories. Lets face it -- It
was just yesterday that the program was a complete laughingstock.
It was a program in tatters. We were circled as a guaranteed win
by virtually every team in the conference for years. That obviously is no
longer the case. A little perspective is in order I'm thinking

Imo 30 years of futility is no reason to lower the bar. Its like saying if greg schiano goes 5-7 in year 5 that it should be considered a wild success considering we had chris ash 5 years prior

 

[mikeyo]

Imo 30 years of futility is no reason to lower the bar. Its like saying if greg schiano goes 5-7 in year 5 that it should be considered a wild success considering we had chris ash 5 years prior

I hear you. But Chris Ash was yet another coordinator pretending
to be a head coach. And don't forget, so far as we know, RU plays
it straight when it comes to recruiting. You're not going to
get the likes of Roy Williams, Bill Self, Sean Miller to come here.
Pike has done an excellent job considering the obvious disadvantages
we're up against

 

[ru-baby]

This anti Pike barrage in multiple threads is way over the top.

we are playing top 10 teams to the wire and are just off a top 15 ranking. With any ru bball perspective one would know that we are in the best of times, albeit during a slump.

 

[Knight Ed]

As most have realized, Pikiell's recruiting of an occasional solid recruit mixed in with mostly guys no one else wanted out of high school is not a sustainable formula for success. Omoruyi is a good player, but anyone who thinks Reiber, Mag, and Palmquist will be leading Rutgers into the tournament 3 years from now is nuts. Hopefully he adds another legit good player for next year and he actually is able to seal the deal on a few of the 2022 studs we are supposedly involved with.

 

[RutgersDom]

Kyke, totally disagree with you on #2. Unless there were others (please share), we definitely didn’t need more guards. You don’t screw your guys who came on board when no else would and have close relationships with. Not worth it in the long term. Quinerly? Really? Out of curiosity were they a package deal? They played together in HS. And would’ve screwed up team chemistry.

Has nothing to do with being a nice guy.

OP, please stop the nonsense with PIke...Can you start rooting for Nebraska in B Ball as well now? PLEASE???

 

[colbert17]

Makes me wonder how the OP KNOWS all these things that no one else KNOWS.
Just wondering.

 

[ancienthooper]

I’m sure Pikes acknowledges and appreciates the recitation of his mistakes, takes the guidance to heart, and promises to do better.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

I wouldn’t call 2 points a “series” but completely agree with #1; this guy seems to have been an awful hire.

 

[mildone]

One thing we cannot question pike on is his personality but he needs to stop playing mr nice guy and realizing that winning supercedes all.

1) Hiring Steve Hayn. The list of top top top tier talented hires that couldve been made to take recruiting to the next level was off the charts. When that position opened pike had his pick of the litter regarding who he couldve brought in and he hired steve hayn because he had him as an assistant already on staff in a different role? Brutal

2) talented transfers being turned down. I know for a FACT the first school that BOTH luther muhammad and jahvon quinerly hit up when they wanted to transfer was RU. Pike told jahvon no (averaging 13 ppg in SEC this year), and told luther hed take him but only if he agreed to not apply for a waiver to play this year. This is inexcusable imo.

pike needs to drop the nice guy act or were gonna be dropping the nice guy in a couple years

Since we're not playing Mr. Nice Guy in this thread, I'm gonna point out that that's a really stupid post.

No coach anywhere in D1 college sports is putting niceness ahead of winning. It's a completely ridiculous proposition just about every single time it's made by anybody about anybody (at high levels of sport). It almost always reveals a total lack of understanding of the actual thinking and details behind various coaching decisions.

It's possible a coach is too nice in certain ways that unintentionally negatively affect winning. But D1 coaches everywhere always have winning as their first priority after a player's health and safety.

 

[Shelby65]

Protecting player egos is necessary for team chemistry as well as for maintaining individuals’ good attitudes. I disagree that coaches ignore this for the sake of winning. It contributes to winning. Word also gets around to recruits about coaches and this is something they must protect.

This isn’t just a pro ball phenomenon. It’s how things go in major college Athletics too.