No one of the negative posters
- Thread starter rubjk
- Start date
Didn’t take long for this thread to come back to reality. You can’t recruit like the NEC. You need basketball players in the B1G.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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As someone who watches alot of st peters games, theyd give us a really good game and have a decent chance of beating us. Iona would run us out of the gym and monmouth likely beats us too. This is a really good year for that conference. Has a chance of being a 2 bid league
I’m the op. I really could care less that you think I’m a moron. Your reply added nothing to the conversation.
If the team hustles, plays strong defense, crashes the boards like we did against Clemson we will win some games.
I’m guessing Pike I’m thinking the team was very good, didn’t see the team not hustling, playing soft, standing around, not blocking out etc.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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The team was the same last year, remember the 5 game loosing streak last year? Rutgers has been a team that has to out hustle it’s opponents. When we don’t give effort we look very very bad.
If every team didn't run an offense, college basketball would be worse than high school basketball. You have no idea what you're talking about.
We didn’t do anything different last year offense wise? Explain the success? The team was also fun to watch.
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The success was that Jacob young is an animal and he took the best player on the other team out of every single game. He could also get to the basket and create offense with his rare speed. He as well as past players like Eugene also looked exasperated that we ran no form of offense. That is not sustainable success. Especially if you're going to land players like reiber and palmquist that move like they are in molasses to replace real athletes.
We need to run an offense. That is not even a question. We need to run an offense. The end of the Houston game is what happens when you do not run an offense. And I can assure you, that wasn't fun.
Never said we shouldn’t run an offense. Obviously a lock down defense and a capable offense will be successful.
At no point in time was that what we had last year. It was literally just pure effort from JY making up for having zero offense and creating something from nothing.thats why people don't appreciate enough the man who quite literally sheer willed up into the tournament.
You're absolutely right. There's way too many losers from the football board, including one in particular, who come over here to rip the team after a loss but disappear after a win.
Reminder: last year's men's basketball team was more successful than ANY Rutgers football team in the modern era. Winning some low-tier bowl is nothing compared to making the NCAA Tournament *and* winning a game there.
No but your point that we had success without an offense last year indicates you think it's ok to continue with the status quo. It's not. There are high school coaches that could school pikiell on the court right now.
It is not ridiculous at all. How is it high schools are running more intricate offensive systems than rutgers? Can you explain that to me?
Can you explain what high school coach in America has a resume as both a player and coach that is anywhere in the same stratosphere as Pikes? This is so moronic I feel like I’ve embarrassed myself by taking the bait.
No your mind reading is on the fritz. Just because it worked doesn’t mean I want it to stay the same. Not a single fan doesn’t want to see year in year out growth. I want to see high energy lock down defense and a capable offense.
I also don’t call people morons like a 3 year old. I can have an intelligent conversation with someone who has a different opinion and not resort to name calling. You should strive to grow as a human and try it sometime. You can grow just like Pike and the team can.
Want to thank the OP for coralling the "Pike Pitchfork" crew and the "Jacob was Jesus" crew all on one thread.
Tell me the difference between this years team and last years team, which should have gone to the sweet 16 other than two transfers….one of them being Jesus as you say?
A lot more passion and effort is a big part of it. Really only seen the effort once this year.
JY certainly always played full out and is missed.
Effort and passion.
You hear this a lot in sports.
Without naming players, do you think we have players who could look in the mirror at themselves after a game and say “ you didn’t give your best today” or….do you think the players in question are in their minds giving everything they have?
I’ve come to find collective efforts at times can appear and look lazy, yet every player is giving every ounce of effort.
It’s an intangible that can’t be explained, but happens often in high level competition
Rutgers will always have a small margin for error because of scoring droughts that occur in most game.
It's three transfers. Young, Mathis and Johnson. They were 3 of the top 5 scorers. And Mathis was fourth, and he's doing just fine right now with St. John's. The only solid replacement for those top 5 scorers is Cliff, but moving him up to a top scorer left his backup position dry.
We lost most of our best scorers and strong defenders and have not really replaced them, at least so far. And none of them timed out; they each just left. That highlights the concern with Pike on personnel and recruiting, be it from HS, the portal or his own players.
Either Pike was right and these new players step up and we get a strong team, or the bad stuff continues and the concerns about his being able to get and keep strong personnel continue.
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I disagree. I’m not and have never been otherwise negative on Pike, but there’s just no way he could’ve thought this team was a Sweet 16 caliber team (I.e. better than all previous teams). We simply are not strong enough up front and he had to realize this from the onset. We didnt even dominated in the paint against low majors.
My post was an assessment of the fanbase not the team. Note that I didn't call JY "Jesus" - but rather my comment is based on some people martyring him as the entire team last year. Also - in case you haven't been reading posts on this board or in this thread, there is a contingent of fans who are jumping ship or have the pitchforks out for Pike.
If you want to give full credit to JY for everything that happened last year such as the poster quoted below - that's your choice. But last I checked, basketball is a team sport with a lot of moving parts and to give all the credit to one player and none to anyone else. Also - it should be noted that Pike brought JY to Rutgers and he would have graduated already if not for the COVID eligibility rule changes - so basketball as with life transitions and changes.
The team is not playing well this year and it's concerning, frustrating and exasperating for any fan. But we are 8 games removed from our first Tourney appearance in 30 years over 8 head coaches. Based on that, obviously coaching to a level of continued success is not an easy task at RU - yet people want to fire Pike already - many expressing the reason for his overstated optimism about how great he thought this roster was.
Forgetting the facts of just how bad this team was when Pike took over and his continued progression as well as the fact that he is owed/guaranteed another $13.5 Million through the 25-26 season the guy needs some breathing room to tweak, correct, adjust in coaching, transfers and recruiting.....just like the rest of us humans.....learn and grow from our mistakes.
This team is going to be worse than when pikiell took over once cliff transfers. Name a single player as good as freeman or sanders on next year's team outside of cliff (who is likely gone). It's not gonna take a long time. It's happening next year.
I love how everyone assumes Cliff is going to transfer because he was a high rated recruit so we assume he's out if we're losing.
There is no base for this claim. I sit right behind the bench, literally when cliff comes out he sits 3 feet in front of me. He is super engaged and has a great attitude about him on and off the court from everything I see.
I'd genuinely be shocked if he transferred, he doesn't seem like that kind of kid.
I think it’s likely both. Caleb, Paul, Jalen and Cliff are the only four that look me to leave everything on the floor. The other’s have not at times especially when shots aren’t falling. Problem is that’s when it’s most needed.
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OK - other than coming over here from the Football board to continually whine and throw haymakers on this board when things are bad........what's your plan?
Do you think “the others” believe in their hearts they’re giving 100% all out efforts?
I say they do
Many fans saw the current state of Rutgers basketball coming because of the low quality recruits we were bringing in. Other fans either aren't great at assessing high school kids or admittedly turned a blind eye and said coach knows what's right.
My question is, are any of the people who gave fellow Rutgers fans crap when we complained about some of these very questionable recruits now thinking to themselves "hey, I guess I was wrong"?
My question is, are any of the people who gave fellow Rutgers fans crap when we complained about some of these very questionable recruits now thinking to themselves "hey, I guess I was wrong"?
Too many people view recruits with scarlet colored glasses.
I think we got a bit lucky the last two years with some outcomes and we are getting hit hard with regression.
We lost 3 of our 4 games by one possesion.
Depaul - 33-6 in FT
Lafayette - Let them hang around and got unlucky at the end
UMass - blew a 17 pt lead.
If we won all 3 games and were 6-1, the mood around here would be completely different.
Fans tend to focus on when they are "right" about things and forget when they are "wrong". This especially applies to recruits. If we're being honest, most on this board know very little about which recruits will perform and which won't. Our data points as fans consist of ratings/commentary, offer lists and perhaps even video clips. Most on this board also have no intimate knowledge of how easy or difficult it is to land a recruit at RU. I would imagine its a bit of a crapshoot recruiting players outside of the Top 100-150. From an outsider perspective, it does appear to be very difficult based on the number of coaches and years in being able to put together an sustain a quality roster even prior to Pike. Fans tend to say that the coach knows what's right, because in fact he likely does know much more about what's right than any typical fan. That does not mean he's infallible or does not make mistakes......all coaches do.
IMO as a fan it is much easier being negative. It's a win-win. When things go wrong, you get to say you were right and rub it in with the "I told you so" commentary as if you are some type of BBall sage. When the team does well, you get to celebrate along with everyone else anyway.
There's a thread on the front page of this forum to Fire Pike -Hire Pitino that was started in March '21 after a loss to Nebraska. I don't recall you expecting a Mea-Culpa "Hey I was Wrong" from the OP or ensuing posters as we went on to make the 2nd Round of the Tourney last year. Now it's en vogue to resurrect that thread and apply it for this season after eight games or create Poll Threads about how bad RU's roster will be next year and certain posters claiming over and over again how Cliff and Jones will transfer and would be stupid to stay. Will you be tracking down those people for apologies if RU turns it around or if Cliff & Jones stay?
I am genuinely enjoying Jacob Young basically becoming a sort of urban legend around here over the course of less than a year.
Did you know Jacob Young has a pet blue ox named Babe? He found it when he was six years old while chopping down one of Michael Young’s cherry trees with a hatchet that was gifted to him. Upon hearing this story, Greg Schiano promptly came up with the motto “Keep Chopping”
You don't have to be a "sage" to judge recruiting. Many if us have watched for decades and can actually form a fairly decent opinion on a recruit. We can also form an opinion that this team is short on talent. There is no magic switch that will fix that.
This is it right here. I think everyone now sees that the guys who left carried them guys who are still here, or in some cases, we’re never fully utilized to the degree a coach who emphasizes offense and points would have utilized them.
I think at this point there are NBA teams that would probably consider (and advise Cliff) the best thing would be for him to declare and ultimately not get drafted but go into G League to develop his game with an eye toward professional ball rather than waste time developing within the college game which doesn’t suit him as favorably.
Ok, now that is something I can at least understand, if he leaves to go to the GLeague or play overseas, I get it.
I don't see him transferring though.
So then tell me, what is the basis of how you form an opinion on a recruit prior to that recruit joining RU? In other words, how do you personally know if that recruit will perform well or not? I'm a basketball junkie - not only have I been closely following RU Basketball for 4 Decades - but I also watch a significant amount of College and NBA basketball as well as spend time coaching 2 youth teams. I honestly have very little idea how a recruit will perform at RU. I don't have access to their work ethic nor how quickly they learn & adapt - plus high school kids are still developing and growing.
