No Zone tonight!!

[goru7]

No zone tonight not even for 1 possession. Coach made decision he was not going to get beat by 3 of their guys shooting 40% from 3, but would take his chances with Haas either getting 2 or fouling him and same with Swanigan. Unfortunately CJ could do nothing right tonite ,with I think only 1 basket , Corey was in some type of funk with very little energy or pep in his step, which is surprising considering Coach limited his minutes. Then we got almost nothing out of Mike or Issa except a made 2 and a made 3, and did not get the normal hustle, rebounding we have come to expect. Nigel was outstanding tonight and I thought Coach should have run pick and roll every time he had the ball . As is our luck, Nigel finally shoots real well, especially from 3, and Corey and Mike and Issa do almost nothing offensively, defensively and rebounding. Would have traded one less 3 from Nigel tonight for the missed 3 with 1:05 left against Minnesota last game that likely leads to a win.
Little shame losing to Purdue, the Big 10's best team, especially when Haas has a career night, but disappointed how badly we played on the boards and defensively tonite with a lot of careless and sloppy play especially on fast breaks and run outs.

 

[goru7]

Just read Coach's post game quotes on Scarletknights.com and he basically said they tried to defend the three at all costs and thought our bigs could stay with their bigs. Admitted it probably was not a great game plan.

 

[RUonBrain]

Just read Coach's post game quotes on Scarletknights.com and he basically said they tried to defend the three at all costs and thought our bigs could stay with their bigs. Admitted it probably was not a great game plan.

And if he guarded the bigs and left the 3 open, I bet we would be saying post-game that wasn't a great game plan, either.

(Every time we doubled down, we left a 3 point shooter wide open, which often resulted in a bucket.)

Purdue is 4th best 3 point shooting team in the country.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Could be a great tourney team.

 

[goru7]

And if he guarded the bigs and left the 3 open, I bet we would be saying post-game that wasn't a great game plan, either.

(Every time we doubled down, we left a 3 point shooter wide open, which often resulted in a bucket.)

Purdue is 4th best 3 point shooting team in the country.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Could be a great tourney team.

All true, but to not even try to switch defenses back and forth as we were hanging in there early in the second half up to 10 minutes left only down 6-8, was surprising to say the least. We never got them out of their offensive rhythm in the second half and was dumping it down low to Haas way too easily.

 

[TDIrish27]

Because the coach knows what he's doing.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The OP is 100% correct here. Absolute terrible job by Pikiell for not changing the momentum with a few possessions in zone. I am talking mid way thru 2nd half when every possession they were feeding the post and we had no answer.

If anything you try to get opponent out of rythmn with a zone.

 

[willisneverrana43]

And if he guarded the bigs and left the 3 open, I bet we would be saying post-game that wasn't a great game plan, either.

(Every time we doubled down, we left a 3 point shooter wide open, which often resulted in a bucket.)

Purdue is 4th best 3 point shooting team in the country.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Could be a great tourney team.

Brian, spot on. Smart approach against a vastly more talented team, and all that Purdue then went on to do and that RU struggled to do is what happens when you play a vastly more talented team.

Better, much better, coaching is why these games are no longer 35-70 point blowouts.

If, over time, Pikiell and staff can upgrade the roster talent significantly, we've got our coach. I think that will take a few years to judge.

 

[willisneverrana43]

The OP is 100% correct here. Absolute terrible job by Pikiell for not changing the momentum with a few possessions in zone. I am talking mid way thru 2nd half when every possession they were feeding the post and we had no answer.

If anything you try to get opponent out of rythmn with a zone.

Sure, and then it starts raining threes.

 

[RUJMM78]

I agree Rutgers should have tried some zone defense to change Purdue's offensive strategy of feeding the post similar to what Wisconsin did at the end of the game and in overtime. Bottom line though Purdue has far more talent and Rutgers isn't winning B1G games scoring 55 points.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Sure, and then it starts raining threes.

You change defenses for 1 possession. Slow them down by having to identify the change and use a different set and mentality. Then grab the umbrella and have it rain 3s or get destroyed on the offensive glass.

I am NOT saying you stay in zone.

 

[MadRU]

I was surprised to see how small CJ and Shaq looked compared to Haas. He is massive.

 

[rubaseball78]

All true, but to not even try to switch defenses back and forth as we were hanging in there early in the second half up to 10 minutes left only down 6-8, was surprising to say the least. We never got them out of their offensive rhythm in the second half and was dumping it down low to Haas way too easily.

A team with that many good outside shooters will kill a zone.

 

[rubaseball78]

The OP is 100% correct here. Absolute terrible job by Pikiell for not changing the momentum with a few possessions in zone. I am talking mid way thru 2nd half when every possession they were feeding the post and we had no answer.

If anything you try to get opponent out of rythmn with a zone.

Their outside shooters probably fall asleep at night dreaming of playing against a zone.

 

[willisneverrana43]

You change defenses for 1 possession. Slow them down by having to identify the change and use a different set and mentality. Then grab the umbrella and have it rain 3s or get destroyed on the offensive glass.

I am NOT saying you stay in zone.

Let's say this limited change was the right thing to do, Coach. It's at best debatable (but really just a bad idea), and it is by no means anywhere close to "terrible" to not do it and continue with what was a smart tactic. And, no doubt, if he had switched and 3 or 4 possessions resulted in 9 to 12 points of bombs from a terrific 3-point shooting team, that would have resulted in six different threads on here and some posts on how that mistake killed any chance RU had.

When one team has more firepower from just about every position and in just about every player, you pick you poison. And trying to take away the 3 was the smart move.

RU lost by 20 to a team to which it should have lost by 20--or with a different coach, more. That's what really happened.

 

[goru7]

Their outside shooters probably fall asleep at night dreaming of playing against a zone.

You really think they have not seen other Big 10 zone them this year? Come on now. We are talking about mixing up zone and man and press and half court or three quarters trap, to disrupt their second half rhythm. They got what they wanted too easily.

 

[goru7]

Because the coach knows what he's doing.

I guess you didn't read his post game comments where he admitted that what he did was not a very good idea.

 

[rubaseball78]

You really think they have not seen other Big 10 zone them this year? Come on now. We are talking about mixing up zone and man and press and half court or three quarters trap, to disrupt their second half rhythm. They got what they wanted too easily.

They would get what they want more easily if you went to a straight zone. If you went to a zone press, then I agree with you.

 

[toby83]

And if he guarded the bigs and left the 3 open, I bet we would be saying post-game that wasn't a great game plan, either.

(Every time we doubled down, we left a 3 point shooter wide open, which often resulted in a bucket.)

Purdue is 4th best 3 point shooting team in the country.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Could be a great tourney team.

I think they will have trouble in tournament defensively with quick guard driven offenses.

 

[goru7]

They would get what they want more easily if you went to a straight zone. If you went to a zone press, then I agree with you.

Frankly, I think he should have played them like he played Wisconsin, but I think he said in the post game that he needed more time to prepare. Wisconsin , I think he had 5-6 days and Purdue only 2 days. They are similar with Hayes and Happ as compared to Swanigan and Haas and similar shooters in Koenig and Showalter as compared to Mathias and Edwards. Thought they could have been pressed some more . They do not have a lot of weaknesses but I bet some NCAA team is going to press them instead of going straight up against them in the half court. Coach knows everything he is doing and this post was made not as a rant but rather out of surprise, especially since after their flurry of 5 threes early they only made 3 of the next 15, similar to the way Wisconsin shot against us at MSG .

 

[rubaseball78]

Frankly, I think he should have played them like he played Wisconsin, but I think he said in the post game that he needed more time to prepare. Wisconsin , I think he had 5-6 days and Purdue only 2 days. They are similar with Hayes and Happ as compared to Swanigan and Haas and similar shooters in Koenig and Showalter as compared to Mathias and Edwards. Thought they could have been pressed some more . They do not have a lot of weaknesses but I bet some NCAA team is going to press them instead of going straight up against them in the half court. Coach knows everything he is doing and this post was made not as a rant but rather out of surprise, especially since after their flurry of 5 threes early they only made 3 of the next 15, similar to the way Wisconsin shot against us at MSG .

I probably would have tried pressing a little more. He did it a few times and fell back into man. I don't recall whether they got easy scores or not.

 

[goru7]

I probably would have tried pressing a little more. He did it a few times and fell back into man. I don't recall whether they got easy scores or not.

They pressed half heartedly and not like Wisconsin because they dropped back to zone against Wisconsin, who ended up taking every shot with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock. Purdue got no fast break points because they pulled back after beating the press and we played man instead of zone for 25 seconds. The energy expended compared to Wisconsin was night and day.