Observations vs. Niagara

[PhilaPhans]

I still believe that Niagara is indeed an awful team, but we're all free to disagree. The only size they had was their one good player at the guard spot, and he was no more than 6'4. They had nobody that could break you off the dribble. No size up front. They were able to hit shots for whatever reason, and yes, the kid that went off on us was pretty decent. We'll get a good idea how good they are when they play Drexel next (go transitive property!).

Yes, this team is absolutely night and day above last year. We should all be thrilled at the progress. It's so nice to watch competitive basketball. It's not about wins and losses. It's about the product on the court. The four teams we've played aren't world beaters. But you just know they're playing the right way, and you know things are changing in a positive way.

My criticism isn't based on last year, though. It's based on how I believe this team is capable of playing. When I typed the "we were playing awful" comment, it was around the time of the first run in the 2nd half. Yes, it was some hyperbole, but I truly believe this should have been a 30+ point win. Doesn't mean I wasn't smiling at what I was seeing. I'm just that high on the abilities of this team this year, compared to what we've seen in the past.

 

[RU-ROCS]

I think you're being overly critical in your first paragraph. Yes, Niagra is not a very good team, but Scott went off and had the game of his life scoring thirty points, with major assists by the officials, who were calling every ticky-tacky foul known to man. Yes, the NCAA has cracked down on hand-touching, but today's game was absurd in the number of calls on that going against us. In addition, those technicals on Corey and Freeman were beyond ridiculous. I don't know what Corey said the second time, but he only got out three words before getting his second technical. That official with the dark hair needs to show more restraint.
.

I agree. What was particularly maddening was that the Niagra ballhandlers would often initiate contact with an arm bar, that is also supposed to be a foul, but it was never called.

 

[bac2therac]

Ill just jump in here and give some thoughts

I do agree with the OP, I think Niagara is pretty awful, looking at their scores this year they do not have a good defense so I was surprised that RU had so much difficulty getting any momentum offensively in the first half. I think it had everything to do with Rutgers and nothing with Niagara or officiating. RU just wasnt as crisp and focused they were in the 3 other games this year. But you know what, that is okay, the team is still learning to play together, still learning about how to handle the expectations to be the better team and take control. So what was so great about today is that RU was able to cruise to a win pretty easily without playing their A or even B game.

Key point of the game of course was when Niagara went up 42-41 and then RU went on a 16-0, I think after RU made that 3 and a basket to go up 46-42, you could realize the light switch turn on defensively and the players upped the energy level and their game and it was lights out after that.

Loved Johnson today, a great bounceback game after struggling at De Paul and RU needed him to step up and close the game after Sanders was ejected. Corey again trying to adjust to his new role so not all that sharp tonight and he has to cut that immaturity that led to him being tossed out. Loved the distibution and loved that we continue to see things evolve as team orientated and not relying too much on one guy to do everything or force something. RU again cleaned up on the boards but seemed to do it way better in the second half. Fouling was a concern as it Niagara got to the line 12 more times, some on bad officiating, some on our guys just needed to adjust better. But again to win by double digits when your opponents hit 9 more free throws is a good sign. Defensively it was way better in the 2nd half but I think RU's big weakness seems to be guarding the perimeter as Niagara hit 8-16..thats something to watch for in league play

So 4-0 for the first time since 2000-2001 season and while competition has generally been weak, this is a program that won only 7 times last year, they already have 4. Starting 6-0 would seem likely at this point. The real tests ahead are Miami, Stony Brook, Fordham, and Seton Hall. So thats when we find out how real this team is. So much improvement we have seen thus far but lets be careful putting too much expectations on the future this year until we see how they fare in those 4 games

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Ill just jump in here and give some thoughts

I do agree with the OP, I think Niagara is pretty awful, looking at their scores this year they do not have a good defense so I was surprised that RU had so much difficulty getting any momentum offensively in the first half. I think it had everything to do with Rutgers and nothing with Niagara or officiating. RU just wasnt as crisp and focused they were in the 3 other games this year. But you know what, that is okay, the team is still learning to play together, still learning about how to handle the expectations to be the better team and take control. So what was so great about today is that RU was able to cruise to a win pretty easily without playing their A or even B game.

Key point of the game of course was when Niagara went up 42-41 and then RU went on a 16-0, I think after RU made that 3 and a basket to go up 46-42, you could realize the light switch turn on defensively and the players upped the energy level and their game and it was lights out after that.

Loved Johnson today, a great bounceback game after struggling at De Paul and RU needed him to step up and close the game after Sanders was ejected. Corey again trying to adjust to his new role so not all that sharp tonight and he has to cut that immaturity that led to him being tossed out. Loved the distibution and loved that we continue to see things evolve as team orientated and not relying too much on one guy to do everything or force something. RU again cleaned up on the boards but seemed to do it way better in the second half. Fouling was a concern as it Niagara got to the line 12 more times, some on bad officiating, some on our guys just needed to adjust better. But again to win by double digits when your opponents hit 9 more free throws is a good sign. Defensively it was way better in the 2nd half but I think RU's big weakness seems to be guarding the perimeter as Niagara hit 8-16..thats something to watch for in league play

So 4-0 for the first time since 2000-2001 season and while competition has generally been weak, this is a program that won only 7 times last year, they already have 4. Starting 6-0 would seem likely at this point. The real tests ahead are Miami, Stony Brook, Fordham, and Seton Hall. So thats when we find out how real this team is. So much improvement we have seen thus far but lets be careful putting too much expectations on the future this year until we see how they fare in those 4 games

I'm not as convince that Stony Brook and Fordham are going to challenge Rutgers like Miami and Seton Hall will. I think it will be a good game for Rutgers, but they should win both. Miami is the game I want Rutgers to rise to the occasion. I do wish that game was at a neutral site. Rutgers is going to need the guards (Sanders, Johnson, and Williams) to control the game with their speed, scoring ability, ball pressure and toughness. The bigs will play off that energy.

 

[LSRF]

Wow, this is like watching a basketball team. Shows what coaching can do. Refs needed to give it a rest & not become the game. It's not biddy-ball.

Its coaching but it's also players. This roster is 500% better than last year

 

[RUinFla]

Yes, Scott had 30. But 14 were on free throws. Huge disparity in FT's attempted--didn't look like that was warranted, but the TV screen has been known to lie.
TL

 

[nirrad]

Congrats to our guys. Halfway there to best last seasons win total.

 

[nirrad]

Congrats to our guys. Halfway there to best last seasons win total.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Yes, Scott had 30. But 14 were on free throws. Huge disparity in FT's attempted--didn't look like that was warranted, but the TV screen has been known to lie.
TL

And he shot the technical foul shots too. There were big time ticky tack fouls called on us in this game.

 

[richthedentist]

Yeah the one ref with the black hair singlehandedly tried to keep Niagara in the game

 

[jonS]

I also disagree that Niagara is awful. Scott is a big time player and Robb had some very nice minutes. What Niagara lacked was quality guard play, especially at the point. This was one of those games that Rutgers would have lost in the past. The defense was not as good as in the previous games (especially boxing out) and their starters were not very productive but the depth on the bench provided the needed spark. The team will be fun to watch again , thank you Coach Pikiell.

 

[Mr_Twister]

I'm not as convince that Stony Brook and Fordham are going to challenge Rutgers like Miami and Seton Hall will. I think it will be a good game for Rutgers, but they should win both. Miami is the game I want Rutgers to rise to the occasion. I do wish that game was at a neutral site. Rutgers is going to need the guards (Sanders, Johnson, and Williams) to control the game with their speed, scoring ability, ball pressure and toughness. The bigs will play off that energy.

Miami has a great coach and great talent. Very tough matchup. Sagarin has it at an almost 20 point win for Miami.

 

[MORUFAN]

Didn't see the game but one stat that impressed me was Sa's 4 blocks in 13 minutes of play.

 

[dollarbill]

The amazing thing is that the game never seemed to be in doubt. This is a different team heading in a different direction.Players fighting for PT is a healthy thing for the program. Looking forward to heading back next week. $$$$

 

[FIJI'83]

1) Niagra is not an awful team and 2) not only did we not play an awful game, we played well for most of game. Game was quite entertaining to watch. Most impressed with defensive intensity and aggressive rebounding. It is also clear the HC is the real deal - Hobbs got this choice right.

 

[Pritz99]

After watching a number of games, I get the feeling the refs are gong overboard enforcing the new rules with the intention of backing off some once conference games begin. What better way to get everyone's attention with games that are not as meaningful?

 

[RUHouston]

For the first time in quite some time I'm totally stoked to watch this team again!

It's not hard to imagine last year's team could've been 1-3 at this point, either.

Back to the present, this team, as some have said, is plain fun to watch! As to filling the RAC, it'll come. Winning is contagious.

I also can't help but wonder if we'll see a sort of repeat of history from when Bob took over after the Littlepage years and we immediately played much better. I'm not naïve to think we're going to win the B1G (a la winning the A-10 in '89) but I'd love to see the RAC rockin' again! It's long overdue!

 

[RutgHoops]

Neither the best nor the worst college basketball teams play 30 consistent, identical basketball games. Sometimes a bad team plays well. Sometimes a really good team plays poorly.

Time will tell if Niagara is a decent team or not. Early results are not promising. But in this one game I thought they played pretty well. Their big guy frustrated us a bit, they kept us off the boards better than any team thus far and their scorer got really, really hot. Thats what I saw in this one game.

 

[bowlgoal]

I do not believe that Niagra is an awful team at all. Their losses have not been terrible and they've played an OK schedule. You can have your opinion though. I think they we win their share of league games.

Every college team has shooters and they are no exception. The difference comes in both rebounding, defense and making your free throws all of which we did better. Every now and then, you blow a team out but that was a solid win.

 

[rudad02]

Its coaching but it's also players. This roster is 500% better than last year

Players are better, but it's still a team game & you have to coach them up. It is evident that that is going on here.

 

[bowlgoal]

This Rutgers team is magically in the right spots on almost every possession. #13 had 30 points and hit some tough shots. Just like with DePaul, they made a few shots in the last minute or two they dropped the score to a lesser number. It just does not matter if you've watched the full game. We were able to take control of every game and put the other team away. These are games where this should happen but unfortunately that has not been the case in a very long time.

I wouldn't want to criticize anything that Piekell is doing so far. He's a real coach.

 

[RutgHoops]

Just watched Coach Pikiell's post game presser:

"We have to stop reffing the games. We have to play basketball. We're young. We'll learn"

I love this guy.

 

[e5fdny]

I had a lot of fun watching this game. That's what it is about for me, fun. It hasn't been fun for a while, not only because of the results but because of the school's investment in the program. I'm bullish on the future, and that is fun.

John hopefully we can start getting some more Basketball coverage on the recruiting side of things now that they're doing better.

I have to give the man credit when it's due...because the coverage is there on the RT when we have news to talk about.

He has his guys writing and telling us something when the info is there.

I assume since the rosters are so much smaller compared to FB the BB recruiting news is just on a smaller scale?