On the Banks: Carino Talks the Season, Recruiting and Assistants
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Nice Q&A. Very bullish on Mulcahy and Geo. I do think figuring out the guard rotation will be the biggest challenge going into next year. Seems like people around the program really respected Jay Young’s work. Will be interesting to see how the final roster and staff slots play out.
To our experts on the board:
JC -
I’ve seen some message-board commentary about Baker not being good enough to make an impact at this level and I firmly reject that. Steve Pikiell trusts him implicitly and that should tell you something. He just needs more help, like most non-superstars, and I believe he will shine when he gets it next winter.
JC -
I’ve seen some message-board commentary about Baker not being good enough to make an impact at this level and I firmly reject that. Steve Pikiell trusts him implicitly and that should tell you something. He just needs more help, like most non-superstars, and I believe he will shine when he gets it next winter.
On Paul..." I will be surprised if he doesn’t get the keys to the offense either from day one or early on."
Carino is one of the best and is around the program a ton.
Not disputing that. You will mostly get a positive spin from him and most beat reporters. If not they risk losing access.
He didn't think our season last year would be near as good as it was. I think he even thought there was a chance we would win 5 games.
Not true in Jerry's case. He predicted RU would win 11 games at the start of this past season, which was on the low end.
best thing I heard from those in the know (parents)--this team really gets along together very well --hope it continues
Best thing I've heard is actually something I haven't heard. There are always rumors this time of year of players looking to transfer out. I haven't heard any this year. That's a very good sign.
Take a lot of that with a grain of salt.....a lot of articles and comments are designed to set up forecasted articles in the future. There's nothing to suggest Young has an uncertain role or a question of his talent level, based on the practices he's contributed to in the past year. And he has a 25 point game vs Texas Tech, just as much as Caleb McConnell had a 25 point game at Illinois.
One 25 point game is kinda written off by fans here because he happened at Texas, one is viewed as the sign of the future with McConnell, which is still a small sample size of minutes to consider..... If Mulcahy had a 25 point game against a Power 5 opponent, there would be a onrush of comments about how wrong fans were about Mulcahy and his ability and whether he's going to stay all 4 years in college. Mulcahy becomes the easiest topic to focus on, he's talented, he's in state highly touted prospect, he's playing a position where he's going to have the ball in his hands and he's grown up in the eyes of many fans over an extended period of time.
This roster has a lot of growing up to do this spring and summer and a roster to shake out of playing time. Mulcahy getting the ball, will be earned, not given and he has the most to prove to be the 5th guard with Baker, Mathis, Young and McConnell having already proven some level of success at this level. That also has not factored in what I think will be the last true push for Peter Kiss to maintain minutes on this roster, after an uneven season over 30 games.
There are far more questions beyond how much Mulcahy plays or doesn't play. Defense, rebounding, recruiting, replacing an assistant coach and Eugene's knee and who his backup actually is, are way ahead of Mulcahy right now on order of what should impact a breakthrough season for RU hoops.
My focus remains on the 3 true freshman and how far of a jump does Mathis, Harper and McConnell make from April to November. If each takes a step forward in confidence, skill sets and strength/conditioning, RU has something to work with. We need 2 of the 3 to improve and one to maintain their level of play from last year. If we get all 3 to improve (no sophomore slumps), the rest takes care of itself.
One 25 point game is kinda written off by fans here because he happened at Texas, one is viewed as the sign of the future with McConnell, which is still a small sample size of minutes to consider..... If Mulcahy had a 25 point game against a Power 5 opponent, there would be a onrush of comments about how wrong fans were about Mulcahy and his ability and whether he's going to stay all 4 years in college. Mulcahy becomes the easiest topic to focus on, he's talented, he's in state highly touted prospect, he's playing a position where he's going to have the ball in his hands and he's grown up in the eyes of many fans over an extended period of time.
This roster has a lot of growing up to do this spring and summer and a roster to shake out of playing time. Mulcahy getting the ball, will be earned, not given and he has the most to prove to be the 5th guard with Baker, Mathis, Young and McConnell having already proven some level of success at this level. That also has not factored in what I think will be the last true push for Peter Kiss to maintain minutes on this roster, after an uneven season over 30 games.
There are far more questions beyond how much Mulcahy plays or doesn't play. Defense, rebounding, recruiting, replacing an assistant coach and Eugene's knee and who his backup actually is, are way ahead of Mulcahy right now on order of what should impact a breakthrough season for RU hoops.
My focus remains on the 3 true freshman and how far of a jump does Mathis, Harper and McConnell make from April to November. If each takes a step forward in confidence, skill sets and strength/conditioning, RU has something to work with. We need 2 of the 3 to improve and one to maintain their level of play from last year. If we get all 3 to improve (no sophomore slumps), the rest takes care of itself.
Good stuff Dave. Thanks. I found everything Carino talked about, is what most of us concluded here too: i.e., we need a skilled big, be it from the grad transfer route or juco ranks. We have great depth at guard, and based on what I learned in this article, I hope Pikiell DOES employ that three-quarter press they worked on last year, because we really didn't see it, if at all.
One other comment: I like what he said about Baker. He believes like I do that once the pressure is taken off Baker having to play out of position as pg, Baker will thrive in the 2 guard or combo guard position. I think next year we will see a much better shooter in Geo from the outside. We know he can drive, but I think having to play pg most of the season, he hit that wall again at the end of the year.
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Hard not to be excited for Rutgers basketball.
I think the player who has to have a big off season is Mathis.
The potential of Myles Johnson and Caleb McConnell is very easy to see. I believed both would have big ceilings before the season started, and they started to build the house last year. McConnell is a great kid, and pushed through tough situations last year outside of the game of basketball. Very happy for him.
Excited for the future. I am also a Fairfield fan, and know Young was a hell of a coach. The next hire may be more important than a player in terms of what they can bring to the hardwood. We will need a coach to focus on defense and rebounding like Young did.
I think the player who has to have a big off season is Mathis.
The potential of Myles Johnson and Caleb McConnell is very easy to see. I believed both would have big ceilings before the season started, and they started to build the house last year. McConnell is a great kid, and pushed through tough situations last year outside of the game of basketball. Very happy for him.
Excited for the future. I am also a Fairfield fan, and know Young was a hell of a coach. The next hire may be more important than a player in terms of what they can bring to the hardwood. We will need a coach to focus on defense and rebounding like Young did.
While in theory that makes sense, usually a program that can add potential pieces that can fit into your Top 9 or 10 rotation, doesn't live or die with any one class.
Young & Mulcahy are just as important as the 3 or 4 freshman that played last year are....and just as important as Baker and Doucoure etc...
Doucoure and his slower than hoped for start, has not been a factor because of Shaq Carter and Myles Johnson. Issa Thiam and his lack of development and departure is softened by Harper, McConnell and potentially a grad transfer.
Kiss went from very much a factor last spring of 2018, to potentially out of the rotation this coming season by December of 2019.
Let's just see how this spring and summer goes in recruiting and player development before jumping the gun.
I am very patient. Not sure about everyone else. The success in the next 2 years on the court will have a lot to do with the development of the freshman. Outside of the uber-positive fans the jury has to be out on every single player on this roster.
If 1 of the 4 freshman take their games to a higher level I don’t see a path to significant improvement
Eugene is gone in 2 years . HUGE loss. HUGE loss
If 1 of the 4 freshman take their games to a higher level I don’t see a path to significant improvement
Eugene is gone in 2 years . HUGE loss. HUGE loss
I agree. Whatever you think of Carino he certainly has (more than most) insight in to Pikiell's thinking. Geo played on the ball last year by necessity and I think he did an admirable job. But it seems pretty obvious with the additions of Young and Mulcahy (going after and missing on Alvarado) that Coach would ideally like Geo playing some real minutes as the off guard. Like Geo did his frosh season. We are better if that happens.
I am not sure if Eugene is a loss after this season or not. I believe in the theory that more touches spread out amongst teammates makes the entire unit better.
Eugene has a unique skill set because he is the most adept low post player. He's the best defender and toughest player. But there's always been a thought that players are a huge loss and in cases during a rebuild, those items are magnified. I'm not quite so sure the next 2 seasons are reliant on how well Eugene plays next year and how they can replace him the following year.
Recruiting in the next 3 to 12 months will determine much more for the next 3 years of the program's ultimate goal of being a consistent winner (over .500 overall and entering that space of being in the NIT bubble discussion).
The Rutgers team surprised everyone with the 7 league wins which gives reason for optimism going into next season.At the same time the team still failed to achieve a winning season which was deeply disappointing along with the loss to Nebraska in the B1G Tournament.
To move forward in league rankings returning players must show continued improvement in scoring which was the biggest weakness of the team.The lack of consistent go to scorers in crunch time clearly impacted the outcome of some games which could have resulted in wins.
This will be a critical season for the coaching staff and players.Prior improvement increases expectations that there will be a steady climb upward.History has shown that Rutgers hasn't sustained improvement season to season but rather losing has been the constant.Breaking the cycle of losing will require a number of players stepping up big time .The B1G is too tough a conference for minimal progress.
To move forward in league rankings returning players must show continued improvement in scoring which was the biggest weakness of the team.The lack of consistent go to scorers in crunch time clearly impacted the outcome of some games which could have resulted in wins.
This will be a critical season for the coaching staff and players.Prior improvement increases expectations that there will be a steady climb upward.History has shown that Rutgers hasn't sustained improvement season to season but rather losing has been the constant.Breaking the cycle of losing will require a number of players stepping up big time .The B1G is too tough a conference for minimal progress.
Normally I think like you regarding players who touch the ball a lot offensively and sometimes too much. I get killed saying we would be better without Corey.
I think his defense will be missed a ton.
Almost like a Corey Sanders situation where our defense went down quite a bit with him leaving. Mostly because he left and partly because of the players who replaced him.
Some posters will be right and some posters will be wrong OR everyone will be right.
I agree entirely with you about EO. I also think that with all the talk about our guards, the guy whose improvement gets us into the top half of the league is Myles Johnson.
I think it’s who’s not year yet, via the 2020 class, that will define the coaching staff. The current talent gives stability. But if we want to climb the standings we need more talented youth to push and blend with the core in place now.
The EO replacement is the most important recruit we need to hit on We are pretty set with guards and wings
Next year he is a senior year 1
Following year he is gone year 2.
You know I know Eugene will be a senior
I don't think this is an issue if we have to work with 2019-2020 first.
A) RU is looking to supplement what we get from Eugene from the existing roster.
B) RU is also looking to compliment what Eugene brings, when he's not on the floor with another recruit, whether grad transfer, JUCO, 2019 recruit or sit out transfer.
The key isn't replacing Eugene, it's getting productive minutes that shows Eugene takes that one last step as a player and shoots 95 to 100 3s this season. When you've had 2 tough knee injuries and are given space to shoot, he has to be willing to take 3 or so 3's per game and knock down at least 1. Mix that with his improved, clutch FT shooting (75% goal) & he can get a more efficient 12 to 14PPG, with less shots, touches, in a few less minutes per game.
A) RU is looking to supplement what we get from Eugene from the existing roster.
B) RU is also looking to compliment what Eugene brings, when he's not on the floor with another recruit, whether grad transfer, JUCO, 2019 recruit or sit out transfer.
The key isn't replacing Eugene, it's getting productive minutes that shows Eugene takes that one last step as a player and shoots 95 to 100 3s this season. When you've had 2 tough knee injuries and are given space to shoot, he has to be willing to take 3 or so 3's per game and knock down at least 1. Mix that with his improved, clutch FT shooting (75% goal) & he can get a more efficient 12 to 14PPG, with less shots, touches, in a few less minutes per game.
I think it was brutally obvious how important Eugene was to last year’s team.
Can we be a better offensive team if we replace Eugene’s spot with a player who looks like the new traditional 4? I can see it.
Let’s not underestimate how hard it is to find that player you look for who is positive contributor on both ends.
It is not a coincidence we haven’t had that player at Rutgers. There is a supply demand imbalance for those players.
Please don’t think Eugene’s position can be plugged by a JUCO or grad transfer. Needle in a haystack.
Can we be a better offensive team if we replace Eugene’s spot with a player who looks like the new traditional 4? I can see it.
Let’s not underestimate how hard it is to find that player you look for who is positive contributor on both ends.
It is not a coincidence we haven’t had that player at Rutgers. There is a supply demand imbalance for those players.
Please don’t think Eugene’s position can be plugged by a JUCO or grad transfer. Needle in a haystack.
Rutgers will find someone. Pikiell specifically goes after recruits like Omoruyi. Will he replace him perfectly? Does he need to? No.
He can find a recruit that does some things better than Omoruyi, and some things worse.
Omoruyi is a very valuable piece to the team. It is not life or death of the program if they do not find someone exactly like him.
What's more important is that recruiting continues to go well for program, players improve this off season(Mathis, Kiss) enough that they win a good amount of games next year. I believe they will. Many of us predicted the amount of games they won this past season.
He can find a recruit that does some things better than Omoruyi, and some things worse.
Omoruyi is a very valuable piece to the team. It is not life or death of the program if they do not find someone exactly like him.
What's more important is that recruiting continues to go well for program, players improve this off season(Mathis, Kiss) enough that they win a good amount of games next year. I believe they will. Many of us predicted the amount of games they won this past season.
A few things here....
...they both have a 25+ pt game, yes (Young had 29, fwiw). But it is hard to equate them. CM's came 2/3 of the way through his freshman campaign, and he followed it with 3 more double digit performances. JY's came on his second to last game as a sophomore, after which he scored just 8 over a 40 min game and then sat out for a year.
...they play very different games. At TX, JY was an off-ball volume shooter from beyond the arc. In his soph season, in just 22 more minutes than CM's freshman season, he put up 42 more shots.... for just 17 more points. CM was also a better rebounder, and played more with the ball in his hands.
...CM is taller, and JY is faster... which is two different looks on defense. While CM can likely be more effective when switched onto an opposing 3, JY will likely be more effective on the opposing 1.
TX fans were definitely looking at his 29 point breakout game as a sign of the future, until he announced his transfer. Now he's sat out a year, and by all outward appearances will be asked to play a completely different role within Pike's offense (on ball, penetrating, dishing, getting to the line) than he was playing at TX (off ball, camping outside the arc). That's where I question his role.... I don't think what he did at TX fits within Pike's system. We don't need a trigger-happy guy hanging out in the corner shooting .323 as much as we need a guy who can penetrate and make plays for better shooters beyond the arc.
Both CM and JY have roles (as does Mulcahy), but there are only so many minutes to go around in a fight for minutes with Baker, Mathis, and Harper.
