Pike Needs to Hire an Assistant to Install an Offense

[S_Janowski]

They turned down the shots because they are not being empowered to shoot them! Pikiell complains to the media that the team takes too many threes so I can only imagine what he says in practice.

Not to say I want Jacob Young jacking them up but Yeboah and McConnell need to shoot with confidence more often.

This just isn’t true.

The team has been empowered all year to take shots, including threes. We just aren’t a very good shooting team.

We’ve been shooting poorly the past 3-4 games and everyone has been getting gun shy.

It was a good thing we didn’t resort to 3’s tonight to get back in it. The only way we were coming off with a W was clamping down on defense, rebounding, free throws and hitting some clutch shots. Exactly what happened.

 

[Pancho1939]

Check out this article on Brad Underwood and Illinois: https://247sports.com/college/illin...h-Brad-Underwood-defensive-changes-142261182/



Point is, Pikiell needs to be similarly open minded and willing to change when something isn't working.

but it is working we are 17-7 4th in the big 10.

 

[Pancho1939]

They turned down the shots because they are not being empowered to shoot them! Pikiell complains to the media that the team takes too many threes so I can only imagine what he says in practice.

Not to say I want Jacob Young jacking them up but Yeboah and McConnell need to shoot with confidence more often.

Pikiell’s problem is he doesn’t tell anyone to stop shooting. Anyone can take any shot they want and pikiell won’t bat an eyelash

 

[JQRU91]

We took twenty threes tonight. Early in the season, I think Pikiell went on record saying he'd like to see that number be around thirteen a game. No idea if this is affecting the team's shooting but just putting that out there.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

Nobody is saying he's a bad coach!!! Andy Reid is FAMOUS for being horrific at clock management and he just won the Super Bowl, partially thanks to making some changes and doing a better job with the clock than the opposing coaches in the playoffs.

You can be a good coach and still have weaknesses.

Well, the op's banner said that Pike needs to install an offense. That's a condemnation, not a weakness. Then, he writes that it wasn't an offense because everyone was standing around while Geo was isolated. Seriously? You mean the offense that won the game because we isolated our hottest player? As I said, we were not executing our best for most of the game, and we haven't been for the last few games. But we rebounded the hell out of the ball and clamped down on D when it counted, and our offense won it at the end of reg and in overtime. Just assume that Pike knows what he's doing, because he does.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

This just isn’t true.

The team has been empowered all year to take shots, including threes. We just aren’t a very good shooting team.

We’ve been shooting poorly the past 3-4 games and everyone has been getting gun shy.

It was a good thing we didn’t resort to 3’s tonight to get back in it. The only way we were coming off with a W was clamping down on defense, rebounding, free throws and hitting some clutch shots. Exactly what happened.

Eh pike said in the pregame hes been stressing to the team to shoot less 3’s and instead try to get to the free throw line which again tells me he doesnt look into the analytics of basketball in 2020 and particularly our teams analytics.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Well, the op's banner said that Pike needs to install an offense. That's a condemnation, not a weakness. Then, he writes that it wasn't an offense because everyone was standing around while Geo was isolated. Seriously? You mean the offense that won the game because we isolated our hottest player? As I said, we were not executing our best for most of the game, and we haven't been for the last few games. But we rebounded the hell out of the ball and clamped down on D when it counted, and our offense won it at the end of reg and in overtime. Just assume that Pike knows what he's doing, because he does.

Hot or not we wouldve went iso. We always go iso because again, we dont have an offense.

 

[S_Janowski]

Eh pike said in the pregame hes been stressing to the team to shoot less 3’s and instead try to get to the free throw line which again tells me he doesnt look into the analytics of basketball in 2020 and particularly our teams analytics.

I don’t get the point. We would have never clawed back into this game if it wasn’t for Free Throws. We got to the line 34 times! We still put up 20 threes and only made 4 of them.

And based off our past few games I have no issues with that.

We’ve been playing soft and Geo, Harper and Myles have been shooting like crap so of course you tell them to drive and go strong to the basket. Our other guys are streaky (Yeboah, Mathis, McConnell) so encouraging them to drive and draw fouls).

 

[ILikePike]

I agree with the idea that Pike needs to hire an offensive assistant this offseason. Some of his comments on offense are actually pretty comical when he says something along the lines of "I don't worry about that side of the ball, we just need to play defense and rebound". His attitude on offense basically seems to be "sometimes the shots go in, sometimes they don't, what can you do?"

However, we are in the midst of our best season in my lifetime so I don't want to harp on it too much after a HUGE win. Overall Pike is doing a great job. The offense is what it is but I don't want to beat that horse into the ground when we're having a potentially special season.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

This season, this team, was never about offense. We got way down early because instead of taking advantage of five days off, we were rusty, and they were hitting everything they threw up. One step at a time. We are just a couple wins from a seven seed if not higher.

 

[JQRU91]

Offense for Pikiell seems a bit like rebounding was for Eddie Jordan. It may not be part of his package.

 

[Hamilton's Cannon]

Amen to the OP! Half-court sets are abysmal.

 

[BOCA93]

Kyk....please stop....your comments on 2 for 1 is literally the only valid comment I can keep up with.

The rest are speaking in general terms like a 1st time football fan watching a game and wondering why they don't score like Oklahoma or a Big 12 game.

The fact that you can't even mention that there are offenses you have to run against man to man, zone and different types of zones, just shows lack of basketball knowledge. Each defense that is presented requires a different type of offense to be run against the defense being played.

There's a 2-3 zone offense, 3-2 zone offense....1-3-1 zone offense with man to man principals or responsibilities.

And the more items you choose to "install", makes your players play "slower" because they have to digest what has to happen.

If you are asking "why does Pike just decide to run "1-4".....1 is the guard at or near half court, just dribbling and it appears it's just wasting time...that offensive set to designed to prevent a double team, to force Corey Sanders, or now Geo Baker, to give up the ball....

The 4 defenders have to stay with their man, which is why they're standing "4 across" along the baseline. If one of the 4 defensive players wants to leave his man to try and double team, you now have a pass to an open player and a easier chance to score, 4 on 3. Teams are content to try and guard Baker or Sanders one on one....if he makes it, fine....if he misses, crash the boards.....and it is also something that prevents turnovers.

I don't think your comments are valid and it's not attacking you personally, just not aware of the details.

Also, as an offensive player, every coach runs 1-4.....MSU runs it with Cassius Winston, MD with Anthony Cowen, Illinois with Dousomu, Penn State runs it on the wing, isolation to Lamar Steven's.

It also comes down to who do coaches want to make plays/shots in critical situations. We saw how that didn't end well at Maryland, where we didn't have Baker in the game, but also, MD has better athletes 1 thru 5 vs RU, so you dont have any "offense" you can dictate to a defense, unless you have a height advantage (Caleb guarded by Cowen vs Maryland in the post.

That's as far as I can go, but the primary issue is not offense. It is literally Mulcahy right now....he isn't getting through screens, doesn't recognize when he's being screened and his teammates are "helping off" their own responsibilities, because he cannot guard or handle his defensive assignments.

Teams that appear to run "good offense", usually exploit the weakest defender on the opponents teams. Coaching at every level will abandon everything on offense, if you have a weak link on defense that cannot guard 1 on 1.

Enjoy the win....and RUs offense is fine....they TURNED down more open shots than anything else.

These war and peace posts are really hard to get through. I doubt anyone is complaining about running 1-4 at the end of the game when Geo has the hot hand like he had tonight. He carried the team on his back but that doesn’t hide the fact that the first 35 mins of offense was really poor. And Your post implies that NW was throwing some exotic looks at them on D. They weren’t. They went 2-3 zone most of the game and switched in a few man to man. It’s the same recipe everyone has been going to to kill our half court game.

 

[bac2therac]

I don’t get the point. We would have never clawed back into this game if it wasn’t for Free Throws. We got to the line 34 times! We still put up 20 threes and only made 4 of them.

And based off our past few games I have no issues with that.

We’ve been playing soft and Geo, Harper and Myles have been shooting like crap so of course you tell them to drive and go strong to the basket. Our other guys are streaky (Yeboah, Mathis, McConnell) so encouraging them to drive and draw fouls).

THIS.....there was a concerted effort to draw fouls and get to the line, its probably why Yeboah passed up quite a few shots to drive

 

[Scangg]

Kyk....please stop....your comments on 2 for 1 is literally the only valid comment I can keep up with.

The rest are speaking in general terms like a 1st time football fan watching a game and wondering why they don't score like Oklahoma or a Big 12 game.

The fact that you can't even mention that there are offenses you have to run against man to man, zone and different types of zones, just shows lack of basketball knowledge. Each defense that is presented requires a different type of offense to be run against the defense being played.

There's a 2-3 zone offense, 3-2 zone offense....1-3-1 zone offense with man to man principals or responsibilities.

And the more items you choose to "install", makes your players play "slower" because they have to digest what has to happen.

If you are asking "why does Pike just decide to run "1-4".....1 is the guard at or near half court, just dribbling and it appears it's just wasting time...that offensive set to designed to prevent a double team, to force Corey Sanders, or now Geo Baker, to give up the ball....

The 4 defenders have to stay with their man, which is why they're standing "4 across" along the baseline. If one of the 4 defensive players wants to leave his man to try and double team, you now have a pass to an open player and a easier chance to score, 4 on 3. Teams are content to try and guard Baker or Sanders one on one....if he makes it, fine....if he misses, crash the boards.....and it is also something that prevents turnovers.

I don't think your comments are valid and it's not attacking you personally, just not aware of the details.

Also, as an offensive player, every coach runs 1-4.....MSU runs it with Cassius Winston, MD with Anthony Cowen, Illinois with Dousomu, Penn State runs it on the wing, isolation to Lamar Steven's.

It also comes down to who do coaches want to make plays/shots in critical situations. We saw how that didn't end well at Maryland, where we didn't have Baker in the game, but also, MD has better athletes 1 thru 5 vs RU, so you dont have any "offense" you can dictate to a defense, unless you have a height advantage (Caleb guarded by Cowen vs Maryland in the post.

That's as far as I can go, but the primary issue is not offense. It is literally Mulcahy right now....he isn't getting through screens, doesn't recognize when he's being screened and his teammates are "helping off" their own responsibilities, because he cannot guard or handle his defensive assignments.

Teams that appear to run "good offense", usually exploit the weakest defender on the opponents teams. Coaching at every level will abandon everything on offense, if you have a weak link on defense that cannot guard 1 on 1.

Enjoy the win....and RUs offense is fine....they TURNED down more open shots than anything else.

Do you actually think that you're the only person on the board who knows these things? I guess so, which explains a lot

 

[Scangg]

These war and peace posts are really hard to get through. I doubt anyone is complaining about running 1-4 at the end of the game when Geo has the hot hand like he had tonight. He carried the team on his back but that doesn’t hide the fact that the first 35 mins of offense was really poor. And Your post implies that NW was throwing some exotic looks at them on D. They weren’t. They went 2-3 zone most of the game and switched in a few man to man. It’s the same recipe everyone has been going to to kill our half court game.

Its classic Hawk. Go off on a tangent fighting a straw man argument he created

 

[sunsetregret]

Enjoy the win....and RUs offense is fine....they TURNED down more open shots than anything else.

Over the last 5 or 6 games (at least since Purdue), the offense has absolutely sucked. It might be the best we can do with the personnel we have (I don't agree), but it's certainly not "fine."

 

[yesrutgers01]

Not being an expert by any means and not having an answer - is this sort of a good news/bad news
Bad News = We don't run an offense and very inefficient
Good News = Even without running an offense, we still sit in the upper middle of the conference in scoring

 

[Mbash93]

Kyk is correct here, look at NW, IOWA, Michigan, MSU. They all find ways to get their guys open shots, they use off ball screens, motion, ball movement.

We use a weave and a high ball screen, with very little movement

 

[ouchmyknee]

Isn’t Knight in charge of the offense?

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Do you actually think that you're the only person on the board who knows these things? I guess so, which explains a lot

No but I do believe the knowledge level of basketball is not good in general on this board with people that are consistent posters on this board. I am sorry about that, but somehow, certain posters, whether real or imagined are also overwhelmingly negative, during what appears by most accounts, to be a surprisingly good season.... and without any supporting information. We had a 3 page thread about how the offense was worse this year vs last year and it turns out the information was very inaccurate or was technically accurate based on a metric of .001% .....without taking into account the league is significantly better this year vs last year.

 

[Mbash93]

This is just too long but i stopped at your elementary point of theres different offenses to run against different defenses. Well uh yeah, no shit. Youre not gonna run a floppy set against a 2-3 (if you know what that means). I think i know alot more about basketball than you because if you think what were running on offense is acceptable then i just dont know what to tell you

NJHawk just likes to see himself type at this point. Although yes his point is fair, our offense invovles too much of guys standing around and lacks creativity.

I think mulchahy or caleb at the FT line in a 2-3 can be deadly for us. The play we ran to get yeboah a late three was something we need to do more of in my opinon. But we are so slow running any sort of pick play

 

[Scangg]

No but I do believe the knowledge level of basketball is not good in general on this board with people that are consistent posters on this board. I am sorry about that, but somehow, certain posters, whether real or imagined are also overwhelmingly negative, during what appears by most accounts, to be a surprisingly good season.... and without any supporting information. We had a 3 page thread about how the offense was worse this year vs last year and it turns out the information was very inaccurate or was technically accurate based on a metric of .001% .....without taking into account the league is significantly better this year vs last year.

I agreed that the .001 was a weak argument but if you want to compare last year to this year you also need to factor in Myles Harper Mathis Caleb were all freshman last year and we basically only lost Doorson so a more significant increase in efficiency should have been expected.

Look, its basketball, teams are going to score points. However, it's hard to watch the last bunch of games and say we run plays on a consistent basis designed to get specific players the best in spots on the court where they are comfortable and likely to succeed. Way wayyyy too many possessions we just pass around the perimeter with lack of movement or purpose then try to figure something out as the shot clock winds down.

 

[dpwhite]

Isn’t Knight in charge of the offense?

It's Hobbs. Or at least was the first three seasons of the Pikiell era. Knight is recruiting coordinator and once Young left started to contribute to the defense--or so Pikiell said this offseason.

 

[RutgHoops]

@NewJerseyHawk is 100% spot on. Every team in the country runs a similar 1-4 set (not an iso, please stop calling it an iso) in late game situations. The difference between the "best" player on a college team and the 5th option on a college team is night and day. That is why you will see 90+% of CBB teams run that 1-4 set. (Link 1 is an isolation offense, Link 2 is a 1-4 offense. Very different things).

As for our offense, I am not sure there is a team in the country that distributes shots more equitably than Rutgers. You are free to argue whether that is good or bad, but it is fact. We have seven (7!) players averaging between 7.3 and 9.6 shots per game. Good luck finding another CBB team that distributes shots like that and good luck convincing ANYONE involved in CBB that you can do that without running a structured offense.

https://www.coachesclipboard.net/Isolation2.html

https://www.coachesclipboard.net/14Stack.html

 

[Shelby65]

Our leading scorer averages 12 a game and the team is near the bottom of the conference. Of course the offense is limited.

But not by design....it's a talent issue. The fact that we're closer to the top of the league than the bottom, with a poor offense and limited weapons, shows me that pikiell is doing a great job with this roster.

The famed Triangle offense didn't work out for Phil Jackson's Knicks now did it ? Worked wonders in LA and CHI with star talent.

 

[ScarletR30]

Mods have to monitor this guys posts. This is a troll job he can not be serious suggesting EJ as the offensive coach. Get Lawst clown

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Mods have to monitor this guys posts. This is a troll job he can not be serious suggesting EJ as the offensive coach. Get Lawst clown

You guys can say what you want. Eddie was an awful head coach, pitiful, but the guy can run an offense. Hes been lauded for his offensive mind. Again, as I said, it’ll never happen with eddie but we need an offensive coordinator badly with pike as HC.

 

[kcg88]

Our leading scorer averages 12 a game and the team is near the bottom of the conference. Of course the offense is limited.

But not by design....it's a talent issue. The fact that we're closer to the top of the league than the bottom, with a poor offense and limited weapons, shows me that pikiell is doing a great job with this roster.

The famed Triangle offense didn't work out for Phil Jackson's Knicks now did it ? Worked wonders in LA and CHI with star talent.

Is Iowa's poor defense a talent problem too or could it be improved with better coaching?

I don't think it could get to the point where it's considered "good" necessarily (Garza's just not mobile) but it could be better. Same logic applies here.

 

[RutgHoops]

Our leading scorer averages 12 a game and the team is near the bottom of the conference. ...

In conference games Rutgers is 7th in scoring offense out of 14 teams.

 

[kcg88]

In conference games Rutgers in 7th in scoring offense out of 14 teams.

11th in efficiency. Only Indiana and the two bottom feeders below us.

 

[ScarletR30]

You guys can say what you want. Eddie was an awful head coach, pitiful, but the guy can run an offense. Hes been lauded for his offensive mind. Again, as I said, it’ll never happen with eddie but we need an offensive coordinator badly with pike as HC.

Really how was Rutgers offense under him?

 

[RutgHoops]

11th in efficiency. Only Indiana and the two bottom feeders below us.

Efficiency in this context is such a "cherry picked stat". The difference between us and 5th is the same as the difference between us and 12th. We are closer to 6th (6 spots "up") than we are to 12th (one spot "down"). We have one good shooting game we move in to the top half.

 

[beaced]

Northwestern ran a very effective half court offense for most of the game with passing and dribble drives that resulted in wide open 3 point shots Rutgers had another slow start and was playing behind for most of the game by double digits.In the last five minutes Pikiell stayed with the same unit and got scoring contributions by Baker,Yeboah and McConnel and Johnson with some blocked shots.Baker was the star of the game scoring over 20 points in the second half.The last two home games against Nebraska and Northwestern were barn burners right down to the last shot.Rutgers continues to find a way to win at home which is outstanding .

Even amazing if you think about it.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Really how was Rutgers offense under him?

Horrific but he did run good sets. Again, ive said it wont be eddie jordan but we do need an offensive minded assistant to install an offense for us to run.

 

[RutgHoops]

In three years under Eddie our offensive efficiency was ranked: #148, #278 and #303. That is awful by any objective measure. And I like Eddie, but he couldn't run a college offense at all. NBA, yup. College, nope. Talk about running 90% isolation sets. That is what Eddie ran here. NBA sets dont work in college unless you are Duke, Kansas, UNC...then you can run iso/2 man game all day. Was painful watching him run the "Mack/Jack clear half the floor and go" set for three years.

 

[ScarletR30]

Horrific but he did run good sets. Again, i've said it wont be eddie jordan but we do need an offensive minded assistant to install an offense for us to run.

He did not run good sets and the fact ou suggested him shows you have no clue what you are talking about

 

[BillyC80]

I agreed that the .001 was a weak argument but if you want to compare last year to this year you also need to factor in Myles Harper Mathis Caleb were all freshman last year and we basically only lost Doorson so a more significant increase in efficiency should have been expected.

Look, its basketball, teams are going to score points. However, it's hard to watch the last bunch of games and say we run plays on a consistent basis designed to get specific players the best in spots on the court where they are comfortable and likely to succeed. Way wayyyy too many possessions we just pass around the perimeter with lack of movement or purpose then try to figure something out as the shot clock winds down.

I get your point but besides Doorson we also lost our leading scorer and rebounder from last year.

This year Kwasi has been good for us, but our second leading scorer from last year broke his thumb and JY was horrific from the field in his first 12 games here. That combined with increased competition in the B1G this year tells me our returning guys have all stepped up, on both sides of the ball.

Meanwhile the integration of Kwasi, JY and Paul into our team chemistry has been amazing to watch. With the healing and re-emergence of Geo, our play as a team this year still has room to improve, even against better competition.

 

[kcg88]

Efficiency in this context is such a "cherry picked stat". The difference between us and 5th is the same as the difference between us and 12th. We are closer to 6th (6 spots "up") than we are to 12th (one spot "down"). We have one good shooting game we move in to the top half.

By the same token, it's skewed by the fact that we'd already played three games against NW/Nebraska. Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota (the three teams right above us) each have two such games remaining to pad their number.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

He did not run good sets and the fact ou suggested him shows you have no clue what you are talking about

Again, i said it wont be eddie but we need an assistant like eddie who is strictly an offensive mind which is what eddie was.