Please A Holiday Tournament

[RutgHoops]

The question about November/December in-season tournaments has been asked of Pikiell numerous times at Court Club meetings the past few years. His response is always the same. He has NEVER come right out and said he won't play in one. His standard answer, paraphrasing:

"It's difficult to get dates lined up. With classes, finals, getting the right dates and opponents is tough... I like the players to be home for Thanksgiving."

It’s a very reasonable reason. All CBB players miss Xmas break already.. They are ”playing” from first day of classes to March of 2nd semester. Maybe he’s communicating “you’ll always be home for Thanksgiving” as a selling point. And it is also clear Pike likes time to coach and work with his team. So, I’m sure that factors also.

You don’t have to agree, but you should acknowledge Coach has provided a rational explanation.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I've said it a million times, but we should be involved in some sort of "Battle for NYC" Christmas tournament held at the Garden every year ... Rutgers, Seton Hall, Syracuse, St. Johns, Fordham, Manhattan, Hofstra, etc. Championship game on Christmas Eve.

All local teams in a tournament that dominates ESPN for the entire lead-up to Christmas. Clips packages showing Rutgers kids going to the Empire State Building, taking photos at the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Tree, eating in Little Italy, seeing the Rockettes, meeting the Knicks. That's how you brand a school as NYC's team.

 

[RutgHoops]

I've said it a million times, but we should be involved in some sort of "Battle for NYC" Christmas tournament held at the Garden every year ... Rutgers, Seton Hall, Syracuse, St. Johns, Fordham, Manhattan, Hofstra, etc. Championship game on Christmas Eve.

All local teams in a tournament that dominates ESPN for the entire lead-up to Christmas. Clips packages showing Rutgers kids going to the Empire State Building, taking photos at the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Tree, eating in Little Italy, seeing the Rockettes, meeting the Knicks. That's how you brand a school as NYC's team.

There is not one open date at MSG between now and New Year. That could present a problem.

https://www.msg.com/calendar?venues=KovZpZA7AAEA

 

[AdventureHasAName]

There is not one open date at MSG between now and New Year. That could present a problem.

https://www.msg.com/calendar?venues=KovZpZA7AAEA

I wasn't suggesting they organize the event in two weeks and then hold it this year. You contract with MSG to keep the dates open for your tournament. And you can play the games during the day so the professional games can still take place at night.

 

[biazza38]

I’m lukewarm about the holiday tournaments. I’ve seen some of the brackets at the Maui invitational and Battle for Atlantis. If you end of being the underdog in the first game, it’s very easy to lose three games in three days.
And let’s face it, no one it there for the third game if you’re not in the championship.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

I’m actually not a big fan of the tournaments

But this is how I would like to see our schedule league schedule

22 league games …1 of them in MSG every year rotating home and away

6 cuocakes

Seton Hall

ACC challenge

Game in the garden with either
-Jimmy V classic
-event Game against one of these four oppwonts : UNC, Duke , Syracuse or UConn

 

[Mr_Twister]

Rutgers should be playing at the Fort Myers Tip Off. Rutgers would make a lot of fans happy in Florida.

Fort Myers Tip-Off

Who will #OWNTHEFORT

www.fortmyerstipoff.com

 

[Groz]

No doubt. I agree with Pike most of the time. His persistent avoidance of in-season tourneys is one item I vehemently disagree with him on.

Like you, Mike, I am 95% in Pike's corner regarding ALMOST everything that he has done with our program. I think over 90% of the fan base is so proud of him being our coach. His formula has worked in getting us to the NCAA tourney the last 3 years(counting the covid year).

But, selfishly, I WANT to go to one of the 8 team tourneys EVERY year. Give me any of them. Almost all of our competition plays and rotates different sites every year. Hawaii, Alaska, Cancun, Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, etc. PLEASE start playing in some of these!!

I know his reason is that our schedule is tough every year with the Big Ten schedule, plus Seton Hall and the ACC challenge and sometimes the Gavitt games, BUT, scheduling Saint Bonaventure in Toronto and Temple in Mohegan Sun, just does not move the needle enough to get excited and there is always the chance that we lose those games.

Our players can all bond together even more at the destinations and gives the fan base somewhere to go rather than stay at home with their same boring Thanksgiving family(LOL) year in and year out. I know Pike does not want to risk losing games in these tournaments, BUT the excuse to stay home for Thanksgiving is not fair to the fan base(I know his responsibility is to the team, BUT.......)

PLEASE COACH!! Start putting us in the destination tourneys around Thanksgiving!!

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[Unionst]

A four team (high quality) tournament at the Garden between Christmas and the New Year cannot be beat.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

A four team (high quality) tournament at the Garden between Christmas and the New Year cannot be beat.

This is the old ECAC Holiday Festival

Love to see that come back, but since most schools don’t play in tournaments over Christmas …they should do it another weekend in November and December. It does get harder because schools don’t want to travel during finals week, and some conferences play league in early December , but a window could be found

Get Rutgers in a tourney like December 1978
Rutgers
Duke
St. John’s
Ohio state

Two sell outs

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

A local team had a good moment yesterday in their holiday tourney

 

[Mr Magoo]

A local team had a good moment yesterday in their holiday tourney

View embedded media

That’s fine. I want them to have as many wins as possible before they come to the RAC. On the other hand, the season is 3 weeks old and we haven’t played a real team yet (unless you count a 2-4 Temple team that beat depleted Villanova and us and lost to Wagner). I’m afraid the Miami game on the road will be ugly…and they are not that good either.

 

[Joey Bags]

Pike’s gone on record saying he wants the kids to spend time with families on Thanksgiving. Honestly thats the right move IMO, these are college kids not NBA athletes.

 

[lloyde dobler]

Pike’s gone on record saying he wants the kids to spend time with families on Thanksgiving. Honestly thats the right move IMO, these are college kids not NBA athletes.

How much time are they spending with their families on Thursday if there’s a game right after on the weekend?

It is what it is after this many years… he would just rather take the easy wins. It’s pretty clear. It’s his choice.

 

[shields]

Nova is now 2-4. Lost to Portland, they stink.

 

[Mr_Twister]

Nova is now 2-4. Lost to Portland, they stink.

New head coach might have something to do with it.

 

[shields]

Yes of course will miss jay a lot. They lost to Portland.

 

[King of S]

Pike’s gone on record saying he wants the kids to spend time with families on Thanksgiving. Honestly thats the right move IMO, these are college kids not NBA athletes.

Please, what BS.

 

[HallX2]

How much time are they spending with their families on Thursday if there’s a game right after on the weekend?

It is what it is after this many years… he would just rather take the easy wins. It’s pretty clear. It’s his choice.

I think it’s more for the fans. We have played in many of them. If it helped build Willard’s teams come post season it wasn’t always obvious. It’s a grind. And following this tourney we go to Kansas. Borderline nuts. Wonder if the grind in previous years iplayed into the famous Willard January swoon. I think Pikiel has a different reason than family time and I can’t say he’s wrong.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Am I the only one that doesn’t give a flying bleep about some holiday tournament in some generally empty and/or tiny arena far from home that I won’t be attending? Don’t get this obsession. We’re playing Temple, Miami, Seton Hall and Wake Forest out of conference already and will play at least 21 games against Big Ten opponents, two of which are in December. If we were playing in a holiday tournament this year our season might be over before it really began with Caleb and Paul out. I get the most enjoyment from actually attending games at home. Maybe it’s me.

 

[shields]

Holiday Festival in 1978 was a great tourney.

 

[fatsam98]

It would be nice to have maybe 1 additional home and home with a P5 school in place of one of these Sacred Heart/CCSU type games. But can't say these early season tournaments get me excited. They seem to be mostly played in high school gyms with 38 fans from each school

 

[RUInsanity]

Am I the only one that doesn’t give a flying bleep about some holiday tournament in some generally empty and/or tiny arena far from home that I won’t be attending? Don’t get this obsession. We’re playing Temple, Miami, Seton Hall and Wake Forest out of conference already and will play at least 21 games against Big Ten opponents, two of which are in December. If we were playing in a holiday tournament this year our season might be over before it really began with Caleb and Paul out. I get the most enjoyment from actually attending games at home. Maybe it’s me.

Nope...you're not alone. Seems to me this is just another thing for some people to complain during a season slow point on what they don't like about Pike. If I recall last year it was his statements about "best team ever" when we struggled during OOC with some even calling for him to be fired.

 

[Big East Beast]

Pike knows what he is doing. Making the NCAA tourney is the goal every year.

We barely made it last year with two super seniors, one of whom is now collecting an NBA paycheck.

A player the fans anointed as the offensive focal point was on the bench by December.

Pikes philosophy - like it or not - is stepwise improvement and building upon success and through strong coaching & development.

He’s not about just rolling the balls out and going on a traveling roadshow and knows we don’t have the horses to do that well and then also take on the Big Ten schedule, which is brutal.

He will have decisions to make as the program continues to develop in reputation and national recruits, but honestly now that the conference extends to California it’s becoming even less compelling.

If fans want to go to Maui for Thanksgiving, you don’t need the excuse of Rutgers basketball.

 

[RU Husky]

Holiday Festival at the old Garden in December 1964. I saw Cazzie Russell ‘s #1 Michigan team beat Bill Bradley’s Princeton team, but Bradley outscored Russell 41-27. Dave Bing ( and Jim Boeheim ) played for Cuse in the tournament. St. John’s , coached by Joe Lapchick, ended up winning the tournament. The Garden was packed to the rafters. Great hoops action.