Question about our offense?
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The question you are asking has fans shaking their heads for most of the B1G games this season.Yes its lack of shooters /scorers but that still doesn't answer why there are so few open shots .The offensive sets being run are easy to defend because of the poor passing and wasted dribbling which causes wild shots as the shot clock runs down.
Baffling. Seems like our guards ball handling is just not crisp. We are a step behind the speed of our opponents. But I think when one team sees that doubling Corey and Geo doesn’t hurt them, it makes it tough for us to get good shots.
Seriously, there was a point last game where the guards took a handoff from a big man, pivoted around them, and popped a 3 over the screen. I think that happpened twice in a short time then we never saw it again. Why? Gale Catlett’s teams made an art of that when they had a good shooter.
A big part is the lack of respect for our shooters
Teams, away from the ball, are slumping off of us (expect Geo) to hedge more to help on the dribble drive and the ball going to the post
So we just have a more crowded area to work our offense. Which makes it harder to get easier shots on the block and driving to the hoop
I am sure there's a very good reason for this as our staff knows way more than I do but it certainly seems to me that we move way too much side to side and rarely towards the hoop when we're on offense.
It's good that we have some offensive-minded kids coming in. And Baker clearly has a lot of good skills that will only get better.
It's good that we have some offensive-minded kids coming in. And Baker clearly has a lot of good skills that will only get better.
To simplify the question...no team respects the offense of our bigs that are setting the screen or attempting to free up the guards....
Do our three other players have the ability to screen and pop for a jump shot....NO
Do our bigs have an abilty to crisply set a screen and show good enough hands to cut to the basket, catch and finish.....???.....NO
Do our bigs have the ability to dribble and generate offense, make a crisp pass and then set up on the low block.....??? ...maybe Doucoure and Eugene
Do you have a Small Forward that is a multi-threat or complete basketball player....?? A player that can dribble, shoot, pass, defend and rebound.....?? NO, it's been about a decade plus, without a complete wing player
The Small Forward spot is the position that strings together the backcourt and the front court....Issa Thiam is a partial player that is only a threat to be a stationary shooter....he's not a player that can drive, play through contact, finish at the basket, or cannot be counted on to generate offense off the bounce.
Nebraska has 3 guards that are Sanders-esque....BUT....they have not one but two skilled, stronger and more game ready Forwards in Copeland and Roby...Copelands departure from Georgetown after his knee injury is the perfect compliment to allow the growth of Roby...you cannot appreciate how much Nebraska has leaped forward with these two players.
McVeigh was their small forward that played 30+ minutes last year at the RAC, where RU won the game on Sanders putback.....he doesn't even see the floor this year for Nebraska....McVeigh is kinda like that one dimensional SF, who can knock down a jumper, but isn't Copeland or Roby.
I cannot emphasize how long it's been since RU has had a legitimate two way Small Forward....I know Peter Kiss is a shooting guard at 6'5", but he's a poor man's version of McVeigh at Nebraska, who can do a little of everything, but is primarily a shooter there....Kiss can at least dribble drive, make a pass, knock down a reasonable shot and make the simple play.
There are wings being looked at in recruiting OR we have to hope/pray that Ron Harper Jr eventually grows another inch or two and becomes 6'7 to 6'8" and can round into premier condition by his sophomore year to be factor.....STEP TWO.....find the starting caliber SF like, Aundre Hyatt, who would be a player by his freshman season and become that player.
Step 3 would be to land Paul Mulcahy, who is not a knock down shooter, but has the complete game that can dribble, shoot within 15 feet, passes very well and will provide FLOW to movement of the basketball.
The offense being watched in these 1st two years is reduced to attempting to get a shot, hopefully an offensive rebound, get back on defense and hope for a missed shot......It's the equal of being a wishbone offense in the 80's college football....at some point, if you place 10 defenders at the line of scrimmage, you stop that offense, if you don't ever complete a long pass or two....
Same limitations, same concept.....it takes skilled SF's to make an offense work.
Do our three other players have the ability to screen and pop for a jump shot....NO
Do our bigs have an abilty to crisply set a screen and show good enough hands to cut to the basket, catch and finish.....???.....NO
Do our bigs have the ability to dribble and generate offense, make a crisp pass and then set up on the low block.....??? ...maybe Doucoure and Eugene
Do you have a Small Forward that is a multi-threat or complete basketball player....?? A player that can dribble, shoot, pass, defend and rebound.....?? NO, it's been about a decade plus, without a complete wing player
The Small Forward spot is the position that strings together the backcourt and the front court....Issa Thiam is a partial player that is only a threat to be a stationary shooter....he's not a player that can drive, play through contact, finish at the basket, or cannot be counted on to generate offense off the bounce.
Nebraska has 3 guards that are Sanders-esque....BUT....they have not one but two skilled, stronger and more game ready Forwards in Copeland and Roby...Copelands departure from Georgetown after his knee injury is the perfect compliment to allow the growth of Roby...you cannot appreciate how much Nebraska has leaped forward with these two players.
McVeigh was their small forward that played 30+ minutes last year at the RAC, where RU won the game on Sanders putback.....he doesn't even see the floor this year for Nebraska....McVeigh is kinda like that one dimensional SF, who can knock down a jumper, but isn't Copeland or Roby.
I cannot emphasize how long it's been since RU has had a legitimate two way Small Forward....I know Peter Kiss is a shooting guard at 6'5", but he's a poor man's version of McVeigh at Nebraska, who can do a little of everything, but is primarily a shooter there....Kiss can at least dribble drive, make a pass, knock down a reasonable shot and make the simple play.
There are wings being looked at in recruiting OR we have to hope/pray that Ron Harper Jr eventually grows another inch or two and becomes 6'7 to 6'8" and can round into premier condition by his sophomore year to be factor.....STEP TWO.....find the starting caliber SF like, Aundre Hyatt, who would be a player by his freshman season and become that player.
Step 3 would be to land Paul Mulcahy, who is not a knock down shooter, but has the complete game that can dribble, shoot within 15 feet, passes very well and will provide FLOW to movement of the basketball.
The offense being watched in these 1st two years is reduced to attempting to get a shot, hopefully an offensive rebound, get back on defense and hope for a missed shot......It's the equal of being a wishbone offense in the 80's college football....at some point, if you place 10 defenders at the line of scrimmage, you stop that offense, if you don't ever complete a long pass or two....
Same limitations, same concept.....it takes skilled SF's to make an offense work.
Double Corey or Geo in the high ball screen and our offense is kaput. The book is out.
Hawk says an important point
On a 72 ppg team ...you would like to get, out of each slot
1: 12-13 ppg
2: 17-18 ppg
3: 17-18 ppg
4: 13-14 ppg
5: 11-12 ppg
70-75 ppg....average 72.5 ppg
Take a good look at what we are getting out of each spot this yeat...we are getting way too few points out of the 3 spot and not enough at the five spot
On a 72 ppg team ...you would like to get, out of each slot
1: 12-13 ppg
2: 17-18 ppg
3: 17-18 ppg
4: 13-14 ppg
5: 11-12 ppg
70-75 ppg....average 72.5 ppg
Take a good look at what we are getting out of each spot this yeat...we are getting way too few points out of the 3 spot and not enough at the five spot
Recruiting has been the answer for decades and yet Rutgers has been able to only bring in for the most part complementary type players who aren't talented enough to perform in a power conference.Another losing season seems likely at this late date and all fans can hope for is that some players transfer and are replaced with players that can shoot/score.
Against B1G competition Rutgers has great difficulty even scoring 60 points a game.I agree the center and small forward positions need to generate more points because the defense for the opponent knows those positions are non contributors on offense.Its been a long time since Rutgers had go to scorers at the center and small forward positions and the power forward position has been rather inconsistent .
There aren't any open shots because there are too many players on the floor who lack fundamental offensive skills. If your guards can't shoot, they can't space the floor and they won't be a threat to drive. If your frontcourt players can't finish in the paint or score in the post, they can't force the defense to collapse. When you watch good offensive teams in college and the NBA, the common denominators are spacing, outside shooting, and finishing at the rim. You can't scheme around not being able to put the ball in the basket.
It is one thing to be a poor shooting team, which we are, and another thing to be a team that doesn't shoot, which we are. We are both of these things. As a result it is very easy to defend against us. The guys who don't shoot don't need to he covered so any potential shooters we have can be doubled once they get the ball. It is easy to play help defense when the guy you are covering won't shoot even if he gets e ball. We win when the shooters we do have put together a good game. Other than that we play defense and rebound. Next year we need the new arrivals to be able to put the ball in the hoop from the perimeter. This keeps defenses honest and opens up the floor for the guards to penetrate. Right now we don't have that. End of story.
3 point shooting for Rutgers as a team.
2011-2012: 33.5%
2012-2013: 35.7%
2013-2014: 33.6%
2014-2015: 29.5%
2015-2016: 32.0% (Omari Grier)
2016-2017: 30.3%
2017-2018: 30.1%
To me, the previous coach gave up on recruiting more than one shooter per class. Pikiell has to fix this through recruiting.
2011-2012: 33.5%
2012-2013: 35.7%
2013-2014: 33.6%
2014-2015: 29.5%
2015-2016: 32.0% (Omari Grier)
2016-2017: 30.3%
2017-2018: 30.1%
To me, the previous coach gave up on recruiting more than one shooter per class. Pikiell has to fix this through recruiting.
Exactly! And this is primarily because of the other deficiencies noted by Shack, Hawk and others above.
This is where your offensive scheme comes in. You can use screening and motion to get shooters open. Basketball is about skill above all. You won't always get mismatches.
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If you look at the offense RU is trying to run with the talent they have, shooters will help. It will open up so many lanes if Rutgers could just make shots. Or even have the threat of making shots.
When you can put the ball in the basket, it makes up for the shortcomings. But if you can't everything becomes more glaring. BB is a team sport that requires individual ability and that's where we are lacking. It's bad enough our wings can't shoot, but not being able to move with the ball with a purpose isn't something you pick up by walking on campus. The new guys need this skill set for us to get better. Otherwise, it will continue to be a 5 on 3 game with little chance for success.
These past few games lately even our looks haven't been great. We need to bring it into the post more. I'll take my chances with Omoruyi down there. Freeman is sometimes okay, but he is too soft down there. We need someone bigger and more aggressive. If/when Duke gets bigger/faster, he would be pretty good down there. Sa has his moments too. When he's getting boards and individually feeling it, give him a few looks.
If Quincy Douby was on this team, would we be going to the NIT or how many more wins would we have?
Even so how much difference would have been made with Douby on this team. Would Pikiell have accepted his defense?
Yes, having a 1st round NBA player on the team would make a big difference. That’s stating the obvious. Real question is can Pike recruit NBA level players to RU?
Have been saying for a while that I’d like to see some screens set by guards. If I’m being honest, Thiam probably isn’t good enough to execute the screen, but let’s try having Geo and Mike Williams set screens. If there’s a double on Corey, he can dump to a guy that can immediately pierce the defense 1 on 0. That would force rotations and open up guys in the midrange and perimeter.
As we’ve seen, Eugene is the most effective screener because when he catches he’s not afraid to take the ball to the basket immediately on the catch. When the ball stops moving, the defense resets and we’re back to square 1
As we’ve seen, Eugene is the most effective screener because when he catches he’s not afraid to take the ball to the basket immediately on the catch. When the ball stops moving, the defense resets and we’re back to square 1
It’s so much easier to write up than execute.
But regarding doubling the ballhandler on our high screens: dribbler reverse, don’t take the screen; screener slips the screen; if doubled second guard comes up very high creating easy lane and quick attacking for 4 on 3; if that guard is denied, back cut and pass to him for 3 on 2. That’s right: call me John Wooden.
But regarding doubling the ballhandler on our high screens: dribbler reverse, don’t take the screen; screener slips the screen; if doubled second guard comes up very high creating easy lane and quick attacking for 4 on 3; if that guard is denied, back cut and pass to him for 3 on 2. That’s right: call me John Wooden.
Is your rec team learning bad habits or is it just us ? If so, they have about 12 years to make corrections.
