Rapid Reaction — Georgetown

[NewJerseyHawk]

It's always good to read the post game comments and 99% of the time, a determination is made on how a player did or didn't, is based on whether they missed or made shots or not. Which is fine, but isn't really what winning basketball is all about.

What I saw was an excellent game from Noah Fernandes.....he was the best player on the floor on both ends. He was annoying on defense....he set the tempo of the game and faced the basket, which is a huge difference from last year.........he actually threatened the perimeter defense with some 3s, that makes the defense work or consider that they need to stay in contact with him......you can't see your teammates open, if you're not able to control the dribble and potentially shoot if the defense gives you space.

Fernandes also had some nifty moves that somehow allowed him to get to the basket and he missed at least 2 or 3 layups. If he makes those layups, the 1H lead is probably 12 to 14 points. His hidden points to me, give me a very high grade on how he played.

Aside from Fernandes getting somewhat on track, his attacking of the basket, showed Davis and Simpson that they could get also get there too.... maybe a couple were ill-advised, but one drew a goaltending call on a Simpson drive and Davis drove and then pulled up for a nice 2 pointer. Attack off the dribble and making your opponent stop you, is called offense.

Pushing the tempo after a couple of defensive plays, allowed for transition baskets or 3s.........mix in Davis, who competes nonstop and he swipes a guard not looking and then is able to accelerate and score.....those plays last year, just didn't happen enough.

I enjoyed watching Gavin turn down a 3, maunever inside for a 2.....he didn't always settle for the 3.....even though he didn't see a ton of 2H minutes, 19 minutes in Game 4 of his career is more than fine. 12 points easily could have been 15 to 17. The staff will get him acclimated to using his 6'8" height to attack the defensive glass.....it's the last piece of his puzzle, from being a complete basketball player on both ends of the court.

Are there things to work on....,?? Yeah, but most of them are within our control to fix.....we defended lights out and annoyed GTown with Simpson and Davis.....multiple 10 second violations and shaving 10 seconds off the shot clock with the guard pressure on the ball, reduced the emphasis on being perfect for another 5 seconds in half court defense.

FT shooting, getting Cliff on track and making some layups are all within our control. We dictate the tempo and controlled the pace of the game.

I won't even speculate on whether or not some of the other 2 time transfers that have been approved by the NCAA mean anything when it comes to Jeremiah Williams, but this notion that the NCAA is declining all appeals, is just not the case.

I am mentioning Jeremiah Williams, because he could be the 3rd PLUS defensive player on the perimeter AND he's 6'5 with arm length and can make shots. If we have a pest like Davis and solid defenders like Jeremiah Williams and Simpson, we now look and feel like most college programs. And last year, we simply lacked the ability to impact anyone with the press.

Last year was a token press where Mag was the ringleader, asked to make the opponent pass over the top of the defense and then cross half court. But the guards last year, didn't impact the opponent like we saw last night. If we somehow get that waiver AND get Austin Williams going (maybe he's nicked up again and out for a short while) then RU has plenty of firepower on defense.

People will say Georgetown is horrible.....they have 6 Top 150 kids on their roster, either as transfers in or injured (Ishmael Massoud a former RU target who was at Wake and Kansas State last year), missed the game with a broken hand.

Missing Massoud is not as important as removing Griffiths from RU, Gavin has a more diverse offensive game, where Massoud is really just a spot up corner 3 guy.....but I think Georgetown will improve as the season moves on and Massoud gets back for Big East play......It would be something to watch and see if GTown improves enough to move this win into a solid W category by February/March. They're definitely not the worst team in the Big East for sure.

Let's also consider that there are still so many "bad angle" pass attempts for Cliff, that it's somewhat of a concern. I think if the guards STOP trying to feed Cliff when they are standing still and attack the basket and try layups, it would be more effective to let Cliff attack or try to get the offensive rebound to then score.

It just looks like we are almost forcing passes to our best player, so he can get going....we need to show the NBA scouts that Cliff can help at the next level, without getting touches.....let him run to the rim and impact the game on defense.

If I am scouting Cliff, I am not there to see if he can shoot or score....I want to see rebounds and defense. Can Cliff become Mitchell Robinson of the Knicks, where he impacts the glass and defense?? Cliff is going to earn a lot of money at the next level.....but the fans here looking for him to dominate early, with 3 guards getting used to playing with him, isn't realistic.....give it another month or so. He'll be fine.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Noah - liked him looking to shoot. It's a must. Missed 2 layups that can't be missed.

Gavin - keep shooting. I like no hesitation.

Hyatt - another nice shooting game,

Simpson - the mid range needs to go away. 3 in the first 4 minutes of the game? No!!

Cliff - why do they pass him the ball when he tries to post up but is no where near the basket? The staff needs to correct this. We aren't good enough for these inefficient possessions.

We must press. Allows us to only have to defend a half court set for 12-14 seconds. I just don't see us being able to to successfully defend for 20-23 seconds. With 9-10 in the rotation, we gotta delay teams from getting into their half court sets.

We continue to struggle finishing at the rim. Painful to watch.

Agree with everything here except your statement that Simpson’s mid-range needs to go away. His pull up 12-16 foot jumper is the best part of his offensive game. He should absolutely keep taking that shot, especially since he hasn’t proven to be a high percentage 3-point shooter.

 

[jonS]

Gavin was a liability on D - second half he was subbed in for offense in the second half (not benched).

Exactly...Gavin was getting torched by Styles who had 15 points in the first half and none in the second half when Gavin was on the bench....That as much as anything is why Georgetown's offense ground to a halt in the second half.

 

[fg7321]

He was awful on defense, and he shows zero energy out there. Multiple times he could have easily grabbed a rebound if he crashed the boards even a little. If he wasn't ordered to run his part in a set he wouldn't move three feet the whole game.

Hi offensive rebound and basket at the end of the first half was massive . GT was getting back in the game and that was a key moment in the game.

Yes hes not great on defense yet but when your up by 20 in the second half that is when he should be in the game.

 

[mikeyo]

Cliff is what he is, he hasnt improved each of the last 2 years. He is still a great athlete playing basketball, not a basketball player that is also a great athlete.

They're still doubling Cliff every time down. But that'll come to an end if we keep shooting from the perimeter the way we did last night. We shall see

 

[RUBigFrank]

If you watch Gavin on D - there is a lack of selfassurance. Might be the goggles - but he is constantly looking right and left - giving the defender a half step to move. Might be the goggles impacting peripheral vision.

 

[seels2662]

Hi offensive rebound and basket at the end of the first half was massive . GT was getting back in the game and that was a key moment in the game.

Yes hes not great on defense yet but when your up by 20 in the second half that is when he should be in the game.

People blew by him in the first half as well

I just think its the freshman jitters. Once he gets more aggressive both defensively and offensively he'll be a great player.

But he shouldn't get minutes just because. He needs to earn playing time

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Exactly...Gavin was getting torched by Styles who had 15 points in the first half and none in the second half when Gavin was on the bench....That as much as anything is why Georgetown's offense ground to a halt in the second half.

Styles from Georgetown was very aggressive taking it right at Gavin Giff in the first half.

In the 2nd.half Pikiell put Wolf on him. He mentioned that in his post game presser how it was a big part of the 2nd half defensive clamp down.

Georgetown only scored 16 points in the first 15 minutes of 2nd half.

 

[PaKnight]

You are a clown. Crying about a true freshmen getting sent to the bench because his defense was off.

And he still played 19 minutes last night.

 

[darkcheck]

We could really use Mag's rebounding... Howard and or St Peter's would be a nice tune up game or two before Illinois. It would make sense to let Mag get his feet wet against lower level competition

I’m still worried how far along he really is just nine months after an acl tear

 

[GreaseTruckCaptain]

my first impressions:

1. Noah's arrival game. Played with so much more confidence and decisiveness. Really will help if opposing defenses have to respect his offense. Made some nice moves to create space for himself. Was a couple of easy missed layups from being player of the game.

2. Could tell they wanted to get the ball in to Cliff, but for the most part if it wasnt there early, they passed off it much quicker. Still think Cliff needs the ball more without his back to the basket, but more quick perimeter passing to move the defense laterally will help get him the ball more in better positioning

3. Guards played much better and in more control. Not close to 100% in control yet, but much better than the first 3 games. Noticed more of Simpson especially driving and passing out if it would be heavily contested or very low percentage shot.

4. Best defensive showing of the season. Rotations looked much improved and active hands in the passing lanes. I am concerned by the lack of boxing out, we were outrebounded by a significant margin (41 to 29 i believe). Im wondering if thats a product of the fast paced/transition offense and not enough guys crashing the boards. If so, it means Cliff/Wolf/Hyatt need to work overtime to get positioning on the glass and Im not seeing it

5. I like the smaller rotation. I may be in the minority here, but I have not been impressed with Austin Williams. Seems like this level may be a bit over his head. Would like to see an 8 man rotation with Chol/Williams coming in for minimal minutes to get guys breathers. And Chol looks likes Issa Thiam 2.0 to me. Seemingly lights out practice player and a nothing burger in games

6. Free throw must improve. Captain obvious I know and it can only get better with more practice/reps. I thought their shots looked decent enough and Wolf's shot looked better, they just arent going in

Overall, I like the improvement over the first 4 games. Im optimistic that with more practices seeing whats been working and a couple games against Howard and St Peters, on top of hopefulling having Mag back, this team will be competing in every game once we play Illinois

 

[rutger80]

One of the things I have noticed is that when Cliff sets a high screen and rolls to the basket, he's not getting the pass, like in the past couple of years. Hopefully, that's just a lack of cohesion and it will be rectified by the time conference play starts.

 

[winfield102]

Agree with everything here except your statement that Simpson’s mid-range needs to go away. His pull up 12-16 foot jumper is the best part of his offensive game. He should absolutely keep taking that shot, especially since he hasn’t proven to be a high percentage 3-point shooter.

The deep 2 is a TERRIBLE shot.
12 footer, sure.
17-19 footer, no! Only exception is late in shot clock.
Unfortunately he isn't a good 3 point shooter.

He must develop the 3 if he wants to start as a senior.
Otherwise, opens door for someone else to come in and do it.

We have probably 10-14 terrible offensive possessions a game, many of which are not forced. The staff needs to fix this.

 

[goru7]

Clearly the best game of the year in a dominant win with a lot of things to clean up and nitpick.

Our guards for the most part came to play on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Noah was terrific most of the night with his penetration and at least an attempt to get Cliff the ball, but still not great entry passes , hit 2 big 3’s to start that surge after halftime. Relentless defensively and a pest the whole night. But for his inexplicably missing open layups , they just have to be cleaned up already , he truly was the player of the day.
The first 4 minutes of the second half was probably the best any Pickell team has ever played coming out of a half. They squandered a 10 point first half lead , allowed Georgetown to tie it and then ended half strong to go up 38-32 and then just bulldozed them and essentially ended the game with Cooley calling a timeout with 15:56 left and the score 56-38. 2 Hyatt threes and 2 Noah threes , active steals. Now I did not like taking the foot off the gas , and jacking up late shot clock threes after such a good stretch. But anytime Georgetown made a play or 2 , we answered and kept the double digit lead the rest of the game.
The play that irked me was when the run continued after the timeout we almost caused the 10 second violation but after review the refs put 21 on the clock meaning they had 1 second to get it across and Wolf fell asleep and let their big guy come up and catch it uncontested to get it acrosss. That sucked and showed lack of awareness. Right after that Georgetown scored and we took our foot off the gas and instead we could have buried them.

JMIKE AND Derek were really good on the first end as well . I say ignore the analytics people and let Derek drive , set his feet and hit 5 mid range jumpers , like he hit 2 of them yesterday , including the great crossover late. With his great foul shooting that leads to a 12-16 point game every game. He also has to keep his head up and not make his mind up he is going to shoot every time he drives hard and that Cliff is there for the roll and the 3 is open in the corner. He also cannot continue to miss layups on drives. Overall , played real well.
JMike was terrific in the first half and his shooting , defense, ball pressure and passing was good. 9 at the half , which is what he ended with, was terrific. He will really really help us this year.

Rebounding is going to be a theme all year as we got away from being badly outrebounded because our defense created 21 turnovers. But 21 turnovers are not going to happen every night so we have to rebound as a team much better and I am looking at the guards, looking at you Gavin and looking at Wolf and Cliff. They just have to do a better job.

Cliff is not right yet , getting frustrated and not focused allowing some offensive rebounds and committing 2 fouls in the first few minutes of the last 2 games . The guards have to do a better job of using angles to get Cliff the ball and when they run Pick and roll , the guards have to get the ball to Cliff . Not doing it nearly enough. He has been energized 1 time in 4 games , second half Bryant , and we need more. I said after Bryant there should not be another game this year he doesn’t get a double double but he only had 8 points and only 6 rebounds but did have 4 blocks. We need the Cliff that gets us 14-16 points and 10 rebounds a night. The guards can help him here but he has to not get frustrated and elevate his game , which we really having seen once this year.

Gavin does not have to be a quick release 3 point shooter only. He has to drive and dish or take to the hole as he has a good handle. He has to move more to get open. He also has to crash the boards. The one follow up of Derek ‘s miss was nice but that has to happen more. He also has to crash the defensive glass just as importantly because if he gets the rebound , he doesn’t have to pass to a guard , he can start his own fast break. Need to see more of that. Defense needs work but if he was doing these other things , posters wouldn’t be commenting on his defense.

 

[goru7]

The deep 2 is a TERRIBLE shot.
12 footer, sure.
17-19 footer, no! Only exception is late in shot clock.
Unfortunately he isn't a good 3 point shooter.

He must develop the 3 if he wants to start as a senior.
Otherwise, opens door for someone else to come in and do it.

We have probably 10-14 terrible offensive possessions a game, many of which are not forced. The staff needs to fix this.

Winfield , you can throw your analytics stuff in the garbage. Derek can and should hit as many 12-16 mid range shots a game . Although he hit 1 three pointer last night , he normally doesn’t have the range and accuracy. But if he gets 5 of the mid range shots , I mean dribble , start to beat his man , stop and pull up for the shot , to go down with his foul shooting then that is a steady 12-16 points a night . That would be huge for the team , avoid droughts when the other team is going on a run , instill confidence , and let all the other BIG 10 coaches that not only Cliff has to be stopped or neutralized but Derek as well

 

[satnom]

Agree with coaching him up on defense but the kid looks like he has the potential to avg 18-20 like nothing.

The optimist in me says if team hits free throws, let’s Gavin cook and makes chippies, RU scores 90 pts last night.

Like that the offense has not yet hit its potential.

GO RU

 

[RU82]

Gavin needs more minutes. This is getting ridiculous. Benched for the entire second half even though he was arguably our best player in the first half is nonsense.

Gavin is struggling a bit with the adjustment to college basketball. He’s pretty clearly not comfortable out there yet. He’s been passing up some good scoring opportunities and taking some shots he shouldn’t. And defensively he’s a pretty big liability at present.

We have a stretch of games coming up that should allow us to get Gavin more minutes. But he really needs to tighten up his defense and rebounding if he’s going to play extended minutes in B1G play. No reason to think he can’t get it done but he’s not there right now.

 

[G- RUnit]

Gavin has such a great foul shot why is rushing it. Take two breaths or do a few dribbles. He rushed the foul shots yesterday which was frustrating to watch. No reason with his stroke to ever miss three foul shots in a row

Woolfolk has improved so much yet he is hurting us with his foul shooting. Technique looks fine. Think he needs to relax and repetition.

We hit some of the foul shots yesterday it might have been a 25 point game. Still a major weakness which will hurt us in a close game.

Guards looked so much better.
We do miss Cam and Paul getting the ball to Cliff. We have to work on that.
Hyatt another nice game.

I sit by visiting players bench. I know it worked for Cooley in Providence. But it wasn’t working yesterday. Players and refs were tuning him out. Not sure at all he’s the right fit for Georgetown. He was Mike Rice to the nth degree. Can’t argue or berate every single play. I know he said some nice things post game but beware of wolf in sheep’s clothing.

 

[RUGiddy777]

Gavin is struggling a bit with the adjustment to college basketball. He’s pretty clearly not comfortable out there yet. He’s been passing up some good scoring opportunities and taking some shots he shouldn’t. And defensively he’s a pretty big liability at present.

We have a stretch of games coming up that should allow us to get Gavin more minutes. But he really needs to tighten up his defense and rebounding if he’s going to play extended minutes in B1G play. No reason to think he can’t get it done but he’s not there right now.

Finalfour is just a troll. Anyone who watched the Princeton game saw the same as last night. He’s adjusting. It’s his 4th game. Will be ups and downs. And when there’s a down, he needs to be on the bench settling down, observing and improving.

 

[RU82]

Finalfour is just a troll. Anyone who watched the Princeton game saw the same as last night. He’s adjusting. It’s his 4th game. Will be ups and downs. And when there’s a down, he needs to be on the bench settling down, observing and improving.

Of course the good news is that he’s already shown he’s capable of scoring in bunches at this level.

I don’t know when, but they’ll be a time this year when Gavin gets hot and goes off offensively. And when he does it will be a sight to behold.

 

[goru7]

Of course the good news is that he’s already shown he’s capable of scoring in bunches at this level.

I don’t know when, but they’ll be a time this year when Gavin gets hot and goes off offensively. And when he does it will be a sight to behold.

All true. But he can impact the game with his rebounding and taking off on the break, driving to the basket using his good handle to pull up for 2 or get to the glass, or passing once he is picked up. Plus he has to move off the ball and not stay stationary in the corner waiting for the pass. If he was doing these other things , definitely capable and a lot easier done , there would be a lot less threads about his defense.

 

[RUGiddy777]

Of course the good news is that he’s already shown he’s capable of scoring in bunches at this level.

I don’t know when, but they’ll be a time this year when Gavin gets hot and goes off offensively. And when he does it will be a sight to behold.

Totally agree. I trust Pike to manage his development, Pikes EQ is off the charts. He’s done a fantastic job with guys who didn’t have Gavin’s ridiculous talent. He’s gonna hit some big shots for us.

 

[jrm75]

I was really looking forward to this season - but I have major doubts now. I know it takes time to develop, to work in all the new parts, but - I don't see high basketball IQ, shooting is poor, FT shooting has reverted, offensive rebounding is poor, Simpson and Cliff have not improved as hoped for, no killer instinct, lack of a leader. Yes, there's room for improvement, but all other teams improve too. We are not a tournament team, not even an NIT team. I think we struggle to reach .500 this year, unless there is major turnaround. Also, I don't find this team fun to watch. I was ready for fast tempo, high-scoring basketball; still waiting. In about a week, the games get a lot tougher.

 

[hiwater]

Gavin needs more minutes. This is getting ridiculous. Benched for the entire second half even though he was arguably our best player in the first half is nonsense.

Gavin looked good for a while on the offensive side of the ball, but his man came right back and hit 2 point shots after his one 2 and 2 3's. RU came out with a 2 point advantage on those exchanges, but Gavin just could not handle his man going right at him. RU had 9 straight times down the court toward the end of the second half where they did not score. He still needs to get better on D. He looked better yesterday, but he is not at the point where his O cancels out his defensive weakness.

The main thing that I saw improvement by him was in his weakside D where was dropping down off his guy to help instead of guarding his guy with his back to the ball.

Gavin 2 FG attempts and 2 FT attempts during that time. I was surprised by his foul shooting because he is a good shooter. He missed all 4 attempts that I can remember.

 

[bac2therac]

Hyatt with his third straight good game tonight. With GG seemingly on a short leash and having freshman inconsistency, and Cliff in an early season funk, Dre is our “go to” guy right now. For better or for worse.

We finally saw what Fernandes is capable of in the second half. He was shooting. He was dishing. He was defending. He was leading. I think we finally got the guy we thought we were getting. Hopefully he can use this second half as a launching point.

Another good game from Simpson too. He seems most in control of the team at PG, although Fernandes certainly took control in the second half too.

And that first half from JMike was something to behold. Now I see why people said he was “the best player on the floor” against St. John’s. The kid just has “it”, and he really took control in that first half, with aggressive defense and going to the hole under control. Even hit a nice three.

We still haven’t seen what Gavin can truly do. He had that one 25 point game against BU, but even there he wasn’t lights out. Tonight he was just 2-6 from deep and inexplicably 0-3 from the foul line. Still had 12 points, but I’m still waiting for a night when he’s just en fuego. But this is what you get from freshmen, even talented ones — inconsistency.

Who thought we’d have an effective full court press with two small guards (Simpson and Fernandes) up top? Not me. But their speed and quickness in the press REALLY bothered the Hoya guards, to the point where almost every GU possession was going to under 5 seconds. It’s only going to get better when Mag returns.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we got our best game from the three small guards in a game where Austin Williams was out. Not because I think Williams was playing poorly — he was fine — but because I think it shortened the rotation and allowed Simpson, JMike, and Fernandes to really get in a groove.

Cliff really is in a funk. Played better in the second half, but I wonder is HE’S still getting used to not having Paul and Cam running the show. It’s an adjustment for everybody.

I know people are critical of Pike’s rotations, but I thought tonight’s rotations were the tightest he’s had all year. This was the first game all year where I felt like the team had some rhythm, and it was because the rotation was shrunk to 7 main guys plus a little Palmquist and Chol to steal a few minutes. Other than that, it was tight and effective. I probably would like to see GG a bit more, but I think Pike is trying to bring GG along slowly and guard against hitting the freshman wall in February.

Really good win. Still have things to work on, like the bad free throw shooting, but there’s been steady progress in all facets of the team.

Great recap Degaz. Im late to the party with my thoughts and good discussion in this thread so I will add some stuff here

Overall the team and some players individually took necessary steps forward. Needed to happen sooner then later. It was RU's best overall game and was the first game that I felt they had purpose. I did have some issues that I will get to later. This was the first game where I saw the flashes where you can make a case that this team with the right development and evolution could have a successful season. First time this year I saw the trademark tough RU defense...and I think RU is going to win games based on defense not offense despite all the pundits saying how fast this team is and how they are going to score 75 ppg. It will always come down to defense and you saw it last night. The 3 small guards collectively made their presence know big time on both ends of the court but to me it was their confidence that was impressive.

On Fernandes: To me was a disappointment all the way through the first half of this game and I said as much in the game thread given what J Mike has shown in the first half of the Gtown game was wondering why Fernandes deserved those minutes over him going forward. I dont know what lit Noah's butt on fire in the lockerroom at halftime but it was a completely different player that came out in the 2nd half..not just him but the only team was hyper focused on revving up the defensive intensity and it payed immediate dividends. For Noah he was dreadful in the first half shooting 0-5 fg. Came out drained that 3 and then hit another pull up 3 after a 3. Showed purpose and confidence for once and it stayed with him for the rest of the half even if he wasnt hitting shots thereafter. Bottom line is that for this team to be successful Noah has to produce. We saw Derek show the signs the previous game and he responded with his best game yet so perhaps this was Noah's awakening. J Mike was super in the first half going 4-9 and not looking like a freshmen. Fearless and speedy vs Power 6 competition is not always easy for a freshmen and his shots by and large went down. I know Derek and Noah were doing well and played more of the 2nd but I would have liked to see more JMike that half along with Gavin especially when RU was struggling

About Gavin....hit 3 straight shots including two 3s and put RU up 21-13, thought he was hot and not sure why Pike took him out. Gavin went back in and dribbled the ball off his leg with RU up double digits and was quiet until the rebound dunk to end the half. I just think people are way too critical of his D and alot of blame to go around for that 15-3 run in the 2nd half. Thought Gavin needed more minutes in the 2nd half when RU was stinking up the joint offensively, He is the teams best shooter. He of course is too young to shoulder the load as option A but would not be surprised if Gavin ends up our 2nd leading scorer this year. I get why Pike did put that lineup in the 2nd half opting for defense over offense.

Cliff..while I loved Pike went back to the old alley oop to start the game and Cliff followed that with a dunk...sigh...another game with 2 fouls that took him out of the game and Pike was forced to put him back on as RU was getting shredded on the boards. Now I did notice RU went on that run to go up 30-17 with Cliff sitting and when they brought him back in thats when the offense got stagnant and the lead was sliced to just 1 at 33-32. Cliff absolutely needs to do a better job at avoiding the stupid fouls that wrecks havoc with Pike's gameplan and rotation. Cliff had a better 2nd half but something is just off with his game. His position is so far away from the basket and none of the guards are in sync with him, I am just concerned that the failure to establish Cliff as an offensive presence is going to burn us once Big 10 season comes.

Hyatt continues to be a pleasant surprise for me. 12 and 7 with 3 treys. What I liked last night is he just took 7 shots. I dont want him scoring 18 taking 20 shots a game. And those 3 other guards producing is going to take the slack off of Hyatt who I think is at his best around the perimeter and not forcing a shot...and I did see 2 weird possessions where he tried backing his defender down, one resulting in a foul shots but the other a bad miss with Gtown nailing a 3 the other way to cut the gap to 31-26. Hyatt needs to stick to what he does best

Wolf getting a ton of minutes 27 and he looks so comfortable out there but man the free throw shooting needs to get better. Gavin too, I didnt have that one on my bingo card.

This team is as streaky as anything and hopefull we nip it in the bud. The drought in the first half was I think 6 minutes with out a fg getting outscored 15-3 but I think people overlook a 11 minute stretch in the 2nd half from the 16 minute mark to the 5 minute mark where RU made just 3 fg and scoring 8 points. It did not burn RU because with some outstanding D, Gtown only scored 12 in the stretch. Some asked why the crowd wasnt all that into it, well after the crowd did get into it after RU completed a 21-4 run to go up 54-36, the last 16 minutes of the game was not played at a very high level by either team. Ton of wasted possessions and shots just thrown up for no reason. I felt that RU was just trying to coast to the win

So RU learned how to close games out vs Bryant and vs Georgetown but the one aspect they have not cracked yet is playing with a lead. After they got up 18, the offense really sputtered and while the D was still solid, there was definitely a lack of focus and energy and Gtown was sort of hanging around and did to as close as 11. Is it nitpicking...I do not think so. Look Georgetown is not good. They will finish last or next to last in that conference. I dont care who says they have what talent, at this point they are train wreck. RU needs to develop that killer instinct but we looked lackadaiscal with missed free throws and missed fast break opportunities. As good as our offense looked at times, we still can shake that rustiness

But overall enough flashes last night to clearly say this is progress. Might not be happening at the pace want but the next two games will give challenges to take even more steps up. Pike probably learned alot from the rotations last night on who is moving forward (Noah. Davis) and who is moving backward (Oskar). RU did not miss Williams last night but they still need him because they need that extra guard with a little height and with Mag still out, every bit is going to help and no Austin should not be starting when he comes back so I hope Pike is ready to put forth that starting 5....and its going to include Gavin sooner than later

 

[billgumpper]

24 of our 53 shots were from 3-pt range (and we hit 9 for 37.5%). That means 45% of our shots were from deep. I don’t have a problem with that 3-pt shot rate. I was probably only annoyed at 2 or 3 of the threes taken tonight, and I’d take 9-24 every day of the week.

Half way through the 2nd half we were shooting %47 from 3. A couple guys fell in love with the fact that they hit a few and just started hoisting them up instead of working for decent looks.

 

[Scangg]

One major positive is that the team has looked good when Cliff is off the court. Last year, every time Cliff went to the bench, it was an automatic guaranteed run by the other team

 

[Westcoast]

Exactly ! No one gets a pass if they are not showing the right effort. IMO, when yo see him on the court you almost see him thinking too much about where he needs to be on defense....too tentative. The good thing its only game 4 and I am sure he will improve.

Pretty sure this is it. He's still figuring it out on the defensive side. It's not about effort or laziness - just not fully aware yet in his 4th college gsme.

 

[Westcoast]

Winfield , you can throw your analytics stuff in the garbage. Derek can and should hit as many 12-16 mid range shots a game . Although he hit 1 three pointer last night , he normally doesn’t have the range and accuracy. But if he gets 5 of the mid range shots , I mean dribble , start to beat his man , stop and pull up for the shot , to go down with his foul shooting then that is a steady 12-16 points a night . That would be huge for the team , avoid droughts when the other team is going on a run , instill confidence , and let all the other BIG 10 coaches that not only Cliff has to be stopped or neutralized but Derek as well

He's not wrong, though. Simpson doesn't hit a high percentage of those pull up jumpers. I would guess he's been around 25% -30% on those since he got here. When he shoots them my initial thought is "that's going to be another turnover".

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I will add to bac comments on Hyatt backing down his defender. It is a requirement/demand by the coaching staff to not just let Hyatt drift and be a perimeter shooter. He actually is probably our best post-up option on offense, even moreso than Cliff is. Why?? No one is going to run a double team at Hyatt, they're going to give him a chance to beat that gameplan and score or draw a foul.

I also think that is an interchangeable aspect IF you want to fast forward to a lineup where you have Mag and Hyatt on the floor at the same time. I like Mag in a post up, just as much as Hyatt, it gives him a chance to have paint-touches and he's tough inside and around the basket. An opponent will stay attached to Gavin or Hyatt on the perimeter and Mag is a willing/capable/good passer from the post.

Let Gavin cut to the hoop and let Mag find him. Unlike last year, Spencer stayed on the perimeter and if Cliff scored as the paint-post up, the opponent was willing to give up those points to Cliff......Cliff has to produce when he's not doubled.....asking Cliff to produce offense and assists, from a double team out of the post, is asking too much from Cliff.

Does the offense look better when Cliff isn't in....?? Of course it does, he's no different than Zach Edey or Hunter Dickinson, clogging up driving lanes or passing lanes. Especially with these guards, the offense is going to look much more fluid......look at what Michigan did, carving up St John's at MSG, without a true center on the floor. The guards went bonkers taking SJU off the bounce and finding shooters from 3.

The tradeoff with scoring more, will be whether Woolfolk can be a tough enough rebounder. I also think it's a sneak-peek of what RU will look like in 2024-25, with Lathan Sommerville arrives, showed up in spots last night, when Cliff wasn't in. Sommerville is a big body and can post up, but he has a very diverse offensive game.....15 to 18 feet. 12 to 10 feet all the way to low-post. All of that is in his game.

Depending on the matchups, we may see more Woolfolk, Mag, Hyatt, with Gavin or whatever 2 guards we can throw out there. I think Woolfolk can do the job on defense against most teams not named Purdue/Zach Edey.

And if this staff can get Gavin to be a willing rebounder, it expands what lineups we can toss on the floor. I don't think it's by accident that Gavin sat for portions of the 2H, not because of his defense.....I am 99.9% certain, this staff understands he's not going to be Caleb McConnell on defense......but Caleb attacked the glass on occasion.

I have no illusions on Gavin being a plus defender this year. He will improve as his career moves forward. But at 6'8", grabbing 3 to 4 rebounds along with him slashing and cutting for dunks as a guard, makes him the ultimate weapon. I'm more excited to see him cutting and dunking or taking pull up 2s, than the 3s.......the 3s are like coffee and donuts on a Saturday morning....that's a given.

Getting Gavin on the glass and helping out there is what the staff wants to see, in my opinion.....don't settle on building a reputation as just a spot up shooter, we already had that last year with Cam Spencer.....keep Gavin cutting, slashing, driving, attacking, dunking and drawing fouls. This staff is going to make Gavin a complete basketball player.

 

[RU84]

Let's also consider that there are still so many "bad angle" pass attempts for Cliff, that it's somewhat of a concern. I think if the guards STOP trying to feed Cliff when they are standing still and attack the basket and try layups, it would be more effective to let Cliff attack or try to get the offensive rebound to then score.

True. These turnovers are basketball 101 you typically see lots of at the youth level. Players trying to force the ball to a player who’s standing still closely guarded. Predictably the ball is either stolen or knocked away most of the time. Passers shouldn’t attempt that pass and Cliff needs to cut to the basket or box out for position. In the last game during a good possession Fernandes had the ball on the wing and Cliff cut to the hoop for a lob pass and dunk. We can do more of that.
As Hawk pointed out the guards need to penetrate and dish to Cliff for easy baskets as well. As opposed to last year we now have players that can attack the basket. These turnovers should be an easy fix with the deep, more athletic and skilled guard group we have this season. I still have PTSD from the Seton Hall game where Mulcahy was repeatedly trying to force feed Cliff who was blanketed. If we weren’t hitting 3’s or getting the ball to Cliff we weren’t scoring. Now we have weapons at all three levels.

 

[billgumpper]

One major positive is that the team has looked good when Cliff is off the court. Last year, every time Cliff went to the bench, it was an automatic guaranteed run by the other team

I thought they actually moved the ball better when he was off the court, they didnt worry about feeding the post.

 

[billgumpper]

I will add to bac comments on Hyatt backing down his defender. It is a requirement/demand by the coaching staff to not just let Hyatt drift and be a perimeter shooter. He actually is probably our best post-up option on offense, even moreso than Cliff is. Why?? No one is going to run a double team at Hyatt, they're going to give him a chance to beat that gameplan and score or draw a foul.

I also think that is an interchangeable aspect IF you want to fast forward to a lineup where you have Mag and Hyatt on the floor at the same time. I like Mag in a post up, just as much as Hyatt, it gives him a chance to have paint-touches and he's tough inside and around the basket. An opponent will stay attached to Gavin or Hyatt on the perimeter and Mag is a willing/capable/good passer from the post.

Let Gavin cut to the hoop and let Mag find him. Unlike last year, Spencer stayed on the perimeter and if Cliff scored as the paint-post up, the opponent was willing to give up those points to Cliff......Cliff has to produce when he's not doubled.....asking Cliff to produce offense and assists, from a double team out of the post, is asking too much from Cliff.

Does the offense look better when Cliff isn't in....?? Of course it does, he's no different than Zach Edey or Hunter Dickinson, clogging up driving lanes or passing lanes. Especially with these guards, the offense is going to look much more fluid......look at what Michigan did, carving up St John's at MSG, without a true center on the floor. The guards went bonkers taking SJU off the bounce and finding shooters from 3.

The tradeoff with scoring more, will be whether Woolfolk can be a tough enough rebounder. I also think it's a sneak-peek of what RU will look like in 2024-25, with Lathan Sommerville arrives, showed up in spots last night, when Cliff wasn't in. Sommerville is a big body and can post up, but he has a very diverse offensive game.....15 to 18 feet. 12 to 10 feet all the way to low-post. All of that is in his game.

Depending on the matchups, we may see more Woolfolk, Mag, Hyatt, with Gavin or whatever 2 guards we can throw out there. I think Woolfolk can do the job on defense against most teams not named Purdue/Zach Edey.

And if this staff can get Gavin to be a willing rebounder, it expands what lineups we can toss on the floor. I don't think it's by accident that Gavin sat for portions of the 2H, not because of his defense.....I am 99.9% certain, this staff understands he's not going to be Caleb McConnell on defense......but Caleb attacked the glass on occasion.

I have no illusions on Gavin being a plus defender this year. He will improve as his career moves forward. But at 6'8", grabbing 3 to 4 rebounds along with him slashing and cutting for dunks as a guard, makes him the ultimate weapon. I'm more excited to see him cutting and dunking or taking pull up 2s, than the 3s.......the 3s are like coffee and donuts on a Saturday morning....that's a given.

Getting Gavin on the glass and helping out there is what the staff wants to see, in my opinion.....don't settle on building a reputation as just a spot up shooter, we already had that last year with Cam Spencer.....keep Gavin cutting, slashing, driving, attacking, dunking and drawing fouls. This staff is going to make Gavin a complete basketball player.

Do you think that Cliff is in Edey or Dickinson's league.

 

[Degaz-RU]

I will add to bac comments on Hyatt backing down his defender. It is a requirement/demand by the coaching staff to not just let Hyatt drift and be a perimeter shooter. He actually is probably our best post-up option on offense, even moreso than Cliff is. Why?? No one is going to run a double team at Hyatt, they're going to give him a chance to beat that gameplan and score or draw a foul.

I also think that is an interchangeable aspect IF you want to fast forward to a lineup where you have Mag and Hyatt on the floor at the same time. I like Mag in a post up, just as much as Hyatt, it gives him a chance to have paint-touches and he's tough inside and around the basket. An opponent will stay attached to Gavin or Hyatt on the perimeter and Mag is a willing/capable/good passer from the post.

Let Gavin cut to the hoop and let Mag find him. Unlike last year, Spencer stayed on the perimeter and if Cliff scored as the paint-post up, the opponent was willing to give up those points to Cliff......Cliff has to produce when he's not doubled.....asking Cliff to produce offense and assists, from a double team out of the post, is asking too much from Cliff.

Does the offense look better when Cliff isn't in....?? Of course it does, he's no different than Zach Edey or Hunter Dickinson, clogging up driving lanes or passing lanes. Especially with these guards, the offense is going to look much more fluid......look at what Michigan did, carving up St John's at MSG, without a true center on the floor. The guards went bonkers taking SJU off the bounce and finding shooters from 3.

The tradeoff with scoring more, will be whether Woolfolk can be a tough enough rebounder. I also think it's a sneak-peek of what RU will look like in 2024-25, with Lathan Sommerville arrives, showed up in spots last night, when Cliff wasn't in. Sommerville is a big body and can post up, but he has a very diverse offensive game.....15 to 18 feet. 12 to 10 feet all the way to low-post. All of that is in his game.

Depending on the matchups, we may see more Woolfolk, Mag, Hyatt, with Gavin or whatever 2 guards we can throw out there. I think Woolfolk can do the job on defense against most teams not named Purdue/Zach Edey.

And if this staff can get Gavin to be a willing rebounder, it expands what lineups we can toss on the floor. I don't think it's by accident that Gavin sat for portions of the 2H, not because of his defense.....I am 99.9% certain, this staff understands he's not going to be Caleb McConnell on defense......but Caleb attacked the glass on occasion.

I have no illusions on Gavin being a plus defender this year. He will improve as his career moves forward. But at 6'8", grabbing 3 to 4 rebounds along with him slashing and cutting for dunks as a guard, makes him the ultimate weapon. I'm more excited to see him cutting and dunking or taking pull up 2s, than the 3s.......the 3s are like coffee and donuts on a Saturday morning....that's a given.

Getting Gavin on the glass and helping out there is what the staff wants to see, in my opinion.....don't settle on building a reputation as just a spot up shooter, we already had that last year with Cam Spencer.....keep Gavin cutting, slashing, driving, attacking, dunking and drawing fouls. This staff is going to make Gavin a complete basketball player.

I agree on the Hyatt posting up point. I actually think he’s pretty good at scoring in post up moves.

 

[goru7]

He's not wrong, though. Simpson doesn't hit a high percentage of those pull up jumpers. I would guess he's been around 25% -30% on those since he got here. When he shoots them my initial thought is "that's going to be another turnover".

How many more games will we win with Derek scoring 12-16 from the field and foul line as compared to him scoring less than 10 points going 0-6 from 3 or 1-6 from 3 ? His superior skill set is his 2 point mid range game that Geo made a living on , not his 3 point shooting. His form looks real good and I can see him rising up and hitting 7 or 8 in a row. I think you maximize what your players are good at and Derek is good and only going to get better at his mid range game.

 

[goru7]

Do you think that Cliff is in Edey or Dickinson's league.

Cliff plays Edey as well as any player on the country and shows up offensively as well. He doesn’t have Dickinson ‘s moves or craftiness and he has worse hands than both of them . He is still a force and with better guard play he can once again consistently score in double figures and be the leader of our offense.

 

[Scangg]

How many more games will we win with Derek scoring 12-16 from the field and foul line as compared to him scoring less than 10 points going 0-6 from 3 or 1-6 from 3 ? His superior skill set is his 2 point mid range game that Geo made a living on , not his 3 point shooting. His form looks real good and I can see him rising up and hitting 7 or 8 in a row. I think you maximize what your players are good at and Derek is good and only going to get better at his mid range game.

I tend to agree. In general, sure, you don't want to take a lot of mid range jumpers. But you have to factor in the specific player and their skill sets. There are always exceptions to general rules

Simpson has been a very very poor 3 point shooter so far. He can't always take it all the way to the rim or its predictable. Simpson has shown the ability to create a lot of space to get off mid range jumpers. He elevates very well. These are quality looks for the most part

I do want him to eliminate the shots 1 foot inside the arc which I've seen him take a bunch of times over his career

 

[goru7]

I tend to agree. In general, sure, you don't want to take a lot of mid range jumpers. But you have to factor in the specific player and their skill sets. There are always exceptions to general rules

Simpson has been a very very poor 3 point shooter so far. He can't always take it all the way to the rim or its predictable. Simpson has shown the ability to create a lot of space to get off mid range jumpers. He elevates very well. These are quality looks for the most part

I do want him to eliminate the shots 1 foot inside the arc which I've seen him take a bunch of times over his career

Ok the shot one foot away from the 3 point line should be but his 12-16 foot jumper riding up should be pure every time . Getting at least double figures from him every game is really important to Rutgers winning , plus we might get a few 20 point games if he lights it up in the mid range. Combined with his foul shooting which has been fantastic , his driving to the glass should get him to the line often.

 

[winfield102]

While it is his strong point, the statistics say he is not good at scoring from mid range. We aren't going to see him ripping off 7-8 makes in a row from mid range. Lol.

Simpson is shooting 27% this year. He shot 37% last year. While he can get the mid range shot off, he's not good at converting it. Anything outside of 14 feet (inside the 3 point line) should be off limits with more than 5 seconds on the shot clock.

He took the worst shot (midrange) 3 times in the first 3 minutes and 22 seconds of the game. That is CRAZY. The 3rd one went in. I don't recall the distances.

With faster guards, we should see an uptick in layups and dunks for cliff. So far, almost all layups are missed and almost no dunks for cliff created by penetration.

 

[goru7]

While it is his strong point, the statistics say he is not good at scoring from mid range. We aren't going to see him ripping off 7-8 makes in a row from mid range. Lol.

Simpson is shooting 27% this year. He shot 37% last year. While he can get the mid range shot off, he's not good at converting it. Anything outside of 14 feet (inside the 3 point line) should be off limits with more than 5 seconds on the shot clock.

He took the worst shot (midrange) 3 times in the first 3 minutes and 22 seconds of the game. That is CRAZY. The 3rd one went in. I don't recall the distances.

With faster guards, we should see an uptick in layups and dunks for cliff. So far, almost all layups are missed and almost no dunks for cliff created by penetration.

I will die on this bridge. His mid range shots without having a hand in his face and his rising up for an uncontested shot should be taken 10 times a game if available. We haven’t had a guard score 20 points in a game since Geo was on a roll. Derek is capable of 15-20 a night and if he gets his shot , uncontested , , I want him taking it. I however,, do not want him to shoot too much when we are not there for offensive rebounds or if he is forcing it and is off balance. But if he does a crossover , leaves his man behind , then he should be shooting it !!

You cannot cite statistics from last year to discuss his shooting this year. He hardly was a factor last year until the last 7 games and he took too many wild shots last year. But he has spent all summer in the gym perfecting his mid range jumper and that was what the coaching staff was raving about and expecting a big jump this sophomore year. Derek’s positive progression and improved shooting his mid range shot will go a long way to getting us back to the dance. The staff is expecting a lot out of him.

Yes our guards all have to do a better job getting Cliff the ball especially out on the break.