RAPID REACTION — St. Peter’s

[Degaz-RU]

1. Pike won halftime. Defense was confused and constantly out of position in the first half, struggling with SPU spreading things out, running a lot of motion and pick and roll, and getting open looks (which they mostly hit) on their way to a 42-37 halftime lead. But in the second half, Rutgers played much better defense, playing JMike, Derkack, and JWill together to guard the perimeter. Rutgers held SPU to 23 points in the second half.

2. Dylan led with 24 points on 8-17 shooting, but he didn’t really play an “A” game, taking a few bad shots and going just 1-6 from deep. But he got back to normal from the line going 7-8.

3. Another good active game from Lathan Sommerville, with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks. His defense still needs work, as he was out of position on several pick and rolls, but today was difficult playing all smaller quicker 5s.

4. Jordan Derkack is a do-it-all guy who is so valuable. He plays defense like McConnell-Lite, and his defensive rebounding in the second half was superb, halting SPU’s possessions to one and done on several occasions. Finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. JD is playing himself into a 25 mpg guy.

5. JMike with another solid all around game too. He played great on ball defense and also contributed 7 points (on 3-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers for the second straight game. And that driving layup from the corner was a huge bucket that pushed the lead to 6 points late. Only negative was 1-3 from the line.

6. Our bench scored 28 points on 11-19 from the field, and 15 rebounds. Everyone who played tonight scored. Just need to get Acuff going. Hopefully that long jumper he hit will give him confidence.

7. MAJOR negative and red flag: we only shot 3-16 from 3-pt range, after only shooting 7-23 against Wagner. That’s 10-39 overall, which is 25.6%. Hayes and Martini were 2-6 combined. They need to shoot more than 6 threes. Dylan was 1-6. It’s only two games, and we were missing Ace Bailey, but this is something to monitor and be concerned about.

8. JWill had the slipsies again tonight. I’m starting to think it’s not his sneakers but just the fact that he plays too fast going around defenders. I’ve never seen anybody slip on the floor so much.

9. We’re 2-0, which is good, but there are concerns going forward as Pike continues to figure out his rotations and as the team gets comfortable shooting from deep.

 

[Scangg]

Hayes lead the team in rebounding with 7 boards

 

[RU Mike73]

Slipsies = out of control.

 

[RU205]

Martini played the 5 the final 4 minutes of the game and did a great job.

 

[Rufaninga]

Watching DH take it to the rim at ease, made me want to just get him the ball in the second half and let him drive & score at will.

 

[carmenst]

we have 2 weeks to figure things out. Hopefully Ace is back and Acuff is 100%.

 

[gmay8]

7. MAJOR negative and red flag: we only shot 3-16 from 3-pt range, after only shooting 7-23 against Wagner. That’s 10-39 overall, which is 25.6%. Hayes and Martini were 2-6 combined. They need to shoot more than 6 threes. Dylan was 1-6. It’s only two games, and we were missing Ace Bailey, but this is something to monitor and be concerned about.

This is the biggest issue again. Another season without a high volume 3 point shooter. Maybe Hayes is that guy but he’ll get his minutes cut when ace is back. I’d kill for a few guys who can shoot it from outside

 

[Randal7]

the 1 three that dylan DID make was a big one.

 

[Randal7]

This is the biggest issue again. Another season without a high volume 3 point shooter. Maybe Hayes is that guy but he’ll get his minutes cut when ace is back. I’d kill for a few guys who can shoot it from outside

Hayes is definitely that guy. He stroked another 3 but it didn't count b/c of an offensive foul (on the screen). When he shoots, very often, the ball drops into the bottom of the bucket.

 

[RW90]

While I love the depth, I have a hard time seeing Pike settling on a rotation. Lot’s of interchangeable parts which must make it tough constantly playing with different lineups.

 

[Scangg]

 

[Scangg]

 

[Scangg]

Most interesting +/-

Ogbole +12
Lathan -4

 

[Degaz-RU]

While I love the depth, I have a hard time seeing Pike settling on a rotation. Lot’s of interchangeable parts which must make it tough constantly playing with different lineups.

Somebody is losing minutes when Ace comes back. For now, my guess is Acuff, as he’s still knocking the rust off. I also think JWill loses some minutes, as he can’t shoot and doesn’t bring the other intangibles that Derkack, JMike, and Hayes bring.

 

[FinalFourOrBust]

Gonna need Jwill to regain his form from last year if we really want to compete but idk what kind of player he can be without the ball in his hands. Not getting a big man or more shooting in the portal is still pretty dumbfounding.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

1. Pike won halftime. Defense was confused and constantly out of position in the first half, struggling with SPU spreading things out, running a lot of motion and pick and roll, and getting open looks (which they mostly hit) on their way to a 42-37 halftime lead. But in the second half, Rutgers played much better defense, playing JMike, Derkack, and JWill together to guard the perimeter. Rutgers held SPU to 23 points in the second half. Agree but for one thing: we come back, get up 6(?), then implode. Even let a dude come off the bench to hit 3 straight shots, for 7 points, after not playing in the 1st half IIRC. We need to learn how to STEP ON THE THROAT in situations like that and not make the final 10-minutes of the game way too stressful.

2. Dylan led with 24 points on 8-17 shooting, but he didn’t really play an “A” game, taking a few bad shots and going just 1-6 from deep. But he got back to normal from the line going 7-8. I think - and the announcers pointed it out - he got a little "lazy" late in the 2nd missing 3(?) straight layups that he easily should've put in the hole BUT YES re: FT shooting!

3. Another good active game from Lathan Sommerville, with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks. His defense still needs work, as he was out of position on several pick and rolls, but today was difficult playing all smaller quicker 5s. His court awareness at the offensive end is the biggest surprise here to me. You don't see many frosh big men with it as such.

4. Jordan Derkack is a do-it-all guy who is so valuable. He plays defense like McConnell-Lite, and his defensive rebounding in the second half was superb, halting SPU’s possessions to one and done on several occasions. Finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. JD is playing himself into a 25 mpg guy. LOVE THIS KID. Gonna be a problem for teams in conference play coming off the bench to stir things up IMHO.

5. JMike with another solid all around game too. He played great on ball defense and also contributed 7 points (on 3-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers for the second straight game. And that driving layup from the corner was a huge bucket that pushed the lead to 6 points late. Only negative was 1-3 from the line. Fix those FT's!!!

6. Our bench scored 28 points on 11-19 from the field, and 15 rebounds. Everyone who played tonight scored. Just need to get Acuff going. Hopefully that long jumper he hit will give him confidence. Agree. He's still working his way into game shape, mentally more than physically it seems, but it's gonna be soon and will be a HUGE boost to our O!

7. MAJOR negative and red flag: we only shot 3-16 from 3-pt range, after only shooting 7-23 against Wagner. That’s 10-39 overall, which is 25.6%. Hayes and Martini were 2-6 combined. They need to shoot more than 6 threes. Dylan was 1-6. It’s only two games, and we were missing Ace Bailey, but this is something to monitor and be concerned about. I could be wrong but I would bet that opposing teams, the last 2+ seasons now, shoot 3's better than us in the 1st half @ THE RAC (more on "THE RAC" later....)

8. JWill had the slipsies again tonight. I’m starting to think it’s not his sneakers but just the fact that he plays too fast going around defenders. I’ve never seen anybody slip on the floor so much. I'm wondering if it's due to favoring the one shoulder?

9. We’re 2-0, which is good, but there are concerns going forward as Pike continues to figure out his rotations and as the team gets comfortable shooting from deep. This team has 9(?) new moving parts. That's A LOT but hopefully, once Ace is back, it'll be easier for him to put 2+2 together.

Just a little follow-up on my behalf! Well done!

 

[PaKnight]

Gonna need Jwill to regain his form from last year if we really want to compete but idk what kind of player he can be without the ball in his hands. Not getting a big man or more shooting in the portal is still pretty dumbfounding.

Brought in two shooters from the portal, Hayes and Martini. Decent big men in the portal don’t come cheap.

 

[ImBadRU]

Acuff looks very rusty and slow.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Pike VERY DISCIPLINED getting Harper his rest

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

we had a lineup when Dylan went for his last rest
jwill jmike dercack hayes sommerville
Had 4 guys on the court that cant shoot
pike distributed minutes mostly based on D in the 2nd half

 

[goru7]

we had a lineup when Dylan went for his last rest
jwill jmike dercack hayes sommerville
Had 4 guys on the court that cant shoot
pike distributed minutes mostly based on D in the 2nd half

And it almost cost him. He got cute trying to play offense defense with PJ and JWill was horrendous from outside missing a wide open 3. PJ knocks that down all day. PJ and Zack only shot 6 threes and hit 2 of our 3 but that is not enough. For a great part of the game we were outscored from 3 by 18-3. They ended up hitting 10 to our 3 so outscored by 21 from 3. That is a recipe for losing some games. We either have to play better 3 point defense or score more 3 pointers. Jordan let Randolph get free for 2 late threes which can not happen when you know he was their main shooter. Never made him drive.

 

[RUDivision]

we had a lineup when Dylan went for his last rest
jwill jmike dercack hayes sommerville
Had 4 guys on the court that cant shoot
pike distributed minutes mostly based on D in the 2nd half

Agreed! Our best shooters aren’t good in ball defenders. Our best on ball defenders can not throw a ball in the ocean.

I know it’s not his DNA but Pike better explore a 2-3 zone. Allows to keep the shooters on the floor as well as giving Ace and Dylan a chance to rest on D.

He then can go press man when Jeremiah amd Jmike come in

 

[RexMantlepiece]

Watching DH take it to the rim at ease, made me want to just get him the ball in the second half and let him drive & score at will.

Yes but some brilliant posters will claim that Pike doesn’t run an offense of that happened. Fact is there will be times we need him to Harper things and be a ball hog.

 

[G- RUnit]

1. Ogbole deserves some credit. Played well early with two quick rebounds. Good to see him hit a free throw and have a nice dunk. +12 in +/- is a nice little stat.
Same for JWill with a nice +17. Doing something right even if scoring down.

2. 3-16 from three has to be improved. A good shooting team shouldn’t be 3-16. Gotta get Hayes and Martini shots.

3. Cut down from turnovers in first game was a positive sign.

4. Can’t let St.Petes shoot 10-27 from 3. D was awful in the first half. Not sure anybody besides Derkack played well defensively. He got two big rebounds in crucial spots. Hayes always seems to gobble up rebounds.

5. D woke up only allowing 23 pts in the 2nd.

6. Let JWill wear Nike please. Two years of slipping all over the court is getting to be a thing.

7. JMAC had a big clutch basket. 1-3 from line still problematic.

8. Liked seeing Acuff hit a nice shot. Want to see him when completely in shape.

9. Martini’s fouls shots looked pure. Still would like him to get more shots.

9. Somerville almost had too many moves as I thought he was more open than he realized. 14 points in 2nd game was impressive.

10. Can RU operations use common sense? Ushers demanding to repeatedly see tickets of long time season ticket holders is obnoxious and stupid and lousy customer relations.

11. Didn’t think Dylan played that well and he still had a good/great game. Drives always look like they will go in.

Like Pike protecting him when borderline cheap shot occurred.

12. Thought RAC was better than Wagner crowd but crowd still hasn’t exploded yet.

13. We may have had advantage in fouls but I thought refs were Atrocious. Dumbfounded that they can be that bad.

14. Gritty ten point win that was closer than the score. We came back from halftime deficit. Took a lead. Almost lost it, took it bad. Back and forth has to help and we kept composure.

 

[goru7]

Not to harp on refs but they literally made 10 calls that went St. Peter’s way and kept them close. Every variety from out of bounds calls , fouls on us that weren’t fouls , fouls not called on them , missing 4 or more walks on them and then calling Dylan for a phantom walk. Every break tonight went their way so impressive to hold them to 23 second half points and pull out this win playing 8 on 5

 

[RU848789]

Watching DH take it to the rim at ease, made me want to just get him the ball in the second half and let him drive & score at will.

Especially when the other team is in foul trouble and he shoots 80+% FTs (in HS and should be in college; he went from 1-6 to 8-14 overall).

 

[BigEastPhil]

Great job by team defending the 3 in second half.

Love the toughness and savvyness of Dercack and Martini.

Harper makes it look so easy when he drives !

Kudos to St Peter’s ! They came to play!

 

[RU848789]

Not to harp on refs but they literally made 10 calls that went St. Peter’s way and kept them close. Every variety from out of bounds calls , fouls on us that weren’t fouls , fouls not called on them , missing 4 or more walks on them and then calling Dylan for a phantom walk. Every break tonight went their way so impressive to hold them to 23 second half points and pull out this win playing 8 on 5

Uhhh, total fouls were 23-11 in our favor. Perhaps you're overstating your case.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Yes but some brilliant posters will claim that Pike doesn’t run an offense of that happened. Fact is there will be times we need him to Harper things and be a ball hog.

Yes. I must be a psychic. There was one possession where i knew the players would line up in a 1-3-1 with Dylan down low and with some screening the ball would end up in Dylans hands down low. Had this premonition after seeing Pike hold up a dryerase board

 

[IMARUFAN]

Not to harp on refs but they literally made 10 calls that went St. Peter’s way and kept them close. Every variety from out of bounds calls , fouls on us that weren’t fouls , fouls not called on them , missing 4 or more walks on them and then calling Dylan for a phantom walk. Every break tonight went their way so impressive to hold them to 23 second half points and pull out this win playing 8 on 5

Those refs were brutal.

I had a good view from my seat and I swear every time Sommerville got the ball he got hacked left and right, pushed, pulled, shoved ... you name it. Either no call -- or finally a call after he got hit for about the 3rd time.

 

[IMARUFAN]

Uhhh, total fouls were 23-11 in our favor. Perhaps you're overstating your case.

It was 23-11 in our favor because St. Peters was hacking, shoving and pushing Rutgers players all over the court the entire game. Thought they were playing Rugby. It's amazing they only got called for 23 fouls.

 

[RU848789]

1. Pike won halftime. Defense was confused and constantly out of position in the first half, struggling with SPU spreading things out, running a lot of motion and pick and roll, and getting open looks (which they mostly hit) on their way to a 42-37 halftime lead. But in the second half, Rutgers played much better defense, playing JMike, Derkack, and JWill together to guard the perimeter. Rutgers held SPU to 23 points in the second half.

2. Dylan led with 24 points on 8-17 shooting, but he didn’t really play an “A” game, taking a few bad shots and going just 1-6 from deep. But he got back to normal from the line going 7-8.

3. Another good active game from Lathan Sommerville, with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks. His defense still needs work, as he was out of position on several pick and rolls, but today was difficult playing all smaller quicker 5s.

4. Jordan Derkack is a do-it-all guy who is so valuable. He plays defense like McConnell-Lite, and his defensive rebounding in the second half was superb, halting SPU’s possessions to one and done on several occasions. Finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. JD is playing himself into a 25 mpg guy.

5. JMike with another solid all around game too. He played great on ball defense and also contributed 7 points (on 3-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers for the second straight game. And that driving layup from the corner was a huge bucket that pushed the lead to 6 points late. Only negative was 1-3 from the line.

6. Our bench scored 28 points on 11-19 from the field, and 15 rebounds. Everyone who played tonight scored. Just need to get Acuff going. Hopefully that long jumper he hit will give him confidence.

7. MAJOR negative and red flag: we only shot 3-16 from 3-pt range, after only shooting 7-23 against Wagner. That’s 10-39 overall, which is 25.6%. Hayes and Martini were 2-6 combined. They need to shoot more than 6 threes. Dylan was 1-6. It’s only two games, and we were missing Ace Bailey, but this is something to monitor and be concerned about.

8. JWill had the slipsies again tonight. I’m starting to think it’s not his sneakers but just the fact that he plays too fast going around defenders. I’ve never seen anybody slip on the floor so much.

9. We’re 2-0, which is good, but there are concerns going forward as Pike continues to figure out his rotations and as the team gets comfortable shooting from deep.

Nice recap. Jekyll and Hyde defense tonight. We were so bad in the first half and for the most part, so good in the 2nd half, closing down shooters, executing excellent help defense, rebounding well and being very active with our hands. I'm sure some of it is youth, combined with so many new faces, but it's good to see that we're capable of playing very good defense.

Liked 14 assists on 27 FGs and outrebounding them by 38-34. 3-point shooting simply has to get better to beat good teams. Love, though, how much we get to the rim and are drawing fouls (in both games), especially Harper, of course, who is just a wonderful combination of smooth and explosive.

Caught my first t-shirt tonight (got 7 last year, giving most of them away) and we must've been on the jumbotron at least four times, lol. Really want to see how we look with Ace.

 

[goru7]

Uhhh, total fouls were 23-11 in our favor. Perhaps you're overstating your case.

You weren’t at the game. Total fouls were irrelevant as they almost decapitated Dylan about 3 times and fouled our guys almost every trip. We hardly touched them and they got bailed out 3-4 times. The refs you suck chant broke out not once , not twice , not three times but 4 times. Out of bounds calls , missing walks , phantom calls. That is what happens when you watch from home and are not in the arena where you get to see the full picture.

 

[FinalFourOrBust]

Brought in two shooters from the portal, Hayes and Martini. Decent big men in the portal don’t come cheap.

A subpar big man would be better than Ogbole

 

[RU-ROCS]

This is the biggest issue again. Another season without a high volume 3 point shooter. Maybe Hayes is that guy but he’ll get his minutes cut when ace is back. I’d kill for a few guys who can shoot it from outside

The wrong guys are taking too many threes. I’d like to see Hayes play more. He has the best 3 point shot on the team. His D is not as good as Derkak, but better than I expected, Plus, he was a beast on the boards tonight with 7 RBs in only 20 min. The opposing D has to respect his 3-point shot so he opens up the floor for the other guards and the post.

 

[socaldave]

We have a fab 3, St Peters came to play.
Rutgers got the win in a type of game that gets a team better.
Harper was the best player on the court.
This team is fun to watch
GO RU!!!

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

You weren’t at the game. Total fouls were irrelevant as they almost decapitated Dylan about 3 times and fouled our guys almost every trip. We hardly touched them and they got bailed out 3-4 times. The refs you suck chant broke out not once , not twice , not three times but 4 times. Out of bounds calls , missing walks , phantom calls. That is what happens when you watch from home and are not in the arena where you get to see the full picture.

Ha ha ha ha ha. Pretty sure i saw and talked to him at the RAC. I think he has a pretty good vantage point

 

[goru7]

Ha ha ha ha ha. Pretty sure i saw and talked to him at the RAC. I think he has a pretty good vantage point

Then you and him are blind and the other 8,000 fans agree with me. You thought that was a well officiated game? Maybe you are just being your contrarian self. Because if I rewatched the game , I will find over double digit calls that went St. Peter’s way because the reffing was horseshit tonight.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I dont think it was well officiated at all. Many missed calls.

 

[bac2therac]

we had a lineup when Dylan went for his last rest
jwill jmike dercack hayes sommerville
Had 4 guys on the court that cant shoot
pike distributed minutes mostly based on D in the 2nd half

thats just a poor lineup and cannot happen in a tenuous 7 point lead yet riding momentum where you have your opponent on the ropes