The problem with the “feed Cliff in the post” strategy is that Cliff is not very good in the post except when he has such good position that he gets an easy layup. And that will be rare. But his ability to make a move or pass out of a double are not there. As an opposing coach I would induce RU to feed Cliff then double.
Rapid Reaction - BU
- Thread starter Degaz-RU
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I suspect that this will be " November" college basketball for some time to come with liberal transfer rules , the portal etc. and rosters turning over like crazy. It will take time for teams to gel and Rutgers will be no exception. . The net result will be lots of upsets ...Right now Rutgers backcourt is hurting with no point guard to settle things down and direct the offense. Fernandes and Williams have offered very little help. My take : JaMichael and Simpson need to start and get the bulk of the minutes . If Rutgers is going to succeed , they need a better Simpson and the sooner they get him going , the better. I'm not sold on Hyatt despite his getting 17 points last night. He needs to come off the bench rather than start. And his shot selection is questionable. Too often he takes the " wrong shot" at the wrong time when Rutgers needs to work the ball underneath rather than have him take shots from 3 pt range. If his shot isn't going in , what does he contribute? Lastly . Gavin is the real deal. He has a nice sweet shot and can slash to the hoop. For his second college game , he seemed relatively calm and poised.
Agree with a lot on this thread. One thing I’ve come to a conclusion is that Good Hyatt is a spot up shooter on the perimeter and gives great effort rebounding. Bad Hyatt tries to create shots with dribble or tries to drive and turns the ball over.
Fine with Hyatt playing defense on the block to hit the boards for rebounds and finding his spot on the perimeter to hit shots.
GO RU
Fine with Hyatt playing defense on the block to hit the boards for rebounds and finding his spot on the perimeter to hit shots.
GO RU
The thing is, we NEED Fernandes to produce. He was our portal answer to the need for a more mobile lead guard who can also shoot, and if he’s a “whiff,” we’re in trouble in the backcourt, as you’re not going to get enough shooting from the other three guards (Simpson, Williams, JMike), who are all slashers.
We finally have a guy who can produce at the 3, and now we need some production at the 1 and 2 spots.
Adding to this, the good Hyatt to me is when he catches and shoots with no hesitation. As soon as he tries to get cute he either misses or turns it over. Just shoot the damn ball.
This sounds terrible but coaching staff needs to somehow tell him at this level he's really just a spot up shooter. No more dribbling. Like ever.
The stats they were showing were final stats from women’s game the night before - really annoying they cant get stats right
I think the whole philosophy lends itself to more offensive rebounds and easy put backs for Cliff.
He gets points without being targeted !
Last year, both Mag and Hyatt were walking turnovers when they put the ball on the deck in the early part of the season. But as the season wore on, you could see that they were coached to not dribble into traffic, and they both cut down on their TOs (especially Mag).
Based on last year, I’m confident Hyatt will be more careful going forward.
Simpson wound up being the guy last year...... Dribbling the ball outside the key, looking for a way to break through the guards
Very little or none of that with the addition of the new guards
I question how attractive Cliff will be to USA pro basketball teams, at the end of the season
So this offensive tactic is not in play based on who starts, and Simpson does not appear to use his quickness from the outside when given the chance
Simpson is quick enough to beat his initial defender consistently. But he has to read the help defenders faster. He needs to kick the ball out to Gavin or Aundre for open looks if their defenders help out on him. Make them pay until they stop, then he can attack the rim.
Personally, I'd like when cliff sets a screen, the ball handler uses it to drive the lane and draw cliffs defender off of him. Pick n roll or even a pass out, just keep the defense scrambling. Typically, cliffs screens set up the ball handler to pass to another perimeter player and then he sets up back in the post. Keeping his defender moving will help get him the ball and not allow the defense to instantly double him everything. And if cliff gets the ball on the move with one defender it's dunk city
Posted this several days after the Princeton game. I’m going to give Coach Pikiell his due on trying different combinations at the guard positions. All things considered Simpson and J Mike should be the main ones. Noah as someone else mentioned is coming off an injury and feeling his way. Williams will be fine once he plays a few more games. Winning by 24 but playing under expectations only tells me we will be ok by main schedule. Cliff , Mag And yes ,even Hyatt, will make us do much better. Chol is a very athletic guy. Hoping for a good season and looking forward to next as well.
I always have to preface comments like this with the fact that I love Pike and hope he finishes his his career at Rutgers, but next time he has a foreign trip, he needs to make it 24/7 about basketball. No sightseeing, no long hikes, no dancing with the natives, just work on basketball. We have enough data points in year 8 to see that he is a notoriously slow starter, and he needs to clean that up. With the foreign trip, he had 3 months of practice to get ready for the season, and he still doesn’t know what his rotations look like or have clearly defined roles. The contrast with Princeton was stark, where they came in as a well oiled machine ready to go. And no, it’s not that they were more experienced, the 2nd and 3rd best players on Princeton are true sophomores.
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I feel like it’s the opposite lol. They’re both being too much of “team first” guys. Neither of them seem in attack mode. If they’re aggressive (and they eventually will be), it’s gonna open up a lot for everybody. It’s definitely a better problem than the opposite where they both just want to shoot every time. And they’re both talented enough to make plays so I’m not that worried. It’s definitely strange though.
I’ll trust you on this one Geo!
BTW - if you’re in the area swing by 8th St Tavern Hoboken for the football game!
True, but not unexpected when your 2 fifth year senior guards unexpectedly bolt at the last possible moment. Hopefully, with more time playing together this takes care of itself.
The trip was an amazing experience for the players, and a great bonding opportunity. I could not disagree more about making the trip simply a basketball trip. In that case they could stay in Piscataway.
Awful awful take 🤣
Geo, why was Princeton so much more ready to play? We also didn’t play very well against a poor Boston team. In his years here, Pike often gets off to a slow start, and I think it is an issue he needs to clean up.
Sitting at the game and just saw this. Your point about the gaurds/hockey lines is well taken. Now I see Davis/Simpson and thinking that may be a key..
I have no idea as I’m not in the locker room this year but to say that the foreign trip should be all basketball shows that you haven’t played. My junior year was the closest our team ever was and that was because of the foreign trip. You go from teammates to family. I should’ve been more specific. You could make a case about the slow starts and defined roles for sure. But that has nothing to do with the trip and the kids enjoying a different culture together.
