RAPID REACTION - Michigan

[NewJerseyHawk]

Zak and PJ both hit pivitols 3 that kept Rutgers wit in 2

Its up to Pike to get Ace unleashed at that point

Pike put JD in to draw fouls and it worked

Just not enough horses with Ace shooting like ass

Playing Grant was going to do jackshit 6-7 minutes left in the game

I'm not sure what games you're watching but Martini has had 1 excellent game against Power 4/5 teams on the season (at Nebraska). He's had plenty of opportunities to show he can either improve or add some value.

RU has 14 Power 4/5 games on the slate so far.

Martini had one game where his shooting impacted the game and in that same game, Harper and Ace played excellent and Dylan Grant had 15 points as well.

Martini was brought in to hit 3s and take some of the shots when presented, or when Ace is doubled or teams are hyper-focused on stopping him.

If I take out the Nebraska game and include Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Alabama and Texas A&M to the B1G slate, Martini is 5 of 26 from 3.....which is 19%.

With the 4 of 5 from 3 vs Nebraska it's 9 of 31, which is still 29% from 3 or way under expectations......these are not super difficult shots, most of them are uncontested/clean looks....

That's 12 games and a DNP vs Purdue and 19% from 3. These are the numbers, I don't know what else you need to see at this point.

Grant missed his 3 different 3s today, but he adds another dimension of scoring on lobs and dunks and tip ins, that don't require any special screens or set plays for him to score. Martini scored 3 points in 27 minutes and Grant scored 2 in 12. What exactly are you clinging onto here.

Grant is 7 of 18 from 3 since sitting all of the games since Ohio State in early December and that's considering he's missed his last 4 attempts from 3. I have at least 10 layups/dunks/tip ins added to the equation while he's getting the same open looks from 3.

Its 7-18 with other offense and better defense and rebounding vs 5-26 from 3 from Martini against Power 4/5 teams outside of one game vs Nebraska. It's not complicated.....

 

[bac2therac]

They hit a three after 10 empty possessions with Zach and PJ stinking up the joint. You say they hit a 3 finally to keep us in it but that is not the goal. The goal is to take the lead and leave Michigan behind in the dust. Not getting the lead mentally was a huge failure. We unlikely give up the lead if we got it with the pressure we applied to Michigan.
ACE should have been more aggressive and driven to the hoop and not stay on the outside when doubled to take a tough shot. He could have done some damage on the offensive boards with all the bricks we shot today .
You know jack about what Grant might have done but you witnessed Martini and PJ and it looked like crap. Costly decision.

Thats on Ace

 

[bac2therac]

I'm not sure what games you're watching but Martini has had 1 excellent game against Power 4/5 teams on the season (at Nebraska). He's had plenty of opportunities to show he can either improve or add some value.

RU has 14 Power 4/5 games on the slate so far.

Martini had one game where his shooting impacted the game and in that same game, Harper and Ace played excellent and Dylan Grant had 15 points as well.

Martini was brought in to hit 3s and take some of the shots when presented, or when Ace is doubled or teams are hyper-focused on stopping him.

If I take out the Nebraska game and include Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Alabama and Texas A&M to the B1G slate, Martini is 5 of 26 from 3.....which is 19%.

With the 4 of 5 from 3 vs Nebraska it's 9 of 31, which is still 29% from 3 or way under expectations......these are not super difficult shots, most of them are uncontested/clean looks....

That's 12 games and a DNP vs Purdue and 19% from 3. These are the numbers, I don't know what else you need to see at this point.

Grant missed his 3 different 3s today, but he adds another dimension of scoring on lobs and dunks and tip ins, that don't require any special screens or set plays for him to score. Martini scored 3 points in 27 minutes and Grant scored 2 in 12. What exactly are you clinging onto here.

Grant is 7 of 18 from 3 since sitting all of the games since Ohio State in early December and that's considering he's missed his last 4 attempts from 3. I have at least 10 layups/dunks/tip ins added to the equation while he's getting the same open looks from 3.

Its 7-18 with other offense and better defense and rebounding vs 5-26 from 3 from Martini against Power 4/5 teams outside of one game vs Nebraska. It's not complicated.....

Zak was there for defense

Id much rather lose 66-63 than 83-63

 

[MCKnight2004]

Zak played Vlad the best of anyone. Somerville got eaten alive down the stretch on the motion and screening action of Michigans offense. In fact, pike should’ve pulled Somerville and just let zak play Vlad when he had Acuff out when dercack was playing scorer.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

It's amazing how fans give credit to the coach of Michigan....by swarming Ace?? That is some sort of revelation without Dylan Harper on the court, Zach Martini missing wide open 3s and playing 27 minutes??

Michigan is simply not that good and looked very pedestrian to me...Penn State, Maryland, Illinois and UCLA all look far better to me than what Michigan put on the floor today.

We played a game with no Dylan Harper, Michigan received the complimentary awful wasted possession with a running Derkack 3 in transition and Ace going 0-7 from 3 and a combined 1 of 7 from 3 from Grant and Martini, only to have Michigan up 4 with 3 minutes left??

I was pretty certain that the 2 cheap corner 3s that the role player Walters stole was ultimately the difference in the game.....and if the refs actually called a travel on at least 5 separate times on Michigan, RU would have forced 20+ turnovers instead of just 17.

All I need for the rest of the season is

A) an under control back court of JMike and Acuff off the bench.

B) a relatively productive Harper (12 to 13 PPG)...nothing crazy or 20 to 22PPG, just someone to lead some possessions and workload off of Ace Bailey.

C) Pike to limit Martini to 6 to 8 minutes a game. He simply is not adding enough across the defensive end, rebounding or shooting. The doubling of Ace Bailey should result in cookie-cutter 3s and the offense is finding Martini and he's not hitting these shots. If he doesn't hit them, he's unplayable.....Grant can take those same wide open 3s and I'll get more rebounding and a player who can dive to the rim for a layup or dunk.

D) Play Grant and Dortch are combined 40 minutes a night...Dortch is pretty solid on defensive rotations and bothers the opposing wings on drives to the paint.

E) Figure out what exactly is preventing Jordan Derkack from understanding roles and responsibilities as a upperclassman and B1G guard.

Everything for Derkack cannot be a personal one on one challenge to be so reckless and out of control. I almost would understand if JMike makes the mistakes that Derkack is consistently making at least 3 out of every 4 games, it's like he doesn't have the mindset to put it together....its a shame, because he's capable of doing everything at a solid level. The MSG game was kinda a game that because he hit some of those deep 3s, it almost unlocks him into taking out of rhythm 3s. He's very talented, he just needs to slow down and let his body and physicality dictate how he scores.

F) There’s a winning streak on this roster against this schedule, there's no game RU should be out of if I get just HALF of the list above, especially with the trend line of JMike Davis....

JMike Davis has stepped up since the Princeton game.....its nothing elite but some numbers are trending towards becoming a quality B1G guard.....and it is a significant improvement, if I start from Princeton forward.

10-29 from 3 (34.4% is more than reasonable and more effective than expected).

7-12 from the FT line (not great but trending up)

30 Assists with just 6 turnovers (5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio is considered elite on any metric).

19 Steals in those 11 games.

72 points in 11 games (6.6 PPG)

22 MPG, 6.6PPG, 2.7 APG, 34% from 3, almost 2 steals per game and well under 1 turnover per game are winning numbers for any guard off the bench.

We just need Dylan Harper and the 2 other freshman on the court more (Grant and Dortch) and the more consistent Acuff, who is shaking off the rust. I don't see any of these games being out of reach going forward.

hawk,
It’s done dude. No amount of anything ai going to change that we will not be dancing this year.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

There have been many games to kill 99....this was not one of them

 

[richthedentist]

Game was there for the taking but RU could not hit open shots and take advantage of UM turnovers. UM was not going to let Ace beat them and RU came up small when it needed to hit shots.

That being said, if a healthy Dylan plays RU wins by 10+.

GO RU

Unfortunately we have not had a healthy Dylan now for 10+ games and yes we would have won a bunch but oh well that’s just our Rutgers luck

 

[rpiseman]

Lol because the team is not as good as it used to be. This is the 4th year of a downward trajectory. Open your eyes.

My eyes are wide open buddy….given how this season has gone…Pike should be on a burning hot seat.

I’m just pointing out the RAC isn’t what it used to be for all the “nothing wrong with the program” guys.

 

[Scangg]

On #1 - Thought both passes you reference were unselfish and the right play.
And #4 (for some reason) - Sure. But then one of them plays poorly and we scream for <insert bench player>. Personally I'd keep JMike in the exact role he's in now since he's on a heater.

Ace passing up the most wide wide open 3 on an inside out pass is definitely not the right basketball play. Not at alllll

It makes it worse when he's passing to a shooter who has been ice cold forever

If Ace takes and makes that 3, maybe he gets his rhythm and confidence going and starts going on a scoring streak

 

[Scangg]

On #1 - It was the wrong play, Ace had a WIDE OPEN THREE and passed to Martini. Never, ever, ever, never do we want Ace passing up his own wide open 3 to give Martini a shot for the three. I repeat, never, ever. If Ace was covered then I would agree with you, but Ace was wide open.

Haha beat me to it. This this this this

 

[Scangg]

There have been many games to kill 99....this was not one of them

Defense no, offense yes

Why is he airballing open 3's in multiple games now?

 

[bac2therac]

Defense no, offense yes

Why is he airballing open 3's in multiple games now?

Ace airballed too today

 

[Scangg]

Ace airballed too today

A wide open 3? Must have missed that. Scoring 37 and miss like 1 shot and you can get away with that though when you have bad games and bad shots

 

[bac2therac]

A wide open 3? Must have missed that. Scoring 37 and miss like 1 shot and you can get away with that though when you have bad games and bad shots

the only way we win games is Ace scoring 25 plus so every discussion starts and ends with him

 

[Scangg]

the only way we win games is Ace scoring 25 plus so every discussion starts and ends with him

Of course. I said the same thing you're saying about tonight. It was on Ace plain and simple

 

[RUskoolie]

Defense no, offense yes

Why is he airballing open 3's in multiple games now?

In FIGs eyes as long as you play great D nothing else matters. Guy played nearly 30 minutes, 3 points. Did he have 20 rebounds at least?

 

[ru-baby]

Yep re jmike an acuff should play

Dercack and jwill 5-7 mins game Ball stuck again when dercack and jwill in

 

[RAC93]

Lol because the team is not as good as it used to be. This is the 4th year of a downward trajectory. Open your eyes.

This is very valid and common sense, if we have a top half of the conference type of team, you would likely be seeing a lot of RAC wins. We have been a bottom half of the conference team the last several years, we are not going to be 10-0 at the RAC in conference play if we’re in 15th place.

 

[RAC93]

There have been many games to kill 99....this was not one of them

Agreed, this game may have been his grittiest and toughest showing of the season. He was not totally lost on D getting beat off the dribble, he was outsized but he fought as hard as he could and did a better job than expected on Goldin.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

There have been many games to kill 99....this was not one of them

What is a player supposed to bring to the table with 27 minutes of play....

A) Shooting.....1 of 4 from 3

B) Driving to the basket to score?? Non-existent

C) Driving to the basket to create ahot opportunities?? Non existent

D) crashing the boards for offensive rebounds?? Non existent

E) Good on ball defense.....?? Much better today, but that was a product of 2 stationary players in Golden and Wolf.....Wolf is very sound and understands how to playmake with a pass, which is relatively easy, if guarded by a smaller Martini.....Zach doesn't get any deflections on passes ke rebounds.

F) Zach took some vicious shots and elbows and drew an offensive foul......thats a plus for today.

On the other hand, Martini doesn't offer any other options fo score. He is a good FT shooter but doesn't drive to score, so that's not a factor.....

Can you run a high-low set with Zach Martini??? Not really, he doesn't offer the ability to play above the rim for a lob or dunk, so even with Wolf and Goldeb unable to recover or move, that's not an option.

Michigan was able to exploit Martinti and Sommerville on picks and switches and there's easy baskets given up because of it.

On the other hand, RU runs a high / low set play for Sommerville lobbing the pass to Grant, we get the layup once, but never go back to the set again, to get more points.....that is coaching malpractice, to sit Grant and Dortch, when you don't get any other productivity from Martini.

Its been 3 games since Bryce Dortch somehow starts to play and he is not going to shoot 3s.....which is fine, neither was Ogbole....BUT I got FIVE rebounds in 9 minutes of play from Dortch and 2 consecutive offensive rebounds on the same possession.

I'm just adding common sense to the equation....if Wolf and Golden are not mobile bigs and Dortch with literally no experience grabs 5 rebounds against 2 7 foot players in 9 minutes, what is Martini going to do at 6'6", against either player on the glass??

Dortch could have gotten 8 to 10 rebounds or something with a lob or dunk for a basket or 2, if he even played 18 minutes.

Maybe another 2 offensive rebounds addz some points. Dortch would not have any chance to guard Golden in the low post, but neither does Martini.

You need more than 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 27 minutes of play from anyone in a Power 5 game on the front line....Grant didn't play well at all today and still stumbled into 2 points and 3 rebounds in 12 minutes. If neither player is knocking down 3s, you just get more rebounding and defense if Martini has his minutes reduced to 10 or so.....that's 17 minutes of playing time that if you split with Dortch and Grant, I come up with more than 2 rebounds in 27 minutes....its probably 6 to 8 more if Grant and Dortch play.

I can say that I would have lobbied for Ogbole to play 18 minutes today and Zach Martini for 9, if we are carving up the 27 Martini played. In either equation, Ogbole if available, Grant and Dortch were clearly better options.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Njh

We are talking about 1 game against michigan.

i think it was non negotiable he had to be on the floor because of defense. You cant have all these freshman on the floor making wrong or bad switches. He was one guy who could make the right play on D

 

[bac2therac]

Njh

We are talking about 1 game against michigan.

i think it was non negotiable he had to be on the floor because of defense. You cant have all these freshman on the floor making wrong or bad switches. He was one guy who could make the right play on D

You get it..not sure why Hawk is writing long posts about Martini not scoring

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Njh

We are talking about 1 game against michigan.

i think it was non negotiable he had to be on the floor because of defense. You cant have all these freshman on the floor making wrong or bad switches. He was one guy who could make the right play on D

The switch on defense is fine, but they still scored on the same sets 4 to 5 times in the 1nd half with no pressure on the ball by either Martini or Sommerville. You csnnot stop the play by playing passive defense or bothering the passer. You also have to have arm length to disrupt the passing lanes and passes to Golden or Wolf.

Even if the switches were supposedly better (which is debatable), there's multiple ways to contribute and Martini is not adding much in terms of other items on the stat sheet.

We will play Maryland next Sunday afternoon and Maryland runs the same concepts of one big man being at the foul line extended and watching that player have the freedom to playmake by passing to the post or taking their defender off the dribble.

Derek Queen and Julian Reese are significantly better at running what Michigan ran in the 2nd half yesterday and there is literally NO chance to stop that high/low action unless you have the length to bother or disrupt the passer AND the player has to be mobile enough to stay with Queen or Reese and grab rebounds IF they miss the shots taken.

Martini csn be better than Dortch and Grsnt at these switching or not, which is my issue for weeks/months in not playing Grant back in November and December and not having a plan to develop Dortch sooner, who can clearly move his feet, defend and rebound.

I've already resigned to the fact that Martini is likely going to surrender those points and rebounds.....which is why I am mentioning his shooting or lack thereof....

If the player is going to be a liability on defense and rebounding, then you need something to offset those points and rebounding.....if Martini hits more 3s or contributes points, I will live with the tradeoff......right now at 5 for 26 in 12 to 13 games from 3 point range is his way to score......and with no other layups, mid range shots, FTs or dunks being added to the offensive equation, he can only score by hitting 3s.....

 

[G- RUnit]

RAC is no longer the advantage it used to be….has become much easier in the visiting team in recent years.

Not buying that at all. Team just hasn’t been good enough.

 

[RUBlackout]

Not buying that at all. Team just hasn’t been good enough.

Yeah o don’t think you can pin this on fans…team hasn’t been good enough to get excited about

 

[satnom]

There have been many games to kill 99....this was not one of them

Sorry buddy. This is one of them. 3 pts and 3 rbs in 27mins with many open looks missed or passed up as Ace was being doubled and missing most of his shots and the team a basket or two from taking the lead. Ogbole would have been better production with better defense and that’s not saying much.

Martini is just not a player for this level.

Btw: Somerville was a windmill on defense.

GO RU

 

[Shelby65]

Sorry buddy. This is one of them. 3 pts and 3 rbs in 27mins with many open looks missed or passed up as Ace was being doubled and missing most of his shots and the team a basket or two from taking the lead. Ogbole would have been better production with better defense and that’s not saying much.

Martini is just not a player for this level.

GO RU

He’s not, but he’s the best we have for low post defense. Who else, pray tell, can defend their even their shadows in the paint ? Sommerville LOL ? Nobody plays smaller.