Rapid Reaction - Wisconsin

[RUtrumpet92]

Illinois was the Harry Potter game, I believe.

Shout out to the team D on Storr in the 2nd half. In the first half, he was keeping Wisconsin afloat with 13 points. He finished with only 14. !!!

 

[Eagleton96]

So what is it with Pike’s teams? Last year we crashed onFeb; this year we’re surging. Just college BB I guess. Enjoy the ride.

Last year we lost Mag and Paul was injured down the stretch with a short bench. This year we had lots of new pieces and it took this long for them to gel. That’s the fun of college, it’s new every year.

 

[fatsam98]

I played football at Rutgers. You should've heard some of the stuff fans would yell at us on the road behind the bench. It's all part of the game. You want to get inside someone head. Hell when I played the student section was chanting the Pitt QBs Mom's name all pre game lol.

Tyler Palko? I may or may not have been partaking

 

[Scangg]

Last year we lost Mag and Paul was injured down the stretch with a short bench. This year we had lots of new pieces and it took this long for them to gel. That’s the fun of college, it’s new every year.

No, we added 2 new players and started playing better instantly and are on a 3 game winning streak. It's obviously the JWill effect

 

[RU-ROCS]

1. The tone was set with FEROCIOUS defense in the first half, causing 11 turnovers.

2. Tri-MVPs Noah Fernandes (17 points on 6-6, 5-5), JWill (18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds), and Cliff (13 points, 13 rebounds, 8 huge blocks). Wowzers.

3. Our defense was elite all game. We held Wisky to 56 points (19 below their season average), on 19-58 from the field (32.8%) and 5-21 from deep. We didn’t let any of their scorers get comfortable.

4. Meanwhile, our offense was terrific. Early on, JWill was getting into the lane at will, leading to 6 first half assists. Then in the second half, Noah Fernandes just exploded, hitting a bunch of deep threes, and he was supplemented by Hyatt, Mag and Simpson burying threes, all of which squelched Wisconsin’s comeback attempts. The lead never got below 10, and Noah’s 5-point flurry after Wisky cut it to 10 was basically game over.

5. We shot 30-67 (44.8%) overall, and a stunning 10-17 (58.8%) from 3-point range, including the aforementioned 5-5 for Deez. We also only had 7 TOs, and we had 18 assists on 30 made FGs.

6. Shoutout to Hyatt for a good game off the bench, with 11 points (4-9, 3-5), 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Dre could have pouted after being replaced in the starting lineup, but he has responded positively like a captain should.

7. Savor this win for a day and then prepare for war against Northwestern at the RAC on Thursday. We owe them a beating after the way they handled us at the RAC last year.

Fernandes stat line is absurd - 18 minutes with 17 points on perfect 6 for 6 shooting with FIVE made threes!

 

[Eagleton96]

No, we added 2 new players and started playing better instantly and are on a 3 game winning streak. It's obviously the JWill effect

True

 

[RutgersChow]

The roles on the floor and bench are now aligned properly. We asked every player to perform 1 or 2 levels above their capabilities and some of those players were able to improve and expand their roles.

Now with JWill steadying the pace of our possessions and Ogbole helping off the bench, we are playing with a paint presence for all 40 minutes of the game.

Fernandes really lost Essigian on the defensive end at least 4 to 5 times and gave up 3s, but he more than made up for it with his scoring.

Making plays becomes contagious.....every player stepped on the gas from the 1st possession alley-oop dunk, through Aiden Terry getting the last rebound.

Watching the players in the warm up/layup line before the game, everyone was loose and looked confident. I don't want to say overconfident, but looked like they were ready to play.

I am obviously uber-confident in this staff, but the most confident player I saw during the game, wasn't JWill, or Cliff or Davis.....it was Mawot Mag.

Mag played his 3rd straight A+ game....he attacked the basket, took a couple of 3s and stayed active in the press and half court defense. Wisconsin was missing John Blackwell, their other quicker guard, so Chucky Hepburn was left to deal with Mag, Simpson, Davis and JWill.....it was very obvious from the 1st possession that Hepburn was overwhelmed and didn't have any help.

The spacing on offense is more fluid with JWill and Mag is working into the paint and creating offensive opportunities....and with the ability to defend and Cliff/Ogbole anchoring the paint, we don't have to ask for Mag to do everything.

Final point or item that was noted in another thread and on Twitter, 2024 RU signed recruit. Dylan Grant was in the building. It's was very encouraging to see Mag perform like that and knowing we have a very similar player in Dylan Grant, right behind him in the pipeline to continue that Mag defensive standard down the road.

Yes, if Noah would have been 2-5 from three then he wouldn't have played a great game. He got eaten alive on defense, but his 5 3's made him a net positive. We needed everyone of them at the time he hit them.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

One thing to add….Greg Gard seriously? Teams that do any scouting know we like to run the alleyoop play off the opening tap.

 

[winfield102]

We like to run it immediately off the tip. I can't believe how many teams have fallen for it.

We delayed it this time. I was wondering why cliff wasn't working towards the hoop right off the tip.

 

[Scangg]

We like to run it immediately off the tip. I can't believe how many teams have fallen for it.

We delayed it this time. I was wondering why cliff wasn't working towards the hoop right off the tip.

That was my thought too. It wasn't the typical play

 

[Scarlet83]

Well I guess everyone's should be good in a 20 point win

Hmmmm. J Will is +23 in the 27 minutes he plays in a 22 point victory. That means the 13 minutes of time J Will was not on the court were -1. Players that played in those 13 minutes would have some lower +|-, I would surmise.

 

[goru7]

What was huge yesterday were the 5 players in double figures. On any previous game , we picked 1 player of the game. Yesterday you could say Noah with 17 on 6-6 from 3, Jeremiah with 18 and 7 assists , 5 rebounds , perfect at the line and 1 turnover , or Cliff with the most monstrous game of the year for him, 13, 13 and 8 blocks and inciting fear on Wisconsin trying to drive in the paint. But guess what we also get 11 points each from Mag and Hyatt.

Clearly and overwhelmingly the best game of the year . Having seen it live , the energy and quickness Rutgers came out with to start the game was different than any game this year which led to our best first half of the year. Our defense early and all game was elite. We are getting elite the last 3-4 games. Despite the narrative from GUnit we were not elite early on the year nor early on the BIG 10 season. We have all the pieces now. Our guards are harassing more and jumping in all the passing lanes and rebounding now which they were not doing early. It is all clicking now on the defensive end.

Even Jon Belien on the post game said what we have all witnessed , “ he cannot believe one player injected into a lineup this late in the season have such an impact positively on a team making the whole team better , but it is happening “
Keep it going Jeremiah. Bring us home.

 

[goru7]

What was huge yesterday were the 5 players in double figures. On any previous game , we picked 1 player of the game. Yesterday you could say Noah with 17 on 6-6 from 3, Jeremiah with 18 and 7 assists , 5 rebounds , perfect at the line and 1 turnover , or Cliff with the most monstrous game of the year for him, 13, 13 and 8 blocks and inciting fear on Wisconsin trying to drive in the paint. But guess what we also get 11 points each from Mag and Hyatt.

Clearly and overwhelmingly the best game of the year . Having seen it live , the energy and quickness Rutgers came out with to start the game was different than any game this year which led to our best first half of the year. Our defense early and all game was elite. We are getting elite the last 3-4 games. Despite the narrative from GUnit we were not elite early on the year nor early on the BIG 10 season. We have all the pieces now. Our guards are harassing more and jumping in all the passing lanes and rebounding now which they were not doing early. It is all clicking now on the defensive end.

Even Jon Belien on the post game said what we have all witnessed , “ he cannot believe one player injected into a lineup this late in the season have such an impact positively on a team making the whole team better , but it is happening “
Keep it going Jeremiah. Bring us home.

One additional point , loving our pushing the ball upcourt on a fast break to get easy buckets. We did this previously but JMike or Derek would throw up wide shots. Yesterday , Jeremiah does it under control and throwing ahead to the open man. Derek hit Hyatt on the corner for a three. Much much improved and makes a huge difference in getting us to 70 points. With the way we are playing defense and what Cliff is doing that is a great recipe for wins going forward

 

[ScarletNut]

I think we can sum up the last 3 games by understanding how a true PG who can run (opposite of PMulcahy) dramatically makes the team more than a sum of its parts. Cliff was neutered without a PG who gets him the ball in the right spot. The floor opens wide when a PG can drive the lane and properly dish the ball to an open shooter or take it to the basket and actually make a layup. IMO, an elite PG (JW has played at an elite level) is the most important player on a bball team and is the equivalent of an elite QB on a fball team.

 

[rudad02]

No need to talk about anyone's mom. Show some class

So true. I didn't have rabbit ears in any sense, in fact I had tin ears. However, in a college baseball game guy on the other club & I were into it & he said something about my Mother. Went after him & decked him.