Basketball Rutgers Basketball runs out of magic, drops heartbreaker to Princeton

[RU MAN]

Bad loss.

Gotta go 13-7 in the B1G with majority Q1 wins.

Season is COOKED.

Sorry, but we will be lucky to go .500 in the B1G. The composition of this team is weak. Pike refuses to change up his defense when zone would have benefited us-in this game, and because we rely on 2 freshmen, when one of them is off like Ace we’re in trouble.

 

[RutgersChow]

I have come to terms that RU is just a mediocre team this year. Bailey not as advertised, Pike a sub average coach, supporting cast very little talent at all.

We have good enough players - 2 40+% senior transfer starters, the 7th leading scorer in the nation last year who can't even see the floor, J Williams who is about 30 years old and was our best player last year. This is all about Pike running stuff to get shooters shots - just ask Cam Spencer, and two other top 100 freshmen. Pike doesn't even get good shots for his stars. He just sucks at teaching almost everything. If this team finishes in the bottom half of the Big 10 then we have to somehow come up with the money for a replacement. I've been a fan since 1975 and I've never seen an RU team so inept at nearly every aspect of the game. At least EJ was a Rutgers legacy.

 

[Mholinko]

There is no way Harper and Bailey are playing in the NIT.

YOURE RIGHT

IF WE GET INVITED THEY WILL OPT OUT

 

[greenknight]

DH was not fouled that last shot....why we did not 100% full ct press & pressure the inbound with 17 secs left is beyond me. We just casually fell back and let 1 man walk it down to basket

Pike you can FULL COURT PRESS it's part of the game. Make the other team play with urgency.

 

[RUChoppin]

DH was not fouled that last shot....why we did not 100% full ct press & pressure the inbound with 17 secs left is beyond me. We just casually fell back and let 1 man walk it down to basket

Pike you can FULL COURT PRESS it's part of the game. Make the other team play with urgency.

There were no timeouts - after the steal and the three to take the lead, you're talking three steps deep into what would have been discussed in the timeout. At that point, a lot is on the players.

 

[bethlehemfan]

YOURE RIGHT

IF WE GET INVITED THEY WILL OPT OUT

I wouldn’t worry about that.

 

[greenknight]

There were no timeouts - after the steal and the three to take the lead, you're talking three steps deep into what would have been discussed in the timeout. At that point, a lot is on the players.

We had 3 dudes under the basket pressure the inbound.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Harper and Bailey will not play in an nit game risking injury

They have to be over .500 for an NIT bid. That’s a stretch with 18 more B1G games. We’ll probably be favored in about 4 or 5 home games and no road games.

 

[greenknight]

Harper got fouled before the shot!

Not fouled at all....its a reach.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

We have good enough players - 2 40+% senior transfer starters, the 7th leading scorer in the nation last year who can't even see the floor, J Williams who is about 30 years old and was our best player last year. This is all about Pike running stuff to get shooters shots - just ask Cam Spencer, and two other top 100 freshmen. Pike doesn't even get good shots for his stars. He just sucks at teaching almost everything. If this team finishes in the bottom half of the Big 10 then we have to somehow come up with the money for a replacement. I've been a fan since 1975 and I've never seen an RU team so inept at nearly every aspect of the game. At least EJ was a Rutgers legacy.

I mean we scored 82 points

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Honestly, the team with better coaching won with less talent. Kudos to Princeton.

Rutgers, meanwhile, is a joke.

There were only a couple things I thought needed to do differently.

1). The stretch with PJ and Acuff out there together was a disaster. But Pike ended it quickly so hard to fault him for trying to see if someone could get hot

2) We needed to bring either J Will or J Mike back in for D. But bringing both of them back in and sending Jordan to the bench felt like a mistake. They had 3 players with 4 fouls. Jordan draws them. And that opens things up for Dylan. I know J Mike plays D and our D sucked but his offense is just so costly. He can’t finish easy lay ups.

 

[RUBlackout]

Sorry, but we will be lucky to go .500 in the B1G. The composition of this team is weak. Pike refuses to change up his defense when zone would have benefited us-in this game, and because we rely on 2 freshmen, when one of them is off like Ace we’re in trouble.

We are going to get killed in BIG. The leagues is physical and our team is soft as baby shit. I don’t even think we have an advantage at the RAC either.

 

[RutgersChow]

You can’t move on when you are Rutgers and owe someone $30 million. Just sucks because we were all looking forward to this year.

Other teams do it. If you really want you find a way.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Entertaining game but a really bad loss to an average Princeton team. Lee and Pierce were the best players on the court and PU coach ran circles around Pike. Until they rebound the ball and play defense, every game will be like this.

They are not average. They wouldn’t win 5 games in the BIG. Lee would be made to force things and look bad. We did that and then couldn’t grab the rebound. That’s why we lost. They had 7 extra rebounds including 3 more than us on the offensive glass. Difference in the game.

 

[RutgersChow]

Someone needs to explain to me how Princeton can find a guy like Pierce but we can’t. We’re awful. Give me Mitch Henderson as a coach. Man, he’s good

To think we could have maybe gotten him as an assistant.

 

[RU848789]

I'd be a lot more pissed off if we hadn't had a hugely overperforming snowstorm, lol

 

[RutgersChow]

YOURE RIGHT

IF WE GET INVITED THEY WILL OPT OUT

If they do opt out then Pike's done.

 

[RutgersChow]

I mean we scored 82 points

If I would have included defense the post would have been 10 paragraphs long.

 

[greenknight]

I mean we scored 82 points

We scored 82 pts because we switched to up & down the court ball with zero defense or defensive pressure

 

[greenknight]

Ok here's my take. This gameplan is geared to getting 2 guys alot of shots & points....getting them to be lottery guys. We've given up all semblance of a defense to get the ball up & down court quickly. We dont play team offense and for those saying that we didnt surround DH & AB with quality....nobody wants to be a role player running up & down court and just playing D w/o involvement on offense. This offense is not geared around 5 guys on court. We have other scorers on this team we just dont run an offense to utilize other 3 guys on floor

If AB or DH are off we are losing. If we are down big they start hoisting bad shots. We need to play a 5 person offense and worrying about winning as a team rather than losing with 2.

 

[RU MAN]

We are going to get killed in BIG. The leagues is physical and our team is soft as baby shit. I don’t even think we have an advantage at the RAC either.

I think if we go .500 it’s only because we win a majority of our games at home and steal a few on the road.

 

[LotusAggressor]

I mean we scored 82 points

That's good enough to win most games, provided you're not a sieve defensively.

 

[APKnight]

Man, it's empty.

It looked full on tv.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

I think if we go .500 it’s only because we win a majority of our games at home and steal a few on the road.

That has typically been the formula!

 

[greenknight]

I think if we go .500 it’s only because we win a majority of our games at home and steal a few on the road.

I think the home mystique is gone.

 

[APKnight]

Next up - 10-1 Columbia who routed Villanova on the road.

 

[RUBlackout]

Ok here's my take. This gameplan is geared to getting 2 guys alot of shots & points....getting them to be lottery guys. We've given up all semblance of a defense to get the ball up & down court quickly. We dont play team offense and for those saying that we didnt surround DH & AB with quality....nobody wants to be a role player running up & down court and just playing D w/o involvement on offense. This offense is not geared around 5 guys on court. We have other scorers on this team we just dont run an offense to utilize other 3 guys on floor

If AB or DH are off we are losing. If we are down big they start hoisting bad shots. We need to play a 5 person offense and worrying about winning as a team rather than losing with 2.

And who makes those decisions?

We do not play as a team. It’s ISO ball everywhere and makes players outside of DH/AB look
Worse than they are

 

[RUGiddy777]

Wow - that basket following the clear shot clock violation was in fact the difference in the game. Either way - Princeton isn’t good. We are not in any way a tournament team.

Bailing out Lee with a phantom call on that travel didn’t help either.

 

[RUJMM78]

We scored 82 pts because we switched to up & down the court ball with zero defense or defensive pressure

Princeton defense also stinks so it came down to the team that made more shots in crunch time.Harper only scored five points in the second half and looked winded on drives to the basket.Pinceton was able to maintain the lead by getting back door dunks and making wide open 3 pointers.Rutgers lacks the 3 point specialist that winning teams have.Hayes should be that player but the half court offense lacks a system to create those shots which Princeton gets.

 

[Mholinko]

To think we could have maybe gotten him as an assistant.

and his lead assistant Brett MacConnell may also be better

 

[RU MAN]

I think the home mystique is gone.

I hope not.

 

[RU MAN]

That has typically been the formula!

But sadly we no longer have a OOC record this season to squeak in. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong, and Pike is to blame on this. His lack of offensive play calling and failing to get a solid 5 in the portal has done RU in.

 

[Richie O]

TKR TV: Rutgers Basketball HC Steve Pikiell talks Princeton Postgame

Rutgers Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell talks with the media following the loss to Princeton.

rutgers.rivals.com

 

[newell138]

The difference at the end we had 1 guy defending their last shot they put 3 on Harper

 

[BOCA93]

The difference at the end we had 1 guy defending their last shot they put 3 on Harper

Yeah, how they let Pierce back Derkack down with no help to was nuts. Also, watched Harper’s final shot a few times. I thought officiating was pretty good most of the game. But DH was definitely fouled, probably by both defenders. First he got bumped by #20, then looked to be hit on the elbow going up by the 2nd guy. I know refs don’t want to decide a game winner but annoying after Lee got bailed out on his dive and also got to shoot 3 earlier when JWill sneezed on him.

 

[ScarletDave]

Thanks goodness the Notre Dame buzzer beater missed or we would have lost every single losable OOC game - pathetic (and yes I’m already counting Columbia as a loss)

 

[greenknight]

Princeton defense also stinks so it came down to the team that made more shots in crunch time.Harper only scored five points in the second half and looked winded on drives to the basket.Pinceton was able to maintain the lead by getting back door dunks and making wide open 3 pointers.Rutgers lacks the 3 point specialist that winning teams have.Hayes should be that player but the half court offense lacks a system to create those shots which Princeton gets.

We literally could have scored 80 in paint.