Rutgers-Purdue Game Thread
- Thread starter bac2therac
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Yeah but for their first and second year? No, year two and three. Also, why say this was not purdues best game? Why wasnt it? It was their best game. Cswan had his typical night and haas doubled his averages for rhe year, as you said the team has yet to put in a consistent effort from everyone.
Yes. Last night shows how far away we are. Either we need upgrades at all 5 positions OR the guys in those positions must improve. Purdue is so much better than us.
No one wants to hear this, but Pikiell didn't help matters.
Purdue was pretty poor from 3 and they lacked alot of their stuff in the first half which allowed RU to stay in the game.
His help is one of the reasons the defense is as good as it is. Due to the quickness and height of this league's guards (and some of the 3s), our perimeter guys get beaten off the dribble and need help down low. Freeman has his hands full with the forwards he's got to cover since they are also bigger than he is, so he is pulling double duty when he helps out. Our defense is very good given the youth of this team, and I don't have a problem with Freeman's defense, even in man. He's helping out, but other guys don't rotate fast enough when they see a weakside open guy. We get smoked down low too often due to not knowing when to drop down near the baseline to get in the way of a pass of a weakside guy who is going to break to the hole. This is instinct and IQ, and as a team we don't have enough of it yet. I wouldn't put that on Freeman. His footwork and court awareness are fine, but he needs help and none of these guys, with the occasional exception of Gettys, has enough knowledge of the D-1 game to give it yet (I actually think Gettys understands the game, he's just not quick enough and on offense guys don't move well enough without the ball to help him out). Defensively, I've seen some good things from Thiam that tells me he has a future at this level, but overall we are green right now. But without Freeman's help down low we get torched much more than we do.
I agree. Many of the post guys don't have good instincts about when to recover after hedging on the screen or on their defensive rotations down low. At this point, I think Freeman is the best we have. I think that this is the reason we do not see more of Diallo even though he is a good shot blocker and his athleticism would fit well into what they are trying to do defensively. When we play Michigan check out that guy Wagner from Germany – – he puts on a clinic with this stuff -- he creates havoc for the ball handler but still recovers to the screener against the pick and roll.
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Rutgers scored 55 points which won't win B1G games.Rutgers got the 11 out of conference wins because of a very easy schedule and even then there were some very close games.
We also allowed 29 baskets, which hasn't worked out so well for us this year:
33 @MSU - lost by 28
30 Iowa - lost by 20
29 @Indiana - lost by 19
29 @Purdue - lost by 19
28 Minnesota - lost by 9
33 @MSU - lost by 28
30 Iowa - lost by 20
29 @Indiana - lost by 19
29 @Purdue - lost by 19
28 Minnesota - lost by 9
The quality of competition is probably the biggest reason for that. If you're inclined to help out on D, you'll get beaten by your man more than if you don't help out, and the good teams can take advantage of it, especially since there's more film on our tendencies. I expect he'll get beaten a bit by NW, but the final two games (UM and MD) he should be fine because their guard play isn't spectacular (IIRC Trimble is having an off year given his history and talent).
Lol. RU did nothing to help themselves. RU didn't play good defense or anything.
RU played good D at times in the first half, not so much second, Purdue's shot selection was poor at times..they took 14 3s in the first half when all they had to do was go inside on RU, it took them until the 2nd half to figure out what they had to do break open the game. It wasnt vintage Purdue in the first half
Plus Turgeon brings in two more four star freshman. If Trimble returns, Maryland would be preseason top-5, I think.
He had a shooting slump, but Melo is having yet another season most college basketball players dream of.
He scored 32 tonight at Northwestern. He leads Maryland in scoring and is 6th in the Big Ten in that catagory, two-tenths of a point behind the two players tied for 4th.
He's shooting 44% from the field on the season, same shooting percentage as his terrific freshman year.
He was just named to the late season Wooden Award top-20 list.
He's leading a nationally ranked team that is currently 22-4, 10-3, one game out of first place in the Big Ten...in mid-February.
Trimble is doing just fine.
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Yeah, I saw him go off last night. 32 in a college game is nuts. Looks like Freeman is gonna have to help out more than anticipated when we play the Terps.
Did Trimble start off the season slowly or with limited minutes due to injury? Something in my mind tells me he was off his usual numbers earlier in the year, and I hadn't heard much noise from their camp this season.
P.S. Your screen name is one of the best I've seen.
Purdues team averaged the same numbers they do most nights. They weren't on an off night, by any stretch offensively. Also, Hass doubled his average. Just not sure what you are saying when you mention how poorly they played. Rutgers played some good defense, and you know when you see a team have an irregular shooting night?That team happened to be the team we root for. I will not make any excuse, knock them for once being on.
Thanks! It came to me some time ago and I've stuck with it.
As for Melo, I think it's a perception thing. He came into college with a bang. He's an All-American. Maryland is 77-19 (.802) overall with him as starting point guard. He's so good that people expect him to be Superman every game. Sometimes he's just a really good college basketball player. He's had slumps before and has broken out of them. He's a tough kid and I think he'll be fine.
What's interesting about Trimble is that he's currently averaging more points and assists than he did in his first two seasons. His current shooting percentage matches his highest final average of his career. He's playing well just not well by his standards, I guess.
Had Nigel not gone off the thought might have entered your mind. The defensive stats do bear this was not Jordanesque
Trimble's shot has been flatter over the last two years than it was his freshman year when he lit it up. That's not to say that he isn't making shots (he was phenomenal and shot the ball extremely well last time), but I have to think that a lot of it is mental. Coming in freshman year he totally exceeded any/all expectations, and now he's the leader of the team and has a lot of weight on his shoulders. He is an excellent team leader and a really, really good college basketball player, he just isn't a consistently good shooter.
I always appreciate good/great guard play, even when it happens against us. I hate losing and don't like giving up easy buckets, but great guard play is like a maestro with an orchestra. And good guards always have guys who move well without the ball, and then the guard passes the ball in the position that player likes to receive it. Most righties like receiving the ball in their left hand to bring it up, and a good guard will deliver it there. Every little advantage matters (they called Larry Bird the "master of the half-inch), and good guards provide that without the fans knowing that's what they've done.
I hope Corey Sanders gets a good corps of guys to pass the ball to, and that he learns to feed them the ball where they want it. Thiam has potential, but he takes the ball too low once he gets it--his habit is catch it and dip it to his left side, then bring it up. If he has any chance of being a scorer in college he has to get the ball in his left hand above his hip, then bring it up to shoot. When I watch guys like Melo, I'm jealous and hopeful at the same time.
