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Secret scrimmage?

Rutgers will have great difficulty scoring 70 points a game without at least 21 points from the 3 point line.Martini and Hayes must be 3 point scoring threats complementing the scoring from Bailey and Harper.Lets not forget the men's basketball team had great difficulty scoring 65 points last season.
 
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I think by years end Acuff plays big time minutes… if not sooner… we need a 3 headed scoring machine.
 
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RUJMM78 said:
Rutgers will have great difficulty scoring 70 points a game without at least 21 points from the 3 point line.Martini and Hayes must be 3 point scoring threats complementing the scoring from Bailey and Harper.Lets not forget the men's basketball team had great difficulty scoring 65 points last season.
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This is not true.

Sure, making 7 3-pointers per game would be great, and would help. But a little math is in order (and this is only PARTIAL analysis).

Last season amongst Big Ten teams, in Big Ten play only, RU scored the lowest points per game (no surprise) - at 64.5 ppg. Maryland was 2nd worst, at 67 ppg, and Michigan was 3rd worst at 68 ppg. Then MSU was at 69.8 ppg. No other Big Ten team scored less than the 70.5 ppg Indiana averaged.

BUT ... RU also shot just 38.9% from the field, overall (and as a note, 28.7% from 3). The WORST shooting Big Ten team other than RU's 38.7% overall FG% was Maryland at 41.3%, followed by Penn State's 43.8% and Michigan's 44.4%. Add to that, RU shot a putrid 65.8% from the FT line (on a lower middle of pack attempts of under 20 FT's per game) - not in the bottom 4-5, but next lowest after that).

While making 7 3's per game would help, the BETTER path would be to merely average a BELOW AVERAGE 44% overall FG (even with a putrid FT% and putrid 29% 3-point %). Had RU shot merely a below average, bottom 5 in the Big Ten 44% FG (still would have been 12th in the conference), they would have had 200 more points, 6.25 additional points/game, or averaged almost 71 ppg.

The key for RU is to be more efficient on offense, get and take better shots, even if they are just 2 pointers. And perhaps increase the PACE of play to get more attempts (maybe in transition), but GOOD attempts ... and finish those mid-range and at the rim shots better.

What I describe is actually EASIER than trying to MAKE 7 3-pointers per game. Last season RU made just 5.5 3-pointers per game. To improve that, LAST year, with the same poor 3-point ATTEMPTS, RU would have had to hit 36%+ from 3. If RU makes 33% from 3 this coming season (which would have meant last year RU would have been 11th or 12th in the conference in 3-point FG%), to make 7 per game RU would have to take 11% more 3's per game than they did last year.

FYI, if RU had been able to hit 70% from the FT line, with the same attempts as last year, that would have added 0.8 ppg. RU was in the bottom 5 in FT per game attempts in the conference.

So ... my path for a better offensive team is taking more makeable shots - whether 2-pointers or 3-pointers (and RU has players who should simply be better shot-makers ... like Harper and Bailey ... and off the bench, maybe Hayes, Acuff). And push the ball more in transition more (RU may have better players to do that also).

If in 32 regular season games, RU could increase its shots per game by 5%, let's say (last year was at 60 shot attempts per game ... so let's say to 63 per game) ... and hit 44% (instead of 39%) - still bottom quarter of the league ... and increase the 3-point FG% to even just 32% (which would have been 12th in the league last year - still bad) ... and increase FT shooting to 70% (still bottom 1/3 in the league) ... even keeping the 3-point attempts % the same and the FT attempts per game the same: 75 ppg

FYI, 75 PPG last season was would have been 7th in the league. So maybe that level of improvement may be too much to expect? Or maybe not? This is ONE wild card ... just how good offensively will Harper and Bailey be? How much better offensively will they make RU? If at all?
 
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lion1983 said:
This is not true.

Sure, making 7 3-pointers per game would be great, and would help. But a little math is in order (and this is only PARTIAL analysis).

Last season amongst Big Ten teams, in Big Ten play only, RU scored the lowest points per game (no surprise) - at 64.5 ppg. Maryland was 2nd worst, at 67 ppg, and Michigan was 3rd worst at 68 ppg. Then MSU was at 69.8 ppg. No other Big Ten team scored less than the 70.5 ppg Indiana averaged.

BUT ... RU also shot just 38.9% from the field, overall (and as a note, 28.7% from 3). The WORST shooting Big Ten team other than RU's 38.7% overall FG% was Maryland at 41.3%, followed by Penn State's 43.8% and Michigan's 44.4%. Add to that, RU shot a putrid 65.8% from the FT line (on a lower middle of pack attempts of under 20 FT's per game) - not in the bottom 4-5, but next lowest after that).

While making 7 3's per game would help, the BETTER path would be to merely average a BELOW AVERAGE 44% overall FG (even with a putrid FT% and putrid 29% 3-point %). Had RU shot merely a below average, bottom 5 in the Big Ten 44% FG (still would have been 12th in the conference), they would have had 200 more points, 6.25 additional points/game, or averaged almost 71 ppg.

The key for RU is to be more efficient on offense, get and take better shots, even if they are just 2 pointers. And perhaps increase the PACE of play to get more attempts (maybe in transition), but GOOD attempts ... and finish those mid-range and at the rim shots better.

What I describe is actually EASIER than trying to MAKE 7 3-pointers per game. Last season RU made just 5.5 3-pointers per game. To improve that, LAST year, with the same poor 3-point ATTEMPTS, RU would have had to hit 36%+ from 3. If RU makes 33% from 3 this coming season (which would have meant last year RU would have been 11th or 12th in the conference in 3-point FG%), to make 7 per game RU would have to take 11% more 3's per game than they did last year.

FYI, if RU had been able to hit 70% from the FT line, with the same attempts as last year, that would have added 0.8 ppg. RU was in the bottom 5 in FT per game attempts in the conference.

So ... my path for a better offensive team is taking more makeable shots - whether 2-pointers or 3-pointers (and RU has players who should simply be better shot-makers ... like Harper and Bailey ... and off the bench, maybe Hayes, Acuff). And push the ball more in transition more (RU may have better players to do that also).

If in 32 regular season games, RU could increase its shots per game by 5%, let's say (last year was at 60 shot attempts per game ... so let's say to 63 per game) ... and hit 44% (instead of 39%) - still bottom quarter of the league ... and increase the 3-point FG% to even just 32% (which would have been 12th in the league last year - still bad) ... and increase FT shooting to 70% (still bottom 1/3 in the league) ... even keeping the 3-point attempts % the same and the FT attempts per game the same: 75 ppg

FYI, 75 PPG last season was would have been 7th in the league. So maybe that level of improvement may be too much to expect? Or maybe not? This is ONE wild card ... just how good offensively will Harper and Bailey be? How much better offensively will they make RU? If at all?
Click to expand...
Ace and Harper with elite finishing skills around the basket should get a fair amount of traditional 3 point plays as opponents foul them at the rim while they convert.
 
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lion1983 said:
This is not true.

Sure, making 7 3-pointers per game would be great, and would help. But a little math is in order (and this is only PARTIAL analysis).

Last season amongst Big Ten teams, in Big Ten play only, RU scored the lowest points per game (no surprise) - at 64.5 ppg. Maryland was 2nd worst, at 67 ppg, and Michigan was 3rd worst at 68 ppg. Then MSU was at 69.8 ppg. No other Big Ten team scored less than the 70.5 ppg Indiana averaged.

BUT ... RU also shot just 38.9% from the field, overall (and as a note, 28.7% from 3). The WORST shooting Big Ten team other than RU's 38.7% overall FG% was Maryland at 41.3%, followed by Penn State's 43.8% and Michigan's 44.4%. Add to that, RU shot a putrid 65.8% from the FT line (on a lower middle of pack attempts of under 20 FT's per game) - not in the bottom 4-5, but next lowest after that).

While making 7 3's per game would help, the BETTER path would be to merely average a BELOW AVERAGE 44% overall FG (even with a putrid FT% and putrid 29% 3-point %). Had RU shot merely a below average, bottom 5 in the Big Ten 44% FG (still would have been 12th in the conference), they would have had 200 more points, 6.25 additional points/game, or averaged almost 71 ppg.

The key for RU is to be more efficient on offense, get and take better shots, even if they are just 2 pointers. And perhaps increase the PACE of play to get more attempts (maybe in transition), but GOOD attempts ... and finish those mid-range and at the rim shots better.

What I describe is actually EASIER than trying to MAKE 7 3-pointers per game. Last season RU made just 5.5 3-pointers per game. To improve that, LAST year, with the same poor 3-point ATTEMPTS, RU would have had to hit 36%+ from 3. If RU makes 33% from 3 this coming season (which would have meant last year RU would have been 11th or 12th in the conference in 3-point FG%), to make 7 per game RU would have to take 11% more 3's per game than they did last year.

FYI, if RU had been able to hit 70% from the FT line, with the same attempts as last year, that would have added 0.8 ppg. RU was in the bottom 5 in FT per game attempts in the conference.

So ... my path for a better offensive team is taking more makeable shots - whether 2-pointers or 3-pointers (and RU has players who should simply be better shot-makers ... like Harper and Bailey ... and off the bench, maybe Hayes, Acuff). And push the ball more in transition more (RU may have better players to do that also).

If in 32 regular season games, RU could increase its shots per game by 5%, let's say (last year was at 60 shot attempts per game ... so let's say to 63 per game) ... and hit 44% (instead of 39%) - still bottom quarter of the league ... and increase the 3-point FG% to even just 32% (which would have been 12th in the league last year - still bad) ... and increase FT shooting to 70% (still bottom 1/3 in the league) ... even keeping the 3-point attempts % the same and the FT attempts per game the same: 75 ppg

FYI, 75 PPG last season was would have been 7th in the league. So maybe that level of improvement may be too much to expect? Or maybe not? This is ONE wild card ... just how good offensively will Harper and Bailey be? How much better offensively will they make RU? If at all?
Click to expand...
I’m exhausted! Good stuff
 
lion1983 said:
This is not true.

Sure, making 7 3-pointers per game would be great, and would help. But a little math is in order (and this is only PARTIAL analysis).

Last season amongst Big Ten teams, in Big Ten play only, RU scored the lowest points per game (no surprise) - at 64.5 ppg. Maryland was 2nd worst, at 67 ppg, and Michigan was 3rd worst at 68 ppg. Then MSU was at 69.8 ppg. No other Big Ten team scored less than the 70.5 ppg Indiana averaged.

BUT ... RU also shot just 38.9% from the field, overall (and as a note, 28.7% from 3). The WORST shooting Big Ten team other than RU's 38.7% overall FG% was Maryland at 41.3%, followed by Penn State's 43.8% and Michigan's 44.4%. Add to that, RU shot a putrid 65.8% from the FT line (on a lower middle of pack attempts of under 20 FT's per game) - not in the bottom 4-5, but next lowest after that).

While making 7 3's per game would help, the BETTER path would be to merely average a BELOW AVERAGE 44% overall FG (even with a putrid FT% and putrid 29% 3-point %). Had RU shot merely a below average, bottom 5 in the Big Ten 44% FG (still would have been 12th in the conference), they would have had 200 more points, 6.25 additional points/game, or averaged almost 71 ppg.

The key for RU is to be more efficient on offense, get and take better shots, even if they are just 2 pointers. And perhaps increase the PACE of play to get more attempts (maybe in transition), but GOOD attempts ... and finish those mid-range and at the rim shots better.

What I describe is actually EASIER than trying to MAKE 7 3-pointers per game. Last season RU made just 5.5 3-pointers per game. To improve that, LAST year, with the same poor 3-point ATTEMPTS, RU would have had to hit 36%+ from 3. If RU makes 33% from 3 this coming season (which would have meant last year RU would have been 11th or 12th in the conference in 3-point FG%), to make 7 per game RU would have to take 11% more 3's per game than they did last year.

FYI, if RU had been able to hit 70% from the FT line, with the same attempts as last year, that would have added 0.8 ppg. RU was in the bottom 5 in FT per game attempts in the conference.

So ... my path for a better offensive team is taking more makeable shots - whether 2-pointers or 3-pointers (and RU has players who should simply be better shot-makers ... like Harper and Bailey ... and off the bench, maybe Hayes, Acuff). And push the ball more in transition more (RU may have better players to do that also).

If in 32 regular season games, RU could increase its shots per game by 5%, let's say (last year was at 60 shot attempts per game ... so let's say to 63 per game) ... and hit 44% (instead of 39%) - still bottom quarter of the league ... and increase the 3-point FG% to even just 32% (which would have been 12th in the league last year - still bad) ... and increase FT shooting to 70% (still bottom 1/3 in the league) ... even keeping the 3-point attempts % the same and the FT attempts per game the same: 75 ppg

FYI, 75 PPG last season was would have been 7th in the league. So maybe that level of improvement may be too much to expect? Or maybe not? This is ONE wild card ... just how good offensively will Harper and Bailey be? How much better offensively will they make RU? If at all?
Click to expand...
Good stuff. I always get back to points per possession, since pace of play can distort the team’s offensive effectiveness.
 
TommyGunn said:
That scrimmage won’t show us anything. Still is what it is…a scrimmage.
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Won’t show us anything? It is against a high major team, we also get a chance to get an idea what the starting lineup is and who are the top guys coming off the bench. It will be the best information we have gotten all year.
 
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TommyGunn said:
We looked like a high flying, fast paced scoring team last year scrimmaging against that same team. Certainly didn’t play out.
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Exactly.
Just because it's the most information we will have received so far doesn't by default make it great information.

It could be. But it's not a given.
 
TommyGunn said:
We looked like a high flying, fast paced scoring team last year scrimmaging against that same team. Certainly didn’t play out.
Click to expand...
True ... they were high flying, but they got blown out in the 1st half.

So one could argue it DID play out ... and proved to be a harbinger, to an extent, of a mediocre team.

Rutgers lost the game by 11 points and was down 18 pts. at halftime. St. John's, presumably, got bored or complacent after halftime allowing Rutgers to tie the game ... only to lose in the 2nd OT 14-3.

And here's what Jerry Carino said about that game:

" .. astute fans will remember that last October’s exhibition between these programs illuminated a problem that would dog the Scarlet Knights for the entire season: Their guards could not handle the Johnnies’ defensive pressure."

Yes, it's just a silly practice game. But I wouldn't completely discount whatever we wind up seeing in this game.

https://redstormsports.com/news/202...in-double-overtime-of-charity-exhibition-game
https://www.app.com/story/sports/co...zing-up-an-intriguing-exhibition/75644606007/
 
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RUJMM78 said:
Rutgers will have great difficulty scoring 70 points a game without at least 21 points from the 3 point line.Martini and Hayes must be 3 point scoring threats complementing the scoring from Bailey and Harper.Lets not forget the men's basketball team had great difficulty scoring 65 points last season.
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I understand concern about scoring . . . but I wouldn't compare it to last season's team in my opinion. I believe that this year's team, if they live up to the hype, would beat last season's team by 20+ points.
 
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NickRU714 said:
Exactly.
Just because it's the most information we will have received so far doesn't by default make it great information.

It could be. But it's not a given.
Click to expand...
The most important information to focus on is the information you have. That doesn't mean you by definition read into that information more than is warranted.
 
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RUJMM78 said:
Rutgers will have great difficulty scoring 70 points a game without at least 21 points from the 3 point line.Martini and Hayes must be 3 point scoring threats complementing the scoring from Bailey and Harper.Lets not forget the men's basketball team had great difficulty scoring 65 points last season.
Click to expand...
Last season is so irrelevant. We returned 2.5 players with Ogbole missing half the season.
 
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RUJMM78 said:
Rutgers will have great difficulty scoring 70 points a game without at least 21 points from the 3 point line.Martini and Hayes must be 3 point scoring threats complementing the scoring from Bailey and Harper.Lets not forget the men's basketball team had great difficulty scoring 65 points last season.
Click to expand...
Again, last year's team having trouble scoring 65 is irrelevant
 
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