So what’s formula for beating MSU??

[sport2231]

They score a lot of points but if our defense is for real, I’m confident we can hold them to season low (would be 77). My feeling is we need to get them in low 60s to have a chance

I would like to see us push the ball as often as possible. Still don’t think we’re a good half court offense

I think I would lean to actually making the game a little more up tempo to begin. If we are shooting well, I think we know what we are capable of

If we aren’t shooting well we have to just slow it down and hope to grind it out

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

D

 

[Rokodesh]

All about the D

 

[MS-RU]

D and FTs

 

[RU-ROCS]

D, rebounding and fouls shots. Can’t shoot 55% from the line and have any chance for the upset.

 

[bac2therac]

defense and luck..wasnt the game at MSU last year like 53-52...I think the game at the RAC was more uptempo. But its about D, its about energy, its about confidence and a heckuva alot of luck

edit that they won by 10 at the RAC 62-52 and it was OT 76-72 there, I think two years ago we may have played them close at their place too

 

[BellyFullOfWhiteDogCrap]

They score a lot of points but if our defense is for real, I’m confident we can hold them to season low (would be 77). My feeling is we need to get them in low 60s to have a chance

I would like to see us push the ball as often as possible. Still don’t think we’re a good half court offense

I think I would lean to actually making the game a little more up tempo to begin. If we are shooting well, I think we know what we are capable of

If we aren’t shooting well we have to just slow it down and hope to grind it out

Trying to push the tempo as often as possible and holding them under 77 is counter productive. Selective runouts and work the motion offense for good looks. Just like tonight.

 

[sport2231]

I get that in a perfect world D and making FTs is what we want.

I just think MSU will be beat us if we slow it down as often as possible. I’m not saying run every time, but I think with shooters like Kiss and even Thiam getting them 3 point shots in transition will be best

 

[FrankZ]

D and need the 3s to drop. 6-24 not going to cut it on Friday.

 

[BellyFullOfWhiteDogCrap]

I think we've all noticed the defensive intensity has picked up the last few games. Good to see the lesson learned from the St John's game. Yes, the Johnnies shot the lights out, but our defense didn't show up either. Still room to improve, but we've been much more active since. Really like what I saw from Mathis and Harper tonight. Both have the potential to be excellent defenders. Better than advertised

 

[RUAEPI]

If we score more points than they do, I think we have a pretty good chance of winning.

 

[rufeelinit]

They were missing one of their outside shooting bigs (McQuaid) against Louisville. I think it was an illness so I assume he will play tomorrow night. I think we have enough bigs to neutralize Ward inside so I think the game will come down to defending their perimeter players. The formula does not change that much for us. Limit turnovers and second chance opportunities, take advantage of transition opportunities when present, move the ball and take good shots in the half court and make FT's.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

Defense and our shooting has to get better.

 

[TDIrish27]

D and need the 3s to drop. 6-24 not going to cut it on Friday.

Agreed but usually teams shoot better at home.

 

[wheezer]

They score a lot of points but if our defense is for real, I’m confident we can hold them to season low (would be 77). My feeling is we need to get them in low 60s to have a chance

I would like to see us push the ball as often as possible. Still don’t think we’re a good half court offense

I think I would lean to actually making the game a little more up tempo to begin. If we are shooting well, I think we know what we are capable of

If we aren’t shooting well we have to just slow it down and hope to grind it out

---
don't know a thing about their team, but if their
style is to score a lot, I would think you play ball control and very tough D, keeping the game
in the 60's..... what you seem to suggest is playing more their game, if you push the ball

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

perimeter shooting, both sides

 

[RUBigFrank]

Slow the game down - get the game in the 60's.

Defense - Defense

 

[zebnatto]

There’s a difference between pushing the ball and run and gun. I think our half court offense is pretty average and that with guys who can get to the rim and hit the rhythm 3 we need to push judiciously.

 

[RUJMM78]

The main issue going forward this season is the points Rutgers scores per game.Defense can keep teams in games especially if the opponent is having a poor shooting game.On the other hand when the opponent is making shots like St.Johns the only way to stay in such games is to match baskets .Rutgers will face both situations against B1G opponents and the won/loss record will be impacted based on Rutgers points scored per game.Right now based on the 6 games played Rutgers should score in the 60-65 point range against B1G opponents.

 

[sport2231]

---
don't know a thing about their team, but if their
style is to score a lot, I would think you play ball control and very tough D, keeping the game
in the 60's..... what you seem to suggest is playing more their game, if you push the ball

Someone else mentioned it above but I should clarify. I’m not suggesting pushing every chance we get. But I think off rebounds we need to move the ball up quickly and see if we can get Kiss and Thiam open in the confusion of the defense running back

Outside of Baker I’m not confident in our guys creating their own shots in many cases in a half court offense

 

[TobyTyler1]

last few possessions were exclusively Gio off a high pick and roll. i'm comfortable with this offense on every possession.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

Keep Langford under control and get good minutes from Harper. Myles seems a little lost so far, so a good game from him would be great. Kiss had a good game against Miami and needs an even better one against MSU. It's going to be an ugly, defensive struggle imo.

 

[TobyTyler1]

hopefully McQuaid is out again

 

[Scangg]

The D should be there basically every game for us. Not concerned about that at all. If we are going to beat the elite teams in the conference, it's going to be all about the 3 ball. We are due to break out of the shooting slump from downtown and a big home game after a big road win seems like the perfect time to do so. Let's start out hot and set the tone.

 

[higgins3]

In this game you have a couple of key points.

Eugene will and should play 32 minutes. His ability to hit a three point shot( I feel confident about any shot he takes), will take their best rebounders in Ward, Tillman, Goins out of the paint will be a key point if Rutgers is to win. EO must be a primary focus in the offense, and I like him on the perimeter this game.

Also key is for Rutgers to pressure Winston as he turns the ball over at 2.9 a game.

On offense, Baker should be driving and trying to force him into fouls early in the game. He fouls a lot for a guard at 3.0 a game. He tries to steal often, so Baker should keep the ball in front and stay quick. Also, driving on Langford as he can rack up fouls.

Their bigs match up well with Doorson and are heavyweights.

If RU is to foul anyone, or use fouls on anybody, its Xavier Tillman hitting less than .500 a game.

Michigan runs a lot of players, and they are still efficient when the bench is used. PPG will be hard to beat. To have a chance, Rutgers has to continue their efforts on a cleaner passes, and maximize offensive possessions.

The sixth man in the RAC will be big. We must be loud.

RU 68 MSU 67. It's going to take a RAC village.

RRRRRR

 

[beaced]

They score a lot of points but if our defense is for real, I’m confident we can hold them to season low (would be 77). My feeling is we need to get them in low 60s to have a chance

I would like to see us push the ball as often as possible. Still don’t think we’re a good half court offense

I think I would lean to actually making the game a little more up tempo to begin. If we are shooting well, I think we know what we are capable of

If we aren’t shooting well we have to just slow it down and hope to grind it out

We have the D game down pretty well. Shooting is another story entirely.Better shooting from the field and the line is the only way that RU will be competitive with the B1G teams.

 

[MOBFreehold]

They score a lot of points but if our defense is for real, I’m confident we can hold them to season low (would be 77). My feeling is we need to get them in low 60s to have a chance

I would like to see us push the ball as often as possible. Still don’t think we’re a good half court offense

I think I would lean to actually making the game a little more up tempo to begin. If we are shooting well, I think we know what we are capable of

If we aren’t shooting well we have to just slow it down and hope to grind it out

Havent seen them play do they shoot a lot of 3s. St John's killed us with 3s and Miami had a few open looks too. We need better rotation defense to follow the ball

 

[Scarlet Blind]

MSU is averaging 14.6 turnovers/gm., so they don't really take care of the ball either. It also seems MSU struggles with taller teams Kansas and Texas avg 6'6" Louisville 6'5 and we average 6'7". Most of their blowout wins were shorter teams. I think we have a good shot at pulling the upset since last year we played both games close.

 

[bowlgoal]

You don’t want to get into a high scoring game with them and they try to push the tempo as much as possible. They are very physical with hard screens and good shooters and then Ward goes hard to the glass to pick up the scraps. It’s going to be another tough battle for us. The crowd could be the X factor for us tomorrow if we are playing well. It’s going to be very loud. We just have to play with composure and not waste possessions with bad shots.

 

[RURM85]

Make it a rock fight like both games last year. Slow the game down. Defend every possession, no transition points for Sparty, rebound like crazy

 

[RU_fan435]

Michigan st is going to have a better offensive performance than Miami. Miami struggles to catch the ball on some possessions. Even if we play defense like we did Wednesday night, expect Michigan st to put up closer to 65. Thus, we need to have a stronger offensive game. We didn’t get to the FT line to much in the Miami game and didn’t hit too many 3s, so if we do that we should at least keep it close.

 

[Mr Magoo]

We have to make it a rock fight like we did against Miami. Our half-court offense is one of the weakest parts of our game but I don’t think think we should try to speed the game up. Run only when it’s available like we did against Miami. MSU can blow us off the court in a running game. I love Baker, but Winston and Langford are better than Baker and whatever 2-guard we have out there.

And we MUST cut down on the turnovers and hit foul shots. Lots of lazy passes in the Miami game. Players must come to the ball. We are #347 out of 351 in D1 FT PCT at 56.1%....that’s absurd. If we were only average, it would be an extra 3-4 points per game.

This team isn’t Miami but we are home. Tough task ahead.

 

[KnightsofChrome]

In this game you have a couple of key points.

Eugene will and should play 32 minutes. His ability to hit a three point shot( I feel confident about any shot he takes), will take their best rebounders in Ward, Tillman, Goins out of the paint will be a key point if Rutgers is to win. EO must be a primary focus in the offense, and I like him on the perimeter this game.

Also key is for Rutgers to pressure Winston as he turns the ball over at 2.9 a game.

On offense, Baker should be driving and trying to force him into fouls early in the game. He fouls a lot for a guard at 3.0 a game. He tries to steal often, so Baker should keep the ball in front and stay quick. Also, driving on Langford as he can rack up fouls.

Their bigs match up well with Doorson and are heavyweights.

If RU is to foul anyone, or use fouls on anybody, its Xavier Tillman hitting less than .500 a game.

Michigan runs a lot of players, and they are still efficient when the bench is used. PPG will be hard to beat. To have a chance, Rutgers has to continue their efforts on a cleaner passes, and maximize offensive possessions.

The sixth man in the RAC will be big. We must be loud.

RU 68 MSU 67. It's going to take a RAC village.

RRRRRR

Thank you! Wondered how RU matched up with MS, and foolishly thought that this sites worshiped Basketball guru(Richard Schnyderite), would give a half way decent analysis of the two teams. So, I clicked on that analysis in the front page of this site, and got nothing. It was a description of their top players. That was it! Could have gotten that anywhere.
So, thank you again. Maybe you should start your own Rutgers site, or sell your services to a more educated group. lol

 

[goru7]

They were missing one of their outside shooting bigs (McQuaid) against Louisville. I think it was an illness so I assume he will play tomorrow night. I think we have enough bigs to neutralize Ward inside so I think the game will come down to defending their perimeter players. The formula does not change that much for us. Limit turnovers and second chance opportunities, take advantage of transition opportunities when present, move the ball and take good shots in the half court and make FT's.

Great pickup, Mc Quaid , their senior and reliable three point shooter and glue guy did not play against Louisville and they sorely missed him because when Langford was off there was no where else to go for threes and Winston fouled out . I doubt Winston fouls out against us, I am sure Matt McQuaid will play and Michigan State will bring it.
Interesting to see how valuable Winston is to Izzo’s team just like Geo is to our team. Langsford was off kinda like when Issa is off and it becomes more difficult to score. Izzo tried to play his freshman point guard Lorber, who struggled mightily like Caleb probably would have, and they came up short. Lorber who made 119 straight foul shots in high school and they listed as a 90% foul shooter, missed the front end of a one and one with 31 seconds left up 1 in regulation that would have stretched the lead to three and might have avoided OT.

 

[Scangg]

Great pickup, Mc Quaid , their senior and reliable three point shooter and glue guy did not play against Louisville and they sorely missed him because when Langford was off there was no where else to go for threes and Winston fouled out . I doubt Winston fouls out against us, I am sure Matt McQuaid will play and Michigan State will bring it.
Interesting to see how valuable Winston is to Izzo’s team just like Geo is to our team. Langsford was off kinda like when Issa is off and it becomes more difficult to score. Izzo tried to play his freshman point guard Lorber, who struggled mightily like Caleb probably would have, and they came up short. Lorber who made 119 straight foul shots in high school and they listed as a 90% foul shooter, missed the front end of a one and one with 31 seconds left up 1 in regulation that would have stretched the lead to three and might have avoided OT.

Do you have any info on McQuaid? Or just assuming?

 

[SpartanJD]

MSU is vulnerable to turning it over against high defensive pressure

 

[higgins3]

Thank you! Wondered how RU matched up with MS, and foolishly thought that this sites worshiped Basketball guru(Richard Schnyderite), would give a half way decent analysis of the two teams. So, I clicked on that analysis in the front page of this site, and got nothing. It was a description of their top players. That was it! Could have gotten that anywhere.
So, thank you again. Maybe you should start your own Rutgers site, or sell your services to a more educated group. lol

No problem.

All the credit to the players and the program. EO and his stretch four capabilities will really help this team going forward. What a player he has become. When he continues to develop his dribble, watch out!

 

[zebnatto]

By the percentages, MSU is a slightly better 3pt shooting team than us, though we know how erratic we've been. They dont take a helluva lot more than us. If we can keep the difference in makes at 3 or under, we're in the game.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

In the department of what we can control..........close out on the 3 point line.

 

[phlop87]

We need to play trough D limit silly fouls, box out on every shot to limit second chances. On offense push the ball if it’s there and then settle into 1/2 court offense where we don’t settle for jumpers Make the extra pass