Some thoughts

[bac2therac]

Its unfortunate that this game along with the Penn State which I think were the two most winnable games for RU at home this year turned out to be the two worst efforts by the coaching staff and players. This game obviously the worst one. Credit Iowa, they have young talent and are well coached. Fran McCaffery had a game plan and ran circles around Pikiell all night. RU obviously was still suffering the effects of the crushing Wisconsin loss. Thats on the players and the coaches for not being able to pick them up. Beyond that, RU seemed unprepared for anything Iowa was doing on either side of the court. Unprepared for their quickness, unprepared for the press and unprepared to make any adjustments to counter them. Thats on Pikiell and staff. They have generally been great but tonight was very poor and player wise it was as equally as poor to see the effort and focus lack

It was disappointing as a fan because RU had shown progress in its best 3 game performance of the season vs Nebby, MD, and Wisky. They had really shown signs of becoming solid defensively so to see a total clunker tonight is definitely a step back. Because of the nature of the Wisky loss, I am willing to give a pass tonight but tonight only, I am concerned that the last two games could effect the rest of the season. Tonight made it more clear that this team has no margin of error at all and if it does not full effort from the get go, things can spiral out of hand quite quickly. Talent isnt there, its running moreso on desire, heart and focus and those were lacking tonight so everything fell apart quickly

Tonight just a reminder of how far we have to come. This was a down Iowa who has been up and down and blown out of few times. Not a good road team and young, yet they wiped up RU on the floor. RU not anywhere near as good as the Wisconsin game and nowhere near as bad as tonight IF they give full effort. Also want to point out that RU is not getting the best effort from schools like Wisconsin, Northwestern and Maryland.. I thought tonight Iowa didnt take RU lightly at all and RU got Iowa's A effort. What other schools mindsets are when they come into the RAC is going to determine whether RU can steal a couple of winsI keep saying recruiting is huge...need big time classes in 2019 and hopefully some serious roster turnover next year to open up spots.

Coaches and players need to get back to work and focus on a winnable game at Penn State

 

[RUJMM78]

bac- another great recap describing what happened tonight and its possible impact for the rest of the season.The trend is downward and the coaching staff has no quick fixes with the current squad.I strongly hope there will be some additional scholarships available at the end of the season.

 

[RU MAN]

Its unfortunate that this game along with the Penn State which I think were the two most winnable games for RU at home this year turned out to be the two worst efforts by the coaching staff and players. This game obviously the worst one. Credit Iowa, they have young talent and are well coached. Fran McCaffery had a game plan and ran circles around Pikiell all night. RU obviously was still suffering the effects of the crushing Wisconsin loss. Thats on the players and the coaches for not being able to pick them up. Beyond that, RU seemed unprepared for anything Iowa was doing on either side of the court. Unprepared for their quickness, unprepared for the press and unprepared to make any adjustments to counter them. Thats on Pikiell and staff. They have generally been great but tonight was very poor and player wise it was as equally as poor to see the effort and focus lack

It was disappointing as a fan because RU had shown progress in its best 3 game performance of the season vs Nebby, MD, and Wisky. They had really shown signs of becoming solid defensively so to see a total clunker tonight is definitely a step back. Because of the nature of the Wisky loss, I am willing to give a pass tonight but tonight only, I am concerned that the last two games could effect the rest of the season. Tonight made it more clear that this team has no margin of error at all and if it does not full effort from the get go, things can spiral out of hand quite quickly. Talent isnt there, its running moreso on desire, heart and focus and those were lacking tonight so everything fell apart quickly

Tonight just a reminder of how far we have to come. This was a down Iowa who has been up and down and blown out of few times. Not a good road team and young, yet they wiped up RU on the floor. RU not anywhere near as good as the Wisconsin game and nowhere near as bad as tonight IF they give full effort. Also want to point out that RU is not getting the best effort from schools like Wisconsin, Northwestern and Maryland.. I thought tonight Iowa didnt take RU lightly at all and RU got Iowa's A effort. What other schools mindsets are when they come into the RAC is going to determine whether RU can steal a couple of winsI keep saying recruiting is huge...need big time classes in 2019 and hopefully some serious roster turnover next year to open up spots.

Coaches and players need to get back to work and focus on a winnable game at Penn State

Your first paragraph pretty much echoes what Pikiell said after the game. Ultimately, he blamed himself for not having the kids prepared. It was a breakdown on all of their parts---coaches and players. What's a shame is what this game would have been like had they beaten Wisconsin.

 

[winfield102]

They get a pass? Are you kidding? Freeman with a TERRIBLE turnaround shot on our 1st possession.

Johnson taking a 17 foot pull up jumper 5 seconds into the shot. Wtf is he thinking and how is he not IMMEDIATELY on the bench?

In our 3rd possesion, Sanders makes a terrible pass that results in a TO. A guy that shots 30% cannot continue to make 4-5 completely lazy passes EVERY game.

Does this team think they are talented? Wake up. You are not. You must play defense and be smart with the ball. Do those 2 things and you might be able to win 5-7 league games despite being a terrible shooting (2's, 3's, FT's) team. Anything less and you end up winning 1-2 league games.

The team and staff get a F.

 

[RUsojo]

I said immediately following the Wisconsin game I was worried about the team getting up for this game. I really struggle to blame the coaching staff for this loss because of that. When you come out and turn the ball over four possessions in a row that concern becomes a reality.

However, I think the box score (see: minutes played) tells a big part of the story as well. I'm paying particular attention the fact that our best big man played 5 minutes, Thiam 26, Corey only 22, Dadika, Doorson. And Coach alluded to Johnson being hurt or pulling a disappearing act.

They were not "unprepared for [Iowa's] quickness" though - they've already seen them once before. The guys just didn't have it in them after the collapse against Wisconsin. Take what we already know about our guys from the season's results so far and what happened at MSG and file this one way.

 

[bac2therac]

They get a pass? Are you kidding? Freeman with a TERRIBLE turnaround shot on our 1st possession.

Johnson taking a 17 foot pull up jumper 5 seconds into the shot. Wtf is he thinking and how is he not IMMEDIATELY on the bench?

In our 3rd possesion, Sanders makes a terrible pass that results in a TO. A guy that shots 30% cannot continue to make 4-5 completely lazy passes EVERY game.

Does this team think they are talented? Wake up. You are not. You must play defense and be smart with the ball. Do those 2 things and you might be able to win 5-7 league games despite being a terrible shooting (2's, 3's, FT's) team. Anything less and you end up winning 1-2 league games.

The team and staff get a F.

they get a pass because I and we all should know that they are not that talented, that they can only do well based on max effort which leads to solid defense and rebounding, its the only chance for them to make games competitive vs 20 point plus blowouts. Much of the year Pike had them playing with max effort including Wisconsin, tonight was a clunker no dbout this team and coaches deserve criticism but if the team goes back to playing the way we have seen them all year long, then I think most will be satisfied and this was a one off largely inflicted by losing such a tough game against Wisconsin. Newsflash this team wasnt going to the NCAA, NIT or wasnt going to win 7 league games in any stretch. Have to judge them with some parameters

 

[winfield102]

Bac,

Look at the stupid shit they were doing on offense. Just dumb shots and lazy passes. What does that have to do with wisconsin?

We didn't get blown out by wisconsin because they missed their open looks. We were so careless on offense against wisconsin and I saw the same stuff tonight. Only difference is that iowa hit their 3's.

On defense, we tried to guard someone closely when they had the ball 30 feet from the basket (thiam?). Player is able to penetrate and kick out for an easy look at a 3 after other defenders collapse. Dumb.

Forget talent and effort. Can they just stop being dumb?

 

[bac2therac]

f

Bac,

Look at the stupid shit they were doing on offense. Just dumb shots and lazy passes. What does that have to do with wisconsin?

We didn't get blown out by wisconsin because they missed their open looks. We were so careless on offense against wisconsin and I saw the same stuff tonight. Only difference is that iowa hit their 3's.

On defense, we tried to guard someone closely when they had the ball 30 feet from the basket (thiam?). Player is able to penetrate and kick out for an easy look at a 3 after other defenders collapse. Dumb.

Forget talent and effort. Can they just stop being dumb?

oh I agree no excuse for the shots, I didnt like there was no real offense being run, it was just as you said schoolyard stuff but I think that goes to the mindset of the team, they still werent recovered from the Wisconsin loss and once they get down they basically mailed it in tonight. Again as long as it does not happen at Penn State I am okay with the one off tonight. Offensively we will always struggle but I believe there are games where we are more patient tonight wasnt one of them.

I can certainly understand how you feel though. Very frustrating as a RU fan to see this kind of performance tonight

 

[Knightmoves]

Not sure after tonite how the game at PSU is winnable when they already blew us out at the RAC and Iowa was winless on the road before whipping us by 20.

Too many RU fans want to give the team a moral victory for the Wisconsin game. I won't be surprised if we see more 20 point blowout losses the rest of the way. This is a bottom feeder team in the B1G for good reason. No way for me to believe the happy talk about how the team is improving. I don't see it.

 

[Kbee3]

Not sure after tonite how the game at PSU is winnable when they already blew us out at the RAC and Iowa was winless on the road before whipping us by 20.

Too many RU fans want to give the team a moral victory for the Wisconsin game. I won't be surprised if we see more 20 point blowout losses the rest of the way. This is a bottom feeder team in the B1G for good reason. No way for me to believe the happy talk about how the team is improving. I don't see it.

This team has zero shooters, bad passers, hands-of-stone catchers of passes, awful free throw shooting, and although it can rebound it often takes three or four offensive boards to get the ball in the damn basket. How can one expect to beat a halfway decent team if you have no offense ?

 

[winfield102]

When we were done by 20+, I could understand mailing it in. Rewatch our first 5 possessions. We deserve beat downs with play like that.

I don't care about wins and losses this year. I'm looking to see if we are playing hard and playing smart. I've seen nothing on the playing smarter front. We just make waaaay to many careless and poor decisions.

RU is going nowhere without playing hard and smart. It's our only chance at getting over the hump, or moving closer to getting over the hump. If pike can't do it, he isn't going to win here. If we're lucky, we get a few talented players. We aren't going to putting out line ups with 4-5 offensively talented players.

 

[TMCB]

We need more talent period. Lets hope a few kids leave to open some ships up

 

[mikefla]

There we some pluses
-Williams shot well ...16pts & had 9 rebounds
-Dadika played 20 minutes(albeit he had 3 turnovers)
-Thiam & Sa had 6pts apeice
-Freeman a double double 17pts 13REBs

Plenty of minuses
Cory on O...8 pts 5 TOs
Nigel??????????????

Still I give them a pass as well. Wisc loss ripped them up


I knew we would have some GOOD games
but
I also knew we might have been due for laying an EGG

 

[TDIrish27]

Agreed Mike-----the interesting thing will be how this game translates into the next one.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

There we some pluses
-Williams shot well ...16pts & had 9 rebounds
-Dadika played 20 minutes(albeit he had 3 turnovers)
-Thiam & Sa had 6pts apeice
-Freeman a double double 17pts 13REBs

Plenty of minuses
Cory on O...8 pts 5 TOs
Nigel??????????????

Still I give them a pass as well. Wisc loss ripped them up


I knew we would have some GOOD games
but
I also knew we might have been due for laying an EGG

Williams hustled but wouldn't say going 5-15 is shooting well.

 

[G- RUnit]

Williams hustled but wouldn't say going 5-15 is shooting well.

Ditto. Hustle and defense are great but missed 10 shots! and many were point blank. Three point shot with a minute left... need that early not late.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

Nigel Johnson was injured early in the Iowa game and basically spent the rest of the game with the trainer.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Nigel Johnson was really being called out by the staff before he got hurt

Hurt loud and clear "wake up number 0" a couple of times that was justified

And he came back in later

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Very bizarre the discussion about Johnson by Pikiell in press conference.

#3 also sat the last 10 minutes. Objectively analyze his positives and negatives over a 30 game season. Jordan Bohannon of Iowa starts to look pretty good.

 

[RUJMM78]

This team has zero shooters, bad passers, hands-of-stone catchers of passes, awful free throw shooting, and although it can rebound it often takes three or four offensive boards to get the ball in the damn basket. How can one expect to beat a halfway decent team if you have no offense ?

Sadly, some fans still believe that Rutgers can win just by playing strong defense and rebounding.Its a false premise especially playing in a power conference with excellent coaching and talent far better than what Rutgers is able to attract.Rutgers has 4 league wins in three seasons so far which is abysmal and telling as to why top tier recruits stay away.

 

[ScarletLongIsland]

Very bizarre the discussion about Johnson by Pikiell in press conference.

#3 also sat the last 10 minutes. Objectively analyze his positives and negatives over a 30 game season. Jordan Bohannon of Iowa starts to look pretty good.

Maybe I am over-analyzing Pikiell's comments, but it was almost as if he didn't think Johnson was injured or could not be bothered. Maybe he was annoyed at the way Johnson was injured. I found it strange and actually watched that segment twice.

 

[richthedentist]

I just looked out at the line up and said there is just no one out on the court who could shoot at one point while Iowa has at least 3 guys who can knock down 3 point shots. It is what it is unfortunately I don't see where any improvement is coming for next year as far as shooters Baker may help a little but that is it

 

[wheezer]

I said immediately following the Wisconsin game I was worried about the team getting up for this game. I really struggle to blame the coaching staff for this loss because of that. When you come out and turn the ball over four possessions in a row that concern becomes a reality.

However, I think the box score (see: minutes played) tells a big part of the story as well. I'm paying particular attention the fact that our best big man played 5 minutes, Thiam 26, Corey only 22, Dadika, Doorson. And Coach alluded to Johnson being hurt or pulling a disappearing act.

They were not "unprepared for [Iowa's] quickness" though - they've already seen them once before. The guys just didn't have it in them after the collapse against Wisconsin. Take what we already know about our guys from the season's results so far and what happened at MSG and file this one way.

----
we played well in the Wisconsin game, no doubt..... but Wisconsin helped us along by
shooting miserably for the majority of that game, particularly from the 3 point area..... I think
they were something like 2 for 16 or so, at one point, don't know exactly how they wound up

I compare the Wisconsin game this year to the game at home to when we beat them ....

there, we held a bit of a lead, they would foul us, and we hit critical free throws to maintain and sometimes
expand the late lead.... the team played with poise down the stretch

this time around, when given the chance to add on, we missed critical free throws and
Wisconsin finally hit a critical three late to cut a lead down to one.... we needed that
one more miss, but it was not to be.

 

[Mr Magoo]

The staff has the pick up the recruiting. We have some stud assistants but I'm starting to get worried as to what they've been able to do thus far.

 

[winfield102]

We didn't play well against wisconsin. We played similar to the iowa game. The difference is iowa hit their 3's. We were super sloppy and lazy on offense in both games.

 

[BKIn118]

Would never question Coach, but Nigel was having his thigh worked on literally the entire game by a trainer. His discomfort was obvious watching him trying to shoot and get thru screens. He was hurting us more than helping because of it...at least to my eyes.

Last night was forgettable for a number of reasons, but memorable in that all of a sudden this sort of effort is no longer the norm, but rather the exception.

 

[RUJMM78]

The staff has the pick up the recruiting. We have some stud assistants but I'm starting to get worried as to what they've been able to do thus far.

Its hard to overcome negative recruiting and decades of futility.I'm sure the coaching staff knows the need for shooters but getting them to come is a tough nut to crack.

 

[bac2therac]

Maybe I am over-analyzing Pikiell's comments, but it was almost as if he didn't think Johnson was injured or could not be bothered. Maybe he was annoyed at the way Johnson was injured. I found it strange and actually watched that segment twice.

yes I agree with you here. One I think Coach was pissed at Nigel's play when he was in and perhaps it was some attitude issue with Nigel after he was taken it, injury or not. Hopefully all that gets resolved and stuff like that usual is pretty quickly

 

[rubaseball78]

There we some pluses
-Williams shot well ...16pts & had 9 rebounds
-Dadika played 20 minutes(albeit he had 3 turnovers)
-Thiam & Sa had 6pts apeice
-Freeman a double double 17pts 13REBs

Plenty of minuses
Cory on O...8 pts 5 TOs
Nigel??????????????

Still I give them a pass as well. Wisc loss ripped them up


I knew we would have some GOOD games
but
I also knew we might have been due for laying an EGG

Dadika playing 20 minutes is not a plus.

 

[rubaseball78]

they get a pass because I and we all should know that they are not that talented, that they can only do well based on max effort which leads to solid defense and rebounding, its the only chance for them to make games competitive vs 20 point plus blowouts. Much of the year Pike had them playing with max effort including Wisconsin, tonight was a clunker no dbout this team and coaches deserve criticism but if the team goes back to playing the way we have seen them all year long, then I think most will be satisfied and this was a one off largely inflicted by losing such a tough game against Wisconsin. Newsflash this team wasnt going to the NCAA, NIT or wasnt going to win 7 league games in any stretch. Have to judge them with some parameters

I agree with Bac. While I might not use the phrase "get a pass", I'm not going to get overly worked up about this game. Not coming to play is definitely on the players and coaches but most teams throw a clunker in every now and then. You never know how a team will react to a loss like the Wisconsin game. We have to be at the top of our game just to stay in games against B10 competion. Anything less than that results in an Iowa type game. I want to see a positive response now in the next game.

 

[Knightmoves]

I agree with Bac. While I might not use the phrase "get a pass", I'm not going to get overly worked up about this game. Not coming to play is definitely on the players and coaches but most teams throw a clunker in every now and then. You never know how a team will react to a loss like the Wisconsin game. We have to be at the top of our game just to stay in games against B10 competion. Anything less than that results in an Iowa type game. I want to see a positive response now in the next game.

Mostly agree. But what if we get hammered at Penn State ?

Tough for me to think that this team is competitive at PSU. Hope my gut feeling is wrong.

 

[rubaseball78]

Mostly agree. But what if we get hammered at Penn State ?

Tough for me to think that this team is competitive at PSU. Hope my gut feeling is wrong.

I will be disappointed if we get hammered by PSU.