I wouldn't get too hung up about what a player does in 13 possessions. The bigger takeaways is who got minutes and where. It gives you insight on what Pikiell thinks and what went on in practice.
St. John's Today - My Take
- Thread starter RUChow
- Start date
Geo did not stand out, but he without a doubt fit in. He will play, and on his time on the banks, do very well.
Williams news is going to be very important for the team and how deep they go. I was very happy with the win yesterday, and had a great time at the game. Right now though, I am most confident with Freeman and Williams. Williams will definitely be needed. Let's keep him in our thoughts today.
Williams news is going to be very important for the team and how deep they go. I was very happy with the win yesterday, and had a great time at the game. Right now though, I am most confident with Freeman and Williams. Williams will definitely be needed. Let's keep him in our thoughts today.
If Williams misses time that's going be a rough Donkey Punch. As said above he's one of only four offensive players on the team.
"This is what we do." Those were Coach Pikiell's repeated words of encouragement down the stretch as he implored the defense to battle in the last 10 minutes of the game. For those wondering how we won despite some of the less than positive reviews by some of individual player performance, it is that the team battles for all 40 minutes despite our often less than stellar shooting. That has to wear down an opponent and we were able shuffle a number of players in there for extended stretches while St. John's had only 10 guys and was almost totally reliant on their backcourt guys to carry the team. Oh, and a monster performance by Deshawn Freeman and a big scoring day by Mike Williams, who we desperately need to recover.
Some small things I noticed:
- on the last full defensive possession, Pikiell subbed in Sa and switched to a 2-3 zone after playing man all half. It completely threw off St. John’s and they couldn’t get a good look. We have a good coach here people
- Corey needs to stay glued to his man on screens. At least twice, with the bench telling him it was coming, he got completed screened on inbounds plays leading to east jumpers. Later in the game, Geo stayed attached to LoVett, forcing a more difficult pass for the Johnnies. Rutgers stole the ball and went coast to coast for points
-Geo made 2-3 exceptional passes that we haven’t seen in over a decade
-Eugene will be our Draymond Green in a year or two. You can tell by his demeanor that he’s studied his all around game
-Everyone seemed willing to attack off the bounce in one on one situations. Offense flowed much better than last year
- on the last full defensive possession, Pikiell subbed in Sa and switched to a 2-3 zone after playing man all half. It completely threw off St. John’s and they couldn’t get a good look. We have a good coach here people
- Corey needs to stay glued to his man on screens. At least twice, with the bench telling him it was coming, he got completed screened on inbounds plays leading to east jumpers. Later in the game, Geo stayed attached to LoVett, forcing a more difficult pass for the Johnnies. Rutgers stole the ball and went coast to coast for points
-Geo made 2-3 exceptional passes that we haven’t seen in over a decade
-Eugene will be our Draymond Green in a year or two. You can tell by his demeanor that he’s studied his all around game
-Everyone seemed willing to attack off the bounce in one on one situations. Offense flowed much better than last year
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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Maybe long term but Johnson was Rutgers best player in the B1G Tournament last season.Rutgers biggest weakness is outside shooting.
He's a one foot jumper gets a lot more elevation on the run off one foot. Around basket off two feet more Anthony Mason / Charles Oakely type elevation.
Although his stat line doesn't reflect it, I was really impressed with Geo. He has a nice feel for the game and looked good on the dribble/drive. The shot wasn't falling, but he took good shots.
Freeman is going to be our leading scorer. Post moves and ability to finish continue to improve from last year. He's an undersized 4, but his quickness can neutralize that. Great ability to draw fouls and get to the line. Last year he struggled when he took too much time to get his shot off. I'd bet coach Pike put in a 2 dribble max rule half way through last season. That helped A LOT. If that mid-range jumper starts falling, and shoots >70% from the line, look out.
Looked like Duke got hosed on at least 2 foul calls. Shame, b/c I'm sure we'd all like to see more of what he can do.
Corey looked like Corey. Not necessarily a bad thing. Still makes poor decisions at times, still doesn't have the ability to finish going left or with his left. But, he can take over a game if he gets hot. We saw how quickly that 11 point deficit evaporated when he starts feeling it.
Defense was shaky at times, but I expect that to improve.
Really excited for this season.
Freeman is going to be our leading scorer. Post moves and ability to finish continue to improve from last year. He's an undersized 4, but his quickness can neutralize that. Great ability to draw fouls and get to the line. Last year he struggled when he took too much time to get his shot off. I'd bet coach Pike put in a 2 dribble max rule half way through last season. That helped A LOT. If that mid-range jumper starts falling, and shoots >70% from the line, look out.
Looked like Duke got hosed on at least 2 foul calls. Shame, b/c I'm sure we'd all like to see more of what he can do.
Corey looked like Corey. Not necessarily a bad thing. Still makes poor decisions at times, still doesn't have the ability to finish going left or with his left. But, he can take over a game if he gets hot. We saw how quickly that 11 point deficit evaporated when he starts feeling it.
Defense was shaky at times, but I expect that to improve.
Really excited for this season.
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