STATE OF THE PROGRAM: Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Offseason Report Cards, College Basketball 2024-2025
- Thread starter Tango Two
- Start date
All the analysis demonstrates that success or failure will be totally dependent on Bailey and Harper scoring in high double figures for Rutgers receiving a NCAA bid.The rest of the roster has too many question marks especially at the center position.
I see it differently. In my view, the success or failure of the team will lie in Pike’s ability to instill his traditional defense first culture in his players as a team (Ace and Dylan included). If he succeeds at this, we will have a special season - full stop.
Bottom line - I think folks are underestimating the extent that our raw physical talents can be leveraged into offense if we’re able to generate enough transition / fast break opportunities. The closest thing we’ve had to that was the JY / Mathis / Ron combo (Geo and Caleb contributed to the D but they weren’t really the standouts in fast break - it was the other guys). The paper talent / skills we have coming next year far exceeds this and this type of execution generally is not too correlated to experience.
In contrast, half court offense is heavily correlated with experience, patience and smart decision making. So too is the Loyola Marymount approach of simply trying to win by running and gunning through contested traffic off of regular possession transition. Simply put - neither of these approaches are likely, in my view, to result in an elite level of play with our young and unproven roster at the major conference level. The odds of us transforming into Iowa or LM for the season are very very low.
As usual - it’ll come down to the D. The exciting thing is that was have the physical talent to implement Pike’s dream D, and the personnel to transform defensive success into highlight reel offense. This is what everyone should be hoping for in my opinion. Shooters are still needed in the rotation to keep the D honest in half court sets and kick outs on transition. But rest assured we are probably in for a long season if perimeter shooting is a major focus of what we do. Simply put - I don’t see our D being very good with Hayes and Acuff on the floor together for long stretches even if they are our best statistical outside shooters. And I see strong D as a critical element.
