Steve Pikiell reveals why Rutgers star Ace Bailey sat most of 2nd half in loss to Maryland

[CERU00]

(1) Why would he lie about him having mono
(2) How does this tie in with the fact that JWill and Bailey now seem to have gotten the flu so not sure about the "low contagion" part.

Its really unbelievable that he had the flu. No one with the flu could play at all. If anyone has had the flu or know someone who has, you know this. Plus, if he had the flu the last place you'd want him to be is around your team. It's all bizarre and nonsensical.

Okay, so why do you think Ace was taken out?

 

[zappaa]

Expert opinion, please (I feel like every thread needs a "and now the professional/expert opinion from Zap")

Where would you list "dealing with sitting an injured/sick player against their wishes"?

Is Andy Reid really telling Mahomes he can't play because he's hurt or still sick?
Must be incredibly hard to make that decision and trust the players to understand you just want what's best for them and the team.

What did I do wrong now except repeat the exact quotes Pike made before and after the game

 

[S_Janowski]

I appreciate that you are trying genuinely to connect the dots. The dots don’t lead to flu for Harper or Bailey.

I obviously don’t know for sure what Bailey’s issue was but I am sure Pike’s go-to excuse is ‘flu’.

My gut feeling, of course without evidence, is that Bailey suddenly started feeling sick when his foul line jumper got swatted. Just sayin’

He’s only here to show off skills for a year and didn’t want to keep playing in a matchup he couldn’t shine in. Probably has people in his ear…

Strong words, but his priorities …

Ace looked out of it second half of Illinois. I was sitting feet from him.

 

[ru66]

He may play on Wednesday. He seems better.

 

[MrsScrew]

People here wondered how team docs would approve a kid with a virulent flu ‘strand’ (Pike’s term LOL) taking flights. The flu is very contagious. Tip: they wouldn’t. The two week duration was also questioned.

Why you ask ? Did you ever hear a coach say a player was out because of an STD, which of course no one else will catch on a flight to or from Indiana ? Two week flu Shelby’s arse.

Pike made it up on the fly to protect the player. Strand ha ha ha. No doctor told him ‘strand’ and he didn’t even bother to google it.

So unlucky for RUs two best players to get the flu.

Not sure what Ace’s deal was yesterday but Pike would have noticed flu symptoms in advance were there any. Did he sneeze or cough even just one time ?

Out of the blue in the middle of the game Ace tells Pike he can’t play anymore because he has the flu ?

The whole flu business doesn’t add up. Williams, ok. Saw it firsthand. The other two, not buying it.

Something ailing them, sure. But not the flu.

Sounds more like norovirus to me.
You don't usually vomit from the flu, but you do with Noro and you have dramatic weight loss in a short period of time. Just my RN opinion

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Yeah, I mean, I certainly can believe it's a flu-like illness that may or may not be the actual flu. But the guy was obviously sick. This idea that he was pretending to be sick because he was having a bad game is nonsense.

It doesn’t matter what it is. We have no idea what details Pike knew or didn’t know as that would be up to Ace. He may have played through not feeling his best at Illinois. Tried to do the same at Maryland. Probably tougher on the road. Or perhaps whatever bug he has took a turn for the worst during the game. Why is that not possible? But obviously Pike thought Ace would see the game through. He didn’t expect him to tap out when he was interviewed and Pike likes to be positive. It’s not a surprise that he would spin a positive picture of our healthy coming off a win with Dylan’s return under the assumption that Ace would be able to play with whatever he was battling. It wasn’t like Ace was awful when he played. We definitely missed him when he came out.

 

[fluoxetine]

Strong, unprovable accusations I know. But consider why he’s here. He’s not here to help his team win. He’s here to showcase NBA skills. So when he’s struggling and even gets rejected on a mid range jumper with “50 scouts watching”…. It sure makes you wonder…

Like many exchanges I have with you, it does make me wonder… whether you are a serious poster.

 

[fluoxetine]

Its really unbelievable that he had the flu. No one with the flu could play at all.

Good point, I’m pretty sure no one in history has ever played basketball while having the flu. Maybe we should forevermore call Ace’s heroic 4 point effort “the flu game”

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Its really unbelievable that he had the flu. No one with the flu could play at all. If anyone has had the flu or know someone who has, you know this. Plus, if he had the flu the last place you'd want him to be is around your team. It's all bizarre and nonsensical.

Um no - this is completely false. Everyone is different and it depends how bad the case is. We let my son try out for 3rd grade travel with the flu a few years ago. There’s only one date so if you don’t show you have no chance. Pumped him with a bunch of medicine. He gutted it out and made the team.

Like many exchanges I have with you, it does make me wonder… whether you are a serious poster.

On second thought, he was more productive correcting spelling.

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

Pike said his team was “finally healthy” and stated so on the pre-game interview with Bardo.
Clearly for all to hear he said “we are finally healthy”

That statement as Plum and a few others have pointed out is completely different from the post game show where he clearly said “Ace has been sick, he’s dealing with something”

I highly doubt the observation “you can not be sick and then be sick” applies here.

I mean, EO is out for the year, his comment doesn't mean his knee magically healed either.

 

[zappaa]

I mean, EO is out for the year, his comment doesn't mean his knee magically healed either.

I didn’t say we are finally healthy, he did.
After the game he said Ace has been fighting it and sick?

 

[Shelby65]

Sounds more like norovirus to me.
You don't usually vomit from the flu, but you do with Noro and you have dramatic weight loss in a short period of time. Just my RN opinion

if the rest of Pike’s laughable ‘virulent flu strand’ nonsense explanation isn’t to be believed, we’re buying the 10+ lb weight loss tale too ?

And do you think they’d ok Harper traveling with that nasty virus instead?

Oh such terrible luck that the best two players and JWill have been sidelined.

I’m sure they weren’t feeling well to some degree. What bothers Shelby is that Pike’s attempts to explain are absurd.

Shelby also thinks Ace’s mid-game health issue suddenly worsened after having his jumper rejected in front of 50 scouts.

 

[Smols]

Why are you all so fixated on this?

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

That’s about the only explanation.
I’m sure Pike is not a liar, I’m betting Ace told him he felt better….until he didn’t

^^^
This and what @fluoxetine said.. What's he supposed to answer when asked about the health of the team?.. "we'll see.. Ogbole's done for the season and the flu has gone thru the team and players always say they are good to go because they want to play.. we'll see."

I just think Pike doesn't want to make excuses even before a game. If he had done some I'm sure he been criticized by the same people for doing that.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I didn’t say we are finally healthy, he did.
After the game he said Ace has been fighting it and sick?

The context of what he said pre-game seemed to be it was nice to finally have everyone still available for the season healthy enough to be able to contribute up to their potential. We were coming off a win. Pike is always positive. Clearly - he didn’t think Ace was iffy. If he did he would’ve listed him as questionable on the availability report. Obviously he took a turn for the worst during the game.

This notion that Ace was getting “schooled “so he exited the game pretending to be sick is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. We had Maryland on the ropes. It was a 53-56 game. Reese was parked on the bend in foul trouble having just picked up his 4th. Queen had 3 fouls too. And oh yeah - Ace isn’t a 5 - if anything he was contributing intangibles and helping Lathan despite not being at his best. We outrebounded Maryland as a team. Ace shot 50%, had 3 assists and 2 steals along with his 4 points in 24 minutes. It wasn’t his best game but he wasnt “bad”.

 

[Shelby65]

The context of what he said pre-game seemed to be it was nice to finally have everyone still available for the season healthy enough to be able to contribute up to their potential. We were coming off a win. Pike is always positive. Clearly - he didn’t think Ace was iffy. If he did he would’ve listed him as questionable on the availability report. Obviously he took a turn for the worst during the game.

This notion that Ace was getting “schooled “so he exited the game pretending to be sick is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. We had Maryland on the ropes. It was a 53-56 game. Reese was parked on the bend in foul trouble having just picked up his 4th. Queen had 3 fouls too. And oh yeah - Ace isn’t a 5 - if anything he was contributing intangibles and helping Lathan despite not being at his best. We outrebounded Maryland as a team. Ace shot 50%, had 3 assists and 2 steals along with his 4 points in 24 minutes. It wasn’t his best game but he wasnt “bad”.

No, Ace wouldn’t sit himself and invent a 100% phony excuse for having a bad 15 minutes or whatever it was.

Surely he wasn’t feeling his best. But it can also be true that he had doubts about playing while mildly ill and the bad play convinced him to leave the game.

Anything more than ‘mildly ill’ and for sure Pike would have known about it.

 

[zappaa]

^^^
This and what @fluoxetine said.. What's he supposed to answer when asked about the health of the team?.. "we'll see.. Ogbole's done for the season and the flu has gone thru the team and players always say they are good to go because they want to play.. we'll see."

I just think Pike doesn't want to make excuses even before a game. If he had done some I'm sure he been criticized by the same people for doing that.

I didn’t think to over analyze it.
I heard him say the available players were all finally healthy….I was excited to hear it.
That’s what I was told, so that’s what i thought.
I fail to see how he’d be criticized by saying Ace is not feeling well.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

To be clear, I am the one over-analyzing, as I am prone to do, in order to answer the critics.. but I agree with you and fluox.. no big deal, doesn't mean anything. It is just Pike's version of coachspeak... which he does in every pregame and postgame presser.. we should be used to it.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

No, Ace wouldn’t sit himself and invent a 100% phony excuse for having a bad 15 minutes or whatever it was.

Surely he wasn’t feeling his best. But it can also be true that he had doubts about playing while mildly ill and the bad play convinced him to leave the game.

Anything more than ‘mildly ill’ and for sure Pike would have known about it.

Right - because the flu doesn’t just suddenly hit a person hard. That never happens. Not ever. Especially not when they are overextending themselves. What the heck is wrong with you? Ace has had bad games before. This was far from his worst one. We were in position to try to pull an upset down 3 with their bigs in foul trouble. You must have screws loose in your head thinking that he decided this hasn’t been my best game ever so I’m going to fake being sick the rest of the way. I’m astounded. Even from you.

 

[OldManRiver]

Why are you all so fixated on this?

It’s like the hunt for the magic loogie

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Also - to be clear, I’m not even disagreeing about Plum’s point that there is inconsistency. No doubt Pike thought Ace would be able to finish the game and it’s certainly possible he chose to sell a narrative that embellished on the health of our team coming off a ranked win. Can you blame him? If we have any chance of turning things around, he needs to be able to advertise the picture of how our health issues negatively impacted play in the games we lost. That’s worlds different from suggesting Ace faked an illness.

He’s always been like this though. The “best team ever” doesn’t lose to 340th ranked Lafayette at home.

 

[zappaa]

Also - to be clear, I’m not even disagreeing about Plum’s point that there is inconsistency. No doubt Pike thought Ace would be able to finish the game and it’s certainly possible he chose to sell a narrative that embellished on the health of our team coming off a ranked win. Can you blame him? If we have any chance of turning things around, he needs to be able to advertise the picture of how our health issues negatively impacted play in the games we lost. That’s worlds different from suggesting Ace faked an illness.

He’s always been like this though. The “best team ever” doesn’t lose to 340th ranked Lafayette at home.

Ace isn’t going to fake any illness.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Ace isn’t going to fake any illness.

Of course not. He wasn’t even playing notably poorly.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I didn’t think to over analyze it.
I heard him say the available players were all finally healthy….I was excited to hear it.
That’s what I was told, so that’s what i thought.
I fail to see how he’d be criticized by saying Ace is not feeling well.

He wouldn’t be criticized. It’s not that. Pike likes to be positive. He likes giving fans reasons to be hopeful. We were coming off a win and he thought Ace would be able to play the whole game in which case this topic wouldn’t have come up again post game win or loss. Ace wasn’t having a historically bad game and wasn’t blatantly ineffective. It was nothing like Dylan at MSG. He was deferring on driving and things like that - not feeling well and probably didn’t want to take contact. Knowing the situation it make sense now. But again - he was finding ways to contribute.

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

I didn’t say we are finally healthy, he did.
After the game he said Ace has been fighting it and sick?

That's what I'm saying...his statement was inaccurate regardless of Ace, as we can't possibly be finally healthy without EO. Ace was wiling to give it a go, why would Pike let the cat out of the bag to the opposing team?