To me, Sheridan is the one guy who hasn’t really improved under Pike. Seems to be the same player he was under Eddie, Mike and Freddy.
The Back-Up Point Guard Problem/Shaq Carter
- Thread starter RUSCFORMERLYRULOU
- Start date
We now have Fordham, which appears to be guard oriented and may not see more than 2 or 3 bigs playing a lot of meaningful minutes. This should be a game where Harper/Mathis/Kiss and Thiam are highlighted with Myles Johnson and Shaq Doorson being the pieces that I would need to see how they fit vs a smaller quicker team. Do they get touches inside to score?? Are they screeners to try and free up shooting and chances for the guards to get freed up to drive to the hoop??
Then we have Seton Hall who has a stretch 4 on the court requiring a quicker person to close out on a shooter and Mike Nzei essentially acting as the 5 underneath absorbing contact and getting baskets inside....then back to 2 smaller opponents in Columbia and Maine around the holidays and New Year's.
It's now 5 games stretched out over 5 weeks....mixed with exams, a likely mini break to get home for holidays and back on the grind in preparation.
How much Carter and McConnell play in the next 4 games will be interesting. I think earning minutes is one thing, playing well and giving the offense a boost as the 4th or 5th option that isn't the focal point of the opposing defense is something else. We may need Carter and McConnell to give RU a combined 8 to 10 points a night. if we can get 20 to 22 strong minutes the rest of the B1G schedule out of Carter and get McConnell his 10 to 14 minutes a game of productive time, RU is much better.
I remind people about the drop off from Souf and Bullock and lesser extent Dadika absorbing minutes last year in sub patterns at the guard, especially when Mike Williams missed time for about 3 to 4 weeks last year. Add McConnell and Harper and Mathis and you have no reason to go without a scoring threat.....Now we are adding Carter to replace the Candido Sa minutes, which in theory should be more offensive points as well with the same potential rebounding..
Those empty possessions of playing 3 on 5 or at times 2 on 5, forced the offense into a lot of tough shots for Baker and Sanders and required a lot of isolation with Freeman, just to try and get a shot off. Now I feel like those extra possessions wind up with a better shot attempt or we are playing 5 on 5. Big difference between last year and this year.
Then we have Seton Hall who has a stretch 4 on the court requiring a quicker person to close out on a shooter and Mike Nzei essentially acting as the 5 underneath absorbing contact and getting baskets inside....then back to 2 smaller opponents in Columbia and Maine around the holidays and New Year's.
It's now 5 games stretched out over 5 weeks....mixed with exams, a likely mini break to get home for holidays and back on the grind in preparation.
How much Carter and McConnell play in the next 4 games will be interesting. I think earning minutes is one thing, playing well and giving the offense a boost as the 4th or 5th option that isn't the focal point of the opposing defense is something else. We may need Carter and McConnell to give RU a combined 8 to 10 points a night. if we can get 20 to 22 strong minutes the rest of the B1G schedule out of Carter and get McConnell his 10 to 14 minutes a game of productive time, RU is much better.
I remind people about the drop off from Souf and Bullock and lesser extent Dadika absorbing minutes last year in sub patterns at the guard, especially when Mike Williams missed time for about 3 to 4 weeks last year. Add McConnell and Harper and Mathis and you have no reason to go without a scoring threat.....Now we are adding Carter to replace the Candido Sa minutes, which in theory should be more offensive points as well with the same potential rebounding..
Those empty possessions of playing 3 on 5 or at times 2 on 5, forced the offense into a lot of tough shots for Baker and Sanders and required a lot of isolation with Freeman, just to try and get a shot off. Now I feel like those extra possessions wind up with a better shot attempt or we are playing 5 on 5. Big difference between last year and this year.
Last edited:
Do we have the ability against a "Fordham" to actually impose our will (staying big) and be a much better offensive team by getting low post touches.
This is a rhetorical question because I am not sure the answer....I tend to think net net NO.
This is a rhetorical question because I am not sure the answer....I tend to think net net NO.
