Talk about them at the end of the season . They are the 3 time defending champ in the IVY that has had 4-5 good teams for the last 5 years. Kinda think they will end up at 75 or lower in the Net and not at their current 115 , which is a function of their early unexpected losses . That would make them a Quad 2 at the end of the year. Right now they do not have an NCAA resume but it they blitz thru the IVY with only 2 losses they would be another bubble team
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"I'd take the points" is a meaningless statement without specifying how many points. Also you do not get points in the actual games that you need to win in order to make the NCAAs.
This is all delusional. They would not come close to .500 in the Big Ten. They are worse than every Big Ten team except Minnesota. And separate from that, they would need to do better than .500 in the Big Ten to make the tournament given their OOC performance.
No, I do not expect them to win a game if they win the Ivy. They will be significant underdogs to whoever they play in the first round. They will be severe underdogs to make the sweet 16. Would I be shocked if they pulled an upset? No. But it's not an expected outcome. That's what makes it an upset.
If they lose two more games they will not be close to the bubble.
Basically the only possible path to an at large bid for Princeton would be to win out the season and lose in the finals of the Ivy tournament. And even that is pretty borderline.
Kennesaw had something to prove against Ace. But these discussions are pointless lol... I think Princeton can beat a top team, you guys don't think they can so that pretty much sums it up. If you want to be negative about Rutgers basketball right now there is plenty to harp on. I was just trying to say it's not as bad as some are making it. But hey maybe it is...time will tell .
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Well, I would not bet significant amounts on Princeton to beat Purdue outright but I'd place a small high conviction bet on that lol . In other words Id expect Purdue to win but I think Princeton can steal a game from them. Xavien Lee and Pierce can go off against anyone.
You can disagree which is your opinion but it is not delusional . What exactly did you see in their game against Rutgers that you did not like ? Their shooting ? Their 3 point shooting ? Their rebounding ? Their offensive rebounding ? Their points in the paint ? Their ability of their guard to break down whoever defended him ? Seems to me those are the traits of a good winning basketball team. The only thing they did not do well was shoot foul shots which was uncharacteristic for them.
Your claim they are worse than every BIG 10 team but Minnesota is laughable. The BIg 10 is the third rated conference now and it is a distant third and no where close to the SEC . You making the conference into a juggernaut is laughable at best.
As they say , “ We will see in 3 months “
Because Big 10 schools will play a semblence of defense vs Princeton
That is what the tourney teams in 2023 said. Their formula for success in the 2023 NCAA tourney is the same one I watched just beat Rutgers. You seem like Flux , overestimating the big bad BIG 10
It is delusional.
I'm not making it into anything. I don't need to pick out things from their one game against Rutgers, athough a 1 point win against Rutgers is also not impressive. I can look at their entire list of results. In 13 games they've played like a quality team twice and like a decent team twice (beating Rutgers by 1 goes in the latter category).
This obsession some people around here have with the Ivy League as a basketball conference is bizarre. You don't see people pumping up like North Dakota St even though that is a similar quality team from a similar quality league as Princeton.
2 players this time and they already have 2 bad losses
its fascinating to watch....they will do the same for Columbia
but I think in general any team ru loses to or struggles with then becames a good team..its a way of cope
Wow - is this really a debate? Do you guys not see what Princeton’s resume looks like? On paper they are not a good team. There’s nothing good on their resume you could point to. Most of the teams they beat besides us are under 500 and stink. One is against a D2 team. Texas State, LC, and Wright St are losses like Kennesaw or worse. You can’t have 3 losses like that and be in the at large conversation. Furman isn’t good either.
If we hadn’t blown both the Kennesaw and Princeton games, the Columbia game would be a NET gift of all gifts in terms of opportunity. You usually pay top dollar to get 10-1 type midmajors to come to you (the road win at Nova is the cherry on top). A big MOV win could do wonders for our computer numbers despite Columbia not actually being very good. They won 13 total games last year so 10-1 is clearly overachievement for them.
If Princeton is a better program than Rutgers against the same equalized schedule, then what the hell are we paying HC Pike and staff so much money for?
Seems like it's a massive failure to be spending so much on staff and players when better results could be had for a for a fraction - if what you say is true.
This is completely irrelevant to how a loss to Princeton is viewed by the NCAA selection committee. Minnesota or Washington could knock off a top 4 seed on a given day too. That doesn’t make a loss to any of these teams respectable. They are bad losses for teams with any hope of an NCAA bid. Full stop.
Columbia isn’t very good based on their SOS, but we aren’t good enough to offset. Thinking another 1-4 point loss is in the cards here. As always Dylan and Ace will show up and everyone else will be dropping a 40 min deuce.
Your probably right, but who knows? Maybe we’ll surprise. As I said - it’s a gift opportunity of sorts and Pike probably expected a 300 type. I don’t think we’ve played a home game like this one since the SFA game in 2019-20 (I’m sure that one wasn’t expected either).
Princeton would be 3-17 or maybe 4-16 in the B1G, RU fans are wild......they have no size and keep in mind Martini started for them and he's not good at this level. Pierce would be eaten alive over 20 to 22 B1G games.
If RU misses the NCAA tournament, how on earth would Princeton beat the teams in the B1G??
I've never seen a RU fanbase fall in love with literally one game and ignore everything else. Princeton is NOT good but good enough to beat someone every other week.
I’m was naive enough to think that KSU would be the only bad loss for RU this year. Then we added Princeton to the list, will we add Columbia? It feels entirely possible, way more possible than it actually should feel. The bad losses in conference are Minnesota, Washington, USC, I am not entirely confident we will win all 3 of those games, that is the main issue with this group is that on any given gameday they can lose to anybody, they might also win, but you have no idea or confidence that they will deliver a win on gameday.
The sad truth is the only real easy game this team had was Wagner. While never in danger of losing vs Merrimack/Monmouth there were long stretches of offensive futility or defensive embarrassments that kept Rutgers from really running away with those wins. St Peters was a deathmatch right to the very end
Rutgers is likely to be the "bad" Q3 loss to schools if they lose while playing host to RU
No one said they were a better team than Rutgers . What I am saying they are not some incompetent team that the NCAA does not know about. In fact , every coach in America if asked will tell you Princeton is a tough team and beating them is a good win and losing to them is not disastrous.
What crap are u espousing about our staff? You do not have to disparage our staff and can still give compliments to Henderson. You the NBA guy should have been impressed how he pulled the NBA playbook and identified the mismatch and exploited it with both Lee and Pierce.
You are the one saying Princeton would go 10-10 in the BigTen.
Is that likely a finish higher than Rutgers in the Big Ten this year?
Does that not make them a better team?
Not a one off game (KSU beating us) but better finish over the entire season.
I agree. The Princeton coach ran some great plays and tactics.
But that post nothing to do with Henderson specifically.
If Princeton can finish say equal to what Rutgers would then wouldn’t you say we are wasting a ton of money?
Princeton is spending how much less than us for equal or better results?
The argument regarding KSU is “sure they beat us. Buts it’s a one off. In the Big Ten they couldn’t duplicate that over an entire season.”
That’s the usual explanation for an inferior program overall not being better because of a single win against someone.
The difference is now some are saying “Princeton isn’t a one off. With their current program, they could compete in the Big Ten over 20 conference games.”
And some are disagreeing.
That’s the usual explanation for an inferior program overall not being better because of a single win against someone.
The difference is now some are saying “Princeton isn’t a one off. With their current program, they could compete in the Big Ten over 20 conference games.”
And some are disagreeing.
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So true and that’s unfortunately where we are headed…..last season we became the “the bad loss” for other teams, can’t believe this season is headed to an instant replay. The sad irony right now is we are rooting and hoping for Notre Dame’s NET to improve, meanwhile they are going to pass us in the NET if their NET improves. That is how far out of it we are right now. It is going to take one hell of a month of January to get this team in the NCAA hunt, maybe a 6-2 record gets us legitimately back into at least being in bubble conversations. 5-3 is mandatory just keep the ship afloat.
Princeton is a better program because they have defeated Rutgers two straight seasons in front of hostile crowds.
team played up to their competition yet fell short both times, since that game they lost to Ohio State in a mailed in performance, played one good half vs Penn State but credit them for finishing them off, beat a historically bad offensive Seton Hall team on the last shot, and lost to a Princeton team not even in the top 100 of the NET...all 4 games the constant of pathetic defense was present
need a few more data points but I am starting to think based on the first 12 games that the performace vs Bama/A&M are the anomolies..no coincidence money was on the line
Don’t get it twisted . Princeton is good. Rutgers can go 10-10 or11/9 or 12-8 or anything better. Just because Princeton might go 10-10 in the BIG 10 is more a function of how beatable the teams are. You acting like that would be a great accomplishment and shitting on Rutgers if they go 10-10, is nothing compared to their going 10-10 in the SEC. That would be a huge accomplishment.
You trying to indict Pike when the issues are known , man to man defense , help team defense , rebounding and limiting second chance points. He has to fix the issues and the players are not cooperating so he as the coach has to do something different to get those problems solved. Frankly rebounding takes toughness and pure effort , like actually going after a rebound , which should be fixed easier than the man defense. The games have been close enough to have won a few more
Surprise? We will be signficant favorites.
Do you think mediocre teams play the same exact mediocre basketball every game?
Two good games. Two good games at the worst possible time to be honest, because we lost them both. Whoop de ****in do.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
We will be favorites but it’s hard to expect an easy win when as BAC said, only the Wagner game fit that profile so far. Until proven otherwise I’m expecting a nail biter. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Princeton is not an At large team. They already have too many losses and would not go anything close to 10-10 in the BIG. Columbia isn’t either, but while Princeton may have more talent, Columbia probably has the better resume. They are actually playing us for the right to be in the At large conversation. Beat us and an 11-1 non-conference with a pair of road wins over major conference teams earns them the right to be in the conversation as a mid major on selection Sunday with a 28-3 record.
Columbia isn’t going 28-3.. their schedule is extremely weak so far . Caught Villanova at a good time early in the year . Also lost on the road at Albany by 15
I’m not predicting that will happen - that isn’t the point. Going into our game they are still 10-1 and for a mid-major, a gaudy resume with very few losses and 2 true road wins over major conference teams would put them in play for at large consideration if they were to keep winning - in theory. They are therefore playing for the right to control their own destiny in a sense.
In contrast, beating Rutgers on a neutral floor did nothing for Princeton’s at large hopes. Their chances rounded to zero before our game win or lose as they already had 4 losses to mid majors that are not close to bubble teams.
Now that is delusional. Columbia is not at large. Their Net is 92 not 22. This is their best team in a while but I doubt they will unseat Princeton as IVY Champs.
He didnt say they were but their resume is way better than Princetons
What did I say that is dilusional? I didn’t say Columbia is better than Princeton. In fact, I actually said Princeton is probably more talented.
What I said is that Princeton was near mathematically eliminated from At Large contention prior to their game against us. Winning out until their final game would put them at 5 losses with one win over a major conference team (us).
Columbia on the other hand, technically controls its own destiny entering the game with a 10-1 record What part of this statement is inaccurate?
Their resume includes a 8-0 record against Quad 4 teams and includes a Quad 3 loss and 1 win over Villanova who is sitting at 66. If you guys think that is a good resume and are being fooled by the win number not the competition that is on you. Columbia’s Net is at 104 and Princeton ‘s is 116. Negligible difference. Kenpom has Princeton at 109 and Columbia at 145 , edge to Princeton. But Princeton is the 3 time defending IvY champs and likely will get their 4th. The way better is off the rails
Columbia is not at large candidate since their record is padded with 8 Quad 4 wins and includes a Quad 3 loss . They are not even in the NCAA discussion. Plus at best they might have 1-2 Quad 2 opportunities and no Quad 1 opportunities . So saying they control their own destiny for anything to do with being an at large team is delusional.
