I watched the whole game and was surprised that Michigan almost won? It had me thinking of how they were able to stay with Purdue and also the most important ingredients needed to win in the Big 10.
1. Pikiell has this first characteristic which is an overall commitment to playing defense, rebounding and fighting for every loose ball. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you can’t inspire your team to play hard defense, it’s difficult to really consider the other things I’m about to say. Without defense, you don’t win games. We have that covered. We are short one guard in our rotation because when Souf is on the floor, he’s just a placeholder imo.
2. Michigan has multiple 3 point shooters who are all capable of erasing a deficit or building a Big lead. They also have a freshman named Livers who was Mr. Basketball in Michigan last year so they are not short on talent, but the 3 ball is clearly their biggest weapon. Purdue has two guards who you cannot leave open but even when covered, they are very fast and it doesn’t matter how far beyond the arc they are when they shoot.
3. Every team also has 1 or 2 big man who can successfully post and back down the defenders. We saw that with Purdue and 7-2 Haas, Minnesota has a few monsters, I even watched Nebraska and they have that guy. We have Freeman and he’s just too small against the bigger guys in our league. He has to make better decisions but it is what it is. He plays hard but sometimes tries to do way too much. We really don’t have any other guy. I thought after watching Omuyuri, he would be better but he’s a little overpowered against bigger defenders. I’d like to see him try more because he’s strong. But he needs to go around and under and use his agility. He’s not tall enough to play the up and over hook,
In any case, we lack most of the above and yet Pikiell has still found ways to win or stay in games with teams who currently have superior talent. Hence, the win over Seton Hall and staying very close with Florida state and Michigan State. I think that’s what excites me most about our future. When you are completely overwhelmed like we were at Purdue, you will not stay in every game and do we lost by 31. Minnesota was closer but the score ran away from us on the final 8 minutes or so.
So I do think we are on track to bringing in the ingredients we need. We shall see if it’s enough but I do think we need a little bit more. Kiss, Mathis and Harper with help with Geo and Thiam but we are still shy a bit. If we can land Hyatt in 2018 and Mulcahy in 2019, that adds a big boost. In terms of the big man solution, that’s a question mark?
Valdir Manuel could be a good power forward, but I still think we need to find a 7 foot talented center. Doucoure has to improve and we will see what happens with Carter.
All in all, you need all the pieces, but Michigan’s philosophy is bring in as many shooters as possible and I think that’s what works best in this league. Use the 3 ball to your advantage and play great defense and you’ll have a shot. Purdue and MSU kind of have it all right now. I haven’t seen OSU yet but they also seem to be loaded. Everyone else is this league is beatable right now.
Future is very bright at Rutgers. Go Ru.
1. Pikiell has this first characteristic which is an overall commitment to playing defense, rebounding and fighting for every loose ball. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you can’t inspire your team to play hard defense, it’s difficult to really consider the other things I’m about to say. Without defense, you don’t win games. We have that covered. We are short one guard in our rotation because when Souf is on the floor, he’s just a placeholder imo.
2. Michigan has multiple 3 point shooters who are all capable of erasing a deficit or building a Big lead. They also have a freshman named Livers who was Mr. Basketball in Michigan last year so they are not short on talent, but the 3 ball is clearly their biggest weapon. Purdue has two guards who you cannot leave open but even when covered, they are very fast and it doesn’t matter how far beyond the arc they are when they shoot.
3. Every team also has 1 or 2 big man who can successfully post and back down the defenders. We saw that with Purdue and 7-2 Haas, Minnesota has a few monsters, I even watched Nebraska and they have that guy. We have Freeman and he’s just too small against the bigger guys in our league. He has to make better decisions but it is what it is. He plays hard but sometimes tries to do way too much. We really don’t have any other guy. I thought after watching Omuyuri, he would be better but he’s a little overpowered against bigger defenders. I’d like to see him try more because he’s strong. But he needs to go around and under and use his agility. He’s not tall enough to play the up and over hook,
In any case, we lack most of the above and yet Pikiell has still found ways to win or stay in games with teams who currently have superior talent. Hence, the win over Seton Hall and staying very close with Florida state and Michigan State. I think that’s what excites me most about our future. When you are completely overwhelmed like we were at Purdue, you will not stay in every game and do we lost by 31. Minnesota was closer but the score ran away from us on the final 8 minutes or so.
So I do think we are on track to bringing in the ingredients we need. We shall see if it’s enough but I do think we need a little bit more. Kiss, Mathis and Harper with help with Geo and Thiam but we are still shy a bit. If we can land Hyatt in 2018 and Mulcahy in 2019, that adds a big boost. In terms of the big man solution, that’s a question mark?
Valdir Manuel could be a good power forward, but I still think we need to find a 7 foot talented center. Doucoure has to improve and we will see what happens with Carter.
All in all, you need all the pieces, but Michigan’s philosophy is bring in as many shooters as possible and I think that’s what works best in this league. Use the 3 ball to your advantage and play great defense and you’ll have a shot. Purdue and MSU kind of have it all right now. I haven’t seen OSU yet but they also seem to be loaded. Everyone else is this league is beatable right now.
Future is very bright at Rutgers. Go Ru.
