Tidbits - Maine Black Bears - 12/29 Opponent (Very interesting / Barrier Breaking tidbits

[BigEastPhil]

- Record to date is 2-11.

- Notable Losses: At Utah (75-61); At San Francisco (93-50); At NC State (82-63); Princeton (73-59 Home); At St Peters (63-59 in OT); At Dartmouth (78-52); At Duquense (72-46); At Central Conn St (93-90 in 2OT)

- Only Notable Win vs Fordham (yes that Fordham): 75-68 in 2OT's in Maine.

- The squad has 12 foreigners on it from all over the world. You name the country and/or continent and a good chance you guessed right.

- Squad has a Female Assistant Coach - Edneisha Curry. I have no idea if she is the first female assistant on a Mens College Team. Regardless, great to see.

- Head Coach is Richard Barron in his 1st year. He was the Womens' HC previously and I'm presuming Edneisha Curry worked with him with the Women. Always wondered how Geno Auriemma would have done coaching Men.

- Another Assistant Igor Vrzina is from Ukraine and is responsible for recruiting many of the foreigners per his bio. No truth that the Vezina Trophy is named after him...:)

- Star Players are Isiah White (15 PPG - Guard); Andrew Fleming (13 ppg - 6'7" F) and Sergio El Darweh (10 PPG -G from Lebanon).

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

What gender is the DOBO?

 

[bac2therac]

they are a really bad team, any struggle with them and its red flags ahead

 

[RUPete]

Regarding Geno and coaching men, if he recruited at the same level he would still win.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Struggle with Maine, bad sign.....

Destroy Maine.....good sign.....???

Struggle with Maryland.....bad sign

Defeat Maryland......good sign.....

Somehow I don't see this roster getting jacked up for Maine or being completely asleep either. I don't think there's too much to be taken either way.

I would like to see a handful of things continue that have nothing to do with Maine or their roster, won/loss records etc...

If RU struggles and Harper Jr knocks down 2 or 3 jumpers from 3, I would take that...

If McConnell continues to get minutes and plays well, but Baker and Eugene struggle, I would sign up for that as well.

If Shaq Carter plays 20/24 minutes with a double/double and RU struggles to a victory because Baker and Kiss miss open shots that I know they would or could make, I would sign up for that.

The least appealing item of Maine would be Baker and Eugene continue to do the heavy lifting and none of the supporting cast steps forward with a breakout game.

I would be more than happy with a blowout win, but how you win in what is almost certainly expected to be the last sure thing on the schedule is beyond that.

 

[koko2315]

Struggle with Maine, bad sign.....

Destroy Maine.....good sign.....???

Struggle with Maryland.....bad sign

Defeat Maryland......good sign.....

Somehow I don't see this roster getting jacked up for Maine or being completely asleep either. I don't think there's too much to be taken either way.

I would like to see a handful of things continue that have nothing to do with Maine or their roster, won/loss records etc...

If RU struggles and Harper Jr knocks down 2 or 3 jumpers from 3, I would take that...

If McConnell continues to get minutes and plays well, but Baker and Eugene struggle, I would sign up for that as well.

If Shaq Carter plays 20/24 minutes with a double/double and RU struggles to a victory because Baker and Kiss miss open shots that I know they would or could make, I would sign up for that.

The least appealing item of Maine would be Baker and Eugene continue to do the heavy lifting and none of the supporting cast steps forward with a breakout game.

I would be more than happy with a blowout win, but how you win in what is almost certainly expected to be the last sure thing on the schedule is beyond that.

100% this. I don't think you can take much from the final outcome/magrin of victory, but the small wins within (getting a cohesive go to lineup, McConnell progressing, Harper knocking a few down, lock down defense)

 

[Rhuarc]

The 3's have to start falling sooner or later. If we continue to put in an effort with solid D and rebounding, this should be a decent sized win.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

NJH and I see it almost the exact same way. Let me add........

Against Maine going 10-23 from 3 and winning by 7 would be worse than what we saw vs. Columbia.

I understand quality of 3 attempts mean a lot and aren't apples to apples, but at the RAC I often look at the scoreboard and say what adjustments do i make to the score if both teams shot at a little over 33.33% from 3. I remember adding 15 to our score late in the game when we were 1 for 18 from 3. The variability of the outcome is so dependent these days on making or missing 3 point shots. For this reason when i look at players like Harper and Mathis and their roles and importance in this program I need to have the confidence that they can drain shots at an adequate rate. If the answer is no for a player like Mathis he has to add a ton at all other facets of his game.

Adding to what NJH said.....I really would love to see non BAKER/EUGENE carry the load. Baker and Eugene are givens in my mind. I want to have confidence in the ability of the others. The past 5-6 games have my confidence a bit shaken.

 

[RUBigFrank]

Agree with Hawk
Simply win and see some of the younguns step up!

 

[bowlgoal]

We need to get the offense moving faster with crisp passes better screens and execution. If we are going to do it against Maryland, you have to do it against Maine. The offense is just learning to play together so this would be a good time to start

 

[Degaz-RU]

NJH and I see it almost the exact same way. Let me add........

Against Maine going 10-23 from 3 and winning by 7 would be worse than what we saw vs. Columbia.

I understand quality of 3 attempts mean a lot and aren't apples to apples, but at the RAC I often look at the scoreboard and say what adjustments do i make to the score if both teams shot at a little over 33.33% from 3. I remember adding 15 to our score late in the game when we were 1 for 18 from 3. The variability of the outcome is so dependent these days on making or missing 3 point shots. For this reason when i look at players like Harper and Mathis and their roles and importance in this program I need to have the confidence that they can drain shots at an adequate rate. If the answer is no for a player like Mathis he has to add a ton at all other facets of his game.

Adding to what NJH said.....I really would love to see non BAKER/EUGENE carry the load. Baker and Eugene are givens in my mind. I want to have confidence in the ability of the others. The past 5-6 games have my confidence a bit shaken.

I think I know what you're saying, FIG - if we hit a bunch of threes but still struggle in our offensive sets, you wouldn't feel better about a 7-point win. I agree with that to a large extent, with one caveat.

This team is SEVERELY lacking in confidence, and if it takes hitting a bunch of threes against a bad Maine team to give the team some much-needed confidence heading into the Maryland game, I think it would be well worth it. Guys like Thiam, Baker, and Harper need that "feel" of feathering some shots through the nylon to gain some confidence.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

like factors that should travel with you game after game

1. Offensive rebounding
2. Defensive rebounding
3. Forced turnovers-defensive touches
4. Low 2 point shooting percentage (defense)

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Love to see
5. Low post points

That’s where Johnson, Doorson, Carter, Eugene could come in. Not sure in a B1G it is realistic. A team like MSU knows it has Ward whose low post production shouldn’t be as variable as 8 Cassius Winston 3 attempts

 

[Russ Wood]

Maine plays a lot of zone, like almost half of the time they're in zone. They're effective when they run ball screen action but they don't run ball screen action very often. They do throw it into the post, usually to Andrew Fleming, but at 6-foot-7, 225 he's not a great post scorer

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I think facing a zone is exactly what the doctor ordered. I like putting Eugene is a different mode where his primary responsibility is not scoring and I think it will give our perimeter shooters more natural looks.

 

[Degaz-RU]

I think facing a zone is exactly what the doctor ordered. I like putting Eugene is a different mode where his primary responsibility is not scoring and I think it will give our perimeter shooters more natural looks.

I also like him at the top of the paint in that soft spot in the zone, because I think he's more effective and has more options when he has some freedom at that spot, as opposed to having to back down his guy in man-to-man defense. In that soft spot in the zone, he can either take a 15-foot jumper or drive down the lane, plus he has a little more room to pass.

 

[bac2therac]

the team has not played well as a unit for a while...I dont care if certain players are doing more...EVERYONE at this point needs to play better and to play more as a team. We will certainly know after the game what is up with this team

 

[RUich]

If this team can't get "up" for playing this game, it is a very bad sign for the rest of the way. These guys need to win when they can.
If Pike thinks he sees a player going through the motions, sit him and let somebody else show what he has.

 

[dpwhite]

If Pike thinks he sees a player going through the motions, sit him and let somebody else show what he has.

Pikiell did this against Columbia--subbing out the whole starting line-up before the first TV timeout. It's not like Pikiell doesn't motivate in different ways or make adjustments. He constantly makes adjustments.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Pikiell did this against Columbia--subbing out the whole starting line-up before the first TV timeout. It's not like Pikiell doesn't motivate in different ways or make adjustments. He constantly makes adjustments.

Exactly....plus he went down the stretch with the 9th and 10th player on his roster

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Rutgers players will be signing autographs post-game.

You experts can give them advice in person