Time to cut the rotation …

[Scarlet Shack]

The experiment time is over

Before I presented this data …my eyes were telling me that it’s time to go to 8, more grant , and time to sit Martini, Jmike and hayes ….

I’m basing this on what they were doing witb their okaying time in total…with , a bias of their lack of defnese (including Jmike )

Then I got this data which totally backs up my observations

Last 4 games total +/- minutes play


Ace +1 in 140 mins
Summerville -1 in 58 mins
Derkack -3 in 112 mins
Acuff -3 in 64 mins
Jeremiah -8 in 102 mins
Dylan -20 in -150 mins
Ogbole -13 in 69 mins
Martini -22 in 59 mins
Hayes -12 in 31 mins
Grant -9 in 17 mins
Jmike -22 in 29 mins

Part of our defensive issues is getting the right guys on the floor who can defense , who have the footwork, speed, quickness , and feel ….

Then it’s about getting them to communicate , talk , work together …in a help defensive scheme that is very complicated ….

We see a lot of guys …looking around like “where we you “ to a teammate on the help defense ….

Even Derkack is struggling on the concepts and assignments.

Guess this isn’t a shock …given all the new faces and really only Jwill who knows what to do

However …I do think to fix this …it requires getting the rotation shorter and getting in sync

Think it means sitting Jmike , hayes and martini In favor of this

Dylan 32
Ace 32
Jwill 27
Derkack 26
Acuff 25 (we need him healthy)
Ogoble 20
Sommervile 20
Grant 18

Grant at least looked like he can match up with other big ten forwards …force him. We can’t keep having derkack having to play the four . Martoni can’t defend the perimeter …..

Want to see this stsrting Tuesday and the rest of December

 

[bac2therac]

besides a couple of games this year J Will has been a big disappointment, expected leadership and D and he continues to find the slippery spots on the floor to waste possessions

I do agree, something has to change...not convinced more time for Grant is the answer but he is the bright shiny new thing that we dont have enough data points on.

J Mike has been beyond abysmal this year...makes me long for Derek Simpson who yes would have been a clear upgrade

I dont see anything from Acuff though to give him that many minutes, I think his conditioning will not allow that

I think Harper and Ace will need to play 35 minutes a game

 

[ScarletDave]

I actually think the opposite, Pike seemed to cut the rotation down the stretch and we got tired. 2-4-0-25-21 played like almost the entire last 10 minutes, and we went from down 5 to down 14 in a flash. I want to see more of our shooters on the court - Hayes, Martini, and Acuff, and draw some plays up for them to hit some 3s. To those who say about their defense, it literally can’t get any worse than what’s out there

 

[RUBlackout]

Lost me at Jwill…he is constantly out of position on defense—been happening since last year. That said, he is best we have on defense it seems.

I think we need to see Grant and Dortch even out there more to get them experience. We don’t really know what we have with either of them but there are a few players they should easily be getting minutes over. I think Grant looks like a deer I. Headlights at times but at least a true frosh.

I really don’t think we have seen enough of Hayes on offense. Everyone is getting beat on defense so may as well get some more offense from players. I’ve seen enough bricks from many others already.

 

[NickRU714]

The problem with “cutting the rotation” is that there is nobody to put in.

Hayes and Martini have already been cut out.
Same with JMike.

Sure try playing Grant more. The next basket he makes will be his first (0-8 for the year and 0-5 from 3).
That’s not exactly going to solve any problems (offense or defense).

Other than Grant, you basically just copied the minutes from today.

 

[NickRU714]

The actual change would be to cut JWill and Derkack. Hope the additional offense from Hayes, Martini and Acuff outweigh the drop in defense.

There is no defensive help in the bench.
Only (potentially) offensive.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I only watch games and IF it correlates to +/-, then I will see if it matches what I see. The plus minus lines up with what the play on the court shows.

We are not entitled to winning BUT I believe effort is required.

In terms of a foul, Sommerville earned his foul by diving for a loose ball near the sideline/endline and took down the legs of the Ohio State player....only real contact by our roster all game long.

His plus minus goes way up as soon as he plays more minutes with starters.

The rest is easy to clean up.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Our D has been terrible. I might try token pressure that isnt designed to get steals but reduce the time I have to play halfcourt D.

Wouldnt be surprised if Pike goes this route soon. We arent playing zone and what we are doing now isnt working

Problem is you need more minutes from your bench and almost a requirement for Harper and Ace to sit 3-4 minutes per half

 

[Rutgers25]

The inbound pass layups were downright embarrassing.

Unfortunately, I think this program is going to settle into bottom feeder territory. Harper and Ace will be gone next year and he’ll probably put together a scrappy team that plays hard and goes 7-13 in conference. Rinse and repeat after that.

Make no mistake though, this years team is headed for epic embarrassment.

Rutgers being Rutgers

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The inbound pass layups were downright embarrassing.

Unfortunately, I think this program is going to settle into bottom feeder territory. Harper and Ace will be gone next year and he’ll probably put together a scrappy team that plays hard and goes 7-13 in conference. Rinse and repeat after that.

Make no mistake though, this years team is headed for epic embarrassment.

Rutgers being Rutgers

It is way too early give up. Things look and are bad right now. I have to think the defense and overall toughness will appear to some extent soon.

Maybe I am in the DENIAL phase

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I only watch games and IF it correlates to +/-, then I will see if it matches what I see. The plus minus lines up with what the play on the court shows.

We are not entitled to winning BUT I believe effort is required.

In terms of a foul, Sommerville earned his foul by diving for a loose ball near the sideline/endline and took down the legs of the Ohio State player....only real contact by our roster all game long.

His plus minus goes way up as soon as he plays more minutes with starters.

The rest is easy to clean up.

Maybe I am wrong here….Ogobole intrigues (can that be a verb) me. I think Ogobole may actually have upside and may end up being the better player. Right now I think most nights he is better for us

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

It is way too early give up. Things look and are bad right now. I have to think the defense and overall toughness will appear to some extent soon.

Maybe I am in the DENIAL phase

we could improve. But there has been nothing shown so far that this team could be even average on D.

 

[RU848789]

It's too early to give up, but it ain't too early to be really worried. Harper is a stud, but Ace is only really good at shooting (at times, when he's not trying impossible shots) and athletic defensive plays - his handle isn't good enough right now to beat people off the dribble and he looks lost on team defense. JWill is hot and cold, as is Lathan. The rest are just too limited to be more than role players in the B1G (Pike really didn't do well in the portal this time), so unless those first four guys all play well, we're not going to win enough games to make the tourney, IMO. We almost have to win the next 4 to get back on track.

 

[fluoxetine]

It is way too early give up. Things look and are bad right now. I have to think the defense and overall toughness will appear to some extent soon.

Maybe I am in the DENIAL phase

That guy is a troll. Nothing would make him happier than Rutgers at “bottom feeder status”

 

[Scarlet Shack]

That guy is a troll. Nothing would make him happier than Rutgers at “bottom feeder status

besides a couple of games this year J Will has been a big disappointment, expected leadership and D and he continues to find the slippery spots on the floor to waste possessions

I do agree, something has to change...not convinced more time for Grant is the answer but he is the bright shiny new thing that we dont have enough data points on.

J Mike has been beyond abysmal this year...makes me long for Derek Simpson who yes would have been a clear upgrade

I dont see anything from Acuff though to give him that many minutes, I think his conditioning will not allow that

I think Harper and Ace will need to play 35 minutes a game

Clearly Acuff needs to get healthy to make this rotation work

But we need to shorten the rotation to get guys to be on the same page sooner on the defensive side …and really, Martini and hayes can’t play defense to stay on the floor

 

[RAC93]

besides a couple of games this year J Will has been a big disappointment, expected leadership and D and he continues to find the slippery spots on the floor to waste possessions

I do agree, something has to change...not convinced more time for Grant is the answer but he is the bright shiny new thing that we dont have enough data points on.

J Mike has been beyond abysmal this year...makes me long for Derek Simpson who yes would have been a clear upgrade

I dont see anything from Acuff though to give him that many minutes, I think his conditioning will not allow that

I think Harper and Ace will need to play 35 minutes a game

Agreed, about lack of veteran leadership from JWill and others. I was talking to my son today about hoops struggles this season and talked about how we needed savvy veterans to step up with the two freshman phenoms. The savvy veterans were supposed to be JWill, Martini, Derkack, Acuff, and Hayes to help steer the ship through rough waters when adversity hits. Right now, the veterans are doing nothing to stop the ship from striking an iceberg like the Titanic.

 

[G- RUnit]

You guys all wanted JMike over Simpson.
Some fans were ripped for suggesting the exact opposite.
Crickets.

 

[RAC93]

Lost me at Jwill…he is constantly out of position on defense—been happening since last year. That said, he is best we have on defense it seems.

I think we need to see Grant and Dortch even out there more to get them experience. We don’t really know what we have with either of them but there are a few players they should easily be getting minutes over. I think Grant looks like a deer I. Headlights at times but at least a true frosh.

I really don’t think we have seen enough of Hayes on offense. Everyone is getting beat on defense so may as well get some more offense from players. I’ve seen enough bricks from many others already.

Agreed, everyone else is getting beat on defense so may as well say eff it and just play Hayes to see if he can produce and throw Grant and Dortch out there also and see if they can do anything. NO ONE IS PLAYING DEFENSE ANYWAY, SO WHY NOT?! Martini looks like he has two blocks of cement attached to his feet, the guy can’t handle dribble drives. Many others have been bad as well, not just Martini. Dylan feels like the only guy who shuffles his feet and tries to stay in front of his man with regularity. I remember how angry I was with last year’s team and that same anger was back today after the OSU game, can’t have another losing season, especially with two draft picks on the roster.

 

[fluoxetine]

You guys all wanted JMike over Simpson.
Some fans were ripped for suggesting the exact opposite.
Crickets.

Your obsession is still weird and Simpson still sucks.

 

[RU848789]

Your obsession is still weird and Simpson still sucks.

Simpson didn't "suck" and would've likely been a better fit on this team, not having to be the lead scorer, like last year. With Harper and Ace drawing much more defensive attention, he could've had a much better time going inside after beating his man, which he's quick enough to to, and not facing 1-2 more defenders and missing shots, plus he wouldn't have had to throw up a bunch of late-in the-shot-clock shots. Point is moot now, but I wish we still had him.

 

[G- RUnit]

Your obsession is still weird and Simpson still sucks.

No obsession at all just observing those who replaced him and what this year’s team is missing.

Think we should have kept him.
Becoming clearer every game he would have helped.

Point is indeed moot. (Pun intended?).
I took a lot of hits, many from you, but becoming more apparent I was correct.

All Good! Go RU! Beat PSU!

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I'd like to cut it down to four. Is that allowed?

 

[biazza38]

I’d take Simpson and Wolf back in a heartbeat. I can’t believe this mess

 

[Joey Bags]

Grant is already a disaster in the making, guy is completely lost and it’s the kind of lost that previous players have had under Pike that they never grow out of.

 

[RUJMM78]

It is way too early give up. Things look and are bad right now. I have to think the defense and overall toughness will appear to some extent soon.

Maybe I am in the DENIAL phase

The roster has been in place since June which is sufficient time to teach defensive and rebounding drills.The learning curve is still lacking after nine games.

 

[Unionst]

We have no one to play the 4. Dercack is too small and ace plays the 3, even on defense. If we somehow solved that problem then Dylan, Jeremiah and Dercack as the 3 guards are adequate for slowing the dribble drive that is killing us. Unfortunately, the defensive minded 4 who can also rebound doesn’t seem to be on the roster.

 

[runner3283]

You guys all wanted JMike over Simpson.
Some fans were ripped for suggesting the exact opposite.
Crickets.

It doesn’t matter what we as fans think who should be on the team. Pike makes the decisions and he selected JMike over Simpson ( probably because of the relationship with Ace?). You can cry all you want for as long as you want, which you clearly have, but Rutgers coaching staff made this decision and not this forum! So stop being an entitled child and accept reality.

 

[G- RUnit]

It doesn’t matter what we as fans think who should be on the team. Pike makes the decisions and he selected JMike over Simpson ( probably because of the relationship with Ace?). You can cry all you want for as long as you want, which you clearly have, but Rutgers coaching staff made this decision and not this forum! So stop being an entitled child and accept reality.

Or maybe this fan base turning on him encouraged him to leave making it impossible or difficult to return?
You’re not Pike or Simpson so stop pontificating.
You can also accept reality that even if your are correct it’s a fan board and we can acknowledge that Pike made a mistake and should have kept Simpson who could have helped.
Seems to me you’re the one crying as your feelings have been hurt or the truth hurts or can’t control or doesn’t like the truthful narrative. So lighten up yourself Francis!

 

[RutgersChow]

I actually think the opposite, Pike seemed to cut the rotation down the stretch and we got tired. 2-4-0-25-21 played like almost the entire last 10 minutes, and we went from down 5 to down 14 in a flash. I want to see more of our shooters on the court - Hayes, Martini, and Acuff, and draw some plays up for them to hit some 3s. To those who say about their defense, it literally can’t get any worse than what’s out there

22 tear old kids shouldn't be getting tired if you're any kind of coach. Grant hasn't shown anything yet. Martini and Acuff shouldn't see the floor IMO.

 

[RutgersChow]

Why are all of our transfers worse than they were at their previous schools, and why is JDavis worse this year when he is surrounded by more talent. I think we all know the answer.

 

[SBP]

22 tear old kids shouldn't be getting tired if you're any kind of coach. Grant hasn't shown anything yet. Martini and Acuff shouldn't see the floor IMO.

Acuff? Dude, he needs minutes to shake off the rust he’s our only other legit proven scorer .

 

[fluoxetine]

It doesn’t matter what we as fans think who should be on the team. Pike makes the decisions and he selected JMike over Simpson

I don’t think that’s what happened. I think JMike was happy to stay in a backup role getting some minutes but not a ton and Simpson was not.

Or maybe this fan base turning on him encouraged him to leave making it impossible or difficult to return?

Doubt this as well. The simplest explanation seems to fit here: Pike would have been happy to have Simpson back but he would have had a reduced role compared to what he had last year and that’s not what Simpson was looking for. So he left to take on a bigger role at a lower level program.

Pike made a mistake and should have kept Simpson who could have helped.

I think Pike would’ve been perfectly happy to keep Simpson on the roster. I don’t think there was any mistake made here unless being honest with Simpson about his role going forward could be considered a “mistake”

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I think Pike didnt want Simpson back. No way to know though

 

[goru7]

Or maybe this fan base turning on him encouraged him to leave making it impossible or difficult to return?
You’re not Pike or Simpson so stop pontificating.
You can also accept reality that even if your are correct it’s a fan board and we can acknowledge that Pike made a mistake and should have kept Simpson who could have helped.
Seems to me you’re the one crying as your feelings have been hurt or the truth hurts or can’t control or doesn’t like the truthful narrative. So lighten up yourself Francis!

What makes you think Derek would have helped and been better ? We have seen Jordan and JMike continue to drive into trees with horrendous results. Derek used to do the same thing. Then he would make a move and brick mid range shot after mid range shot. Not sure we would want him even taking that shot on this team.
JMike ‘s defense has been remarkably atrocious and he continues to miss open shots so I guess you are going to guess that Derek’s defense would be better and I would hope so since our entire defense has been horrendous and JMike inexplainable bad. He was a good foul shooter but that seems like the one area we are doing better this year.
So not sure what if anything Derek would add ?

 

[needmorecowbell]

Hayes and/or Martini need to play. We need guys that can hit open threes and punish teams for doubling Dylan or Ace. Plus Dylan and Ace need to be willing passers when it’s needed. Teams will continue to clog the lane and make it difficult for Dylan unless they can prove to be a threat from 3. Not sure if it’s one or both but we need shooters. Defense has been an issue but everyone has struggled there. At least get some shooters in the floor to make up for the defensive struggles.

 

[bac2therac]

I think Pike didnt want Simpson back. No way to know though

Pike wrongly evaluated J Mike as being better. The reality is both are not Big 10 level starters and Pikes recruiting has been more poor than good...and ace/dylan are here because someone is giving them shit tons of money. I have always had a problem with his recruiting and I think now 9 years into this he still is struggling...way too many misses as people concentrate on the few diamonds in the roughs

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Pike wrongly evaluated J Mike as being better. The reality is both are not Big 10 level starters and Pikes recruiting has been more poor than good...and ace/dylan are here because someone is giving them shit tons of money. I have always had a problem with his recruiting and I think now 9 years into this he still is struggling...way too many misses as people concentrate on the few diamonds in the roughs

I think it was more than that.

3 things
1. JaMike and Ace went to same HS
2. Simpson didn't mesh with his teammates
3. JaMike would be more accepting of the smaller role

I have ZERO qualms with Simpson not being here.

 

[bac2therac]

I think it was more than that.

3 things
1. JaMike and Ace went to same HS
2. Simpson didn't mesh with his teammates
3. JaMike would be more accepting of the smaller role

I have ZERO qualms with Simpson not being here.

i didnt want Simpson bac but seeing what we actually have on the roster now makes me think we would be slightly better off

 

[zebnatto]

I'm more of a LS booster than critic and I've been wondering about having him and EO on the floor together, something others have brought up. The big benefit I'd predict would be in rebounding, though as the general number of 3's increase, so will the number of long rebounds which will--through luck, anticipation, and scrappiness--falls to the 1, 2, 3. That all-aboard-the-defensive-rebounding train would cut into our ability to run on offense.. In the EO/LS together scenario, there's less adjustment for EO. He'll remain, offensively, at the traditional center spot where he's shown improvement. It would, however, be a new role for LS, though one he was comfortable with in hs ("The B1G isn't high school": Well, do tell.) I think his shooting would be fine, but I think he'd have to grow in his decision-making when it comes to attacking the basket with multi-dribble attacks. My guess (my hope?) is that after a few frustrating games it would click. Buying it? Defensively, this LS/EO experiment would work only work based on matchups and game flow. EO would guard the opposing five. If the opposing four is talented offensively (three point shooter, quick to the rim) except for in the paint, that assignment would cause LS problems. A 4 with not great offensive skills or whose body-type is more like Lathan's is a different story.

So, at times when we have this pair on the floor, we'd also have Ace and Dylan. Ideally, you'd want your final piece to be a shooter and adefensive hound. Don't really know who fits that bill: Jeremiah, JMike, Jordan? Not really. I think Zach has pretty much worked his way out of the rotation. This leaves PJ, Dylan G, and Bryce D. (Don't have enough to have real assessment of two frosh.) Anyone?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

i didnt want Simpson bac but seeing what we actually have on the roster now makes me think we would be slightly better off

tough to argue that 12/10/2024