i was extremely pleased with our victory over the Huskies last night. I have been hoping that we could go on a run in the BTT. But if we could play our best game in a couple weeks and only eke out a victory over a mediocre Huskies team, I can't see how we can make a run. Our offense looked better than recent weeks and Harper and Bailey combined for 52 points. If that isn't a formula for a double digit win, what is? Unfortunately, we have zero interior defense and almost no 3 point defense. In past seasons, if we put up 81 points, we would win by 10-15 points. Unless we develop a better defense overnight, I'm afraid we will be one and done in the Tournament. I will still be watching and rooting for our team until the end, but I fear it's time for me to face reality.
Time to face reality
- Thread starter CharlieCPA
- Start date
there is no other choice...its all about them ace/dylan and riding their offense
Welcome to December 21st at 2:15pm
Its kind of late to expect the defense to show marked improvement.The man to man defense can't stop uncontested layups or wide open 3 pointers.Coaching and player execution of basic fundamentals are lacking.
Having to play four freshman probably has something to do with it
It has everything to do with it.
That and the fact that all of our portal players other than Dercack are lousy defenders.
This was the biggest issue. If Pike focused on bringing athletic defenders to support Ace and Dylan, that could have been the right recipe. We’ll never know unfortunately.
The biggest issue is that we don’t have any rim protection. Teams get layup after layup after layup against us.
Derkack is a lousy defender. He plays Ole defense. Quick guard go right by him.
He's hot and cold. It’s no surprise considering he played in an all zone system. He’s a kid I’d expect to see substantial improvement from on D after another off season. There’s a difference between being slow and soft vs. being confused. Jordan is often the latter. The effort is always there with him though. He’s a willing defender.
Yeah, it really killed Michigan when they started five.
Okay, but what was the excuse last season ?Bottom line Rutgers simply doesn't have the coaching or the talent to successfully compete in the B1G Ten.Only two seasons has Rutgers achieved a winning record against league rivals.
He’s awful because he doesn’t know how to play man. There’s a difference.
part of it...he has no lateral quickness. like worse than Paul M.
I can imagine doing the full court drill where you see how many times you can turn your man and him getting 0s everytime
He does some things well on D. Has good instincts. Good anticipator. I get that this matters way more in the trap zone scheme that his former team played. Culturally, at least though, he’s a kid who, like Paul can and will buy in to what Pike is trying to accomplish in terms of team D concepts. Understands the importance of D broadly. He’ll contribute next year IMO for this reason.
Acuff and PJ played in systems where offense was the focus and came in with poor D efficiency numbers. In my view, this is the polar opposite of what Pike should look for in the portal. Martini kind of a different story. I don’t think he’s a poor defender per se, he just doesn’t really have a suitable position at the high major level. Not physical enough for the 5 and not athletic enough to be a decent 4.
Let me add - Al is probably right that we cannot afford both things - shooting and toughness - from a post player in the portal. We’re probably not landing an Yeboah type. The point I’m making is that going for a soft version of Yeboah is worse than going for a kid known for D who put up unattractive shooting stats like Caleb and Mag. We need to seek out the latter to be competitive.
Last edited:
Just commenting in terms of the future. Nothing else. I think he can fit the system moving forward and has eligibility beyond this year.
We may disagree about Derkack....however I think it is possible that his hip is injured and could really be hampering on D...possibility.
I couldn't agree more with your last 2 paragraphs. I wish this is the lens our fans would look through and I think how Pike will operate.
When you go to the draft with less money to spend you have to think in terms of how can I best build a roster that i can coach given my budget. The thing that now becomes non negotiable is getting players with toughness that will rebound, defend and get loose balls. Those players have to have the right price tag so they will have warts. The wart might be lack of length, could be a bad shooter, or could be unathletic.......it can't be lack of a motor and a poor defender.
2025-26 will go back to a Top 40 D....the question is can we get luck and be in the Top 60 on O.
The big overriding question in my mind is how important is that shot blocking 5 to the Top 40 D. That shot blocking 5 is VERY expensive. This is why I think the most important player to keep (if price is reasonable) is Ogbole.
Ogbole wasn’t good enough to make us competitive this year. He was better than Lathan but we need better than both. I’d rather have him than Lathan though if we’re only keeping one. I dont think we can keep both if we bring in another BIG which needs to be a must.
What was our offense last year?
Defense was very well ranked I believe.
What is our offense this year?
Ogbole had 9 blocks this season. He is neither a shot blocker or rim protector.
Our offense last year was off the charts bad. Like one of the worst ever for a major conference team. Big difference between being 125th and 300rd. You cant win with what we were last year
Last year we were 300th offensively. If we were 124th we would have been 40th overall in adjusted efficiency
They are both slower than telephone poles dug 50 feet into cement, can’t guard the ball rack and neither is a legit Big10 starter.
It’s a new game. Bigs run, pass and shoot and they can’t do any of that, in addition to being tortoises-in-leg-casts on D (i.e. inchworm speed).
Where do you get the efficiency stats you cite?
I'm still suck in the stone age with counting stats.
In the NIL age you get what you pay for. We got Derkack for nothing he doesn’t belong playing in the BIG. Him and 3/4 of the team should be in the MAC at best. All of you k is it and know why this kid and the others are here and yet you still bash the kid.
Or
T-Rank - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank
T-Rank College Basketball Ratings and Rankings. And fun.
barttorvik.com
The Ogbole hyperbole has become this years Mag. If only he didn't get hurt, we would have won the imaginary championship. We just missed!
Or
T-Rank - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank
T-Rank College Basketball Ratings and Rankings. And fun.barttorvik.com
Thanks. I think......
Now I have homework.
Agree 100% and many times loses his man because he is ball watching and not watching his man
Thanks. I think......
Now I have homework.
The “bright side” of what’s being said here is that it’s pretty rare for a power conference team to end up with the 300th ranked offense. That outcome was a direct result of losing Cam and Paul (two starting B10 guards) so late in the offseason cycle. And yes - Pike deserves the blame for that (but Im optimistic that type of situation won’t happen again - we don’t even really have anyone worth counting on to start the offseason - it’s a fresh start). Shelby can keep pointing to Paul’s stats and saying the team would’ve been the same with him, but the point still stands that we lost two BIG caliber guards who played the majority of the game the prior season, and replaced them with Noah Fernandes and Austin Williams who were not P5 players and coming off injuries. We didn’t have J Williams most of the season. Noah, remember, was supposed to be a supplement for the guards we already had. An offensive boost perhaps compared to Caleb. In the end, his D wasn’t good enough to get him on the court much.
It’d be hard to replicate as bad an offense next season with a full recruiting cycle ahead of us. Not having Dylan means there’s an opportunity for someone to come in and be a star. We’re going to be able to land someone who produces on offense for this reason from the portal - hopefully it will be a kid who plays D this time. When Pike has had a roster full of defenders, we’ve been competitive (except with last year’s historically poor offense). This is where I see a glimmer of hope. Perhaps our fans who thought we should focus on shooting at all costs will lay off a little on that now. Let’s see what happens. My bet is on Pike bringing in kids who play defense. Give him the year and let the chips fall.
Latest posts
-
FB Recruiting 2026 Four-Star DT Preston Carey on campus today....- Latest: SirScarlet
-
-
-