What if this team is really good? I mean REALLY GOOD.

[Big boy stan]

No doubt that this post is from total over exuberance and I know its hard for all of us life long RU fans to even imagine but what if this team is really elite. There is nothing that I have seen from this team since the PITT game that makes me think we can't play and be competitive with anyone in the BIG. Other threads are debating whether we finish with 18 or 20 wins. Why not 24 or more going into the BIG Tourney?

Anyone dare to dream?

 

[bac2therac]

what you are saying is true, but we have only played 7 games in league. We are in rarified air here. I think though should RU get to 7-3 after 10 games, I think its pretty fair to talk about all kinds of expectations but we are a few games away from that yet. Need to win on the road to be taken as a threat as a top 4 seed or challenging the Big 10 title but overall your post isnt all that crazy. Just have to see how it plays out the next few games....truth is we do not know yet.

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

Win tomorrow, then have this conversation.

 

[Upstream]

@Iowa and home vs Purdue will be a validation test for this team. Certainly there are other paths to get to 24 or more wins, but win those 2 (and assuming a home win vs Nebraska) and we are sitting at 17 wins with 10 games left to go. Those last 7 wins (with 4 home, 1 neutral, and 5 road games) will be tough. If we drop one of Iowa or Purdue, we would need to win 8 of the last 10 to get to 24 before the BTT.

And just for the record, as much as I would love to have 24 wins heading into the BTT, I would still be absolutely thrilled with 22 wins.

 

[Scarlet Blind]

If we win tomorrow @Iowa, we can definitely start talking 8-2 start first 10. We know we aren't matching that the next 10, but wouldn't be surprised that it would happen. The way everyone(coaches and players) are saying one message, one page, "we were picked 12th in the league" motivation as fuel for the next 14 games and beyond saying this is what a 12th place team is doing to every team.

 

[Westcoast]

Gotta win tomorrow before we even start thinking beyond that. And while we did score 80 at Iowa last year. 12 of those were on 4-5 shooting from deep by Thaim. So we'll need someone else to get hot - prob 2 guys - to have a shot.
Myles?
Harper?
McConnell?
Baker?
Young?

 

[Scarlet Shack]

No doubt that this post is from total over exuberance and I know its hard for all of us life long RU fans to even imagine but what if this team is really elite. There is nothing that I have seen from this team since the PITT game that makes me think we can't play and be competitive with anyone in the BIG. Other threads are debating whether we finish with 18 or 20 wins. Why not 24 or more going into the BIG Tourney?

Anyone dare to dream?

I’m with you ...loud and clear

 

[BillyC80]

It’s true that we are good, but what’s giving us all caution is RU’s low shooting percentage from deep and from the FT line, plus the precarious position we’d be in should Myles get into foul trouble.

These concerns all seem to be minimized at home and accentuated on the road.

 

[jmc11201]

This team feels like one of those mid-major teams with good players that play really well together and make a run in the NCAA Tournament (i.e. Butler with Hayward and Mack, VCU, etc.). As we've seen with the one-and-done players, the talent level across college hoops isn't that different and that a TEAM of good players who play to an identity can do great things. I don't think we will overwhelm many NCAA teams with talent, but we sure are a pain in the ass to play against and make teams earn it.

 

[RU23]

It’s true that we are good, but what’s giving us all caution is RU’s low shooting percentage from deep and from the FT line, plus the precarious position we’d be in should Myles get into foul trouble.

These concerns all seem to be minimized at home and accentuated on the road.

This. You can’t be great defensively and ok offensively and expect to be a top 10 team. You need both. Top 10-20 maybe. And yes we are certainly great defensively, but we do give up a good amount of open 3’s. So room to improve. And A LOT of room to improve offensively this offseason starting with shooting and adding Cliff O to the fold to alleviate the burden on Johnson.

 

[knight82]

I dont think this team will win the Big Ten regular season but I think we have as good as chance as any to win the Big Ten tournament. Even if we only get the single bye, our depth lends itself to four wins in four days

 

[Scarlet Blind]

This team feels like one of those mid-major teams with good players that play really well together and make a run in the NCAA Tournament (i.e. Butler with Hayward and Mack, VCU, etc.). As we've seen with the one-and-done players, the talent level across college hoops isn't that different and that a TEAM of good players who play to an identity can do great things. I don't think we will overwhelm many NCAA teams with talent, but we sure are a pain in the ass to play against and make teams earn it.

We definitely feel like a 2006 George Mason(27-8), 2011 VCU(28-12), 2018 Loyola, Ill. (32-6) Final Four kind of mid-major run team even though we are in the B1G or that first UConn(31-6) elite 8 team in 1990 that lost to Duke 79-78 Pike was a Junior that year.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/1990.html

Very similar team construction.
UConn 6 players avg. at least 8 pts./gm
(Team with NBA guys like Scott Burrell, Tate George and Chris Smith)
Rutgers 7 players avg. at least 7 pts./gm

Seems like UConn was better offensively but Rutgers is better defensively. I think he does construct his teams very similar to Coach Calhoun, 1 good C, 2 defensive guards, lot of length at guards and forwards, multiple rebounders.

 

[BigLou]

In each of the last 3 home games I've had a moment where the OP's exact point came to me - "what if we are really good". I think we have had years of thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence since in reality, when considering our play versus our opponents', it was. Now we are seeing defense played at a level that is as good as we have seen from any team. We are also seeing moments (maybe not 40 minutes per game, but definitely significant time) of very solid offensive play with good ball movement on the outside, great passing, outstanding offensive rebounding and exciting transition play. Yes we need to improve our shooting and free throw % but we have been out shooting our opponents.
There is a long way to go and things could go south quickly but it may also be a very special season.

 

[ruready07]

As a usual optimist, not sure why I feel this way, but it’s way too early for me to get a clear enough picture on the season.
We haven’t played the tough part of the schedule yet.. we haven’t played well on the road. Myles gets in foul trouble every few games so you know that and shooting will bite us a couple times at least.

Our big savior is depth. We can throw waves of players at teams and that should help a lot later in the year. Oh, and a constantly improving jay young.

 

[BigLou]

One thing that has to happen for this season to be successful - we have a few B10 teams we have not beaten yet (MSU, Md, UM, Purdue I believe). We have to beat a few of these teams to gain some more repsect in the conference.

 

[RUich]

Problem all of us old time fans is that we just don't know how to act right now. Usually, by this time we are spending our time complaining, grousing and cursing the gods for our plight!
The fact that the rest of the way is considered one of the toughest schedules in the country sure doesn't make it any easier.
I am just trying to relax and root them on,
If we are "really good", the rest of the ride looks to be magical,

 

[goru7]

This. You can’t be great defensively and ok offensively and expect to be a top 10 team. You need both. Top 10-20 maybe. And yes we are certainly great defensively, but we do give up a good amount of open 3’s. So room to improve. And A LOT of room to improve offensively this offseason starting with shooting and adding Cliff O to the fold to alleviate the burden on Johnson.

Except that Texas Tech who was great defensively last year , like we are this year,, got better and better offensively as the season wore on. Culver was their star but on nights when he struggled from the field , the rest of their players, Moretti and Mooney , came through. This team has a lot of room to improve offensively as we have not played our best yet offensively. This team is starting to remind me of Texas Tech last year and will become that team if we can make the improvement on offense.

 

[Groz]

As cliche as it is, TAKE IT ONE GAME AT A TIME....

Play tough defense, EVERY GAME and we will see where it takes us.

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[RUHouston]

A lot of us suffer from battered fan syndrome, myself included, so I’m just enjoying the ride. I go into every game prepared for the worst but this team just has that je ne sais quoi and the next thing you know they’re winning....

The best part? This team is easy to root for!

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

What if you add 2 more 3 pointers made per game for the rest of the season??....nothing earth shattering but definitely possible.

What if Paul Mulcahy continues to progress and plays good basketball while adding another basket from 4PPG so far to 6PPG the rest of the way??

Jacob Young was downright horrible in the 1st month, showed flashes vs UMass, then had another horrible game in spots at Pitt....he's taken off and playing to his potential......what if he keeps hitting 3s??.....and continues to be a pest on defense??

Yeboah is still getting open looks from the corners and wings....what happens when he goes 4 of 6 from 3 point range and a couple of the items mentioned above, fall into place?

I assume Baker has better games ahead of him vs the 1st 2 games back from injury....what happens if he takes off aggressively looking for his offense for 4 to 5 straight possessions and has that MSG vs Purdue streak in him?? He's capable of hitting 3 or 4 3s in a game too.

Mathis showed as dominant a 7 minute stretch on both ends of the court vs Minnesota vs any point in his short career...what if he goes from 7PPG so far this year to averaging 11PPG the rest of the way??

There are a lot of "what ifs", but they all don't need to happen...if you get 1 or 2 of them going forward, things look and feel drastically different, in a good way.

 

[jtung230]

Now I know who to blame after we lose by 40 pts to Iowa. You guys should know better. We are great at home but only won once on the road. Keep chopping

 

[BillyC80]

What if you add 2 more 3 pointers made per game for the rest of the season??....nothing earth shattering but definitely possible.

What if Paul Mulcahy continues to progress and plays good basketball while adding another basket from 4PPG so far to 6PPG the rest of the way??

Jacob Young was downright horrible in the 1st month, showed flashes vs UMass, then had another horrible game in spots at Pitt....he's taken off and playing to his potential......what if he keeps hitting 3s??.....and continues to be a pest on defense??

Yeboah is still getting open looks from the corners and wings....what happens when he goes 4 of 6 from 3 point range and a couple of the items mentioned above, fall into place?

I assume Baker has better games ahead of him vs the 1st 2 games back from injury....what happens if he takes off aggressively looking for his offense for 4 to 5 straight possessions and has that MSG vs Purdue streak in him?? He's capable of hitting 3 or 4 3s in a game too.

Mathis showed as dominant a 7 minute stretch on both ends of the court vs Minnesota vs any point in his short career...what if he goes from 7PPG so far this year to averaging 11PPG the rest of the way??

There are a lot of "what ifs", but they all don't need to happen...if you get 1 or 2 of them going forward, things look and feel drastically different, in a good way.

Playing in your face defense for 40 minutes is hard. With our depth we do it as well as anybody but it does take a toll on the offensive side of our game.

So yes, we could really get to elite levels as a team if we could make 2 more threes per game AND maintain our intensity level on defense.

 

[Scarlet Engineer]

We definitely feel like a 2006 George Mason(27-8), 2011 VCU(28-12), 2018 Loyola, Ill. (32-6) Final Four kind of mid-major run team even though we are in the B1G or that first UConn(31-6) elite 8 team in 1990 that lost to Duke 79-78 Pike was a Junior that year.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/1990.html

Very similar team construction.
UConn 6 players avg. at least 8 pts./gm
(Team with NBA guys like Scott Burrell, Tate George and Chris Smith)
Rutgers 7 players avg. at least 7 pts./gm

Seems like UConn was better offensively but Rutgers is better defensively. I think he does construct his teams very similar to Coach Calhoun, 1 good C, 2 defensive guards, lot of length at guards and forwards, multiple rebounders.

My heart is with you but my brain is in a different zip code altogether.

 

[Scangg]

It’s true that we are good, but what’s giving us all caution is RU’s low shooting percentage from deep and from the FT line, plus the precarious position we’d be in should Myles get into foul trouble.

These concerns all seem to be minimized at home and accentuated on the road.

These are the concerns but also a reason to think we are Really good. We haven't hit our peak offensively and we have so many players who can step up each night. We don't rely on one or two players where if they are shut down the team will lose. If we get hot shooting during the tournament there is no one we can't beat

Except that Texas Tech who was great defensively last year , like we are this year,, got better and better offensively as the season wore on. Culver was their star but on nights when he struggled from the field , the rest of their players, Moretti and Mooney , came through. This team has a lot of room to improve offensively as we have not played our best yet offensively. This team is starting to remind me of Texas Tech last year and will become that team if we can make the improvement on offense.

I've been thinking about this comparison for a while. Just don't really have the Culver type star but it just shows where elite D can get you

 

[bac2therac]

Our dry spells..we had 2 vs Indy and 1 vs Minny prevent us from being elite IMO..haven't been able to shake our half court struggles

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Our dry spells..we had 2 vs Indy and 1 vs Minny prevent us from being elite IMO..haven't been able to shake our half court struggles

This is one of the final things we need to overcome ...and learning to stomp teams out . They may come together as we develop.

When we learn to do that...and I think we will sooner or later....then look out

 

[RU848789]

At this point in the season, I think we're likely to win anywhere from 4 to 9 of our remaining 13 games, i.e., from 4-9 to get to 18-13/9-11 (and needing at least 1 B1G tourney win to go dancing) to 9-4 to get to 23-8/14-6 and being a 3-4-seed, depending on how we do in the B1G tourney. Of course, it's theoretically possible we could win every remaining game or lose every remaining game, but I'm just saying what I think the most likely range of outcomes is.

I also believe 5-8 for 19-12/10-10 gets us an 11-seed without a B1G tourney win (but have some tiny concern we get frozen out if things don't break right across other conferences) and 6-7 for 20-11/11-9 makes us an absolute lock, which is why I so badly want us to at least get to 20-11/11-9, so we only have to wonder about what seed we get in what region, so we can all make our travel plans.

For those of us who have been fans since at least the 90s, our first NCAA tourney in 29 years will feel like the 2005 Insight Bowl, RU's first football bowl in 27 years. Can almost taste it, but as long suffering Rutgers fans we all know there's a small chance it doesn't happen.

 

[Scangg]

This is one of the final things we need to overcome ...and learning to stomp teams out . They may come together as we develop.

When we learn to do that...and I think we will sooner or later....then look out

Agreed the scoring droughts havent been what they used to be but they still show up. Need to eliminate those for big games. We have overcome it to win which is great but it could be the reason we get bounced from a tournament this year

 

[IBleedScarlet]

Win tomorrow, then have this conversation.

Agreed. Have to be able to win on the road. Not "steal" a win, but dominate.

 

[ron313]

I've accepted that this team is good, hoping they don't break my heart. The defense is outstanding and the offense clicks at times. My gut always kept things in check, however, it's saying this team is top 25 and has potential to be great. Not a lot of outstanding Ellie teams. I'm really excited because I feel this year is open and we can do great things. Never mind they future and how young we are me wow!!!!

 

[RU82]

Just keep up the hard nosed defense, continue to get better on offense, and we’ll be in for a special season.

I think we’re in for a string of NCAA tourney appearances with the core of this group. Good times ahead.

 

[anon_ivydyf0amkzay]

We are the Gonzaga of the East...


/just trying to rutgersal this thread!:Wink:

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We are a 2 game losing streak from being on the outside looking in. That is literally a 4 day stretch

 

[Rutgers1976]

Defense wins championships. That'll keep us in just about every game. There may well be a WTF loss where the other team shoots lights out but I also suspect there may be a WTF win, where our offense shoots lights out. Hold serve at home and take a couple on the road. It seems so long ago that we were hoping.wishing for a single road win and an occasional upset at home. No more!

 

[AshCatchEm]

Agreed. Have to be able to win on the road. Not "steal" a win, but dominate.

Even good teams rarely dominate on the road. Elite teams yes, but good teams like us not often at all.

 

[IBleedScarlet]

Even good teams rarely dominate on the road. Elite teams yes, but good teams like us not often at all.

Hear ya, but still gotta have that goal.

 

[jmc11201]

Our dry spells..we had 2 vs Indy and 1 vs Minny prevent us from being elite IMO..haven't been able to shake our half court struggles

Duke lost to Steven F Austin. Very good teams are not perfect throughout a season.

 

[RutgHoops]

As an optimist I have also thought along the lines of the OP. My greatest hope that we are “really good” lies in the fact Mathis/Harper/Myles/McConnell have only played about 1/3 of their college career and Mulcahy about 1/8. And all we’ve seen from Pike is his kids get better and better and better. If those 5 keep growing....

 

[bac2therac]

We are a 2 game losing streak from being on the outside looking in. That is literally a 4 day stretch

and yet a win tonight puts us in a new stratosphere. It would be monumental for several reasons to win tonight. Losing doesnt hurt really at all, but the enormity of winning tonight is giving me goosebumps thinking about it.

 

[LeapinLou]

Agree with Bac. A loss tonight doesn't derail the train. But a win moves us from coach to 1st class.

Some here disagreed. But as I said last week, I thought it was very important to win both games against Indiana and Minnesota. The fact we won both games convincingly got us in the top 25.

But this would be an even bigger step forward. One that I'm not optimistic we get but one we don't have to have either.