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You need 10 pieces

RickB113

RickB113

Senior
Nov 4, 2005
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IMO to make the tournament you need ten pieces/big ten players. Unless you are going to recruit 5 stars. We don’t have that this year and that is fine but we are getting there. Next year will closer

Eugene
Baker
Sanders
Duke
Thiam (he is not a piece this year. I think he is next)
Mathis (I think he is a piece)
Carter (see Mathis)

We are still three short. Hopefully Kiss can be one but I have no idea there. With him that is eight. Pike needs to find two more pieces for next year.
 
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I really like Pikiell a lot. I think he is doing wonder with these 2 teams and he has turned the culture around. I am pretty confident we are in good hands. In addition, he has not yet had the luxury of time needed to recruit his 1st 2 classes because of when he was hired. With that being said......

1. Kiss is going to have a to be a darn good player to justify getting a goose egg out of his spot this year. if he doesn't make a decent size impact on Day 1 his selection to the program has to be questioned

2. Mensah was a complete miss. i just don't know how at that position, where supply is large, how he can miss so bad.

3. I need a further evaluation of Vetrone's role on this staff and his connections. Is he and his players providing a net net benefit to the program. What are his recruits bringing to the table and how have some of them fit in from a chemistry/team standpoint.
 
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Greene Rice FIG said:
I really like Pikiell a lot. I think he is doing wonder with these 2 teams and he has turned the culture around. I am pretty confident we are in good hands. In addition, he has not yet had the luxury of time needed to recruit his 1st 2 classes because of when he was hired. With that being said......

1. Kiss is going to have a to be a darn good player to justify getting a goose egg out of his spot this year. if he doesn't make a decent size impact on Day 1 his selection to the program has to be questioned

2. Mensah was a complete miss. i just don't know how at that position, where supply is large, how he can miss so bad.

3. I need a further evaluation of Vetrone's role on this staff and his connections. Is he and his players providing a net net benefit to the program. What are his recruits bringing to the table and how have some of them fit in from a chemistry/team standpoint.
Click to expand...

Well shoes got us Sanders, but wouldn’t mind getting rid of him just to see his son go. Kid thinks he’s some rapper and you just look at him and laugh.
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
I really like Pikiell a lot. I think he is doing wonder with these 2 teams and he has turned the culture around. I am pretty confident we are in good hands. In addition, he has not yet had the luxury of time needed to recruit his 1st 2 classes because of when he was hired. With that being said......

1. Kiss is going to have a to be a darn good player to justify getting a goose egg out of his spot this year. if he doesn't make a decent size impact on Day 1 his selection to the program has to be questioned

2. Mensah was a complete miss. i just don't know how at that position, where supply is large, how he can miss so bad.

3. I need a further evaluation of Vetrone's role on this staff and his connections. Is he and his players providing a net net benefit to the program. What are his recruits bringing to the table and how have some of them fit in from a chemistry/team standpoint.
Click to expand...

1. I've been quietly concerned about this as well. The other freshman that transferred from Quinnipiac (to St. John's) Mikey Dixon was much more productive. Kiss won't have to be as much of a volume scorer here though, so hopefully that helps. Also I'd note that getting the zeros from Kiss and Johnson's spot this year is fine, but getting a zero from Bullock and a negative from Mensah is not.

2. He seems like a nice guy and a good teammate and there are some leadership qualities but it's hard for me to imagine that outweighs his performance. I've been pretty vocal about this but yes this is looking like a big miss that a lot of us saw coming.

3. I don't know much about this but I think the idea was that Vetrone recruited Sanders and has a good relationship with him, and has some NJ connections, plus helped to ease the transition. However it doesn't seem like those NJ connections mean much considering Bullock is the only guy from the state on the roster and Harper for next year, but Rutgers was the only high-major offer for both. I do wonder if we'll still see Vetrone on the staff when Pikiell has a roster that's completely "his."
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
I really like Pikiell a lot. I think he is doing wonder with these 2 teams and he has turned the culture around. I am pretty confident we are in good hands. In addition, he has not yet had the luxury of time needed to recruit his 1st 2 classes because of when he was hired. With that being said......

1. Kiss is going to have a to be a darn good player to justify getting a goose egg out of his spot this year. if he doesn't make a decent size impact on Day 1 his selection to the program has to be questioned

2. Mensah was a complete miss. i just don't know how at that position, where supply is large, how he can miss so bad.

3. I need a further evaluation of Vetrone's role on this staff and his connections. Is he and his players providing a net net benefit to the program. What are his recruits bringing to the table and how have some of them fit in from a chemistry/team standpoint.
Click to expand...

Agree 100% with this. Let's face it, Vetrone was retained so that most of the players remained during the coaching change and we could field a team. I think this was crucial as far as not setting the program back further. Diego Willis is on our radar because of Vetrone's connection but, let's face it, the better recruits that the new staff has landed were not attributable to him.
 
It was made pretty clear at the time Pikiell came in that the retention of Ventrone helped with the retention of Sanders.

Also, I think Ventrone is NOT as much a local NJ guy, but more considered a little bit of a shark in recruiting (which is needed) ... and he also has connections to the Canaries program (Sa, Doorson, et al?)?

I will trust Pikiell to assemble, and keep assembled, the proper staff - he does really seem to know what he is doing, and AD Hobbs has provided Pikiell with the financial resources to get the staff needed, it looks like.
 
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Greene Rice FIG said:
I really like Pikiell a lot. I think he is doing wonder with these 2 teams and he has turned the culture around. I am pretty confident we are in good hands. In addition, he has not yet had the luxury of time needed to recruit his 1st 2 classes because of when he was hired. With that being said......

1. Kiss is going to have a to be a darn good player to justify getting a goose egg out of his spot this year. if he doesn't make a decent size impact on Day 1 his selection to the program has to be questioned

2. Mensah was a complete miss. i just don't know how at that position, where supply is large, how he can miss so bad.

3. I need a further evaluation of Vetrone's role on this staff and his connections. Is he and his players providing a net net benefit to the program. What are his recruits bringing to the table and how have some of them fit in from a chemistry/team standpoint.
Click to expand...

Ill answer two.

2. Mensah is a risk reward. 2 year player you can take a risk on. He was brought here more for leadership than for play. He practices hard, and is coachable. They took the risk. It might not pay off, but it's two years.

3. It will be interesting to see what happens to Ventrone after Sanders leaves. He recruited most of EJ players. Ventrone is not a head of recruiting anymore, so the players in the past two years have all been by other staff. In general, college staffs seem very large. Too large.
Ventrone recruited Doorson, Sanders, Freeman to start. You see a difference in Ventrone players from players being recruited from the new staff. Ventrone is a nice guy who has contributed a lot here on the banks.

I watched Mathis this past week on video. Same grit as Mike Williams. His hs coach puts him on the low block on every free throw. Mike Williams was a three point shooter while Mathis is a driver developing a good 3 pt shot. The two have the same hustle. Mathis is more athletic, and has a more dynamic game. The team next year will not be a huge set back. It has potential to be an upgrade.
 
Kiss is a top 8 rotational player next year and would potentially start for Thiam this season....I have zero concerns about him contributing.

Kiss is not a guard that can handle the ball consistently, but he would spell the other 3 guards vs playing Mensah.....Mensah is your 10th player, but he will play 10-12 minutes off the bench to spell the 3 guards....Thiam is technically your 4th guard defensively, but not on offense.

I think the offer to Diego Willis as another guard to help after this year is a good offer, but it's because he offers the ability to shoot, more than I believe he's a true lead guard....I don't think he's a matchup against a quick team like Florida State or Minnesota, but I think he's a better fit than McClung offered.....I wasn't sure how a player like NYC guard (went to Georgia Tech) Jose Alvarado would have fit together with Geo Baker, but I can clearly see him fitting in as a ball handler and we would not be discussing Mensah or even Nigel Johnson as options that would make a difference this year. That bridge from Sanders to the future would have been set perfectly, even if Nigel transferred out.

Roster spots 10-13 are Mensah, Kiss (sit out), Bullock and redshirting big, Myles Johnson.....with 9 players as your rotation, it's clear that's where RU is, but for 2018, we have help coming to replace Freeman, Williams and Candido Sa.

Sometimes it's one recruiting pick up or two that solves things and I'm confident the 2018 additions will help. Can we steal another 2018 player that fits the roster is the question.
 
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NewJerseyHawk said:
Kiss is a top 8 rotational player next year and would potentially start for Thiam this season....I have zero concerns about him contributing.

Kiss is not a guard that can handle the ball consistently, but he would spell the other 3 guards vs playing Mensah.....Mensah is your 10th player, but he will play 10-12 minutes off the bench to spell the 3 guards....Thiam is technically your 4th guard defensively, but not on offense.

I think the offer to Diego Willis as another guard to help after this year is a good offer, but it's because he offers the ability to shoot, more than I believe he's a true lead guard....I don't think he's a matchup against a quick team like Florida State or Minnesota, but I think he's a better fit than McClung offered.....I wasn't sure how a player like NYC guard (went to Georgia Tech) Jose Alvarado would have fit together with Geo Baker, but I can clearly see him fitting in as a ball handler and we would not be discussing Mensah or even Nigel Johnson as options that would make a difference this year. That bridge from Sanders to the future would have been set perfectly, even if Nigel transferred out.

Roster spots 10-13 are Mensah, Kiss (sit out), Bullock and redshirting big, Myles Johnson.....with 9 players as your rotation, it's clear that's where RU is, but for 2018, we have help coming to replace Freeman, Williams and Candido Sa.

Sometimes it's one recruiting pick up or two that solves things and I'm confident the 2018 additions will help. Can we steal another 2018 player that fits the roster is the question.
Click to expand...
I agree with your post for the most part other than Mensah and Bullock. First if Mensah is playing 10 minutes a game next year I want Pike gone. I would start to seriously question his judgment. There is no chance that happens. Second Bullock has to move on as well. We need both those ships. We gave both kids a chance. They seem like good kids. It's not Mensah or Bullocks fault. It's Pikes.
 
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That would be a very bad idea-----you can't run guys off.

Especially one kid that just got here and another kid that comes from one of the states top HS Programs
 
TDIrish27 said:
That would be a very bad idea-----you can't run guys off.

Especially one kid that just got here and another kid that comes from one of the states top HS Programs
Click to expand...
I disagree. Small window to win. Every school does it. Win now. Worry about it later. Why does Bullock just want to sit the bench for two more years? No program in the country would waste a ship for four years on a guy who is never going to play.
 
I think Kiss will be in the rotation. I hope Johnson will be a contributor as well next season. I firmly believe that Pikiell will bring in at least one more contributor for next year who will be in the rotation.
 
higgins3 said:
Ill answer two.

I watched Mathis this past week on video. Same grit as Mike Williams. His hs coach puts him on the low block on every free throw. Mike Williams was a three point shooter while Mathis is a driver developing a good 3 pt shot. The two have the same hustle. Mathis is more athletic, and has a more dynamic game. The team next year will not be a huge set back. It has potential to be an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Perhaps just as important, Mathis is 6'-4", which gives us a legit Big 10-sized back court for the first time since we've joined the conference.
 
Sa, Williams and Freeman spots are already accounted for. That leaves 10 spots...gun to my head I go with the number 3

Sanders
Bullock
Mensah
Doorson
Thaim
Johnson
Kiss
Eugene
Duke
Baker
 
RU-ROCS said:
Perhaps just as important, Mathis is 6'-4", which gives us a legit Big 10-sized back court for the first time since we've joined the conference.
Click to expand...

And yet it was the 6'1" small guard that killed us yesterday.
 
Woody522 said:
Well shoes got us Sanders, but wouldn’t mind getting rid of him just to see his son go. Kid thinks he’s some rapper and you just look at him and laugh.
Click to expand...
First off...Shoes is the man! He's almost singlehandedly responsible for the recruitment of Sanders, Freeman, Doorson and Thiam. That's essentially 40 percent of the roster playing in games right now

Secondly, what's the need to take a shot at Vinny? He's actually a pretty decent kid that knows his basketball, and has had a big of hand at keeping Corey here as anyone. Whatever you think about his look, I'm sure there are plenty of others wondering exactly the same thing about you, but probably in a completely different way.

Next time...maybe keep the hate to yourself...or try to get to know the kid before you slag him
 
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A starting line up of
Sanders
Baker
Mathis
Carter
Doucoure

With coming off the bench
Eugene O
Thiam
Doorson
Kiss
Johnson
Harper

Looks like another step in year 3...

Bullock, mensah aren't liking to adding anything from those two ships

Year 3 we have really the core of a complete team

Class of 2019 is the time to add upgrades to where we are weakest ...will have at least three ships before any off season comings and goinga
 
BKIn118 said:
First off...Shoes is the man! He's almost singlehandedly responsible for the recruitment of Sanders, Freeman, Doorson and Thiam. That's essentially 40 percent of the roster playing in games right now

Secondly, what's the need to take a shot at Vinny? He's actually a pretty decent kid that knows his basketball, and has had a big of hand at keeping Corey here as anyone. Whatever you think about his look, I'm sure there are plenty of others wondering exactly the same thing about you, but probably in a completely different way.

Next time...maybe keep the hate to yourself...or try to get to know the kid before you slag him
Click to expand...

I see the kid all the time, he may be a nice kid but he’s a poser. He is not what he thinks he is.
 
Rick

It isn't a small window here--------it's a small window at Louisville.

RU isn't going to the NCAA's this year-----this is a 4-5 year rebuilding job so people need to be patient. Trust the coach and let him manage the roster.
 
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Is he a rapper or a basketball employee? Chain smoking in videos yet is associated with the program? Rapper or coach? I'm confused.
 
Scarlet Shack said:
A starting line up of
Sanders
Baker
Mathis
Carter
Doucoure

With coming off the bench
Eugene O
Thiam
Doorson
Kiss
Johnson
Harper

Looks like another step in year 3...

Bullock, mensah aren't liking to adding anything from those two ships

Year 3 we have really the core of a complete team

Class of 2019 is the time to add upgrades to where we are weakest ...will have at least three ships before any off season comings and goinga
Click to expand...


Who is CARTER?

Do you (and others) mean Baker?

Thanks

MO
 
MadRU said:
And yet it was the 6'1" small guard that killed us yesterday.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And there's no way he was even 6'-1", despite what the program said I'd say more like 5'-10", but lightening quick with a great shot.
 
BKIn118 said:
First off...Shoes is the man! He's almost singlehandedly responsible for the recruitment of Sanders, Freeman, Doorson and Thiam. That's essentially 40 percent of the roster playing in games right now

Secondly, what's the need to take a shot at Vinny? He's actually a pretty decent kid that knows his basketball, and has had a big of hand at keeping Corey here as anyone. Whatever you think about his look, I'm sure there are plenty of others wondering exactly the same thing about you, but probably in a completely different way.

Next time...maybe keep the hate to yourself...or try to get to know the kid before you slag him
Click to expand...

I second this. Vinny is a great kid.
 
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kcg88 said:
1. I've been quietly concerned about this as well. The other freshman that transferred from Quinnipiac (to St. John's) Mikey Dixon was much more productive. Kiss won't have to be as much of a volume scorer here though, so hopefully that helps. Also I'd note that getting the zeros from Kiss and Johnson's spot this year is fine, but getting a zero from Bullock and a negative from Mensah is not.

2. He seems like a nice guy and a good teammate and there are some leadership qualities but it's hard for me to imagine that outweighs his performance. I've been pretty vocal about this but yes this is looking like a big miss that a lot of us saw coming.

3. I don't know much about this but I think the idea was that Vetrone recruited Sanders and has a good relationship with him, and has some NJ connections, plus helped to ease the transition. However it doesn't seem like those NJ connections mean much considering Bullock is the only guy from the state on the roster and Harper for next year, but Rutgers was the only high-major offer for both. I do wonder if we'll still see Vetrone on the staff when Pikiell has a roster that's completely "his."
Click to expand...
Wasn't Vetrone the guy that everyone said was a must keep when Pike was hired?
 
it's 7 games in, and we know it can take players who come from JUCO some time to adjust to D-1...yes he hasn't played well, but we still have 23 games left in season and maybe he can find a niche here...

Kiss is hopefully the pull up 3 pt shooter we've craved for over a decade...

I was thinking Baker and Mathis would the starting backcourt next year if Sanders does leave (hopefully he doesn't)...

Not everyone is going to play...
 
We all love Pike but bottom line, if the Souf we see the next three months is the Souf we've seen so far, the coach deserves some criticism.

Naz's "buddy" and Mensah would be better suited at Kean or Rowan.
 
scarletrat said:
Kiss is hopefully the pull up 3 pt shooter we've craved for over a decade...
Click to expand...

Kiss shot sub-30% last year at Quinnipiac from 3. I'd expect some improvement but he's not the knockdown guy we need.
 
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