Obviously the last 10-15 years of RU hoops has set a really low bar, but I was trying to think if this year's team is the best one since the 2005-6 Gary Waters squad that featured Quincy Douby and an NIT appearance. I would have to say yes. Not saying they were as good as that team, but better than any that we have had since then.
Best RU squad since?
- Thread starter FastMJ
- Start date
Rice's first two teams had some good wins and played at a high level defensively...I would say that those are equal to this team at least given some decent wins...Villanova, Florida, Notre Dame
We all know we only beat Villanova that day because I turned off the TV with a few minutes to go, as I had to pick my wife up at the airport (continued kudos to her).
Happened to review all of our scores after the game - yes, we have been in most. Only a few whoops (Purdue, Minnesota, Maryland, etc.). In the past, you never had enough fingers and toes to count all the humbles in a season.
Not having Corey this year may have hurt but think about the opportunity it gave to guys like Caleb to develop.
I’ll answer your question as this is a team with the highest ceiling we’ve had in a long time. Rice had some good teams but not with this quality of depth in my opinion.
I think we'd be in a different tournament if this team had Douby
Caleb likely would be seeing 2 minutes a game if Corey was here. I agree, the timeline was accelerated for development, it worked out
Trust me. We would have less wins if Corey was here.
Please look at Corey’s game logs and not what he did only the last 2 games of his career.
Please look at Corey’s game logs and not what he did only the last 2 games of his career.
Our offense is so much better this year. Chemistry is real good. Haven’t heard a peep about drama. Baker and Eugene are leaders.
Our defense definitely took a hit. Caleb has taken over as the guard that helps out on D glass.
Our defense definitely took a hit. Caleb has taken over as the guard that helps out on D glass.
A pass first/score second strict ball handler CS who could break any press, could drive and draw two defenders to kick out to a stagnant player like Thiam to score 16pts against Iowa last year would be a net positive. Not to mention his defensive effort but I agree that not having his big personality on the team has allowed other leaders like EO and Geo to take the leadership reins while letting the young players develop.
Would have been fun to see but as RU fans we are having fun nonetheless.
GO RU
Would have been fun to see but as RU fans we are having fun nonetheless.
GO RU
If this team wins more than 15 games it wouldn't it be the best team since the last time a RU team won more than 15 games? I'm looking at you 2005-2006 squad (19-14). That is the last team to be over .500 right? So wouldn't that be it?
I think you need to consider the quality of competition in addition to W-L but yes I agree with the conclusion in this instance.
Quality of competition is important.
Wasn't that the season that the Big East had 7 teams in the NCAA tournament, two of them No. 1 seeds?
Maybe that was the season before my memory gets a little hazy.
I’m not gonna answer this question until I can answer “75-76”.
Perhaps I’ll relent and say 78-79, or 82-83...when it soon happens .
Perhaps I’ll relent and say 78-79, or 82-83...when it soon happens .
For those who weren't around
82-83 won a game in the NCAA Tournament
78-79 was sweet sixteen
And We all know what 75-76 did
That might be true but they had 3 point shooters that led to upset wins against ranked teams.
The biggest difference now is that we have the “whole package” head coach that doesn’t come with baggage.
this team is not in the running......
Had talent, was only 3 games away from the NCAA tournament. Until......
http://barttorvik.com/team.php?year=2014&team=Rutgers
Had talent, was only 3 games away from the NCAA tournament. Until......
http://barttorvik.com/team.php?year=2014&team=Rutgers
As far as results go, yes that 2005-06 team had a better year. But it's hard to compare them.
There were only 16 conference games in the BE that year vs. 20 this year in the B1G. Of those 16, went 7-9, 1-3 against ranked opponents. We avoided playing UConn and WVU, and instead got SHU/SJU/USF twice each (went 4-2 against that group). If we had to play every team in the league once, there's a pretty decent chance we'd have finished 5-11 in conference (and 15-14 overall in the regular season), and may not have qualified for the BE Tournament.
That team was also all Quincy Douby all the time. He was the only player who averaged double digits, and he scored 37% of our points.
The 2003-04 squad was a great group, too, and less reliant on one player.
You are crazy and silly. Corey with this supporting cast would have to do less and would find more open shooters and the other team’s game plan to try to shut him down would not work because we have a low post game and freshman that can play. Plus Geo would be in his more natural 2 guard position and would be scoring more. And since you are a defensive guy, Corey’s defense would have shut down some guards that have torched us. Get over your hate of Corey, it is foolish and dumb.
you are making the assumption of Corey as team player and one that would distribute the ball. The Freshmen would not have the voices on the team like they do now. You really think that Corey would defer to freshmen...and Caleb would not even be on the floor in fact Caleb wouldnt even be at RU
I am sorry that arguement holds little weight with me. Mike Williams, DeShawn Freeman and Geo baker were workable pieces.
Corey sanders had to have the basketball in his hands to be effective offensively. He was a terrible shooter.
We are within a few wins of winning more B1G games this year than Corey won in his entire career. I never got why fans blamed everyone but Corey for averaging 2.33333333333 wins.
Corey sanders had to have the basketball in his hands to be effective offensively. He was a terrible shooter.
We are within a few wins of winning more B1G games this year than Corey won in his entire career. I never got why fans blamed everyone but Corey for averaging 2.33333333333 wins.
When has Corey ever had a supporting cast? If you remember his freshman year, he was throwing great passes that our bigs dropped or could not handle. Chemistry was growing between him and Geo last year and playing with a senior and a sophomore in this rough Big 10 as compared to freshman , who have really played well and are really coming on,is a better recipe for success. This is the first season since Echneque that we actually have a low post offensive game, so don’t you think Corey would be feeding the post more , instead of our offense being stagnant and he being asked to bale us out with less than 8 on the shot clock? You think he wouldn’t be throwing the lobs to Doorson that he has been dunking the last 5-6 games. I will tell you one thing that we would not see, and that is lousy ball handling , that we were getting from Geo, and led to some vicious posts on this board, about Geo. Corey could never be pressed and rarely did his handle cause turnovers and run outs by the other team. Have I mentioned his defense yet? No, it was outstanding last year and probably would have been the same and we would not have been torched by some point guard’s this year.
The only point you make is about Caleb, who I know we got later after Corey declared but Pike has found a way to slowly bring his freshman along and that still would have occurred with Corey. Plus you would still have a go to scorer at crunch time that we could go to just like Purdue has Edwards and Michigan State has Winston . In fact, the way Winston leads Michigan State by feeding their bigs but also knowing when it is time to score and he does it , would be how I envision this year playing out.
I like how this team is turning out and their toughness, but claiming we are better off without one of the better players in the Big 10 is just lunacy