Need Better Players

richthedentist

All-American
Aug 2, 2001
11,009
8,559
113
If they can’t they can’t but that’s on Pike as OP said he has got to recruit better players and guys that can shoot Mulcahy going to be good but nit a good shooter
 

Knights 1212

All-American
Sep 9, 2003
27,554
8,488
113
You guys are way off. Our players are decent. If you don't like them than follow another team. We hung with Michigan State on the road for almost the entire game and they are the # 11 team in the country and were rated # 1 when the season started. Not every player is perfect every game. We only had 11 turnovers tonight. If you cannot see the improvement Steve has brought to RU in 3 years plus 9 games you are lost. Some of you must live your lives to be critical.
 

RedChucken123

Senior
Oct 21, 2015
487
565
88
Nothing wrong with our players -- but they need an alpha dog to lead the pack. We don't have that

Was just thinking this. We need that emotional leader that just pumps up the team. Sometimes you just need someone like Corey who carries the team on their back. And even if the guy had a bad game, I wouldn't put it past him to make a game winning shot. (And as much as I dislike Eugene for leaving, he always had that intense shrug attitude thing going when he got on a roll.)

Geo has shown flashes of that over his career, but he's also had his fair share of slumps. He's gotta fake it till he makes it. I think sometimes he's too unselfish and accommodating. I don't see his crossover, pull-up shot as much anymore. He needs to go for that or drive hard like Corey used to do, so that the defender has to respect one or the other. Find his go-to offensive move(s) and perfect it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Loyal-Son

RUJMM78

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
26,201
12,460
113
You guys are way off. Our players are decent. If you don't like them than follow another team. We hung with Michigan State on the road for almost the entire game and they are the # 11 team in the country and were rated # 1 when the season started. Not every player is perfect every game. We only had 11 turnovers tonight. If you cannot see the improvement Steve has brought to RU in 3 years plus 9 games you are lost. Some of you must live your lives to be critical.
Your response would have relevance if Rutgers didn't have a long track record of losing .Its nor about liking or disliking Pikiell but rather winning and losing.Rutgers has now lost 2 games against St.Bonaventure and Pitt which will impact the ability for a winning season.Ignoring the obvious problems with scoring won't change the results.All fans want this program to be successful but that requires a sense of urgency that is lacking.The B1G is a powerful conference that isn't going to lay down in football and basketball to allow Rutgers to catch up.
 

brad1218

Senior
May 4, 2003
8,765
823
0
You guys are way off. Our players are decent. If you don't like them than follow another team. We hung with Michigan State on the road for almost the entire game and they are the # 11 team in the country and were rated # 1 when the season started. Not every player is perfect every game. We only had 11 turnovers tonight. If you cannot see the improvement Steve has brought to RU in 3 years plus 9 games you are lost. Some of you must live your lives to be critical.
To be fair coach MSU sleep walks through their games against us. Much like we often play down against lower level teams. MSU always does just enough to win. The games are always ugly. They let us hang around and then finish it in the end. I see no improvement in this team vs last year. In fact I think Baker has regressed. And Johnson.
 

rufeelinit

All-Conference
May 16, 2010
12,647
4,351
0
I think if we want to continue to climb the ladder we need a combination of continued development of the current roster and bringing in higher caliber player who will continue to create additional competition for playing time. I think like most coaches, he has had hits and misses in both areas. Got to minimize the misses to win more conference games than we lose.

With the new practice facility I think it is reasonable to expect an uptick in recruiting. Not clear that has happened yet.
 

soundcrib

All-Conference
Oct 7, 2002
6,743
3,903
113
You guys are way off. Our players are decent. If you don't like them than follow another team. We hung with Michigan State on the road for almost the entire game and they are the # 11 team in the country and were rated # 1 when the season started. Not every player is perfect every game. We only had 11 turnovers tonight. If you cannot see the improvement Steve has brought to RU in 3 years plus 9 games you are lost. Some of you must live your lives to be critical.
I wonder how many times this has been posted over the last 29 years.
 

BillyC80

Heisman
Oct 23, 2006
17,080
15,467
72
To be fair coach MSU sleep walks through their games against us. Much like we often play down against lower level teams. MSU always does just enough to win. The games are always ugly. They let us hang around and then finish it in the end. I see no improvement in this team vs last year. In fact I think Baker has regressed. And Johnson.
brad, I agree with the first part, that MSU played down to us somewhat, and they turned it on when they needed to.

As far as regressing as a team, I think it’s too early to tell, mainly because this is a different team. I actually think we’re making progress, but it’s not a linear progression from the end of last year because our leading scorer, rebounder and defensive anchor left a year early.

Pike had to change his approach to this season, opting to run more with Young, changing Geo’s role, and looking for Yeboah to replace Gene’s inside presence with outside scoring. Those are 3 significant changes from last year, which makes us a work in progress.

That said, I believe by this season’s end we will be a better team with a better (over .500) record vs last year.
 

Sweet Pea's Corner

All-American
Sep 10, 2001
17,824
5,685
113
Last nights game doesn't matter if we lost by 1 pt 11 pts or 50 pts. It's still a loss as EJ team was a loss. For you guys is it just seeing improvement to be almost get to .500? Are you satisfied the next 3 years seeing this team hover around .500? I think we should more than this after 4 years. This isn't football. Maybe Hurley was right. This is a 7 year process cause right now it doesn't look like any NCAA for at least 2 years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rutgers56_rivals

MadRU

Heisman
Jul 26, 2001
38,193
19,510
98
Nothing wrong with our players -- but they need an alpha dog to lead the pack. We don't have that

Agree, we need a star recruit that can score, this will open up the court so much more for the players we have. I like our players, think we have a good group, just need that one "star" player to make the team complete. Cliff O. would be a great addition down low, and if another stud scorer would come then we can go. Easier said then done. But other teams get them, we need to.
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
Last nights game doesn't matter if we lost by 1 pt 11 pts or 50 pts. It's still a loss as EJ team was a loss. For you guys is it just seeing improvement to be almost get to .500? Are you satisfied the next 3 years seeing this team hover around .500? I think we should more than this after 4 years. This isn't football. Maybe Hurley was right. This is a 7 year process cause right now it doesn't look like any NCAA for at least 2 years.
 

NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,411
38,680
113
Yeboah stat line.

25 minutes
6 of 9 from floor
2-3 from 3
3 of 3 from FT line
4 boards
1 assist

I am not sure your going to get a more efficient contribution by barely touching the ball.

The game plan for games like these, are to make your 3rd and 4th options beat you. There were 4 to 5 lost possessions where we passed to Carter or Doucoure in the post and fumbled the ball away or came up empty.

I am not saying Yeboah is better suited in the post, but if RU is going to improve from now through March, they have to get Harper post touches, Yeboah clean looks and let the others find shots.

MSU got 77 points, RU isn't built to get 80 points on the road to win a game vs MSU.

I think RU will play better at home most of the season and if we get half of the Young production like last night, RU will be much better in B1G play.
 
  • Like
Reactions: satnom

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
...and that is the problem. No hockey substitutions so every lineup combination helps us one place, but hurts us in another.

We can't compete defensively without Young and/or Mathis. We don't get good lucks with Young dominating the ball. Put Young off the ball on offense and he doesn't have a lot of use. Put Mulcahy as your point guard and you HAVE to HAVE at least Mathis or Young as a defensive balance and unless you aren't playing a center you only have 2 perimeter players.

Unfortunately, TODAY, there are roster flaws that, to me, prevent us from moving out of the bottom quartile of the league. It is imperative Harper and Baker step up their games on BOTH sides of the court AND Caleb regains/gains confidence in his outside shot.. Myles has to stay out of foul trouble.

I just feel for us to succeed we really have to thread the needle.
 

Spoons401K

Redshirt
Apr 22, 2003
16
13
0
It's pretty simple. Stop picking on our players. They are all solid players with various strengths and weaknesses. Until we get a true #1 option we are going to struggle vs the better teams. We really haven't had one since Douby. Mitchell was close the first year under Rice. If we had a true go to guy it would open it up for the rest of the players.
 

RUJMM78

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
26,201
12,460
113
Last nights game doesn't matter if we lost by 1 pt 11 pts or 50 pts. It's still a loss as EJ team was a loss. For you guys is it just seeing improvement to be almost get to .500? Are you satisfied the next 3 years seeing this team hover around .500? I think we should more than this after 4 years. This isn't football. Maybe Hurley was right. This is a 7 year process cause right now it doesn't look like any NCAA for at least 2 years.
Sadly,regardless of sport kicking the can down the road,and it takes time and patience have been the mantra of a segment of the Rutgers fan base while the losing has continued.No sense of urgency and understanding on its impact on recruiting.
 

Plum Street

Heisman
Jun 21, 2009
27,306
23,009
0
You guys are way off. Our players are decent. If you don't like them than follow another team. We hung with Michigan State on the road for almost the entire game and they are the # 11 team in the country and were rated # 1 when the season started. Not every player is perfect every game. We only had 11 turnovers tonight. If you cannot see the improvement Steve has brought to RU in 3 years plus 9 games you are lost. Some of you must live your lives to be critical.

I don’t know what you’re watching . This team stinks right now
 

Local Shill

All-American
Aug 30, 2001
21,506
7,316
113
You guys are way off. Our players are decent. If you don't like them than follow another team. We hung with Michigan State on the road for almost the entire game and they are the # 11 team in the country and were rated # 1 when the season started. Not every player is perfect every game. We only had 11 turnovers tonight. If you cannot see the improvement Steve has brought to RU in 3 years plus 9 games you are lost. Some of you must live your lives to be critical.
The old “go follow another team” nonsense. So typical and weak. Call me crazy but we don’t have enough fans to chase anyone away for pointing out the obvious.

I’m getting awfully close to suggesting you stick to Scarletknights.com and the Twitter accounts of Recco and Lorincz if you don’t want to read anything negative.
 

MV9000

All-Conference
Jan 6, 2016
2,949
4,058
46
A go to guy is needed, we have the complimentary players. Geo has become to passive on O
 

SleepingGiantIsAwake

All-Conference
Jul 24, 2001
4,657
1,595
113
Or we need a coach that can make players better. Haven’t seen significant improvement in anyone under Pike.
Wrong. Just to start - Eugene, Baker, Corey, McConnell, Harper (yes....did you watch the chubby kid who just shot 3’s in HS?), etc

As mentioned in this thread, we need that one stud (at least) to go to in crunch time.
 

dpwhite

All-American
Jan 21, 2003
2,948
7,109
103
Has Geo Baker gotten better since he was a freshman?

Yes. Can control the offense, defends MUCH better, and can get to the rim easier and with both his left and right hand. Has his three point shot gotten better? Probably not, but there is a lot he does better and more confidently now than he did as a freshman.
 

Shell21

Heisman
Mar 23, 2004
35,068
24,728
113
i think we win both games this week at home..guys played decent at michigan state and coming home against two good opponents will give us and our fans some juice..we always play better at home and I think we will see our guys and Pike put up our best effort in both games...most important week of the year.