Myles the Monster wasted at UCLA

[KNICKI]

Watching the UCLA game. Its a shame that Myles basketball game is not being further developed. He is just an extra body at UCLA. Not involved in the offense at all. He could have stayed at RU & improved his game. He can’t be happy there.
Might have cost him an NBA career going to a school that rarely uses him. Grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Could have finished his career in style at RU & finish it out with your teammates & the school that developed him. Its sad seeing him out there & doing nothing.

 

[Danprusa_4]

Oh stop. If he didn’t want to go there he would’ve stayed. Let’s move on from the past and worry about the future. Start with pike and his recruiting

 

[KNICKI]

No way he is happy getting 2 points & 2 rebounds a game. Bad decision on his part basketball wise.

 

[Shelby65]

been saying forever, he’s just no good. terrible offensive player and even on defense he was barely serviceable. he was our leading rebounder and shot blocker only because of his 5 position and the extended minutes, not because he was good,

glad he’s gone so that Cliff can develop with starter minutes. we are not losing because of defense. we are losing because of the offense and Myles has absolutely no offensive talent...

utterly preposterous to suggest he had a shot at an nba career. only way he sees the nba is on tv or with a ticket like the rest of us.

his total lack of D1 starter ability should finally be crystal clear right now. UCLA doesnt even pass him the ball. he’s just out there to be a 5th body when the starter needs a rest.

 

[RUsojo]

stopppppp UCLA is a top 10 team lol back up big on a good team is an ideal role for myles

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

He didn’t want to be here. Can’t argue with that.

 

[GORU2014]

Top 10 team, close to home, highly ranked engineering program, 70 and sunny every day this week. I’m sure he’s fine

 

[SantaFeScarlet]

Top 10 team, close to home, highly ranked engineering program, 70 and sunny every day this week. I’m sure he’s fine

He's their primarily for the academics and being close to home

 

[sunsetregret]

He's home and he has as good a shot as anyone in the country of going to (and winning) the Final Four. There's something to be said for that. He was never going to be an NBA player; that's ridiculous.

There's a reason we knew two of our best players were leaving while we were still in the tournament last year.

 

[willisneverrana43]

NBA? Nuts.

But too many of our good players have left for elsewhere in the NCAA in the past couple of years, some of whom would have helped us be a better, deeper team this year. And, overall, we did not do well replacing that personnel.

 

[Plum Street]

He's their primarily for the academics and being close to home

Yep. There is supposed to be more to this than just the sport .

 

[Njcanesfan]

The fact is that the pieces that were here last year are what made this team win. He was one of them. Regardless of the size of his role here… he played it well and it fit well.

we are seeing the results of us not having him more than them having him.

 

[willisneverrana43]

Yep. There is supposed to be more to this than just the sport .

That’s what a number of us on this board like to say. And maybe it’s true. But he didn’t leave us for a low-level basketball school with a graduate program that RU didn’t have. He left for a historic basketball program and top 10 team. And he’s certainly not the only good player that we wanted back who nonetheless left for another program. All of this is to say that the claim that this was purely or mostly for academic reasons is just conjecture.

 

[jordkap]

Watching the UCLA game. Its a shame that Myles basketball game is not being further developed. He is just an extra body at UCLA. Not involved in the offense at all. He could have stayed at RU & improved his game. He can’t be happy there.
Might have cost him an NBA career going to a school that rarely uses him. Grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Could have finished his career in style at RU & finish it out with your teammates & the school that developed him. Its sad seeing him out there & doing nothing.

Myles still plays basketball so he can get a masters in engineering for free. I highly doubt he is crying himself to sleep over his playing time.

 

[bitnez]

Myles was an excellent student at RU, and was making a difference in the community. Those type of students never pay for graduate school whether they play basketball or not. That said, if it’s true he turned down Stanford then this wasn’t only about getting a free education. He wanted both — and that’s fine but let’s drop this narrative that the basketball doesn’t matter to him. Of course it does.

 

[fluoxetine]

even on defense he was barely serviceable.

Heh, good one.

 

[biazza38]

NBA? What

 

[KnightTerrors]

been saying forever, he’s just no good. terrible offensive player and even on defense he was barely serviceable. he was our leading rebounder and shot blocker only because of his 5 position and the extended minutes, not because he was good,

glad he’s gone so that Cliff can develop with starter minutes. we are not losing because of defense. we are losing because of the offense and Myles has absolutely no offensive talent...

Myles defense was barely serviceable?

I’ve read some crazy takes on this board but holy moly…

 

[Plum Street]

Myles was an excellent student at RU, and was making a difference in the community. Those type of students never pay for graduate school whether they play basketball or not. That said, if it’s true he turned down Stanford then this wasn’t only about getting a free education. He wanted both — and that’s fine but let’s drop this narrative that the basketball doesn’t matter to him. Of course it does.

Of course it matters

 

[MADHAT1]

he fit Rutgers needs.
Seems that's not the case at UCLA.

If he planned an engineering career after his college time is over, no big deal that he's not a major contribute the court for the Bruins.
But if he expected to go pro right after his college basketball was over , transferring to UCLA might just make that harder to do because what talent he was able to show as a Scarlet Knight was far better than he's showing now as a Bruin

 

[Shelby65]

Judging him via the lens of “our needs” doesn’t make him a good player. Bad as he was, we just didn’t have anyone better, or in Cliff’s case, not ready to be a starter.

He’s very tall, plays defense around the basket, and played a ton of minutes. So yeah, he got a lot more rebounds than Jacob Young, for example who was a perimeter defender who often got less PT. That’s not skill.

No doubt he’s smart and hopefully he’ll have a rewarding engineering career. But he’s not a good player. Not here and not there.

Talent and value aren’t the same thing. Yea he had value here. But no talent.

 

[Local Shill]

Judging him via the lens of “our needs” doesn’t make him a good player. Bad as he was, we just didn’t have anyone better, or in Cliff’s case, not ready to be a starter.

He’s very tall, plays defense around the basket, and played a ton of minutes. So yeah, he got a lot more rebounds than Jacob Young, for example who was a perimeter defender who often got less PT. That’s not skill.

No doubt he’s smart and hopefully he’ll have a rewarding engineering career. But he’s not a good player. Not here and not there.

Talent and value aren’t the same thing. Yea he had value here. But no talent.

Idiotic take. Not every 6-10 guy is automatically a very solid player at the high major level. His game has obviously flaws but he’s a good college basketball player.

 

[rudad02]

been saying forever, he’s just no good. terrible offensive player and even on defense he was barely serviceable. he was our leading rebounder and shot blocker only because of his 5 position and the extended minutes, not because he was good,

glad he’s gone so that Cliff can develop with starter minutes. we are not losing because of defense. we are losing because of the offense and Myles has absolutely no offensive talent...

utterly preposterous to suggest he had a shot at an nba career. only way he sees the nba is on tv or with a ticket like the rest of us.

his total lack of D1 starter ability should finally be crystal clear right now. UCLA doesnt even pass him the ball. he’s just out there to be a 5th body when the starter needs a rest.

Bull ****!

 

[Shelby65]

Every MLB team has a closer who leads the team in saves. Some of them are ****** closers.

Think about that.

Judging Myles through the lens of ‘our team and our needs’ gives highly flawed perspective on his talent.

 

[willisneverrana43]

If you're point is that folks on this board overrated how good he was, I'm on board with that. If your point is that he wasn't a good B1G center, that seems like nonsense to me. There were a number of better centers in the league, and I think Cliff is already better, but Myles was good.

 

[RU82]

Myles was a very solid defender and rim protector with limited offensive skills.

How much he’s playing at UCLA is irrelevant. His future is in engineering. He made an excellent choice for continuing his education. I’m probably less concerned about Myles’ future than any scarlet knight basketball player ever. He’s going to do more than fine in life.

 

[superfan01]

One day our best will beat the best.

 

[kcg88]

In purely a basketball sense, this is true. But Myles did not transfer purely (or even primarily, most likely) for basketball reasons.

 

[trotter]

Who would love to have both Myles and JY back in exchange for Hyatt and Agee.

 

[willisneverrana43]

. . . . I’m probably less concerned about Myles’ future than any scarlet knight basketball player ever. He’s going to do more than fine in life.

I'm not concerned about his future either. I just wish he were playing center for us right now, rather than our relying on Agee-Gonzalez and Reiber. We'd be better.

 

[wheezer]

He didn’t want to be here. Can’t argue with that.

1) I would guess he was happy enough here but the decision to move on was an academic one first and foremost

2). RU would be a better team this year with him, how much of a difference is tough to figure. Maybe still short of a NCAA team but closer for sure

3). Said it before, he seemed never to want to take the big shot late
He would rather kick it back out than attempt a contested layup, even if in close

4). I will never forgive him totally for blowing the dunk against Houston

Much like the Townsend dropped TD pass years ago against WV.
RU's "Buckner" moments

 

[LotusAggressor_rivals]

Watching the UCLA game. Its a shame that Myles basketball game is not being further developed. He is just an extra body at UCLA. Not involved in the offense at all. He could have stayed at RU & improved his game. He can’t be happy there.
Might have cost him an NBA career going to a school that rarely uses him. Grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Could have finished his career in style at RU & finish it out with your teammates & the school that developed him. Its sad seeing him out there & doing nothing.

Have you watched the NBA in the last several years? He'd be a liability against the small ball lineups that good NBA teams trot out, and he's not nearly good enough offensively to punish smaller defenders. Big men in today's NBA are either skilled floor stretching shooters or hyper athletic finishers out of pick and rolls. For all of the positives he displayed at RU, his game doesn't translate to the next level.

 

[RUPete]

NBA? Nuts.

But too many of our good players have left for elsewhere in the NCAA in the past couple of years, some of whom would have helped us be a better, deeper team this year. And, overall, we did not do well replacing that personnel.

That's fair, but I really think in this case this was a unique life opportunity for Myles that he worked hard for. The other transfers? Yes you can make that argument.

 

[Corycord1]

I think Myles loved Rutgers, but his decision to leave went way beyond basketball. Unlike many other student athletes, the student part is extremely important to him. Can’t be upset that he left for a fantastic academic school, that just happens to be right in his backyard.

 

[willisneverrana43]

Maybe, maybe not. But it is true that he is far from alone as a good player for us transferring elsewhere.

 

[Corycord1]

Maybe, maybe not. But it is true that he is far from alone as a good player for us transferring elsewhere.

Every single program in the country has good players transfer, it’s not just us. Pike needs to adapt to the times and start balancing bringing in talent through the portal and through High School recruiting.

 

[willisneverrana43]

Your first sentence is a generality that means nothing as applied here. I agree with your second sentence, but will add that he needs to get better at keeping his own players. This is not a matter of throwing up your hands and saying that it happens to everyone. The better you are at keeping good players and getting the ones you want, the better your team will be.

 

[AZBlues]

I think Myles loved Rutgers, but his decision to leave went way beyond basketball. Unlike many other student athletes, the student part is extremely important to him. Can’t be upset that he left for a fantastic academic school, that just happens to be right in his backyard.

This. The first full Covid season and the involved/required isolation was probably rough on all players who were distant from their homes and families.. With all due respect to RU, having a chance to regularly be with loved ones and old friends again, while attending a school with a very highly rated engineering program, and having the experience of being a scholarship player on a final four caliber team, definitely seems like an understandable once in a lifetime decision.

 

[ouchmyknee]

Myles is a student masquerading as a basketball player. Not the other way around.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Watching the UCLA game. Its a shame that Myles basketball game is not being further developed. He is just an extra body at UCLA. Not involved in the offense at all. He could have stayed at RU & improved his game. He can’t be happy there.
Might have cost him an NBA career going to a school that rarely uses him. Grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Could have finished his career in style at RU & finish it out with your teammates & the school that developed him. Its sad seeing him out there & doing nothing.

Sad to say that I agree. I don't know what he was promised by UCLA.. hopefully it was nothing and that all he wanted was location and a good engineering program to further his academic resume... but if he wanted more basketball-wise.. it really looks like he should have gone elsewhere.. or stayed here.