No, it’s a big deal to be a part of March madness . Even for blue bloods. That’s why you even see them dancing around when they’re announced on selection Sunday.
Enough with the coach comparisons before Pike
- Thread starter WPUknight
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No, it’s a big deal to be a part of March madness . Even for blue bloods. That’s why you even see them dancing around when they’re announced on selection Sunday.
Good lord some of our fans are so dopey it’s truly amazing.
Okay well be average in the B1G and you’re in.
It’s a big deal for the players because it marks the beginning of their goal to win a natty.
Unless our goal is to just make the tournament and not win a natty.
Have you been around these parts long ? Realistically as a rutgers fan , you should be thrilled if we ever get to be a perennial tournament team . Make the tournament at least 3 out of every 5 years . With at least one of those years a deep run into the second and maybe their weekend .
This is exactly the issue.
You are living in the past and thinking about all the years we’ve been trash, but the past doesn’t define your future.
There are 14 B1G teams, 8 of them will generally make the NCAA. Be average and you’re in.
We are not average this year, we are bad. That’s why we won’t be making it.
I’ve been watching RU basketball since I was a little kid, I grew up going to the RAC. I just view this from a perspective of someone that doesn’t have pity for RU.
Please, there was no scenario where we weren't in, no matter what would have happened in the first round of the B1G tourney and nobody has to "give" them anything on that - just simply acknowledge what everyone in basketball knows is true. That's a bare minimum he deserves. If you want to question Pike's recruiting the past 2 years, that's fine, as it's been underwhelming and if you think we're not going in the direction, that's your prerogative, but let's see what happens this year and next year before making conclusions.
Speculating on what Pike might have said about the transfers is irrelevant to the discussion, although that sounds like a BS comment.
It’s not a BS comment, but that’s fine.
And yes, people could have taken AQ bids that could have bumped us. But I agree we were likely in.
Regardless, we don’t need to wait. We just lost to Northwestern lol. We know how this season is ending. We also know how the next couple of years are going to go.
If those are your baseline expectations for Rutgers then you must be the most miserable human on the planet.
I’m probably the most optimistic football fan on this board.
Also, I was never a Pike fan, so I’ve been expecting this for a while now. Rutgers could do so much better
He’s saying it’s national championship or bust and making the tournament isn’t an accomplishment and average teams make it.
For a guy who said he grew up at the RAC maybe he’s 6 years old. That could explain it.
Yawn.
Another loser mentality chiming in.
Pike is a dud. It’s the reason our team is soft af. It’s the reason our seniors bend over and take it for the first 30 minutes of each game.
No killer instinct, no attitude, it starts with the head coach.
Forget about pike for a second.
You’re saying making the tournament isn’t an accomplishment and that’s just being average.
GS is competing against the same thing, and he just landed two of the B1Gs top 10 transfer portal players
Making the tournament for 10-20 years in a row is impressive. It means you’re consistently solid.
Not making the tournament once in 30 years is fvcking pathetic.
Making the tournament 1-2 times every 5 years is average.
Someone do the math, how often do P5 teams make the NCAAs on average
Yeah and an asteroid could've kept us from making the tourney - actually it kind of did. The only question about our tourney appearance that year was what was our seed going to be.
And no, we don't know how this season will end, nor the next couple of years. Were you predicting two NCAA tourneys in a row 4 years ago? Doubtful.
Yeah little man syndrome to me.
After my high school won our first county championship in lacrosse we printed t shirts that said “prACTice like champions,” with ACT bolded.
When your a winner, you carry yourself different, you practice different, and you act differently. You don’t look for excuses, you claim what you’ve earned.
This program and this fanbase is filled with excuses and nonsense. Win and let the results speak for themselves. The only reason you claim 2 tourney appearances is because we’ve been complete losers for so long.
And yes, if you have a functioning brain you know how this season will end. I’d agree with you if we had a talent issue, but had some tough SOBs.
Ollie Bailey was not as talented as the guys he went up against, but he was a straight up dawg. He was different. He was tough.
Cliff, Paul, and Miller are the only dawgs on this team. Our “leaders” are a joke. Anyone that played sports at a high level clearly sees this.
I can’t even believe this is a thread. Come on guys. Give it a rest. No matter how this season goes, Pike has been fantastic for RU and the best hire we could’ve hoped for by a wide mile. He signed on for what was likely viewed at the time as one of the hardest P5 jobs in college BB.
Had he not proactively advertised how amazing this team would be and instead gave the typical coach delivery “a bunch of new guys coming in and younger guys with real potential that I’m excited about - looking forward to seeing where we stack up” - there would be nothing at all to discuss.
Had he not proactively advertised how amazing this team would be and instead gave the typical coach delivery “a bunch of new guys coming in and younger guys with real potential that I’m excited about - looking forward to seeing where we stack up” - there would be nothing at all to discuss.
Damn, if only we had the swagger of your high school lacrosse team. Those guys were tough as nails.
Great t short story though. Bragging about high school lacrosse tshirts as if it something noteworthy. So cool. Wow. Not cringeworthy at all. Lol.
Just curious. How are YOU acting like a champion fan & booster of RU Basketball? Seems to me that sustained success for college athletic programs is generally tied to booster & fan monetary support ...... constantly whining on message boards in disagreement about what other fans think about the coach.........not so much.
.......and there it is....
- Establish a bias (i.e. about a player or coach)
- Wait for something to happen to obsessively promote that bias
- Crawl back in a hole when something happens that challenges that bias
- Re-emerge again when something happens to obsessively promote that bias again
The entire premise of this thread is silly. How can fans be expected to not compare where a team is now based on its previous results? The same fans telling us not to make the comparison, are more than happy to opine that its a foregone conclusion that RU will suck in the coming years due to Pike. When you examine how well (or not) a coach is doing, I would think you should take into account the entire situational circumstance - including what had to be accomplished just to get to "Average" (i.e. what The Rut refers to as making the NCAA Tourney).
Is there cause for concern - sure, it comes with the territory. But the same chicken littles ringing the alarm bells after every loss to fire Pike (and yes., that is essentially what all these threads and posts are about) must be tired considering its not gonna happen. Beyond the fact that Pike has progressed the program significantly since he's been here - there are probably another $13.5M reasons through the 2025-26 season that will back this up. Unless one of you Pike hating tough talkers comes to the table and ante's up a bundle.
Dude - I don’t think your grasping just how bad Rutgers had been before Pike.
ESPN’s history only goes back to 2002-03 (14 seasons before Pike). In those 14 years, Rutgers produced a grand total of 5 +15 win seasons (and plenty of 10-11 win and under seasons). Forget NCAA births - we weren’t even discussion worthy. There was one 18 win season, one other 16 win season, three 15 win seasons and 9 seasons of pure embarrassment including the 7 win season Pike walked in to. In only 5 seasons, Pike won +15 games 4 of 5 years (and last year we played a ton less games) - if he gets to 15 this year that would be 5 of 6. The other year he won 14 games. We had 2 NCAA caliber teams in the 5 years before this one (none even close in the 14 years before).
And you think we could’ve done so much better with our hire? Based on what?
Is making the tournament a major accomplishment for a power 5 team? No. In general the answer is no.
Is it a fairly major accomplishment when considering the 30 year drought? Yes, absolutely yes, THAT **** MAKES IT HARDER TO MAKE THE TOURNAMENT.
I don’t understand how people are this ******* stupid that they want to fire a coach based on PREDICTIONS OF THE TEAM BEING BAD NEXT YEAR.
You people are literally retarded. If we actually go 10-21 next year we can have the conversation. We are currently above .500, above .500 in conference, and had good teams the prior two years. Having this conversation now is literally insane.
Is it a fairly major accomplishment when considering the 30 year drought? Yes, absolutely yes, THAT **** MAKES IT HARDER TO MAKE THE TOURNAMENT.
I don’t understand how people are this ******* stupid that they want to fire a coach based on PREDICTIONS OF THE TEAM BEING BAD NEXT YEAR.
You people are literally retarded. If we actually go 10-21 next year we can have the conversation. We are currently above .500, above .500 in conference, and had good teams the prior two years. Having this conversation now is literally insane.
Lol nah I’ve been pretty open about my feelings towards pike as a coach. Haven’t been in hiding.
Went the team earns props I give them props. When the team looks like a JV squad, I call them out.
But I’m not sure how anyone could watch our offensive game and think we have a good HC. It’s a mystery
We don’t only watch half the game because we’re not stupid people trying to prove a point.
Apparently you should start watching half the game lol you might like the team more
We’re not going 10-21. There’s no way we don’t bring in at least 2 portal guys next year. Look back to Pike’s first year - we started at ground zero and he still brought in Nigel and Gettys. And we won 15 games. This past year we were positioned in the worst possible way as far s portal interest goes. We returned 5 guys from an NCAA team who either played starter minutes or had huge recruit hype associated with them (Cliff). Finding guards in the portal is also much easier than finding bigs. I’ll be shocked if we don’t bring in a double figure guard from a major conference school or decent mid-major.
No - he doesn’t. You are saying we could’ve done so much better than Pike. He and pretty much every other poster on here seems to agree that’s just ridiculous.
Lol he’s saying that it’s a major accomplishment because of Rutgers, but for other P5 programs it’s not.
It’s inflating peoples opinion of our HC who has seriously struggled to build this roster and has no clue what a functioning offense looks like.
Do yourself a favor......use the ignore button.
No - that’s not at all what he’s saying. It was a huge accomplishment when NW made the tournament too. How can you compare the relative accomplishment of a coach taking a team like Kansas or UK (who would make the field almost year regardless of who the coach is) to a school that hasn’t even been halfway decent for decades?
I didn’t compare the accomplishment to Kansas or Kentucky. I compared it to all P5 programs.
Some of you still have little man syndrome thinking Rutgers is an A10 team. It’s pathetic and it’s holding us back.
T-Rank History for Rutgers
| YEAR | T-RK | COACH | CONF | REC. | ADJO | ADJD | EFGO | EFGD | TO% | TOD% | OR% | DR% | FTR | FTRD | FT% | 2P% | 2P%D | 3P% | ADJ T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 110 | Steve Pikiell | B10 | 12-9 (6-5) | 100.9 206 | 95.8 52 | 47.7 265 | 47.5 74 | 17.7 99 | 19.2 145 | 30.4 119 | 27.0 111 | 26.7 276 | 28.1 134 | 70.2 207 | 46.9 280 | 45.3 31 | 32.9 212 | 65.8 271 |
| 2021 | 42 | Steve Pikiell 10 seed, R32 | B10 | 16-12 (10-10) | 106.7 94 | 92.1 20 | 50.1 168 | 47.3 49 | 16.8 70 | 18.9 155 | 27.7 175 | 29.7 244 | 27.1 281 | 32.4 195 | 63.6 331 | 51.7 92 | 46.7 63 | 31.2 287 | 67.4 205 |
| 2020 | 30 | Steve Pikiell 9 seed (Proj.) | B10 | 20-11 (11-9) | 107.5 76 | 91.0 8 | 48.9 207 | 45.1 14 | 17.9 101 | 18.9 158 | 32.0 53 | 25.4 65 | 29.1 264 | 27.5 59 | 64.5 332 | 50.1 139 | 43.8 13 | 30.8 298 | 67.3 227 |
| 2019 | 77 | Steve Pikiell | B10 | 14-17 (7-13) | 105.7 150 | 97.3 50 | 47.0 317 | 49.2 108 | 19.1 221 | 17.4 248 | 33.4 35 | 27.0 117 | 31.7 220 | 32.4 165 | 63.7 340 | 47.2 283 | 47.0 52 | 31.2 314 | 67.5 169 |
| 2018 | 127 | Steve Pikiell | B10 | 15-19 (3-15) | 98.2 283 | 95.0 22 | 43.6 347 | 48.0 42 | 17.2 93 | 20.5 50 | 33.3 43 | 29.1 199 | 30.5 259 | 30.8 115 | 65.2 334 | 43.4 345 | 47.6 76 | 29.6 346 | 67.2 276 |
| 2017 | 131 | Steve Pikiell | B10 | 15-18 (3-15) | 100.9 221 | 98.3 72 | 44.7 339 | 47.5 47 | 19.7 258 | 18.9 155 | 37.5 7 | 30.1 216 | 31.2 281 | 31.2 79 | 62.5 347 | 44.5 330 | 46.6 69 | 30.2 336 | 67.8 258 |
| 2016 | 267 | Eddie Jordan | B10 | 6-25 (1-17) | 97.4 289 | 106.6 225 | 45.8 315 | 52.0 283 | 18.9 240 | 16.1 292 | 25.3 299 | 35.9 345 | 34.5 232 | 29.7 41 | 68.2 245 | 44.9 312 | 49.9 223 | 32.2 282 | 71.3 63 |
| 2015 | 179 | Eddie Jordan | B10 | 10-22 (2-16) | 96.5 281 | 98.0 93 | 43.6 338 | 49.8 204 | 20.1 246 | 18.1 232 | 30.5 185 | 31.4 187 | 32.6 286 | 32.0 70 | 65.3 304 | 43.3 322 | 49.3 233 | 29.5 334 | 65.4 139 |
| 2014 | 184 | Eddie Jordan | Amer | 11-21 (5-13) | 104.7 176 | 106.2 208 | 47.0 278 | 51.4 252 | 18.2 167 | 17.8 209 | 32.5 130 | 32.9 252 | 36.6 274 | 45.0 274 | 70.3 163 | 46.0 275 | 49.1 188 | 32.9 233 | 68.5 78 |
| 2013 | 81 | Mike Rice | BE | 15-16 (5-13) | 107.3 69 | 97.9 119 | 48.7 156 | 47.9 140 | 21.3 253 | 19.6 195 | 35.8 49 | 34.4 277 | 32.4 266 | 39.8 265 | 69.9 163 | 47.0 193 | 47.7 183 | 35.7 82 | 64.5 243 |
| 2012 | 122 | Mike Rice | BE | 14-18 (6-12) | 100.5 180 | 96.2 74 | 47.1 257 | 48.2 144 | 22.3 289 | 23.6 23 | 36.6 25 | 35.3 291 | 31.7 285 | 46.3 327 | 69.7 155 | 45.8 241 | 46.8 126 | 33.5 202 | 66.4 153 |
| 2011 | 82 | Mike Rice | BE | 15-17 (5-13) | 106.3 94 | 97.3 81 | 49.0 179 | 47.6 100 | 18.7 90 | 21.6 70 | 32.0 187 | 33.3 224 | 31.7 303 | 44.9 293 | 67.7 220 | 47.9 172 | 44.7 51 | 34.4 170 | 64.4 278 |
| 2010 | 157 | Fred Hill | BE | 14-17 (5-13) | 102.9 150 | 101.5 176 | 48.1 200 | 48.0 133 | 21.2 225 | 17.8 302 | 33.5 142 | 38.4 338 | 34.4 259 | 30.2 37 | 66.2 261 | 47.4 192 | 47.1 137 | 32.9 224 | 68.4 115 |
| 2009 | 134 | Fred Hill | BE | 11-21 (2-16) | 96.8 241 | 94.4 52 | 46.3 279 | 46.0 44 | 23.2 295 | 17.8 320 | 34.5 104 | 32.9 180 | 32.2 279 | 32.8 91 | 71.9 73 | 47.2 201 | 45.6 72 | 29.6 326 | 65.6 221 |
| 2008 | 174 | Fred Hill | BE | 11-20 (3-15) | 94.8 270 | 96.4 72 | 44.8 321 | 47.7 71 | 22.5 244 | 18.8 293 | 31.9 204 | 34.4 246 | 34.7 227 | 27.4 18 | 64.8 298 | 43.4 314 | 44.6 39 | 31.8 295 | 66.6 188 |
Green is right - I should ignore you but I can’t resist.
We’re not MOST P5 teams. We’re a team that hadn’t sported a tournament caliber team in over 30 years. And we didn’t just qualify once (which is what Fluox was referencing as not being that big a deal) we qualified 2 years in a row - the majority of NCAA teams coming off a 7 win season would be very happy to show incremental improvement over the next 3 seasons and then produce back to back tournament teams. They would not put their coach on the hot seat for being 12-9 midway through season 6 with a 6-5 conference record in the BIG. Sheesh
Can you explain in detail how anyone's opinion regarding Pike on this board holding RU Basketball back?
Also - you chose not to respond to the following - which really ties into my question in that it comes down to how much money you're donating, not how much you're ranting about Pike on this board following losses.
Yes, but the coach we are evaluating COACHES AT RUTGERS. So it is completely relevant to the evaluation.
you also seem to be unable to grasp the distinction between
(A) this guy is good because he’s better than our previous coaches
And
(B) this guy is good because he was handicapped by what the previous coaches did, making his record that would be mediocre elsewhere actually quite good
we’re all saying (b) and you keep arguing against (a)
We think it is a good job because we are alum, live in the area, has family go to RU, etc… everyone else without scarlet colored glasses know it is a bad job or at the very least not as good as the top tier teams in the conference