James Kratch on the Roster

[RedChucken123]

Was just doing some research on our recent additions. I think Cam Spencer is going to come in under the radar and surprise us all a little bit. At least, I hope so. He just might potentially be our best shooter. He may not be as athletic as Geo or Ron, but from his tape, he’s a shooter that only needs a couple of dribbles. Turn him from a First Team All-Patriot League Swiss Army knife to a specialized shooter in the Big Ten and we may have something here.

Aside from that, with Paul (best passer in the league) and Cliff (best dunker in the league), you might have a pretty decent inside out game.

Caleb and Hyatt can fill in the scoring with their all-around game as well.

 

[IL Lusciato]

True but our teams the past few years have been good. That’s what matters at the end of the day.

Plus that chart is trending better....Pike shored up the D enough yo get us into the top half of the BIG, 4 seed last year and into the NCAAs 3 times, now I think he's getting the O fixed with some of his recruiting.

 

[knight82]

I'm hoping that being a starter will cause Hyatt to relax a little and not force things so much. It was almost like there were times when he felt he had to show what he could do, and it messed him up. He did hit some huge free throws against Indiana and got some key buckets against Penn State so hopefully he can build on that.

 

[Perricone7]

Message board expectations tend to grow in the Summer months. Some times the hype is real (Cliff exceeded the lofty expectations going into last season) and in some situations the hype is false (many here were calling for 10-12 ppg from Jones last season). I think Hyatt certainly has a role in this program, but the ship has sailed on any dramatic improvement. He is a 5th year player and had plenty of opportunities to carve out a larger role at LSU and RU.

 

[kcg88]

(RE: Simpson)
I don't think that's the strength of Simpson's game. I'm hoping he can come in and score or create off the dribble

My takeaway from watching him is that the shooting will translate first. His quickness and his handle are only okay for now and how many freshmen are creating off the bounce in the Big Ten?

 

[Scangg]

My takeaway from watching him is that the shooting will translate first. His quickness and his handle are only okay for now and how many freshmen are creating off the bounce in the Big Ten?

Thats a fair point. If he can give us any type of effective offense it will be big for the team

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I tried.. he didn’t listen. I also thought getting a point guard would be a good idea.

You started posting March of 2022... why should anyone listen to you?

 

[RutgersDom]

Let's do this:

2019-20: OH NO HOW WILL WE REPLACE EUGENE ... win 20 games
2020-21: Oh no how will we replace Yeboah? NCAAs
2021-22: Oh no how will we replace Young and Johnson? 12 Big Ten Wins... NCAAs

I'm willing to let this one play out.

How dare you give Pike a chance?

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Rutgers offense Big 10 rank under Pikiell:

14
14
12
10
9
9

We haven't had fielded a top half offense.

Now line the B1G finish right next to them each year. That's really all that matters.. You can find them in my signature . HOWEVER, I see your point. But, will better offense come at the expense of defense ?

 

[MiloTalon13]

Are those offensive ratings just points scored?
The pace of play is a big part of offense/defense stats. I thought Rutgers looked to push the ball much of the time but didn't have the offensive talent to create many quick buckets, so they held the ball deeper into the shot clock on average, than most teams, which helps defensive numbers. With more offensive talent, some defensive numbers will likely get worse but offensive numbers will get much better.

 

[Eagleton95.99]

Was just doing some research on our recent additions. I think Cam Spencer is going to come in under the radar and surprise us all a little bit. At least, I hope so. He just might potentially be our best shooter. He may not be as athletic as Geo or Ron, but from his tape, he’s a shooter that only needs a couple of dribbles. Turn him from a First Team All-Patriot League Swiss Army knife to a specialized shooter in the Big Ten and we may have something here.

Aside from that, with Paul (best passer in the league) and Cliff (best dunker in the league), you might have a pretty decent inside out game.

Caleb and Hyatt can fill in the scoring with their all-around game as well.

Mulcahy and Spencer are both crafty creators. Any slip-up by the D and Cliff is there for an easy score. Beyond those three we need a bunch of role players that can play their roles. Our weakness is that we don't have a proven classic drive and dish/score penetrating guard. But every team has strengths and weaknesses. We will see if Pike can make our strengths outweigh the weaknesses.

 

[IL Lusciato]

Mulcahy and Spencer are both crafty creators. Any slip-up by the D and Cliff is there for an easy score. Beyond those three we need a bunch of role players that can play their roles. Our weakness is that we don't have a proven classic drive and dish/score penetrating guard. But every team has strengths and weaknesses. We will see if Pike can make our strengths outweigh the weaknesses.

Good points. I expect Caleb to step his offense up and Hyatt to come on. I also expect cliffs mid-range to improve and Reiber to keep giving good minutes. So we shall see!

 

[NickRU714]

With more offensive talent, some defensive numbers will likely get worse but offensive numbers will get much better.

This is the ultimate decision for HC Pike and the coaching staff.
How to balance offense vs. defense

See what happened with the Knicks.
2020-2021 they used a superb defensive effort and lacking offense to beg borrow and steal their way into a #4 seed in the playoffs.
2021-2022 they decided to swap out defense for offense (bring in Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker) hoping the increase in offense could outweigh a decease in defense.
It was just about the worst case scenario with Fournier/Walker providing terrible defense while also contributing minimal offense at best.
Team wasn't close to making the playoffs again.


This is the fine line HC Pike has to walk.
That's why he gets the big bucks though.

 

[knight82]

When I first saw the title of this thread I thought we are in big trouble if James Kratch is on the roster, especially if he gets playing time

 

[jerzeyguy]

So is this it? If we can get 16 wins im happy. I just can't convince myself of much more. Who exactly is the go to guy?

 

[Eagleton95.99]

So is this it? If we can get 16 wins im happy. I just can't convince myself of much more. Who exactly is the go to guy?

We don't know who that guy is. But you shouldn't assume at this point that he's not on the roster either. That's college ball. New kids. Young kids with a chance to grow. Every year. And while it's better to have a returning core of starters, we have a lot of kids that might blossom into a go to guy. And we also have an excellent coach with a knack for winning games. That counts for something.

 

[The RUT]

Taking a roster stance is foolish tbh.

You have to let the games happen and make opinions based off that.

I’ll remind you all, every reporter was saying Jaden was going to light it up after watching him in practice.

I get it, it’s part of being a fan, but let the games happen.

 

[Scarlet83]

So is this it? If we can get 16 wins im happy. I just can't convince myself of much more. Who exactly is the go to guy?

I think a handful of players can develop into a go to guy. Cliff, Spencer, Paul and Caleb all can develop into that guy. And maybe one other.

16 wins? Wow. I would take the over in a second and twice on Sunday… and I am not a bettor.

 

[NJDOVES]

What I like most about this team is the fact that they don’t have a go to guy ( other than Cliff down low).
Pikes teams always thrive on “ team play”.
Lots of good points were made in this thread regarding the new comers, The development of Hyatt, Mag, Reiber, and of course, the core players retuning.
I’m very excited about this team this year - as much as I was the year before.

 

[Eagleton95.99]

What I like most about this team is the fact that they don’t have a go to guy ( other than Cliff down low).
Pikes teams always thrive on “ team play”.
Lots of good points were made in this thread regarding the new comers, The development of Hyatt, Mag, Reiber, and of course, the core players retuning.
I’m very excited about this team this year - as much as I was the year before.

This year's team is like a Rorschach test for fans.

 

[Scangg]

Not having a clear go to guy will make it tougher for defenses to know what to expect in late game situations. Might see a feed the hot hand approach.

Realistically late game we will be seeing Paul and Cliff on the PnR as the go to

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

So is this it? If we can get 16 wins im happy. I just can't convince myself of much more. Who exactly is the go to guy?

There are already 7 home games on the schedule that should be automatic. We’re planning to add an 8th.

Then there are an additional 11 games to play at the RAC (and none of them are against Purdue or the Illini). Tack on the neutral Temple game, and there’d be at least one neutral outbracket game against a weak team (assuming we struggle as you predict). That’s 13 games. We would likely be favored in at least 9 of them right now BTW. Going only 7-6 in these games would already get us to 15 wins. Not getting to 16 would also mean going 0-12 in the 11 road games, and losing the game at MSG vs Sparty. Yet you’d sign up for 16 wins as best case scenerio? Geez.