What is abundantly clear
- Thread starter RUSCFORMERLYRULOU
- Start date
This just isn't the same sport anymore. The charm and unique quality that separated college basketball from the NBA is in the dustbin of history. A real shame, but the reality is, we're rooting for mercenaries who have no particular allegiance to RU any longer
Ugh really? If that’s the case he should be a hard pass. 3.1 turnovers per game in the American East and not even the primary ball handler? Only listed at 6 foot?
As I said - mind boggling that anyone would look at his 19 ppg (on over 18 attempts per game against horrendous teams in losing efforts) and entertain the idea of this being an upgrade.
What an insult to J-Mike.
Some truth behind this
No changes on staff + Same approach = Another bad season
We don’t know for sure that it’s the “same approach”. Buchanan isn’t really like any of the transfers from last season. Francis is interested in RU it seems - not the other way around. It’s not like when we went after a high volume scorer in Acuff.
I think we need to wait and see what the roster looks like before making any assumptions.
I don't understand how the SAME PEOPLE who make these posts will also argue we need to fire our coach yesterday.
How the actual **** do you think you are going to hire a "dynamite coach" who will install a "winning culture" to "overcome a financial burden" when the pitch is "you will get no support, good luck"?
Fair but if not for Pikes ridiculous extension we could have went after Pitino who is making less then Pike and did that exact thing your asking about .
He did??? Last I checked he had a LOT of support. I'm sure Pitino would've been knocking the doors down to come in here with the "no support, good luck" pitch.
We have 3 returning kids (hopefully) in J-Mike, Dortch and Grant who are good candidates to use in implementing a press. Nwuli fits the mold for this too. Ideally we land another kid with that ability in our portal class (doesn’t have to be a high profile kid either). The goal should be to have a group of kids that we use to implement a full pressure style game like we did 2 years ago before Mag got hurt but also be able to switch back and forth to a halfcourt style without everything falling apart.
Realistically, I think we’d need to press more than the 2022-23 team did with Mag, because Obgole isn’t comparable to Cliff and we won’t have Caleb’s halfcourt D or Cam’s shooting, but hopefully the 2 high end players that we bring in can add things that make us servicable for shorter stretches. I’d love to see a 25 / 15 press vs no press split with Ogbole playing mostly when we don’t press (if we don’t land another traditional center).
I agree but my point is St. John’s for 3 decades has been a laughing stock. The alumni and corporate money came pouring in because he established a winning culture and vision. Those corporations and Alumni paid for that vision and because of Pitino’s track record.
Nil is ppl spending money on the COACH. You have to believe in that coach to bring in the right players and to have high level success.
People will spend their money on someone they believe can be successful. Pike is not creating that culture and delivering his vision so we are stuck where we are.
Did St John’s previous failures have anything to do with their financial situation? I don’t really follow them. Just because you have donor money though, doesn’t automatically mean the coach you have will succeed. Look at Washington. They sure spent enough last year. Was St Johns previously shopping in the bargain bin for players and suddenly money appeared? Again - I don’t really know their deal so it’s possible you are right.
All this said - I find it hard to believe our failure this past season was about money. Rutgers fans go into their pockets when the team is winning. We decided not to shop for a BIG because we didn’t want to lose Somerville, not because we couldn’t afford to bring one in. I also suspect we probably overpaid for guys like Acuff. The coach has to own those mistakes. Last season was a failure. No doubt.
And last season’s failure made this season’s challenge harder because the outcome isn’t exactly an endorsement to a new recruit to come to Piscataway.
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Buchanan shot 13% from 3 last year.
That sounds exactly like Derkack and returning players JWill and Davis.
Side not - Not sure why you keep ignoring JWill and Davis and only focus in transfers.
As if Pike didn't have any part in them returning.
Did they somehow blackmail Pike into a starting spot and a key roles?
HC Pike's transfer additions were directly impacted by prioritizing roles for JWill and Davis (and their "defense").
Oh I agree ! Ppl pay for the coach and the vision for winning. When a coach fails or doesn’t fulfill there end of the arrangement money should and will dry up. Fans have more say in who coaches and doesn’t coach your team more then ever.
Buchanan averaged 28.5 mpg on a 21 win A-10 team - which is a much better conference than the NEC. He doesn’t look to score by drawing fouls the way Jordan does either. And GW doesn’t play zone D. In short, he’s actually nothing like Dercack. You think they are similar types of players just because Buchanan had a bad year on the few 3s he attempted? He only took 40 threes and he was 17.5% (not 13%). The year before that he was much better (in the 30s also on low volume). It’s not a big part of his game obviously.
Buchanan isn’t a PG - he plays a completely different position from J Mike. Not like him either.
J Will needed a change. If Buchanan comes to RU, I’d sign on for his D and ball handling to be as good and J Will’s as our wing.
I’m not really sure what point you are trying to make in bringing up J Will or Davis in the context you did. If they played in a pressing system with guys like Mag and Caleb with a few shooters like Cam mixed in, they could’ve been a part of a successful team. They weren’t good choice players to play a style that suited Dylan Harper’s game along side sub par post presence on D. That’s on Pike, but it also doesn’t mean they aren’t good enough players to succeed amongst a different cast.
This is not correct. There was one big whale who specifically recruited Pitino to coach St. John's with his promise of support.
Pitino did not go there expecting no support, establish a winning culture, and then get the support. He knew the support was going to be there.
The thesis that "people don't spend on Pikiell because they think he sucks" is just really dumb. If there are not people willing to pony up for the season where we have a top 5 recruiting class for the first and probably last time ever then there are just not people willing to pony up, period. That doesn't mean that you can't cultivate such people eventually but they are obviously not just there, sitting, waiting for a "new coach they believe in".
If they existed, they could finance the hiring of said new coach.
If they existed, they could finance the hiring of said new coach.
I believe Pitino communicated his vision and what it would take and yes he made sure Repole heard him. Repole has been around for all of St. John’s losing over the last 30 years and only when Pitino came around did he decide to pay up. Yes, I know Nil is new but let’s not act like players have not been getting paid for decades.
Similar to what all coaches are doing now. Willard moving to Nova or Buzz moving to Maryland. Support comes from belief in a coach. They are negotiating now ahead of them taking a job and it will not be different here with Pikes replacement.
"Let's let Pike fail for lack of support and then support the next guy." I hope the actual potential money people are not this stupid.
Ok will agree to disagree!
I believe we both can agree we need whales!
I believe we both can agree corporate money for NIL has just recently started in the last 2 years.
After last season what corporation or whale is going all in on Pike? Ask Rubin if they will ever pay an RU pike guy again!
I HOPE I am wrong too! I PRAY your right I really do!
I look at it would you buy a stock with the wrong CEO or one you did not believe in? Then purchase it on the cheap when the board made a change and brought in a proven commodity at CEO?
Look Nick - to support my point on J Will - I firmly believe that if you put him on the 2022-23 team, that’s a tournament team even with Mag’s injury. And probably not a bubble one. That team had no depth and once Mag got injured the press wasn’t effective. J Will would’ve helped that team win games during that stretch. There’s no doubt in my mind.
I believe it wasn’t so much the players themselves (except in the post) who were the problem. The guards and wings just didn’t fit with a style that meshed well with Dylan Harper’s game. There was no excuse for us having only frosh, undersized Martini and Ogbole who barely had any D1 experience as the only options in the paint. That was a huge mistake in my mind moreso than anything else.
The one thing Pike will have going for him next season is he’ll be able to play whatever style best positions him to win games. I don’t think that was really the case last year.
What posters are not mentioning is the negative recruiting per Pike being on the hot seat! A average P4 school would have the money to fire Pike at the end of next year! Even in the NIL era players are not going to take a chance on a lame duck coach! Yes We know we don’t have the money to fire him next year but you can bet that is not being told to perspective recruits!
I already own the stock. I can’t sell my Rutgers fandom. The question is will I support the company even though I have some questions about the CEO or will I intentionally kneecap it because I don’t like the CEO?
I don’t know about you but the second option sounds pretty dumb to me!
To be clear we are talking about pay for play, which is the vast majority of “NIL” but which you seem to be conflating with true NIL deals.
What is abundantly clear is you have no clue.
Oh good lord. If the kid is happy at coming here great! But he is certainly no difference maker and comes in with ques. marks. If he's the second coming of Rashod Kent I'll eat crow.
Definitely a Pike guy 63% from the FT line 23 % from 3. Couldn’t play at Va Tech (granted was a freshman). Coming off an injury . Not the splash we wanted to start with.
More than any coach we've ever had, including Tom Young.
Young didn’t really have the opportunity to beat many ranked teams because we were playing a cupcake Ivy/Northeastern schedule during the season where he would be lucky to run into one or two ranked teams.