Head-scratching stats from RU at USC

[BillyC80]

- We took 74 shots(USC took 51)!
- We missed 45 shots (ugh)
- We cut a 19 points deficit to 3, all in the 2nd half
- Nwulli had 4 fouls in 8 minutes
- EO’s stats: 16 min, 6 Reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 0 pts
- We had 17 ORebs(!)
- We had only 8 turnovers (USC had 17).
- We were outscored at the FT line, 22-9
- Grant with 14 points, 10 rebs (seems healthy)
- Buchanan 0 points from the field (3-4 on FTs)
- Francis 26 points, 5 assists, 2 rebs, 1 turnover.

 

[Knight Shift]

- We took 74 shots(USC took 51)!
- We missed 45 shots (ugh)
- We cut a 19 points deficit to 3, all in the 2nd half
- Nwulli had 4 fouls in 8 minutes
- EO’s stats: 16 min, 6 Reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 0 pts
- We had 17 ORebs(!)
- We had only 8 turnovers (USC had 17).
- We were outscored at the FT line, 22-9
- Grant with 14 points, 10 rebs (seems healthy)
- Buchanan 0 points from the field (3-4 on FTs)
- Francis 26 points, 5 assists, 2 rebs, 1 turnover.

That missed slam by EO was painful to watch.

 

[BillyC80]

That missed slam by EO was painful to watch.

True, that totally sucked. That said, EO was instrumental in our comeback with steals, blocks, rebounds and assists. He was very good on traps.

 

[G- RUnit]

J Mike played 21 minutes. 1 assist and the rest of his stat line besides 1-5 from the field was 0-0–0-0-0.

Most of you crucified Simpson for much better stats for two years and ripped me for defending him. SMH.

Like not playing MSU at the Garden maybe shouldn’t be so quick to rip diehard fans who disagree. Or be careful what you wish for…

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

The only headscratching stat for me was that Tariq only played 28 minutes. Thats unacceptable in a game like this where scoring droughts were such a problem. Fine to keep his as 6 man but he needed to start the second half and play 34+ min in this game.

 

[Kbe4]

74 shots taken by RU to 51 for USC is a pretty substantial margin, especially for a team that lost the game by three.

 

[NiTeKnight]

When you get fouled you get less shots. USC had 30 foul shots and RU 12.
On the other hand, all the USC turnovers helped RU to get more shots.

 

[RCBeta]

What is head scratching is Francis only playing 27 minutes.

 

[soundcrib]

The only headscratching stat for me was that Tariq only played 28 minutes. Thats unacceptable in a game like this where scoring droughts were such a problem. Fine to keep his as 6 man but he needed to start the second half and play 34+ min in this game.

Start him already.

 

[richthedentist]

Start him already.

Yeah this coming off the bench is assinine your in too big a hole 4 minutes in and we never recover

 

[RU206]

It doesn’t matter if he starts or not. But he needs to play more than 27 minutes.

 

[RUChet]

The fact that we shot 39% FG (including 3pt) is just outrageously bad. You can’t win that way. Shoot just 41% an KD we prob win the game!!!!!

and 14 assists on 29 buckets is again not great

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

What is head scratching is Francis only playing 27 minutes.

He picked up two quick fouls

 

[KnightTerrors]

The only headscratching stat for me was that Tariq only played 28 minutes. Thats unacceptable in a game like this where scoring droughts were such a problem. Fine to keep his as 6 man but he needed to start the second half and play 34+ min in this game.

This x100000. Beyond inexcusable.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

He picked up two quick fouls

His fouls were not relevant to anything other than Pike’s decision to sit him the last 2 min of the first half. Ok fine. Do that. He doesn’t have trouble playing in foul trouble but whatever. The only time it was a factor was at the end when Pike correctly subbed him out on D so we could press.

He didnt have any fouls when the decision to sit him until 14 minutes into the game was made. And foul trouble had nothing to do with sitting him the first 4+ minutes of half 2 either. Instead of 10 minutes out there combined - make it 4 total and we probably win the game. We spotted them like 10 points during that time.

 

[RAC93]

The only headscratching stat for me was that Tariq only played 28 minutes. Thats unacceptable in a game like this where scoring droughts were such a problem. Fine to keep his as 6 man but he needed to start the second half and play 34+ min in this game.

This. USC played 4 players the following, 34, 34, 37, and 38 minutes. Dylan Grant (who played well, but his name is not Tariq Francis) even played 32 minutes. Francis is easily the only real scoring option on this team and yet he still does not start the second half. Why are we not playing Francis 33-36 minutes every game? USC played 4 guys 34 minutes or more. Pike’s management of Tariq’s minutes has been brutal to watch. Pike didn’t bring Francis back into the Indiana game in the 2nd half until 14 minutes remained, and on top of that he should be starting. Another example of time for Pike to head on out. We are just counting days at this point, maybe it’s one more year, maybe even stupidly it’s two more years. Whatever it is, he will be gone in the near future.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

The fact that we shot 39% FG (including 3pt) is just outrageously bad. You can’t win that way. Shoot just 41% an KD we prob win the game!!!!!

and 14 assists on 29 buckets is again not great

Yeah, meanwhile we had a kid on our roster drop 26 points on 53% from the field, 33% from 3 and tacking on 5 assists and somehow that kid:

SAT A THIRD OF THE GAME.

 

[bac2therac]

His fouls were not relevant to anything other than Pike’s decision to sit him the last 2 min of the first half. Ok fine. Do that. He doesn’t have trouble playing in foul trouble but whatever. The only time it was a factor was at the end when Pike correctly subbed him out on D so we could press.

He didnt have any fouls when the decision to sit him until 14 minutes into the game was made. And foul trouble had nothing to do with sitting him the first 4+ minutes of half 2 either. Instead of 10 minutes out there combined - make it 4 total and we probably win the game. We spotted them like 10 points during that time.

Went from 40-30 to 51-32...game over despite USC collapse at end

 

[RAC93]

Yeah, meanwhile we had a kid on our roster drop 26 points on 53% from the field, 33% from 3 and tacking on 5 assists and somehow that kid:

SAT A THIRD OF THE GAME.

Exactly, why is he not getting 34-38 minutes every game as 4 USC players did yesterday?? It can be done as evidenced by Coach Musselman. I know it was a must win game for USC and they are playing for an NCAA bid so they were desperate for a win while we are in a lost season. But Pike has been mismanaging Francis all year as he averages 26 minutes a game. Even worse Francis sits at 26.2 MPG, and JMIKE leads the team at 27.8, wtf?? It does not matter much at this point in a lost season but just another insight into Pike’s coaching ability.

 

[G- RUnit]

This. USC played 4 players the following, 34, 34, 37, and 38 minutes. Dylan Grant (who played well, but his name is not Tariq Francis) even played 32 minutes. Francis is easily the only real scoring option on this team and yet he still does not start the second half. Why are we not playing Francis 33-36 minutes every game? USC played 4 guys 34 minutes or more. Pike’s management of Tariq’s minutes has been brutal to watch. Pike didn’t bring Francis back into the Indiana game in the 2nd half until 14 minutes remained, and on top of that he should be starting. Another example of time for Pike to head on out. We are just counting days at this point, maybe it’s one more year, maybe even stupidly it’s two more years. Whatever it is, he will be gone in the near future.

Francis was nearly decapitated at MSU.
We still nearly won.

I think fine line between keeping Francis fresh and our only real consistent offensive weapon.

 

[Jerseylegends]

I believe they are trying to minimize the size disadvantage by inserting Francis when the opposing team is some what fatigued or has 2nd stringers. It's just the rest of the team isn't capable of consistently keeping the game close, Francis has to score 40 or 50 a game for this team to win consistently and that's not happening. Francis is good but he can't go in the paint consistently and has to take tough shots. Don't want him becoming the player that so many thought he would be coming in throwing up a bunch spin fade aways. The rest of the rest of the roster has to come along for the ride, I'm seeing signs from zrno, powers, try badalou out again with a quick hook if he starts missing..someone else needs to be able to get a bucket .

 

[RAC93]

Francis was nearly decapitated at Indiana.
Poor example.

So a player with Francis scoring abilities who is surrounded by players with no scoring abilities should be second on the team in minutes at 26 per game? So he should not be getting maybe 30-32 mpg? There are 371 players in college hoops averaging 31 mpg AND HIGHER, so I think it can be done.

 

[G- RUnit]

I suspect his PT will increase.
My guess is the percentage of points that Francis scores for RU might be among highest in the country.
Think fine line between keeping from not being gassed, relatively fresh and no other scoring option.
If only someone else can emerge as a consistent scorer…

 

[RAC93]

I suspect his PT will increase.
My guess is the percentage of points that Francis scores for RU might be among highest in the country.
Think fine line between keeping from not being gassed, relatively fresh and no other scoring option.
If only someone else can emerge as a consistent scorer…

Suspect it will increase???? There is hardly season left, when does this increase come in the Big 10 tourney? I think Pike might doing these posts. The point is his minutes already should be at 32-34 mpg. He should not be sitting at 26 at this point 22 games into the season, his minutes have been mismanaged especially when you consider the LACK OF TALENT on this roster. Can you believe that BAD-alau was starting with a role on this team? He has my lateral quickness and I am 56. Talent evaluation, rotations, minutes per player, is very, very up and down with Pike. But with Francis it’s an easy layup to see with a screaming neon sign he has needed more minutes all year based upon the poor roster Pike assembled.

 

[goru7]

Went from 40-30 to 51-32...game over despite USC collapse at end

Not sure you guys even watched the game but game wasn’t over at 51-32 which was under the 16 timeout. Bad start to the half. But by the 11 minute mark their lead was down to 9. Mark finally hit 2 threes and we were starting to crash the boards. Had a bunch of good looks but shots didn’t go down . Otherwise would have cut it further. Stayed there until the 6 minute mark with the refs calling a foul on every trip against USC letting them go to the line and expand the lead to 17 with 4:30 left. Then we made our run with our effective press. If the game is another 2 minutes we win. There was never a feeling the game was over .

Regarding Francis the little lower minutes was unusual yesterday . He got 2 fouls in the first half and had to sit a few and had 4 in the second half late and was being subbed out offense defense . He is normally playing 30-33 minutes a night coming off the bench. He doesn’t have the stamina to play 40 minutes and play offense and defense. The energy he expends on offense fighting thru hedges on screens and having to create takes a ton of energy. He rarely gets a catch and shoot shot . Maybe starting second half when we are down a lot makes some sense but normally he plays the most minutes anyway.
He has been great in his microwave role and has done a great job of getting his own shot .

He was very good yesterday as was Dylan. The reason we lost was we got almost nothing from Buchanan , JMike and Manny.We gave up too many paint points to Assar and Cofie especially on the first half and early second . Manny’s missed dunk was a killer as we were down 38-30 and would have cut it to 6 in the first half. We didn’t rebound well especially in the first half . We got something out of Mark and Powers and Pike correctly went with Mark over JMike who reverted to being very tentative yesterday. Buchanan was also not decisive yesterday and that hurt. Missed a lot of good shots yesterday as we had 23 more shots than USC.

 

[RAC93]

Not sure you guys even watched the game but game wasn’t over at 51-32 which was under the 16 timeout. Bad start to the half. But by the 11 minute mark their lead was down to 9. Mark finally hit 2 threes and we were starting to crash the boards. Had a bunch of good looks but shots didn’t go down . Otherwise would have cut it further. Stayed there until the 6 minute mark with the refs calling a foul on every trip against USC letting them go to the line and expand the lead to 17 with 4:30 left. Then we made our run with our effective press. If the game is another 2 minutes we win. There was never a feeling the game was over .

Regarding Francis the little lower minutes was unusual yesterday . He got 2 fouls in the first half and had to sit a few and had 4 in the second half late and was being subbed out offense defense . He is normally playing 30-33 minutes a night coming off the bench. He doesn’t have the stamina to play 40 minutes and play offense and defense. The energy he expends on offense fighting thru hedges on screens and having to create takes a ton of energy. He rarely gets a catch and shoot shot . Maybe starting second half when we are down a lot makes some sense but normally he plays the most minutes anyway.
He has been great in his microwave role and has done a great job of getting his own shot .

He was very good yesterday as was Dylan. The reason we lost was we got almost nothing from Buchanan , JMike and Manny.We gave up too many paint points to Assar and Cofie especially on the first half and early second . Manny’s missed dunk was a killer as we were down 38-30 and would have cut it to 6 in the first half. We didn’t rebound well especially in the first half . We got something out of Mark and Powers and Pike correctly went with Mark over JMike who reverted to being very tentative yesterday. Buchanan was also not decisive yesterday and that hurt. Missed a lot of good shots yesterday as we had 23 more shots than USC.

Francis is not playing 30-33 minutes, averages 26.2 mpg on the season. There may be some games he has hit those numbers and higher but not the norm. His average for the season should be 31-32 mpg on such a talent barren roster and based upon the talent he has displayed, even in Big 10 play he has easily held up as the most talented offensive player on this roster.

 

[bac2therac]

Not sure you guys even watched the game but game wasn’t over at 51-32 which was under the 16 timeout. Bad start to the half. But by the 11 minute mark their lead was down to 9. Mark finally hit 2 threes and we were starting to crash the boards. Had a bunch of good looks but shots didn’t go down . Otherwise would have cut it further. Stayed there until the 6 minute mark with the refs calling a foul on every trip against USC letting them go to the line and expand the lead to 17 with 4:30 left. Then we made our run with our effective press. If the game is another 2 minutes we win. There was never a feeling the game was over .

Regarding Francis the little lower minutes was unusual yesterday . He got 2 fouls in the first half and had to sit a few and had 4 in the second half late and was being subbed out offense defense . He is normally playing 30-33 minutes a night coming off the bench. He doesn’t have the stamina to play 40 minutes and play offense and defense. The energy he expends on offense fighting thru hedges on screens and having to create takes a ton of energy. He rarely gets a catch and shoot shot . Maybe starting second half when we are down a lot makes some sense but normally he plays the most minutes anyway.
He has been great in his microwave role and has done a great job of getting his own shot .

He was very good yesterday as was Dylan. The reason we lost was we got almost nothing from Buchanan , JMike and Manny.We gave up too many paint points to Assar and Cofie especially on the first half and early second . Manny’s missed dunk was a killer as we were down 38-30 and would have cut it to 6 in the first half. We didn’t rebound well especially in the first half . We got something out of Mark and Powers and Pike correctly went with Mark over JMike who reverted to being very tentative yesterday. Buchanan was also not decisive yesterday and that hurt. Missed a lot of good shots yesterday as we had 23 more shots than USC.

Ru was dominated for about 36 minutes. Most of game was spent in double digits. Rutgers go it to 8 a couple times and USC kept pushing it back to 12-14. For 36 minutes Rutgers was thoroughly beat and outclassed. No team should lose a 17 point lead like. Sure RU took advantage of that implosion and credit to them. Those things snowball and it happens. But im focusing on the first 36 minutes yesterday and why their play was so poor.

 

[RAC93]

I was at the game said to my son in second half when USC surged up to 19 point lead that Rutgers is good enough to compete against the spread (12.5) but can’t beat USC. They did beat the spread but sure enough they’re not as good as what USC showed for bulk of that game. Great comeback and effort but our talent is just below the majority of the conference at this point of the program.

 

[goru7]

Francis is not playing 30-33 minutes, averages 26.2 mpg on the season. There may be some games he has hit those numbers and higher but not the norm. His average for the season should be 31-32 mpg on such a talent barren roster and based upon the talent he has displayed, even in Big 10 play he has easily held up as the most talented offensive player on this roster.

You object to his minutes but if he sits 4 to 5 each half then you are down to 32/30 minutes remaining excluding overtime. . You think his going hard being the number 1 focus of the opponent being double teamed , hard hedged on screens , starting at the top of the key a lot and then having to create his own shot usually in the mid range doesn’t expend a ton of energy. ? He is gsssed at times and that leads to 4-12 , 6-18 shooting nights. He is clearly a bucket getter but we want him making most of his shots and not playing 32-34 minutes a night does that. He should be seeing the most minutes and JMike seeing more is not good . Pike has taken too long to play players longer. Buchanan , Dylan Zrno and lately that seems to working better . Francis can probably handle a few more minutes if it 27 a game to 30 a game but a lot more and his effectiveness will suffer.

 

[BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine]

74 shots taken by RU to 51 for USC is a pretty substantial margin, especially for a team that lost the game by three.

I don't believe FG shots taken and missed on a defensive foul call are counted in shot totals. SC took 30 Fts so that's going to skew their FG shot stats.

 

[goru7]

I was at the game said to my son in second half when USC surged up to 19 point lead that Rutgers is good enough to compete against the spread (12.5) but can’t beat USC. They did beat the spread but sure enough they’re not as good as what USC showed for bulk of that game. Great comeback and effort but our talent is just below the majority of the conference at this point of the program.

I was at the game too. Not having a low post game and not playing low post defense very well was very evident.Manny let us down yesterday as did Dorsch . But talent level there was not much difference once effort and defense was played. Baker Azaara was very talented but no one else stood out. Francis played really well and his assists were great yesterday especially the pass ahead to Zrno who hit the quick 3. Effort can make up for some of the talent disparity. Not sure how you felt but if game goes another minute or two we win. Our effort down the stretch was really good.

 

[RAC93]

I was at the game too. Not having a low post game and not playing low post defense very well was very evident.Manny let us down yesterday as did Dorsch . But talent level there was not much difference once effort and defense was played. Baker Azaara was very talented but no one else stood out. Francis played really well and his assists were great yesterday especially the pass ahead to Zrno who hit the quick 3. Effort can make up for some of the talent disparity. Not sure how you felt but if game goes another minute or two we win. Our effort down the stretch was really good.

We just went on a miracle run in last 4 minutes (great effort and they should be commended, provided some good entertainment for us in attendance) but all in all when you look at the game as a whole (down 10 at the half, down 19 second half)and our roster we don’t stack up to the bulk of the conference. Isn’t this clearly evidenced by our BIG record of 2-9 and sitting in 14th place? What am I missing here?

 

[goru7]

We just went on a miracle run in last 4 minutes (great effort and they should be commended, provided some good entertainment for us in attendance) but all in all when you look at the game as a whole (down 10 at the half, down 19 second half)and our roster we don’t stack up to the bulk of the conference. Isn’t this clearly evidenced by our BIG record of 2-9 and sitting in 14th place? What am I missing here?

If you saying that almost all BIG 10 teams have more talent than we do, no one will argue with you and on some nights that talent disparity is very evident. Last night not so much. That is where coaching comes in and that is where effort comes in to win against teams equally talented or slightly more talented. . Iowa was not more talented than us . USC was not more talented than us. Northwestern and Oregon were not more talented than us. Wisconsin was much more talented than us but our effort , continuing to fight, getting shots up and not turning the ball over , made that game really interesting in the second half. Yes, it is still a loss but Pike starting to play guys longer minutes , play who is having a good night and sit those that are not , trying to really shoot the 3’s with good shots , being aggressive offensively gives us a chance. Not great but a chance. Indiana was on a heater and our effort never showed up and that is why that happened. They have 3 big time shooters , who can all hit threes at a really good clip. We don’t but we can try to get more threes attempted and made . Zrno , Powers , Grant and Francis can make 3’s and should continue to shoot them and more of them.
Just wish Pike would stop wasting timeouts. Could have used one yesterday with 8 seconds left .

 

[JonathanAlan]

Ru was dominated for about 36 minutes. Most of game was spent in double digits. Rutgers go it to 8 a couple times and USC kept pushing it back to 12-14. For 36 minutes Rutgers was thoroughly beat and outclassed. No team should lose a 17 point lead like. Sure RU took advantage of that implosion and credit to them. Those things snowball and it happens. But im focusing on the first 36 minutes yesterday and why their play was so poor.

I agree. It's a credit to the players that they played hard throughout and never gave up but the real problem is a starting five with no real point guard and no offensive players capable of keeping the game close.

 

[rob kight]

74 shots taken by RU to 51 for USC is a pretty substantial margin, especially for a team that lost the game by three.

Many of them were on the same possession When you miss so many shots your opportunity for offensive rebounds goes up. For example on one possession we had 5 offensive rebounds and still failed to score.

 

[rob kight]

Not sure you guys even watched the game but game wasn’t over at 51-32 which was under the 16 timeout. Bad start to the half. But by the 11 minute mark their lead was down to 9. Mark finally hit 2 threes and we were starting to crash the boards. Had a bunch of good looks but shots didn’t go down . Otherwise would have cut it further. Stayed there until the 6 minute mark with the refs calling a foul on every trip against USC letting them go to the line and expand the lead to 17 with 4:30 left. Then we made our run with our effective press. If the game is another 2 minutes we win. There was never a feeling the game was over .

Regarding Francis the little lower minutes was unusual yesterday . He got 2 fouls in the first half and had to sit a few and had 4 in the second half late and was being subbed out offense defense . He is normally playing 30-33 minutes a night coming off the bench. He doesn’t have the stamina to play 40 minutes and play offense and defense. The energy he expends on offense fighting thru hedges on screens and having to create takes a ton of energy. He rarely gets a catch and shoot shot . Maybe starting second half when we are down a lot makes some sense but normally he plays the most minutes anyway.
He has been great in his microwave role and has done a great job of getting his own shot .

He was very good yesterday as was Dylan. The reason we lost was we got almost nothing from Buchanan , JMike and Manny.We gave up too many paint points to Assar and Cofie especially on the first half and early second . Manny’s missed dunk was a killer as we were down 38-30 and would have cut it to 6 in the first half. We didn’t rebound well especially in the first half . We got something out of Mark and Powers and Pike correctly went with Mark over JMike who reverted to being very tentative yesterday. Buchanan was also not decisive yesterday and that hurt. Missed a lot of good shots yesterday as we had 23 more shots than USC.

Even the announcers said the second foul on Francis was a bad call and should have been on another RU player. Also , the refs were not calling walking on USC. I saw at least 5 plays in the paint where they took 5 steps or more without a call

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Went from 40-30 to 51-32...game over despite USC collapse at end

The irony is for all the complaining that Pike runs no offense - we had a great offensive plan yesterday for the time period when Tariq was in the game.

Not sure you guys even watched the game but game wasn’t over at 51-32 which was under the 16 timeout. Bad start to the half. But by the 11 minute mark their lead was down to 9. Mark finally hit 2 threes and we were starting to crash the boards. Had a bunch of good looks but shots didn’t go down . Otherwise would have cut it further. Stayed there until the 6 minute mark with the refs calling a foul on every trip against USC letting them go to the line and expand the lead to 17 with 4:30 left. Then we made our run with our effective press. If the game is another 2 minutes we win. There was never a feeling the game was over .

Regarding Francis the little lower minutes was unusual yesterday . He got 2 fouls in the first half and had to sit a few and had 4 in the second half late and was being subbed out offense defense . He is normally playing 30-33 minutes a night coming off the bench. He doesn’t have the stamina to play 40 minutes and play offense and defense. The energy he expends on offense fighting thru hedges on screens and having to create takes a ton of energy. He rarely gets a catch and shoot shot . Maybe starting second half when we are down a lot makes some sense but normally he plays the most minutes anyway.
He has been great in his microwave role and has done a great job of getting his own shot .

He was very good yesterday as was Dylan. The reason we lost was we got almost nothing from Buchanan , JMike and Manny.We gave up too many paint points to Assar and Cofie especially on the first half and early second . Manny’s missed dunk was a killer as we were down 38-30 and would have cut it to 6 in the first half. We didn’t rebound well especially in the first half . We got something out of Mark and Powers and Pike correctly went with Mark over JMike who reverted to being very tentative yesterday. Buchanan was also not decisive yesterday and that hurt. Missed a lot of good shots yesterday as we had 23 more shots than USC.

Pike had a very good offensive plan for when Francis was in the game. Even when we missed - the guys were all getting good looks. We scored a total of 12 points in the third of the game that Francis was on the bench. The problem is nobody else is good enough to warrant focal point attention from the opponent. The guys capable of putting up big numbers are either one dimensional (only a threat on the perimeter - Zrno, J Mike, etc. or score their points quietly as the complement when the focus is on a guy like Francis (Dylan Grant). This isn’t a problem Pike can solve with his personnel. Keeping Francis in is really the only option. The argument about keeping him fresh only has merit on D. That’s why I say - every second Tariq sits should be dedicated to full court press and trying to create offense from D.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Ru was dominated for about 36 minutes. Most of game was spent in double digits. Rutgers go it to 8 a couple times and USC kept pushing it back to 12-14. For 36 minutes Rutgers was thoroughly beat and outclassed. No team should lose a 17 point lead like. Sure RU took advantage of that implosion and credit to them. Those things snowball and it happens. But im focusing on the first 36 minutes yesterday and why their play was so poor.

It’s 2 things.

1) we can’t put the ball through the net when Francis isn’t on the floor. You can’t win games when your only capable of scoring for 2/3 of the game.

2) the D has huge holes in the frontcourt. Not that the guards are great either but we really can’t stop anyone in the post and even overplaying the paint and leaving 3s open didn’t help against USC’s bigs.

Silver lining? Maybe. If Pike is gone it doesn’t matter and we’re starting over at ground zero. If he’s getting another year I firmly believe he’s in much better offseason position than he’s been in years provided he can keep Tariq (a big if). The vision factor I’ve described matters to recruits more than many think. If the money is close to equal - a kid is going to go where they feel best about how they’ll be used. If Tariq is here, Rutgers game plan should be an appealing landing place for defense first front court players. It’s blatantly obvious that a kid like Cliff would be putting up nice looking numbers on this team vs. the disaster of 2023-24. We didn’t have the money in 2024-25 to entice a big to come quietly complement 2 NBA stars. This year, we probably had the money to buy a big at market but the results in 2023-24 made it unappealing seeing what Cliff’s numbers looked like without any threats in the backcourt. I think Pike could have more success in building around Tariq if he’s able to keep him. We could probably convince a few decent front court players who defend and rebound the ball to come to Rutgers for around market price which was impossible last year, at least. I don’t know which guys on our roster besides Tariq should be retained but I trust Pike to know which ones have the most potential for year over year development. He’s pretty good with that when he’s working with a nucleus. Which is what Francis would be. Keep 6ish guys. Add 3 guys that would be the 4thish starter to 6 man on many high major rosters. Even if you have to overpay a little. Backfill the rest and we would be a lot better than we are now.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

Ru was dominated for about 36 minutes. Most of game was spent in double digits. Rutgers go it to 8 a couple times and USC kept pushing it back to 12-14. For 36 minutes Rutgers was thoroughly beat and outclassed. No team should lose a 17 point lead like. Sure RU took advantage of that implosion and credit to them. Those things snowball and it happens. But im focusing on the first 36 minutes yesterday and why their play was so poor.

But yet, according to our AD, we will give him NIL money and all will be fine.

 

[LeapinLou]

It’s 2 things.

1) we can’t put the ball through the net when Francis isn’t on the floor. You can’t win games when your only capable of scoring for 2/3 of the game.

2) the D has huge holes in the frontcourt. Not that the guards are great either but we really can’t stop anyone in the post and even overplaying the paint and leaving 3s open didn’t help against USC’s bigs.

Silver lining? Maybe. If Pike is gone it doesn’t matter and we’re starting over at ground zero. If he’s getting another year I firmly believe he’s in much better offseason position than he’s been in years provided he can keep Tariq (a big if). The vision factor I’ve described matters to recruits more than many think. If the money is close to equal - a kid is going to go where they feel best about how they’ll be used. If Tariq is here, Rutgers game plan should be an appealing landing place for defense first front court players. It’s blatantly obvious that a kid like Cliff would be putting up nice looking numbers on this team vs. the disaster of 2023-24. We didn’t have the money in 2024-25 to entice a big to come quietly complement 2 NBA stars. This year, we probably had the money to buy a big at market but the results in 2023-24 made it unappealing seeing what Cliff’s numbers looked like without any threats in the backcourt. I think Pike could have more success in building around Tariq if he’s able to keep him. We could probably convince a few decent front court players who defend and rebound the ball to come to Rutgers for around market price which was impossible last year, at least. I don’t know which guys on our roster besides Tariq should be retained but I trust Pike to know which ones have the most potential for year over year development. He’s pretty good with that when he’s working with a nucleus. Which is what Francis would be. Keep 6ish guys. Add 3 guys that would be the 4thish starter to 6 man on many high major rosters. Even if you have to overpay a little. Backfill the rest and we would be a lot better than we are now.

Subject to change but these are my current thoughts:
Guys you have to retain:
- Francis (duh)
- Grant (solid player when healthy and will have plenty of Big 10 experience)
- Dortch (he's getting better and I like him off the bench
- Ogbole - as the 2nd big man off the bench
- JMike - I know a lot of people are down on JMike but he's an "older" guy now and he's seen a lot of Big 10 basketball. And he shouldn't be overly expensive.
- Zrno - he's not ice cold anymore. He is getting some confidence. We need his offense.
- Buchanan - such a high character person. How can you not want him in that locker room.

Guys I'm OK with losing
- Powers - obviously a ton of potential and I like his confidence. But his shooting percentage is way too low. He's basically a turnover every time he takes a shot. It would depend on the asking price but I'd rather swap him out with a similar player that makes more shots.
- Mark - I like him but again, too unreliable on offense. It would depend on the asking price.
- Nwuli - I know a lot of people will disagree, but I think he's going to perceive greener pastures elsewhere so it will be hard to retain him at a reasonable price point
- Badalau - I'd give him the 12th roster spot if he was willing to accept a backup role and backup comp.

Anyone I haven't mentioned needs to look at dropping to a mid major.