Gurdacks hands, coordination, post moves
- Thread starter RUdepressed
- Start date
Coordination? Hands and post moves for sure. I might add finding the open area in the paint.
Keeps ball high and goes right back up. EO would have 50 more points this year if he did same. Needs better physical conditioning.
He does seem to have good hands but highlights don't tell everything. So we'll need to see him in a few games first.
Also, he cost somewhere in the $2m range. Way below the $3m plus some people were demanding they spend...lol. Guess the GM knows what he's doing.
We weren’t “demanding” anything. The point made was we had to get someone with real experience and couldn’t go pick up a random European unknown body even that meant having to pay more than we wanted. Dollars were throw out by was of example but this was the intended point.
I’m happy that we ended up with someone who projects to be a pretty good center with high major experience. That said, you can’t assume an 18 mpg kid will be able to give us 30 so we are still going to need a legit back up.
I thought you believed Pike needed a rim protecting, defensive anchor, lob and catch, pick and roll center?
Gurdack is NONE of those things!
I love the pick up! Young, power conf experience, big, strong, great hands, finish with both. My concern is Pike’s ISO offense highlights none of that. I know this further shines a light on our glaring hole T PG.
With this pick up, have you changed your mind on our potential next year ? Do you feel they need a 4 to do some of those things? It feels counter to what you were looking for. Curious !
It is a little amusing.
This pickup is basically nothing that most said we needed.
Honestly, sounds like Lathan Sommerville.
Promising offensive center with limited defensive ability/athletism.
They even had similar power conference freshman stats.
Gurdak shot better but I think he also never shot away from the rim.
Lathan foolishly tried to shot jumpers.
I wasnt against keeping Lathan. Felt we would need his offense this year. Which we did.
Many felt opposite though. Said he wasn't a Pike type of center.
Guess he was after all?
Lathan (freshman)
32g 15gs
20mpg 8.2ppg 4.1rpg 0.6bpg
50.6%FG 86%FT
Gurdak
31g 10gs
17.1mpg 5.6ppg 4.4rpg 0 4bpg
63.2%FG 69.6%FT
Accurate I think it’s still fair to say a defensive minded backup for the 4 and 5 position is needed
the point about the 3 million figure was that has been the going rate for a proven power conference center
Gurdak is a good find with upside but most expected we’d get a proven commodity which would’ve been more costly
A proven commodity was an unrealistic expectation with the budget they have to work with and still fill out the rest of the roster. I was clear on that from the beginning but many didn't want to listen.
The important thing is that by the end of this cycle Rutgers will have corrected a major hole in the roster with the two players in the middle.
Ok
What's the story?
Seems we are halfway to correcting a major hole in the roster.
Have we addressed frontcourt defense yet?
That player is still to be named - hopefully.
Many thought Baye Fall was going to be that guy last year.
Those stats are very similar, yes, but something about Lathan’s attitude rubbed me the wrong way, and I have a feeling the UW coaches noticed it too.
He regressed in every category during his sophomore season, and his minutes were reduced as a result, from 21m with RU to 15m with UW.
He went down from 52% FG to 44%. He went down from 86% FT to 73%.
I have no idea how Gurdak’s attitude stacks up, but I’m willing to to bet it’s better that Lathan’s, and I think that will translate into Gurdak working harder in the offseason to have a better sophomore campaign without regressing the way Sommmerville did.
Last edited:
If we had 10 million as Zinn stated was the new objective to reach there’s no reason we should’ve felt the need to bargain shop
if we overpaid to retain the backcourt that will stand to reason we couldn’t afford a proven commodity at center
Lathan is too short to play the 5. He’s a tweener in college basketball. Love his ball skills.
Gurdak’s got quality finishing moves in the low post and should avg 10 and 8 playing 23 mpg surrounded by quality shooters…as Francis, Mark, Davis and Smith have shown they can hit the trey at an efficient clip…not to mention Buchanan who was nice from deep in limited attempts.
Anyone thinking that should have had themselves examined. He was a bust at two other high major schools, thinking he was going to be anything else is crazy.
This kid seemed to fade towards the end of the season and had several games where he had little to no impact. Hopefully that was just a freshman hitting the wall kind of thing.
The market is up 35-65% over last year depending on who you want to believe as there are different figures floating out there. That inflation cuts into what you can afford. Although Zinn was able to secure around $10m (which was above the original $8m goal) they still are not shopping in the elite market, far from it because of all the needs they have to fill including two centers
Moving forward they should be able to raise even more NIL and have fewer holes to fill because some of these guys have multiple years. So they can target higher level players while retaining much of the roster they want back. If you wanted a one year leap with those types of players, then that was probably going to require $15m or more.
True but with a better product on the floor, it theoretically should allow Zinn to raise even more funds for the program and cut down that deficit.
Additionally, she raised that money without being here very long and they solely focused on NJ. With more time, I expect they will spread out to include NYC and Philadelphia areas as part of the overall NIL fund raising.
Feels like fork in the road moment though… after bringing in this money if the season is a dud will it be hard to raise MORE for a new coach
Obviously if pike wins stands to reason we will have at least as much if not more resources next year
If it's like the last two years then they will be changing coaches. But this roster is better on paper at all positions so I'd be surprised if they are in that position. But there's always a chance it happens, just like there is a chance that they could surprise and make the tournament.
I think pre-season expectation has to be the tourney. I think Pike survives another year if we’re a bubble team (or if injuries become a problem).
Top “proven” centers are going for more than $4 million, including freshman like the Hall’s Hines who got that much from UConn. It is unrealistic to think that Rutgers would spend more than 40% of their budget on one player.
The usual suspects working hard to criticize and attack. If you've got a brain ignore all the pseudo experts ,it's all hearsay.
Deserves a follow up as I see Washington lists Lathan at 6-10. Ace is taller in the Rutgers team pic and he was measured at 6-7 1/2 without shoes at NBA combine.
Playing style also impact “playing height” and this dude just looks taller and longer than Lathan to me. It might just be Gurdak’s moves in the post and shot release point.
Lathan was a guard growing up until he had a large growth spurt.
I thought Rutgers needed to keep Lathan.
And you saw our frontcourt offense this year without him.
Gurdak potentially being a better offensive Lathan is good to me.
It's just amusing that 4 days ago it was "We don't need offense. This year was one of the best Pike offenses ever. Need to focus on improving the defense."
Then we add Smith and Gurdak - two offensive oriented players.
I think our offense this past year was terrible - compared to the rest of B1G (being better than other bad Rutgers offenses doesn't really mean much. We aren't competing against prior Rutgers teams. We need to be better than other actual B1G programs).
These additions hopefully help.
And you saw our frontcourt offense this year without him.
Gurdak potentially being a better offensive Lathan is good to me.
It's just amusing that 4 days ago it was "We don't need offense. This year was one of the best Pike offenses ever. Need to focus on improving the defense."
Then we add Smith and Gurdak - two offensive oriented players.
I think our offense this past year was terrible - compared to the rest of B1G (being better than other bad Rutgers offenses doesn't really mean much. We aren't competing against prior Rutgers teams. We need to be better than other actual B1G programs).
These additions hopefully help.
Last edited:
We really haven't addressed the defense yet, which is worrisome. If Syndor comes on board, at least we'll have more length. Gurdak is at least a basketball player.
It is 2026. This guy doesn't fit the current college game.
RU defense was bad last year (based on stats). How is a non shot blocking 5 going to help that?
His numbers say he is a slightly above offensive rebounder and slightly below average defensive rebounder.....this is with playing part time and being more fresh.
This is like fantasy baseball (or football). You think you need steals, but the price is through the roof. Do you overpay and hurt the other 9 categories or do you say F it and refuse to pay for steals and spend money elsewhere.
I am sure RU needs big men, but the price tag is just to high. I didn't watch a single possession of RU this year but I am going to guess the mistake we are making are keeping and paying Mark and Francis and spending money elsewhere. The defensive numbers were bad last year. I am guessing Francis had a part in that.
Find the positions that there is more supply and better cheap talent. Spending 20% on your budget on a 2000s power forward in calendar 2026 is dumb.
RU defense was bad last year (based on stats). How is a non shot blocking 5 going to help that?
His numbers say he is a slightly above offensive rebounder and slightly below average defensive rebounder.....this is with playing part time and being more fresh.
This is like fantasy baseball (or football). You think you need steals, but the price is through the roof. Do you overpay and hurt the other 9 categories or do you say F it and refuse to pay for steals and spend money elsewhere.
I am sure RU needs big men, but the price tag is just to high. I didn't watch a single possession of RU this year but I am going to guess the mistake we are making are keeping and paying Mark and Francis and spending money elsewhere. The defensive numbers were bad last year. I am guessing Francis had a part in that.
Find the positions that there is more supply and better cheap talent. Spending 20% on your budget on a 2000s power forward in calendar 2026 is dumb.
I think Pike got the memo that "offense" is what wins games these days. Yes, you also need defense if you want to compete at the very highest level, but let's face it, we don't have the budget to pay for players who are good at everything. We have a budget where -- if spent correctly -- we can get good players who can possibly get us back to the Bubble.
And I'm fine with that until the NIL machine really gets going.
I don't know I think players like this still can have a big role in today's game. Look at Oscar Cluff at Purdue and Duke Brennan at Villanova. Both not great athletes or shot blockers but very coordinated and fundamentally sound.
Early in their careers, they both were very good offensive rebounders but just average defensive rebounders, just like Gurdak. As the years went on, the defensive rebounding rate got better and they were able to have an impact on the defensive end without blocks.
If Gurdak can follow that same trajectory defensively, in addition to his offensive skill set, then he'll have a massive impact on this team.
As much as I've been down on Pike and staff, I have to give them credit for both the CCSU wing and here for the VT center. The first one, from DR, not so much. Let's see how this plays out. Also good they kept a few from this year.
It's shaping up to a rather young team though.
It's shaping up to a rather young team though.
If GM Sullivan gets Sydnor, a starting PG and a competent backup center, then I will say he knows what he’s doing and did good work. That would mean we added 4 starters (not sure if he can pull that off), a backup center, and retained pieces from last season that most would agree we wanted back for this season. The job is not done to grade him out yet, but he’s headed in a good direction thus far.