I think Jerry Carino mentioned that he might start at the 4. If he does who starts at the 1,2 and 3?
Miteo
- Thread starter Bob Chaewsky_rivals
- Start date
Jerry has been wrong about every one of his predictions over the past few seasons. Wouldn’t read into anything he says FWIW. Scarlet Nation podcast projects Miteo as a deep reserve piece.
this. Jerry is constantly wrong
That would make both Jerry and me wrong. I think he will play mostly at the 4. Maybe a little back to the basket but he is needed more as an active 4.
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He’s listed on our website as 6-10 and 260 lb. If he earns PT, my opinion is it will to relieve Gurdak (listed 6-10 and 265 lb - over Buca or Ware (who is shorter and weighs less than him). Pike has no problem playing guys like Buchanan or Dortch at the 5 so this just seems the most logical spot he’d earn time.
I think Carino could be correct on this one. Ware will likely almost never play, and Buca did not come here for one year to be the third string 5. Yes, Pike played Buchanan and Dortch at the 5, but our starting 5 was pretty weak. Buca, our back up 5 probably offers more than our starting 5 last year. Pike likes to mix and match, but I think it's more likely you see Miteo and Gurdak on the court at same time than otherwise. It will also make us more competitive rebounding wise in the Big 10, a Pike concern, and It allows Garavaglia, an inexperienced yet extremely talented 19 year old, to focus on the 3 spot, probably his natural position. Aside from Buchanan, I think a guy who sees a significant reduction in playing time might be Smith. It's not like last year - these two Euros are really good. They might even create a log jam at the 1 & 2. Not entirely sure how good our guards are, but we have too many of them.
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I’d wager we see Buchanan at the 5 more often than him at the 4. He’s intriguing but just cause someone isn’t completely lacking in skill means they can play PF. And anyways, Pike works best with 4 guys on the perimeter that can legitimately move their feet out there and Miteo is far far away from that. I don’t understand this obsession with getting a Derrick Favors type four, that just isn’t Pikes style and Will Sydnor is absolutely 4 sized and actually provides promise in the modern game, weird he’s considered anything but a 4 for us next year.
Who? Miteo? The only position he’s played in his career is at the 5, he’s not a good shooter, high center of gravity and is raw, but also as big as any center we have. He’s a 5. There’s like literally zero chance he’s anything other than our center.
Based on what? His film on a Euro U22 team? The reason he’s a good late pick up is because you can’t teach 6-10 / 260 and Buca might not be that good so the path to earning time at the 5 might not be that steep. The 4 is a longshot. His stats in that league aren’t much different from a HS kids school stats. In the competitive league, he only logged garbage time minutes.
You've got Gurdak, Buca, Miteo, Buchanan & Ware, all playing the 5. It's not called the 5 because you need 5 guys there. Not sure you know what you're looking at. Pike WILL play them at the same time, how much depends on how effective Sydnor and Buchanan are at the 4. Miteo and Garavaglia are both legit regardless of how late their pick ups were.
Here's my team:
1 - Mark/Davis
2 - Francis/Jones
3 - Garavaglia/Jones/Powers
4 - Miteo or Sydnor/Buchanan
5 - Gurdak/Buca
Don't make it too complicated.
Here's my team:
1 - Mark/Davis
2 - Francis/Jones
3 - Garavaglia/Jones/Powers
4 - Miteo or Sydnor/Buchanan
5 - Gurdak/Buca
Don't make it too complicated.
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We know that Miteo is 6’10”, 17 years old, athletic and strong. For his age, he seems like a pretty solid player. Time will tell if he can play the 4 or needs to be a 5. The truth is that we really don’t know what all the new players will be able to do or how they will play together.
Hopefully Miteo will be able to get his skill level up quickly so that he can contribute in Big Ten play at either the 5 or possibly even the 4 and not be like Ogbole and only look like a top Big Ten player!
Hopefully Miteo will be able to get his skill level up quickly so that he can contribute in Big Ten play at either the 5 or possibly even the 4 and not be like Ogbole and only look like a top Big Ten player!
I think Miteo and Garavaglia, each 17 years old, might both be first team all state in New Jersey. Miteo is way ahead of Cliff at the same age. How excited were we to get him?
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Nobody said Buchanan would play 5 this year. But Pike was willing to put him there last year so Miteo could certainly be an option there (bigger and weighs more) if he’s better than other options.
Again - you have no basis for thinking he’s going to beat out Buchanan and Sydnor for minutes. The competition that he produced at isn’t D1 level. Not even low major. Now yes, it was probably better than typical high school level which parallel’s his age but every high major recruit has nice looking high school numbers. At this point we have no idea.
Buchanan plays defense. It’s highly unlikely that the new guys not known for D are going to come in and beat him out for much time next season (Smith, Miteo, Martin). Even for guys who were good previously on D (Jones, Sydnor) there could be a learning curve in the system.
Diego I put in a different category. He’s a guy who, kind of like Nwuli but at a much higher proven level, earned time and was high on scouting reports because of his defense specifically. For this reason, I’m very bullish at him carving out a major role in the rotation.
There won't be much of an adjustment for good defenders to play in Pike's defense. Man defense is man defense. As far as Miteo is concerned, he'll be a better shot blocker and rebounder than Buchanan right off the bat. If everyone is so sure of Pike's ability to teach defense, the rest will come pretty quickly.
Might make sense for Pikiel to go to a zone when Buca comes in. Doubt he’ll do well defending the perimeter or on switches.
Watching the highlights, no way is he 260. I don't see him as a 4, but possible in spot minutes. If another team has two bigs, including one that steps outside, it's possible.
Oh, I’m sure his measurements, like everyone else’s on our site, are exaggerated. It was a relative point. He’s listed as 6-10 and 260. Gurdak is listed as 6-10 and 265. Ware is listed as 6-9 and 255. It’s unlikely he weighs less than them, and certainly weighs more than Buchanan who is listed at 240.
Tonejc is listed as 6'7" and 6'9" in his Rutgers bio. A few years ago, walk-on was listed at 5'10" and 6'2" in his Rutgers bio.
I like it, except its 11 man rotation instead of 10
also, I see that you have also left Smith off which would make it 12
Players are going to have give 110% effort, and be 110% mentally focuesd for playing time this year, which I believe will be a positive for this team
Pike has been known for quick hooks for defensive lapses, which players do you think this will affect the most ?
Yes - but they are all exaggerated so when predicting who will play which positions the information is only significant in terms of relativity. Simply put, after Buca and Gurdak, Miteo likely weighs the next most on the team and his height is likely similar to Gurdak’s (whatever it is). He and Gurdak are only listed at 5 lb apart. Beyond this - everyone else on the team is at least an inch shorter than him and weighs less than him (materially less for all except Ware who is listed at 255). It’s not only Miteo who is inflated,
Have to see Jones along with Powers’ improvement to get a true sense.
Diego is going to be interesting. Outside of Nwuli (who was admittedly mostly a bust because he brought zero offense and didn’t adjust to the college game quickly enough to be an impact player on D), Diego projects as the best proven defensive kid we’ve added in a while and his offense is also better than Nwuli’s. If we hit on him that will dip into Powers minutes for sure. It should be understand and appreciated that he has legitimate experience playing meaningful minutes at a very high level comparable to the BIG (vs a transfer like Zrno, Denis or Miteo). The good news with Miteo is his measurables.
Then it's a conspiracy. He was listed at 6'10" on other sites before he even got to Rutgers.
A good question. I can only guess at the answer - Smith and Powers. I know the foul situation can change things, but I like the idea of everyone playing only one position, especially early in the season. I think it will help us gel as a team quicker so we can avoid those "what the f " losses early in the year. I kept that in mind when I constructed "my team" above, with only Jones playing more than one position. There is less for everyone to think about (no changing responsibilities) and so everything runs faster and more crisply. Players won't have to think as much when it comes to where they're supposed to be on an in bounds play, in the offense, or in the press or press attacks. With all the substitutions last year, Francis moving to the point, then Buchanan to the 5, or Dortch back and forth between the 4 and 5, sometimes we looked like a Chinese fire drill. Not a good recipe. We've got the positional talent to play this way and get out to a fast start.
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Dortch didn’t play a single minute at the 4 last season. Only the 5.
Tariq didn’t play much pressure point either. Against certain match ups, a pure ball handling PG is not needed because of the style played. When a team isn’t picking up D until half court, it wasn’t necessary to have a better ball handler than Tariq in the game. Pike found out the hard way that Tariq shouldn’t run the point against full court pressure (SHU). But that doesn’t mean he can never be in the game without J Mike or Lino.
Buchanan played every place but the point, and it's BS to say Dortch didn't play a single minute at the 4. Change defensive match ups all you want. I'm talking about everything else. Stay consistent - and I don't think Francis should ever be in the game without Mark or Davis, whether we can get away without a better ball handler or not. It disrupts everyone elses role on offense. You're missing my point anyway. I'm talking about functioning more as a cohesive unit early on, and if you do what I'm suggesting the losses to Lafayette and Central Connecticut won't happen. SHU doesn't happen. Your team won't look confused in November, and you'll probably open up 9-2 instead of 7-4. Every offensive aspect of your team will function at a higher level from day 1.
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I would agree, and with JMike graduating and Mark coming back as an experienced PG next year, it's doubtful we're going after a starting PG in the portal next year, I would give Powers a lot of time as the back up PG next year. That would also be a selling point to keeping him around. If he ever wants to be a pro some place, 6'4" PG's don't grow on trees. I'm a big Powers fan. I think most Rutgers fans underrate him. I'd like to see him go the same route as Davis and get his degree from Rutgers.
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Agree on Powers, excellent playmaker.
His assist #'s will also be higher this year with "better hands" teammates
His assist #'s will also be higher this year with "better hands" teammates
I hope we use him a lot this year and I hope he stays. I expected him to have some second thoughts about staying after last year. I mean he scored 18 points against UCLA in the first half and was barely used in the first nine minutes of the second half. I remember scratching my head. What do you think the kid was thinking?
Not sure who will come back next year, but with the new eligibility rule both Davis and Francis are eligible to come back. Can’t assume Davis won’t be back even though he graduates. Not sure Powers will have a chance to get time as a backup point guard next year if Davis and Mark both return.
Don't be surprised to see Powers ahead of JMike and possibly Francis by the end of the year.
Kid has the talent, he understands the O side, with a full season, plus the off-season of film to "learn" Pikes philosophy/d-demands, I think you'll be pleased with what you see.
Kid has the talent, he understands the O side, with a full season, plus the off-season of film to "learn" Pikes philosophy/d-demands, I think you'll be pleased with what you see.
He has mountains to go to even be in the same stratosphere as Tariq. Last year, his only playmaking shot was a midrange jumper off the dribble and his overall efficiency on it was poor. He did not show an ability to attack the rim, or draw fouls. Doesn’t have a real pump fake. What he was last season was a dime a dozen. He had decent court vision but not a strong enough handle to be a primary PG. Poor defender and inefficent 3 point shooter. Sometimes a year makes a big difference so we’ll have to see. At this point in time, there’s no basis for thinking he could surpass Tariq unless it’s simply because he’s a few inches taller (which didn’t even make him better at defense last year).
When Buchanan and Dortch were in the game, Buchanan did not play the 5 on either side of the ball. Dortch played one position only - I know, because I personally would’ve loved to see him play the 4 instead as it’s his natural position. I didn’t give a damn that he had no offense since our other 4s didn’t score much either (Grant, Nwuli, Denis). But he never did. Buchanan played 3,4 and 5 (when both Dortch and Ogbole were out).
Not the point I'm trying to make, however, you're claiming that not one time all season were Dortch and Ogbole on the court at the same time. I'm guessing they were, and if they were, Dortch was playing the 4.