RAPID REACTION - New Haven

[Degaz-RU]

1. Cant really take much from this game, as New Haven was overmatched. Rutgers got the job done with solid defense and okay offense. I don’t think the advanced stats will love the efficiency, but they hit shots and crashed the boards.

2. Co—MVPs go to Rasheed Jones (14 pts) and JMike (13 pts) who supplied efficient offense all night. Jones 4-5 from deep. JMike also set the tone early with 3 steals.

3. I like how BKnight force fed the freshmen. Miteo was the primary backup C, Garavaglia got a ton of run at the 3 and really showed his basketball IQ and defense. And Imari Wooten played as a fifth guard in place of Kaden Powers (who was sick this week).

4. Gurdak solid despite foul trouble. 12-4-3.

5. Glad to see New Haven play zone about half the night. Good practice for our zone offense, and they got more comfortable as the night wore on.

6. 9-23 from 3-pt range, but just 12-18 from the foul line.

 

[Scarlet Beach]

Getting the freshman time is going to pay off. Maybe a cupcake game but it's still experience playing college basketball. And tape for them to hopefully learn from.

 

[RUChet]

Good to get all guys
In the game

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Getting the freshman time is going to pay off. Maybe a cupcake game but it's still experience playing college basketball. And tape for them to hopefully learn from.

Tape is OK, but drill baby drill.

 

[seansherm]

Tough to gleam much as NH was not good and not big, but some positives.
Jones looked like what we hoped. JMike played well. Pleasantly surprised by Diego court awareness, was solid on the defensive end. Still worry about back up bigs come tough foe time, but Miteo can at least move. Smart to play through Gurdak and the paint when our guards aren't the greatest at initiating offense.

 

[PhillyRU]

From the analytics side, we covered the spread and moved up three spots in KenPom — seems like we're all good from that aspect.

Offense was stagnant at times, and it seems like our focus wavered a bit. Really good to see Jones excel in a spot-up shooting role, he'll be a much-needed piece if he can combine that with plus positional length and defense.

Defense was generally pretty good, I thought. New Haven made an outsized amount of rather tough shots and still only scored 54 points. I also think the team will look more fluid once the rotation inevitably tightens.

 

[Degaz-RU]

From the analytics side, we covered the spread and moved up three spots in KenPom — seems like we're all good from that aspect.

Offense was stagnant at times, and it seems like our focus wavered a bit. Really good to see Jones excel in a spot-up shooting role, he'll be a much-needed piece if he can combine that with plus positional length and defense.

Defense was generally pretty good, I thought. New Haven made an outsized amount of rather tough shots and still only scored 54 points. I also think the team will look more fluid once the rotation inevitably tightens.

Yeah, I do think that part of our disjointed-ness on offense was playing so many guys, especially freshmen.

 

[RutgHoops]

Gurdak will be 2nd or 3rd team All-B1G.

 

[seels2662]

This is a New Haven team that outscored Syracuse in the second half. Very promising.

 

[PhillyRU]

It was also very similar to last season's Rider opener, and New Haven will probably be just as bad. That's not meant as a pessimistic slight at this year's team, but rather to echo others who say it's hard to take much from playing New Haven.

 

[goru7]

Clearly cannot take much against New Haven but a few things I am pretty sure of.
Rasheed Jones will be our best overall player. He can shoot from 2 , from 3 , all very efficiently , plays great defense , can rebound. He should get a ton of minutes.
JMike actually made 2 layups and hit a great 3 in transition.
Francis still shoots too much. He scored 14 on 14,shots. Jones scored 14 shooting 5-6. He is a scorer but he has other options this year.

Gurdak gives us an efficient low post player with moves. He is crafty around the tin. He is just not a rim protector. If we have droughts , he will break the draught plus he shoots fouls real well .

Syndor only played 5 minutes but you could see the athleticism and potential and why people were thinking he would be our starting 4. We haven’t had such an athletic 4 that can shoot , can drive and handle. I can see him crashing the glass for lots of offensive rebounds. Hope that ankle injury is behind him.

Diego was very good defensively , sliding his feet and anticipating where the offensive player was going. Very hesitant to just let it go from 3 but he appears to have a high IQ.

We might have 3 foul shooters shooting 80% this year Francis in the high 80’s and Gurdak and JMike in the low 80’s.

Looking forward to seeing how this team comes together.

 

[GM]

I’m happy we were able to adjust very quickly to them switching to a zone. I feel like in the past it’s been far too common an occurrence a zone messes us up for a few possessions, causes us to burn a timeout, etc. so nice we didn’t let it get to that.

 

[goru7]

I’m happy we were able to adjust very quickly to them switching to a zone. I feel like in the past it’s been far too common an occurrence a zone messes us up for a few possessions, causes us to burn a timeout, etc. so nice we didn’t let it get to that.

Yeah attacking the zone. Got the ball to the middle then beautiful spray outs for 3. Best we have looked attacking zone in years. Hope it continues.

 

[Atlasxal]

Clearly cannot take much against New Haven but a few things I am pretty sure of.
Rasheed Jones will be our best overall player. He can shoot from 2 , from 3 , all very efficiently , plays great defense , can rebound. He should get a ton of minutes.
JMike actually made 2 layups and hit a great 3 in transition.
Francis still shoots too much. He scored 14 on 14,shots. Jones scored 14 shooting 5-6. He is a scorer but he has other options this year.

Gurdak gives us an efficient low post player with moves. He is crafty around the tin. He is just not a rim protector. If we have droughts , he will break the draught plus he shoots fouls real well .

Syndor only played 5 minutes but you could see the athleticism and potential and why people were thinking he would be our starting 4. We haven’t had such an athletic 4 that can shoot , can drive and handle. I can see him crashing the glass for lots of offensive rebounds. Hope that ankle injury is behind him.

Diego was very good defensively , sliding his feet and anticipating where the offensive player was going. Very hesitant to just let it go from 3 but he appears to have a high IQ.

We might have 3 foul shooters shooting 80% this year Francis in the high 80’s and Gurdak and JMike in the low 80’s.

Looking forward to seeing how this team comes together.

Good analysis as always.
Richie has indicated that Sydnor will not be 100% until later this month or early December.

 

[goru7]

Good analysis as always.
Richie has indicated that Sydnor will not be 100% until later this month or early December.

Thanks. Syndor looked healthy tonight at least did not look like the ankle affected him. Very excited for his potential this year. Jones , Smith and Syndor hopefully become the most impactful portal hauls we have had.

 

[PhillyRU]

With Snydor, he also didn’t play all of last season, so his most recent regular season game before this was March 2025. A longer on-ramp makes sense.