Basketball Rutgers Basketball ends season with loss to Creighton in College Basketball Crown

BigEastPhil

Heisman
Nov 25, 2007
19,128
13,319
66
Why I stayed up to watch last nights’ fiasco is beyond me !

Fortunate once again this season is over - which should have occurred after the BTT !

The performances by Mark and Nwuli were quite bad let alone about themselves only !
 
Feb 5, 2003
10,966
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not easy to be a starting guard with 25 mins and have zero assists.I knew he was going to chuck it. there was a two on one early in second half he didn't even consider passing .you could see the disgust from asst coaches.
That 2 on 1... it was a perfect setup for the alley oop to Grant. Nope. You know, Lino, other coaches would like to see ASSISTS on tape, too. Such a selfish play.
 

bitnez

All-American
Jan 18, 2006
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still would love an explanation of letting the players organize and run practice too
I used to do that with girls CYO teams once or twice per year to let them have fun. Of course, I wasn’t being paid millions and it was mainly for my sanity to give me a mental break. Ha
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,073
12,417
78
Yup last night turned out to be be a negative for the program. Not a good look as if anyone was paying attention to this ****** tournament. People just a 14-20 team that had no business playing in post sesson. They were every part of their NET which put them 5th worst power 5. Its why most schools pass on an invitation.

Nah - it was a net nothing. Not a black eye for the program. It was a trip to Vegas and now the shift is on the portal. It was a low risk for participation generating any noticable negative attention to the program. We’d of had to have a 78-0 (Michigan football game like performance where we didn’t belong on the court from start to finish to the point it got talked about on the news). As you’ve been saying for weeks, outside of our fan base - nobody cares. The Crown organizers got what they wanted in the match up. Creighton coach featured on the news. He got to win again (they gave him the best chance possible in the Rutgers draw for the story line). We played the part well in keeping it close in the first half from a TV viewing perspective. By the time we fell completely apart anyone watching was asleep in their beds or couch and the game still likely rolling on the TV screen. That’s it - it’s over. It was nothing and never a big deal either way.

The big deal will be if Grant is penciled in and we see an announcement Tweet that he’s back next week. An immediate announcement from him would mean he’s penciled in to start as feared.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,073
12,417
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Our needs are great. Yeah, there is no way you come back expecting Grant to be a starting 4, I don't even think hes a four. I can see a world where he or Buchannon end up our starting 3 because we can't bring enough help in. Bigs have to be a priority and I think ive changed my mind that we also need a starting level combo guard. Mark and Riq can't be a starting backcourt. I hate kids leaving yet almost hope Mark leaves.
How can Grant be a starting 3? He’s not fast enough to guard wings. He has to defend 4s only and he’s not very good at that either - it’s just that our options were limited so it wasn’t like our alternatives were much better (Chris better on D - nobody else).

He’s certainly not a good enough ball handler to play wing. Hes not just mediocre, hes really poor. Bryce Dortch has better ball control than him. He’s not a good 3 point shooter either. 28.7% (career average) is simply putrid for a wing who is the furthest thing from a thrasher (he has no penetration skills whatsoever). His ability to score is limited to put backs (except he’s a poor rebounder at the power level) and back doors (which isn’t happening much unless we get another combo of guys like Dylan and Ace that create vulnerability to forget entirely about him).

Buchanan has flaws too, but he offers more upside as a player on the roster. His left handle is very poor but at least he’s able to penetrate strong side (some teams defend it better than others). He can take one or two dribbles with the left and shift back rendering him not totally useless as a handling wing the way Grant is. He can also defend more positions.
 
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knight82

All-American
Nov 4, 2002
8,470
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Yup last night turned out to be be a negative for the program. Not a good look as if anyone was paying attention to this ****** tournament. People just a 14-20 team that had no business playing in post sesson. They were every part of their NET which put them 5th worst power 5. Its why most schools pass on an invitation.
nah. I don't think it was a negative, just a big nothing burger. Most of the college basketball world wasn't even aware of it, being at 10:30 ET on a Thursday night in a tournament no one cares about. It could actually wind up being a positive for the program if Tate and Zinn were thoroughly disgusted by not only the game itself but the way Pike handled the practices and preparation leading up to it.
 

seansherm

Heisman
Feb 20, 2009
13,967
14,900
113
How can Grant be a starting 3? He’s not fast enough to guard wings. He has to defend 4s only and he’s not very good at that either - it’s just that our options were limited so it wasn’t like our alternatives were much better (Chris better on D - nobody else).

He’s certainly not a good enough ball handler to play wing. Hes not just mediocre, hes really poor. Bryce Dortch has better ball control than him. He’s not a good 3 point shooter either. 28.7% (career average) is simply putrid for a wing who is the furthest thing from a thrasher (he has no penetration skills whatsoever). His ability to score is limited to put backs (except he’s a poor rebounder at the power level) and back doors (which isn’t happening much unless we get another combo of guys like Dylan and Ace that create vulnerability to forget entirely about him).

Buchanan has flaws too, but he offers more upside as a player on the roster. His left handle is very poor but at least he’s able to penetrate strong side (some teams defend it better than others). He can take one or two dribbles with the left and shift back rendering him not totally useless as a handling wing the way Grant is. He can also defend more positions.
I dont disagree, hes not good. He's also not a 4. Not strong enough, not big enough, not tough enough. He could grow to it, but still not there currently, no matter how much we force it.
Neither of them good enough to start on a good team and I'd choose DB over DG all day.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,073
12,417
78
I dont disagree, hes not good. He's also not a 4. Not strong enough, not big enough, not tough enough. He could grow to it, but still not there currently, no matter how much we force it.
Neither of them good enough to start on a good team and I'd choose DB over DG all day.
Correct - it’s not that I think DB is a starter. He looked awful vs Creight BTW - full stop. In his case, I think he could end up averaging 22 mpg off the bench and being a net positive simply by virtue of being able to provide minutes multiple places. Best example I got? Nothing against Oskar - I do believe after Mag’s injury in 2022-23 if you swapped him for DB we pull off an extra win or two and make the tourney. Whereas I don’t think DG helps at all.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,073
12,417
78
nah. I don't think it was a negative, just a big nothing burger. Most of the college basketball world wasn't even aware of it, being at 10:30 ET on a Thursday night in a tournament no one cares about. It could actually wind up being a positive for the program if Tate and Zinn were thoroughly disgusted by not only the game itself but the way Pike handled the practices and preparation leading up to it.

Probably not even the latter. I don’t care what anyone says. Tariq clearly was not playing at 100%. It was blatantly obvious to me and likely known before the game internally which when all the dust settles is actually a good sign for us that Tariq didn’t give a crap about risking his NIL value and pulling a Mag. He wanted to go out there and compete anyway.
 

Nycrusupporter

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Jun 8, 2021
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I remember that two on one play and when Mark didn’t pass there, I realized he was not passing at all. His only chance at an assist last night was via a pass to himself. Lino has great speed, energy, and effort, clearly those are strengths for him. He creates turnovers on his own in the backcourt at times due to that effort and energy. BUT, he also feels like is playing in a Rec league game as soon as he gets the ball in his hands. No thoughts of a pass, he drives to hoop a ton but doesn’t dish to a teammate or kick it out to a teammate on the outside. Lino scores on some of those drives but how many did he chuck up this year that didn’t even hit rim??? Regardless of the defense that meets him inside, Lino is putting it up as it’s Rec league time. Maybe last night he was in overdrive for his last hurrah of tape for wherever he is landing next year. Lino needs to vastly improve his court vision, reading the defense and awareness of his teammates. Also needs to improve from three. A lot of potential with him, but has issues he needs to improve at the same time. I would take him back here for sure but only for the right price, I would not overpay for him. Everything we hear is he’s gone anyway so the point is likely moot.
Maybe Lino didn’t want to pass to Francis because he is an iso ball hog. When everyone is playing one on one iso ball there isn’t a lot of incentive to pass the ball when you have it.