Basketball Kaden Powers set to return to Rutgers Basketball for 2026-27 season
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
One ball handler? What do you do when Lino plays too fast and Tariq too slow for anyone else to settle in? Need multiple points guards on the roster no matter who is in the rotation.
Davis:
Backup PG in the B1G, had a 3-1 Asst-TO ratio, 7.5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal in 26 min per game, shot 40% overall, 36% from the arc, 78% from the FT line, generally played good D, showed high energy, effort, and leadership as a team captain.
Unless we secure a new starting PG in the portal, we are bringing back a solid PG with B1G experience to backup Lino, someone who knows what is expected from our coaches, is familiar with our B1G opponents, stayed loyal to the program for 4 years, and will graduate a Scarlet Knight.
Backup PG in the B1G, had a 3-1 Asst-TO ratio, 7.5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal in 26 min per game, shot 40% overall, 36% from the arc, 78% from the FT line, generally played good D, showed high energy, effort, and leadership as a team captain.
Unless we secure a new starting PG in the portal, we are bringing back a solid PG with B1G experience to backup Lino, someone who knows what is expected from our coaches, is familiar with our B1G opponents, stayed loyal to the program for 4 years, and will graduate a Scarlet Knight.
There is a lot to like about Davis as the backup. Seldom gets rattled but sometimes tries to hard!
There is no negative to bringing jmike back. Unselfish team first senior that has improved every year at Rutgers. And I still think they should bring in another starting level veteran pg with some height and another big man. But just when you think you don't need jmike or that he isn't any good is when he will help you win a game. I still remember when he committed to Rutgers and went to his prom with a Rutgers blazer in a red Corvette. Lol he's going to graduate from Rutgers..
What are you talking about? They literally got one transfer wrong and started back tracking Lino mark leaving as season ended
What am I talking about---see Ireland Brown as another ex of absolute declarations.
See also weeks if not months of Lino gone done deal. The defense of the repeat misses is puzzling but perhaps personal as dont see another bona fide basis.
I find the podcasters and preditions entertaining but this board ran with the take it to the bank predictions as gospel and was pointing out some perspective. Podcasts are entertainment. So one should expect predictions to sometimes work and sometimes not--its was taken here as fait accompli and pointed out as such.
No, no, no. Yes, he can play point, if we want to make Pete Carril Princeton seem like they played fast. TF dribbles for 20 seconds until his opening to get his shot or a good pass comes up. Its like watching paint dry on a cloudy day. I'll take no TF at the point for entertainment purposes alone.
He’d have better players to pass to. He’s just a better offensive player than the other two microguards. If you want Mark as the PG, fine. Davis is the weakest passer of the three and not needed.
I’m pretty happy about the retention of the back court. Im old fashioned and I want to root for the team that has seniors and teamwork. They didn’t suck last year, especially considering Lino and Kaden were freshmen and they had no frontcourt help.
I don’t know if Pike will build them as a unit, but that’s the kind of basketball and coaching I like. Many people are saying player development and continuity and teamwork don’t matter anymore and Pikes brand of coaching is obsolete in the NIL/portal world. I don’t know if that’s true. But I’m rooting for it not to be true and for Pike to make this group flourish.
I don’t know if Pike will build them as a unit, but that’s the kind of basketball and coaching I like. Many people are saying player development and continuity and teamwork don’t matter anymore and Pikes brand of coaching is obsolete in the NIL/portal world. I don’t know if that’s true. But I’m rooting for it not to be true and for Pike to make this group flourish.
D
Mark can't play 40, you still need another, hence JMike. Yes, an age difference, but JMike had a higher player efficiency rating, higher asst %, lower turnover %, you need a guy like that to settle things down.
Doesn't matter if players around him are good, he still will dribble clock down looking for the right opportunity. Its not bad per se, he doesn't turn it over and usually makes the right read eventually, it just puts everyone to sleep.
Mark can't play 40, you still need another, hence JMike. Yes, an age difference, but JMike had a higher player efficiency rating, higher asst %, lower turnover %, you need a guy like that to settle things down.
There is no way J Mike is costing more than the value he adds relative to what we could use his “salary” towards. He’s not costing us more than a couple hundred thousand
When you say “should”, what do you mean? I think that would be awful for Lino’s future and struggle to picture a negotiation convincing him to stay here under the pretense. It just wouldn’t make any sense for him and, in turn, would create tension on the roster. We’re actually set up perfectly to give Lino his crack at running the point. We retained a veteran senior PG as his back up to keep Lino grounded. When he gets out of control, Pike will pull him for a few minutes and put in J Mike. We’re not getting a new “starting PG”. That would be incredibly dumb considering we still have a lot of work to do to add more options to plug out massive defensive holes in the frontcourt. Need the back up 5 to be solid on D and need the final front court rotational piece to be someone known for D. It’s ok if the player has otherwise uninspiring stats. We need more than a rotation of just Smith, Buchanan and Will at 3/4.
Watch some film of Smith. Kid has proven point forward skills. When Tariq is in the game without the other two (J Mike or Lino) I bet you Smith will be on the court with him and it’ll make a big difference. It’s unfprtunate Smith’s D grades out so questionable because on offense he solves our height problem. Tariq at PG is now a viable option.
Smith’s D is definitely a concern, but the way I see it, there’s no way it can be “worse” than Zrno or Powers at the 3 when Buchanan slides over. Pike can now play Buchanan, Tariq and Smith in the backcourt for stretches and with that support TF will be fine.
It matters because of what I said. TF will help handle ball pressure but Smith will really be the one navigating the offense when TF is the lone smaller guard in the game. Pike is good friends with the CC coach. I’m very confident this has been vetted well.
It’s the D that’s the question mark. That’s what we need to add now. I don’t want some mid major PG added at this point. Not what we need at all.
Need a poor man’s Mag or Caleb. Think low efficiency scorers - which brings down price. Buchanan is solid to play filler minutes 2-5 but what we really need is a good help defensive piece to be able to throw in the mix.
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Nah - Sean is right. Tariq’s not a bad passer and should benefit statistically from a better surrounding cast. But as a PG, he’s limited because he doesn’t run the offense with enough pace. Smith nullifies this concern a lot though. It’s not evident in the paper stats. You have to watch the film. Smith played a major role in navigating the CC halfcourt offense. His ball handling skills are strong and he rotates the ball in stride.
You are contradicting yourself. Davis is no better than a mid major PG and what the team needs most is a defender with length.
that’s exactly what Davis’ $ could have gone a long way to signing instead.
I just don't think there is a quality PG on the roster...they started 3 guards at times last year. I'm not counting any of the transfers as starters besides Gurdak. If the guys from Manhattan, ccsu or the pro league in DR aren't as good as you need them to be, you can start the big pg with Francis and mark/powers and at least have 2 guards out there at least 6'3"... And even if those guys are hits and you start Gurdak, Manhattan transfer, ccsu transfer, Francis, Transfer pg...Mark would get plenty of playing time..or you can bring Francis off the bench. Idk how you could say it's a terrible idea, as if Rutgers has John Stockton on the team. The more talent the better, if you can play you will get on the court. Not the time to worry about a players feelings. They are being paid....and as far as the budget, idk what the budget is lol I'm just saying what I think the roster needs..
You shouldn't count what's in pockets that aren't yours. You don't know if he got any guarantees beyond the revenue share all players will receive. And even if he got a package beyond that, you don't know how much money the staff is working with so advocating to kick a player out of the program that is trying to be loyal probably isn't necessary. That actually might hurt Rutgers' ability to land future talent, kicking a senior like jmike out..
This could be true on O, I've seen very little of Smith to have an opinion one way or the other at this point. I'll have to take a look at it, but yeah, his metrics say Dylan Grant on D.
How is TF helping handling the ball? He’s can’t handle ball pressure, he is not a play maker, and with 2 ball dominant players joining the lineup he will take a step back scoring.
Nah, players understand it’s year to year now. It’s not only their decision whether to stay or go, regardless of seniority.
If loyalty doesn’t matter to players, it shouldn’t to coaches either.
Jmike will be another year more physically developed too. Think many may be surprised re his effect ad contributions next year.
He’s fine against most defenders in single coverage. Goes left and right. With Lino and J Mike out of the game, the supporting ball handling help options last year was extremely poor.
Bryce Dortch might have been the next most dependable ball handler. Close between him and Powers who isn’t good for a guard but far better than everyone else on the roster. Buchanan only goes left for one or two dribbles without losing the ball. Grant, Zrno, Nwuli, Denis, Ogbole etc. horrible ball handlers. Geo wasn’t a primary ball handler to begin with either, but you can’t compare playing alongside a handler like Caleb to what Tariq had last season with our two main PGs on the bench. Smith will definitely help.
If you can - go back and review the starting line up in that game. That was 100% on Pike. You can’t throw a two guard / combo guard type out there to play point cold turkey against pressure with Zrno, Grant, Denis, and Ogbole (I’m pretty sure that’s who it was. No Powers, Bryce or even Buchanan who at least has a decent right on the court to help him. Nevermind our team not having good ball handlers - the best 3 (by a wide margin) other than the 2 PGs weren’t on the court. Geo would’ve looked exactly the same in that situation the year after Corey left and he was thrown into the PG crossfire. Just a terrible decision by Pike.
Agreed and not picking on TF but he is not a PG or ball handler! He is an absolute scorer who thrives in the sixth man role where he can dominate the ball