One BOLD prediction for Rutgers basketball in 2026-27:
- Thread starter Tango Two
- Start date
It's fair to say we got better. But so did the rest of the Big 10. It's going to be difficult to climb that ladder. One thing they can do is win all of the non-conference games that are a toss up or easier. That would at least give them a chance. But it's hard when you basically have to win all of those games. Good teams can afford one hiccup.
Glad to see a positive outlook for this season.
NCAA, here Rutgers comes
NCAA, here Rutgers comes
I am encouraged on paper but we just don’t know until games are played
To be a tourney team we need one of Garavaglia, Smith, Sydnor, or Jones to dramatically exceed expectations. On par with a Francis level surprise in production.
The rest obviously can’t be duds but we need one to be a major get.
The rest obviously can’t be duds but we need one to be a major get.
The way players are switching teams like a crazy, it’s hard to say how good the teams will be. There is a lot of talent in the Big Ten, but it is unclear how good the team chemistry will be. Some teams like Purdue are ranked high because of the coach’s reputation, but no way do they lose Smith, TKR, Lawler, and Cluff and not have some type of drop off.
With Rutgers having Francis, Davis, Mark, and Buchanan and possibly Powers and Ware, we have a core group of players to build around. The players brought in at the 4 and 5 at least on paper seem much better than the players they replaced. However, in order to make the NCAAs we will need this team to show the intensity in defending and rebounding that Pikiel’s NCAA teams showed. Unfortunately, that has been lacking in recent years.
With Rutgers having Francis, Davis, Mark, and Buchanan and possibly Powers and Ware, we have a core group of players to build around. The players brought in at the 4 and 5 at least on paper seem much better than the players they replaced. However, in order to make the NCAAs we will need this team to show the intensity in defending and rebounding that Pikiel’s NCAA teams showed. Unfortunately, that has been lacking in recent years.
I’m not sure that’s the case that you look at the rest of the BiG on paper and conclude they clearly got better. A few teams maybe but there are a lot of question marks in terms of newcomers ability to replace what was lost. Now granted, we had further to go to catch up than many of them in the first place.
I feel like its about Diego. If he is better than average, maybe alot better than average, we ill be a legit bubble team. If he is not, we will be around a .500 team.
We really could use an awesome perimeter defender, maybe even one with size. Maybe Rasheed Jones can be that but Diego seems to have all the makings of it
Syndor is the key to this seasons success.
So it sounds like Diego will be the starting wing 4 sorta playing the Yeboah role. If he's playing 25 minutes that leaves Syndor with 15 at best and I imagine Buchanan will steal a couple minutes at the 4. Like I said, if Diego is pretty good, no other transfer gets more than 15 minutes.
I am eager to see what we have. The practice report is very optimistic.
The best thing is that we seem to have more than one option right now at each position. Some of these guys should turn out.
Of course, I was optimistic about the football team too - until the middle of the first quarter of the first game.
The best thing is that we seem to have more than one option right now at each position. Some of these guys should turn out.
Of course, I was optimistic about the football team too - until the middle of the first quarter of the first game.
I don’t see that at all. Diego’s minutes will be at the 3 as he’s not going to be someone who pulls down 6-7 rpg. Gurdak isn’t really a rebounding 5. Sean is right. Sydnor is the key to this season. If he’s a bust, we’ll likely suck on the glass again this season which is the beginning of the end in Pike’s system. To have success, Pike’s system requires at least servicable defensive rebounding. There’s a reason clear as day why things went well when MJ was here. This. We don’t have an MJ at the 5 so the 4 is going to need to provide some of this (where Grant didn’t). Sydnor is the only one we added who might offer this. It’s otherwise a hole.
I doubt this ends up the case off of film. Diego looks like a four like Darren does. If he's taller than 6'5 I'll be surprised.
We only have Gurdak as a reliable option at center unless one of the other 3 potential backups surprises us. Buca could be effective if Rutgers plays zone and he planted himself by the basket. Buca is unlikely to be serviceable if he has to chase a more athletic player with an outside shot around the court. Whoever he is guarding will likely be able to shoot an open jumper from 3 or drive by him with ease.
I think he’s probably taller, but not that type of player. He has a Caleb-like build - not Darren. He could slide over and play spot minutes at the 4 but that won’t be his natural position. And no - I don’t expect his D to be anything like Caleb’s. But I do think it will be better than Zrno or Denis’.
Oh, yeah, wasn't comparing the two as players or body type, just that you see Darren at 6"4ish and don't think 4, same for Diego, who is probably a smudge taller and thinner. A 3. I have to see him against US comp before deeming him a solid defender. Zrno improved tenfold (not to good mind you) defensively from day 1 to end of season last year.
Zrno was known to be a project on D coming in. He turned out to be exactly what I expected and what the scouting report suggested. He came in capable of getting hot from 3. Not much else. Denis I could see having possibly looked more versatile on offense in film but he also came in with defensive concerns.
Now granted we’ve had guys with strong defensive reputations (Dercack) come in and disappoint, but the chance of us getting a completely unplayable defensive player from someone known for D is probably pretty low. Chris wasn’t as good as we hoped. Jordan had growing pains in Pike’s system. They weren’t good defenders, but their starting point wasn’t like Zrno’s.
Funny, I said the other day this kid had some mannerisms and movement very similar to Derkack.
Could be a similar style player. From the available film, it does appear that he’s played in a man scheme at least. Those block clips looked like they were coming mostly from man coverage if not transition.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that while the bar is low, I think we can be reasonably optimistic that Diego’s floor will be at least close to competing for starting / 6 man role on last year’s roster. Jordan 100% would’ve done that. He would’ve averaged 20+ minutes for sure. We lacked wings with length. Pretended we had that in guards like Zrno and Powers - slid them to the 3 because we didn’t have anyone else.
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Haha. Me too.
The diving touchdown and I was like - oh this season is f$&ked
but hey there’s always basketball. Until THEY sh$t the bed . And it’s Rinse and repeat lol
While I hate hearing that Pike is battling cancer, there’s suddenly a lot to look forward to with that season. No pressure. It will be fun to root for that team to pull off some surprises even if they aren’t that good. Hopefully Pike gets healthy and can join the team as the season progresses but regardless it’ll be enjoyable to follow the team this season at least. Every discussion thread won’t feel like a coaching tenure in hospice care like football. Like we’re prepping for Greg’s funeral from Rutgers. Sure - many are happy about that but he’s still here and we won’t have a replacement until next year so it really is like an extended wait for his funeral.
I agree. I mean there is HOPE that the BB team can be decent.
The pre-season prognostications are terrible so the only thing we can do is surprise people - the opposite of the Harper/ ace thing.
So if we suck - oh well, been down that road.
But if we surprise - it’ll be a fun thing to see
and there are so many new faces and so many questions - it will certainly be interesting .
I was kind of excited about next year until I heard Brandon Knight was taking over.
He’s not “taking over”. He’s filling in. There’s a big difference. That’s first of all.
The second thing, is that, oddly, in this one unique circumstance where our returning 16 ppg scorer who he not only brought in but is basically family to him - having him handle the early assimilation now that we hopefully have other playmaking options to mix in, isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. He’s much better positioned to handle Tariq in my opinion than Pike would’ve been. Situations like that historically have given Pike some trouble - he can be too nice of a guy sometimes with loyalty.
I don’t think Brandin will. I actually think he’ll be pretty tough on Tariq and a positive influence in terms of the adjustments that we’re going to need. This is Brandin’s big chance remember. He doesn’t have the experience and isn’t a great schematic coach, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible some things fall our way and we pick up some wins we weren’t expected to get.
The third part there is that while I think he could have some temporary success isolated to the situation he’s in this year with the team banding around it - I do agree with you more broadly. Would love for the outcome to be that Brandin has a pretty good year and lands a head coaching job at a mid-major.
Now clearly we need to see what the team looks like before getting too excited.
Branden Knight has shown nothing except the ability to recruit, and if he is running most of the practices and coaching 3/4 of the games, for all intents and purposes he is taking over.
Let’s be honest, we don’t really know what the assistant coaches roles are. He’s recruited well, I’ve also heard he’s our main film guy and I’d say one of our biggest strengths over the years is game planning against teams. I’ve also heard he’s our offense guy and that’s obviously not been great over the years. I at the very least expect a similar style team ran like usual, just with one less voice in the room in Pike which I’m sure will hurt at times but there may be a trade off too. We’ve gotten on Pike for his stubbornness and seeming complacency in the past and Knight has all the incentive against these concepts and to show why he was one of the most respected assistants in the country
I thought the funeral was on Saturday with everyone dressed in black.
In all seriousness, with some exceptions, Pikes teams have generally outperformed their talent level. I don’t think we can say the same about any of Greg’s seasons except for one…20 years ago.
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