GAME 21 Northwestern: If only....

[NewJerseyHawk]

The best thing to do is look at what Pike has or hasn't done and how that impacts players and their performances.

A) obviously, there are going to be Geo Baker haters, which is understandable, some fans do not like certain RU players and like others.....I am not sure how that happens when players actually leave or transfer and are thrown a bouquet of roses, but leave that to the side.

The minutes are piling up on Geo Baker and he is averaging 35 minutes a game over the last 9 games. I know fans think that makes sense, because he is needed on the floor, but when you are playing heavy minutes and have to defend, score and do these things, you are going to have an eventual decline.

B) Caleb McConnell has also played as hard as he possibly could over the last 2 to 3 weeks and just appears to be physically spent or on fumes. He doesn't have his legs, because of the amount of effort he has been pushing forward with to defend the opponents best players.

C) in order to ask for this type of effort, you have to have options to defend off the bench. Right now, Mag and Jalen Miller are the 2 players who have fresher legs and energy and while one is finally getting on track (Mag), Miller is only an option to play defense.

The disappointment with Pike is his clear inability to expand or develop a bench OR he takes too long to integrate what players need to do in his system. I could say he hasn't developed a bench BUT it just seems like you need a full season and offseason to get into the defensive flow or understanding.

Mag has had a full preseason before his freshmen year and did little to nothing last year BUT is showing signs of life. I think he is a definite rotation player the rest of the year.

Reiber who is always going to just be a key role player off the bench, is actually impacting the game when he comes in, but is never going to be a starter. But he adds something and is giving the bench something.

I don't know why all of our transfers or 1st year players, have to take THIS LONG, to have an impact off the bench. Hyatt and Jones and even Agee all either don't get enough reps in practice OR Pike and the staff have done a poor job if integrating them into the system.

I don't know what the rest of this season looks like, but no B1G roster can get by with 4 to 5 complete players, if you are relying on defense, intensity and hustle. The last 2 years on the court had more continuous pieces in the system for 2, 3 or sometimes 4 years. Right now, there doesn't appear to be a plan for how the bench is used....it's too inconsistent and needs to change down the stretch of the season.

Final point or silver lining.....I know fans believe the season is lost, but with 9 to 11 games left, if RU can get an aggressive and attacking Paul Mulcahy, RU can beat anyone left on the schedule. I am not worried about Baker, Cliff or Harper going forward.....can Mulcahy and Mag be factors like the last 2 games?? If so, RU will stay in NCAA contention, because there are wins to be picked up IF, Mag and Mulcahy can continue to play well.

 

[wheezer]

Ron’s missed 3 in regulation and 2 in OT were 2 daggers he shanked.

Why Paul didn’t touch the ball on the last possession, who knows.

Under normal end game situations I would want Harper to handle the final possession and take the shot

He should attack the basket as best he could and if fouled, just about our best pressure foul shooter

it did not work out this game but I don’t think it was a mistake if Pike called his number

 

[NickKnight 1]

Seconded

Thirded

 

[Caliknight]

Just like last year, this team doesn't seem like they like each other too much or trust each other. A few bad possessions and everyone's goes hero ball.

RHJ barely moves on offense. He just stands there waiting for the ball to come his way. It's crazy.

He’s out of shape that’s why he doesn’t move much. Hes’s a tough guard because he’s big and can take smaller guys down low. But once he doesn’t have that advantage he becomes stale on the outside.

I’ve said it’s before but it’s shocking to me that a guy who has pro aspirations and all the resources around him that he does that he comes back for his biggest year in the same terrible shape he’s always been in. He’s not an 18 year old kid anymore. It’s inexcusable for what was being presented as one of the top players in the country.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

The best thing to do is look at what Pike has or hasn't done and how that impacts players and their performances.

A) obviously, there are going to be Geo Baker haters, which is understandable, some fans do not like certain RU players and like others.....I am not sure how that happens when players actually leave or transfer and are thrown a bouquet of roses, but leave that to the side.

The minutes are piling up on Geo Baker and he is averaging 35 minutes a game over the last 9 games. I know fans think that makes sense, because he is needed on the floor, but when you are playing heavy minutes and have to defend, score and do these things, you are going to have an eventual decline.

B) Caleb McConnell has also played as hard as he possibly could over the last 2 to 3 weeks and just appears to be physically spent or on fumes. He doesn't have his legs, because of the amount of effort he has been pushing forward with to defend the opponents best players.

C) in order to ask for this type of effort, you have to have options to defend off the bench. Right now, Mag and Jalen Miller are the 2 players who have fresher legs and energy and while one is finally getting on track (Mag), Miller is only an option to play defense.

The disappointment with Pike is his clear inability to expand or develop a bench OR he takes too long to integrate what players need to do in his system. I could say he hasn't developed a bench BUT it just seems like you need a full season and offseason to get into the defensive flow or understanding.

Mag has had a full preseason before his freshmen year and did little to nothing last year BUT is showing signs of life. I think he is a definite rotation player the rest of the year.

Reiber who is always going to just be a key role player off the bench, is actually impacting the game when he comes in, but is never going to be a starter. But he adds something and is giving the bench something.

I don't know why all of our transfers or 1st year players, have to take THIS LONG, to have an impact off the bench. Hyatt and Jones and even Agee all either don't get enough reps in practice OR Pike and the staff have done a poor job if integrating them into the system.

I don't know what the rest of this season looks like, but no B1G roster can get by with 4 to 5 complete players, if you are relying on defense, intensity and hustle. The last 2 years on the court had more continuous pieces in the system for 2, 3 or sometimes 4 years. Right now, there doesn't appear to be a plan for how the bench is used....it's too inconsistent and needs to change down the stretch of the season.

Final point or silver lining.....I know fans believe the season is lost, but with 9 to 11 games left, if RU can get an aggressive and attacking Paul Mulcahy, RU can beat anyone left on the schedule. I am not worried about Baker, Cliff or Harper going forward.....can Mulcahy and Mag be factors like the last 2 games?? If so, RU will stay in NCAA contention, because there are wins to be picked up IF, Mag and Mulcahy can continue to play well.

I usually agree with your takes, but I don't see how Geo and Caleb can be excused from their turnovers due to being tired. They've both been sloppy with the ball and not focused on the details. These are young guys who are playing two games a week. They shouldn't be tired. Ron also has been lazy on defense for stretches by not boxing out or getting out to an open man. I do agree that the season is not lost as we can beat anyone if these three guys can play as hard and smart as Paul did last night.

 

[Caliknight]

The best thing to do is look at what Pike has or hasn't done and how that impacts players and their performances.

A) obviously, there are going to be Geo Baker haters, which is understandable, some fans do not like certain RU players and like others.....I am not sure how that happens when players actually leave or transfer and are thrown a bouquet of roses, but leave that to the side.

The minutes are piling up on Geo Baker and he is averaging 35 minutes a game over the last 9 games. I know fans think that makes sense, because he is needed on the floor, but when you are playing heavy minutes and have to defend, score and do these things, you are going to have an eventual decline.

B) Caleb McConnell has also played as hard as he possibly could over the last 2 to 3 weeks and just appears to be physically spent or on fumes. He doesn't have his legs, because of the amount of effort he has been pushing forward with to defend the opponents best players.

C) in order to ask for this type of effort, you have to have options to defend off the bench. Right now, Mag and Jalen Miller are the 2 players who have fresher legs and energy and while one is finally getting on track (Mag), Miller is only an option to play defense.

The disappointment with Pike is his clear inability to expand or develop a bench OR he takes too long to integrate what players need to do in his system. I could say he hasn't developed a bench BUT it just seems like you need a full season and offseason to get into the defensive flow or understanding.

Mag has had a full preseason before his freshmen year and did little to nothing last year BUT is showing signs of life. I think he is a definite rotation player the rest of the year.

Reiber who is always going to just be a key role player off the bench, is actually impacting the game when he comes in, but is never going to be a starter. But he adds something and is giving the bench something.

I don't know why all of our transfers or 1st year players, have to take THIS LONG, to have an impact off the bench. Hyatt and Jones and even Agee all either don't get enough reps in practice OR Pike and the staff have done a poor job if integrating them into the system.

I don't know what the rest of this season looks like, but no B1G roster can get by with 4 to 5 complete players, if you are relying on defense, intensity and hustle. The last 2 years on the court had more continuous pieces in the system for 2, 3 or sometimes 4 years. Right now, there doesn't appear to be a plan for how the bench is used....it's too inconsistent and needs to change down the stretch of the season.

Final point or silver lining.....I know fans believe the season is lost, but with 9 to 11 games left, if RU can get an aggressive and attacking Paul Mulcahy, RU can beat anyone left on the schedule. I am not worried about Baker, Cliff or Harper going forward.....can Mulcahy and Mag be factors like the last 2 games?? If so, RU will stay in NCAA contention, because there are wins to be picked up IF, Mag and Mulcahy can continue to play well.

Geos defense was horrible last night. As was a number of other guys. It’s the very reason we went zone in the second half. We weren’t guarding anyone man to man, especially Geo.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

So much to unravel in this game and the heartbreak result. I have been filling the post game threads with 2 desired thoughts that would give us a good chance to win our games based on the prior results 1) Score 70 points 2) Hold the other team to no more than 7 made 3 point goals.
We got to 70 with 2 seconds left in regulation but we gave up 8 threes not 7 or less . Now most of the damage was done in the first half giving up 6 and then we gave up 2 more early in the second half before the under 16 timeout. Then guess what? No more 3’s thru regulation and our team mounted its comeback. We ended up giving up 10 with NU’s two more in overtime which can be argued why welost as well.
How we got to 70 (78 with OT )was unique, Paul’s 31,Cliff’s 22 and Ron’s 16 and Geo and Caleb ‘s 0 with plenty of chances to score 75-80 in regulation off the missed offensive rebound put backs alone.

But what has to be addressed initially is our first half slow starts , which is now 6 Big 10 games digging our hole , only to climb back or not having enough to climb back to win. Revsine doing the broadcast said he asked Pike why and Pike answered if I knew why Dave , I would have corrected it by now. Maybe the second half was a blueprint . Pike finally did something in these games we are struggling to help his players to win. That full court trap , press, followed by doubling defenders as they crossed half court or were stuck by the sideline , where we used our length , was the key adjustment to our comeback and as always our turned up defense energized our offense.

Now Northwestern has to be given credit for playing their best first half of the year as they ran their half court offense to perfection, hit 6 threes, and out quicked and out hustled our defense and on the boards ( I counted 4 shots they missed that they got the offense rebound and converted). Probably the worst man to man we played all year. But the second half press energized our legs, leading to deflections and steals where NW could not even execute a simple pass without it being deflected. So Pike made the adjustment after being down 18 at the half and as much as 24. There is enough of a sample size to say he has to start the games this way or start in man and if we are getting torched or letting up too many threes, make the immediate first half adjustment. Again , it appears clear that our defense energizes our offense that has struggled and this adjustment will jumpstart it

Now back to 70 points. Paul was magnificent . He took over the game , became the shooting ,scoring ,passing point guard we have been desperately waiting for to emerge. Those who saw him in high school where he averaged a triple double must have had a flashback last night . His previous career high was 15 ( at Maryland ) so 31 to go along with 7 assists and 7 rebounds was a performance for the ages that unfortunately happened in a loss. Paul will unlikely be able to duplicate it because most of the BiG 10 have more athletic guards than Northwestern that he cannot abuse like he did tonight , but the shooting scoring point guard , three point shooter, not just a passer point guard or wing has been what we have been clamoring for and hopefully here to stay. Paul and Caleb scored 12 points combined in 4 of our losses playing 30-35 minutes. We have lamented we need more out of them and their minutes need reduction to allow Hyatt, Jones or Mag to start or play more minutes. Well Caleb scored 0 and his minutes were reduced and Paul scored 31 to more than make up the slack and Mag scored 2 , Hyatt and Jones 0 ( Jones DNP and Hyatt 2 lousy minutes giving up offensive rebound putback and turnover ) Last game Caleb only played 16 minutes with 4 points but Mag hit 13 points in 20 minutes to go along with Paul’s 12 and we needed everyone ‘s points. So Pike is starting to make an adjustment in minutes and maybe bringing Caleb off the bench and Mag starting is the way to go down the stretch

.There is no defending Geo ‘s 0 points tonight on 0-7 but at least he stopped shooting , pretty much deferred to Paul , played defense , got a steal after a missed shot , forced the trap in the half court and yes a terrible turnover at Ron’s legs . We scored 70 and just needed him to hit a three , a layup , drive and get fouled as they were over the limit that last 7 minutes and we win the game. There are a ton of bashers on here but Geo probably feels like **** he let his team down and will have to live with this loss .

Hard to find a lot of good things in a loss but there were many besides Paul. Cliff’s career high 22 , including the tying dunk from that great pass from Paul. If you told me before the game Paul scored 31 and Cliff 22 for 53 , I would have said who scored the 100th point. Even if we get 1/2 of their point totals going forward, we are in good shape. Dean had another good game and his athleticism is coming out on the defensive end as he almost had a terrific steal that he couldn’t control before it went out of bounds ,, but not many big men make that play. Ron penetrated and trusted Dean and dished to the baseline where Dean swished the 13 footer that helped the comeback. In fact , Pike had Oscar playing deep into that second half and I was hoping since Cliff was not in any foul trouble that he played Cliff and Dean together instead of Oscar. We were playing zone and Dean’s length and quickness would have been better in my opinion. Plus having Dean to crash the boards or be a stretch 4 was worth a look.

Finally , Ron had 16 points and dished to Dean for a jumper during the comeback after penetrating and then to Paul for the late corner three so anyone saying Ron was playing hero ball on the last shot is barking up the wrong tree. There was not a lot of time , Ron gathered the rebound and went , and then got a tremendous look that he probably knocks down 7 or 8 out of 10 times . I want him taking that shot everyday. It just did not go in. Ron also got the offensive rebound off the foul line miss and unfortunately did not convert ( lid on basket ) but was engaged and his baseline drive and foul was a thing of beauty. He also could have scored 20 tonight with a little better luck.

One final good point , we shot 81% from the foul line 21-27 which was fabulous. Ron has been shooting almost perfect lately , but Cliff and Dean and Paul and Geo and even Caleb are decent foul shooters. If they can get in the bonus in each half , we can score more without the clock moving which will help us against the gauntlet that is coming.

Excellent points and summary.

 

[pawildcat_rivals209725]

and the Northwestern meltdown was one for the ages, its exactly how these comebacks happen, they did everything wrong, problem is RU made one or two mistakes too many...there was a few open 3s given up and not being able to tip in a ball or secure a rebound was costly

Actually, it isn't one for the ages. Northwestern fans have been watching this sort of crap for the past three seasons. Granted the lead they fritter away usually isn't as much as 24 points, but this is a Northwestern team that had hung with a ranked Providence team, beaten Michigan State on Izzo's court, last week lost by two to Michigan and three to Illinois, gave away a 10-point second-half lead against Penn State at home, and on and on.

The Cats are 7-27 in games decided by five points or less since 2018.

Collins has brought in some of the best talent we've ever had at NU, but he doesn't seem to know how to coach them.

 

[RU84]

The best thing to do is look at what Pike has or hasn't done and how that impacts players and their performances.

A) obviously, there are going to be Geo Baker haters, which is understandable, some fans do not like certain RU players and like others.....I am not sure how that happens when players actually leave or transfer and are thrown a bouquet of roses, but leave that to the side.

The minutes are piling up on Geo Baker and he is averaging 35 minutes a game over the last 9 games. I know fans think that makes sense, because he is needed on the floor, but when you are playing heavy minutes and have to defend, score and do these things, you are going to have an eventual decline.

B) Caleb McConnell has also played as hard as he possibly could over the last 2 to 3 weeks and just appears to be physically spent or on fumes. He doesn't have his legs, because of the amount of effort he has been pushing forward with to defend the opponents best players.

C) in order to ask for this type of effort, you have to have options to defend off the bench. Right now, Mag and Jalen Miller are the 2 players who have fresher legs and energy and while one is finally getting on track (Mag), Miller is only an option to play defense.

The disappointment with Pike is his clear inability to expand or develop a bench OR he takes too long to integrate what players need to do in his system. I could say he hasn't developed a bench BUT it just seems like you need a full season and offseason to get into the defensive flow or understanding.

Mag has had a full preseason before his freshmen year and did little to nothing last year BUT is showing signs of life. I think he is a definite rotation player the rest of the year.

Reiber who is always going to just be a key role player off the bench, is actually impacting the game when he comes in, but is never going to be a starter. But he adds something and is giving the bench something.

I don't know why all of our transfers or 1st year players, have to take THIS LONG, to have an impact off the bench. Hyatt and Jones and even Agee all either don't get enough reps in practice OR Pike and the staff have done a poor job if integrating them into the system.

I don't know what the rest of this season looks like, but no B1G roster can get by with 4 to 5 complete players, if you are relying on defense, intensity and hustle. The last 2 years on the court had more continuous pieces in the system for 2, 3 or sometimes 4 years. Right now, there doesn't appear to be a plan for how the bench is used....it's too inconsistent and needs to change down the stretch of the season.

Final point or silver lining.....I know fans believe the season is lost, but with 9 to 11 games left, if RU can get an aggressive and attacking Paul Mulcahy, RU can beat anyone left on the schedule. I am not worried about Baker, Cliff or Harper going forward.....can Mulcahy and Mag be factors like the last 2 games?? If so, RU will stay in NCAA contention, because there are wins to be picked up IF, Mag and Mulcahy can continue to play well.

Maybe the problem lies in recruiting or being able to scout talent. If the players off the bench take this long to develop, or don’t develop, maybe the coaching staff has identified the wrong players … or can’t attract better talent. I know there is a huge difference between kids teams and college, but I see the same problem with the town 8th grade travel team I coach. There is such a huge talent gap between my core 5 and my bench. If we want to compete with the top teams on our schedule, my starters literally have to be on the floor most of the game. My bench players need more than one season of skill development to be contributors, or at the very least, not liabilities against better teams. The difference is I don’t pick my roster, college coaches can.

 

[Caliknight]

Actually, it isn't one for the ages. Northwestern fans have been watching this sort of crap for the past three seasons. Granted the lead they fritter away usually isn't as much as 24 points, but this is a Northwestern team that had hung with a ranked Providence team, beaten Michigan State on Izzo's court, last week lost by two to Michigan and three to Illinois, gave away a 10-point second-half lead against Penn State at home, and on and on.

The Cats are 7-27 in games decided by five points or less since 2018.

Collins has brought in some of the best talent we've ever had at NU, but he doesn't seem to know how to coach them.

His coaching down the stretch was horrid. I can see why you guys lose so many close games.

 

[Randal7]

Actually, it isn't one for the ages. Northwestern fans have been watching this sort of crap for the past three seasons. Granted the lead they fritter away usually isn't as much as 24 points, but this is a Northwestern team that had hung with a ranked Providence team, beaten Michigan State on Izzo's court, last week lost by two to Michigan and three to Illinois, gave away a 10-point second-half lead against Penn State at home, and on and on.

The Cats are 7-27 in games decided by five points or less since 2018.

Collins has brought in some of the best talent we've ever had at NU, but he doesn't seem to know how to coach them.

Sounds like collins + pike = coach K

Our guy is having trouble recruiting the talent, but can sure coach em up

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Maybe the problem lies in recruiting or being able to scout talent. If the players off the bench take this long to develop, or don’t develop, maybe the coaching staff has identified the wrong players … or can’t attract better talent. I know there is a huge difference between kids teams and college, but I see the same problem with the town 8th grade travel team I coach. There is such a huge talent gap between my core 5 and my bench. If we want to compete with the top teams on our schedule, my starters literally have to be on the floor most of the game. My bench players need more than one season of skill development to be contributors, or at the very least, not liabilities against better teams. The difference is I don’t pick my roster, college coaches can.

I don't agree and don't believe that kids are immediately impactful off the bench on winning programs, unless you are a blue blood. Bench kids only can get better by being in your system OR by playing more minutes and playing through those mistakes. I am willing to to let the frosh or sophomores make mistakes, while learning and that is not a talent issue.....better rosters with better players, still aren't going to win, until they play, get to learn and then lose games in the process of getting better.

I use Michigan as an example this year with all 4* or 5* on their rosters and they're struggling with the same mistakes that we are seeing on RU.....there is no excuse for experience and that's why the transfer portal is so popular for fans, is your likely to get an experienced player, can you coach or fix that flawed/portal player in his next stop AND win games AND have that player adjust to a new system??

Most portal imports don't work IMO.....I am not sure we should go that route long or short term.

 

[pawildcat_rivals209725]

Sounds like collins + pike = coach K

Our guy is having trouble recruiting the talent, but can sure coach em up

LOL, maybe we can somehow combine the two of them and come up with a contending team.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

One thing I am fairly confident about is that our starting 5 is absolutely spent. The Iowa game in particular has had longing impact that we are still seeing. Whether you are a swimmer or a runner you have training plans and how you train is extremely important.

If I am running a marathon i am going to taper a few weeks before the marathon and know the few weeks after my performance condition is going to be very low.

Obviously this team didnt run a marathon, but they played their guts out vs. Iowa. We had 2 players cramp. It is very likely, an almost certainity in my mind, Caleb, Ron and Geo are feeling the effects. I am also expecting Paul to eventually feel effects of the amount of energy expended last night. Doesn't always show it self right away.

Should Pike be blamed for not using bench? YES with a caveat that answer is NO if the bench is really as bad as it appears they might be.

 

[bac2therac]

One thing I am fairly confident about is that our starting 5 is absolutely spent. The Iowa game in particular has had longing impact that we are still seeing. Whether you are a swimmer or a runner you have training plans and how you train is extremely important.

If I am running a marathon i am going to taper a few weeks before the marathon and know the few weeks after my performance condition is going to be very low.

Obviously this team didnt run a marathon, but they played their guts out vs. Iowa. We had 2 players cramp. It is very likely, an almost certainity in my mind, Caleb, Ron and Geo are feeling the effects. I am also expecting Paul to eventually feel effects of the amount of energy expended last night. Doesn't always show it self right away.

Should Pike be blamed for not using bench? YES with a caveat that answer is NO if the bench is really as bad as it appears they might be.

if that is true then why did Paul and Cliff dominate, Yes the matchups were favorable but do not lump being spent with the effort put forth by 3 players in particular

you are disregarding that this team has played the exact template in road games dating back to November and I would argue that some of these games are the exact template of home games vs Lafayette and Lehigh....which is more troublesome than anything and an indictment on the coaching staff

 

[bethlehemfan]

One thing I am fairly confident about is that our starting 5 is absolutely spent. The Iowa game in particular has had longing impact that we are still seeing. Whether you are a swimmer or a runner you have training plans and how you train is extremely important.

If I am running a marathon i am going to taper a few weeks before the marathon and know the few weeks after my performance condition is going to be very low.

Obviously this team didnt run a marathon, but they played their guts out vs. Iowa. We had 2 players cramp. It is very likely, an almost certainity in my mind, Caleb, Ron and Geo are feeling the effects. I am also expecting Paul to eventually feel effects of the amount of energy expended last night. Doesn't always show it self right away.

Should Pike be blamed for not using bench? YES with a caveat that answer is NO if the bench is really as bad as it appears they might be.

I was worried about the turnaround on the road there after Nebraska. Our home schedule actually lines up pretty well from a rest standpoint but the lineup is daunting. We really blew so many opportunities to safely land in the tourney again. I think some of it is mental or emotional fatigue. 5 years at the same place starting the whole time is probably too much.

 

[bethlehemfan]

if that is true then why did Paul and Cliff dominate, Yes the matchups were favorable but do not lump being spent with the effort put forth by 3 players in particular

you are disregarding that this team has played the exact template in road games dating back to November and I would argue that some of these games are the exact template of home games vs Lafayette and Lehigh....which is more troublesome than anything and an indictment on the coaching staff

I think it’s their emotional state as much as physical.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

if that is true then why did Paul and Cliff dominate, Yes the matchups were favorable but do not lump being spent with the effort put forth by 3 players in particular

you are disregarding that this team has played the exact template in road games dating back to November and I would argue that some of these games are the exact template of home games vs Lafayette and Lehigh....which is more troublesome than anything and an indictment on the coaching staff

There was one play late in the game where a defensive rebound went right to Cliff. He was almost startled by it.

At times there can seem to be a lag between the brain and instructions to get the body moving.

This stuff is real. Walls aren't fake. When my son was a freshman he played on a club team and the HS team at same time. In January he hit a wall. Was slow in his decision making and slept 12+ hours a night for a few weeks. Fortunately he broke through it. It is a real thing and it is a combo of physical and mental. I have also seen it marathon training.

There is a reason why our team wears fitness gadgets in their shorts on game day. There is a reason people are wearing Whoops to learn as much as they can about productivity levels.

 

[bac2therac]

Cliff is always good for a few of those a game..you know that

You want to use fatigue as the excuse but something else is off with this teams effort. You are disregarding all the previous evidence we have of players taking nights off not to mention Caleb's penchant for selfish we saw in the first few games. Do not try to overanalyze things we have evidence for.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Cliff is always good for a few of those a game..you know that

You want to use fatigue as the excuse but something else is off with this teams effort. You are disregarding all the previous evidence we have of players taking nights off not to mention Caleb's penchant for selfish we saw in the first few games. Do not try to overanalyze things we have evidence for.

Sorry, but i think it is pretty damn obvious to me.

PLUS you know how I know I am right? I am 4 games better than you in the B1G prediction thread.

SCOREBOARD!!!!!!!

 

[bac2therac]

I think it’s their emotional state as much as physical.

oh I will agree with you there totally

 

[bac2therac]

Sorry, but i think it is pretty damn obvious to me.

PLUS you know how I know I am right? I am 4 games better than you in the B1G prediction thread.

SCOREBOARD!!!!!!!

Paul Mulcahy waves hello 44 minutes

 

[RW90]

I tend to agree with GFIG here that it's more of a case of tiredness, and more importantly conditioning, rather than a lack of effort. Geo and Harper just look tired to me. Both have had many of their jumpers come up short which is a sign of tired legs, and have completely abandoned their inside game choosing to hang around the three point line instead, rather the playing above the rim compared to the past.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Paul Mulcahy waves hello 44 minutes

paul had an out of body experience last night. I want to be wrong.....circle OSU and at WISC games.

 

[RU_DIO]

Paul had an excellent game and played the best he has ever played for us. He took full advantage of a very favorable matchup which is what players should do. Though I believe his deficiencies will show when he is matched up against bigger, faster players.

 

[bac2therac]

I tend to agree with GFIG here that it's more of a case of tiredness, and more importantly conditioning, rather than a lack of effort. Geo and Harper just look tired to me. Both have had many of their jumpers come up short which is a sign of tired legs, and have completely abandoned their inside game choosing to hang around the three point line instead, rather the playing above the rim compared to the past.

their bodies look terrible....that should have been taken care of in the offseason...thats on the coaching staff and the players desire themselves

 

[kcg88]

One thing I am fairly confident about is that our starting 5 is absolutely spent. The Iowa game in particular has had longing impact that we are still seeing. Whether you are a swimmer or a runner you have training plans and how you train is extremely important.

If I am running a marathon i am going to taper a few weeks before the marathon and know the few weeks after my performance condition is going to be very low.

Obviously this team didnt run a marathon, but they played their guts out vs. Iowa. We had 2 players cramp. It is very likely, an almost certainity in my mind, Caleb, Ron and Geo are feeling the effects. I am also expecting Paul to eventually feel effects of the amount of energy expended last night. Doesn't always show it self right away.

Should Pike be blamed for not using bench? YES with a caveat that answer is NO if the bench is really as bad as it appears they might be.

Nah. Marathon runners can bounce back in about 3-4 days. These guys are college athletes. No chance one game is lingering like that. I do believe conditioning is an issue within games (guys conserving their energy because they know they can't go all out on both sides of the ball for 35 minutes).

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Nah. Marathon runners can bounce back in about 3-4 days. These guys are college athletes. No chance one game is lingering like that. I do believe conditioning is an issue within games (guys conserving their energy because they know they can't go all out on both sides of the ball for 35 minutes).

They aren't running anywhere near what they did.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

their bodies look terrible....that should have been taken care of in the offseason...thats on the coaching staff and the players desire themselves

Are you blaming Steve Pikiell for not getting Ron Harper in the gym. I blame him for playing Ron too many minutes. I blame him for not yanking Ron when the effort isn't there. No way am i going to blame Pike for Ron's fitness.

 

[bac2therac]

who is he yanking him for................

 

[RU84]

I don't agree and don't believe that kids are immediately impactful off the bench on winning programs, unless you are a blue blood. Bench kids only can get better by being in your system OR by playing more minutes and playing through those mistakes. I am willing to to let the frosh or sophomores make mistakes, while learning and that is not a talent issue.....better rosters with better players, still aren't going to win, until they play, get to learn and then lose games in the process of getting better.

I use Michigan as an example this year with all 4* or 5* on their rosters and they're struggling with the same mistakes that we are seeing on RU.....there is no excuse for experience and that's why the transfer portal is so popular for fans, is your likely to get an experienced player, can you coach or fix that flawed/portal player in his next stop AND win games AND have that player adjust to a new system??

Most portal imports don't work IMO.....I am not sure we should go that route long or short term.

I see your point, it’s a “chicken and egg” thing with developing the bench. The conundrum is do you develop the bench now with the risk of losing more games or having experiencing bigger blowouts or do you run your better players into the ground to (hopefully) win today with the risk of losing more games later when they wear down?

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Geo and Harper have given us our only NCAA appearance in many decades.. maybe 2 if you want to count 2020. But they failed this year. Maybe its because the other pieces were not enough, but we were lucky to have 2 stars and a star in the making (Cliff) and a team player in Mulcahy, and an enthusiastic defender in Caleb (who, I predict, we regain his shooting touch for next season.. he has to). That should have been enough.

But, really, the Geo-Ron pair have shown up and been in sync for, maybe, 2-3 Big Ten games... and a few halves of other games, if that. And, early season, only Ron showed up with both Mulcahy and Caleb taking and missing far too many shots. Only Cliff has been consistent in what he brings... well.. the defense has largely been there.

That's not enough.

If Geo and Ron do show up going forward.. it is quite possible to get many upsets down the stretch... but then fans like me.. that often suspect officiating as having a bias.. will want to give the probably NCAA teams every advantage over a team that will not get selected even with big wins down the stretch.

 

[Scangg]

A fitting end to this season would be Geo and Ron heating up end of year to get us just short of the dance

 

[winfield102]

Maybe some of the guys arent doing all the right things to take care of their bodies in between games(nutrition, sleep, etc). I don't want to hear about guys being tired though.

 

[kcg88]

Geo and Harper have given us our only NCAA appearance in many decades.. maybe 2 if you want to count 2020. But they failed this year. Maybe its because the other pieces were not enough, but we were lucky to have 2 stars and a star in the making (Cliff) and a team player in Mulcahy, and an enthusiastic defender in Caleb (who, I predict, we regain his shooting touch for next season.. he has to). That should have been enough.

But, really, the Geo-Ron pair have shown up and been in sync for, maybe, 2-3 Big Ten games... and a few halves of other games, if that. And, early season, only Ron showed up with both Mulcahy and Caleb taking and missing far too many shots. Only Cliff has been consistent in what he brings... well.. the defense has largely been there.

That's not enough.

If Geo and Ron do show up going forward.. it is quite possible to get many upsets down the stretch... but then fans like me.. that often suspect officiating as having a bias.. will want to give the probably NCAA teams every advantage over a team that will not get selected even with big wins down the stretch.

The Harper takes that have been flying are going overboard. Harper has been by far our best player. The failure is the rest of the roster which is on Pikiell.

Hyatt has been below average offensively and defensively. McConnell has been brutal offensively. Agee is not a Big Ten player. Jalen Miller offers nothing offensively. Oskar doesn't look like a Big Ten player. Mag and Reiber have shown potential but aren't consistent contributors.

We just saw Baker and Harper be a part of two tournament teams. Statistically they aren't far off of how they performed the past two seasons.

The failure is losing Yeboah, Johnson, and Young and not bringing in or developing a single player as good as any of those three (maybe Cliff). That's not Ron Harper or Geo Baker's fault.

 

[Scangg]

The Harper takes that have been flying are going overboard. Harper has been by far our best player. The failure is the rest of the roster which is on Pikiell.

Hyatt has been below average offensively and defensively. McConnell has been brutal offensively. Agee is not a Big Ten player. Jalen Miller offers nothing offensively. Oskar doesn't look like a Big Ten player. Mag and Reiber have shown potential but aren't consistent contributors.

We just saw Baker and Harper be a part of two tournament teams. Statistically they aren't far off of how they performed the past two seasons.

The failure is losing Yeboah, Johnson, and Young and not bringing in or developing a single player as good as any of those three (maybe Cliff). That's not Ron Harper or Geo Baker's fault.

We needed Hyatt or Jones to be reliable scoring options off the bench. Unfortunately neither has been. That's the role we sorely are missing

 

[Joey Bags]

Geo’s pass was so bad it honestly made me think of point shaving.

i don’t think that thought has ever crossed my mind watching a RU bball game. I know the odds of it being actual point shaving is extremely small but it was that bad

 

[Knight Ed_rivals]

Geo and Harper have given us our only NCAA appearance in many decades.. maybe 2 if you want to count 2020. But they failed this year. Maybe its because the other pieces were not enough, but we were lucky to have 2 stars and a star in the making (Cliff) and a team player in Mulcahy, and an enthusiastic defender in Caleb (who, I predict, we regain his shooting touch for next season.. he has to). That should have been enough.

But, really, the Geo-Ron pair have shown up and been in sync for, maybe, 2-3 Big Ten games... and a few halves of other games, if that. And, early season, only Ron showed up with both Mulcahy and Caleb taking and missing far too many shots. Only Cliff has been consistent in what he brings... well.. the defense has largely been there.

That's not enough.

If Geo and Ron do show up going forward.. it is quite possible to get many upsets down the stretch... but then fans like me.. that often suspect officiating as having a bias.. will want to give the probably NCAA teams every advantage over a team that will not get selected even with big wins down the stretch.

Are you sure it wasn't Young and Johnson who gave us that NCAA appearance? They were clearly the team's MVP's last season.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Are you sure it wasn't Young and Johnson who gave us that NCAA appearance? They were clearly the team's MVP's last season.

This. We had the current starting 5 on last year’s team along with those 2. Think about that. We also had Reiber and Oskar then too. Tez did dumb things but I’d swap him for Jones or Hyatt in a second right now. His defense is so much better than either of theirs. That team was just plain better.

 

[goru7]

We needed Hyatt or Jones to be reliable scoring options off the bench. Unfortunately neither has been. That's the role we sorely are missing

True. The failure I think and it is just an opinion is Pike miscalculated. He insisted Geo, Paul and Caleb start and play a lot of minutes together , which in my opinion , is a mistake. Paul and Geo can be point guards but rarely effective at the same time without making the other invisible. He guessed that as seniors Caleb and Geo and Ron would know what it took to score more , defend better, and up their averages and he loves Paul and as a junior expected a jump out of him as well. You can truly say the only one that has improved drastically is Cliff , especially on the defensive end with his shot blocking. Cliff also has a good shot that he doesn’t take enough .


The early season we saw Geo , Paul and Caleb play worse , then Geo got hurt , then Paul and Caleb played a lot better and declined again. .
Ron played great early , a double double machine , kinda like last year , but lately (last 5-6) games , he is not getting better than last year. They have not put it all together and the bench players are unable in their limited minutes to get any rhythm.

Now we are getting inconsistency galore. Ron 31 and 29 a few nights and 7 and 9 on others. Geo goes for 25 against Minnesota and almost wills us to a win and in 3-4 other games around Minnesota he cannot hit the right side of a barn culminating in the goose egg last night .
Paul had no more than 15 in a game against Maryland on the road most of it in the second half after playing one of the worst first halves he has ever played. Last night the shooting scoring passing point guard we have been waiting for , the triple double king , showed up and what a welcome sight but only seen in 1 or 2 games with a ton of turnovers in early season games that hopefully are a thing of the past down the stretch.
Caleb showed some elite defensive effort after the opening 5-6 games with the yips and then his mid range returned and he scored more. Now his shot problems have returned , his legs seem to have abandoned him a little bit on defense and his decision making has gotten worse ( although he had 3 assists in the first few minutes of the Northwestern game and I was hoping that would get his confidence up but it didn’t. ).

So the refusal to change the starters , develop Hyatt or Jones or Mag quicker , especially Hyatt , has hurt our bench as well. Jones is an enigma and he clearly has struggled defensively and definitely in man to man , but his insertion of Oscar instead of Jones when zone and traps were run in the second half was a huge wasted opportunity to get something out of him. The way Paul controlled the offense , whenever Paul penetrated and got stuck , besides Cliff for the dunks , Jones could have been there for the kick out. He could have done it in the Maryland home game when Maryland went zone but didn’t again.
Hyatt with the first team would not be focused on by the defensive scouting report because of Ron , Geo and Cliff , and we could see his skill set. He has never been given a chance to get in rhythm

Now I do not know the answer and we will find out soon, but can all the guys develop some consistency playing well , shooting well ,down the stretch like we have seen by all of them in each game . It would be great to see a box score with Ron, Geo , Paul and Cliff with 15 points a piece and either Mag or Hyatt or Jones getting 4-8 points or more in any game ( like Mag scored 13 in 20 minutes at Nebraska and Caleb got 4 but in only 16 minutes ) . Dean is giving us real productive minutes and if he can get us another 4 to 6 , rebound and block shots and play good defense , then we can get this done. It will take a starting lineup change from Pike, maybe a full court or at least a half court press with traps ,to eliminate slow starts and intensity , playing a higher zone at times like the Northwestern game zone not a normal 2-3 but extended and trapping the other guard that stops their dribble. I think our guys have shown they are capable at times and now they need to be consistent.