Was out working so was not able to watch the first half but listened to it on the radio, was able to see most of the 2nd half. Obviously being up 11 early in the 2nd half 36-25 and then getting outscored 37-10 to go down 62-46 is not a good thing and it cannot be excused. RU played one of their best halves of the year and had Sparty on their heels that entire first half, dictating pace and being the aggressor and playing with so much confidence. Coming off the crushing loss to Iowa everyone was wondering how this team would respond. Major credit to them, RU came to play, the staff did a great job preparing and all was going good. But Michigan State and Izzo are an elite team and coach. You knew that the 2nd half that they would be coming after RU much like they did in the OSU game where they put the clamps on the Buckeyes holding them to 13 points. I know everyone is disappointed on what could have been but reality is that Michigan State is several notches better than RU and it is not knocking RU. This game didnt surprise me, MSU is capable of turning on the jets and playing at another level.
I was posting in another thread about learning to win/playing at another level and in the past couple of game threads I talked about RU having to learn to play with leads. That was a huge issue tonight. How to value possessions and how to not blink and let the other team take control. A key time in this game was RU up 40-33, Caleb taking an ill advised 3 very early in the shot clock. Later at 40-37 with 13:23 to go, there was a 50 second stretch that simply decided the game. Michigan State was able to hit a 3 on their 5th chance, 4 rebounds, 3 of them by Aaron Henry. All hustle plays, all at a key time with a questionable lineup in the game. From there they were off to the races. That was it, the game was over. Sparty stuck a fork in Rutgers. There was going to be no recovery. RU had their blinking moment and the coaching staff like at Iowa was too cute in trying to save the best players. Lineup not good at critical juncture. We have been saying all year there is little margin of error for this team and tonight screamed that. Despite MSU being the better team and being better coached, RU had positioned themselves to win this game. RU played outstanding for about 25 minutes but when you are playing a team as talented as MSU that can knock you in the teeth and then smother you, you cannot give them an opening. Its like popping a whole in a water balloon. RU was left a soggy deflated mess with no answers for the last ten minutes.
How many learning lessons does this team have to have....well duh, unfortunately this is part of the process. Learning lessons come in many ways, the loss to Fordham was a learning lesson, the beatdown by Maryland was a learning lesson, the Northwestern loss a learning lesson, the Minnesota rout a learning lesson, the Illinois loss a learning lesson, the Iowa loss a learning lesson. Each loss taught this team something new and different that they had to go through. I am including coaches in on this as well. Tonight another part of growing up, playing with the lead, making sure you play at a high level throughout, understanding how outplaying a team is only one part of the game. Rutgers is not ready to win at Michigan State. That is okay, we should all feel good about what we saw in that first half and the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half. We continue to get closer, continue to fight. Its not a complete team with all the parts. RU can be tough and resilient against a Penn State or a Northwestern or an Illinois or Iowa but what it really takes to compete at the top of league RU learned tonight. For RU it was ugly as it can get for that 8-10 minute stretch, our worst basketball of the year perhaps. Honestly its what this team needed to go through. This team still has fight and still has hunger, we have seen it all year, we even saw it in the last 5 minutes of this game where RU decided to pick themselves off the floor, wipe their face and start working on their game again.
Going forward there is a 4 game stretch to close the year where RU can win any of them. And its true they can lose any of them. The truth will lay somewhere in between. This team has its limitations, I know some people are forcing the issue and the think the team is better than it is. RU is good, but good doesnt always show up in a rebuilding year. Lets relax on the expectations and enjoy what is going on with this rebuild. I am more than confident after seeing this past 4 game stretch that RU is closing the gap with the rest of the Big 10 and learning those needed lessons it will take with them in the offseason on what it will take to knock off a Michigan State and start moving to the top half of the standings.
Sunday cannot come fast enough for another opportunity for this program to show the fans that their hard work is starting to pay off.
I was posting in another thread about learning to win/playing at another level and in the past couple of game threads I talked about RU having to learn to play with leads. That was a huge issue tonight. How to value possessions and how to not blink and let the other team take control. A key time in this game was RU up 40-33, Caleb taking an ill advised 3 very early in the shot clock. Later at 40-37 with 13:23 to go, there was a 50 second stretch that simply decided the game. Michigan State was able to hit a 3 on their 5th chance, 4 rebounds, 3 of them by Aaron Henry. All hustle plays, all at a key time with a questionable lineup in the game. From there they were off to the races. That was it, the game was over. Sparty stuck a fork in Rutgers. There was going to be no recovery. RU had their blinking moment and the coaching staff like at Iowa was too cute in trying to save the best players. Lineup not good at critical juncture. We have been saying all year there is little margin of error for this team and tonight screamed that. Despite MSU being the better team and being better coached, RU had positioned themselves to win this game. RU played outstanding for about 25 minutes but when you are playing a team as talented as MSU that can knock you in the teeth and then smother you, you cannot give them an opening. Its like popping a whole in a water balloon. RU was left a soggy deflated mess with no answers for the last ten minutes.
How many learning lessons does this team have to have....well duh, unfortunately this is part of the process. Learning lessons come in many ways, the loss to Fordham was a learning lesson, the beatdown by Maryland was a learning lesson, the Northwestern loss a learning lesson, the Minnesota rout a learning lesson, the Illinois loss a learning lesson, the Iowa loss a learning lesson. Each loss taught this team something new and different that they had to go through. I am including coaches in on this as well. Tonight another part of growing up, playing with the lead, making sure you play at a high level throughout, understanding how outplaying a team is only one part of the game. Rutgers is not ready to win at Michigan State. That is okay, we should all feel good about what we saw in that first half and the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half. We continue to get closer, continue to fight. Its not a complete team with all the parts. RU can be tough and resilient against a Penn State or a Northwestern or an Illinois or Iowa but what it really takes to compete at the top of league RU learned tonight. For RU it was ugly as it can get for that 8-10 minute stretch, our worst basketball of the year perhaps. Honestly its what this team needed to go through. This team still has fight and still has hunger, we have seen it all year, we even saw it in the last 5 minutes of this game where RU decided to pick themselves off the floor, wipe their face and start working on their game again.
Going forward there is a 4 game stretch to close the year where RU can win any of them. And its true they can lose any of them. The truth will lay somewhere in between. This team has its limitations, I know some people are forcing the issue and the think the team is better than it is. RU is good, but good doesnt always show up in a rebuilding year. Lets relax on the expectations and enjoy what is going on with this rebuild. I am more than confident after seeing this past 4 game stretch that RU is closing the gap with the rest of the Big 10 and learning those needed lessons it will take with them in the offseason on what it will take to knock off a Michigan State and start moving to the top half of the standings.
Sunday cannot come fast enough for another opportunity for this program to show the fans that their hard work is starting to pay off.
