Great comments from Collins

[SirScarlet]

Nice article imo. Some good stuff in here

http://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2017/01/13/chris-collins-steve-pikiell-stay-course/96528722/

 

[RUJMM78]

I don't buy into what other coaches say after defeating a opponent.Its a club where they say good things about you after they win and then bad mouth you during recruiting battles.

 

[RUBigFrank]

Other Big East coaches loved Terry Shea back in the day!

 

[koko2315]

I'm sure collins is about as sincere as his mentor...

 

[bowlgoal]

I don't buy into what other coaches say after defeating a opponent.Its a club where they say good things about you after they win and then bad mouth you during recruiting battles.

I'm disagreeing on this one. This wasn't coach speak and the rest of the Big 10 coaches are seeing the same things. Steve is very easy to like and has a great personality but the comments about how hard we are playing are genuine. We had a 9 point lead in the second half at Iowa and last night was a very close game until about 6 minutes left. If we made our free throws and a few shots fell for a guy like Mike Williams who is struggling; NW goes back to Chicago with a loss.

I think the Big 10 coaches are happy with the turnaround for Rutgers. I'm sure in the back of their minds they are well aware that we are no longer a guaranteed W on their schedule. It will take a few years just like it has for Minny, PSU and now NW but it will happen. Steve came in with some respect for what he did at Stonybrook but cmon. Collins came from Duke so he's been around this level of competition as a coach for awhile now. Steve is in the first go around and he is turning heads right now with less talent.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Tom Izzo last year: "I really think Eddie can turn this program around.''
http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...izzo_eddie_jordan_rutgers_michigan_state.html

Tom Izzo this year:

 

[bowlgoal]

Tom Izzo last year: "I really think Eddie can turn this program around.''
http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...izzo_eddie_jordan_rutgers_michigan_state.html

Again, I think you can see the results happening on the court without the W's if you are watching the games. I hope you didn't believe Tom Izzo was genuine in his comments about Eddie? Eddie was beyond horrendous. Sorry, but Izzo was trying to help him save his job.


Tom Izzo this year:

Tom Izzo last year: "I really think Eddie can turn this program around.''
http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...izzo_eddie_jordan_rutgers_michigan_state.html

Tom Izzo this year:

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I think he came across pompous as if they are so much better than us and we gave them a game. Make the damn tournament 1st and then talk about how impressive we were.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We need to beat them by 8 at their place and have Pikiell say I was very impressed with how Northwestern played. Their bigs were very active and took away what we wanted to do inside. Collins is doing a great job there and fans need to be patient. Eventually they will break their drought.

 

[RU-ROCS]

Nice article imo. Some good stuff in here

http://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2017/01/13/chris-collins-steve-pikiell-stay-course/96528722/

Take two of these (huge grains of salt) and call back in the morning.

 

[SirScarlet]

too much curmudgeonry in this thread...lol

I thought it was insightful to have a coach talk to the allures of taking shortcuts vs, building/rebuilding a program the right way. I believe Collins in his comments, and his appreciation for how hard our coach's job is.

and btw, If anyone saw the post game handshake, Collins stayed 'embraced' with Pike for a while, and tapped him in the chest several times telling him he's doing a great job

the praise - IMO - was genuine

 

[Mr_Twister]

And Collins is thrilled we play them twice. Would have played us twice without complaining if both games were played at the RAC.

 

[Plum Street]

Oppossing coaches said good things about bannon, waters, hill, rice, and Jordan.

 

[KevH]

Tom Izzo last year: "I really think Eddie can turn this program around.''
http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...izzo_eddie_jordan_rutgers_michigan_state.html

Tom Izzo this year:

Good point, but I can see with my own eyes that others are not just blowing smoke when they compliment Coach P on the job he's doing so far. The focus and effort (especially on D and on the glass) is light years ahead of previous years.

The poor decisions and lack of recognition on offense are crippling. Add terrible free throw shooting, and this is what we have.

 

[bac2therac]

Ill never forget Jay Wright's response in hearing Fred Hill got a contract extension...he said" Good, good!"

 

[TDIrish27]

I take opposing coaches positive comments with a grain of salt too.

Why in the world would he want RU better ?

Now having said that the NW rebuild is a nice blueprint for Rutgers.

Identify kids who have good all around skills and decent athleticism.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

This is all well and good, until there is a recruit that both schools wind up targeting...

I think NW is in a rare area where they have a real chance to play in Dayton on Tuesday as one of the schools from 65-68 as an 11 seed. RU goes to NW and loses by 40 last year and then keeps a game respectable for a half or so. The B1G is down in elite talent at the top, so they should get enough wins, but I watched the game and felt NIT/bubble....at no point did I say, this is an NCAA team.....Collins needs to do more work, RU with one more scorer, wins that game last night.

 

[RUJMM78]

Oppossing coaches said good things about bannon, waters, hill, rice, and Jordan.

How about Littlepage?I think not.

 

[bac2therac]

This is all well and good, until there is a recruit that both schools wind up targeting...

I think NW is in a rare area where they have a real chance to play in Dayton on Tuesday as one of the schools from 65-68 as an 11 seed. RU goes to NW and loses by 40 last year and then keeps a game respectable for a half or so. The B1G is down in elite talent at the top, so they should get enough wins, but I watched the game and felt NIT/bubble....at no point did I say, this is an NCAA team.....Collins needs to do more work, RU with one more scorer, wins that game last night.

We did not get Northwesterns best effort at all...against any other B10 school NW loses by doble digits..they have 3 league road wins already which bodes well..nothing flashy but wellcoached and comfortable under chaos

 

[TDIrish27]

ND game with them at Barclay Center was decided in the Final minute.

Teams are very similar talent wise.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We did not get Northwesterns best effort at all...against any other B10 school NW loses by doble digits..they have 3 league road wins already which bodes well..nothing flashy but wellcoached and comfortable under chaos

In fairness, you and I have been saying that a lot lately. If we keep saying team after team didn't play their best game we should give more credit to RU.

 

[bowlgoal]

You can be your own judge as to how Pikiell is doing and it's not rocket science to see that this guy can get more out of less talented players than a lot of coaches out there.

When you lose by 9 and last year lost by 39; is it shocking to get a compliment from the opposing coach? I don't think so.

This thread had gotten silly and pointless. Are we better as a team than we were over the last 4 years? You bet we are. Is Pikiell going to bring in better players? Yup. Kids can see a good coach a mile away. They will come to Rutgers.