Indiana - Matchups and Strategy

[Scangg]

I would expect to see Rutgers double TJD since it was absurdly effective first time around. Indiana was ice cold from 3 though and we gave up a lot of open looks. Kopp's man needs to stick with him. Let someone else beat us from 3

Put Caleb on JHS and make the freshman's life miserable

This is a game where we could really use the dominate aggressive Paul. I want to see a lot of PnR with him and Cliff

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

Cliff must stay out of foul trouble in this one and wholeheartedly agree that Paul needs to be aggressive offensively (enough with waiting until the second half).

 

[SirPerceval]

I know if RU was in a similar situation - lost 6 in a row to your opponent that your entire fan base thinks shouldn’t be in the league, home game coming off major win, players talking about the matchup - I would really be worried about us coming out real tight - hope that’s the case tonight.

 

[Miggins]

Interesting from the 1st game, IU took a ton of 3s and we did as well. Think we matched our season high in 3 attempts. Statistically both teams are great at defending the 2. Given we both do not shoot 3s well, I can see a duplication of the 1st game, but teams allow the 3, but defend the 2 hard

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Get up early, stay out of foul trouble early, knock the crowd out of the game early. Hold on and win. This game has D, ball control and "Paul" written all over it IMHO. If we start with the "WTF" TO's early in the game, and Cam can't hit, we'll likely be in a bit of trouble.

 

[Scangg]

TJD is an elite defender so we really are going to need scoring from the guards

We could really use a Cam breakout game with 3 or more made 3's

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

What kind of a defender is Hood? That’s the question. Xavier Johnson was a big loss for them on that end.

 

[bitnez]

Agree with Scangg. Put Caleb on the kid, double TJD and take our chances. Kopp killed us last game and I don't expect that again. All of that said, this is a tough spot for our boys. If we win this one the national love will be really high.

 

[mjjoyce51]

I would expect to see Rutgers double TJD since it was absurdly effective first time around. Indiana was ice cold from 3 though and we gave up a lot of open looks. Kopp's man needs to stick with him. Let someone else beat us from 3

Put Caleb on JHS and make the freshman's life miserable

This is a game where we could really use the dominate aggressive Paul. I want to see a lot of PnR with him and Cliff

Definitely agree on the PnR. It was their whole offense the second half and MSU had no idea how to stop it. After watching the highlights it's wild how rarely a secondary defender would shift to help on Mulcahy. I'm sure Indiana took notice so the perimeter players need to be ready to hit open shots.

 

[RUtrumpet92_rivals498139]

I looked at Indiana's recent box scores and this is not a bad matchup for us. They consistently get offense from just two guys, TJD and JHS. Clearly, Cliff with double team help needs to be the plan on TJD; put Caleb on JHS; and play the rest straight up. We will need to have someone shoot well to get the road W and guys need to step up and fill the Mag void, but this is a winnable game.

 

[RUChoppin]

Things that stood out from the first game:
- Omoruyi two early fouls, fouled out in 5 minutes
- Indiana ice cold from the arc for everyone but Kopp (3rd worst 3P% night of the season)
- TJD not fully healthy
- Xavier Johnson drawing fouls and grabbing 4 steals
- Hood-Schifino on the bench with injury
- Simpson had a breakout performance

Things that will be different tonight
- No Xavier Johnson
- Hood-Schifino back in the lineup
- No Mag
- TJD fully healthy and on a tear (avg 25.3 pts, 13.7 rb, 3.7 blk over last 6 games)

This is going to be a very different game, imo.

EDIT: Also, it will be the first game at Assembly Hall for Spencer, Simpson, and Woolfolk.

 

[Scangg]

Definitely agree on the PnR. It was their whole offense the second half and MSU had no idea how to stop it. After watching the highlights it's wild how rarely a secondary defender would shift to help on Mulcahy. I'm sure Indiana took notice so the perimeter players need to be ready to hit open shots.

Put Cam on the side of the floor that Paul is driving to and Cam's man either sticks with him or gives Cam some much needed open looks from 3

Also, it will be the first game at Assembly Hall for Spencer, Hyatt, Simpson, Reiber, Palmquist, and Woolfolk.

Hyatt Dean and Oskar were all on the team last year. Oskar didn't play but Dean and Hyatt did

 

[Mb5789]

JHS has been very hit or miss in B1G play, averaging 14.2 ppg in 10 B1G games but only 10.2 ppg in his last 5 B1G games.

From beyond the arc, he went a combined 16-24 (67%) vs tOSU, Northwestern and Iowa and a combined 1-15 in his other 7 B1G games from 3 (7%).

If we stick Caleb on JHS, he's gonna have nightmare evening and if we frustrate TJD with physicality and double-teams (like we have 6 other times before), I think we have a VERY good chance at winning this one.

 

[Mb5789]

Things that stood out from the first game:
- Omoruyi two early fouls, fouled out in 5 minutes
- Indiana ice cold from the arc for everyone but Kopp (3rd worst 3P% night of the season)
- TJD not fully healthy
- Xavier Johnson drawing fouls and grabbing 4 steals
- Hood-Schifino on the bench with injury
- Simpson had a breakout performance

Things that will be different tonight
- No Xavier Johnson
- Hood-Schifino back in the lineup
- No Mag
- TJD fully healthy and on a tear (avg 25.3 pts, 13.7 rb, 3.7 blk over last 6 games)

This is going to be a very different game, imo. Also, it will be the first game at Assembly Hall for Spencer, Hyatt, Simpson, Reiber, Palmquist, and Woolfolk.

Agree that this game will be different from our first matchup for many of the reasons you listed. But Hyatt and Reiber played at Assembly Hall last year and Oskar has traveled with the team there the past couple times we played there.

 

[FIJI'83]

I would go tall and start Reiber to replace Mag. Have him run over to double with Cliff on Jackson.

 

[RUChoppin]

Put Cam on the side of the floor that Paul is driving to and Cam's man either sticks with him or gives Cam some much needed open looks from 3


Hyatt Dean and Oskar were all on the team last year. Oskar didn't play but Dean and Hyatt did

Not sure what I was looking at - somehow I thought last year was at the RAC.

 

[RAC’emUp]

I rewatched the first game this morning. IU had a big on Paul the whole game;he didn’t back anyone down. As good as Derek was in the second half, he was that bad in the first half. We’ll need him to stay under control for the remainder of the season. Mag was a monster on the boards

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

This is a huge game for Indiana. I feel like it may be a long night for us. I'm hoping that our bench is productive - I assume Hyatt moves to starting 5 - Simpson, Reibs, Woolfolk, Oskar and Miller. I know Pike typically plays 7 or 8 in the Big 10, but I feel like the team has to spread the minutes to more players with Mag out.

 

[RUChoppin]

I rewatched the first game this morning. IU had a big on Paul the whole game;he didn’t back anyone down. As good as Derek was in the second half, he was that bad in the first half. We’ll need him to stay under control for the remainder of the season. Mag was a monster on the boards

Johnson was on Mulcahy too, I thought, no? I know they got into it a couple of times, maybe it was on switches?

 

[RAC’emUp]

Johnson was on Mulcahy too, I thought, no? I know they got into it a couple of times, maybe it was on switches?

I may have missed one or two but it was the big forward who covered Mulcahy.

 

[FIJI'83]

This is a huge game for Indiana. I feel like it may be a long night for us. I'm hoping that our bench is productive - I assume Hyatt moves to starting 5 - Simpson, Reibs, Woolfolk, Oskar and Miller. I know Pike typically plays 7 or 8 in the Big 10, but I feel like the team has to spread the minutes to more players with Mag out.

I suspect we are going to get called for a lot of fouls early and often, so going deep in to bench tonight may be a necessity.

 

[Scangg]

Indiana board says Trey will guard Paul

 

[Scangg]

I would go tall and start Reiber to replace Mag. Have him run over to double with Cliff on Jackson.

I'm wondering if we see some Dean and Wolf at the 4 for the purpose of more size and length doubling TJD

 

[Scangg]

I suspect we are going to get called for a lot of fouls early and often, so going deep in to bench tonight may be a necessity.

I think there is actually a decent chance at the opposite. It really seems like Indiana took their soft play and being punked personally and might be too fired up to overcompensate leading to being too aggressive and fouling

 

[FIJI'83]

I think there is actually a decent chance at the opposite. It really seems like Indiana took their soft play and being punked personally and might be too fired up to overcompensate leasing to being too aggressive and fouling

it seems we get special attention from the stripes when we are on the road. I think TJD wants to show he can go off on the Rutgers vaunted D. A lot of play will be in the paint both positing and driving and that's why I believe the whistles will be tooting tonight. In this same vein, we need to hit our FTs tonight at a high clip.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Anything can happen on any given night. But usually, all other things being equal, the team that is less quick produces the most fouls, right? So which team is a bit quicker on the court? Us or them?

Mag could cover a remarkable amount of space very quickly due to his length and agility. The folks who'll be replacing him are not likely to be so good at covering that kind of ground that quickly, so it stands to reason his replacement has a high potential for foul trouble.

It looks to me that Pike has had good success at getting the team to cut back on the number of dumb fouls after that one game a while back where we were fouling constantly (can't recall what game that was). He said they would work on it and it seems clear they did. I see the players sometimes moving to avoid getting a foul call where earlier in the season they would've moved towards getting the foul call.

So let's hope the foul-avoiding team shows up tonight, except where it's smart to foul.

 

[kcg88]

Indiana's not the team to do it against because of their size but a Mulcahy McConnell Simpson Spencer Cliff lineup intrigues me. Would need to be a complete reversal of our defensive philosophy (stay at home and funnel inside to Cliff rather than gambling and switching) but offensively that could open some things up.

For tonight I guess I'd try Reiber on Race/Reneau first

 

[cm_13]

Definitely agree on the PnR. It was their whole offense the second half and MSU had no idea how to stop it. After watching the highlights it's wild how rarely a secondary defender would shift to help on Mulcahy. I'm sure Indiana took notice so the perimeter players need to be ready to hit open shots.

Crowd is going to be on Paul after the incident with him and Johnson last year. Would love if he just goes full villain and lights it up tonight.

Bring back the goatee if that’s what it takes.

 

[RUChoppin]

I may have missed one or two but it was the big forward who covered Mulcahy.

Thinking back, I think it was Race Thompson who was on Mulcahy a lot and limited him. Mulcahy was also coming off the bench vs. Indiana in his first game back from the shoulder injury. Starters were Spencer, McConnell, Hyatt, Mag, and Omoruyi.

 

[RUChoppin]

Anything can happen on any given night. But usually, all other things being equal, the team that is less quick produces the most fouls, right? So which team is a bit quicker on the court? Us or them?

Mag could cover a remarkable amount of space very quickly due to his length and agility. The folks who'll be replacing him are not likely to be so good at covering that kind of ground that quickly, so it stands to reason his replacement has a high potential for foul trouble.

It looks to me that Pike has had good success at getting the team to cut back on the number of dumb fouls after that one game a while back where we were fouling constantly (can't recall what game that was). He said they would work on it and it seems clear they did. I see the players sometimes moving to avoid getting a foul call where earlier in the season they would've moved towards getting the foul call.

So let's hope the foul-avoiding team shows up tonight, except where it's smart to foul.

Indiana has committed more fouls/game than any other B1G school in conference play with 18.3. Rutgers is 5th with 16.5.

 

[fluoxetine]

Crowd is going to be on Paul after the incident with him and Johnson last year. Would love if he just goes full villain and lights it up tonight.

Bring back the goatee if that’s what it takes.

Maybe not full villain since it almost lost us the game last time lol

 

[cm_13]

Maybe not full villain since it almost lost us the game last time lol

Good call out. Ideally he stops short of punching someone in the face again.