Lino Mark
- Thread starter MadRU
- Start date
He is looking better. I’d like to keep him. Just has to work on his outside shooting
announcer said like said mark is the fastest player he’s ever coached.
sorry Jacob young!
announcer said like said mark is the fastest player he’s ever coached.
sorry Jacob young!
Glad you posted this, as Lino definitely deserves his own thread after last night.
I’ll admit I wasn’t confident that he’d develop this year into the player we saw yesterday. Until recently, he wasn’t finishing around the rim and his 3-point shooting was woeful.
But now, you can see that as he has harnessed his speed on the court, he’s become a player that can contribute in a meaningful way.
Loved the steals, the drives to the hoop, avoiding getting his shot blocked, drawing fouls and making his FTs. Great all-around hustle too.
His confidence is soaring right now and so is my confidence in him.
I’ll admit I wasn’t confident that he’d develop this year into the player we saw yesterday. Until recently, he wasn’t finishing around the rim and his 3-point shooting was woeful.
But now, you can see that as he has harnessed his speed on the court, he’s become a player that can contribute in a meaningful way.
Loved the steals, the drives to the hoop, avoiding getting his shot blocked, drawing fouls and making his FTs. Great all-around hustle too.
His confidence is soaring right now and so is my confidence in him.
Baloney. It’s superlatives coachspeak. Not the fastest player. Quickness is more important in basketball. He’s not the quickest either.
He’s decisive, tough and can finish at the rim in traffic. Shooting and 1:1 D need work.
Better to spend on Powers, Francis and a big.
He’s decisive, tough and can finish at the rim in traffic. Shooting and 1:1 D need work.
Better to spend on Powers, Francis and a big.
People do know he was limited by a back injury?
"Mark, looking recovered from a back injury that had limited him, was the catalyst as Rutgers opened a huge first-half lead."
It’s an indicator that he will probably improve from 3 with work.
People tend to forget that the freshmen tend to start looking good for Pike every February. Even Nwuli having some good minutes…maybe he has one great game by the end of the season.
Zrno has looked like a completely different player…for overseas guys, it’s not just getting used to the basketball, but life in America and in an American college. I think he’s played his way into a must keep
L
Lino was awesome last night and like the rest of you, I was pleasantly surprised by what he gave us. My concern is that we need money for a center. If we're committed to keeping Francis and Powers, another team is going to outbid us for Lino's services. He'd have to really want to stay here and be willing to not go to the highest bidder.
He had a very nice game last night and had a couple of good games this season (Oregon comes to mind). However, I agree with you. I’ve wanted him nowhere near the court most of the time. He’s a freshman and he was hurt so I’d like to see how he finishes the year, but he should not be a priority and I definitely wouldn’t overpay for a small guard who can’t shoot.
I was aware of the back injury but I thought that was only recently.
Some fans here are writing him off. He is freshman and appears to have a fairly high ceiling. It will be interesting to see how Pikiell prioritizes keeping him. Not saying he should be at the top of the list, but certainly not someone to cast off.
As the season grows I’d like to keep him, Grant (why are we hearing they have one foot out the door?) and Nwali. Of course already on Buchanan, Francis and Powers. Added Zrno and I was always a Dortch fan for his hustle and willingness to play out of position for the team.
Lino Mark showed what he is capable of last night. He even pulled up to let the big guy go by and then finished the layup. He went hard on the zoom action and finished strong with the left hand and he added a Eurostep for another layup. That is improvement . You cannot teach speed and he goes end to end as fast as any other guard out there . If he can finish that is a huge reward. Obviously he has to get his outside shot to go down but he is only a freshman.
It would be a mistake to let him go . Pike has to prioritize guys that can help him win and contribute either offensively or defensively, preferably both , Zrno , Powers and Mark are the 3 role players you need to prioritize ..I would like to keep Dylan but he has to earn it and frankly he hasn’t this year. You let JMike , Dorsch and Dylan go if you have to .
It would be a mistake to let him go . Pike has to prioritize guys that can help him win and contribute either offensively or defensively, preferably both , Zrno , Powers and Mark are the 3 role players you need to prioritize ..I would like to keep Dylan but he has to earn it and frankly he hasn’t this year. You let JMike , Dorsch and Dylan go if you have to .
If Lino stays he has to play more than Davis, which tells me we likely lose JMike for next season.
However, Pike is loyal and if Davis can’t get a bigger payday elsewhere, he’ll likely stay, even in a backup role.
However, Pike is loyal and if Davis can’t get a bigger payday elsewhere, he’ll likely stay, even in a backup role.
He had a nice game last night, but you can't have a guy who thinks they should be starting that has no ability to shoot unless they are elite somewhere else. Mark isn't elite at anything. Want to see him finish the season before really commit to him. That was a bad team last night he attacked. Have to start somewhere, so it's a positive.
Was worried with Nwuli we’d be playing 4 on 5 on offense, but he’s showing some development there as well.
Agreed - Hope to keep Manny as a backup 5. I hope JMike stays - more for leadership and out of loyalty than his on court contributions.
The pike haters object, but I don’t think it’s absurd to imagine this team winning 10 conference games next season if they retain basically everyone and bring on a league average starting center. If that happens, you probably lose 2 of Dortch, Nwuli, ware, Grant, but I think that’s a fine trade off. The development this season has been real and the defense is starting to click, albeit against bad teams. To me the level up against good teamscomes with a sturdy presence at center, and come next season, I think Francis + Powers + Zrno with 10+ starts under their belt together make for a more than serviceable Pike style offense
Ware and Fall need to move on. Denis too. I don’t know that keeping both J Mike and Lino makes sense. I’m thinking one or the other.
I thought we needed 3 big time portal pick ups but now I’m leaning more towards targeting two. A starting center is a must. For the second pick up, I’m leaning more and more towards aiming for the best replica of Caleb we can find. Let’s upgrade the defense and add “good enough” ball handling to assist Tariq in one player rather than 2. In the end, I think targeting 2 plus retention would prove to be a more successful strategy for Pike. We won’t end up retaining everyone and then you use whatever money remains at the end to take some longer shot chances. But we would be much better with a center and one high level defensive forward on the team. If we got ball handling from that forward, I think we could sustain our ball handling from this year without a major spike in turnovers.
Agreed. I think it’s clear Lino is passing JMike - don’t think you push JMike out though. If he wants to finish at RU, even in a limited role, I think you absolutely let him. We should have schollies available.
My understanding is that Mark's crew has claimed that Rutgers is not a good fit for him.
I don't think he'll be here next season.
I don't think he'll be here next season.
I think we’ll have the spots even if we keep most - if we can reduce roster turnover to 30% each year - not the 70% we’ve been dealing with, I think that’s an ideal place to be in this new era.
Interesting but not too surprising. I have a feeling he'll be back out west myself.
We’re not going to retain everyone. some of the “talk” that goes on during the season ends up dying down in the off season when the reality of the true market value sets in.
Lino is not worth a big pile of cash right now. If his camp is leading him to believe he is, they are doing him a huge disservice. But maybe they are telling him he would be better off financially putting up Derek Simpson like numbers in the A-10 next season to boost his marketability. That could be a fair point for him to consider. 3.8 ppg on 31% shooting (8% from 3) in 13 mpg is not earning him a big check anywhere though. He’d need to do a lot more than that next season at Rutgers to increase his pay day and who knows if he’d get that opportunity.
I have to agree. We can't just keep a whole bunch of guys just because we like them for down the road and development into real good B1G players in two years from now. It's nice but that's not the world anymore. I thought there was a stud Guard coming in next year? We need a Big Time center desperately. IF Grant goes then that's a significant loss that needs to be replaced. The other 3 guys you named aren't going to fill that hole.
Chance to have a solid team next year and I hope Pike's loyalty gene doesn't get in the way. I also agree with the comment below regarding JMike. I don't run him off but give him the choice based on reality pending what we have at guard.
Jacob Young was a blurr on the court but understand the speed comparison. That being said Mark has a ways to go before he can be compared to 3+yr JY who could shoot, drive, jump, finish and play high level defense.
LM is improving and has a higher ceiling than JaMike.
GO RU
Just my opinion…by looking at Mark’s body language on the sidelines, he hasn’t appeared too into it. Is it because of injury? Higher expectations for more playing time? Or is he already checked out a while ago? (As Richie hinted). Whatever the reason, he seems to have moved on. So you don’t bring him back. Now, if he could shoot then I’d say you definitely try to keep him in the fold for next year, but the work he needs to put in on improving his shot coupled with any possible negative attitude makes it easier to cut bait. You spend on Powers, Francis, Buchanan (possibly). I’d even keep Zrno, and Nwuli. Then money needs to go to a legit center, 2 forwards, guard. Ogbole and Davis off the bench if they stick around. Let Grant walk if what he’s dreaming of is accurate.
Last edited:
It's not about scholarships anymore.
Is JMike willing to potentially take a paycut?
Be the 5th(?) paid guard behind Francis, Mark, Powers and a potential transfer?
I would guess he's a Top 3 paid player on the current team.
I think we have to prioritize keeping Francis and bringing in a dynamic starting center.
If we build around those two pieces, then it would be nice to have a couple of guys with size who can pass and knock down a trey.
For that reason I prefer keeping Powers and Zrno.
If we also bring Grant back then we have a pretty good starting five. If he leaves, then we’re in the market for a major 4-spot player.
As first three off the bench we could make it work with Lino, Buchanan and Nwulli, with Manny as our backup 5.
REMEMBER hos bad Caleb looked deep into his fresh year.
He turned out ok.
It takes a while and we are seeing some tangible SLOWING DOWN of the game, most notably for Zrno and Mark.
He turned out ok.
It takes a while and we are seeing some tangible SLOWING DOWN of the game, most notably for Zrno and Mark.
We all have heard this already. What I believe is that Pike wants him back and is trying.
If Mark comes back he can be VERY effective next year getting to the rim which we need more of on this team. I really like his effort and think he can make a big jump next year. Powers too. I'd like to see both come back plus Francis. JMike is a warrior but I see him as a 4th to 5th guard in the B1G which lines up with his recruiting profile. Zrno can shoot but do little else - we need a 3-level scorer as a shooting guard - more like Spencer that really could do it all hence how good of an NBA player he is
Lino stuck to his strengths last night and refrained from shooting the three (which he does at a God-awful 8%). It was good to see him consistently finish at the rim - something he struggled to do earlier in the year. Richie has said numerous times that Lino is gone after this year. That would be too bad, as I think he can be developed into a good Big 10 guard, especially if he works on his jump shot.
I have not paid much attention to the "who we should keep" and "who we should let walk" discussion. What I, or any of us, think doesn't matter. I just pay attention to the current roster. I will stay abreast of player movement after the season, then cheer whoever is on the team when it takes the court in November.
No. Not an indicator at all. It’s the other way around. Shooting well from distance, defended and sometimes moving suggests someone can shoot standing still, closer in, undefended.
Anyhow, he had a good game and helped the team win but is not a priority keep.
No program will pay enough or give enough PT to Ace Bait to get him leave. Will be stuck with him once again.