Maybe a loss but...
- Thread starter RUinSC
- Start date
Love watching this team play. Yes, some aspects are annoying, but night-and-day from the last few years!
the gap is closing against the lower tier schools...that is huge...tonight RU looked like the better team most of the 2nd half
In the end our record is most likely going to look like a bad joke, but I think we've made some nice strides here.
It's a team with major flaws but damn they play their butts off
Thiam and Doorson did a couple of things to keep RU in the game and we can talk FT's all day long but a couple of effort plays on fouls by Sanders led to a 3 FT make and then the 4 point play at end were 7 hidden points that were real difference makers.
Ohio State has a lot of pieces and we hung around....with 4 home games left, that type of effort will be needed to stay in games the rest of the season. Finding 2 more wins doesn't seem improbable now, almost certain with effort and health.
Last month has been a couple steps forward for the program. Saturday will be a key time to get to the RAC and help push this forward vs Minnesota, who is a step or two better than Ohio State.
Ohio State has a lot of pieces and we hung around....with 4 home games left, that type of effort will be needed to stay in games the rest of the season. Finding 2 more wins doesn't seem improbable now, almost certain with effort and health.
Last month has been a couple steps forward for the program. Saturday will be a key time to get to the RAC and help push this forward vs Minnesota, who is a step or two better than Ohio State.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Future is bright. Its incredible how much Pikiell has changed this program.
Add a competent shooter and one legit big man and this team is tourney bound
Add a competent shooter and one legit big man and this team is tourney bound
Even though we lost, that was fun to watch!
(Unlike last year where watching almost every game was like getting a root canal.)
I just love our coaches, and how HARD we play and how ACTIVE our guys are on the defensive end. (Especially love the active arms on the ball causing a lot of deflections. Thiam is great at this and he is LONG!)
No quit in these guys.
After seemingly falling out of this year's plans (injury/illness?), Thiam is growing in confidence and play right before our eyes.
PIKIELL WILL GET IT DONE!!!
Have never been more sure of that.
(Unlike last year where watching almost every game was like getting a root canal.)
I just love our coaches, and how HARD we play and how ACTIVE our guys are on the defensive end. (Especially love the active arms on the ball causing a lot of deflections. Thiam is great at this and he is LONG!)
No quit in these guys.
After seemingly falling out of this year's plans (injury/illness?), Thiam is growing in confidence and play right before our eyes.
PIKIELL WILL GET IT DONE!!!
Have never been more sure of that.
For once, I'd just like to steal one of these. But if you can't make free throws and you don't have anyone capable of hitting a clutch three, you're not beating a blueblood on the road. So frustrating. I see the progress but the record just doesn't reflect it, sadly.
Hard to fault the effort. Once again RU was done in by FT shooting. Shoot 75% from the line and hit the front end of 1 and 1's and this is an upset road win.
Some observations.
1. The last foul on Corey was a bad call, the kid moved under after Corey was airborne.
2. Corey's game is starting to reach the next level as his shot improves.
3. Doorson showed that he has a better upside than Gettys. He is better defending athletic bigs and he's learning to keep the ball above his chin on rebounds and put backs. I think he'll be a good player by his senior year. I felt bad for Gettys. I think he was pressing too hard before the hometown crowd. Not one of his better games.
4. It's really hard to see Freeman miss so many close shots and FTs. The kid plays with heart, but he can't finish with any contact and his FT shooting has been atrocious!
5. Mike Williams is still my favorite simply because of his HEART and hustle.
6. Johnson was invisible tonight. Perhaps his still nursing the leg injury.
7. Thiam had perhaps his best game of the year - very active on D and knocking down some threes.
8. Omaruyi may have hit the freshman wall.
9. I'd like to see more of Laurent. Really need more from the forward position and his athleticism might help.
10. After a decent start of the season, Sa seems to have lost all confidence and his minutes have steadily declined.
Overall, Pike has transformed this team to be a competitive Big 10 team that defends hard and rebounds. Shooting, especially from the FT line is still very much a work in progress. We desperately need somebody besides Corey to step up in crunch time. But, at least it's fun to watch these kids battle. Now just win on Saturday!
Some observations.
1. The last foul on Corey was a bad call, the kid moved under after Corey was airborne.
2. Corey's game is starting to reach the next level as his shot improves.
3. Doorson showed that he has a better upside than Gettys. He is better defending athletic bigs and he's learning to keep the ball above his chin on rebounds and put backs. I think he'll be a good player by his senior year. I felt bad for Gettys. I think he was pressing too hard before the hometown crowd. Not one of his better games.
4. It's really hard to see Freeman miss so many close shots and FTs. The kid plays with heart, but he can't finish with any contact and his FT shooting has been atrocious!
5. Mike Williams is still my favorite simply because of his HEART and hustle.
6. Johnson was invisible tonight. Perhaps his still nursing the leg injury.
7. Thiam had perhaps his best game of the year - very active on D and knocking down some threes.
8. Omaruyi may have hit the freshman wall.
9. I'd like to see more of Laurent. Really need more from the forward position and his athleticism might help.
10. After a decent start of the season, Sa seems to have lost all confidence and his minutes have steadily declined.
Overall, Pike has transformed this team to be a competitive Big 10 team that defends hard and rebounds. Shooting, especially from the FT line is still very much a work in progress. We desperately need somebody besides Corey to step up in crunch time. But, at least it's fun to watch these kids battle. Now just win on Saturday!
listen just because RU played Wisconsin and Maryland fairly close does not mean they are at their level yet....do you think RU beats Wisky more than 2 out of 10 or 1 out of 10. Playing close and cutting the gap and winning are two vastly different things. IMO I think schools like Nebraska and Penn State have a little more talent than RU that allows them to jump up and win at Purdue or vs Michigan State...do you see RU beating Purdue? How about Michigan State? Oh we saw what happened. RU is getting by based on great coaching and credit the kids for full effort but talent wise they do not have the extra gear, thats why the blew a 9 point lead with 2 minutes vs Wisky..thats why despite great efforts and coaching they are 2-10 in league. RU is what its records is, there are no ifs ifs ifs.....if it was based on effort RU would be 8-4 right now in the league
They lost to Wisconsin because they missed foul shots down the stretch and they lost Koenig one time and he finally hit a big shot cutting it to 1. Do you think it was just a coincidence that near the end of regulation Koenig had 3 points and Hayes had 2 points. Do you want to credit Coach and his 3/4 court trap forcing them to shoot every time with less than 5 seconds on the clock and our guys executing defense forcing them into a terrible shooting night. If they do not get a Superman performance from Happ that is a win that Rutgers deserved . If they would have beaten Wisconsin , would you feel differently.
The Maryland game was lost at the foul line (10-24) with 3 of them the front end of one and ones. Do you think before the season , it would be reasonable to expect 65% shooting from the stripe instead of 41% . We played almost perfect defense the entire night except for the 5 threes they hit that were their only open shots all night . Do you not think we could have and should have beaten them. Do you think the game at the RAC will be a cakewalk for Maryland? One incredibly disappointing thing is our play at the RAC , especially Penn Dtate and Iowa. We have clearly played better away from home and I do not know why? I was not expecting that!!!
Bottom line -- if RU was even a decent free throw shooting team, they'd already have 2 or 3 more conference wins, including against the best team in the League. That's what makes it so frustrating!
Agree that FT's have killed us this year. At the same time the guys could have folded up their tents and gone home after falling behind by 12 in the early part of the second half. They didn't. That to me is the most encouraging take away from this game.
this is true, a lot of young players and teams. Next year the league will be signficantly tougher, RU will have to improve at the level everyone else does at minimum
For sure. Those games RU Bball played with the top teams though and hung in there, you cannot discount them. Sure, Wisconsin might beat RU 7/10 times if they scheduled other games. But that night, that game, RU hung with the top. All that matters. I know you aren't discounting the improvements made. They have balled with the bottom, and hung with the top.
That is progress. As fans, as members of the RAC PAC, good time to be alive. Once the team learns how to be great in crucial moments, this is a team that will contend and win 7+ games next year.
The question is.....is the B1G better now than it was in December when the conference comparitive #s are cemented.
Not sure. I would think it is the volatile beast it has been all year. Now more than other times.