Minny Postgame Thoughts

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

1) Minny just too athletic for us at this point in the build. Tez, harper and mcconnell along with geo and mulcahy in a couple years will be able to run with these type of teams.

2) the culture is changing. Montez and harper are our two toughest players as freshman and caleb is in the top 3 along with them. Pike has recruited tough kids, who care about winning and dont take crap from anyone. Were in for some fun years ahead but were just not there yet. Montez and ron are really coming into their own too. Montez is getting to the tin and ron is starting to see more shots fall.

3) Geo was out of control today and downright awful. Too many fade aways, too many turnovers and unfortunately with caleb going down we couldnt really yank him. He tried to do way too much. Who wouldve thought 2 months ago that if caleb went down wed be saying that was a huge loss? Hope calebs back soon.

4) the bigs looked pretty good today. Between all of them, they were all pretty good. On the defensive end they didnt have their best day though, alot of that falls on them wanting to stay out of foul trouble with the lack of depth in the front court.

5) need to remove kiss and issa from the rotation. Theyre really providing zero on the offensive and defensive end. Next year I doubt they get off the bench other than garbage time.

All in all today was a program changing game despite the loss. Our FRESHMAN, stepped up and played hard and stood up for the name on the front of the jersey. I love it. This is gonna be an exciting few years ahead

 

[higgins3]

Great stuff, Kyk.

Why did Pikiell get Mathis out for that long stretch and have Kiss in?

 

[Degaz-RU]

Kyk, you had me until “program changing game.”

Actually, it was a yeoman’s effort, but we lost for the same reasons we always lose: because we can’t shoot threes, and we don’t have a real “go to” guy like Coffee.

4-18 for us, 10-24 from them. Six more threes made, that’s the 18 point difference right there.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like for the future, I see the glimpses. But this was NOT a program changing game. I just don’t understand where you’re coming from there, my man.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Kyk, you had me until “program changing game.”

Actually, it was a yeoman’s effort, but we lost for the same reasons we always lose: because we can’t shoot threes, and we don’t have a real “go to” guy like Coffee.

4-18 for us, 10-24 from them. Six more threes made, that’s the 18 point difference right there.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like for the future, I see the glimpses. But this was NOT a program changing game. I just don’t understand where you’re coming from there, my man.

Program changing in the sense that how many times over the past decade have we seen our team getting pummeled and just lie down and take the beating? How many teams did we see plays like harpers foul and montez’s push when were down 20? These kids care and when the upperclassmen see the freshman stepping up and answering the call like that, it pushes them because they know if they dont wake up and toughen up these freshman are gonna take their jobs. The level has been raised, the bar changed

 

[78CollegeAve]

Geez, I hope that Pikiell still has the sales slip so he can return Kiss to Quinnipiac for a refund. Using a scholarship for him to sit out a year for, uh, this? He is so-o-o not a B1G athlete.

 

[Scangg]

1) Agreed but Minnesota is a very athletic team

2) I'd also include Doorson in the toughest conversation

3) Geo also seems to wear down. Think he will be more effective at 2 with less minutes next year. When he penatrates the opposing guard is always riding him and he almost never gets the call. Same with big men hedging off screens. He lowers his shoulder into their hip as he should but never gets the call

4) I would say better than pretty good. Offensively Myles and Carter are reliable go to scorers and we actually made an attempt to enter the ball into the post FINALLY. Harper is an excellent post entry passer. Very well coached. Doorson can also score in the post. At home maybe we get more whistles and get other teams bigs in foul trouble. Not every team is so deep when it comes to bigs so this could be an advantage for us. There were a couple misses inside and we still don't go up strong for dunks enough inside but today was the best inside game I think I've ever seen from a Rutgers team offensively

5) Can't come soon enough. The good news here is that I had no idea how Pike would be able to give everyone enough minutes. The solution as of now would be don't play Thiam and Kiss. Mulcahey Young at the point and maybe some Caleb. Geo Mathis McConnell Harper at the wings. EO Carter Myles in the post... Promising future

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Agree 100%....we need another piece to play up front at the 4 but teams bank 3s and are home. 37 hard fought minutes from Baker caught up to him today, but he got us the win Wednesday.

McConnell.....hmmm.....gotta figure he's back for Purdue if not maybe Friday vs Northwestern.

Hard to explain to casual fans that follow basketball how important the Mathis drive and response to Washington with the handing of the ball was symbolic. It's not worth a T, if Washington doesn't respond....but others calling out Mathis are 1000% wrong....he and Brandin Knight talking on the sidelines was coaching but not a situation where Knight was upset...I'm probably 99.9% certain Knight was just making sure Mathis channels that the right way but proud he stood up for the program.

The fans asking for shooters need to pay close attention to how athletic and quick most of the B1G is from 1 to 5. A shooter that cannot compete defensively, rebound, stop a dunk, doesn't belong in a RU uniform down the road.

Teams like Minnesota aren't used to getting a response of a hard foul like Ron Harper delivered or Mathis showing Washington the ball.....all necessary swagger that will carry RU to grow tougher and make the underclassmen and frosh accountable for the program.

Purdue up next but the team learned a good lesson about what the B1G is about so far in these 1st 5 games. Make no mistake, RU will be better in a couple of months and year or so because of today. Haven't had a smile on my face after a loss this year, Mathis and Harper stood up today.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

1) Agreed but Minnesota is a very athletic team

2) I'd also include Doorson in the toughest conversation

3) Geo also seems to wear down. Think he will be more effective at 2 with less minutes next year. When he penatrates the opposing guard is always riding him and he almost never gets the call. Same with big men hedging off screens. He lowers his shoulder into their hip as he should but never gets the call

4) I would say better than pretty good. Offensively Myles and Carter are reliable go to scorers and we actually made an attempt to enter the ball into the post FINALLY. Harper is an excellent post entry passer. Very well coached. Doorson can also score in the post. At home maybe we get more whistles and get other teams bigs in foul trouble. Not every team is so deep when it comes to bigs so this could be an advantage for us. There were a couple misses inside and we still don't go up strong for dunks enough inside but today was the best inside game I think I've ever seen from a Rutgers team offensively

5) Can't come soon enough. The good news here is that I had no idea how Pike would be able to give everyone enough minutes. The solution as of now would be don't play Thiam and Kiss. Mulcahey Young at the point and maybe some Caleb. Geo Mathis McConnell Harper at the wings. EO Carter Myles in the post... Promising future

I dont think people realize how complete a player mcconnell is. He does everything well. If were being honest his ceiling is way above geo. Hes longer, quicker, better at getting to the rim, better rebounder, better defender. Caleb has a chance to be a reallllly good player here

 

[Scangg]

Geez, I hope that Pikiell still has the sales slip so he can return Kiss to Quinnipiac for a refund. Using a scholarship for him to sit out a year for, uh, this? He is so-o-o not a B1G athlete.

My initial reaction of kiss highlights was that I was unimpressed but I definitely bought into the hype this off-season. Can he graduate early any chance?

 

[bac2therac]

1) Minny just too athletic for us at this point in the build. Tez, harper and mcconnell along with geo and mulcahy in a couple years will be able to run with these type of teams.

2) the culture is changing. Montez and harper are our two toughest players as freshman and caleb is in the top 3 along with them. Pike has recruited tough kids, who care about winning and dont take crap from anyone. Were in for some fun years ahead but were just not there yet. Montez and ron are really coming into their own too. Montez is getting to the tin and ron is starting to see more shots fall.

3) Geo was out of control today and downright awful. Too many fade aways, too many turnovers and unfortunately with caleb going down we couldnt really yank him. He tried to do way too much. Who wouldve thought 2 months ago that if caleb went down wed be saying that was a huge loss? Hope calebs back soon.

4) the bigs looked pretty good today. Between all of them, they were all pretty good. On the defensive end they didnt have their best day though, alot of that falls on them wanting to stay out of foul trouble with the lack of depth in the front court.

5) need to remove kiss and issa from the rotation. Theyre really providing zero on the offensive and defensive end. Next year I doubt they get off the bench other than garbage time.

All in all today was a program changing game despite the loss. Our FRESHMAN, stepped up and played hard and stood up for the name on the front of the jersey. I love it. This is gonna be an exciting few years ahead

Kiss was decent today I thought, problem is the readjustment of expectations of him. He is a role player. Unfortunately with Eugene and McConnell out, he is not going to pick up the slack

Geo shot selection poor and it cost us as Minny shredded us in transition

defense wasnt as good as it needed to be

Freshmen played well today...another step forward but lets hold off on program changing because Mathis pushed Washington, in the end RU got punked the last 8 minutes and lost by 18

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

I thought the bigs played pretty well, as did McConnell, but everyone else was off their game. Minny hit 10 of 24 from 3pt range, which is way more than they normally do. RU couldn't control Coffey and Murphy in the 2nd half. We needed Matthis and Harper to play better today to have stood a chance, and Baker, obviously. With all of that we were still only down 5 at the 13:00 mark of the 2nd half before it got away. On to Purdue and a road win!

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Program changing in the sense that how many times over the past decade have we seen our team getting pummeled and just lie down and take the beating? How many teams did we see plays like harpers foul and montez’s push when were down 20? These kids care and when the upperclassmen see the freshman stepping up and answering the call like that, it pushes them because they know if they dont wake up and toughen up these freshman are gonna take their jobs. The level has been raised, the bar changed

@bac2therac see my explanation here

 

[bac2therac]

Agree 100%....we need another piece to play up front at the 4 but teams bank 3s and are home. 37 hard fought minutes from Baker caught up to him today, but he got us the win Wednesday.

McConnell.....hmmm.....gotta figure he's back for Purdue if not maybe Friday vs Northwestern.

Hard to explain to casual fans that follow basketball how important the Mathis drive and response to Washington with the handing of the ball was symbolic. It's not worth a T, if Washington doesn't respond....but others calling out Mathis are 1000% wrong....he and Brandin Knight talking on the sidelines was coaching but not a situation where Knight was upset...I'm probably 99.9% certain Knight was just making sure Mathis channels that the right way but proud he stood up for the program.


The fans asking for shooters need to pay close attention to how athletic and quick most of the B1G is from 1 to 5. A shooter that cannot compete defensively, rebound, stop a dunk, doesn't belong in a RU uniform down the road.

Teams like Minnesota aren't used to getting a response of a hard foul like Ron Harper delivered or Mathis showing Washington the ball.....all necessary swagger that will carry RU to grow tougher and make the underclassmen and frosh accountable for the program.

Purdue up next but the team learned a good lesson about what the B1G is about so far in these 1st 5 games. Make no mistake, RU will be better in a couple of months and year or so because of today. Haven't had a smile on my face after a loss this year, Mathis and Harper stood up today.

I really think the Mathis thing is overblown, no one is going to really remember that. You think that is what Minny is concerning themselves with after winning by 18.

 

[Scangg]

I dont think people realize how complete a player mcconnell is. He does everything well. If were being honest his ceiling is way above geo. Hes longer, quicker, better at getting to the rim, better rebounder, better defender. Caleb has a chance to be a reallllly good player here

I completely agree. His length ball handling and ability to get to the basket make his ceiling very high. I actually said he is a dark horse to have the highest ceiling in that class due to that size and length combo. He can play on the wing too. He's just a baller too you can tell

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

I really think the Mathis thing is overblown, no one is going to really remember that. You think that is what Minny is concerning themselves with after winning by 18.

You dont get it, you can stop talking about it now

 

[bac2therac]

You dont get it, you can stop talking about it now

its my opinion, I would have rather some players stepped up when Minny was punking us at the 7 minute mark

 

[RutHut_rivals]

Really rooting for Myles to have a big career here. He needs to get more athletic with quicker feet, but you can't teach those long arms and good hands. It's easy to root for our freshman. Agree that Kiss is proving to be a bust, not a Souf bust, but needs to be recruited over. What can you say about Issa, always a limited player, but was a plus for us at times last year. I expected some Thiamoruyi this year. Baker will be better next year.

 

[78CollegeAve]

Kiss was decent today I thought, problem is the readjustment of expectations of him. He is a role player. Unfortunately with Eugene and McConnell out, he is not going to pick up the slack

Geo shot selection poor and it cost us as Minny shredded us in transition

defense wasnt as good as it needed to be

Freshmen played well today...another step forward but lets hold off on program changing because Mathis pushed Washington, in the end RU got punked the last 8 minutes and lost by 18

Pikiell said that Kiss was a scorer when he signed him. He said he was a scorer after a year of watching him practice against Rutgers defenders. He’s paid to be able to evaluate kids. He’s really missed badly on Mensah and Kiss. Two kids in one class. Not good for a rebuild that needs a point and a scorer.

 

[bac2therac]

unfortunately its looking like Kiss is not producing what the staff had envisioned for him

 

[Scangg]

Pikiell said that Kiss was a scorer when he signed him. He said he was a scorer after a year of watching him practice against Rutgers defenders. He’s paid to be able to evaluate kids. He’s really missed badly on Mensah and Kiss. Two kids in one class. Not good for a rebuild that needs a point and a scorer.

Souf was out of nowhere but Kiss had many teams interested from what I recall so it's not like it was just Pike

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Souf was out of nowhere but Kiss had many teams interested from what I recall so it's not like it was just Pike

Shouldve went after quincy mcknight instead of kiss

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

I dont think people realize how complete a player mcconnell is. He does everything well. If were being honest his ceiling is way above geo. Hes longer, quicker, better at getting to the rim, better rebounder, better defender. Caleb has a chance to be a reallllly good player here

He is not a great ball handler for a PG by any stretch.

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

Souf was out of nowhere but Kiss had many teams interested from what I recall so it's not like it was just Pike

Kiss is a million times better than Souf...thats still not saying much...

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

He is not a great ball handler for a PG by any stretch.

Agree, I think hes a SG/3

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

First game of the year, Kiss immediately drives in the lane and puts up a nice looking jumper, and I’m thinking, wow, we got someone with a mid-range game who can also shoot from outside. He also had a bit of a swagger. Now, it’s looking like Kiss is a miss.

I’m not sure if it’s that the freshman are coming on and clearly outplaying Kiss and Thiam or if Kiss and Thiam have truly regressed...probably a combination. Regardless, they barley belong right now.

 

[MadRU]

Missing EO was tough today. Shaq Carter got in foul trouble and shied away from Murphy several times. Murphy stayed out of foul trouble, and thats where EO could have contributed. He usually gets an offensive foul on Murphy and another defensive foul. Might have gotten him more sitting time and our bigs might have even did more damage.

Our transition defense was bad today, really hurt us.

Hopefully Caleb bounces back and is available next game.

 

[satnom]

I really think the Mathis thing is overblown, no one is going to really remember that. You think that is what Minny is concerning themselves with after winning by 18.

Top recruits taking a look at the future leaders of this program are realizing this ain’t the same ole’ Rutgers basketball program.

I repeat: I fing loved the Mathis and Harper toughness today.

GO RU

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

The problem was Murphy could do no wrong and everytime he had the ball in the paint and someone was close to him he got the foul call

 

[Loyal_2RU]

1) Minny just too athletic for us at this point in the build. Tez, harper and mcconnell along with geo and mulcahy in a couple years will be able to run with these type of teams.

2) the culture is changing. Montez and harper are our two toughest players as freshman and caleb is in the top 3 along with them. Pike has recruited tough kids, who care about winning and dont take crap from anyone. Were in for some fun years ahead but were just not there yet. Montez and ron are really coming into their own too. Montez is getting to the tin and ron is starting to see more shots fall.

3) Geo was out of control today and downright awful. Too many fade aways, too many turnovers and unfortunately with caleb going down we couldnt really yank him. He tried to do way too much. Who wouldve thought 2 months ago that if caleb went down wed be saying that was a huge loss? Hope calebs back soon.

4) the bigs looked pretty good today. Between all of them, they were all pretty good. On the defensive end they didnt have their best day though, alot of that falls on them wanting to stay out of foul trouble with the lack of depth in the front court.

5) need to remove kiss and issa from the rotation. Theyre really providing zero on the offensive and defensive end. Next year I doubt they get off the bench other than garbage time.

All in all today was a program changing game despite the loss. Our FRESHMAN, stepped up and played hard and stood up for the name on the front of the jersey. I love it. This is gonna be an exciting few years ahead

Belongs in @bac2therac recap thread so we all can have one discussion

 

[BOGDANOVICH]

Geez, I hope that Pikiell still has the sales slip so he can return Kiss to Quinnipiac for a refund. Using a scholarship for him to sit out a year for, uh, this? He is so-o-o not a B1G athlete.

It is likely that Pike thought Kiss was B10 material, but obviously he was wrong. It shows you that, outside the sure 4 or 5 star players, much of recruiting is a crap shoot.

 

[kcg88]

Admittedly low bar but this game was more encouraging than Maryland.

 

[rudad02]

Geo was just God awful.

 

[TDIrish27]

Have to be fair-----tough place to play and playing without Eugene O the way the game went was sort of predictable.

Hoped Baker would take a little momentum from his last game but he didn't.

 

[RUHouston]

Geo might just be symbolic of Pike’s build...he’s in his second year and is having his ups and downs...I think it’s easy to forget that he’s a sophomore AND not really playing his true position, is he.

So we’ll have days like today and days like against OSU.

But better days are coming!

 

[satnom]

Geo was just God awful.

Out of position and playing too many minutes.

GO RU

 

[biazza38]

I’m getting tired of the “Geo is/has been awful” people. Take a hike. He’s out of position and is carrying the load with a bunch of freshmen

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

I’m getting tired of the “Geo is/has been awful” people. Take a hike. He’s out of position and is carrying the load with a bunch of freshmen

He has not played well

 

[zebnatto]

He has not played well

That’s fair, but some have been really trashing him.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

That’s fair, but some have been really trashing him.

The trashing is over the top. Geos being asked to do a lot. Today was one of his worst games overall from a standpoint of shot selection, decision making, turnovers. He’ll be fine. We all forget that he played his first college game like 14 months ago. He’ll be fine. Mulcahys gonna take a big load off him ball handling wise next year. Im thinking we land a grad transfer wing whos an athlete who will help geo too. Next year can be big time if we can land that type of grad transfer.

 

[Rhuarc]

Belongs in @bac2therac recap thread so we all can have one discussion

Kyk posted first, he gets dibs.