I remember when we were 16-0 at the RAC, in the midst of 3 of 4 games at home, having one the first in this stretch
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Newsflash
- Thread starter bac2therac
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I think there are two thought processes here as the concern on the boards has grown
1. The team has been in a funk
2. Other teams have "figured us out"
The truth is a little of both IMO. All of our players are inconsistent game to game but too many are struggling at once lately and in some games it's been almost the entire team. I really can't imagine Harper and Myles will continue to play this poor the remainder of the season. The breakout should be coming
1. The team has been in a funk
2. Other teams have "figured us out"
The truth is a little of both IMO. All of our players are inconsistent game to game but too many are struggling at once lately and in some games it's been almost the entire team. I really can't imagine Harper and Myles will continue to play this poor the remainder of the season. The breakout should be coming
I think it is both.
I also think very little attention is being played to "inexperienced in being there before". No one has experience playing for a NCAA bid. I do not think enough attention is being paid to the pressure this team is under to complete the task. It was some way easier to perform in January because there was virtually no pressure on the team, no media hype, no NCAA talk. The consistency of the level of play has waned a bit once the top 25 ranking and NCAA started. Games like Nebby and Northwestern while crucial wins are a negative crutch to fall back on. You cannot just turn a switch on and expect to win on the road. All our road games are following familiar patterns. When will it sink in to value possessions early. Sometimes you win games early, in fact there are like half of dozen games played within the game as other teams come back at you and you have to respond but if you learn to recognize when those runs coming and repel them, you can solidify your chances of winning. When you are constantly in a hole, its thread the needle kind of wins and its a recipe for disaster
Its also why there may be an issue if we get into the tourney especially vs a team with tourney experienced. It can work both ways...the team plays fearless because they do not know any better or the team drowns because they do not know any better
I also think very little attention is being played to "inexperienced in being there before". No one has experience playing for a NCAA bid. I do not think enough attention is being paid to the pressure this team is under to complete the task. It was some way easier to perform in January because there was virtually no pressure on the team, no media hype, no NCAA talk. The consistency of the level of play has waned a bit once the top 25 ranking and NCAA started. Games like Nebby and Northwestern while crucial wins are a negative crutch to fall back on. You cannot just turn a switch on and expect to win on the road. All our road games are following familiar patterns. When will it sink in to value possessions early. Sometimes you win games early, in fact there are like half of dozen games played within the game as other teams come back at you and you have to respond but if you learn to recognize when those runs coming and repel them, you can solidify your chances of winning. When you are constantly in a hole, its thread the needle kind of wins and its a recipe for disaster
Its also why there may be an issue if we get into the tourney especially vs a team with tourney experienced. It can work both ways...the team plays fearless because they do not know any better or the team drowns because they do not know any better
Seems like every team in the Big Ten has gone through a down stretch this year. Maybe it's just our turn.
Except that the inconsistency has been there all year. One night it is Geo and Montez, one night it is Caleb , one night Akwasi, one night Harper, one night Myles and one other player, and one night Jacob and Paul. It really has not changed. We had Jacob, Paul, and some late Geo, but very little Ron and Montez, no Caleb and Akwasi at least from the field , and no Myles and Shaq . We have to get 3 in mid double figures between 12-16 points and 2 others with 8 or 9 points. We are more than capable of having 5 of our top 9 in double figures or damn close. The players have to ratchet up their play during this stretch with the hardest schedule in the country left, and we have to stop having nights that 2-3 guys are almost absolute no shows. If you are not scoring, you better be defending, rebounding, assisting or diving on the damn floor. We are capable and with these 2 home games , I know we will get it done. This team is tough and resilient like no other team in our enitre Rutgers basketball history and they never give up.
It has changed. The inconsistency has always been there like I said. The problem is we dont have enough players playing well each night. When we were winning we would have maybe 3 with good games and a couple with solid games. Now we have 1 or 2 good and a few with poor games. We need more players to have good games and when players dont have their A game that night at least bring your C game instead of being poor
Look at the box scores from Penn State, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Purdue, even Seton Hall . They are similar inconsistencies throughout all those wins.
I think each reason given is half true. I also think we’re giving short shrift to how close our road losses to good B1G teams have been.
This young team could have folded on the road against IL, Iowa, MD and OSU, but instead we scared the **** out of them and could have won each and every game down the stretch.
If we had gotten blown out in any one of those games, from start to finish, then I’d say we’re in a funk or that the other teams have figured us out. But if that’s totally true, how did we come roaring back in every game? If we’re in a funk or if they’ve figured us out, why didn’t they totally bury us and run away with an easy win every time?
I think we’re in a “start of game” funk only, and that teams have figured out that our 3-point defense at the start of games takes a back seat to our desire to defend the paint. I believe both of these things can and will be addressed, and we’ll be fine.
This young team could have folded on the road against IL, Iowa, MD and OSU, but instead we scared the **** out of them and could have won each and every game down the stretch.
If we had gotten blown out in any one of those games, from start to finish, then I’d say we’re in a funk or that the other teams have figured us out. But if that’s totally true, how did we come roaring back in every game? If we’re in a funk or if they’ve figured us out, why didn’t they totally bury us and run away with an easy win every time?
I think we’re in a “start of game” funk only, and that teams have figured out that our 3-point defense at the start of games takes a back seat to our desire to defend the paint. I believe both of these things can and will be addressed, and we’ll be fine.
I agree Billy, but part of the slow starts and 37 and 45 point halves we gave up, has been the great 3 point shooting by Northwestern and Ohio State in the first half. Pike’s defensive strategy is if our guards get beat, our bigs or wings come over to meet the driver, and they are too far away from the corner three man on the other team to recover. We got killed in the Michigan game by that but that was off of Pick and roll, but it happened in the 2 other games off of simple penetration. I think our guards have to do a better job staying in front of their man, but our other guards and wings, all of them , have to cheat less and stay closer to the corner 3. Even if you give up a short jumper to the penetrating guard. I really believe no team will beat us shooting from 2 point range or in the paint this year. We have usually dominated points in the paint. So pike has to just tweak the defense a little bit and we will be fine.
We also don't have that go to scorer when we need a basket. It is Geo at end of games but not so much during dry spells.
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what's your prediction for the next two? IF we win both it changes EVERYTHING.
We have to start by taking care of Illinois first though.
IF we win both I can honestly see us getting 1 of the last four somehow.
Agree. Myles Powell buried shoe last night at home vs Creighton in a 5 point loss with his 3-16 shooting (1-11 3pt shots) playing 35 minutes.
It happens every night in MBB around the country. Even great players have bad shooting nights. RU is no different.
If we win both we might be able to sustain losing the last 4
Wouldn't be surprised at all to split these. I think with a mark of 16-0 at the RAC its reasonable to think we go at least 2-1
Those box scores all prove my point. I think you're misunderstanding what I am saying. You're acting as if I said we weren't inconsistent. I said we have been. In all those games we got contributions from more than 1 or 2 players though and even people who didn't have great games contributed. That was my point and that's what those box scores show. Lately we are having too many players with poor games. We need at least 3 players with a strong game per night (which should be reasonable) and when players are off contribute in some way or make a big play to make up for it. Now when players are struggling they seem to completely disappear.
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We really do need to find a way to limit the length of these droughts. Basketball is a game of runs but we can't be going 5+ minutes without a FG. Need to figure out a way to limit the damage of these droughts. Might be a good spot to go to Yeboah with his experience and versatility
After Mathis last 2nd heave to open the game i think we went 7 minutes without a fg and then opened the 2nd half almostv5 minutes without a fg...
Pike has to help these kids out
In the second half we held osu without a basket for two stretches totaling more than 10 m and they beat us
We still need a floor general. Someone that makes things happen for himself and the team. Can get his own shot but also make great decisions to get others good shots. We haven’t had that type of PG here in many years.
Exactly, but we were down 20 bc of our own droughts. We don't have to have no droughts. That's unreleastic. We just need to limit them.
we shut down Maryand and Illinois for loooooooooooooong period of time but failed to score much during those stretches ourselves. The same pattern seems to be developing here, I hope someone on the coaching staff is being aware. Being stubborn about gameplan this time of year can leave you on the sidelines
I think JY is fast/skilled enough to do that, but he simply doesn't look to pass enough on his drives (although he is kicking it out more) and I also don't think our guys move off the ball well enough when he does drive to be open.
Jacob Young can be a huge difference maker if he plays in control, I wonder if starting him to shake the lineup up a bit and give us a lift early could be a good idea. If he is forcing it then just take him out.
With Jacob it all comes down to decision making. I still can’t categorize him as a floor general.
1 win on road is not good but big ten teams have been notoriously bad on the road this year. If we get two we would fit in with the rest of the league
I've said the same thing - especially with his lightning-quick-sticky defense, as it can lead to steals and easy transition baskets, which, at home, can get the crowd going nuts early.
Pikiell's HC resume now goes back 15 years on KenPom. In those 15 years, his 5 best finishes in limiting opponent 3 pt attempts have ranked #132, #162, #181, #209, and #220 nationally. Ballpark around 350ish D1 teams in those 15 seasons and he has finished better than the 50th percentile exactly twice (and kinda barely at that). His preferred defensive strategy is to give up a lot of 3 point attempts but make up for it in other areas. At Stony Brook he finished 300th or worse by that measure in 8 consecutive seasons at one point.
Expecting him to make a major change in defensive philosophy at this point seems kinda unlikely. I mean coaches can make changes. John Beilein admitted he didn't like to coach defense and hired essentially defensive coordinators in Billy Donlon and Luke Yaklich. Brad Underwood saw how much they were struggling at Illinois and totally revamped things. But the thing with Pikiell is his defense actually works. It has been the strength of his program for the entirety of his career. In 15 years, his offense has been better than his defense exactly once on KenPom and that was by a teeny margin (179 vs 183 in 2010).
The strength of Rutgers is that defense. Now occasionally it is going to get burned and when it does it is almost assuredly becomes the opponent knocked down all those 3s they got. But that doesn't mean the entire philosophy is flawed.
The one thing that concerns me is that were passing on a lot of wide open shots and I think its affecting our offensive rhythm. Were choosing the extra pass for the sake of the pass, not because its a cleaner shot. Were at times moving the ball well and teams are giving us wide open 3s but were not taking them. I'd rather them take the shot and chase the rebound or the tip in. Were playing way too tentative on offense lately. Were thinking too much on offense which I think is making our shooting worse and killing our rythym.
I think our tentative nature on offense is translating to the defensive end.
I think our tentative nature on offense is translating to the defensive end.
Very interesting discussion,By now fans know that Rutgers struggles on offense and such difficulty in scoring impacts defense and rebounding.I doubt at this late stage in the season there will be more consistency on offense.Rutgers is a over achieving team that wins with grit ,defense, crowd support and just enough offense to win at home.Its a amazing achievement .Hopefully,the shooting woes will be addressed next season by recruiting and individual player development.