The team really looked bad tonight, and frankly was not well coached IMO. The team had no composure, made very bad decisions, did not play with any tempo, and had many mental lapses. That is less about talent (which is extremely limited) and more about the coach taking control of his team. Did not get the rotation and there was a lot of rotating to no effect. I think he is a good coach, but tonight was not one of his better games.
Not a well coached team tonight.
- Thread starter ImBadRU
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Wrong. This is all about lack of talent. Cannot hit jump shots whether long, medium or short. Layups are a labor. Defensive intensity wilts when the offense sucks. Coaching is far from the problem. Need players who can SCORE !
The key problem is a lack of shooters. Not just 3-pointers. ANY kind of shot. Foul shots, layups, open 12-15 footers. The kids play hard. Their "D" makes the other team work very hard for decent shots. But offensively, they have no place to go, no one to go to.
I thought the coaching and game plan was sound, especially in the first half. But, it is just so demoralizing to play great D and crash the boards, while being totally hapless on the Offensive end. This team has NO shooters when Williams is under the weather. And even when he is 100%, he is 34% from 3, which is mediocre at best. On any other Big10 team team he'd be the 3rd or 4th shooting option. We desperately need shooters and with only 2 players coming in next year, this problem will not change soon.
it wasnt coaching. The coach got this team to play great defense to even have a position to compete in the game. The issue is there is no talent and they cannot shoot. I saw people were upset with out of control Corey and Johnson but without them we would have scored 12 points in the first half. Second half, they forced things but it didnt matter, they just are not good enough to finish. Pike can teach shooting, this team doesnt have any..goodnight irene
We play great defense. So many blocks, steals. More than I can remember. We needed some more offensive rebounding effort. Inside all together. CJ needs to hammer down inside like the OOC. I know it's difficult but he has to do a better job. Freeman had a great game, if everyone played like that each game we'd win more than we lose. Nigel still has to find his shot, especially driving to the hoop for a layup. Corey is still our best player, he makes up for turnovers by bailing us out late in clock with circus shots. Need to go inside more. As in to big men. Sa, Diallo, Doorson & Gettys should be getting the majority of our points and tonight they scored maybe 10 together.
Awful offense tonight.
I just checked and can't believe what I saw.
Rutgers is ranked #334 in 3-point field goal percentage and #274 in 2-point field goal percentage.
That HAS to be as low as we've ever been. Honestly, can anybody name the 333 teams that shoot 3s better than Rutgers this season ?
We need players.....bad.
Turned it on (in a bar in Cali) with the score 46-43 NW. RU immediately made a telegraphed pass that was intercepted by NW who then went on about a 10-2 run. Couldn't see who made the pass, Corey?, but it sealed the game as RU had to play major catch up after that.
Basketball is a scoring sport. Defense is a key component but you must be able to score the basketball on some competent level.
We can't. Aren't even close. Bad basketball IQ players with no shooting ability at any position.
Like football, it's a talent issue. Pike is a very good coach. You see what he is trying to do. This teams Everest is playing solid team D and rebounding. Those are more effort areas than anything else. Pike has them playing well in that department.
What takes skill and talent is scoring. We don't have any of that. Our shooting ability is atrocious. Those guys don't even think they are going to make it when they shoot.
It's why our foul shooting sucks too. Can't shoot from the floor, can't shoot from the line.
We have NO bench...
Thiam, .....0-0
Doorson....0-2
Laurent.....1-2
SA..............1-1
Williams ....2-8 plus ONE FT
...................4- 13 ...5 players COMBINED (add Johnsons 2-14 & its 6 for 27!)
bench(5 guys) 9pts.......... 12 REBs
Freeman........12pts............15 REBs....and he had the games ONLY 3 pointer
Thiam, .....0-0
Doorson....0-2
Laurent.....1-2
SA..............1-1
Williams ....2-8 plus ONE FT
...................4- 13 ...5 players COMBINED (add Johnsons 2-14 & its 6 for 27!)
bench(5 guys) 9pts.......... 12 REBs
Freeman........12pts............15 REBs....and he had the games ONLY 3 pointer
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You guys have a terrific coach. And a top staff too.
Be patient. and support your team. Better times are ahead.
GOUNUII
How many times is this topic brought up when the answer clearly is on the score board.Can't win if you can't score.Pikiell success or failure is dependent on recruiting top tier talent.A squad full of complementary type players simply won't get the job done in the B1G.
Agree...this team is dying for a kid who can penetrate, break someone down and create an opportunity. I have been harping on shot selection, but the facts are there are no good shots to choose from!
Collins did a good job. You can tell the team was very aware who Sanders was guarding at all times. On the few possessions he guarded McIntosh they ceased running their sets and just had McIntosh drive and dish. After one sequence Pikiell quickly reinserted Johnson who he just had sit out.
Yup. To paraphrase Winston Churchill - never before on the court of college basketball have so many shot so poorly for so long.
So our two starting guards can break down the defense, but they are either missing players, or are being selfish. Leash needs to be cut.
I think you guys have a good coach there and look like a much more organized squad than last year. Recruit some of top talent and your area and you should be a top-half contender before long. It's a funny year in the B1G. I don't see a national championship contender in the league, but there is a helluva lot of competitive balance this year. I don't think you can take a night off against any team, including Rutgers. I'll give your team credit for good defense, but McIntosh has been slumping most of the season. If he doesn't get going, we'll have a hard time making the NCAAs.
We did not screen well last night and I personally thought our screen combos didn't help the cause. We were much better against Mich St and Iowa. We also had more dribble handoff then we did the last two games - not surprised our offensive efficiency was worse.
Our defense was good. And specifically to the OP who doesn't have a clue, we actually took care of the ball better than we have all year for the first 30 minutes - Corey's full court pass into the expensive seats was only the third turnover of the game. Admittedly I did not see how we finished in the TO stat line.
In response to foul shooting, going into Mich St, we were a 67% FT shooting team. Late in last nights game we were 12-19 (last time I checked; don't know where we finished) which was right on our avg basically. NW closed out the game because they shot 90% from the line on 20 ATT, but, they are a good deep shooting team that had their worst night beyond the arc. Happily, i thought it was our D that forced that, rather than the opponent missing open looks.
The reason we don't shoot FTs well is because we have recruited players who aren't great FT shooters
Bingo. I remember Bob Wenzel was asked one time about foul shooting. He said when he was an assistant with Duke with Bill Foster they had a great foul shooting team and went around the country doing clinics. But he said the real secret to why they were a great foul shooting team had nothing to do with their great teaching techniques - they just had good shooters!
Definitely a minority point of view......2 things to change
1. I think Pikiell has it wrong limiting 3 point attempts. I heard him make reference keeping attempts under 10. There is obviously a need to know what a good attempt is and a bad one, but if a player is constantly questioning what is a good shot we will continue to be tentative and see sub 30% results.
You can't be efficient offensively without the 3 point shot. It is an essential part of the game. Players should be expected to take open looks and not allowed only when the shot clock is under a certain amount.
2. Minutes across the board need to be reduced. If we arent going to be efficient offensively we must be do everything in our power to be efficient defensively. Freeman, Sanders and Johnson are playing too many minutes. Johnson and Freeman wore down at the end of the game physically and mentally. we want Johnson and Freeman to play at the intensity they played with. Need 2 rests each half. Has to happen.
think
1 and 2 Sanders (28) Johnson (28) Williams (24)
3 Eugene (12ish) Thiam (12ish) Laurent (12ish) Williams (4)
4 freeman (28) Sa (12)
5 Gettys (15) Sa (6) Diallo (15) Doorson (4)
1. I think Pikiell has it wrong limiting 3 point attempts. I heard him make reference keeping attempts under 10. There is obviously a need to know what a good attempt is and a bad one, but if a player is constantly questioning what is a good shot we will continue to be tentative and see sub 30% results.
You can't be efficient offensively without the 3 point shot. It is an essential part of the game. Players should be expected to take open looks and not allowed only when the shot clock is under a certain amount.
2. Minutes across the board need to be reduced. If we arent going to be efficient offensively we must be do everything in our power to be efficient defensively. Freeman, Sanders and Johnson are playing too many minutes. Johnson and Freeman wore down at the end of the game physically and mentally. we want Johnson and Freeman to play at the intensity they played with. Need 2 rests each half. Has to happen.
think
1 and 2 Sanders (28) Johnson (28) Williams (24)
3 Eugene (12ish) Thiam (12ish) Laurent (12ish) Williams (4)
4 freeman (28) Sa (12)
5 Gettys (15) Sa (6) Diallo (15) Doorson (4)
I agree the D played well, Northwestern missed quite a few opening looks. I have seen posters post stats that say RU defends the 3 well because the opponents percentage isnt all that great...however if you watch the games, you see that RU is giving alot of wide open shots, thats not good defense, true RU isnt necessarily getting burned by them but its not a good thing to be that porous around the perimeter, that could be tightened up
Fig- your comments are always spot on. I scroll for your comments first and go from there.
It is everyone's right to say coaching wasn't good on a particular night, but overall- Pikiell and staff are going to get this done.
We literally have no shooters to rely on consistently. Think if we had a Ricky Shields, Donnell Lumpkin or OMG, Quincy Douby to rely on.
My 10 year old would seriously compete for time at the 2 guard because he can hit 3's.
I have never seen a worse shooting team in my life.
Good point about the guard minutes, but Mike Williams being sick the past week may have exacerbated the problem last night.
We have 2 guards that can penetrate and draw the defense to them but we have ABSOLUTELY NOONE to kick the ball out to that can make a shot
FOr sure. The team did take better care of the ball. It was just that the turnovers that did happen were very timely to the game. It was a bad spot to turn the ball over while the team almost opened it up to give themselves enough confidence to get a w.
The sad reality is that every minute Sanders,Johnson and Freeman aren't on the court lessens the likelihood Rutgers will score .In some instances two of the three players cited above were on the bench at the same time.Opponents like those substitutions because it makes it far easier to defend Rutgers.
I don't think Coach was a good coach 2 weeks ago and is now a bad coach.
He's fighting with a very short stick and if you don't understand that I have no clue what you're watching.
The only thing I might think about doing is playing 90 feet and shuttling guys in and out to maybe create some offense.
What do I know ?
He's fighting with a very short stick and if you don't understand that I have no clue what you're watching.
The only thing I might think about doing is playing 90 feet and shuttling guys in and out to maybe create some offense.
What do I know ?
I notice Omoruyi has consistently turned the all over when trying to get the ball into the post. Somebody pointing out he was the best passer on the team but I don't see anything close to that.
I agree on the penetrate and kick, but on the penetrate and dish we just don't space well enough to do this – – because of the tight spacing there are typically multiple defensive players near the key when our guards get a step on their man -- so when the first defensive rotation comes, the penetrating guard cannot easily identify and dish to the open man in the lane. There is just too much congestion. In the second half, when northwestern got a man into the lane and there was a defensive rotation the open man was always easier to see and get the ball to. I know this does not come as easily when you do not have three point threats, but we could still do better in my non-expert opinion. Also, with the way that our last two opponents have over played the passing lanes, better spacing would have lead to opportunities to make hard cuts to the basket. Sanders did get one of these, but we should have more of these opportunities.
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in very limited minutes, literally 3 I believe. Johnson, Issa, Eugene, Sa, and CJ were not n the floor. I remember thinking 2 things...how the bleep are we going to score and all 5 were new players. They made the game 46-39 to 46-43. If Johnson 3 goes down it is tied.
We score more with Sanders on the floor, but we give up more points. I think on most nights at best they cancel each other out.
Agreed. Not sure what's happened to Thiam. He has apparently taken a step back. He looks like he has no confidence right now with his shot. He needs to adjust to the speed of the Big10 game.
lets also remember that while the team has taken a step up in level of competition, so has Pikiell, this isnt the America East, its the Big 10, some of the coaches he is facing have had big time success and have much more experience at this level. Its also a learning experience for him