Pikell is not a magician

[RU677381]

He has four at the most BIG caliber players on the team, and one of them is out and one of them is in a slump caused in large part by having to shoulder the scoring responsibility due to a lack of other options. There are three freshmen who have potential but who are not ready yet to play day in and out. Doorson cannot score and never makes a move to the basket so it is essentially five on four. The jury is out on Kiss as he showsflashes of talent to give one hope but then lapses into obscurity. Issa would be effective if only no one guards him closely.

Coach is doing the best with what he has.

 

[Jtung230]

He is a magician. He’s got everyone believing despite terrible results.

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

He has four at the most BIG caliber players on the team, and one of them is out and one of them is in a slump caused in large part by having to shoulder the scoring responsibility due to a lack of other options. There are three freshmen who have potential but who are not ready yet to play day in and out. Doorson cannot score and never makes a move to the basket so it is essentially five on four. The jury is out on Kiss as he showsflashes of talent to give one hope but then lapses into obscurity. Issa would be effective if only no one guards him closely.

Coach is doing the best with what he has.

He didn’t do the best with what he had last night. That was a totally winnable game and often had players on the court who had no business being there. That remedial high school offense didn’t help.

 

[RUJMM78]

He didn’t do the best with what he had last night. That was a totally winnable game and often had players on the court who had no business being there. That remedial high school offense didn’t help.

Games like last night against Northwestern show how far Rutgers needs to improve just to be mediocre .There is no home court advantage without scoring threats on the court.The game was close at times because of tough defense and Northwestern playing as poorly as Rutgers.At crunch time, however,Northwestern made foul shots and 3 pointers while Rutgers shot bricks.A winnable game is another loss and there aren't many more winnable games on the schedule.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I have been very guilty of using the "B1G caliber" label.

I think we have a lot of "win with" players, but only 1 "win because of" players. "win with" players are very important to a B1G roster and shouldn't be overlooked.

The short,medium and long term issues with our "win because of" player.

SHORT TERM - is he ready right now to take the mantle, minutes and energy to be the focal point of our offense while facing the best player with the freshman wall potentially in the distance

MEDIUM TERM - Can he improve his game in the offseason, namely shot and S&C

LONG TERM - Can he handle being the face of the program and having his picture on billboards.

 

[MadRU]

This year was always going to be a struggle. With no player that had played real point guard before. Now that is also on coach for not recruiting a true point guard. But with this roster I was always worrying about getting to 10 wins. Hopefully we get a couple more and are competitive throughout.

I have said this before, to me next year is really year one of the turnaround. Once Corey left this year was going to be a major struggle for results.

 

[RU_DIO]

He has four at the most BIG caliber players on the team, and one of them is out and one of them is in a slump caused in large part by having to shoulder the scoring responsibility due to a lack of other options. There are three freshmen who have potential but who are not ready yet to play day in and out. Doorson cannot score and never makes a move to the basket so it is essentially five on four. The jury is out on Kiss as he showsflashes of talent to give one hope but then lapses into obscurity. Issa would be effective if only no one guards him closely.

Coach is doing the best with what he has.

I like Pike and think he will turn it around but he is responsible for the roster in year 3. He is responsible for us not having a true point guard eligible in 2019 and for not having a lights out shooter on the roster. I believe we will be much improved next year but there shouldn't be any excuses for poor play this year.

 

[ancienthooper]

He has four at the most BIG caliber players on the team, and one of them is out and one of them is in a slump caused in large part by having to shoulder the scoring responsibility due to a lack of other options. There are three freshmen who have potential but who are not ready yet to play day in and out. Doorson cannot score and never makes a move to the basket so it is essentially five on four. The jury is out on Kiss as he showsflashes of talent to give one hope but then lapses into obscurity. Issa would be effective if only no one guards him closely.

Coach is doing the best with what he has.

Thank you. Ironically, I was thinking more in terms of “Miracle Worker.”

As far as last night, I agree with Carino...
1. Omoruyi's absence looms large
Junior forward Eugene Omoruyi missed his third straight game with a dislocated kneecap. He's Rutgers' leading scorer and rebounder and top interior defender. There's just no way a team with limited talent can compensate.

I was at the game, looking at the bench in the second half, and trying to put myself in Pikes shoes...who do I go to? Couple of the usual answers, Caleb and Ron, were having really rough games, so the options were pretty limited.

Getting past last night and looking longer term, Pikes is 2.5 years in to arguably the toughest rebuild in the country, in the toughest conference in the country. And folks come unhinged over a loss to a veteran group with an excellent low post scorer, and several guys who can really shoot it. And we’re minus our best guy.

All signs are still pointing up. We have a guy who can coach, is a tireless worker, great ambassador for the university, and high likeability factor that will pay off with recruits and parents.

I like where we’re going.

 

[RAA-1]

I said this in another thread - Paul M is a great passer who will get the ball to the open man next year. Problem, we still have no one to put it in the hoop' We shot 23% on 3s and 60% from the line.

What the hell is going to improve next year? We need much more talent and coach is responsible for that.

 

[MadRU]

Things we are Missing with Eugene out besides scoring and rebounding is him being able to draw charges/fouls, turnovers, and being disruptive down low.

 

[BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine]

This year was always going to be a struggle. With no player that had played real point guard before. Now that is also on coach for not recruiting a true point guard. But with this roster I was always worrying about getting to 10 wins. Hopefully we get a couple more and are competitive throughout.

I have said this before, to me next year is really year one of the turnaround. Once Corey left this year was going to be a major struggle for results.

Agree. Many of us were concerned about Geo moving to PG and were begging for a grad/juco transfer PG that could play right away. That is a miss on Pike.

 

[goru7]

Thank you. Ironically, I was thinking more in terms of “Miracle Worker.”

As far as last night, I agree with Carino...
1. Omoruyi's absence looms large
Junior forward Eugene Omoruyi missed his third straight game with a dislocated kneecap. He's Rutgers' leading scorer and rebounder and top interior defender. There's just no way a team with limited talent can compensate.

I was at the game, looking at the bench in the second half, and trying to put myself in Pikes shoes...who do I go to? Couple of the usual answers, Caleb and Ron, were having really rough games, so the options were pretty limited.

Getting past last night and looking longer term, Pikes is 2.5 years in to arguably the toughest rebuild in the country, in the toughest conference in the country. And folks come unhinged over a loss to a veteran group with an excellent low post scorer, and several guys who can really shoot it. And we’re minus our best guy.

All signs are still pointing up. We have a guy who can coach, is a tireless worker, great ambassador for the university, and high likeability factor that will pay off with recruits and parents.

I like where we’re going.

Listen I like Pike as much as any coach we have ever had. However, you cannot give him a pass for last night. That was a horrendous loss to a mediocre at best Northwestern squad with Law playing hurt . His lineups last night were bad. We start well and the next thing you know he is playing Kiss and Issa together , which should never happen as they have both given you next to nothing. You cannot have two zero offensive players in together.

His failure to feed the post to Carter, who had 9 at the half and hardly touched the ball in the second half was ridiculous .Geo is not just playing like Pike thought he would , he fails to feed Carter almost every time. I thought during the Minnesota game for 30 minutes we had committted to playing inside out but that has disappeared in the 2 games since. Teams are starting to double the post, so Coach has to get Carter and Myles to swing the ball which should end up with a wide open three if it is executed correctly. We do not make a lot of wideopen shots but that would be the right shot.

His playing Issa for the last 8 minutes was just a poor decision. Kiss who has given you nothing over the last 5-6 games, actually scored 5 points in the second half and could have subbed in , or Caleb who struggled earlier deserved to play and his height could have guarded as well as Issa did or did not do.

Coach has to win his home games if he wants to finish respectable and keeps the positive thoughts on the rebuild going, and losing to a lousy Northwestern team was a really bad loss . No sugarcoating it.

 

[willisneverrana43]

At some point Pikiell will become responsible for not having B1G caliber players. Not yet. He needs more time, and Carter and Mathis are the two best recruits he's had. But in two years or so, the "not having enough to work with" problem becomes his problem. In college, you coach the players and you get the players.

 

[bac2therac]

good point, his failures and misses in recruiting are showing big time this year...Doucoure, Kiss, Thiam, Souf, transfer taking up a spot 2nd year in a row (yes not a miss but it hurts), not getting a point guard for 3 years. Going to need some pushed along roster moves in the offseason with 2 players

 

[dpwhite]

good point, his failures and misses in recruiting are showing big time this year...Doucoure, Kiss, Thiam, Souf, transfer taking up a spot 2nd year in a row (yes not a miss but it hurts), not getting a point guard for 3 years. Going to need some pushed along roster moves in the offseason with 2 players

Not ready to put Doucoure or kiss in the miss yet. Lots of time left for them.

 

[RUJMM78]

I said this in another thread - Paul M is a great passer who will get the ball to the open man next year. Problem, we still have no one to put it in the hoop' We shot 23% on 3s and 60% from the line.

What the hell is going to improve next year? We need much more talent and coach is responsible for that.

Your comment regarding next year is telling because it says shooters are needed to make Mulcahy's value as a passer a asset.Too many fans believe this years squad will suddenly become better shooters next year .History has shown at Rutgers that wishful thinking rarely happens as seen by the 12 straight losing seasons.

 

[RU MAN]

Does anyone know more about Doucoure health issues? In watching the game from afar, one of the commentators brought him up and said he hasn't played because he's had back issues the entire season. Is this the reason why we haven't seen him since the beginning of the season? Or, is it because Johnson and Carter are filling those roles and Doucoure may be the odd man out and forced to transfer?

I just thought it was interesting that the commentator seemed to have inside info on why we haven't seen Doucoure on the floor.

 

[dpwhite]

Does anyone know more about Doucoure health issues? In watching the game from afar, one of the commentators brought him up and said he hasn't played because he's had back issues the entire season. Is this the reason why we haven't seen him since the beginning of the season? Or, is it because Johnson and Carter are filling those roles and Doucoure may be the odd man out and forced to transfer?

I just thought it was interesting that the commentator seemed to have inside info on why we haven't seen Doucoure on the floor.

He’s played 6 games. It means he’s still possible for a redshirt injury-wise. Remember with Doorson graduating there will be plenty of minutes for a big man. Don’t run him out of town yet.

 

[soundcrib]

Again, Eugene Omoruyi became this team’s leading scorer. Nice job by Eugene, but who would’ve thought he would’ve ever became the leading scorer on this squad any time during his tenure at Rutgers?

You guys gave the keys to Geo and hoped he would carry this squad.

Next year you’ll give the keys to Mulcahy and hope he’ll do the same.

We don’t have enough talent and over value what we have.

Pikiell needs to close recruting for 2019 with a splash.

2020 needs to be one of the greatest classes we’ve ever seen.

 

[RU MAN]

He’s played 6 games. It means he’s still possible for a redshirt injury-wise. Remember with Doorson graduating there will be plenty of minutes for a big man. Don’t run him out of town yet.

Dave, I'm not running him out of town yet. What I want to know is if the kid's injured and that's why we haven't seen him since the beginning of the season?

 

[dpwhite]

Dave, I'm not running him out of town yet. What I want to know is if the kid's injured and that's why we haven't seen him since the beginning of the season?

He has a back injury according to Pikiell.

 

[RU MAN]

He has a back injury according to Pikiell.

Okay, thanks. Then what the commentator mentioned last night was spot on.

 

[BellyFullOfWhiteDogCrap]

Not ready to put Doucoure or kiss in the miss yet. Lots of time left for them.

Mathis is coming on very strong. He'll be playing 30+ min/game next year. Next year we get Young & Mulcahy. Geo will be a jr. playing the 1 or the 2. Kiss is going to be buried on the bench. Big time miss by Pike.

I don't want Doucoure anywhere near the court. He simply does not understand the game of basketball at this level. If you can't see this, then clearly you don't understand basketball at this level.

 

[MadRU]

Okay, thanks. Then what the commentator mentioned last night was spot on.

He hasn’t suited up for more than several games now. Back injury, I would expect redshirt

 

[Rac'nRoll]

Not asking him to be a magician. Asking him to be a recruiter

 

[bac2therac]

Not ready to put Doucoure or kiss in the miss yet. Lots of time left for them.

Doucoure sitting on the bench or being redshirted is a miss to me...you cannot have that on a team so limited...need rosters spots...2 IMO need to be opened for next year...Pikiell has to win, waiting on a project to emerge a la Hamady isnt going to get it done. Recruited over

 

[BOGDANOVICH]

Bill Parcells was once asked how he evaluates quarterbacks. What factors made a player a good quarterback?. Pocket presence, speed, quickness, vision, arm strength, accuracy, leadership, etc.? Passing yards, running yards, number of TDs, INTs, passing efficiency?
And all the other various statistics that QBs accumulate? What makes a good quarterback?
Parcells thought about it for a moment , and then said that none of these matter to him if the QB cannot win. Good QBs know how to win. Period.

Winning is the most important thing that matters in evaluating QBs and coaches. If a coach is a good coach, then he can coach his team to win games that are winnable. No excuses, no rationalizations, no moral victories, no participation trophies. If you cannot win a winnable game, then you are not a good coach in spite of whatever other wonderful skills you are teaching your players.

The Northwestern game was winnable as were the Fordham and Seton Hall games. But Pikiell could not get it done. When he starts to win more than one or two games in the B10 season, then he can be considered to be becoming a "good" coach. When he can keep Rutgers out of the B10 cellar year after year, then he can be considered to be becoming a "good" coach. When he starts winning winnable games, then he can considered a "good"coach. None of this has happened yet.

 

[RUonBrain]

Bill Parcells was once asked how he evaluates quarterbacks. What factors made a player a good quarterback?. Pocket presence, speed, quickness, vision, arm strength, accuracy, leadership, etc.? Passing yards, running yards, number of TDs, INTs, passing efficiency?
And all the other various statistics that QBs accumulate? What makes a good quarterback?
Parcells thought about it for a moment , and then said that none of these matter to him if the QB cannot win. Good QBs know how to win. Period.

Winning is the most important thing that matters in evaluating QBs and coaches. If a coach is a good coach, then he can coach his team to win games that are winnable. No excuses, no rationalizations, no moral victories, no participation trophies. If you cannot win a winnable game, then you are not a good coach in spite of whatever other wonderful skills you are teaching your players.

The Northwestern game was winnable as were the Fordham and Seton Hall games. But Pikiell could not get it done. When he starts to win more than one or two games in the B10 season, then he can be considered to be becoming a "good" coach. When he can keep Rutgers out of the B10 cellar year after year, then he can be considered to be becoming a "good" coach. When he starts winning winnable games, then he can considered a "good"coach. None of this has happened yet.

Someone needs a nap

 

[Debtbubble]

TLDR. LSS.

 

[GoFish2]

Someone needs a nap

I'd say the truth hurts...

 

[BoroKnight]

I'd say the truth hurts...

I would concur.

Bac's recurring theme of we don't have the depth to survive any misses is, of course, accurate. But we're going to have misses. We just are. THIS is why it can take longer than it appears on the surface to rebuild. It's very hard at this point for a program like ours to get multiple can't-miss players in one recruiting year. And it's very hard to tell a fan base that has witnessed mostly crap for decades to be patient. Again. Adding Mulcahy is a step in the right direction. A JUCO or grad transfer who can shoot to go with him would be swell.

Based on accomplishments on the court, his recruiting has been decent. But on the court, when you're Rutgers, you HAVE to win most of the games you are in down the stretch because there are going to be quite a few games you're not going to be competitive in. Losing games most fans think we should have won is not going to give you the extra leash you need while recruiting is not yet at compete-in-the-Big Ten levels.

 

[RUallin1]

Is Pikes recruiting at Michigan? If U are a high school prospect where would U go in the BIG if you had your choice.? U speak about recruiting misses and I would argue he has done better than expected in the recruiting department. This is long build. He inherited a mess & people are already predicting his dimise. Fire Pikes is not the answer. This program needs stability. I understand people are pist, but the coach is not the one I’m blaming.

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

Is Pikes recruiting at Michigan? If U are a high school prospect where would U go in the BIG if you had your choice.? U speak about recruiting misses and I would argue he has done better than expected in the recruiting department. This is long build. He inherited a mess & people are already predicting his dimise. Fire Pikes is not the answer. This program needs stability. I understand people are pist, but the coach is not the one I’m blaming.

No one is mentioning firing Pike. What I can, and will blame him for is his decision making of who is on the floor down the stretch in a close game.

 

[Goku]

If you do a perfect job with recruiting it would take 4-5 years. Some of us have suggested that this will probably take 7 years to account for the slip ups (coach is human after all) and we are getting yelled at for having such preposterous expectations

 

[superfan01]

I love how everyone points to Mulcahy as a savior next year. The guy won’t even be out starting PG in all probability it will be young.

 

[MadRU]

No one is saying he is a savior

 

[Goku]

I love how everyone points to Mulcahy as a savior next year. The guy won’t even be out starting PG in all probability it will be young.

Not a savior. Just another legit player to the roster to make it more B1G legit. We add 2 next year with him and young. Takes minutes away from guys who will be and should be minor role players on a legit B1G roster