Talks the team then camp:
http://wctcam.com/episodes/rutgers-mens-basketball-coach-pikiell-on-his-upcoming-camps-7-10-18/
http://wctcam.com/episodes/rutgers-mens-basketball-coach-pikiell-on-his-upcoming-camps-7-10-18/
Pikiell Radio Interview
- Thread starter Tango Two
- Start date
Not really. Baker is obvious, Doorson was starting at year's end having eclipsed Doucore and I expect him to be our best option at center most of this year, Thiam started most of last year and will continue to be the best option, and Omoruyi would have been a more efficient and better option than Freeman if he was healthy all of last year and never got hurt. Freeman had talent but he rarely was a net positive on the court, Omoruyi only started a few games but will be a big upgrade.
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Coach Pikiell has great interpersonal skills. He knows marketing/ being a salesmen is very important in his business.
If he says he returns 4 starters, maybe he sees them all as starters, which could be a hint for us.
From having a limited fan view, I see the only sure starter as Geo Baker. Everything, and everyone elses spot has a lot of competition that may push them in or out of big minutes.
There may be competition, but as stated, I definitely see those 4 starting the majority of games if healthy. Ron Harper or maybe Hyatt aren't starting over Thiam, and I don't see Carter or anyone else starting over Omoruyi, a captain. Doorson is the one I'm least sure of, if Myles Johnson comes on strong. Even then Pikiell may stick with seniority and Doorson is also a captain.
I agree those 4 are probably starters, at least at the beginning of the season, but the captain thing may not factor in. Mike Williams was a captain and didn't start, and Deshawn was a captain and eventually got benched.
True but it signals they'll get a fair shake at the very least. Mike W dealt with injuries last year and his shot just didn't fall, Baker was just clearly a better option. And Deshawn got himself benched after plenty of chances.
I know you're not referencing Baker, because that would be dumb. Thiam started every game, so I don't see the beef there. If you want to say Doorson doesn't count, then fine. But then it's Duocoure, who happens to be coming back. The only one you could quibble about is Omoruyi, but really he's probably the best player on the team, so there's that.
We lost 3 of our top 4 scorers. That’s a fact. Spin who doesn’t or does count as a starter anyway you like.
Who cares. Almost nobody could score last year.
That’s like when a terrible team returns 5 starters on offensive line. That is either good (more experience), or bad (they just stink and they are all back!)
I think the scoring will be there.
Sort of. Overall, Williams was our #4 scorer... but he was #5 in conference games behind Omoruyi, and #6 in total points scored. If you look at conference games plus SHU/FSU and tournament games, Omoruyi averaged 8.3 ppg and Williams averaged 6.5
Still, the point is we're losing most of our limited scoring (55% of total points) and a lot of our minutes (48% of minutes played last year). We're also losing almost half of our rebounding (48% of total rebounds). Those are big holes to fill.
Optimistically - it's a lot of breathing room and opportunity space for newcomers to flourish and return players to grow. Pessimistically - it's a lot of ground to make up and a lot of expectation placed on newcomers and return players to be better than the outgoing group.
Yes we lost 3 of the top 4 scorers but those three shot 412 for 1031 for 40% FG and 43 for 204 21% from 3pt range. Those stats can be easily replaced by a good team ball, like Purdue, willing to share the ball and get the best shot possible instead of so much iso with our top 2 players taking so many bad and forced shots. They will have a much better team this year with all the new additions. I expect them to be over .500 this year despite the tougher schedule.
Not sure I'd call a post-Tony Carr PSU an upset, although I know a few people here are always high on them.
I could see an overall worse record next year despite more B1G wins, given the 29 game schedule, and SHU, SJU and Miami out of conference
We have to wait for the schedule in August to get an idea as to what overall record and where the upsets might take place. Last year's team took some very good NCAA tourney teams home and on the road down to the wire and finished 15-19. You shoot a little better in just 2 games and you are a .500 team. This team was close in many games, lost 7 games by 7 pts or less. I think this will be the year they close out games much better and win a few they should have last year.