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Simce91

All-Conference
Dec 2, 2024
1,482
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Kid is on fire last night with 18 in the 1st half on 7 for 8 from the field , all 3 from behind the arc and he only plays 13 minutes while watching the UCLA lead grow and Mark throw up bricks

WTF is up with that, and why would a kid with that type of talent and potential want to stay at RU under Pike and his substitution pattern ?
 
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Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
7,401
4,777
113
Simce91 said:
Kid is on fire last night with 18 in the 1st half on 7 for 8 from the field , all 3 from behind the arc and he only plays 13 minutes while watching the UCLA lead grow and Mark throw up bricks

WTF is up with that, and why would a kid with that type of talent and potential want to stay at RU under Pike and his substitution pattern ?
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How many times can I say Pike's a dummy.
 
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RC80

All-Conference
Feb 25, 2021
1,362
1,674
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Continues to improve which is the encouraging part; and he is a pretty athletic player who can create his own shot; I recall that was a question mark when he was recruited. He is getting his minutes so will he move on to play closer to home or stick around. Good question. If we can't keep our 1st year - improving players - than what are we doing.
 
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LeapinLou

LeapinLou

All-American
Jul 24, 2001
13,142
6,748
113
I didn't watch the 2nd half, so I can't say only playing Powers 13 out of 20 minutes was a mistake. He and Buchanan tied for the team lead in minutes for the game with 26.

Richie is saying that among the Freshman, the two most likely to leave are Mark and Nwuli. He is saying the one most likely to stay is Powers.

Obviously, Powers had a spectacular first half against UCLA. But you can't deny that for most of the season, his shooting percentage has hurt us. Hopefully, he's finding his rhythm and getting more comfortable playing against Big 10 competition.
 
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RUChet

All-Conference
Apr 8, 2023
1,414
1,953
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LeapinLou said:
I didn't watch the 2nd half, so I can't say only playing Powers 13 out of 20 minutes was a mistake. He and Buchanan tied for the team lead in minutes for the game with 26.

Richie is saying that among the Freshman, the two most likely to leave are Mark and Nwuli. He is saying the one most likely to stay is Powers.

Obviously, Powers had a spectacular first half against UCLA. But you can't deny that for most of the season, his shooting percentage has hurt us. Hopefully, he's finding his rhythm and getting more comfortable playing against Big 10 competition.
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Powers, Mark and Zrno can stay. The rest can leave.
 
LeapinLou

LeapinLou

All-American
Jul 24, 2001
13,142
6,748
113
RUChet said:
Powers, Mark and Zrno can stay. The rest can leave.
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I have no inside knowledge, but I feel good about our chances of keeping Zrno. Clearly, there is a role for him on this team next season.
 
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goru7

All-American
Dec 12, 2005
6,415
7,677
113
Powers was on a heater . Pike sat him down for a while. I think he is dealing with freshman and game to game he doesn’t know what he is getting . Powers has beautiful firm on his shot , looks to be able to create his own shot or use a screen properly , can drive the ball and is a willing passer. He has not shot great before UClA but he is a freshman. You have to keep him. He can also get better defensively.
Pike going with a smaller lineup with Buchanan and Grant up front or Dorsch to go along with Powers , Zrno and Francis gives you offensive options Have to put them all in attack mode. Dylan is not rebounding or trying to box out , so maybe a little coaching will help there as it is correctable. His performance last night was really bad. Coming off a good one at USC. The inconsistency night to night after 23 games is still baffling.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,078
12,420
78
goru7 said:
Powers was on a heater . Pike sat him down for a while. I think he is dealing with freshman and game to game he doesn’t know what he is getting . Powers has beautiful firm on his shot , looks to be able to create his own shot or use a screen properly , can drive the ball and is a willing passer. He has not shot great before UClA but he is a freshman. You have to keep him. He can also get better defensively.
Pike going with a smaller lineup with Buchanan and Grant up front or Dorsch to go along with Powers , Zrno and Francis gives you offensive options Have to put them all in attack mode. Dylan is not rebounding or trying to box out , so maybe a little coaching will help there as it is correctable. His performance last night was really bad. Coming off a good one at USC. The inconsistency night to night after 23 games is still baffling.
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Grant still has time to turn it around but if UCLA was the last game of the season, I think I’d prefer he move on unless Pike is aware he’s battling injuries we don’t know about. His defense is a big problem at this point both inside and out.
 
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satnom

All-American
Jun 28, 2002
6,948
8,526
88
PSAL_Hoops said:
Grant still has time to turn it around but if UCLA was the last game of the season, I think I’d prefer he move on unless Pike is aware he’s battling injuries we don’t know about. His defense is a big problem at this point both inside and out.
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If Grant is hurt he shouldn’t be playing. Once on the court the excuses stop.

GO RU
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,078
12,420
78
satnom said:
If Grant is hurt he shouldn’t be playing. Once on the court the excuses stop.

GO RU
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I mean - Caleb played hurt for years and still contributes when not 100%. So that’s not necessarily true. Guys play through issues. But whatever the case, he hurts us right now and has often been a net negative because of his defensive play.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,078
12,420
78
needmorecowbell said:
They are completely different players. Grant has a different pace. No reason to attack the kid. If he leaves, okay, next up. If he stays, okay, let’s go.
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I mean, there kind of “is”. I believe this is Pike’s worst defense ever at Rutgers including his first season here. And CJ Gettys wasn’t exactly a lock down defensive center either.

There’s plenty of blame to go around but right now Grant arguably stands out as the biggest problem of all because of the hole left by his lack of help D and failure to rebound (even when the ball comes right to him) when he’s in the game. Buchanan’s lower rebounding metrics are a result of him flying all over the map attempting to provide bail out help D in areas that are not his responsibility. He’s not an amazing defender, but he’s decent. Just constantly playing out of position and covering for others.

Grant’s issues are a black hole because when he sits, our alternatives are unattractive for reasons that aren’t really about individual player shortcomings. The options are:

A) play 3 guards together - can’t really blame the guards for why this limits us - we already play without a starting caliber center so of course playing without the length / physicality of a SF too is going to be a problem. Not to mention our guards are small.

B) play Denis who is a train wreck on D.

C) play Nwuli who has shown flashes but is often dreadfully out of position in typical frosh fashion. Seems lost in the schemes still pretty often.

If I was Pike, I’d play Bryce at the 4 but then again, Ogbole can’t seem to stay on the court more than 15 or so mpg anyway.

So there you have it. The reality is - if Caleb or Mag was on this team, they would be replacing Grant’s minutes in the line up to improve the defense substantially. Not the guards, Buchanan, etc. On the flip side - I don’t think the D would be all the much better if you put JY or Derek Simpson at point instead of one of the guards. Maybe we get a few more steals but at the end of the day the rate limiting issue is we have no answer in the post unless we pack the paint which is why we give up so many 3s. Having one better perimeter defender in the mix wouldn’t much help this problem.
 
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BigEastPhil

Heisman
Nov 25, 2007
19,128
13,319
66
Anyone concerned that Powers ends up at Oregon or Washington next year given he’s from the Pacific Northwest and both schools appear to have strong NIL ?
 
wheezer

wheezer

Heisman
Jun 3, 2001
169,833
25,517
113
RUforJERSEY said:
Powers passes? I mean I like what i've seen from him lately but half the time he touches the ball it's going up.
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Like many others, if they get off to a hot start, they will keep putting it up
The hot first half versus UCLA
 
LeapinLou

LeapinLou

All-American
Jul 24, 2001
13,142
6,748
113
Jerry Carino had an article yesterday. I'm paraphrasing but his plan would be to do everything possible to keep these 3 players:
- Francis
- Buchanan
- Powers

Everyone else is fair game. He says Rutgers needs a playmaker and a really good center to add to these 3.
 
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Zebnatto1!

Sophomore
Sep 6, 2025
164
156
42
TF had five assists yesterday, a nice number. This is because he has the ball in his hands and is doubled so much. Good job by him!

KP had only one but it's tough to get assists when you don't have cutters, don't have excellent shooters, and can't even run a high screen and roll.
 
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Loyal-Son

All-Conference
Jan 5, 2016
1,447
2,745
81
needmorecowbell said:
They are completely different players. Grant has a different pace. No reason to attack the kid. If he leaves, okay, next up. If he stays, okay, let’s go.
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Feels like he has a more laid-back personality and is having difficulty adjusting it to his increasing role.
 
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