Sad Reality

[PSAL_Hoops]

Rutgers starting lineup scored a grand total of 29 points.I doubt such a performance would defeat Nebraska.The margin for error is very small in every remaining game.

The starting line up was a bad match up for the small ball Maryland line up. Just too slow and it’s on Pike for not adjusting to that when Maryland started hitting every shot. Sounded in the presser like he realizes this.

 

[Sweet Pea's Corner]

Good teams, good players and good coaches get better as the season progresses.
We’ve been sadly left in the dust.
You can argue the order, but all three have to be simultaneous.
Strangely, it was the case the two years before this debacle we’ve been watching for the last 2 months.

There may be other issues as well.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Our level of play. Do you think this team is capable of games vs Maryland and Purdue like last year under pressure

Remember this weekend last year we thumped Illinois and lost to ranked PSU by 3 on the road

Yes. I am going under the assumption that it is possible Harper breaks out of his slump AND Pike will get the team to buy in to the necessary changes offensively.

despite what anyone wants to think and hear this is the same team we have been watching the past 2 years. This team is capable of beating anyone on its best day and losing to Nebraska at home on its worse.

didn’t we need a miracle to beat Nebraska at home this year? Oh wait that was last year

 

[zappaa]

Yes. I am going under the assumption that it is possible Harper breaks out of his slump AND Pike will get the team to buy in to the necessary changes offensively.

despite what anyone wants to think and hear this is the same team we have been watching the past 2 years. This team is capable of beating anyone on its best day and losing to Nebraska at home on its worse.

didn’t we need a miracle to beat Nebraska at home this year? Oh wait that was last year

No show Harper makes us average at best.
Without him performing like a top B1G wing we lose

 

[RUPete]

you guys are insane. The problem is that we all try to be smart and for some reason people think Maryland and Michigan are both games that should have been won. We have people who are pissed that we lost to the #3 team in the country by 7 who has been beating the sh*t out of the other big 10 teams.

Michigan has 11 conference wins. the only team that has beaten michigan is Minnesota after michigan beat them by 25. The only teams to lose to michigan by 7 points or less are Rutgers(7), #4 ohio state (5), Penn state(4).....

Maryland 's first 11 conference games were #19 Rutgers, @ Purdue, @ #6 Wisconsin, #16 Michigan, @ Indiana, #5 Iowa, @ #12 Illinois, @ #7 michigan, @# 17 Minnesota, #14 Wisconsin, #24 Purdue.... While Maryland was 7-9 coming into yesterday's game it is completely ridiculous that people are upset that we lost them.

Yes to be upset that we played poorly during certain stretches of the game is warranted but to sit here and pretend that this team stinks or has regressed is outrageous... In reality, we have been doing what no other rutgers team has ever done before which is go through the meat grinder of the toughest conference in the entire country and still somehow are in a position to be in the NCAA tournament.

The reason why last year was more fun this year is because of expectations. Last year, we overachieved per expectations. This year we are underachieving expectations. All expectations are basically emotions. Thinking that something is/was better than what actually is.

People think and act like we have a bunch of 5 star studs. In reality, we are a bunch of 3 stars and we are playing like it. Up and down, sometimes great, sometime bad, most of the time average but at the end of the day we are exactly where we should be....fighting everyday to stay alive.

Great post and a much-needed dose of perspective.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

No show Harper makes us average at best.
Without him performing like a top B1G wing we lose

I never thought Harper was an elite B1G wing AND I am still, stupidly, under the assumption the slump will end shortly

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

just said in another post something kind of in line with this which is that it just feels like the last two years there has been a concerted effort not to give JY the keys, not to make him the man, a leader, even though everyone knows he’s the best player.

Pike def plays a role in that. And If I had to guess it’s the dynamic that makes the team disjointed on offense. In my head it’s Geo seeing himself as the Corey successor, they have group forming that is tight, and then JY comes in out of nowhere and the whole identity of the team changes. My feeling is if JY was embraced and pike and co worked to elevate JY it would work, but instead the revert to trying to keep their current power structure in place. Idk it’s a weird thing but feels like it’s a piece of this

Kinda hard to turn over a captain and leadership role to a kid who is clearly talented and athleticism off the charts, when you go halfway through the B1G season last year and get popped for a DUI and suspended a game.....

Look, if we just leave the agendas and favorites out of the discussion and strictly to basketball on the court, it is always an easier discussion.....this nonstop notion that JY on a 2nd chance stop, when he was not beloved for being a good teammate at Texas and looking to score, is not that different than what we are seeing here.

Fans here want to equate talent to leadership and there's nothing further from the trust and truth that it takes to grow as a program....especially when you have kids that if they played within the team concept more often like JY doesn't, he would earn everything his talent dictates it should......let's not tell half the story and leave out important and obvious aspects that clearly indicate he doesn't belong as the face of the program or in a leadership role.

Stick to who should guard who, who should play more minutes or not turn the ball over....the nonsense behind the scenes are part of every program.....if fans saw Texas this past Saturday on National TV, where 2 Longhorns had to be physically stopped from throwing blows the other day in the early 2nd half, you would know there are behind the scenes things that happen with every team, every program....there are 4 to 5 kids in every program that thinks they should play more or have more this or that. To equate this as somehow a RU only item or some sort of Pike dilemma is ridiculous.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Regarding chemistry.......

Last year there were definitely minor issues.

Two players (same each time) many times showed their frustration of coming out of the game when getting replaced by a certain player. They would shake their head and sit on the bench and commiserate.

There was definitely something between Young and Mathis last year. This year I have seen plenty of positive interactions. Early in the year I thought and noted our chemistry looked much better than last year.

It is a ton different watching the game from the couch versus sitting across the RU bench.

 

[bac2therac]

Yes. I am going under the assumption that it is possible Harper breaks out of his slump AND Pike will get the team to buy in to the necessary changes offensively.

despite what anyone wants to think and hear this is the same team we have been watching the past 2 years. This team is capable of beating anyone on its best day and losing to Nebraska at home on its worse.

didn’t we need a miracle to beat Nebraska at home this year? Oh wait that was last year

except last year we beat Illinois, lost a close won at top 20 Penn State then waxed Maryland and won at Purdue.. I see a big difference

 

[RutgersDom]

People really underestimated the loss of akwasi and to a lesser degree shaq carter. Akwasi was super super mature, he was an adult in a room full of children. He took the game very very serious to the point where he was often made fun of by his teammates and mocked. They made fun of him on video while imitating his accent saying, “i love this team so much, you guys are my brothers”. Now it couldve been in humor and likely was but i found it distasteful.

Akwasi and JY were two guys that werent in the clique. Ironically theyre probably the two guys who take the game most serious. Some have alluded to the notion of there must be a fractured locker room and while I wouldnt really call it fractured, not everyone sees eye to eye and further we have some disgruntled players.

i really feel for JY, hes here in jersey basically alone, giving it his all, working harder than anyone, his teammates dont really show him love like they show each other and on top of all this hes getting a raw deal from pike. I know some think hes gonna go play euro/china ball but if im him, im transferring to a program like bama where he’ll star in their uptempo offense + stifling defensive system

YOU found it distasteful???? Now THAT's funny!!! No need to bring that up of course as I'm sure they were fooling around...Do we miss him yes...Also miss the guy in Oregon who you said we wouldn't miss as he slowed our offense down...LOL.. Bottom line is we just don't have consistent shooters to be able to keep up with a better shooting team all the time...We'll win enough games with D and rebounding but we need more shooters...period...

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

except last year we beat Illinois, lost a close won at top 20 Penn State then waxed Maryland and won at Purdue.. I see a big difference

Last years team couldnt win on the road until the end.....

This year's team beat MD on the road by 14
beat Indiana on the road by 4

Beat illinois by 3
Beat Michigan State by 30

AND had it's biggest asset of a home court advantage stripped from them.

 

[bac2therac]

maybe if Maryland and Indiana had rocking home courts instead of cutouts we do not win those games

 

[Yeah Baby]

Ultimately, all the ideas about improving the offense through tactics is going to crash into a ceiling created by our offensive talent. The ultimate fix will be Pike recruiting more talented offensive players. For now, it's going to be defense and rebounding or bust. There's no way we should have failed to outrebound a smaller Maryland team.

They looked bigger and stronger everywhere but the 5 spot to me. The refs let them play and we got banged around.

 

[Yeah Baby]

No show Harper makes us average at best.
Without him performing like a top B1G wing we lose

Agreed but he’s playing the 4. We need him at the wing.

 

[cm_13]

except last year we beat Illinois, lost a close won at top 20 Penn State then waxed Maryland and won at Purdue.. I see a big difference

All very true. But worth noting that we beat Illinois without Ayo Dosunmu on the floor, and the reason we lost that Penn State game was because we completely sleepwalked (sleptwalked?) through most of the game and went into the half down 18.

The thing I find most frustrating about this team’s issues is how similar the issues are to last year. The slow starts that result in the team having to claw their way back into games, the extended droughts where the offense just looks out of sync, these are very much things that we saw last year too, and they still haven’t been fixed.

The team last year delivered under a ton of pressure at the end of the season when it counted. Remains to be seen if they can recreate that this year, but the fact that it’s even a question after what I thought this team was going to be this year is incredibly frustrating.

 

[RUsojo]

That open scholarship really hurt us too imo

 

[Yeah Baby]

maybe if Maryland and Indiana had rocking home courts instead of cutouts we do not win those games

We lost 1 game at home last year. It works both ways.

 

[FireBugOBJC]

At this point RU is in the tournament based on SOS. IU is getting too much credit but that leads to a quality win. Maryland has been on the uptick but they smacked Rutgers in the mouth at home so I think that wipes out the win at their place early on. Lunardi has IU a 5, Terps a 7 and RU an 8..I think every one of those is a couple spots too high

 

[RU848789]

Disappointing thread. A little early to give up on this team.

 

[NiTeKnight]

Disappointing thread. A little early to give up on this team.

I haven't given up on them and will be rooting hard for them tomorrow.
Did you see the Senior Day press conference? What a great bunch of kids!

 

[ru66]

How can a RU fan say they can't "root" for a RU team that's losing ? That's not a fan that's just a guy you don't want in a foxhole with you. You can be disappointed in the team and spend sleepless nights after a loss but not to "root" for them ?? They don't need that type of fan . Try supporting them and hoping for their success-that's what rooting for means

 

[zappaa]

Disappointing thread. A little early to give up on this team.

You giving up ?