As the year goes on , I am finding it harder and harder to do any meaningful comparison between last year’s team and this year’s. The only role that has not changed is maybe Cliff’s.
Paul , Caleb , Mag , and Aundre ‘s roles have changed and add inCam , Derek and Wolf with limited Dean and it is just a different team. Clearly Paul and Caleb deferred to Ron and Geo for offense except for Paul’s 5 game spurt and Caleb’s Notre Dame performance. Now they are the main men on offense at guard every single game and have to score double digits to get to where we want to go. It took Ron and Geo going into shooting slumps to have Pike and the team to unleash Paul’s full offensive game. Last night against Purdue is the first time we have seen it this year and it will be coming fast and furious from here on in. Plus Paul now has his shooting partner and roommate Cam to give him another passing option besides Cliff in PNR and for lobs, which is different than last year. Because we literally have and should continue to have 5 guys in double figures every game and not just Ron and Geo the team is more well rounded offensively than last year.
Caleb has done more isolation and pulling up for jumpers this year as well whereas he was almost exclusively a defensive specialist last year. His role was different as evidenced in the Miami game , but he has also struggled in some other games Seton Hall and Purdue.
Frankly , I see Mag’s role as the biggest change. Mag is almost a 1 man press and having him hound the ball 94 feet make us an elite defense that we have not seen since the Nolan Richardson Arkansas teams or our own Final Four team . We are the best pressing team in the country and it is not close and it leads to turnovers , run outs , fast breaks and dunks. , where we play better than our half court offense. Plus it gives us spurtability that prior teams did not have consistently and we have this year. Mag’s foul trouble as well as the whole team’s foul trouble had Pike call off the press in the second half against Purdue and he took a gamble that he would still be able to beat Purdue in a half court game that they excel at ( Top 1-5 in Kenpom) . I did not like the move but Pike because of foul trouble felt he had to call off the press. Mag has to stay out of foul trouble to unleash our full potential.
Regarding worrying about minutes in the Purdue game that is just silly. That game was a war , a test of wills especially in the second half. I surely did not want Paul or Caleb leaving the court and foul trouble limited options anyway . No Mag and no Caleb on the court affect our elite defense . If we do at home what we have done to a bunch of teams there , then Paul andCaleb’s and Cliff’s minutes can be reduced but not when you are playing #1 in the type of game it was at Purdue. Which was described very aptly by Coach Painter , “ Rutgers plays really hard for keeps , if we are going to war we are going to stop by Jersey and get those guys. “. You cannot judge or make general statements about minutes allocation using the Purdue game as an example. Read the room.
Paul , Caleb , Mag , and Aundre ‘s roles have changed and add inCam , Derek and Wolf with limited Dean and it is just a different team. Clearly Paul and Caleb deferred to Ron and Geo for offense except for Paul’s 5 game spurt and Caleb’s Notre Dame performance. Now they are the main men on offense at guard every single game and have to score double digits to get to where we want to go. It took Ron and Geo going into shooting slumps to have Pike and the team to unleash Paul’s full offensive game. Last night against Purdue is the first time we have seen it this year and it will be coming fast and furious from here on in. Plus Paul now has his shooting partner and roommate Cam to give him another passing option besides Cliff in PNR and for lobs, which is different than last year. Because we literally have and should continue to have 5 guys in double figures every game and not just Ron and Geo the team is more well rounded offensively than last year.
Caleb has done more isolation and pulling up for jumpers this year as well whereas he was almost exclusively a defensive specialist last year. His role was different as evidenced in the Miami game , but he has also struggled in some other games Seton Hall and Purdue.
Frankly , I see Mag’s role as the biggest change. Mag is almost a 1 man press and having him hound the ball 94 feet make us an elite defense that we have not seen since the Nolan Richardson Arkansas teams or our own Final Four team . We are the best pressing team in the country and it is not close and it leads to turnovers , run outs , fast breaks and dunks. , where we play better than our half court offense. Plus it gives us spurtability that prior teams did not have consistently and we have this year. Mag’s foul trouble as well as the whole team’s foul trouble had Pike call off the press in the second half against Purdue and he took a gamble that he would still be able to beat Purdue in a half court game that they excel at ( Top 1-5 in Kenpom) . I did not like the move but Pike because of foul trouble felt he had to call off the press. Mag has to stay out of foul trouble to unleash our full potential.
Regarding worrying about minutes in the Purdue game that is just silly. That game was a war , a test of wills especially in the second half. I surely did not want Paul or Caleb leaving the court and foul trouble limited options anyway . No Mag and no Caleb on the court affect our elite defense . If we do at home what we have done to a bunch of teams there , then Paul andCaleb’s and Cliff’s minutes can be reduced but not when you are playing #1 in the type of game it was at Purdue. Which was described very aptly by Coach Painter , “ Rutgers plays really hard for keeps , if we are going to war we are going to stop by Jersey and get those guys. “. You cannot judge or make general statements about minutes allocation using the Purdue game as an example. Read the room.
