We need to address

[Yeah Baby]

I think Carr was handful for any single RU defender last night when playing man to man. No one other than possibly JY has the foot speed to prevent blow byes. Since Caleb has a little more length than Ten, that would be the tiebreaker for me if forced to choose. Montez does need to remember that he earns his minutes on the defensive end and can sometime lose them with bad decisions down the other end.

Tez played well last night but Caleb probably had his best game of his career. Remember Tez was our defensive stopper last year and I think he can be that guy again this year. But the starters do a really nice job playing team D. It’s not just what you do on the ball but away from the ball too. RHJ and Mulcahey play great help defense.

Also with the game on the line, RHJ went up and grabbed 2 huge rebounds over bigger men. Strong body and really strong hands those last 2 possessions. When he is not on the court we lose that. When he and Myles are both out we are not a good rebounding team.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

It’s pretty simple. When JY and Tez were finishing in transition, having them play together made for an awesome nearly unbeatable combination. That play where JY missed the layup off the steal pretty much tells the story of where things are at right now. I don’t know why our best transition players have not been executing that game recently, but they just haven’t. Those two together are the worst possible combo for running half court offense.

Beyond that and more concerning, when they make a mistake, neither seems to have the composure to adjust. Think of the Caleb play where he was called for the charge in transition. The next defensive set by Caleb was a key turning point in the game and it’s all because he held his head up high and moved on. Raced back on defense. Didn’t try anything fancy off the steal - just put the ball in the basket. We haven’t been getting that maturity from the others.

 

[RU677381]

All that said, I would have had Tez and Young in the game for the last minute to protect the lead. I understand that Tez's FTs are an option, so if you want to disagree with him, I get it. But for 60 seconds, we needed stops. I want our best defenders in the game.

Young was not in the game mentally last night which is why he was on the bench. When he tries to do too much he plays out of control. Between not starting and trying to match Carr in production he was a lost cause.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Tez played well last night but Caleb probably had his best game of his career. Remember Tez was our defensive stopper last year and I think he can be that guy again this year. But the starters do a really nice job playing team D. It’s not just what you do on the ball but away from the ball too. RHJ and Mulcahey okay great help defense.

Also with the game on the line, RHJ went up and grabbed 2 huge rebounds over bigger men. Strong body and really strong hands those last 2 possessions. When he is not on the court we lose that.

Last year was very different. We had more front court depth that wasn’t a massive defensive drop off. Tez just isn’t a power 3.

 

[patk89]

Cliff will be a very good player for us. But he is very aggressive on the offensive side calling for the ball and we feed him way too much which often results in a turnover. He needs to get his points off offensive rebounds or dunks at this point. Last option on offense. We need him, especially when Myles has foul issues.

Rutgers up 2 with the last shot in the first half. Young turns it over, commits a foul, and then a technical. Minnesota gets 4 shots at the charity strip. Paul M drives the length of the court and his lay up rolls off the rim. Huge momentum shift right there. Young sits for extended periods of the 2nd half.

 

[RUKnights86]

All those that want to ride Myles need to understand that the young man cannot play 32-35 min a night. Cliff played 12 min last night which is about where he will play a night and that way Myles can get the rest he needs strategically around medias etc. to where he is most effective on the court. Cliff will only get better with experience, with no pre-season and the injury he is approx 10 games in.

While I agree him on the low block defensively is a weakness right now at times until he gets a little stronger and works on that foot movement we have to take what he provides which is length, can block some shots and alter them as well. This whole talk on the so called 2nd unit is all driven by how JY performs on a nightly basis. They will go as he goes and you are going to get some games where he is inconsistent and frustrating like tonight, and others which are far greater where he is effective and really provides a spark. I think at times he feel like he has to press because he is the lone threat offensively but he has to trust his teammates more too. It was good to see him on the bench not sulking in the 2nd half cheering on the rest of the guys. Tez has found his balance the last couple games working back on the post rebounding and defense.

I know we can be critical but on a 4 game run with Wins we need to step back and realize we are in a great spot.

 

[Yeah Baby]

Last year was very different. We had more front court depth that wasn’t a massive defensive drop off. Tez just isn’t a power 3.

Right that’s what I said too if you read my whole post. We lack rebounding though all of our guards can rebound pretty well. Someone said we don’t have anyone who can stop Carr on ball and I am saying Tez was that guy last year. He typically covered the highest scoring guard.

 

[RUsojo]

Young was not in the game mentally last night which is why he was on the bench. When he tries to do too much he plays out of control. Between not starting and trying to match Carr in production he was a lost cause.

Young is asked to do what he does. Pike plays him now the majority of minutes with Paul Tez McConnell Cliff (especially Cliff). There’s no offense to he had otherwise.

 

[RUsojo]

Paul had a worse turnover % than Young last night.

 

[ancienthooper]

Paul had a worse turnover % than Young last night.

Not sure I follow the math. 4 assists and 3 turnovers in 32 minutes is worse than 0 assists and 6 turnovers in 18 minutes?

 

[RUsojo]

Not sure I follow the math. 4 assists and 3 turnovers in 32 minutes is worse than 0 assists and 6 turnovers in 18 minutes?

yea you are not following the math. Turnover percentage is an advanced metric

 

[Rutgers1010]

There's nothing to address.....Mathis took Carr in the low post because Carr had 3 fouls and scored....Young is a streaky player who took on the challenge of Marcus Carr and got caught up trying to match play for play.....Cliff is a work in progress and needs more minutes....Myles is actually elevating his game and makes the difference between the 2, much more drastic, that's how well Myles Johnson is playing. Cliff is not going to play as well or close to as well as Myles is now.

I am not the least bit worried about the bench......wait until we see the faster pace at Iowa, you will see the difference in styles and tempo and how you have to have different players who thrive in up tempo, faster paced games.....Young will have 20+ at Iowa.

These fans are forgetful. Acting like JY and Tez did not play a huge part in getting us to where we are now. A few discombobulated games AS A TEAM and now they are always the blame for everything. Come on RU Nation lol stop. This is the lineup that Pikiel always wanted to play and now a few bad games as a team and he got his chance to play his favorites finally, which is fine. But do not continue to bash JY and Tez. The team will not be the same without them. When they were playing more consistently, don’t forget we were looking top 5. I love all the players but y’all sound crazy and fake to kick our players while they are “down” and glorify the ones that y’all were just bashing.

Right that’s what I said too if you read my whole post. We lack rebounding though all of our guards can rebound pretty well. Someone said we don’t have anyone who can stop Carr on ball and I am saying Tez was that guy last year. He typically covered the highest scoring guard.

Yes. I used to look forward to us playing against big name guards because Tez can guard them all but with his minutes being cut, that is another hit that we will take and Tez also played aggressive on offense against Carr last night and made Carr feel small but Tez minutes was cut so only so much he can do. We will be fine tho...

 

[Pancho1939_rivals]

I wish someone would ask about Duke in a pressser. Why hasn’t he seen the floor? At least he grabs rebounds. He is not as bad as Cliff has played the last few games.

i must be living in lala land. Three weeks ago people wanted reiber in the game because Douc was so bad,

The problem with cliff is myles has exceeded expectations this year and has been a beast. so the dropoff becomes alot more obvious.

 

[Yeah Baby]

These fans are forgetful. Acting like JY and Tez did not play a huge part in getting us to where we are now. A few discombobulated games AS A TEAM and now they are always the blame for everything. Come on RU Nation lol stop. This is the lineup that Pikiel always wanted to play and now a few bad games as a team and he got his chance to play his favorites finally, which is fine. But do not continue to bash JY and Tez. The team will not be the same without them. When they were playing more consistently, don’t forget we were looking top 5. I love all the players but y’all sound crazy and fake to kick our players while they are “down” and glorify the ones that y’all were just bashing.


Yes. I used to look forward to us playing against big name guards because Tez can guard them all but with his minutes being cut, that is another hit that we will take and Tez also played aggressive on offense against Carr last night and made Carr feel small but Tez minutes was cut so only so much he can do. We will be fine tho...

Our fans have pretty much trashed every player at one time or another. Can you make any of our 8 man rotation who has not been trashed by someone? I can’t.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

i must be living in lala land. Three weeks ago people wanted reiber in the game because Douc was so bad,

The problem with cliff is myles has exceeded expectations this year and has been a beast. so the dropoff becomes alot more obvious.
[/QUOTE/]

Let’s tell like it is. Cliff has been awful rebounding the basketball and on defense in general by any standard - not just when up against MJ. Duke is a better rebounder and defender than what Cliff has brought to the table the past 3 games and has been so consistently for all his flaws. Granted he brings zero offense except the occasional put back. Certainly Cliff has more upside there, but he’s been so soft of late on the defensive glass that playing him for even 10 mins has become a very big liability. Haven’t you noticed that even on few defensive erebounds he’s grabbed he’s either been stripped or the opponent managed to create a jump ball? Horrible

 

[zebnatto]

Nah. I like reading all of the others call him a doucher. He seems to like it to. It’s his porn.

Makes me feel unclean.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I get it ...but it also keeps our staring 5 together ...who was +5 in the first 5 minute of the game and +10 in the last 8 minutes

there is three problems with the first line shift

1.) cliff is slow in the defensive rotations coming off the bench to start and we start giving up inside offense

2.) young, even at his best, is Not good keeping a balanced offense and floor spacing in the half court offense so we don’t get nearly the clean looks

3.) we don’t get the Boards as well...so what Mathis and young do best ...get out on the break ...isn’t happening as much

Cliff needs some coaching to do what he CAN do right now. Seems to me he needs to be more careful about position with the opponents.. play their bodies and don't worry so much abput