What can we expect against UPenn?

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,685
12,956
78
Watch his efficiency go downhill and his turnovers explode

If his turnovers “explode” Pike should probably be fired on the spot… He’s not a primary PG and can’t be used that way in tight coverage of any kind. It has nothing to do with opponent. He’s only committed more than one turnover in a game twice this season. The first time (before SHU) was against Maine. He can’t bring the ball up without assistance and shouldn’t have been put in that situation vs SHU. Horrendous coaching.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,685
12,956
78
Ogbole is basically unplayable vs rest of schedule

Nobody on the team is BIG level but 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and an assist in 18 min and 3-4 FT shooting vs SHU does not meet the definition of unplayable on our team. He had 4 fouls which is the only reason he didn’t play more in that game and it was a blow out. Again - he’s not good. But hes certainly going to play given our limited other options. I was wondering if he got hurt though in the Penn game. 3 rebounds and 1-2 from the floor in only 7 min.
 

goru7

All-American
Dec 12, 2005
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Nobody on the team is BIG level but 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and an assist in 18 min and 3-4 FT shooting vs SHU does not meet the definition of unplayable on our team. He had 4 fouls which is the only reason he didn’t play more in that game and it was a blow out. Again - he’s not good. But hes certainly going to play given our limited other options. I was wondering if he got hurt though in the Penn game. 3 rebounds and 1-2 from the floor in only 7 min.
Manny has struggled in the out of conference except his dominant performance against UNLV. I truly believe you have to get him involved early. He might fumble the first one , like he did I think it was against alley oop against the Hall, but not passing to him at all, which is what Francis does , is a mistake. Manny sets a good pick and roll with a lot less moving picks , which a lot are caused by guards not being patient , and should get the ball on the roll.,Dylan is the only one who passes to him . JMike and Francis are pathetic at passing to the post or to the roll . . It is a really basic play , a big part of our offense and not used properly. We desperately need 8 points or so from Manny . We need some semblance of a low post game .Our 3 guard assistant coaches should earn some of their salary and teach the guards to do the pick and roll properly . It will help our offense that definitely needs it. You can also do it with Dylan to get him going
 

Mholinko

All-Conference
Apr 25, 2023
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I think for me it is less about him individually and more that as a big 10 program we have to push him forward as our best scorer?

that’s my issue … I have no knock on the kid I hope he does great but he was the best scorer on a 6 win NJIT team and he’s now the best scorer on a big 10 team where we are asking him to do way more than he should’ve been brought in to do

as a bench spark plug 15-20 minutes a night 10-11ppg I’m in on that

Over the long haul he’s being asked to do too much and that’s where it will show
 

RUfan1977

Senior
Mar 24, 2024
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Kudos to Tariq Francis for being named Co-Big Ten player of the week. He had a great game and got Rutgers a victory in a game where it really looked like we were going to lose.

I don’t know how he is going to do in Big Ten games and I think it’s fair to say neither does anyone else.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,685
12,956
78
I think for me it is less about him individually and more that as a big 10 program we have to push him forward as our best scorer?

that’s my issue … I have no knock on the kid I hope he does great but he was the best scorer on a 6 win NJIT team and he’s now the best scorer on a big 10 team where we are asking him to do way more than he should’ve been brought in to do

as a bench spark plug 15-20 minutes a night 10-11ppg I’m in on that

Over the long haul he’s being asked to do too much and that’s where it will show

Yes - exactly. And I guess this is where I’ve been coming from in saying all the complaining about him seems misdirected. I expected him to suck coming into the season and had my doubts that he would even see the floor much in a Rutgers uniform. What you described is what I projected as his extreme ceiling and so far he’s come close to living up to the ceiling (15 min spark plug) of what we could’ve realistically hoped for in him. That’s why I’m saying - he’s a misdirected focal point of the frustration because pretty much everyone else is not performing anywhere close to the best we could’ve hoped for from them except maybe Ogbole. He’s playing more than a spark plug role because nobody else is better than him.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,685
12,956
78
Manny has struggled in the out of conference except his dominant performance against UNLV. I truly believe you have to get him involved early. He might fumble the first one , like he did I think it was against alley oop against the Hall, but not passing to him at all, which is what Francis does , is a mistake. Manny sets a good pick and roll with a lot less moving picks , which a lot are caused by guards not being patient , and should get the ball on the roll.,Dylan is the only one who passes to him . JMike and Francis are pathetic at passing to the post or to the roll . . It is a really basic play , a big part of our offense and not used properly. We desperately need 8 points or so from Manny . We need some semblance of a low post game .Our 3 guard assistant coaches should earn some of their salary and teach the guards to do the pick and roll properly . It will help our offense that definitely needs it. You can also do it with Dylan to get him going

Yeah the coaching (and surrounding cast) is definitely a factor in his limited role on offense. He does some good things, occasionally has a dominant game, and yes, he’s also had a few WTF games - but based on what this season is and was always expected to be, he’s not close to an unplayable member of our roster. It goes without saying, of course, that there are many other BIG rosters where he would not see the floor.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
13,685
12,956
78
Not from Francis besides his 8 or so

You seem to put way more stock than I do in garbage time points scored by others against better teams (guys coming in and hitting some shots in the second half of a game we’re losing by nearly 30 points) (I see this as meaningless, low pressure situations almost like a practice environment). I’ll never understand why anyone would put more stock in this than performance level in any close game - regardless of opponent. We just have to agree to disagree on this point. Grant, for example, seems to get way more garbage time run than anyone else on the team. His points against high majors have almost entirely come this way. He’s been a complete non factor in most of those games (I.e. his performance against better opponents has dropped just as much as Francis but the focus is only francis).

That said, taking your position above as a given, it must then, in fairness, be acknowledged that Tariq played less on average in those games than he did in the other games (since the bench was unloaded). For example, he had 9+ points in Michigan, ND and Tenn logging only 19, 22 and 25 minutes which would put him fairly close to his per minute scoring rate in those games if he had played 28 or so minutes.

So really - your conclusion that he won’t or couldn’t score much in conference play is based on 2 games - one of which I blame almost entirely on Pike and the situation he put Tariq in to open that game. SHU’s upgraded defense didn’t make an 84% FT shooter go 1-4 from the line.. Tariq wasn’t going to have a good offensive game after that start - who the opponent was had nothing to do with it.

Again - this is entirely relative to the other options available and nothing more. We beat a depleted Penn team by one. We’re not likely to be competitive in many games if this continues and Pike may well choose to play 13 guys in blow out losses - so then, yeah - if Tariq only plays 19 or so min he’ll prob only give us 8 in that case as you said. But not because he wouldn’t score more if he played traditional starter minutes. He would and it’s still probably the case that playing him, on average, gives us a better chance of winning than many of the others. Although that chance is low no matter who we go with.
 
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