Basketball Rutgers Basketball falls to St. John’s in 4OT exhibition marathon
- Thread starter Tango Two
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Rutgers Basketball falls to St. John's in 4OT exhibition marathon
Rutgers Basketball lost to St. John's in a 4OT marathon at Madison Square Garden to fall to 0-2 in exhibition play.
Rutgers has now played competitive basketball against two top tier Big East teams.They clearly have better talent than last season.The concerns going into the regular season are lack of bench scoring ,poor 3 point shooting and over dependence on scoring within the foul line.Some B1G Ten teams will surely play zone defense daring Rutgers to take 3 point shots The team now has 3 weeks to rest .Injuries to Francis or any other starter has to be a concern going forward.We saw what happened when Bailey and Harper were injured.
We won’t compete for a Natty that way but so long as this is Pike’s program, the types of players recruited tend to favor off the dribble shots which aren’t recorded as assisted baskets even when there was a pass made with one guy to beat for open space. But for a few stretches of sloppy turnovers, I thought the offense looked okay. If Lino is out long we’re in trouble. JMike is very limited as the lead guard IMO. Tariq needs to be smarter with shot selection once teams adjust with coverage on him.
Rebounding once again was excellent. Again, just a practice game, but if we rebound all season we will be right there on that bubble. Crappy 3 point shooting and all. We rebound we compete. We can’t rebound - D stinks and we don’t break 500. So for now, RU fans should be cautiously optimistic. 58-50 on the glass is a promising sign for us.
I’ve never seen it with him. Some people seemed to fall in love off with him off the strength of one or two good half’s last year, but by and large he was a woefully inefficient player who wouldn’t get any minutes as a true frosh on a respectable team. Not to mention he’s a minus athlete who doesn’t defend his position well. Sure he’s young I just don’t see the “tools” with him
it just has not been winning basketball to play so much 1-1, so much dribbling, little ball movement. we had some success 2019-2021 largely on elite D, very good rebounding, some good 1-1 play - all together. but we haven't had elite D since. rebounding has been up and down but maybe this year we'll get back to that better era. it's just so hard to beat good high major defenses relying on so much dribbling without moving the ball.
Have you watched this game yet or just referring to the box score? Passing and ball movement weren’t all bad in this game. St Johns has a very good defense.
We took an 18 point lead into halftime after only attempting a grand total on 4 threes in the first half. 2-17 the rest of the game and yet somehow that’s what our fans are complaining about - that we didn’t take enough of them.
All I have to say is thankfully it was a practice game because boy would I hate to lose a real OT game knowing our 90% FT shooter missed his only 2 FT attempts of regulation. Can’t imagine Tariq going 0-2 from the line too often.
No argument just make sure JMike is right next to him. They both should join our great cheer squad
Exciting game to watch but it looked like we have boys and St. Johns has men. Not trying to knock RU but Pitino has semi-pros on that team. Guess that's the state of college athletics now. Still disappointing that after all this time, we still do not have any plays to in bounds the ball against the press. How many years has it been?
No but fair point if there is good ball movement then the guy that makes the shots takes a few steps as I agree it’s like an assist but doesn’t count
perhaps there should be a ball movement stat and a good shot stat - if we have a good % of good shots then that is most important
what I don’t want to see is a lot of hero ball as it’s not sustainable
2 games in a row Gurdak has been very good so that’s a good sign
I’m sure there will be a replay on BIG network. Watch it. For the most part - we didn’t lose this game because of a bad offensive game plan. Ball movement (by Rutgers standards anyway) was above average. The first half honestly couldn’t have been better.
In the second half we had a couple sloppy turnovers that hurt us and St Johns hit a bunch of early shots which allowed them to set up their press. We didn’t do a good enough job making them pay when we broke it. Instead the press took time off the shot clock and threw our offensive flow off. They also did a better job covering Tariq and he took the bait a bunch of times with a taller guy coming over to block his shot for a killer transition basket the other way. Gurdak missed some bunnies at the rim too.
Some ugly moments in the second half, but look, St Johns projects to have one of the better defenses in the country. Outside of one bad stretch to open the second half of the game. We really did play well overall.
the center production alone is a gigantic difference maker for this team...and he is doing it vs solid competition
getting to the foul line alot..yes they missed some in the overtimes, but the free throw shooting kept them in the game in regulation so yeah drawing fouls is a big plus for this team
teams will to fight and scrap...something that Pikes teams lost in 2022, 23 and 24
gaining toughness and experiences in end game situations, 0-2 doesnt matter, look at the competition and talent they were going up against.
not sure where we stand in defense, hard to tell from exhibition games
negatives... shooting was too streaky last year..same in these 2 games, 3 point shooting awful, long scoring droughts, only maybe 6 real contributors in the box score today for a team that was supposed to be really really deep
looks like we will rely on Francis to take a tons of shots again this year unless Lino can up his percentage and Buchanan or someone else can emerge as a consistent peformer
I wasnt a fan of Powers last year and he hasnt shown anything in these 2 and looks quickly like the odd man out. J Mike needs to up his game against the better teams, today didnt cut it. RU will wear down if they have to rely so much on their 2 starting guards.
getting to the foul line alot..yes they missed some in the overtimes, but the free throw shooting kept them in the game in regulation so yeah drawing fouls is a big plus for this team
teams will to fight and scrap...something that Pikes teams lost in 2022, 23 and 24
gaining toughness and experiences in end game situations, 0-2 doesnt matter, look at the competition and talent they were going up against.
not sure where we stand in defense, hard to tell from exhibition games
negatives... shooting was too streaky last year..same in these 2 games, 3 point shooting awful, long scoring droughts, only maybe 6 real contributors in the box score today for a team that was supposed to be really really deep
looks like we will rely on Francis to take a tons of shots again this year unless Lino can up his percentage and Buchanan or someone else can emerge as a consistent peformer
I wasnt a fan of Powers last year and he hasnt shown anything in these 2 and looks quickly like the odd man out. J Mike needs to up his game against the better teams, today didnt cut it. RU will wear down if they have to rely so much on their 2 starting guards.
Huh? What are you talking about? We went toe to toe with them and were plenty physical. Relieved that Brandin said in the presser Lino’s thing was just a cramp. We ran out of gas, but losing Lino for the final OT was a big factor too. He’s hugely important. Most teams don’t press like St Johns does and we didn’t really turn it over off the press that much. Our guys did a good job actually knocking the ball off them out of bounds when we got stuck and selling the fouls. The issue for us was that we didn’t convert enough when we had numbers at the other end and then we were working with a short shot clock. There should be a lot of good film for us out of this exhibition. The promising thing is that for once most of the biggest issues we saw today are things that can actually be worked on.
Calm down, my man. We played a pretty good game, I agree. My point is that St. Johns looks like they have mature men on that team compared to RU. I think Gurdak is a junior and our other big guy, Miteo is just 17. Not knocking RU here. Did you watch the game? We had trouble in-bounding the ball on multiple possessions in the second half when SJU went to the press which they didn't use in the first half. Even the commentators mentioned it. There were several throw-ins that we were lucky they weren't stolen. Over the last several years we have had problems in-bounding the ball against the press. Remember the NCAA play in game against Notre Dame? I just don't understand why we don't have any plays set up for it.
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I think Jones will be an important pick up too. He’s a glue guy type that’s been missing on the roster since Caleb left us. Against teams that don’t press like SJU he can probably be on the court with Tariq for stretches without Lino. Really liked his attitude also on the sideline. He’s a team player who isn’t looking to just “get his”.
Looking at Powers stats over 2 games, you wonder how you can play him much notwithstanding his athleticism and ability to create an open shot for himself. Over the two exhibition games he is 1-10 from the field, 0-3 from 3 and 4-8 from the line. I don’t think he is going to be odd man out because of all the players, This level of scoring from a shooter simply doesn’t cut it regardless of who the other players are.
Well we have fans still talking about his great form… He was streaky last year so maybe he’ll turn it around. But all things considered, I don’t see how he’s beating out Jones for PT unless he’s shooting lights out. Jones is 4-6 shooting on the season and he’s playing for his D.
We played St John's in an exhibition game two years ago and we learned real fast how big of a problem rebounding was going to be that year. At least this year we look pretty solid in that area.
Fonseca has been extra cranky lately. Bro is 30 going on 85
It’s a little (slightly) different. JMike is still one of the 2 most reliable ball handlers on the team. Now - there will hopefully be times when Lino is getting a rest or in foul trouble where was can get away with Tariq and Jones, but likely there will also be times this comes up and we can’t.
For this reason, I see a clear role for JMike, albeit a diminished one. I just don’t, at the moment, see this for Powers at either the 2 or the 3. He’s not shooting well, and he’s not a defensive upgrade over Tariq, Jones or Smith so why would he break a rotation of those 3 outside of extended foul trouble?
Good job by RU competing real hard in these 2 exhibitions against quality maybe top 25 teams. Not great blowing that 18 point halftime lead so easily and losing good shot selection and poise. But down 6 didn’t fold but were resilient and were right there to win it in regulation , which is a really good job.
Everybodies concern is the lack of 3 point shooting and the lack of 3 point makes. The way our offense is structured I do not think we are shooting 20 a game and likely between 15-20. We have to make 7-9 per game not 3-4 . Lino in the second half with his elite speed penetrated and 4 times dished to Buchanan and Smith who did not knock down open threes. Hopefully that changes but Lino will give this team chances.
What hasn’t been discussed is what Diego can give you from 3? He hardly played against Villanova and put up 1 that rimmed in and out. He didn’t play against St. John’s. However , having Lino on the floor with him will get him chances and worth trying since it appears on film his defense is good. Hopefully Brandon uses the OOC games in November , the first 3, to see what he can offer. Also think jones can knock down threes. Tarik took too many shots on Sunday as 26 was 6 too many and getting others more chances has to be a signature of this team. Teams are going to be gearing up on Tarik so Lino and Smith and Jones and Buchanan and hopefully Diego have to get shots and step up and hit them. Tarik , Smith and Gurdack will be hitting a good % of our midrange 2 point shots but we need just a little 3 point game from the rest. One last note ,thought Powers could provide it but it appears he just will not seize the chances he has been given. Why he doesn’t shoot better is a mystery
Everybodies concern is the lack of 3 point shooting and the lack of 3 point makes. The way our offense is structured I do not think we are shooting 20 a game and likely between 15-20. We have to make 7-9 per game not 3-4 . Lino in the second half with his elite speed penetrated and 4 times dished to Buchanan and Smith who did not knock down open threes. Hopefully that changes but Lino will give this team chances.
What hasn’t been discussed is what Diego can give you from 3? He hardly played against Villanova and put up 1 that rimmed in and out. He didn’t play against St. John’s. However , having Lino on the floor with him will get him chances and worth trying since it appears on film his defense is good. Hopefully Brandon uses the OOC games in November , the first 3, to see what he can offer. Also think jones can knock down threes. Tarik took too many shots on Sunday as 26 was 6 too many and getting others more chances has to be a signature of this team. Teams are going to be gearing up on Tarik so Lino and Smith and Jones and Buchanan and hopefully Diego have to get shots and step up and hit them. Tarik , Smith and Gurdack will be hitting a good % of our midrange 2 point shots but we need just a little 3 point game from the rest. One last note ,thought Powers could provide it but it appears he just will not seize the chances he has been given. Why he doesn’t shoot better is a mystery
I’m not sure why your more focused on getting 3s from guys who are complete unknowns (finally throwing in the towel on Powers at least).
Tariq had a rough game from deep but remember he’s coming off a wrist injury and TKR guys said he was holding the wrist halfway through and clearly playing through pain which had to impact him because he’s never 50% from the line. He and Smith are our best 3 point shooters. Jones can hit them too. It’d be great if others start knocking them down too but these are our known producers from deep. Diego is a complete wild card at this point. Was he even a sharp shooter in Europe? I thought he didn’t have great outside shooting numbers in the games at the highest level. He’s supposed to be pretty good at D.
I think we had at 3 guys who shoot well over 80% miss foul shots in crunch time - hope it is an aberration.
We took them to 4 overtimes, and you are saying we looked like boys playing men? Agree that they are playing semi-pros out there. Pitino has always been good at finding "special" ways of recruiting "elite" players.
St. Johns has a $20M+ roster and is a top 10 team. I didn't think we looked overmatched. At all. On their floor. Good sign. Looking forward to the season.
Listen Tarik has a great mid range game but he is not a 3 point shooter. He can make some but he is more comfortable and more efficient from 2. We need Smith or Jones or Lino and anyone else and yes that includes Diego to hit the open threes that will be there with Lino ‘s penetration , in transition , or when Gurdack starts kicking out . We do not have and have not had a legitimate 3 point threat since Spenser and before that Quincy Douby. I define that as a high 30’s guy , 37/38/39 % guy or 40% guy. We need 7-9 a game .
Now it is appearing that Powers will not be that guy. However the staff paid him to retain him so they must have seen something in practice that they think he will help the team with. Whenever you give up on someone early sometimes that comes back to make you look like a fool. Hope he makes us all look like fools.
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