9-8 overall (2-4 big ten). Same record as last years squad

[Sbailey123]

Obviously ceiling is lower than last years team but through 17 games, we have identical overall and big ten record.

dare I say this team is more fun to watch? They seem to be having fun and have each others back.

this is a tough 7 game stretch upcoming but just as we were critical of pike being 9-8 and 2-4 in big ten through 17 last year, I think he deserves a bit of credit getting to this point so far given the preseason expectations. He ran circles around Collins tonight and just maybe finally figuring out the rotation.

Who knows how the next 2 months play out but at the very least they haven’t quit on pike and are an easy team to root for. Here’s hoping they continue to improve and put a good brand of basketball on display.

Nebraska’s stellar start to year began with the crown last year. let’s build some momentum and develop and retain who we need to off current roster.

 

[bac2therac]

I will say this I would much rather watch any of the 3 games at the RAC this year with completely competing on both sides of the ball than any game at the RAC last year with maybe the exception of the Illinois win.

Pike has done a very good job in the OSU/Ore/NW where going 0-3 was quite possible but he had to get at least 1, he got 2 and he beat two teams with stud players and took advantage of their weaknesses. No harm in losing to OSU who likely is 11 seed bubble team this year., if Pike can get this team held together through the gauntlet, the last 7 is a decidely easier stretch with only 1 juggernaut in the bunch

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Good post. I’ll add a few Buchanan ones:

1) Keep coaching him to play to his strengths. That’s definitely happening as he’s approaching the game completely different of late.

2) He proved yesterday that he’s the clear next best candidate to be the guy assisting Francis at point for stretches where we don’t play a second small guard. Need practice reps of that rotation because it might be needed more in some match ups.

3) I still think working on his left handle is more an offseason thing but a couple individual skill sessions tailored for this right now could be useful if the coaching (1) was framed clearly to be purposed for (2) (I.e. gain a little ball handling confidence to assist Tariq in spots - not to penetrate weak side more which is where he gets in trouble).

I’ll add - I’m bullish on Buchanan’s potential because he’s been pretty consistent all season in terms of the things he’s good at and the things he struggles with - and it’s not really match up driven (his up and downs have basically been a matter of whether he plays to his own strengths or weaknesses). When he does the latter he looks really bad but when he doesn’t he’s consistently solid. Thats more coachable than up and down performances from some of our other guys. Can’t do much about kids going hot and cold sharp shooting or not having a match up that allows them to use speed to get to the rim (Lino).

 

[RUDivision]

Good post. I’ll add a few Buchanan ones:

1) Keep coaching him to play to his strengths. That’s definitely happening as he’s approaching the game completely different of late.

2) He proved yesterday that he’s the clear next best candidate to be the guy assisting Francis at point for stretches where we don’t play a second small guard. Need practice reps of that rotation because it might be needed more in some match ups.

3) I still think working on his left handle is more an offseason thing but a couple individual skill sessions tailored for this right now could be useful if the coaching (1) was framed clearly to be purposed for (2) (I.e. gain a little ball handling confidence to assist Tariq in spots - not to penetrate weak side more which is where he gets in trouble).

I’ll add - I’m bullish on Buchanan’s potential because he’s been pretty consistent all season in terms of the things he’s good at and the things he struggles with - and it’s not really match up driven (his up and downs have basically been a matter of whether he plays to his own strengths or weaknesses). When he does the latter he looks really bad but when he doesn’t he’s consistently solid. Thats more coachable than up and down performances from some of our other guys. Can’t do much about kids going hot and cold sharp shooting or not having a match up that allows them to use speed to get to the rim (Lino).

He gave up 34 to martnelli and yes he’s a good player but he didn’t even slow him down. In fact he scored 10 more than his season avg and doubled his rebound total.

These evaluations against awful teams are IMO premature. Against real athletes he is still a limited option.

He def is playing more sound and seems to be finding his way.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

He gave up 34 to martnelli and yes he’s a good player but he didn’t even slow him down. In fact he scored 10 more than his season avg and doubled his rebound total.

These evaluations against awful teams are IMO premature. Against real athletes he is still a limited option.

He def is playing more sound and seems to be finding his way.

Not to be a d—k but did you even read my post or BAC’s OP? This thread is specifically about things to do to increase our chance of winning.

I post a few thoughts about Buchanan - entirely related to offense (continue to avoid weak side penetration, work on some refinements to the potential bigger line up with Francis and Buchanan in the backcourt for short stretches).

And your reply to that is it’s premature to suggest these things because Buchanan struggled to stop the top FRONTCOURT scorer in the conference on DEFENSE. This qualifies as the text book definition of irrelevant. Sorry man - start another thread about poor frontcourt defense being a problem if you want I guess but it’s out of place here for sure.

 

[RUDivision]

Not to be a d—k but did you even read my post or BAC’s OP? This thread is specifically about things to do to increase our chance of winning.

I post a few thoughts about Buchanan - entirely related to offense (continue to avoid weak side penetration, work on some refinements to the potential bigger line up with Francis and Buchanan in the backcourt for short stretches).

And your reply to that is it’s premature to suggest these things because Buchanan struggled to stop the top FRONTCOURT scorer in the conference on DEFENSE. This qualifies as the text book definition of irrelevant. Sorry man - start another thread about poor frontcourt defense being a problem if you want I guess but it’s out of place here for sure.

Ok so we want to point out with out Grant and against 2 of the 3 worst teams in the BIG he looked more comfortable on offense?

Completely true and definitely plays with an edge which is great.

For me it’s false hope until I seem him against a team w a heartbeat.

 

[RexMantlepiece]

Ok so we want to point out with out Grant and against 2 of the 3 worst teams in the BIG he looked more comfortable on offense?

Completely true and definitely plays with an edge which is great.

For me it’s false hope until I seem him against a team w a heartbeat.

I am sure you had us as the single WORSE team in the big ten and most likely not winning another big ten game prior to yesterday. So by that logic he did against “better” big ten teams.

 

[richthedentist]

Good post. I’ll add a few Buchanan ones:

1) Keep coaching him to play to his strengths. That’s definitely happening as he’s approaching the game completely different of late.

2) He proved yesterday that he’s the clear next best candidate to be the guy assisting Francis at point for stretches where we don’t play a second small guard. Need practice reps of that rotation because it might be needed more in some match ups.

3) I still think working on his left handle is more an offseason thing but a couple individual skill sessions tailored for this right now could be useful if the coaching (1) was framed clearly to be purposed for (2) (I.e. gain a little ball handling confidence to assist Tariq in spots - not to penetrate weak side more which is where he gets in trouble).

I’ll add - I’m bullish on Buchanan’s potential because he’s been pretty consistent all season in terms of the things he’s good at and the things he struggles with - and it’s not really match up driven (his up and downs have basically been a matter of whether he plays to his own strengths or weaknesses). When he does the latter he looks really bad but when he doesn’t he’s consistently solid. Thats more coachable than up and down performances from some of our other guys. Can’t do much about kids going hot and cold sharp shooting or not having a match up that allows them to use speed to get to the rim (Lino).

Does Buchanan have another season of elegibility?

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Ok so we want to point out with out Grant and against 2 of the 3 worst teams in the BIG he looked more comfortable on offense?

Completely true and definitely plays with an edge which is great.

For me it’s false hope until I seem him against a team w a heartbeat.

That’s not what I said. I said he’s been playing to his strengths. Specifically, resisting temptation to drive left (he had one open weakside lane last game and took it - missed the lay up which isn’t a surprise because as has been observed by me and others, he really struggles making plays with his left but at least he didn’t get stripped and more importantly that was his only weakside attempt the whole game both in the halfcourt and transition sets).

As far as the competition - I’m not sure what point you are making. Buchanan has looked consistently bad turning the ball over in weakside penetration regardless of the opponent all season including against the low majors. He’s stopped doing this the past 3 games and it’s made a clear difference.

 

[richthedentist]

He gave up 34 to martnelli and yes he’s a good player but he didn’t even slow him down. In fact he scored 10 more than his season avg and doubled his rebound total.

These evaluations against awful teams are IMO premature. Against real athletes he is still a limited option.

He def is playing more sound and seems to be finding his way.

It wasn't the athletic I bet 20 of those points came on the pick and roll which to me is coaching again but if you noticed we really tightened up on not overplaying the pick and roll the last 10 minutes and OT; As an aside Niuwilli(sp) played Martinelli pretty good

 

[richthedentist]

Not to be a d—k but did you even read my post or BAC’s OP? This thread is specifically about things to do to increase our chance of winning.

I post a few thoughts about Buchanan - entirely related to offense (continue to avoid weak side penetration, work on some refinements to the potential bigger line up with Francis and Buchanan in the backcourt for short stretches).

And your reply to that is it’s premature to suggest these things because Buchanan struggled to stop the top FRONTCOURT scorer in the conference on DEFENSE. This qualifies as the text book definition of irrelevant. Sorry man - start another thread about poor frontcourt defense being a problem if you want I guess but it’s out of place here for sure.

Not just a frontcourt scorer but I think he is leading the country in scoring

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Does Buchanan have another season of elegibility?

Yes - he’s a junior

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Not just a frontcourt scorer but I think he is leading the country in scoring

My point was - the observation I made related to the role Buchanan played or could potentially play assisting the offense with ball handling in the back court and he’s responding that this is a premature observation because Buchanan struggled to stop a frontcourt scorer on D…

 

[RUdepressed]

I like this team more. Same record. Wow.

 

[RUDivision]

I am sure you had us as the single WORSE team in the big ten and most likely not winning another big ten game prior to yesterday. So by that logic he did against “better” big ten teams.

I still have us as the worse team in the BIG and I had us 3-4 conf wins. It’s basketball so bad teams win games . See NCAA tournament.

 

[RUDiddy777]

Obviously ceiling is lower than last years team but through 17 games, we have identical overall and big ten record.

dare I say this team is more fun to watch? They seem to be having fun and have each others back.

this is a tough 7 game stretch upcoming but just as we were critical of pike being 9-8 and 2-4 in big ten through 17 last year, I think he deserves a bit of credit getting to this point so far given the preseason expectations. He ran circles around Collins tonight and just maybe finally figuring out the rotation.

Who knows how the next 2 months play out but at the very least they haven’t quit on pike and are an easy team to root for. Here’s hoping they continue to improve and put a good brand of basketball on display.

Nebraska’s stellar start to year began with the crown last year. let’s build some momentum and develop and retain who we need to off current roster.

As of late, Im definitely enjoying the games more this season.

 

[BillyC80]

Getting back to the OP, I really like some of the optimism in this thread.

After last year’s debacle, Pike rightfully took a lot of heat for assembling this team of 7 freshmen, 4 returnees, and only 3 portal transfers.

Yesterday 2 of his 3 transfer acquisitions won the game for us, and both have emerged as legit B1G contributors.

As the season has progressed, it has mirrored our game threads of early criticism leading to late praise. Like yesterday, the game thread evolved from “this team sucks, Pike must go” to, “these guys really battled and Pike outcoached Collins.”

So, the lesson for me is let’s see where we go from here. My expectations are still low, but something good is brewing, to where we can at least be competitive, entertaining, and easy to root for.

One last point: after practically giving up entirely on this program, I find myself enamored with the team again and hoping we can retain most of these players while adding a legit starting Center for next year.

 

[RUBlackout]

I like this team more. Same record. Wow.

I think I was interested in watching the games more last year ONLY due to the hype of Ace/Harper and the possibility of them going for 30pts per game and winning us some big games. This year it is very different--I have much lower expectations from the onset but what I see on the court is an actual TEAM playing together yet they are just overmatched in terms of talent and why a victory, even for a low level team, is exciting. You actually want to root for these guys!

It is also nice to see freshman developing in front of your eyes and thinking about the possibility of a future here. Clearly, we know AB/DH were one and done and its not a certainty any of these freshmen stay but there is the possibility of it

 

[Smols]

As of late, Im definitely enjoying the games more this season.

Such high expectations last year led to big disappointment. Low expectations this year, with some surprises, is much more fun.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

I'll eat some crow. After the Ohio State game, I thought RU wouldn't win another game. Nice to see how the team is developing. It's still a matter of the Jimmy and Joes insofar as which teams we're playing. The top of the league is out of reach right now, but RU can be competitive with the rest and that includes Wisky, Iowa, and Indiana. MSU and Nebby may be out of reach.

 

[bac2therac]

Such high expectations last year led to big disappointment. Low expectations this year, with some surprises, is much more fun.

Yeah going into these home games with low expecations almost no expecations is making the progression of these games more enjoyable. You could see the team is working hard and giving effort and I didnt see that last year and that left a bad tastevin my mouth. Im not fooling myself. Its not a good team and that will play out against NCAA teams but I will easily take this years over last years

 

[Knight Shift]

I will say this I would much rather watch any of the 3 games at the RAC this year with completely competing on both sides of the ball than any game at the RAC last year with maybe the exception of the Illinois win.

Pike has done a very good job in the OSU/Ore/NW where going 0-3 was quite possible but he had to get at least 1, he got 2 and he beat two teams with stud players and took advantage of their weaknesses. No harm in losing to OSU who likely is 11 seed bubble team this year., if Pike can get this team held together through the gauntlet, the last 7 is a decidely easier stretch with only 1 juggernaut in the bunch

I had RU penciled in as beating Washington, and they beat tOSU last night.

 

[Knight Shift]

I still have us as the worse team in the BIG and I had us 3-4 conf wins. It’s basketball so bad teams win games . See NCAA tournament.

Bad teams make the NCAA tournament?

 

[Knight Shift]

Getting back to the OP, I really like some of the optimism in this thread.

After last year’s debacle, Pike rightfully took a lot of heat for assembling this team of 7 freshmen, 4 returnees, and only 3 portal transfers.

Yesterday 2 of his 3 transfer acquisitions won the game for us, and both have emerged as legit B1G contributors.

As the season has progressed, it has mirrored our game threads of early criticism leading to late praise. Like yesterday, the game thread evolved from “this team sucks, Pike must go” to, “these guys really battled and Pike outcoached Collins.”

So, the lesson for me is let’s see where we go from here. My expectations are still low, but something good is brewing, to where we can at least be competitive, entertaining, and easy to root for.

One last point: after practically giving up entirely on this program, I find myself enamored with the team again and hoping we can retain most of these players while adding a legit starting Center for next year.

It's Godfather 3 time:

 

[Knight Shift]

I think I was interested in watching the games more last year ONLY due to the hype of Ace/Harper and the possibility of them going for 30pts per game and winning us some big games. This year it is very different--I have much lower expectations from the onset but what I see on the court is an actual TEAM playing together yet they are just overmatched in terms of talent and why a victory, even for a low level team, is exciting. You actually want to root for these guys!

It is also nice to see freshman developing in front of your eyes and thinking about the possibility of a future here. Clearly, we know AB/DH were one and done and its not a certainty any of these freshmen stay but there is the possibility of it

I actually had lower expectations last year, and found that there was too much hype built around two freshman stars without the complementary pieces, especially when nobody was recruited to replace Cliff.

 

[RUDivision]

Bad teams make the NCAA tournament?

Fair point !! My point is 15 seeds beat 2 seeds and Upsets happen.

RU playing NW or Oregon is like the NCAA Tournament for the bottom tier of all college hoops.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I still have us as the worse team in the BIG and I had us 3-4 conf wins. It’s basketball so bad teams win games . See NCAA tournament.

To be honest, since we’re clearly not an NCAA caliber team it doesn’t matter all that much where we finish in the standings.

I set the magic number at a 12 win requirement for Pike to earn a shot at one more year to turn things around (without us looking Ash-like ridiculous) and I’ll stick with that. Not a guarantee, but we’re now positioned reasonably well to achieve this.

Pike hasn’t navigated the portal well in past years but he’d arguably be set up with an interesting opportunity in the offseason to build around Francis. He’d need to spend money on an impact two way BIG - even if a bidding war is required. And from there, he’d need to target a proven defensive stopper with length and complimentary ball skills (probably not as expensive but still substantial cost).

He should not waste a single penny trying to upgrade his 3 point shooting because Cam Spencer is his lone unicorn of success with that approach. It’s a waste of money because he’s simply not good at assessing which kids are going to come in and be able to hit outside shots for us while also playing servicable enough D. Case in point - we’re 31.7% as a team from 3 this year and the two Euro kids brought in to provide the shooting are both shooting below 30% on the season. Meanwhile - I don’t think Pike has had any teams shoot better than 31.7% from 3 - except the ones with Cam Spencer or Dylan/Ace on them (not his NCAA teams).

 

[djrc89]

huge key is that somehow we’re taking care of the ball. I hope that this continues and their will continues strong because I don’t see a dub over the next 7. A concern is the slow starts. Maybe consider coming out in a little trap to start the games to get the team into the flow defensively ?

 

[Redrich66]

Always nice when your team is exceeding , not like last year. Keep hustling kids.

 

[RUgal]

I had RU penciled in as beating Washington, and they beat tOSU last night.

Well, we’ll get Washington at home after they travel across the country play at Maryland, so they should be tired and we’ll have the RAC magic. We should win that game imo.

 

[seansherm]

He gave up 34 to martnelli and yes he’s a good player but he didn’t even slow him down. In fact he scored 10 more than his season avg and doubled his rebound total.

These evaluations against awful teams are IMO premature. Against real athletes he is still a limited option.

He def is playing more sound and seems to be finding his way.

He forced Martinelli to take a season high amount of shots to get that 34. I posted elsewhere, Martinelli just came off a game of scoring 28 on 11 shots against top 15 MSU. He's only shot lower than his 50% twice ALL year. Points aside, it was a decent defensive effort.

 

[RUPete90]

Getting back to the OP, I really like some of the optimism in this thread.

After last year’s debacle, Pike rightfully took a lot of heat for assembling this team of 7 freshmen, 4 returnees, and only 3 portal transfers.

Yesterday 2 of his 3 transfer acquisitions won the game for us, and both have emerged as legit B1G contributors.

As the season has progressed, it has mirrored our game threads of early criticism leading to late praise. Like yesterday, the game thread evolved from “this team sucks, Pike must go” to, “these guys really battled and Pike outcoached Collins.”

So, the lesson for me is let’s see where we go from here. My expectations are still low, but something good is brewing, to where we can at least be competitive, entertaining, and easy to root for.

One last point: after practically giving up entirely on this program, I find myself enamored with the team again and hoping we can retain most of these players while adding a legit starting Center for next year.

Well said. As others have said, I am enjoying this team much more than last year's team.

 

[RUDiddy777]

Such high expectations last year led to big disappointment. Low expectations this year, with some surprises, is much more fun.

And to some extent this is what college sports is supposed to be about - watching a bunch of 18 and 19 year olds grow up, take their lumps and work through it, and grow into a team.

 

[Mholinko]

I’m cautiously optimistic they can cobble together a 13-15 win season as they have in pikes other losing seasons

the true test is going to come in the spring when IF we can put a season together like that and see improvement from the freshmen can we:

1) retain the ones we need to
2) keep Francis or Buchanan from getting a bag elsewhere
3) bring in some meaningful frontcourt help on top of that

I feel to do All 3 is going to require the investment piece that everyone is disgusted by but needs to exist

that being said it will be a better problem to have than deciding if we need to buyout the coach

 

[bac2therac]

I had RU penciled in as beating Washington, and they beat tOSU last night.

Washington at home is doable. Tough for the west coast schools to win on the road. By that point Washington might be playing for a NCAA bid so that impacts things. On the flip side Minnesota looks better than anticipated so I like the chances of winning there even less.

the thing is RU has played 3 very good home league games (and an ok loss to Purdue at the RAC) and 2 games blown away by top schools on the road. Not sure the template for competitive games at the rac translate to road games...wisconsin and Iowa are better than Oregon and NW but they are not as good as the top tier we have lost to on the road so I think the next 2 weeks give us more clarity on just who we are.

 

[bac2therac]

huge key is that somehow we’re taking care of the ball. I hope that this continues and their will continues strong because I don’t see a dub over the next 7. A concern is the slow starts. Maybe consider coming out in a little trap to start the games to get the team into the flow defensively ?

this
slow starts will not work on the road. Taking care of the ball and getting to the line is tough to do on the road. Thus far vs UM, SHU, Ill and in Vegas this team got down early and never recovered. I know they got closer vs ND but this team isnt set up to overcome 15-20 point half time leads, its basically raise the white flag time.

thats why i think Francis has to start at Wisconsin and Iowa

 

[Knight Shift]

Washington at home is doable. Tough for the west coast schools to win on the road. By that point Washington might be playing for a NCAA bid so that impacts things. On the flip side Minnesota looks better than anticipated so I like the chances of winning there even less.

the thing is RU has played 3 very good home league games (and an ok loss to Purdue at the RAC) and 2 games blown away by top schools on the road. Not sure the template for competitive games at the rac translate to road games...wisconsin and Iowa are better than Oregon and NW but they are not as good as the top tier we have lost to on the road so I think the next 2 weeks give us more clarity on just who we are.

Not to derail the thread, but what would be a realistic "acceptable" conference record to quell the "fire Pikiell" crowd? 8 wins? 10 wins? 15? (kidding) Also, how many more blowouts should come into play too.

 

[LeapinLou]

Not to derail the thread, but what would be a realistic "acceptable" conference record to quell the "fire Pikiell" crowd? 8 wins? 10 wins? 15? (kidding) Also, how many more blowouts should come into play too.

At the risk of being a Debbie Downer, I'm still good with my prediction of 5-15. At this point, I can see anywhere from 1 to 4 wins on the remaining schedule. So that's a ceiling of 6-14. But at 5-15, I'm ok with keeping Pikiell. The money to buy him out plus pay a new coach should be spent on players. And if he can't retain the guys we have now and bring in some good transfers, then sayonara after next season.

 

[bac2therac]

Not to derail the thread, but what would be a realistic "acceptable" conference record to quell the "fire Pikiell" crowd? 8 wins? 10 wins? 15? (kidding) Also, how many more blowouts should come into play too.

i will say at least for now that Pikes has fended off the Frankenstein rioters with torches but another 0-7 stretch with some stinky performances which we know this team is capable of vs ncaa type teams will bring it back. So it really comes down to those last 7 games and how they perform and can they bounce back from the gauntlet. Keep in mind RU has been stunningly injury free this year (knock on wood) so monitor that. I mean if he gets to 5-15 I think he is coming back given the circumstances. I think the worst case scenario of 2-3 wins are when his job was going to be in jeopardy so winning 2 already puts him in a good position.

splitting PSU and Maryland puts him at 4 you have to go at least 2-2 in these games, can he get another one in there. I really dont think he is getting canned now and this past week was a difference maker. Of course going 2-18/3-17 would change that. The thing with blowouts are alot of schools are getting blown out even good oes so losing by 25 to Nebby or MSU or Wisconsin wont matter as much as going 0-4 vs PSU/MD.

 

[BillyC80]

Not to derail the thread, but what would be a realistic "acceptable" conference record to quell the "fire Pikiell" crowd? 8 wins? 10 wins? 15? (kidding) Also, how many more blowouts should come into play too.

Three things: I’d be pleasantly surprised by 8 conference wins, keeping our best 5 or 6 players, and landing a legit B1G center.

Combined, those 3 things will have me open to Pike coming back and salivating for a possible NCAA season next year.

The interesting thing is, 2 of those 3 elements are more in Kelli’s realm than Pike’s, but him getting us to 8 wins this year will make her task more doable, I would think.