Fire Pike tonight

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,085
4,452
66
Idk. It just feels like he's going through the motions relative to a few years ago. He obviously hates the landscape (who can blame him for that?). Him not shaking up the staff after the last two seasons to me is him saying "I'll do what I want, fire me if you don't like it. I don't care either way".

If you want an example of actually not working hard enough, it's Tariq Francis. Complete joke of a signing. He's at a mid-major at best if it wasn't for the BK connection.

At best it's what you said, he's trying but is too stubborn to make changes in his staff, his approach, etc.
He’s not mid-major. He’s low major. And so is nearly everyone on the roster. Grant, Buchanan and Zrno are mid-major.
 
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Mholinko

All-Conference
Apr 25, 2023
1,091
1,693
77
Idk. It just feels like he's going through the motions relative to a few years ago. He obviously hates the landscape (who can blame him for that?). Him not shaking up the staff after the last two seasons to me is him saying "I'll do what I want, fire me if you don't like it. I don't care either way".

If you want an example of actually not working hard enough, it's Tariq Francis. Complete joke of a signing. He's at a mid-major at best if it wasn't for the BK connection.

At best it's what you said, he's trying but is too stubborn to make changes in his staff, his approach, etc.
You don’t hear the people defending that signing and whatever jokester compared him to a kyrie Irving type scorer

he has no business on a high major roster like everyone on the team besides jmike and grant

it has to end before the season ends

im a season ticket holder and don’t want to go to anymore games
 

rsegall

Junior
Jul 28, 2001
369
347
63
I think he’s working his butt off but he’s just spinning his wheels, probably burned out and too stubborn/exhausted to change.
How about just being a bad coach. What has he done other than winning an occasional tough game. Championship matter and there are none.
 

ScarletKid2008

Heisman
Sep 8, 2006
8,016
10,510
113
This is Jordan era level bad but even then I don’t recall this level of apathy and hopelessness before conference play even started.
 

Rutgers25

All-American
Jul 29, 2001
7,656
5,954
83
NIL is not an excuse for being at MAAC level.

Pike isn't trying hard enough. His roster building is a combination of laziness and ineptitude. He doesn't motivate. He's afraid to make staff changes. This is the Big Ten. Not 4th grade rec basketball.

he’s definitely a lazy recruiter. No rhyme or reason to the random guys he picks up. It’s been like that well before the NIL craze. Agree about staff as well. B Knight adds no value
 

RU-Kidding

All-Conference
Nov 6, 2001
11,708
2,080
81
This is Jordan era level bad but even then I don’t recall this level of apathy and hopelessness before conference play even started.
Less talented players can normally at least play fundamental basketball, we don’t even see that with this squad and that’s a direct result of bad coaching which has nothing to do with NIL.
 

RUBlackout

All-American
Mar 11, 2008
10,626
6,473
113
And lose by 30?
We will lose by 30 in most games anyway so why not figure out the future at this stage.

Rolling out JMike to throw easy passes to the other team or shoot mid range jumpshots off balance certainly is not the answer.
I get the hate for Francis but I actually feel bad for all these kids--none of them are being put in the proper place to even have a chance at success
 

-RUFAN4LIFE-

Heisman
Feb 28, 2015
30,863
48,037
113
We will lose by 30 in most games anyway so why not figure out the future at this stage.

Rolling out JMike to throw easy passes to the other team or shoot mid range jumpshots off balance certainly is not the answer.
I get the hate for Francis but I actually feel bad for all these kids--none of them are being put in the proper place to even have a chance at success
Not to UPenn but they will if you start an all freshman lineup.
 

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,085
4,452
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You don’t hear the people defending that signing and whatever jokester compared him to a kyrie Irving type scorer

he has no business on a high major roster like everyone on the team besides jmike and grant

it has to end before the season ends

im a season ticket holder and don’t want to go to anymore games
You say JMike ? If you mean high-major roster I assume you mean as a garbage time player.

He had 2 points in 30+ minutes against Central Ct State and hasn’t defended anyone in three years. Terrible on both ends.
 

Mholinko

All-Conference
Apr 25, 2023
1,091
1,693
77
You say JMike ? If you mean high-major roster I assume you mean as a garbage time player.

He had 2 points in 30+ minutes against Central Ct State and hasn’t defended anyone in three years. Terrible on both ends.
My point was that he’s the ONLY player other than grant that’s ever shown a pulse against high major competition
 

needmorecowbell

Heisman
Oct 28, 2007
9,345
10,334
78
I had this thought today with Pike. Did he really just stumble into fire with Harper, Caleb, Geo and team? Is that group his only claim to fame? The average product is definitely trending away from that group now. Basically he caught fire for a few years but overall he has not created a great product.
Rutgers has such a rich history of winning. How did Pike F up this golden goose blue blood program? lol.
 

dragonbear

Redshirt
Feb 16, 2024
6
6
3
Rutgers has such a rich history of winning. How did Pike F up this golden goose blue blood program? lol.
I'm just analyzing Pike independent of RU. I bet many of thought the program had another 10 years of that similar success incoming. I did. Is Rutgers regressing to their mean, yes (perhaps slightly below currently), was there a time where Pike's mean was > than Rutgers mean, hell yes. It seems that was indeed an anomaly though unfortunately.
 
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Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
6,847
4,166
113
You say JMike ? If you mean high-major roster I assume you mean as a garbage time player.

He had 2 points in 30+ minutes against Central Ct State and hasn’t defended anyone in three years. Terrible on both ends.
PG's don't have to score to be effective. He can defend the ball at least as well as anyone else, and his already pretty good assist to turnover ratio would be better if other guys could finish. He would be a lot better with a better coach and surrounded by better players. I think Francis probably had one third the turnovers JM has had all season in the first two minutes vs SHU. He is also probably shooting about 40% from three over the last two years, and added up, the total of the last two years is not that small a sample. As bad as we are, and he has not played well of late, we would be much worse without him.
 

Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
6,847
4,166
113
Less talented players can normally at least play fundamental basketball, we don’t even see that with this squad and that’s a direct result of bad coaching which has nothing to do with NIL.
Said many times - his players just don't get better. He doesn't stress any fundamentals. He can't evaluate talent. He can't settle on who to play. He can't recruit, and he clearly doesn't know what makes a good assistant coach. He does NOTHING well. In the long run it will cost us more than four million dollars to keep him next year. Figure that out Keli (sp?).
 
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Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,085
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PG's don't have to score to be effective. He can defend the ball at least as well as anyone else, and his already pretty good assist to turnover ratio would be better if other guys could finish. He would be a lot better with a better coach and surrounded by better players. I think Francis probably had one third the turnovers JM has had all season in the first two minutes vs SHU. He is also probably shooting about 40% from three over the last two years, and added up, the total of the last two years is not that small a sample. As bad as we are, and he has not played well of late, we would be much worse without him.
True a PG doesn’t need to score, but the rest isn’t true. We’d be worse if Ogbole wasn’t on the team too but that doesn’t mean he’s a legit D1 high major player. Look at JMiss’ offer list. Only high majors were RU and Auburn because those were the only schools Ace was choosing between. Recruited only to lure Ace. He’s incapable of Big10 ability. Matador D.
 
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Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
6,847
4,166
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True a PG doesn’t need to score, but the rest isn’t true. We’d be worse if Ogbole wasn’t on the team too but that doesn’t mean he’s a legit D1 high major player. Look at JMiss’ offer list. Only high majors were RU and Auburn because those were the only schools Ace was choosing between. Recruited only to lure Ace. He’s incapable of Big10 ability. Matador D.
Sorry, everything I said is true, and we might be 3-8 without him, maybe 2-9 - Chaewsky says.
 

needmorecowbell

Heisman
Oct 28, 2007
9,345
10,334
78
We're 145 in KenPom right now. Our peers are Wright State, St. Thomas and Towson, this clearly isn't just a money thing (Wright State's entire athletic department spend is at $11 million lol!)

And it's not like one can earnestly say we're building something with the freshman-heavy lineups. We're not progressing toward any sort of team identity like in Pike's first season, there's widespread disinterest, and Pike hasn't really shown the ability to retain any player development successes he might achieve.
What Wright St spends is meaningless. The only thing that matters is how they compare to the Big Ten. Right now they are dead last in everything. Last in wins and last in NIL.
 
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RUDivision

All-Conference
Jan 6, 2023
2,058
1,557
42
PG's don't have to score to be effective. He can defend the ball at least as well as anyone else, and his already pretty good assist to turnover ratio would be better if other guys could finish. He would be a lot better with a better coach and surrounded by better players. I think Francis probably had one third the turnovers JM has had all season in the first two minutes vs SHU. He is also probably shooting about 40% from three over the last two years, and added up, the total of the last two years is not that small a sample. As bad as we are, and he has not played well of late, we would be much worse without him.
JMike is not a good defender. Sure shows effort at times but stops no one.

He is avg under 3 assits a game. It’s the talent around him? He averaged 1, only 1 with Dylan Ace Lathan on the team last year.

Francis had 4 TO vs Seton hall JMike had 5 TO

Shot 33 % 3pt last year 45.8% this year!
-Doesn’t take enough to matter

Neither should be on the roster or playing power 4 ball.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
12,042
11,226
78
JMike is not a good defender. Sure shows effort at times but stops no one.

He is avg under 3 assits a game. It’s the talent around him? He averaged 1, only 1 with Dylan Ace Lathan on the team last year.

Francis had 4 TO vs Seton hall JMike had 5 TO

Shot 33 % 3pt last year 45.8% this year!
-Doesn’t take enough to matter

Neither should be on the roster or playing power 4 ball.

Lathan stinks too. Hes done nothing for Washington so far.

I agree with you on both J Mike and Francis but unfortunately, we don’t have any other ball handlers on the roster except Lino Mark so both of them will continue to see time.

And yes, our SGs and forwards are all in fact “worse” than both of them at handling pressure in the backcourt and on the perimeter. Grant, Buchanan, Zrno, etc. are not Cam Spencer type wings who can assist with handling the ball. They have all been consistently shaky when pressured closely.

this is just another one of a laundry list of issues on this team. Lino Mark is very fast and can blow by a guy in single coverage which was effective in this game but to this point, he’s struggled with decision making in halfcourt style play and traps when the pace of the game is slower. He should play a lot more though from here on in. Bryce Dortch is probably our 4th best ball handler after the 3 of them which is scary.
 

Jerseylegends

All-Conference
Mar 15, 2023
1,487
1,566
113
I dont understand how these are the best players they can get? I was hoping the euros were way better than they actually are and they would be the ringers the team can depend on. Womp womp those euros need 2 or 3 years to be ready to play against serious competition. So I don't understand how you can come into the season with this team, I know for sure the coaches know these players don't have what it takes so it must be a money issue. When they signed Francis, I expected him to be an off the bench scorer but he has the best offensive skill set on the team and that's not a good thing. Starting two guards under 6' in 2025 is crazy. For two years straight, you can't bring in a serviceable big man? Every time the announcers say how amazing it is that ogbole didn't start playing basketball until he was 19 , I'm like yeah I can't tell lol
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
12,042
11,226
78
I dont understand how these are the best players they can get? I was hoping the euros were way better than they actually are and they would be the ringers the team can depend on. Womp womp those euros need 2 or 3 years to be ready to play against serious competition. So I don't understand how you can come into the season with this team, I know for sure the coaches know these players don't have what it takes so it must be a money issue. When they signed Francis, I expected him to be an off the bench scorer but he has the best offensive skill set on the team and that's not a good thing. Starting two guards under 6' in 2025 is crazy. For two years straight, you can't bring in a serviceable big man? Every time the announcers say how amazing it is that ogbole didn't start playing basketball until he was 19 , I'm like yeah I can't tell lol

The scary part for me is that the coaching is starting to look worse than even the weak relative talent level. Pike needs to be called out on / held accountable for the start to the SHU game. He put Tariq in a situation where he was destined to fail and to your point, Francis is probably one of our more skilled offensive players (top 4 or so? - which yes is also very sad). So now you’ve completely shattered the confidence of one of your few offensive options - a kid who you should’ve known damn well isn’t a veteran primary point and should never have been put in that situation - especially to start the game. Suddenly you have a career 80% FT shooter with the yips and very clearly distracted on D. After that it was blatantly obvious the kid was laser focused on not turning it over.
 

ScarletDave

Heisman
Oct 7, 2010
34,460
15,076
85
I like Pike, he is a great guy and the type of person you can be proud of as your coach. However, x’s and o’s he’s been passed by. His weaknesses are now outweighing his strengths - long scoring droughts, not calling timeouts at the right time, just insane substitution patterns in the middle 50% of game time. All of these have become glaring issues now and the identity of the team. Its time for a change. Sad
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
12,042
11,226
78
I like Pike, he is a great guy and the type of person you can be proud of as your coach. However, x’s and o’s he’s been passed by. His weaknesses are now outweighing his strengths - long scoring droughts, not calling timeouts at the right time, just insane substitution patterns in the middle 50% of game time. All of these have become glaring issues now and the identity of the team. Its time for a change. Sad

Yes, I’ve been very supportive of Pike but I don’t see how anyone could watch that SHU and still have faith that he’s the right guy for RU basketball. Whether your hold Pike accountable for recruiting issues or not, that was just a point blank failure to scout the opponent. It had nothing to do with the limitations on our roster.