Lineup going forward

[Degaz-RU]

Enough of Badalau. He provides absolutely NOTHING. It’s mind boggling why Pike plays him — let alone STARTS him.

There should be a 9-man rotation. Enough with playing 11 or 12 guys.

PG - JMike, Mark
SG - Powers, Francis
SF - Buchanan, Nwuli
PF - Grant, Nwuli
C - Ogbole, Dortch

Nwuli is listed twice. He’s the backup forward in a 9-man rotation. The kid plays defense. NO BADALAU.

As frustrating as Buchanan has been, he provides more than Badalau.

Yes, Powers should start. He has a nice shot, he proved tonight he can dribble drive, and he’s 6-4 and plays pretty good defense. He just seems more comfortable than Zrno.

I would continue to use Francis as the 6th man microwave off the bench.

I know that none of this will matter. We’re still going to stink. But at least we’ll stink while playing some semblance of a coherent rotation and getting the young guys the time they deserve.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Powers had some success getting to the rim while playing at a fast pace led by Mark. We should ride that when match up opportunities present as it adds another source of scoring. In general though, I don’t know that J Mike and Powers are the best combo. Haven’t seen much yet from Powers in a traditional halfcourt offense.

I agree about Buchanan. We did better with him in the game than out. He should be told not to drive. Especially on the weak side. He has no left and loses the ball every time he tries to drive.

Really need the line up to be about defense outside of DG and Francis who play for offense.

 

[RW90]

Enough of Badalau. He provides absolutely NOTHING. It’s mind boggling why Pike plays him — let alone STARTS him.

There should be a 9-man rotation. Enough with playing 11 or 12 guys.

PG - JMike, Mark
SG - Powers, Francis
SF - Buchanan, Nwuli
PF - Grant, Nwuli
C - Ogbole, Dortch

Nwuli is listed twice. He’s the backup forward in a 9-man rotation. The kid plays defense. NO BADALAU.

As frustrating as Buchanan has been, he provides more than Badalau.

Yes, Powers should start. He has a nice shot, he proved tonight he can dribble drive, and he’s 6-4 and plays pretty good defense. He just seems more comfortable than Zrno.

I would continue to use Francis as the 6th man microwave off the bench.

I know that none of this will matter. We’re still going to stink. But at least we’ll stink while playing some semblance of a coherent rotation and getting the young guys the time they deserve.

You forgot Zrno too. So many open looks, so few made. Why even start those two just to bury them the rest of the game?

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Enough of Badalau. He provides absolutely NOTHING. It’s mind boggling why Pike plays him — let alone STARTS him.

There should be a 9-man rotation. Enough with playing 11 or 12 guys.

PG - JMike, Mark
SG - Powers, Francis
SF - Buchanan, Nwuli
PF - Grant, Nwuli
C - Ogbole, Dortch

Nwuli is listed twice. He’s the backup forward in a 9-man rotation. The kid plays defense. NO BADALAU.

As frustrating as Buchanan has been, he provides more than Badalau.

Yes, Powers should start. He has a nice shot, he proved tonight he can dribble drive, and he’s 6-4 and plays pretty good defense. He just seems more comfortable than Zrno.

I would continue to use Francis as the 6th man microwave off the bench.

I know that none of this will matter. We’re still going to stink. But at least we’ll stink while playing some semblance of a coherent rotation and getting the young guys the time they deserve.

Not bad. I'm not a huge Nwuli fan. I'd give Powers some minutes at SF.

 

[RW90]

Nvm, duplicate post.

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Uh, because you don't have a clue.

 

[seansherm]

Somehow need to find combos that can rebound and score. We played Grant, Badalau, Dortch, and Nwuli 78 minutes and got 8 rebounds out of them. Need more if they are going to be on the court that much.

 

[ScarletDog]

Pike likes him for some reason, but I can only see the BAD in Badalau. He's really not adding anything at this point. Some guys stepped up today...reward them.

 

[MCKnight]

Badalau continuing to start and then barely playing, and giving you zero stats in the box score in multiple games now has to be most perplexing case this season…

 

[rubjk]

We also need to drive to the rim especially with how the refs are calling fouls. We need to stop passing around the perimeter. We had the most success today doing that and stopped at the end.

 

[BigEastPhil]

Pike s lineups / rotations are mind boggling !

How can you keep on starting /
Badalou and Zrno?

Why doesn’t Powers play 25 minutes minimally and why is he not playing in every half?

Why does he continue to play 11 guys?

Have no idea what is going thru his head !

 

[soundcrib]

Enough with this Tariq Francis off the bench nonsense.

Play Powers more.

Never play Buchanan again.

 

[fatsam98]

I agree about Buchanan. We did better with him in the game than out. He should be told not to drive. Especially on the weak side. He has no left and loses the ball every time he tries to drive.

But the issue is that he WON'T be told not to drive. He'll continue with mindboggling turnovers and ridiculous shots. It's so frustrating to watch

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

But the issue is that he WON'T be told not to drive. He'll continue with mindboggling turnovers and ridiculous shots. It's so frustrating to watch

To his credit, he did not attempt to drive again when he checked back into the line up and we made the comeback. He actually made the one shot he attempted (a midrange jumper). The bottom line is, there are 120 min to fill at 3-5. Figure DG gets 30 of them. That leaves 90 minutes to split amongst Dortch, Ogbole, Nwuli and Buchanan. I’m fine with that allocation being match up based. We should be running with the best D match ups we can put forth alongside DG and Francis for the bulk of the game with 10-15 minutes of fast paced ball featuring Mark and Powers when Francis gets his rest. It doesn’t take a genius to see that will give us the best chance possible of winning a few games other than any one guy just getting hot on a given day. Riding a hot hand should always be a given. Only at RU is it not.

Zero thought should be given to “the future”. Not that we would want anyone back, but everyone on the damn roster is eligible to come back next season anyway. Thinking ahead multiple seasons in the NIL era would be beyond idiotic.

 

[richthedentist]

Enough of Badalau. He provides absolutely NOTHING. It’s mind boggling why Pike plays him — let alone STARTS him.

There should be a 9-man rotation. Enough with playing 11 or 12 guys.

PG - JMike, Mark
SG - Powers, Francis
SF - Buchanan, Nwuli
PF - Grant, Nwuli
C - Ogbole, Dortch

Nwuli is listed twice. He’s the backup forward in a 9-man rotation. The kid plays defense. NO BADALAU.

As frustrating as Buchanan has been, he provides more than Badalau.

Yes, Powers should start. He has a nice shot, he proved tonight he can dribble drive, and he’s 6-4 and plays pretty good defense. He just seems more comfortable than Zrno.

I would continue to use Francis as the 6th man microwave off the bench.

I know that none of this will matter. We’re still going to stink. But at least we’ll stink while playing some semblance of a coherent rotation and getting the young guys the time they deserve.

I agree with you but in watching the game last night our BIGGEST problem is we have only one scoring threat on this lineup that is taller than 6'5" and that is Grant!! Other than that there is zero front court let alone center position threat to score and that is a major major problem and is why we will be lucky to win 1 or 2 games the rest of the way
Add in the fact that we are clueless against a zone

 

[richthedentist]

Badalau continuing to start and then barely playing, and giving you zero stats in the box score in multiple games now has to be most perplexing case this season…

He also started the second half and did zero then

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I agree with you but in watching the game last night our BIGGEST problem is we have only one scoring threat on this lineup that is taller than 6'5" and that is Grant!! Other than that there is zero front court let alone center position threat to score and that is a major major problem and is why we will be lucky to win 1 or 2 games the rest of the way
Add in the fact that we are clueless against a zone

And Francis is the only consistent threat in the backcourt. He’s shooting 44% from the field and 34% from 3 on by far the highest volume of the guards. Also gets to the line much more than any of the others. While these aren’t amazing efficiency stats generally, they are much better than any other guard on the team.

J Mike is next best efficiency shooting at under 34% from the floor overall. Not good. He’s actually been better from 3 but at low volume (44%). Zrno is third best percentage wise shooter at 33% from the field but he’s under 30% from 3. i also view him as the weakest ball handler and softest player of all the guards overall - right now I think he should be odd man out of the rotation until he starts hitting some shots. Mark is 23% from the field overall. Powers is 28% from the field. But Mark is the only proven ball handler outside of J Mike and I like his speed. Creates good change of pace scoring options for us when he comes in. Powers D looks better to me than Zrno’s. I also think he can score in more ways.

 

[Simce91]

Powers is also a much better passer and defender

He and Mark provided energy last night in the 2nd half, why Powers didn't get any minutes in the 1st half is a bit baffling

 

[RUJMM78]

The roster was poorly constructed and the coaching of basic fundamentals clearly is lacking.The end result is futility on both ends of the court.Pikiell is a developmental type head coach that doesn't work in the NIL and transfer portal environment.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Powers is also a much better passer and defender

He and Mark provided energy last night in the 2nd half, why Powers didn't get any minutes in the 1st half is a bit baffling

Pike has players pigeon holed into positions and doesn’t like to deviate from that situationally. That’s one of my biggest critiques of his game day coaching.

In Pike’s mind either Ogbole or Dortch must always be on the floor at the 5. Never both.

Either J Mike or Mark must be at the 1. He rarely plays them together.

Francis and DG have earned the right to be on the court 25-30 minutes a game each until someone else emerges game in and out as a consistent scoring replacement. He has them slotted at the 2 and 3.

So that didn’t leave all that much of an opening for Powers so long as Pike is still trying to get Zrno going.

The only player he seems to really move around with position shuffles is Buchanan. Denis gets his steady 10 mpg at the 4. Chris is gets 10 minutes at the 4 too. DG played 5 or so failed minutes at the 4 in the disaster experiment with J Mike, Francis and Zrno at the 1-3 with Dortch at the 5. That was not surprisingly our worst line up - the one that coughed up the 15 point lead. Way too small across the board.

 

[goru7]

Kudos to Pike for getting team ready to play a Big 10 conference game. Unlike the out of conference games where we let teams hit 3 after 3 and take a lead , there was none of that yesterday and after a solid first 10 minutes and basically a tie game , team went n its first run of the year to take that 39-24 lead with 3:42 left until half. Francis to his credit was on fire and not hestitating and was on a heater.
Shame on Pike for when Ohio State switched to zone out of the timeout he attacked the zone around the perimeter, big fail , instead of getting the ball to the foul line and then spraying for the corner threes or the backdoor dunks .We also missed a ridiculous amount of shots 4 feet from the rim .lead cut to 4 at the half.

Why start Badalau to start the second half ? Why is Badalau starting or even playing ? Pike fail. You do not try to get Zrno going which would have really helped against the zone , and you do not play Powers in the first half. Pike fail. Then Powers gives you 9 points in 10 minutes and we lament why he didn’t play more. Francis obviously cooled off and only scored 2 early in second half and then nothing thereafter. Powers looked like he belonged on the court for 30 minutes not 10. pike still figuring out the rotations 14 games in is a major fail on his part and his staff since Knight basically subbed Powers and Mark back in a minute after they were replaced by Davis and Francis . So Knight controlling some of these lineups.
We need more low post scoring so either Manny or Dorsch get taught a drop step or st least play inside out is mandatory because our shots eventually will stop falling .

Going forward , Davis and Mark split the point. Davis encouraged to shoot more especially from 3 . Mark continue to drive and put pressure on defense. Zrno and Francis and Powers at the 2-3 especially having at least 2 in the game when teams play zone. If Zrno misses a few , Powers comes in. Defensively and as well as pure basketball IQ he is very advanced for a freshmen. Grant at the 4 and sprinkle in Buchanan and Nwuili who can both take minutes at the 3 wing . Manny and Dorsch on the frontline . That s 10 players and all that should play.

 

[stribucher]

Free Baye Fall lol! All kidding aside the lack of running an offense against a zone is another PIke fail. Problem is there is little consistency in scoring and three point shooting. Only 18 more games to go since every one plays at least on game in league tourney.

 

[BillyC80]

Kudos to Pike for getting team ready to play a Big 10 conference game. Unlike the out of conference games where we let teams hit 3 after 3 and take a lead , there was none of that yesterday and after a solid first 10 minutes and basically a tie game , team went n its first run of the year to take that 39-24 lead with 3:42 left until half. Francis to his credit was on fire and not hestitating and was on a heater.
Shame on Pike for when Ohio State switched to zone out of the timeout he attacked the zone around the perimeter, big fail , instead of getting the ball to the foul line and then spraying for the corner threes or the backdoor dunks .We also missed a ridiculous amount of shots 4 feet from the rim .lead cut to 4 at the half.

Why start Badalau to start the second half ? Why is Badalau starting or even playing ? Pike fail. You do not try to get Zrno going which would have really helped against the zone , and you do not play Powers in the first half. Pike fail. Then Powers gives you 9 points in 10 minutes and we lament why he didn’t play more. Francis obviously cooled off and only scored 2 early in second half and then nothing thereafter. Powers looked like he belonged on the court for 30 minutes not 10. pike still figuring out the rotations 14 games in is a major fail on his part and his staff since Knight basically subbed Powers and Mark back in a minute after they were replaced by Davis and Francis . So Knight controlling some of these lineups.
We need more low post scoring so either Manny or Dorsch get taught a drop step or st least play inside out is mandatory because our shots eventually will stop falling .

Going forward , Davis and Mark split the point. Davis encouraged to shoot more especially from 3 . Mark continue to drive and put pressure on defense. Zrno and Francis and Powers at the 2-3 especially having at least 2 in the game when teams play zone. If Zrno misses a few , Powers comes in. Defensively and as well as pure basketball IQ he is very advanced for a freshmen. Grant at the 4 and sprinkle in Buchanan and Nwuili who can both take minutes at the 3 wing . Manny and Dorsch on the frontline . That s 10 players and all that should play.

My thoughts exactly. Listening on the radio, you never heard anyone touching the ball except our guards in the second half, unless it was on a rebound or putback.

Against a zone you have to have inside out ball movement or else you’re just playing into the hands of the defense.

 

[RUChet]

Enough of Badalau. He provides absolutely NOTHING. It’s mind boggling why Pike plays him — let alone STARTS him.

There should be a 9-man rotation. Enough with playing 11 or 12 guys.

PG - JMike, Mark
SG - Powers, Francis
SF - Buchanan, Nwuli
PF - Grant, Nwuli
C - Ogbole, Dortch

Nwuli is listed twice. He’s the backup forward in a 9-man rotation. The kid plays defense. NO BADALAU.

As frustrating as Buchanan has been, he provides more than Badalau.

Yes, Powers should start. He has a nice shot, he proved tonight he can dribble drive, and he’s 6-4 and plays pretty good defense. He just seems more comfortable than Zrno.

I would continue to use Francis as the 6th man microwave off the bench.

I know that none of this will matter. We’re still going to stink. But at least we’ll stink while playing some semblance of a coherent rotation and getting the young guys the time they deserve.

Agree 100%. Euros are bringing lousy D and unfortunately bad shooting most nights. Sit them and both will leave after this season. We can do better

 

[goru7]

Agree 100%. Euros are bringing lousy D and unfortunately bad shooting most nights. Sit them and both will leave after this season. We can do better

You can sit Badalau all day as he gives you nothing in the Boxscore when he plays , no points , no rebounds, no assists, no steals .
I disagree on Zrno. Pike has to find a way to get him going , especially against a zone . You can play Powers and him together especially against zones but Pike has to attack a zone from the foul line in to corners or dunks from the wing not just passing around the perimeter like the mistake yesterday. He also has driven lately which he should continue to do.

 

[RC80]

Totally agree with playing the 9 mentioned; and would like to see Mark playing with Powers as much as possible (along TF). And Nwuli with Grant. That's our most athletic group. But let's face it; No Center is the biggest problem. EO tries (and I'll be nice) but it won't work. And Dortch works like heck - but he isn't 250. And.... as many have mentioned; we need better coaching to get our shooters easier opportunities. TF is the only player who can create his own shot. This non-system, system (let's pass the ball around for 17 seconds) - doesn't give these players a chance either.

 

[Zebnatto1!]

Hard to say this about experienced college coaches, but when you ca't run an effective O against a zone, and when your own zone D is like Swiss cheese, it seems that there's something lacking in understanding of basic principles.

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Pike s lineups / rotations are mind boggling !

How can you keep on starting /
Badalou and Zrno?

Why doesn’t Powers play 25 minutes minimally and why is he not playing in every half?

Why does he continue to play 11 guys?

Have no idea what is going thru his head !

Nothing!

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

My thoughts exactly. Listening on the radio, you never heard anyone touching the ball except our guards in the second half, unless it was on a rebound or putback.

Against a zone you have to have inside out ball movement or else you’re just playing into the hands of the defense.

Someone who knows what he is talking about.

 

[Bob Chaewsky_rivals]

Agree 100%. Euros are bringing lousy D and unfortunately bad shooting most nights. Sit them and both will leave after this season. We can do better

Seems like kids' minutes might be based on what we are paying them. Powers might be getting paid the least.

 

[dark_check]

Good post! Even more Dortch though!!

 

[seansherm]

My thoughts exactly. Listening on the radio, you never heard anyone touching the ball except our guards in the second half, unless it was on a rebound or putback.

Against a zone you have to have inside out ball movement or else you’re just playing into the hands of the defense.

I'm not sure we even got anyone into the high post to play inside out until we put JMike in with a minute or two left.

 

[seansherm]

Good post! Even more Dortch though!!

Only if he's at the 4

 

[dark_check]

Only if he's at the 4

Agree. Kids been willing to play out of position to get on the court. And he hustles.

 

[Degaz-RU]

I'm not sure we even got anyone into the high post to play inside out until we put JMike in with a minute or two left.

You’re basically right, and it was driving me mad. There was one time Buchanan got the ball at the elbow on an entry pass, and he went downhill and scored. Then nothing until those entries to JMike, who hit two mid range jumpers.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Agree. Kids been willing to play out of position to get on the court. And he hustles.

Nobody else scores at the 4 anyway. In my firm view Dortch has earned 25 mpg unless a 3rd consistent scorer emerges. If not, we may as well have good D at the 4.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

You’re basically right, and it was driving me mad. There was one time Buchanan got the ball at the elbow on an entry pass, and he went downhill and scored. Then nothing until those entries to JMike, who hit two mid range jumpers.

The game was over. Those 2 baskets were meaningless. OSU was playing to not foul at that point and run out the clock.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

You can sit Badalau all day as he gives you nothing in the Boxscore when he plays , no points , no rebounds, no assists, no steals .
I disagree on Zrno. Pike has to find a way to get him going , especially against a zone . You can play Powers and him together especially against zones but Pike has to attack a zone from the foul line in to corners or dunks from the wing not just passing around the perimeter like the mistake yesterday. He also has driven lately which he should continue to do.

He was 0-4 from the perimeter and none of the attempts were even close. Didn’t exactly look like a good choice for a zone breaker yesterday…

 

[seansherm]

Nobody else scores at the 4 anyway. In my firm view Dortch has earned 25 mpg unless a 3rd consistent scorer emerges. If not, we may as well have good D at the 4.

I'd be willing to give Fall the 15 minutes at C behind EO to have Dortch go full 4 in games we dont need Dortch at the 5 to guard the perimeter.

 

[goru7]

He was 0-4 from the perimeter and none of the attempts were even close. Didn’t exactly look like a good choice for a zone breaker yesterday…

So what. It only took one more 3 to make the difference. Mobley’s 3 was a dagger with under 3 minutes. Until then both teams had 6 threes and if we hit 1-2 more , it was probably the difference between a win and a loss . Not playing Powers enough also was a miserable decision.