1. Hard to take too much from this game, as Rider was terrible and tired from playing Monday, causing them to be unable to hit the broad side of a barn (2-18 on threes). But there are a few things that seem repeatable that we can perhaps draw from this win, in addition to several concerns.
2. Tariq Francis was superb on both ends of the floor. His defense was active, and his offense seemed smooth and confident. 4-8 from deep is huge, and his 20 points were on just 10 FG attempts, so he was something people thought he would not be — efficient.
3. Same with JMike - he is the clear floor general, and he played under control and showed a more fluid offensive game on his way to a 15 point (5-9, 2-4), 6 rebound, 3 assist, 2 steal, 1 block and 0 turnover game. 2-4 on threes continues his improvement from deep that began last year.
4. Dylan Grant definitely looks more confident as an all around player and took over for a stretch of the game, finishing with 17 points (6-9) and 7 rebounds, and he played above the rim with a couple of monstrous dunks.
5. Darren Buchanan looks strong, but his use on offense seems to be as more of a Point Forward. He did hit his only 3-pt attempt, but he’s going to get to the line a lot because most of his offense will come within 15 feet, and he needs to shoot FTs better than 2-7.
6. Although Rider was woeful from the field, Rutgers’ defensive energy and rotations were very good. There never seemed to be a time when a Rutgers defender was out of position, and we made the Broncs work for every point.
7. Now for some negatives. Although we outrebounded Rider 47-46 overall, we gave up a whopping 21 offensive rebounds. Now some of that is because Rider missed so many shots (18-65 for 27.7%), and many of the misses resulted in long or awkward rebounds, but a 56.25% defensive rebounding rate is horrid nonetheless.
8. I liked Badalau’s overall game and court awareness, but he shot 1-12 (1-6 on threes), and most of his misses were way off. He was, however, a willing defender, and he contributed 7 rebounds (3 offensive, 4 defensive). But as our reputed “best shooter,” he needs to do better, period.
9. The center position was obviously a huge concern coming into the season, and tonight’s game does nothing to quell that concern. Ogbole did play solid defense, grabbed 10 boards, and had 2 blocks (plus a block that bounced up and into the hoop), but he was 0-5 on all attempts around the rim, including a blown dunk. Baye Fall played a shift in the first half and made no impact whatsoever, and then he mysteriously didn’t play at all in the 2nd half. Bryce Dortch played in the 2nd half and blocked a shot, and Gevonte Ware played in garbage time.
10. We didn’t get much from the other key freshmen Mark, Nwuli, and (surprisingly) Zrno. They didn’t hurt us, mind you, but didn’t make an impact. Zrno did hit 2 threes, but he also airballed two other threes. However, on opening night, I’m not going to get too concerned about these guys just yet.
2. Tariq Francis was superb on both ends of the floor. His defense was active, and his offense seemed smooth and confident. 4-8 from deep is huge, and his 20 points were on just 10 FG attempts, so he was something people thought he would not be — efficient.
3. Same with JMike - he is the clear floor general, and he played under control and showed a more fluid offensive game on his way to a 15 point (5-9, 2-4), 6 rebound, 3 assist, 2 steal, 1 block and 0 turnover game. 2-4 on threes continues his improvement from deep that began last year.
4. Dylan Grant definitely looks more confident as an all around player and took over for a stretch of the game, finishing with 17 points (6-9) and 7 rebounds, and he played above the rim with a couple of monstrous dunks.
5. Darren Buchanan looks strong, but his use on offense seems to be as more of a Point Forward. He did hit his only 3-pt attempt, but he’s going to get to the line a lot because most of his offense will come within 15 feet, and he needs to shoot FTs better than 2-7.
6. Although Rider was woeful from the field, Rutgers’ defensive energy and rotations were very good. There never seemed to be a time when a Rutgers defender was out of position, and we made the Broncs work for every point.
7. Now for some negatives. Although we outrebounded Rider 47-46 overall, we gave up a whopping 21 offensive rebounds. Now some of that is because Rider missed so many shots (18-65 for 27.7%), and many of the misses resulted in long or awkward rebounds, but a 56.25% defensive rebounding rate is horrid nonetheless.
8. I liked Badalau’s overall game and court awareness, but he shot 1-12 (1-6 on threes), and most of his misses were way off. He was, however, a willing defender, and he contributed 7 rebounds (3 offensive, 4 defensive). But as our reputed “best shooter,” he needs to do better, period.
9. The center position was obviously a huge concern coming into the season, and tonight’s game does nothing to quell that concern. Ogbole did play solid defense, grabbed 10 boards, and had 2 blocks (plus a block that bounced up and into the hoop), but he was 0-5 on all attempts around the rim, including a blown dunk. Baye Fall played a shift in the first half and made no impact whatsoever, and then he mysteriously didn’t play at all in the 2nd half. Bryce Dortch played in the 2nd half and blocked a shot, and Gevonte Ware played in garbage time.
10. We didn’t get much from the other key freshmen Mark, Nwuli, and (surprisingly) Zrno. They didn’t hurt us, mind you, but didn’t make an impact. Zrno did hit 2 threes, but he also airballed two other threes. However, on opening night, I’m not going to get too concerned about these guys just yet.
