Stop Blaming The Players!

[Doctorzit]

This loss is squarely on Pikiell. You don't let the opposition roll the ball in from the baseline with 5.6 seconds left; inbound plays have to be designed and taught to get the ball to your best foul shooter; zones are only effective if the opposition is not making threes; a team should guard the three point line at the end of a game with a two point lead; when your best shooter is hot, but can't get himself open, set plays have to be used to get him open ( how many shots did Spencer get in the second half? The coach has to put the players in a position to win! His defense certainly did not!
Pikiell will have at BEST a .500 record in the BIG TEN. However, he is not there yet. If one looks at his record at Rutgers it is 116-102. He is 60-24 in out of conference games ( teams like St.Peters and Lafayette ) and 56-79 against Big ten teams! I know compared to the horrible past, his record is considered wonderful.
I also think that he believes his constant compliments and platitudes make him immune to criticism . I say this because of his sarcastic response to Brian Fonseca when asked if he was concerned about where the season was going after losing 4 out of 5 games. His response was " You always bring up all these positives.
I appreciate that."
For me the fact that no assistant has been hired, who excels at teaching set plays on offense, will eventually lead to his failure in the Big Ten.

 

[Scangg]

It's on the players

 

[RUsojo]

I mean it’s clearly both Pike and players on the court down the stretch

 

[bac2therac]

its on the players and Pike...Pike is the coach they run these situations, its also on Pike because the players are reflection of their coach and we see a lack of killer instinct just look at this game..pretty much ahead easily all game but kept them hanging around and acting like game was won

 

[RutgersNo1]

Be careful. Pike is like Jesus around here.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

Everyone shares in this **** sandwich.

 

[Scangg]

The players should have been able to see out this win without any coach at all

Tons of failures by players that had zero to do with the coach

 

[Salvi's Headband]

Be careful. Pike is like Jesus around here.

Not tonight. Get your licks in.

 

[FinalFourOrBust_rivals142702]

A team without a coach shouldn’t blow a 10 point lead with a minute to play against a 7 win team

 

[fluoxetine]

To the extent it's on Pike it's mostly just because he recruited the players.

Pike is (obviously) not a perfect coach in every situation but it is my belief he gets more out of the players he has than the vast majority of coaches could. Long term, not necessarily tonight or even over the last 6-7 games.

 

[MiloTalon13]

A season of missed opportunities

 

[rutobs]

The players should have been able to see out this win without any coach at all

Tons of failures by players that had zero to do with the coach

Well, would agree that the players lost this, but Pike needed to have Simpson in the game, so that is on Pike.

 

[cm_13]

Two turnovers, an offensive rebound that led to a second chance bucket, and two missed free throws, all in the last minute.

 

[FIJI'83]

its on the players and Pike...Pike is the coach they run these situations, its also on Pike because the players are reflection of their coach and we see a lack of killer instinct just look at this game..pretty much ahead easily all game but kept them hanging around and acting like game was won

Pike and his players are passive. Not good.

 

[RUBlackout]

Players are fair game these days..you want NIL then be open to criticism for getting paid

Execution was a MASSIVE problem by players tonight that lost this game. Pike is not immune as he didn’t set them up for success…should have had a few subs in at the end of game—COUKD have used a timeout….told his team To press on the ball roll etc etc

Thing is this was 95% on players. PMs plays down the stretch threw away the lead. Caleb can’t hit the front end of any FT. Hyatt looks lost out there catching the ball near half court

 

[Scangg]

Well, would agree that the players lost this, but Pike needed to have Simpson in the game, so that is on Pike.

Pike could have sat Paul but the walk on ls should be able to hang on to the win

 

[ImBadRU]

Recruiting is the bottom line. Talent wins. Pikes coaching is good but agree he's not ever gonna be a great coach. He's done well given his weak recruiting. We need a bunch more big 10 players.

 

[Rokodesh]

Recruiting has nothing to do with the loss. Don't throw the ball to the other team and don't throw backwards with a three point lead at half court, with nobody even near you.. You could be a fat ******* moron at the YMCA and not make those basic mistakes

 

[fluoxetine]

Recruiting has nothing to do with the loss. Don't throw the ball to the other team and don't throw backwards with a three point lead at half court. You could be a fat ****ing moron at the YMCA and not make those basic mistakes

But a fat moron at the YMCA probably wouldn't have a lead in the first place. And better players might have a bigger lead and thus either withstand the mistakes or not have the opportunity to make them in the first place.

 

[goru7]

This loss is squarely on Pikiell. You don't let the opposition roll the ball in from the baseline with 5.6 seconds left; inbound plays have to be designed and taught to get the ball to your best foul shooter; zones are only effective if the opposition is not making threes; a team should guard the three point line at the end of a game with a two point lead; when your best shooter is hot, but can't get himself open, set plays have to be used to get him open ( how many shots did Spencer get in the second half? The coach has to put the players in a position to win! His defense certainly did not!
Pikiell will have at BEST a .500 record in the BIG TEN. However, he is not there yet. If one looks at his record at Rutgers it is 116-102. He is 60-24 in out of conference games ( teams like St.Peters and Lafayette ) and 56-79 against Big ten teams! I know compared to the horrible past, his record is considered wonderful.
I also think that he believes his constant compliments and platitudes make him immune to criticism . I say this because of his sarcastic response to Brian Fonseca when asked if he was concerned about where the season was going after losing 4 out of 5 games. His response was " You always bring up all these positives.
I appreciate that."
For me the fact that no assistant has been hired, who excels at teaching set plays on offense, will eventually lead to his failure in the Big Ten.

I can criticize 2-3 things Pike did tonight but I can criticize 1-2 players , upperclassmen that failed in this game. Not pressing the inbounds and letting them roll the ball with 5.8 and getting almost to half court was a coaching error but also contrary to his aggressive style all year . Second , having Caleb off of Battle, cannot tell if we were in zone , and guard Cooper and Cam was confused and got to Battle late , then does an unintelligent fly bye and gives Battle an uncontested 3. Caleb has to be stuck on Battle like he was all night. We were in the zone for last 6-7 minutes and Battle got free 2-3 times for big shots , cannot tell but that is on the players. Three , thought we stopped running offense with 3-4 left and didn’t have Cam assert himself and allowed the ball into Paul’s hands too much. He airballed a 3 that started their comeback. Then Paul made 3 inexcusable plays down the stretch and we failed to push it upcourt against the press and try to seek a flush when they have 4 guys in the backcourt ( Hyatt) went backwards instead of him and Cliff for a 2 on 1.

So players failed. Pike made some errors but for 37 minutes I thought we were cruising to a 10 point road win and I wasn’t questioning Pike’s coaching. Maybe he should have gone 4 guards with Simpson instead of Hyatt to defend the three and give up the 2 as well as having 4 guards to break the press especially since Derek is a good foul shooter.

 

[NickKnight 1]

When you are up 10 pts with a minute left,
try killing the clock, no?

 

[cm_13]

I can criticize 2-3 things Pike did tonight but I can criticize 1-2 players , upperclassmen that failed in this game. Not pressing the inbounds and letting them roll the ball with 5.8 and getting almost to half court was a coaching error but also contrary to his aggressive style all year . Second , having Caleb off of Battle, cannot tell if we were in zone , and guard Cooper and Cam was confused and got to Battle late , then does an unintelligent fly bye and gives Battle an uncontested 3. Caleb has to be stuck on Battle like he was all night. We were in the zone for last 6-7 minutes and Battle got free 2-3 times for big shots , cannot tell but that is on the players. Three , thought we stopped running offense with 3-4 left and didn’t have Cam assert himself and allowed the ball into Paul’s hands too much. He airballed a 3 that started their comeback. Then Paul made 3 inexcusable plays down the stretch and we failed to push it upcourt against the press and try to seek a flush when they have 4 guys in the backcourt ( Hyatt) went backwards instead of him and Cliff for a 2 on 1.

So players failed. Pike made some errors but for 37 minutes I thought we were cruising to a 10 point road win and I wasn’t questioning Pike’s coaching. Maybe he should have gone 4 guards with Simpson instead of Hyatt to defend the three and give up the 2 as well as having 4 guards to break the press especially since Derek is a good foul shooter.

Battle had already hit two threes in the final minute at that point, he was the only reason they were still in the game. Why you don’t have Caleb glued to him the whole way up the floor is mind boggling.

 

[RutgersDom]

This loss is squarely on Pikiell. You don't let the opposition roll the ball in from the baseline with 5.6 seconds left; inbound plays have to be designed and taught to get the ball to your best foul shooter; zones are only effective if the opposition is not making threes; a team should guard the three point line at the end of a game with a two point lead; when your best shooter is hot, but can't get himself open, set plays have to be used to get him open ( how many shots did Spencer get in the second half? The coach has to put the players in a position to win! His defense certainly did not!
Pikiell will have at BEST a .500 record in the BIG TEN. However, he is not there yet. If one looks at his record at Rutgers it is 116-102. He is 60-24 in out of conference games ( teams like St.Peters and Lafayette ) and 56-79 against Big ten teams! I know compared to the horrible past, his record is considered wonderful.
I also think that he believes his constant compliments and platitudes make him immune to criticism . I say this because of his sarcastic response to Brian Fonseca when asked if he was concerned about where the season was going after losing 4 out of 5 games. His response was " You always bring up all these positives.
I appreciate that."
For me the fact that no assistant has been hired, who excels at teaching set plays on offense, will eventually lead to his failure in the Big Ten.

Man you people...he motioned like three times to come up and pressure the ball...Always love to blame Pike...
his failure in the big 10...please...u see the players coming in the next 2 years...Please stop with this nonsense...patience and grind this year out

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Why does Spencer leave a shooter (Battle) open at the 3 point line to reach in on the player being guarded by McConnell ? Then, he leaps in the air and leaves Battle there for a wide open, uncontested 3 ?

 

[BlockR]

Man you people...he motioned like three times to come up and pressure the ball...Always love to blame Pike...
his failure in the big 10...please...u see the players coming in the next 2 years...Please stop with this nonsense...patience and grind this year out

See Notre Dame and Houston final game possessions? You don't have any coaching strategy questions from those game and tonight's last 1 .10 secs?
Pikes gotta do a better job .

 

[MiloTalon13]

Yup - they did a lot of dumb stuff in the last minute but overall
when your opponent does this: 11-24 from 3
and you do this: 5-12 from 3
You're going to lose most of the time when the other team makes 6 more 3's than you do
Rutgers is 326th in 3PA - we desperately need a guy to come in and take about 10 3's a game
The last minute was a problem, the first 39 were a problem too, should not have been a 10 point game

 

[motorb54]

Did we have a time out that could have been called after the second Caleb free throw?
...or after the miss on the first?

 

[goru7]

Battle had already hit two threes in the final minute at that point, he was the only reason they were still in the game. Why you don’t have Caleb glued to him the whole way up the floor is mind boggling.

Yeah and not sure if we were in zone but we should have been in man the last minute with Caleb glued to Battle. Battle hit a 3 in the corner off the zone with 5-6 minutes left when Oscar lost him. Battle ‘s 3 threes in the last minute were off Hyatt , who didn’t close out enough and make him put it on the floor , against Cam ho lost him for a second and then against.Cam on the fly by . Caleb didn’t guard any of his last 4 threes , and we should have been in man that last minute . Clearly questionable because there was only 1 player that could possible overcome a 10 point deficit in the last minute and that was Battle . Not being in man with Caleb denying him the ball was an error.

 

[BigEastPhil]

Pike and staff did not coach that last minute or that last sequence well.

Lack of composure by Hyatt and Mulcahy and them being in panic mode was frightening

Pike not having a defender on the inbounder or having someone to defend the guard who received the inbound and leaving cam on Battle were all bad schemes by staff.

I reached into my Simon and Garfunkel catalog “ Hello Darkness my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again”.

Ugh. Just an awful loss. Hopefully I feel better 60 hours from now.

 

[RUJMM78]

The players should have been able to see out this win without any coach at all

Tons of failures by players that had zero to do with the coach

Rutgers is a over achieving team with minimal offensive skills.In this game Rutgers failed to defend the three point shots while scoring 74 points.In other games the defense is stellar while the offense is lucky to score 60 points.The end result is a 10-9 league record .

 

[new jersey1_rivals661559]

Did we have a time out that could have been called after the second Caleb free throw?

Yes. We did. Minnesota did not. Pike did not call time out so that Minnesota would not be able to set up a play. As others have said, he was instructing our players from the sideline to get up on their inbounds.

 

[rucoe89]

This loss is squarely on Pikiell. You don't let the opposition roll the ball in from the baseline with 5.6 seconds left; inbound plays have to be designed and taught to get the ball to your best foul shooter; zones are only effective if the opposition is not making threes; a team should guard the three point line at the end of a game with a two point lead; when your best shooter is hot, but can't get himself open, set plays have to be used to get him open ( how many shots did Spencer get in the second half? The coach has to put the players in a position to win! His defense certainly did not!
Pikiell will have at BEST a .500 record in the BIG TEN. However, he is not there yet. If one looks at his record at Rutgers it is 116-102. He is 60-24 in out of conference games ( teams like St.Peters and Lafayette ) and 56-79 against Big ten teams! I know compared to the horrible past, his record is considered wonderful.
I also think that he believes his constant compliments and platitudes make him immune to criticism . I say this because of his sarcastic response to Brian Fonseca when asked if he was concerned about where the season was going after losing 4 out of 5 games. His response was " You always bring up all these positives.
I appreciate that."
For me the fact that no assistant has been hired, who excels at teaching set plays on offense, will eventually lead to his failure in the Big Ten.

You would have thought after Notre Dame game last year they would have worked on the in bounds. But that’s offense and we don’t do offense.

 

[newell138]

lots of blame to go around. The victory gods did not like the fact we came back against PSU so they had to make things even. The OSU loss as we all predicted is going to come back to haunt us.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

Let's be perfectly clear here...

With a minute left and a ten point lead, they could have put in a lineup of Jalen Miller, Antwon Wolfolk, Aiden Terry, Malick Kone, and the equipment manager, with Norries Wilson coaching, and 99/100 they win the game.

 

[RUbacker]

This loss is squarely on Pikiell. You don't let the opposition roll the ball in from the baseline with 5.6 seconds left; inbound plays have to be designed and taught to get the ball to your best foul shooter; zones are only effective if the opposition is not making threes; a team should guard the three point line at the end of a game with a two point lead; when your best shooter is hot, but can't get himself open, set plays have to be used to get him open ( how many shots did Spencer get in the second half? The coach has to put the players in a position to win! His defense certainly did not!
Pikiell will have at BEST a .500 record in the BIG TEN. However, he is not there yet. If one looks at his record at Rutgers it is 116-102. He is 60-24 in out of conference games ( teams like St.Peters and Lafayette ) and 56-79 against Big ten teams! I know compared to the horrible past, his record is considered wonderful.
I also think that he believes his constant compliments and platitudes make him immune to criticism . I say this because of his sarcastic response to Brian Fonseca when asked if he was concerned about where the season was going after losing 4 out of 5 games. His response was " You always bring up all these positives.
I appreciate that."
For me the fact that no assistant has been hired, who excels at teaching set plays on offense, will eventually lead to his failure in the Big Ten.

Sorry the players need to man up and play .

 

[RUfooty]

Man you people...he motioned like three times to come up and pressure the ball...Always love to blame Pike...
his failure in the big 10...please...u see the players coming in the next 2 years...Please stop with this nonsense...patience and grind this year out

 

[RUbacker]

lots of blame to go around. The victory gods did not like the fact we came back against PSU so they had to make things even. The OSU loss as we all predicted is going to come back to haunt us.

We did not bury them when we had the chance , we kept letting them hang around , we lost our focus and sense of urgency and it showed with the singing and swaying on the bench. Football players would not be doing that especially under Greg. They did not CHOP.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

In fact I'm pretty sure Aiden Terry wouldn't have thrown the ball backwards into the press.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

We did not bury them when we had the chance , we kept letting them hang around , we lost our focus and sense of urgency and it showed with the singing and swaying on the bench. Football players would not be doing that especially under Greg. They did not CHOP.

of course note because the Football team is hardly ever in the lead.

 

[wheezer]

Sorry the players need to man up and play .

Not allowing the ball to be rolled downcourt is manning up