We have a team!
- Thread starter BillyC80
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Agreed. Those negatives are not unusual for a freshman. His positives give us reason to want him back next season, especially as he improves defensively and with decision-making.
Hindsight is 20/20, however its unfortunate that Powers didn't get "Euros" minutes in the OOC portion of the schedule, soem of these "kinks" may have been further along
He had some nice dishes last night to open men, unfortunalely Grant wasn't able to handle 1 of the passes underneath and both shooters missed wide open 3's
I'd like to see him play more with Nwuli
Perhaps Nwuli may end up being this guy, he has a nice stroke from beyond the are and crashes the boards on both ends
twice last night he cut to the hoop on the weak side, left wide open as his man rotated to Francis. Of course he didn't receive the pass
I want us to win but it feels problematic and defeatist that our bar and acceptance is for a team that plays hard and improves but still loses
that feels acceptable in year 1-4 for pikiell it feels hard to accept that in year 10
someone said that everyone should return minus Fall and Badalau I don’t think that’s good enough
if EO is in his last year that’s 3 spots available? For recruits and portal that’s not enough of an infusion of talent
these guys need reasons to stay and that’s going to mean a combination of wins and development and if development takes place that likely means compensation
that feels acceptable in year 1-4 for pikiell it feels hard to accept that in year 10
someone said that everyone should return minus Fall and Badalau I don’t think that’s good enough
if EO is in his last year that’s 3 spots available? For recruits and portal that’s not enough of an infusion of talent
these guys need reasons to stay and that’s going to mean a combination of wins and development and if development takes place that likely means compensation
Not sure who you refer to but I for one is not happy we lost last night. It was clearly an easy winnable game that coaching could have gotten the win.
But I am also a realist and this team is lacking talent . So every night the talent level is below our BIG 10 opponent so some take heart of a good effort that came up short. But last night Iowa was not more talented than us. That loss is on the coach. That loss is on the 19 mindless turnovers that prevented 19 more shots taken . Despite how terrible the turnovers were the win was there on a silver platter and we fail to seize it. Our coaches allow the only player that could have beat us , beat us , by allowing a switch onto Francis instead of Buchanan or Nwuili guarding Stirtz. What gets me pissed is games that should have been won and were lost by coaching.
For me (and I believe many others on here), it’s not about acceptance, as we all prefer to win. It’s about exceeding expectations, which this team has clearly done of late.
Billy we have not exceeded expectations despite the competitive play since Ohio State. The out of conference and games against ranked teams were horrendously bad and not competitive.
Now we have been competitive since Ohio State except for Illinois but we should have won 2 more games against Ohio State and an Iowa. Both middle of the pack teams that ended up as losses. My opinion is Pike’s confusion with lineups and rotations has resulted in such inconsistency that the players have failed. You should never have a night when Zrno gets 21 and JMike gets 12 and the next night they both get zero’s. That is almost impossible yet it happens. Pike is coaching by the seat of his pants and not smart. How he let Stirtz win that game for Iowa is one of the worst coaching games of the year. He let Buchanan get switched off to Francis guarding him. He had Nwuili guarding him earlier and never brought him back . Criminal.
Even less talented teams can win games and we haven’t won enough of the games with equal talent like Notre Dame , Iowa , Seton Hall . Yes we are not the dumpster fire some idiots and negative posters have spewed. But we should win more.
We beat a big ten team with 0 wins and another with 1 win without their best player in overtime at home
we are right where I thought we’d be with our toughest stretch ahead
how it looks doesn’t matter to me when it’s 4-16 in big ten play nobody cares if they were close and you played hard… not anymore not in this climate
not all 10-10 campaigns look the same but bad is bad
Pike also disappointed me with this last night, Nwuli was frustrating the hell out of Stiritz
I realized how frustrated he was when he dunked on Nwuli and turned with a "in your face" , which is uncharacteristic of Stiritz
The problem is Nwuili is almost a total 0 offensively over the guys who he would take minutes from such as Buchanan and Grant
Yes, I agree that we could have had two more B1G wins and that Pike is largely responsible.
However to be fair we had plenty of open looks in those games that our players did not make which was the difference in both losses.
After our loss to CCS, where were our expectations, collectively as a fan base?
We are clearly getting better and you have to admit that part of your frustration is that we came up short in two winnable games despite playing better than expected.
Nwuili is not a zero offensively. Our guards are the worst in the country in passing the ball. Bwuilihas a jumper. He can get the ball on the block and use the backboard for an easy shot. We do not give him opportunities. He is s freshman so he should not get a lot of opportunities but he shouldn’t get none. You can thank the guards.
At the end of our OOC schedule, some were predicting we would get shutout in B1G play, and some suggested we might get lucky and win 1 game in B1G play. So far we have 2 wins and here you’re mentioning a 4-16 record (which still sucks, but still). So, what changed?
For some of us, what changed is that we’re playing better than expected when the new year started. That doesn’t mean we’re a very good team or even a mediocre team. It just means the games are more competitive (and for me, more enjoyable) as a result.
So objectively if we finish 4-16 or even 5-15 and look “competitive” will that warrant Pike staying?
you have to step back and ask yourself if that’s how we finish how much improvement will we really have seen? Will all these guys be worth retaining? Will they want to stay here after a dreadful finish?
Sorry I do not think that . I couldn’t believe how bad we played earlier in the year. I had high hopes for Grant , Buchanan , hopeful that Manny , JMike and Dorsch got a little better being a year older. Thought from Day 1 that Nwuili, Mark and Powers could play and contribute. Unknown about Francis.
We are playing better except last night because our turnovers have been down . We had 7 against northwestern , 1 in the second half . 6 against Oregon . Only 10 against Wisconsin but 7 at half and only 3 in the second half but Wisconsin turned those 7 into 14 points.
Lady night , 19 was suicidal
I will say this. When we do not turn the ball over ( less than 8 per game ) , we have the ability to be competitive and win games. You cannot score by turning it over and worse the other team does. We only got 44 shots up yesterday which has to change. We should be getting up 60-70 shots a game. We should fast break more not less.
Plus we are 0-7 in Quad 1 and 0-2 in Quad 2 so cannot say exceeding expectations. Oregon and Maryland are also 0-7 in Quad 1 and no one there is saying they are exceeding expectations.
This is where Pike has done a horrendous job this year. His rotations , who starts , who plays , what minutes, is so random game to game that the players develop no consistency . We should be seeing both Powers and Nwuili for whatever minutes like a nice stretch 6-7:8 minutes at a time . Not 2 minutes here and there. No rhythm being yanked in and out .
It's very easy to blame Pike for just about anything. I'm sure you guys know a lot more than him about basketball and especially about his team, lol. Pike shouldn't go anywhere. Now, as far as the team. I had this team getting no wins at all in the league after the Ohio State game, so I am happy to be wrong. To expect a win on the road at Iowa playing a bunch of freshmen and sophs is unrealistic. That we kept it close is great and a sign of growth. Growth and beating the teams that we are "equal" to should be what we root for this season. The players who should get the most playing time, imo, are:
Francis - scoring
Powers - potential and skill level
Ogbole - getting better and better
Grant - scoring
Buchanan - scoring. toughness
Then, in order of minutes deserved:
Dorch - situational use, to relieve EO
Mark - small, freshman mistakes, but aggressive and quick
Nwuli - potential
Davis - small, still hasn't developed any scoring ability (except occasional 3pters)
Zrno - only to spell Buchanan
Francis - scoring
Powers - potential and skill level
Ogbole - getting better and better
Grant - scoring
Buchanan - scoring. toughness
Then, in order of minutes deserved:
Dorch - situational use, to relieve EO
Mark - small, freshman mistakes, but aggressive and quick
Nwuli - potential
Davis - small, still hasn't developed any scoring ability (except occasional 3pters)
Zrno - only to spell Buchanan
It’s a tired argument in sports that because the guy in charge knows more than us fans it means he’s doing an okay job and should keep his job.
I have no doubt he knows basketball… that doesn’t mean he’s fit or equipped to do the job here anymore
and just because we’re beating other bottom dwelling teams I bet their fan bases are having similar conversations
Lost in yesterday’s loss to Iowa was Manny’s rim protection which was very good with a great block , another block and lots of altered shots plus Iowa not going down the lane. Manny has really gotten better in that role. I know Pike subs him out when teams play 5 out and have 3 point shooters at the 5 but otherwise he needs more minutes than Dorsch because of his rim protection.
Offensively , he also needs to get the ball more. 8 points and 10 rebounds was great last night but why cannot that happen every game if the guards actually pass to him . Plus he is a willing passer for inside out action. He deserves a little shoutout
Offensively , he also needs to get the ball more. 8 points and 10 rebounds was great last night but why cannot that happen every game if the guards actually pass to him . Plus he is a willing passer for inside out action. He deserves a little shoutout
This!
if you step back and look at the responses in year 10 of a highly paid HC coming off a historical bad season.
We look better
I thought we would not win a game
They are competitive
Under 500 and it’s going to get worse.
How is Pike staying even a thought for ppl who want to win?
This is what we were hoping for when he replaced Eddie Jordan
it’s the same crowd who just wants football to cobble together 6 wins over and over to play in the Pinstripe bowl
I think there is a good majority of this board that thinks Pike’s time is up. I have been one of his biggest supporters but find myself criticizing or critiquing his lineups , his rotations , his continued allowance of open 3 pointers by our opponent that could be reduced if we just covered ; use of timeouts , subbing a hot player , etc.
However , Pike had our team in the NCAA ‘s 3 years ago. You purposely say 5 or 6 years ago to make it worse. You post 100% negative all the time. You know his buyout is huge. But you still act like a spoiled brat repeating things over and over. You look at things in a 10 year lens which is irrelevant.
He will likely be gone if things continue and losses pile up but that will likely be next year. Then you get your wish.
In the meantime , try to bring some substance to your shotty posts to give us all a break
A couple of points in response. We were not favored against Northwestern, and probably not Oregon. The team is playing much better from Ohio State on. We don't have the horses to match-up with Illinois, MSU, and the other top teams, but we now seem to be able to compete with the middle teams on down to the Marylands and PSUs. Mark, Powers, Nwuli are getting significant pt for their development. Buchanan has become an important piece and he's getting the most from Francis. He has also sat Badalau. Pike has turned the team around from what we all thought would be a disaster to a team that many of us can root for. He should get a ton of credit for all of that. He also is trying to navigate a crazy NIL and transfer situation with a very low level of finances to manage it.
So what would you do if we finished 4-5 wins in conference play which is what I expect which would put us at 12-13 wins overall
that would be his worst season in the 10 years he’s been there
I personally don’t feel strongly that if that’s all we manage that the majority of the roster will stay and if they do will they all be worth keeping because only managing a couple more wins to me calls into question how much development happened
I never expected a goose egg in conference play because I know how truly awful AND unlucky a team has to be to go 0 for
that being said I appreciate the effort and hustle and signs of life but for me in year 10 I need to see a lot more and I imagine whoever zinn is getting to participate from an NIL standpoint wants to see more than that before turning over the check book
Good post,
Also have to keep in mind that this is a "young" team in a beast of a conference without any real player"leadership" which is needed in crunch time. Francis can score, but he can't lead, JMike is too inconsistent as is Manny.
I could see Buchanon possibly being that guy next year, whereby games like this years OSU and Iowa turn into W's.
Is it fair to say for those pointing to the growth you see and are holding onto that if in theory he came back next year and failed to make the tournament you’d then be prepared to move on?
