Wow!

Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
7,389
4,764
113
We just lost by 13 to a sub .500 team from a league with three good teams in it. I'm sure letting the players decide what to do in practice didn't help. What an idiot. Some of my observations are 1) Davis needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end like he was tonight. He was our best player on the floor. 2) Mark is so overrated by Rutger's fans. I personally think he stinks. 3) If Francis is our leading scorer next year we're in for another losing season. Whatever money we plan on giving him next year add another million to it and get a really good guard instead. He won't be worth whatever he asks for. He scored a lot of points tonight but he really didn't play that well. If he decides to leave fire Knight the next day. Once the portal closes fire Knight anyway. 4) I think we can find a better 6-7 man from a lower level than Buchanon. 5) The same is true for Grant. He's regressed so much it's incredible. 6) I still like Powers for what I think he will become - nice size and stroke. 7) Ogbole - thank you, you did your best. 8) Zrno - Zero basketball IQ, good bye and 8) bye too the other euru also. 9) Nwuli - he needs a better coach to develop him because there is some potential there. Pike can't do it. 10) Pike is worse at his job than everyone else is at their job on the team - maybe better than Knight. 11) Giving Pike 10 million to work with next year, well, you may as well just throw it out the window.
 
Last edited:

RUShea

All-Conference
Jan 31, 2017
1,043
1,857
113
We just lost by 13 to a sub .500 team from a league with three good teams in it. I'm sure letting the players decide what to do in practice didn't help. What an idiot. Some of my observations are 1) Davis needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end like he was tonight. He was our best player on the floor. 2) Mark is so overrated by Rutger's fans. I personally think he stinks. 3) If Francis is our leading scorer next year we're in for another losing season. Whatever money we plan on giving him next year add another million to it and get a really good guard instead. He won't be worth whatever he asks for. He scored a lot of points tonight but he really didn't play that well. If he decides to leave fire Knight the next day. Once the portal closes fire Knight anyway. 4) I think we can find a better 6-7 man from a lower level than Buchanon. 5) The same is true for Grant. He's regressed so much it's incredible. 6) I still like Powers for what I think he will become - nice size and stroke. 7) Ogbole - thank you, you did your best. 8) Zrno - Zero basketball IQ, good bye and 8) bye too the other euru also. 9) Nwuli - he needs a better coach to develop him because there is some potential there. Pike can't do it. 10) Pike is worse at his job than everyone else is at their job on the team - maybe better than Knight. 11) Giving Pike 10 million to work with next year, well, you may as well just throw it out the window.
2, 5, 7, 9 & 10. 100% agree.
 

Virginiarufan

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2001
3,761
2,741
113
Agree with OP except for, 1, Mark needs coaching. either he needs to get better at three point shooting or stop taking them. I feel he has speed, potential and will get stronger next year. He could be a good bench player with this year's learning curve. 2. Get rid of Dortch along with Buchannon, grant and the euros. 3. Francis has the potential to light it up any time he steps on to the floor. We need to keep him unless he asks for more than he's worth, say 1.0M. 4. If Pike can't recruit really good talent with 10M he needs to go next year. I'll give him a pass that he really doesn't deserve for his poor recruiting the last three years because if he can bring in a group of hungry, team first players, I think he can win with 10M.
 

RULoyal

Heisman
Jul 28, 2001
15,444
18,622
113
Losing Oh No GIF by Star Now
 

Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
7,389
4,764
113
I hate betting against Rutgers, but Creighton was a great bet last night - a team that was going to play hard for a retiring coach vs.a team that was basically preparing with no coach. Still playing too many guys and following all over the place substitution patterns. And don't believe the nonsense about how much this team has improved. The schedule was just easier down the stretch.
 

NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,367
38,620
113
Creighton has 8 4* kids out of HS or via the portal.....the only reason they didnt make the NCAAS this year was because Iowa transfer Owen Freeman had a knee injury and another 4* Top 50 big, broke his foot and missed this season. Creighton, like Oklahoma, Auburn and others like USC, Oregon, etc, have a solid nucleus of players to work with.


#35 overall in 2025


Class 2021
#165 rivals 3*
#114 On3 4*


#36 overall 4* in class of 2025, missed season


#17 overall portal from 2025 from Iowa and under Fran McCaffery


#56 UVA commit out of HS in class 2023


#24 transfer portal in 2025, knee injury slowed him this year


#273 portal from Charlotte in 2025


#86 2025 portal in 2025, averaged 19PPG as a frosh at Howard last year.

This is the type of roster that has a financial investment into it and if injuries hit, you will miss the NCAAs. But Creighton is typically NCAA caliber

"Creighton men’s basketball has earned six NCAA Tournament bids since 2018 (2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025).
 
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Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
7,389
4,764
113
Creighton has 8 4* kids out of HS or via the portal.....the only reason they didnt make the NCAAS this year was because Iowa transfer Owen Freeman had a knee injury and another 4* Top 50 big, broke his foot and missed this season. Creighton, like Oklahoma, Auburn and others like USC, Oregon, etc, have a solid nucleus of players to work with.


#35 overall in 2025


Class 2021
#165 rivals 3*
#114 On3 4*


#36 overall 4* in class of 2025, missed season


#17 overall portal from 2025 from Iowa and under Fran McCaffery


#56 UVA commit out of HS in class 2023


#24 transfer portal in 2025, knee injury slowed him this year


#273 portal from Charlotte in 2025


#86 2025 portal in 2025, averaged 19PPG as a frosh at Howard last year.

This is the type of roster that has a financial investment into it and if injuries hit, you will miss the NCAAs. But Creighton is typically NCAA caliber

"Creighton men’s basketball has earned six NCAA Tournament bids since 2018 (2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025).
Very nice review of star rankings and of Creighton's past seasons - doesn't change the fact that they were still a sub .500 team in a league with 3-4 good teams in it.
 

RAC93

All-Conference
Aug 11, 2023
2,963
4,885
113
And I've been meaning to ask this - is someone telling Mark his hair looks good that way - LOL.
It’s like an optical illusion, it makes it appear that he’s flying even faster down the court with his hair flowing and flying everywhere. Makes he seem even faster. I would advise he keep it to help him get some bags this year, next year, etc. in the portal. Agree though, doesn’t look good.
 

littlenis5

Senior
Jun 21, 2004
1,470
981
113
The point above about Davis has been true all season…when he’s aggressive offensively, generally the team looks far better.

I don’t want Grant back for $5. He’s a waste of PT.

Thought Mark played pretty selfishly last night…there was a drive in the second half where he got under the hoop and double teamed and missed an easy kick out to a wide open Francis.

After 30 games of this team it’s just obvious - there are some nice role players on this team but unlikely any stars even with development. The lack of physicality, focus, and shooting ability is glaring. Let’s hope Rob Sullivan figures it our
 

NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,367
38,620
113
Very nice review of star rankings and of Creighton's past seasons - doesn't change the fact that they were still a sub .500 team in a league with 3-4 good teams in it.
The overall record is considered an off year or based on injury.....it happens....there's a difference between a sub .500 Creighton roster and a sub .500 Minnesota roster.....Minnesota is in our league but doesnt mean Minnesota, RU, Penn State etc are better talent wise than Creighton.
 

LeapinLou

All-American
Jul 24, 2001
13,137
6,735
113
Funny thing. I didn't want to stay up so I decided I would watch the first 10 minutes of game time and then finish it in the morning. So I went to bed with the score 22-12 and us playing fast and physical. I was so looking forward to 4 PM this Saturday afternoon as a precursor to the two big games.

So I start the remainder of the game and over the rest of the 1st half, we score 6 points. 6 points in 10 minutes. Lead evaporated.

What really hurts is over the past 5 games, I was feeling great about Ogbole, Buchanan, Mark, JMike, and Francis. We looked like a solid, competitive team. And that carried over into the first 10 minutes of this game. Then suddenly, for the remaining 30 minutes, we were that crappy team that we saw for most of the season. Very disappointing and gives credence to those that said we should have just hung it up at the end of the Big 10 Tournament. This performance turned some optimism back into doom and gloom.

Let's see what happens over the next two months with this roster.
 

Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
7,389
4,764
113
The overall record is considered an off year or based on injury.....it happens....there's a difference between a sub .500 Creighton roster and a sub .500 Minnesota roster.....Minnesota is in our league but doesnt mean Minnesota, RU, Penn State etc are better talent wise than Creighton.
I don't think you're following my point. Regardless of the reasons or their talent level or their injuries, we lost to a team that under performed in a down year for the Big East.
 
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Mr. Magoo1

Heisman
Nov 15, 2001
15,445
16,276
113
We just lost by 13 to a sub .500 team from a league with three good teams in it. I'm sure letting the players decide what to do in practice didn't help. What an idiot. Some of my observations are 1) Davis needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end like he was tonight. He was our best player on the floor. 2) Mark is so overrated by Rutger's fans. I personally think he stinks. 3) If Francis is our leading scorer next year we're in for another losing season. Whatever money we plan on giving him next year add another million to it and get a really good guard instead. He won't be worth whatever he asks for. He scored a lot of points tonight but he really didn't play that well. If he decides to leave fire Knight the next day. Once the portal closes fire Knight anyway. 4) I think we can find a better 6-7 man from a lower level than Buchanon. 5) The same is true for Grant. He's regressed so much it's incredible. 6) I still like Powers for what I think he will become - nice size and stroke. 7) Ogbole - thank you, you did your best. 8) Zrno - Zero basketball IQ, good bye and 8) bye too the other euru also. 9) Nwuli - he needs a better coach to develop him because there is some potential there. Pike can't do it. 10) Pike is worse at his job than everyone else is at their job on the team - maybe better than Knight. 11) Giving Pike 10 million to work with next year, well, you may as well just throw it out the window.
We just lost by 13 to a sub .500 team from a league with three good teams in it. I'm sure letting the players decide what to do in practice didn't help. What an idiot. Some of my observations are 1) Davis needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end like he was tonight. He was our best player on the floor. 2) Mark is so overrated by Rutger's fans. I personally think he stinks. 3) If Francis is our leading scorer next year we're in for another losing season. Whatever money we plan on giving him next year add another million to it and get a really good guard instead. He won't be worth whatever he asks for. He scored a lot of points tonight but he really didn't play that well. If he decides to leave fire Knight the next day. Once the portal closes fire Knight anyway. 4) I think we can find a better 6-7 man from a lower level than Buchanon. 5) The same is true for Grant. He's regressed so much it's incredible. 6) I still like Powers for what I think he will become - nice size and stroke. 7) Ogbole - thank you, you did your best. 8) Zrno - Zero basketball IQ, good bye and 8) bye too the other euru also. 9) Nwuli - he needs a better coach to develop him because there is some potential there. Pike can't do it. 10) Pike is worse at his job than everyone else is at their job on the team - maybe better than Knight. 11) Giving Pike 10 million to work with next year, well, you may as well just throw it out the window.

Agree with you. Aside from the first 10 minutes, we looked bad…really bad. The offense is still an unmitigated mess and the talent is mostly mid-major. We need about 4-5 new players at least Francis’ level. We currently have way too many players with very low ceilings.

I fear this did more to lower fans expectations for next year, feature a couple of players with some potential like Mark to potential suitors, and convince talent to stay away, than to provide any benefit.
 

MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
31,393
16,235
113
Quite frankly playing in this tournament was a mistake and furthered cemented the issues with the program rather than alleviate concerns. Not one positive came out of last night. Pikes also acheived his first 20 loss milestone season at Rutgers in his 10 year tenure
Hopefully this game will give Zinn cause for alarm and have her let Pike know (ASAP) he's gone if the team doesn't show vast improvement next year and that might happen before the end of season if the team doesn't prove it can compete in the BIG and have the team look like it has a Dance invite ready for it by the time the B1G Tourney starts .
We can make all the excuses for Pile we want, but the bottom line always should be, win or be gone.
 

RAC93

All-Conference
Aug 11, 2023
2,963
4,885
113
Serious question - Pike was letting the players decide what to do in practice? And went on record confirming this?
I am glad that’s out there and known. Hopefully Keli is not too pleased about it and hopefully it shapes her view of how warm/hot the seat is for Pike. Hoping stuff like this just gets the seat a little hotter from Keli’s standpoint, like throwing added coals on the fire.
 

T2Kplus20

Heisman
May 1, 2007
31,758
19,768
113
We just lost by 13 to a sub .500 team from a league with three good teams in it. I'm sure letting the players decide what to do in practice didn't help. What an idiot. Some of my observations are 1) Davis needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end like he was tonight. He was our best player on the floor. 2) Mark is so overrated by Rutger's fans. I personally think he stinks. 3) If Francis is our leading scorer next year we're in for another losing season. Whatever money we plan on giving him next year add another million to it and get a really good guard instead. He won't be worth whatever he asks for. He scored a lot of points tonight but he really didn't play that well. If he decides to leave fire Knight the next day. Once the portal closes fire Knight anyway. 4) I think we can find a better 6-7 man from a lower level than Buchanon. 5) The same is true for Grant. He's regressed so much it's incredible. 6) I still like Powers for what I think he will become - nice size and stroke. 7) Ogbole - thank you, you did your best. 8) Zrno - Zero basketball IQ, good bye and 8) bye too the other euru also. 9) Nwuli - he needs a better coach to develop him because there is some potential there. Pike can't do it. 10) Pike is worse at his job than everyone else is at their job on the team - maybe better than Knight. 11) Giving Pike 10 million to work with next year, well, you may as well just throw it out the window.
+1
Fire Pike, get rid of all assistant coaches and players, reboot the program.
 

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,342
4,644
66
Game was an exhibition. Who cares. 90 people were there, including the two ushers, the media and people only there to take a break from roulette at the MGM.

Free tickets wouldn’t have upped the attendance even by 1.

Nothing was learned yesterday.
 
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RUfan1977

Senior
Mar 24, 2024
439
737
93
Quite frankly playing in this tournament was a mistake and furthered cemented the issues with the program rather than alleviate concerns. Not one positive came out of last night. Pikes also acheived his first 20 loss milestone season at Rutgers in his 10 year tenure
If we were worried that players we wanted to keep would be offered a lot more money to play elsewhere last night’s game did a lot to alleviate that concern.
 

bigbirdru

Junior
Mar 6, 2010
2,287
386
83
Quite frankly playing in this tournament was a mistake and furthered cemented the issues with the program rather than alleviate concerns. Not one positive came out of last night. Pikes also acheived his first 20 loss milestone season at Rutgers in his 10 year tenure
Before this game I felt you were nervous they would make a run and trick people into thinking this roster was adequate. That didn’t happen, so thats one positive.
 

rsegall

Senior
Jul 28, 2001
456
454
63
Game was an exhibition. Who cares. 90 people were there, including the two ushers, the media and people only there to take a break from roulette at the MGM.

Free tickets wouldn’t have upped the attendance even by 1.

Nothing was learned yesterday.
It reaffirms the need to boot Pike. He has had enough chances and has failed miserably. He has won NOTHING!
 
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RUShea

All-Conference
Jan 31, 2017
1,043
1,857
113
Funny thing. I didn't want to stay up so I decided I would watch the first 10 minutes of game time and then finish it in the morning. So I went to bed with the score 22-12 and us playing fast and physical. I was so looking forward to 4 PM this Saturday afternoon as a precursor to the two big games.
I did the same exact thing. We pretty disappointed this morning.
 

scarletrat99

Sophomore
Oct 3, 2025
110
180
43
I watched to halftime and didn't feel good about second half. The team probably felt too good coming out of Chicago, not really appreciating they beat teams below them--which you should do--and a bad Minny team. This shows they can't hang with a near .500 team.

I will be interested to see if Pikeill cleans house on team, and changes at least 1 assistant. Should not keep more than 2-3 players TBH.
 

jOmega

Sophomore
Nov 1, 2001
111
143
27
It’s like an optical illusion, it makes it appear that he’s flying even faster down the court with his hair flowing and flying everywhere. Makes he seem even faster. I would advise he keep it to help him get some bags this year, next year, etc. in the portal. Agree though, doesn’t look good.
I think he should cut his hair as this would cut down on the wind resistance and make him even faster.
 
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MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
31,393
16,235
113
What's his buyout after next year or should it even matter because we have to do something to improve our overall standing in the B1G??
2026-27 Buyout: $9 million
2027-28 Buyout: $7 million

I say pay the 9 before the 26-27 season ends, if the team looks like a loser again.
Move an assistant to HC and start looking for Pike's replacement ASAP.
But I do fear the buyout money will save him
 
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RW90

All-American
Feb 2, 2002
8,343
7,583
113
I am glad that’s out there and known. Hopefully Keli is not too pleased about it and hopefully it shapes her view of how warm/hot the seat is for Pike. Hoping stuff like this just gets the seat a little hotter from Keli’s standpoint, like throwing added coals on the fire.
I'm as disappointed with Pike as the next fan. However, I'm not too upset about the recent practices.

These games were for all intents and purposes meaningless, and they're not going to learn anything new at this point in the season. If anything, it may sway those few players he wants to keep on the roster.
 

Bob Chaewsky_rivals

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2008
7,389
4,764
113
Yes, but the practices leading up to this game needed to be meaningful - to help make us better with extra practice, just like extra practice leading up to a bowl game makes next year's football team better. Pike thought it more important the players just have fun. Watching the game wasn't fun.
 

JL23

Junior
Oct 4, 2005
841
275
63
I am glad that’s out there and known. Hopefully Keli is not too pleased about it and hopefully it shapes her view of how warm/hot the seat is for Pike. Hoping stuff like this just gets the seat a little hotter from Keli’s standpoint, like throwing added coals on the fire.
If this is true, coupled with the ridiculous extension given to Knight, I'm hoping KZ is evaluating things

We're 10 years in, blew a golden opportunity 2 years ago w two top 5 picks, and our head coach is allowing players to dictate what goes on in practice, while our top assistant is getting raises for simply breathing?

We either want to win or suck
Bottom line - this is unacceptable, and these guys need to go ASAP. Hopefully, this coming year is their final one