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RURahhDec 14, 2:00 AM

Was Pike Just Lucky or did the Environment Kill Him

For a guy who took the worst major program and made it competitive by finding under-rated hard nosed players, how can it be that he hasn't recruited a single player or gotten a single portal player in FIVE YEARS ( except Cam Spencer). It is almost statistically impossible to have as many busts as he has had, did he just forget everything he knew from the past 20 years or has the game just evolved and passed him by. Besides being gifted 2 NBA lottery picks, we haven't recruited or developed a single player who could start on an average high major roster since Cliff. It can't be just money, because we have whiffed on every 4 star or high 3 star that has come here, its got to be more than just bad luck. Not sure how Pike can turn it around. At least Greg has shown the ability to improve, even recently. Pike's arrows are all pointing downwards, and the goodwill he has from 2020'/2022 is gone, and there is nothing on the horizon to give one any hope that throwing money at the problem is a wise investment
103 Replies
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ScarletDog

Dec 14, 2:10 AM

He needs to resign. He's stealing from us at this point. Deer in the headlights in every possible way.
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Mb5789

Dec 14, 2:13 AM

I’ve thought about this tweet a lot lately from March of 2021…
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Anon1752686019

Dec 14, 2:18 AM

Part of me says give some NIL and see what he does and another part of me just thinks back on how he wasted last year with two top 5 NBA picks and how he made 0 staff changes this past offseason
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Ridge 22

Dec 14, 2:29 AM

Mb5789 said:
I’ve thought about this tweet a lot lately from March of 2021…
Spot on take
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Scarlet09

Dec 14, 2:35 AM

I’m not saying he was some hall of fame coach, but if the new environment doesn’t happen and the starting 5 last year included Harper, Mag, Ace and Cliff that was a balanced lineup and a tournament team easily and had the pieces if they got hot to go on a deep run. Then the momentum in recruiting could have possibly continued. So I think the environment is mainly what did him in, and even though he had no help from the AD I’m not sure (and by that I mean I’m doubtful) even with the proper help he can successfully navigate this new environment. I appreciate what he did here and I was able to experience a lot of great moments in that 4 year stretch thanks to him and the players but a fresh start is needed. The one positive in basketball with the new environment is it doesn’t have to end up an entire multi year rebuild (i.e. Seton Hall from 24/25 to 25/26).
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djrc89

Dec 14, 2:38 AM

We’re on a message board. Nuance is not rewarded. Pros and cons. He turned us into something we hadn’t been in thirty years. My sense is had there been no nil the sky was the limit. Kids stay. They buy into the system. They’re hungry. Today is totally different. No one buys in and no one is staying. We don’t have enough money to bring in the best. Now that we have an administration that gets it, will we have enough to keep and grow what we have
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kingz213

Dec 14, 2:41 AM

Anon1752686019 said:
Part of me says give some NIL and see what he does and another part of me just thinks back on how he wasted last year with two top 5 NBA picks and how he made 0 staff changes this past offseason
Brother he had 2 lottery picks and couldn't build a quality team around them. One thing u have never see me do is call for a coaches job to me thats weak. But if you make a solid tournament run with last years team that sets you up for the next 5 years. Pikell missed his opportunity
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RURahh

Dec 14, 2:50 AM

Scarlet09 said:
I’m not saying he was some hall of fame coach, but if the new environment doesn’t happen and the starting 5 last year included Harper, Mag, Ace and Cliff that was a balanced lineup and a tournament team easily and had the pieces if they got hot to go on a deep run. Then the momentum in recruiting could have possibly continued. So I think the environment is mainly what did him in, and even though he had no help from the AD I’m not sure (and by that I mean I’m doubtful) even with the proper help he can successfully navigate this new environment. I appreciate what he did here and I was able to experience a lot of great moments in that 4 year stretch thanks to him and the players but a fresh start is needed. The one positive in basketball with the new environment is it doesn’t have to end up an entire multi year rebuild (i.e. Seton Hall from 24/25 to 25/26).
I think this is a spot on take. It is far easier to rebuild a 5 man roster, he has just whiffed on every single one. He us obviously a great guy with good morals who will never embarrass the school, but I feel like he gaslights us each year with his pre-season player accolades and refusal to make changes in his offensive philosophy or changes to his coaching staff
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Fat Koko

Dec 14, 2:52 AM

Security, Newark cops courtside at Rutgers bench. Pike needs to be arrested immediately. Seton Hall fan removed. They got wrong guy.
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bethlehemfan

Dec 14, 2:56 AM

It’s definitely part of the issue but it’s almost like pike just threw his hands up. His portal guys all suck.
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tevans8407

Dec 14, 2:59 AM

Mb5789 said:
I’ve thought about this tweet a lot lately from March of 2021…
First of all, Pikiell needs to be fired. The game has passed him by. This tweet is also wrong. He missed on plenty of recruits. Thiam, Souffs Mensa (I think that’s was his name), Doucore, Matt Bullock, Candido Sa, Dean Reiber, Jalen Miller... The difference between now and then is that he had players for 3-4 years and could develop them. He can’t do that now - he can’t build a team on the fly because he’s a teacher. It doesn’t work anymore. You can see something in Mark, Powers, Zrno, Nwuli - these Freshman have something just like Lathan last year but what are the chances they will be here 2-3 years from now to develop? That's the problem.
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RURahh

Dec 14, 3:05 AM

Rutgers --》 Tariq Francis Seton Hall --》 Bud Clark Both tiny American East point guards probably costing the same amount of money. The outcomes could not be any more different Part talent evaluation, part coaching, part the system they are playing in
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OkRUguy

Dec 14, 3:06 AM

RURahh said:
Rutgers --》 Tariq Francis Seton Hall --》 Bud Clark Both tiny American East point guards probably costing the same amount of money. The outcomes could not be any more different Part talent evaluation, part coaching, part the system they are playing in
Francis here over better options solely due to Knight.
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letterhead6

Dec 14, 3:30 AM

Time to start over After this year. Sigh
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KK1827

Dec 14, 3:36 AM

Ive been saying this about pike from the jump and everyone would jump down my throat. What our team did in his best years was not remotely sustainable. It was street ball with minimal sets and TONS of inefficient midrange shots that just found the bottom of the net. This was pretty predictable
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RU-ROCS

Dec 14, 3:39 AM

RURahh said:
For a guy who took the worst major program and made it competitive by finding under-rated hard nosed players, how can it be that he hasn't recruited a single player or gotten a single portal player in FIVE YEARS ( except Cam Spencer). It is almost statistically impossible to have as many busts as he has had, did he just forget everything he knew from the past 20 years or has the game just evolved and passed him by. Besides being gifted 2 NBA lottery picks, we haven't recruited or developed a single player who could start on an average high major roster since Cliff. It can't be just money, because we have whiffed on every 4 star or high 3 star that has come here, its got to be more than just bad luck. Not sure how Pike can turn it around. At least Greg has shown the ability to improve, even recently. Pike's arrows are all pointing downwards, and the goodwill he has from 2020'/2022 is gone, and there is nothing on the horizon to give one any hope that throwing money at the problem is a wise investment
Sadly, it has become very clear that Pike and the NIL era are totally incompatible.
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RUskoolie

Dec 14, 3:40 AM

Mb5789 said:
I’ve thought about this tweet a lot lately from March of 2021…
This exact quote could be applied to Greg Schiano in 2006
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RURahh

Dec 14, 3:42 AM

KK1827 said:
Ive been saying this about pike from the jump and everyone would jump down my throat. What our team did in his best years was not remotely sustainable. It was street ball with minimal sets and TONS of inefficient midrange shots that just found the bottom of the net. This was pretty predictable
Dont start re-writing history. You literally changed your Twitter handle to jump on the bandwagon back in 2021. I do give you credit for repeatedly saying you know very little about basketball, although what you are saying above is 100% true
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WhoRU?

Dec 14, 3:43 AM

I enjoyed his good years. Under recruited kids who worked really hard. I feel bad about the way this is heading. At some point, even the under recruited kids are going to stop answering the phone.
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RUskoolie

Dec 14, 3:43 AM

I keep going back and forth on him but what I do stand by is you don't have the historical failure of last year and recover from that. The only thing not making it a certainty that he is fired is his massive buyout and the fact you can point to Seton Hall only winning 7 games last year and already having 10 wins this year because they had proper NIL to buy a new roster...but if you're going to apply that logic to Pike...didn't he have 2 NBA lottery picks last year and still couldn't fill out the roster? I go back and forth on this each game. I can see the "give him more NIL and see what happens next season argument" or the "fire him and raise high NIL for someone else".
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T2Kplus20

Dec 14, 3:47 AM

ScarletDog said:
He needs to resign. He's stealing from us at this point. Deer in the headlights in every possible way.
He's destroying the program, just like CVS did with the women. He's a pre-NIL dinosaur and needs to be fired immediately before more damage is done.
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OkRUguy

Dec 14, 3:48 AM

Would Pike know what to do with more money? Antiquated style of basketball, inefficient offense of mid range jump shots. Better talent only takes you so far if they are still fighting that uphill battle.
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Nycrusupporter

Dec 14, 3:53 AM

RUskoolie said:
I keep going back and forth on him but what I do stand by is you don't have the historical failure of last year and recover from that. The only thing not making it a certainty that he is fired is his massive buyout and the fact you can point to Seton Hall only winning 7 games last year and already having 10 wins this year because they had proper NIL to buy a new roster...but if you're going to apply that logic to Pike...didn't he have 2 NBA lottery picks last year and still couldn't fill out the roster? I go back and forth on this each game. I can see the "give him more NIL and see what happens next season argument" or the "fire him and raise high NIL for someone else".
The question I ask is what would any other high major program do? They would fire him or get him to quit. I understand his contract is a major problem, but he is doing enormous damage right now that is going to start costing Rutgers a lot of money.
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BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine

Dec 14, 3:55 AM

RUskoolie said:
I keep going back and forth on him but what I do stand by is you don't have the historical failure of last year and recover from that. The only thing not making it a certainty that he is fired is his massive buyout and the fact you can point to Seton Hall only winning 7 games last year and already having 10 wins this year because they had proper NIL to buy a new roster...but if you're going to apply that logic to Pike...didn't he have 2 NBA lottery picks last year and still couldn't fill out the roster? I go back and forth on this each game. I can see the "give him more NIL and see what happens next season argument" or the "fire him and raise high NIL for someone else".
I think we're stuck with raising more NIL and keeping Pike for another year because of his contract. If he flops again next year he'll agree to resign for a lower contract buyout, I don't see how he would want to go on at this rate.

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