Rutgers is a team that has had a couple close games with good Big Ten teams,, Beat Penn State who we lost to at their place. Steve Pikiell came from Stony Brook out on Long Island to take over this team.... His first year has a few transfers from other programs as well as JC up to the state college of New Jersey. Piliell has been a good coach and Stony Brook made the NCAAs so I am sure they want to work their magic at Rutgers as well.
VERY INTERESTING COACHING RELATIONSHIP AT RUTGERS... Rutgers hired Karl Hobbs as an assistant coach under Pikiell... Pikiell was an assistant for 5 years under Hobbs at George Washington where they made the NCAAs.....Hobbs was the head coach, Pikiell was the assistant.....NOW the roles are reversed at Rutgers where Pikiell is the head coach and Hobbs is the assistant.. I wonder if it is weird that the person you worked under is now your assistant(Pikiell's view)...And vice versa for Hobbs. Apparently they work very well together and I am sure Pikiell likes Hobbs' experience on the bench.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF RUTGERS..Corey Sanders is their top scorer. He is a guard that has taken the big shots for them this year. They have other guards, Mike Williams and Nigel Johnson that are some of their better scorers.. CJ Gettys, who transferred from NC WIlmington, is a slow footed but dependable center for them. He is from my area(Findlay, Ohio) and I thought he was soft in HS but he has carved out a d1 career ok. Johnson was a transfer from Kansas State.
Their other good player is DeShawn Freeman, who was a JC transfer from famous Hutchinson CC in Kansas... I think in many ways, he is their top all around player at 6-7 225 lbs. He is their top rebounder and 2nd leading scorer behind Sanders.
THIS IS ONE OF THE POOREST SHOOTING TEAMS WE WILL SEE.. They are ranked in the 300s nationally in shooting percentage from the field as well as from the 3.. They have been a poor FT shooting team, as well. THEIR MAIN STRENGTH IS REBOUNDING.. They are 5th in the nation in rebounds a game though they do not have a single dominant rebounder.. They do this very well as a team.
I thought their best offense was just getting the ball up on the rim and outscrapping their opponents for the rebound and put back..... We have to be disciplined to box out with all our guys... They rebound well at even the small positions as their 6-1, 6-2 players even go hard to the ball. You can get run outs at times against them, because of it. They are simply a scrappy team that can make life miserable by gaining loose balls. It we play disciplined and hustle, we should get this victory.. But it probably wont be easy..
If we eliminate their 2nd and 3rd shot opportunities, we will take this with few problems. It would be a great game to have a repeat contribution by Jordan Murphy like last game. Gettys has way too slow of feet for Lynch so Reggie needs a good comeback game.... Their guards are not bad for Rutgers but I think we will still have an advantage... Murphy has to do a good job on Freeman. We have to defend Sanders well as he is the guy that can carry them for stretches.
Like I said, they arent overly skilled, nor super athletic. They are small at guard but they are aggressive on the loose balls and getting rebounds. That is their strength though no coach says to the press or fans "Heck, on offense we just get the ball up to the basket then see what happens".. But that is their game, Sanders and Freeman will get their shots as will the guards.. The rest of the guys are role players.. A great chance to grab a road victory for the GOOD GUYS!!
VERY INTERESTING COACHING RELATIONSHIP AT RUTGERS... Rutgers hired Karl Hobbs as an assistant coach under Pikiell... Pikiell was an assistant for 5 years under Hobbs at George Washington where they made the NCAAs.....Hobbs was the head coach, Pikiell was the assistant.....NOW the roles are reversed at Rutgers where Pikiell is the head coach and Hobbs is the assistant.. I wonder if it is weird that the person you worked under is now your assistant(Pikiell's view)...And vice versa for Hobbs. Apparently they work very well together and I am sure Pikiell likes Hobbs' experience on the bench.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF RUTGERS..Corey Sanders is their top scorer. He is a guard that has taken the big shots for them this year. They have other guards, Mike Williams and Nigel Johnson that are some of their better scorers.. CJ Gettys, who transferred from NC WIlmington, is a slow footed but dependable center for them. He is from my area(Findlay, Ohio) and I thought he was soft in HS but he has carved out a d1 career ok. Johnson was a transfer from Kansas State.
Their other good player is DeShawn Freeman, who was a JC transfer from famous Hutchinson CC in Kansas... I think in many ways, he is their top all around player at 6-7 225 lbs. He is their top rebounder and 2nd leading scorer behind Sanders.
THIS IS ONE OF THE POOREST SHOOTING TEAMS WE WILL SEE.. They are ranked in the 300s nationally in shooting percentage from the field as well as from the 3.. They have been a poor FT shooting team, as well. THEIR MAIN STRENGTH IS REBOUNDING.. They are 5th in the nation in rebounds a game though they do not have a single dominant rebounder.. They do this very well as a team.
I thought their best offense was just getting the ball up on the rim and outscrapping their opponents for the rebound and put back..... We have to be disciplined to box out with all our guys... They rebound well at even the small positions as their 6-1, 6-2 players even go hard to the ball. You can get run outs at times against them, because of it. They are simply a scrappy team that can make life miserable by gaining loose balls. It we play disciplined and hustle, we should get this victory.. But it probably wont be easy..
If we eliminate their 2nd and 3rd shot opportunities, we will take this with few problems. It would be a great game to have a repeat contribution by Jordan Murphy like last game. Gettys has way too slow of feet for Lynch so Reggie needs a good comeback game.... Their guards are not bad for Rutgers but I think we will still have an advantage... Murphy has to do a good job on Freeman. We have to defend Sanders well as he is the guy that can carry them for stretches.
Like I said, they arent overly skilled, nor super athletic. They are small at guard but they are aggressive on the loose balls and getting rebounds. That is their strength though no coach says to the press or fans "Heck, on offense we just get the ball up to the basket then see what happens".. But that is their game, Sanders and Freeman will get their shots as will the guards.. The rest of the guys are role players.. A great chance to grab a road victory for the GOOD GUYS!!
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