Here we go again. No excuses for the players or coaches at Rutgers University. How do they lose to Lehigh of The Patriot League? I am shocked! I really thought Rutgers with a veteran head coach hired to be an advisor/assistant coach, along with two stud recruits and a few others who were highly touted, along with a sophomore star in the making, with a big guy who could be NBA bound based on his D alone, and at least two seniors who really have better GAME THAN THEY HAVE SHOWN, WOULD TEAR UP THE MICKY MOUSE CUPCAKE PRESEASON SCHEDULE. Boy was I wrong. I honestly thought they would be undefeated heading into the North Carolina game and had an outside chance of sneaking into the top 25. Foolish me lol.
The players are not immune from blame on this. When will they step it up on the court? Coaches coach and players play. The first thing they all need to do is relax! The bigs play so robotic it looks like they do not belong in the BE. The guards are taking so many shots it sends a message that they have zero confidence in the big people on the team.
For Rosario to get that many shots must be for recruiting purposes. It must be to lure Cheeks to sign with the Scarlet Knights. Honestly I would be surprised if that would work. The days of kids saying "I am going to x university to help change the direction of the program" is over! And when kids did that years ago, trust me they were getting some extra perks including some high ticket items. Recruiting wise the Lehigh lost is worst than the St. Bonaventure loss based on athletic and league affiliation. Kids now will get serious peer pressure concerning Rutgers. Think most kids will step back after you lose to those type of teams. Teams without 1 player recruited by RU or any BE program. Most of the Lehigh kids would not have even been noticed by Rutgers in HS.
Yes this loss will hurt in more ways than one. What do I think needs to happen? New starting line-up that brings hunger. Start Farmer, Rosario, Chandler, with Inman. and Hamedy up front. 5 minutes in Greg E replaces Inman or Hamedy and Pettis or who ever replaces the other front court guy. Coburn comes in for Farmer, etc.
Next the coaches need a meeting with all Juniors and seniors only. The meeting needs to be a STRONG MOTIVATIONAL meeting if you know what I mean.
Next they need to meet separate with the younger players.
Than a team meeting with everyone followed by a practice designed to provide confidence as they re-define roles. Allow the big guys to play basketball and stop being scared to shoot from 15 feet. Especially JR Inman who is playing scared in fear of FHJ yanking him and burying him on the bench.
Chandler should not be forgotten, It seems to me as an outsider they have forgotten alot about this kid since Rosario arrived. It is the old what have you done for me lately look. I am sure it might not be as I described but it looks bad when one of your best players is losing minutes to guys who really should be role players getting spot duty. Does anyone actually feel Coburn and Pettis are better players than Chandler. Heck in HS Chandler was a better player than Rosario despite the McDonalds AA tag Rosario rightfully earned. Get him in that line-up and get him and Inman shots!
Well hopefully Rutgers can recover from what I think is a horrible loss. This can really impact recruiting and also harm attendance, which really needs a boast. The next few games are very important. I hope they do not eat too much turkey today and put alot of time into practice late today and tomorrow.
5 comments:
This should be NO surprise to anyone. Hill can recruit. That is what he has always done for higher profile head coaches. He doesn't have what it takes to keep kids in line, learn their roles, etc.
I'm showing my age, but even going back as far as his assistant coaching days at Rider, FDU, and certainly at Hall. His teams will look great in pre game warmups and airports and they will most definitely underachieve in the classroom and on the basketball court.
Discipline, shot selection, execution, attention to time and score at the end of games...etc, etc, etc....ain't gonna happen.
There already has been and undoubtedly there will be lots more conflict on his team between older and younger players. He doesn't have what it takes to get them to blend. Watch the ru fans start wanting Danny Nee to take charge...that is almost as laughable as Carr trying to coach his way out of a shoe box.
I would love to meet you because for some reason I think you are a powerful hoops guy in the tri-state area. You are way too knowledgable to be just a fan. Lastly, Jim carr must have done somthing bad for you to go after him as you do lol. Hope to meet you soon and please keep posting on here.
Where did anyone get the idea that Fred Hill could coach. He was supposed to be a good recruiter. Coaching and recruiting are usually mutually exclusive.
To paraphrase Donald Sutherland in the Dirty Dozen, "Very pretty colonel, very pretty! But can they play." They obviously can't.
I honestly feel they (RU) do have talent but at this time the entire program is out of whack on the inside. The players can play, and maybe FHJ can coach. But even if he could not, and I do thinmk he can, Danny Mee is right there as a high proced consultant.
I honestly feel the kids on RU are very confused. Kids are scared to shoot while pthers are encourages to shoot. Chandler and Inman do not seem to know what to do but are working hard to please the coaches. In the process they look tentitive and confused.
The starting line-up sends a message that is unclear as well as un-productive. But it is a message.
And yes schools often give certain kids extra on court benefits as a way of keeping peacewith a players HS program. They want current player to say nice things about program to ex teamates and coaches. Happens all the time.
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