RU Loses and SHU Wins by LFHall lol

OK I am sure folks will really call me LFHall and other names after this post. But honestly ask me if I really care? I will always call it as I see it because I have no obligation to any coach or program. This leads me to my thoughts on the Rutgers loss yesterday.

First of all Mike Rosario, Corey Chandler, and Anthony Farmer are not, I repeat NOT, Allan Ray, Kyle Lowery, and Randy Foye! Trust me! Those three were a unique group of guards at Villanova. Rutgers needs to understand at this point the RU Guards are not the Villanova guards. And Jay Wright ran those 3 guard sets because he had NO ONE down low after Jason Fraser was injured. Rutgers has options, even if FHJ does not wish to acknowledge them at his time. OK gloves further off. Here is a run down of what I saw yesterday.

I saw a guard dominated offense AGAIN! Why would any decent front court recruit want to sign with a school where the guards are shoot first and pass second is beyond me. I never said it but I know two RU recruits, who have some interest in Rutgers, but are concerned with the shoot first, make plays second attitude of the Rutgers guards and the offense they run, which is similar to the offense run by Villanova during Randy Foye's senior year. It is a major concern, and trust me I know this for a fact. Now this does not mean they will stop considering RU, it only means it is a concern. But we all know how it could play out.

From what I saw it seemed the upfront players are borderline robotic. Yes I am a JR Inman fan but he seems scared to death to take an open jump shot. He must have hesitated 3 times. It seemed the one with the green light was the big fella who seemed to have lots of confidence taking shots. It is my assessment, and call it what you care to. I feel JR Inman needs to be in that starting line-up. OK he was disciplined for something he did last season. However he still is the best front court player on the RU roster, at least on offensive. His treatment, playing and role wise, will make a few folks wonder what has happened. A 3 year starter now on the bench playing 18 minutes behind two bigs who are far from being good scorers, and an un-proved sophomore who really should be coming off the bench? What is this about?

Think that was controversial? Check this out! Greg E is a nice player who is far from explosive. BUT HE GETS THE JOB DONE. Almost like a college version of Wes Unseld. I see folks love him and think he is the answer. I hope so but I would be stunned if he ever has a 20 point game at RU. But I would bet he has a 20 rebound game or 2 or 3 or 4. He is 6 ft 7 or maybe a shade under 6 ft 8, but he does do dirty work that others are not doing. Question is can you have two non scorers in your line-up upfront? Because the Big fella also is not a scorer despite him having that career scoring game against Delaware. But I do feel Harmedy will be in the NBA one day and have always said this from the first time I saw him. They would be a great two headed center with occassional minutes together on the court.

The guards? How do you take Corey Chandler out of your starting line-up? Honestly? This will be the second freshmen starter who received all BE freshmen honors to have a worst sophomore year than folks anticipated under FHJ. I feel alot of it has to do with minutes he gets on the court. What did he do? Was Pettis that good in the pre season? And this is no knock on Pettis. Just curious how this happened. I understand Inman based on the suspension. But Chandler was the star in waiting.

Lets look at Rosario now. All I will say is he plays the game the correct way. He deserves his accolades and honors! Love his game and he is somewhat UN-SELFISH.

Farmer is Mr. Steady and will help much more than he will hurt. He does need to concentrate on just making plays and not as much on scoring. This brings me to who I feel should be the starters at Rutgers.

Harmedy N'dayesp / Greg E (Either one), JR Inman, Corey Chandler, Mike Rosario, and Anthony Farmer. The first big off the bench should be Greg Encheque or Harmedy (sp), and Pettis should follow. Coburn should spell Farmer and that would be a great rotation.

Playing wise. Kids still need to be less mechanical. I again think JR is scared to play lose. I agree with FHJ that JR took far too many jumpers last season but give me a break, he has to take an open shot to develop the confidence needed for the Big East Season.

I know folks will kill me but I am just not impressed with what I saw. Honest question? The way RU looked would it be a close game if they played last years version of St. Benedicts? When I watched a few other college teams on TV yesterday it was as if I was watching a different level. The athleticism, toughness, aggressive and hard play and more was displayed and the big guys got up and down the court.

In conclusion I will say the pre BE season can fool you and make you think a team and its players are better than they really are. The teams RU played thus far had very little up-front power. The loss to the Bonnies will hopefully be a wake-up call.

SHU Wins

Well Stix Mitchell plays and the outcome for the Hall is different. Yes he made a difference. Wonder what might have happened if they had him for the game against Memphis.

Xavier beats Virginia Tech by 1 point and than goes on to defeat a loaded Memphis team in the final. SHU beats Virginia Tech, who had lost to Xavier by 1 point. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Makes you wonder.

I honestly think this SHU team is very good and next season if not this season, we might see some magic in South Orange and Newark.

I know many people will say I am just a SHU Fan and that is such a sad thing. Because as I continue to say, I just really love college basketball. I am a fan who just happens to feel SHU is further along this season and even next season than all the other local teams.

Back to the big win. Great momentum heading into the next few games!