Rutgers Exhibition

MugCostanza said:
Will also add that there was a big difference in demeanor, body language, and responding to coaching from this group than the past 5-8 years. Everybody was engaged with each other, with the coaching and everything. Obviously just an anecdotal view in a very short amount of time, but encouraging sign to me nonetheless.
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Ejoyce on his BigRed Ed postgame wrap up call told me Rutgers was getting chippy at the end and Soriano quickly jumped in to defend one of our guys. Anyone else notice this at the end ?
 
ghostzapper said:
Once Rutgers made their run and the game became close Pitino shut down the substitutions and played his most experienced players: (Soriano, Jenkins, Alleyne, Ledlum and Taylor Jr.) down the stretch and throughout double overtime. The tying three pointer at the end of the first OT by Alleyne changed the narrative and a disappointing loss turned into a thrilling double overtime win. I thought many of the players had some moments and was especially pleased to see Drissa's contributing so much. He really had a very good all around game.

Jenkins executed four really beautiful alley-oop dunk plays to Soriano. It definitely appears to me that Jenkins is our main Point Guard and Pitino will rely heavily on him to be the team's QB. Hopefully Dingle will be able to play the point too, so that they will have a way to go when Jenkins is out. I also imagine Wilcher will play the point at times too and should grow into that role with some more experience.

I was very impressed with Taylor Jr.'s all around game and it will be interesting to see if Luis will take some of his minutes when he comes back or if they find a way for them to play together. Alleyne can defend really well and is not shy about putting up shots. Joel looks much more svelte and played his best ball during OT. Ledlum seems to have a high basketball IQ and will be a contributor. Joel had a double double, and additionally Taylor Jr. and Ledlum missed getting one by a single rebound and Jenkins missed it by just a single assist.

All in all the crowd energy and size was very high for this time of the year and I imagine empty arenas for SJU games will be few and far between going forward.
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Good recap. I actually think Dingle has the best handle on the team. He doesn’t have the same experience running the show as Jenkins, though. So they are going to need to lean on each other against heavy backcourt pressure.

Maybe Ledlum can help out against token man pressure. I haven’t seen that aspect of his game at all yet, but I’d imagine he is more skilled than 90% of college 4’s.
 
mjmaherjr said:
Ejoyce on his BigRed Ed postgame wrap up call told me Rutgers was getting chippy at the end and Soriano quickly jumped in to defend one of our guys. Anyone else notice this at the end ?
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Yeah somebody swiped at Daniss as he was dribbling out the clock, led to words and a little “scrum” at center court but fortunately the coaches and everybody else were able to break it up before anything really happened
 
mjmaherjr said:
Ejoyce on his BigRed Ed postgame wrap up call told me Rutgers was getting chippy at the end and Soriano quickly jumped in to defend one of our guys. Anyone else notice this at the end ?
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Yes, I think Jenkins (not sure) was dribbling out the clock at the end and there was some hacking by the RU player which turned into barking back and forth as the clock ran out. Players from both benches met at half court but the coaches and referees intervened. Soriano did have to be held back and the usual post game handshakes were not taken. Pitino did stay and shake hands with Rutgers.
 
Love how some of the posters wanted a bigger crowd or a blowout win. etc.... first is an exhibition at 2pm on a Saturday and it full except the very top sections. The crowd was into every play almost every second. You can tell players were well coached and wasn't playing junk ball like we are used to. Can't wait to read these boards after our first loss . But Today fun game to watch our guys won a game when last year we would have lost easily. What stood out for me was the coaching . No player playing hero ball junk ball. Good times are ahead for us.
 
ZanMan said:
Also, I love...LOVE how Coach was involved in every possession and how he was in some of the players faces when it was needed. Looking forward to this season.
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amazing to see our HC engaged and using a clipboard himself to draw up plays!
 
Andrew said:
Cliff O on Rutgers is a very athletic big man. Soriano did ok considering. He won't see that many tougher defenders this season though the Big East has a few. Soriano won't carry you to the NCAA tournament but certainly won't hold you back.
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Again, gotta look at that on the grand scheme. One of the articles also said that Cliff O won the big man battle. If a guy like Cliff O goes for 16 and 9, and his opponent goes for 12/16, I’m not sure that’s a clear win considering your opponent grabbed 7 more boards than you.

I’d also say that this was Soriano’s first game of the season and likely not his best, against a very good overall big man in Cliff O, and he continued to put up a massive rebounding double-double. He was close to leading the nation in double-doubles last year as well. That’s exactly the type of guy that can carry you to the ncaa tournament considering he’s an automatic double-digit scorers every game and a top 4 rebounder in the country.

Any time we can lament about Soriano’s “bad” 12/16 game, need to look at it with some perspective. Could he have had 20? Sure. Gimme 12/16 every time from my big guy.
 
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MugCostanza said:
Yeah somebody swiped at Daniss as he was dribbling out the clock, led to words and a little “scrum” at center court but fortunately the coaches and everybody else were able to break it up before anything really happened
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I think Rutgers was expecting us to run out the clock with 25 seconds left, up by 9. Instead, Jenkins threw the downcourt pass to Soriano for the jam.
 
I had to go to Mass and a Octoberfest. I just got back and read this board. I love the banter and I'm seeing a very different type of fan base here than in the past years. One other thing, if any of our recent past coaches were in charge, this would have been a loss. These guys pulled it together for CRP.
 
MCNPA said:
Again, gotta look at that on the grand scheme. One of the articles also said that Cliff O won the big man battle. If a guy like Cliff O goes for 16 and 9, and his opponent goes for 12/16, I’m not sure that’s a clear win considering your opponent grabbed 7 more boards than you.

I’d also say that this was Soriano’s first game of the season and likely not his best, against a very good overall big man in Cliff O, and he continued to put up a massive rebounding double-double. He was close to leading the nation in double-doubles last year as well. That’s exactly the type of guy that can carry you to the ncaa tournament considering he’s an automatic double-digit scorers every game and a top 4 rebounder in the country.

Any time we can lament about Soriano’s “bad” 12/16 game, need to look at it with some perspective. Could he have had 20? Sure. Gimme 12/16 every time from my big guy.
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Fair enough. Not at all intending to discredit Soriano. His stats are impressive.
 
NCJohnnie said:
Didn't get to see any of the game, but looking at stats (only) two things stand out - Taylor is going to be a huge asset to this team and fan base is way too tough on Joel. Hope Dingle injury is minor.
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Only other thing I'd add is FT shooting very disappointing given expectations. No excuse for that, one of my pet peeves for Johnnie teams.
 
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