+/- for the Rutgers malfunction

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Player	Mins	NU Pts	RUT Pts	Raw +/-	Player Adjust	Net +/-
Beran	34	55	54	+1	+4.4	+5.4
Roper	20	30	31	-1	+4.3	+3.3
Nicholson	30	52	47	+5	-2.4	+2.6
Audige	37	60	62	-2	+1.0	-1.0
Barnhizer	7	7	14	-7	+2.3	-4.7
Verhoeven	10	10	16	-6	+0.6	-5.4
Berry	24	34	39	-5	-1.1	-6.1
Buie	39	62	62	0	-9.0	-9.0

The game really broke down into three parts.
The starters (Nicholson, Beran, Berry, Audige, Buie) managed a 30-28 advantage over 18 minutes.
Collins went with Roper instead of Berry for the final 6:23, without substituting. NU won that segment 16-11 and that lineup was 20-16 for the game (only 2 other short segments in the first half).
When Verhoeven played, NU got beat 16-10 in 10 minutes of action. Most of Barnhizer's 7 minutes were in relief of Beran, with Verhoeven as the center.
Verhoeven played primarily against Dean Reiber, who is not nearly as good as Cliff Omoruyi.
A key moment in the game occurred at the 11:16 mark when, with Verhoeven against Reiber for about 5 minutes, NU had cut the deficit to 42-39.
Coach Pikiell brought Omoruyi back into the game. Coach Collins did not bring Nicholson back to counter, sticking with Verhoeven.
Rutgers went on a 5-0 spurt and Collins called timeout with 9:03 to go, Rutgers up 47-39.
Collins brought Nicholson back in and NU caught fire, outscoring Rutgers 23-11 over the next 7:50, seizing a 62-58 lead with 1:14 to go.
We let the game get away from that point. But the decision to play Verhoeven against Omoruyi was a costly mistake.

Personally, I would have liked to see Nicholson, Beran and Barnhizer get some gametime together with Buie and Audige, but that lineup did not play at all.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Losing Hunger sucks because it’s valuable development time for him. He could probably log some time as MN’s backup and not be the offensive black hole that the Dutchman is.

I hope the Portal can yield a decent backup center for next year and Hunger can take Beran’s role.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Losing Hunger sucks because it’s valuable development time for him. He could probably log some time as MN’s backup and not be the offensive black hole that the Dutchman is.

I hope the Portal can yield a decent backup center for next year and Hunger can take Beran’s role.

I agree, but I was also hoping Hunger could step in as Beran's backup.
This would have given us more "go big" options, with Barnhizer getting more minutes at the 3 and Beran playing the 4.
Those possibilities depend(ed) on Hunger's progress defensively.
His shooting stroke looked like he could score from 15 feet reliably.

But, as Gato has pointed out, it is unclear if Collins is willing to give Barnhizer minutes at the 3 instead of Roper or Berry and he (Collins) seems very uncomfortable sitting Buie or Audige for more than 5-6 minutes a game.

 

[GatoLouco]

I agree, but I was also hoping Hunger could step in as Beran's backup.
This would have given us more "go big" options, with Barnhizer getting more minutes at the 3 and Beran playing the 4.
Those possibilities depend(ed) on Hunger's progress defensively.
His shooting stroke looked like he could score from 15 feet reliably.

But, as Gato has pointed out, it is unclear if Collins is willing to give Barnhizer minutes at the 3 instead of Roper or Berry and he (Collins) seems very uncomfortable sitting Buie or Audige for more than 5-6 minutes a game.

Some thoughts:

1-I think CC believes in Roper. A lot. I say this based on the fact he got a spot in the starting 5 last season. When CC is not known for changing things up. I believe there's a good chance Roper was always going to be a starter this season. But he got injured and Berry showed a lot of improvement. But the belief in Roper over Berry might still be there. A bit like the unshakable belief in Beran last season.

2-Barnhizer is a bit more of a puzzle to me as to why he only seems to be used at 4. To rest Beran, or to play with Beran down the stretch if we are up and want Nicholson benched for FT purposes. He is a dawg, he can be disruptive. And he can surely play 3, he can even play 1, as he did last season in the 2nd half against IA (I understand that game was long over at that time).

3-I understand that Hunger might be (have been for the season) a bit slow to guard some 4's. I honestly can't even be remotely confident on that one as we saw so little of him. But I also believed Hunger could replace Beran in some occasions. Problem is CC sticks a lot to a pre-defined rotation in the 1st half. We rarely see deviations from it. Other teams can pretty much rely and plan for it, adjust lineups that can hurt us on the waves of rotation in the first half. And Hunger would make more sense on, to allow Beran to rest, when the 4 on the other side does not put the ball on the floor. It would have been great for Hunger to get minutes, would bode well for next season and beyond.

4-The lack of a clear backup to Beran also, in my mind, makes him the player we would suffer the most if he got inured. Nothing to do with being best of more important player. But we'd be murdered on defense if he got injured. One thing is to have Barnhizer come in and serve as a patch. Another is having him, or I guess Martinelli, playing all the minutes at 4. After you've been there all night long being banged by guys bigger and stronger than you, at some point, you're not getting rebounds, you are easily in foul trouble, etc.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I agree, but I was also hoping Hunger could step in as Beran's backup.
This would have given us more "go big" options, with Barnhizer getting more minutes at the 3 and Beran playing the 4.
Those possibilities depend(ed) on Hunger's progress defensively.
His shooting stroke looked like he could score from 15 feet reliably.

But, as Gato has pointed out, it is unclear if Collins is willing to give Barnhizer minutes at the 3 instead of Roper or Berry and he (Collins) seems very uncomfortable sitting Buie or Audige for more than 5-6 minutes a game.

I guess he won't have that problem next season, one way or another.