Rutgers 2025

[jrn19]

Rutgers was 37-23 from 2016-2019 and 9-11 in Big Ten play recruiting at largely the same level they are now. They didn't get in the tournament in those years but as discussed there was a degree of tough luck in there; Hartford doesn't win the America East in 2016 and Marquette doesn't win the Big East Tournament in 2017 and they likely get in both years. Have a decent shot at winning a game. With the transfer portal the way it is now available then to add a couple of players here and there to bolster the roster - the Kirst brothers; a Brian Cameron, Bartolo - I don't think it's out of the question at all they could have had success they had last few years. Brecht did a great job identifying a way to improve his roster and then did a great job assimilatng them into the program and made the most of it.

However, this year was clearly diminishing returns with it and that'll be the case long term. You didn't get Colin and Connor Kirst from Portal 2.0 like you did with 1.0 and didn't get a Bartolo and Jacoby from 3.0 like you did with 2.0. Like HF16 said, if the goal is to take 5-6 guys every year, the way they've been doing, I don't see it panning out.

I do think they continue to be a Top 20 program the way they were before and sprinkle in some more talent at need spots as I wrote above. I think the difficulty is Hopkins appears to be on an upward trajectory as opposed to downward unlike 2016-2019, Penn State is continuing to recruit at a really high level, and you also now have Michigan starting to break through and get results in B1G play (albeit haven't beat Rutgers yet) and they are recruiting better HS talent than Rutgers. That Top 3 in the B1G could be fortified and the 4th spot with Michigan could be tough to battle it out with for, where as back in pre-COVID, you knew you were never dropping lower than 5th.

however, I do think they're in a way better spot than Ohio State, so maybe that's still the case.

The recruiting of HS athletes has never been better under Coach Brecht. The staff has never been more excited with what they have coming in. He's playing the portal game just like everyone else who can play it is.

Once the portal game ends, it ends for everyone. I get Rutgers has had a lot of success with it which for some odd reason draws ire to Rutgers specifically for some strange reason. Coach Brecht should be commended for that. Around the program he most certainly is. He saw the opportunity before anyone else and took advantage of it. You want a coach who is able to do that.

If your recruiting of HS players has never been better, then I wouldn't expect to see them taking significant # of transfers the way Ohio State did and UNC did and Jacksonville did. Jacksonville doesn't recruit at that level. Ohio State's recruiting has fell off. UNC does but they develop their talent poorly clearly because no one is stepping up. Syracuse's recruiting fell off markedly, that's why they took so many guys.

If the high school talent is there, you only need 1 or maybe 2 impact additions. You don't take 5 guys

[MoralTerpitude]

Hiring a more innovative OC would help alot. They just don’t seem to have an identity on offense.

They had reasonable talent this year, but lack of depth also hurt - losing Cameron for 3.5 games significantly hurt them.

[10stone5]

Isn’t it a little early to call for the OC’s head ?

[MoralTerpitude]

Isn’t it a little early to call for the OC’s head ?

It’s not like this is his second or third year. Do you disagree that their offense is pretty predictable and static?

[10stone5]

Isn’t it a little early to call for the OC’s head ?

It’s not like this is his second or third year. Do you disagree that their offense is pretty predictable and static?

Yes
he won OC of the year last year and came up with the Nascar offense which got them to the Final Four.
Too soon to call for the OCs head.

[MoralTerpitude]

Isn’t it a little early to call for the OC’s head ?

It’s not like this is his second or third year. Do you disagree that their offense is pretty predictable and static?

Yes
he won OC of the year last year and came up with the Nascar offense which got them to the Final Four.
Too soon to call for the OCs head.

They don’t score nearly as much from the Nascar offense, primarily because their B1G brethren have adjusted to it. Teams get back on defense and force Rutgers to play 6 on 6. It’s tough to consistently win relying heavily on transition offense.

It’s funny, because there is a parallel with Gary Williams’ first few Terps basketball teams in the early nineties. They pressed full court and ran transition alot, because he was rebuilding the program, and didn’t have top-tier ACC talent. Once the talent level rose in the mid-90’s, his teams moved away from that frenetic style. Perhaps Brecht and Seremet should be thinking along the same lines.

[Wheels]

They don't run because they don't have the depth to run. They basically played 3 shorties for entire games. Can't run when you don't have 4 good shorties. I don't know what happened to Kulas or Teresky, but I thought those two would take bigger steps. Kulas looks like he hit the freshman wall (yeah, I know he was a sophomore but he didn't a ton last year).

[jrn19]

Seremet is a good coach. I don't think he's the problem. But the "NASCAR offense" isn't why. When was the last time they ran like that in transition? 2 years ago? And that was the first time they did it since like 2017 or so.

The problem they had is their best player, Scott, has no ability to beat B1G #1 defenseman and the rest of their offensive players aside from Knobloch behind him are all basically shooters/off ball guys or not good enough to win matchups. If the guy you rely on to be the initiator and dodger can't win matchups in a lineup with 2 dodgers...you're not going to have success. He needs to either take the next step or they find to find someone else who can take the load off of him and allow him to be more of a #2 and maybe run through box some or face #2/#3 poles

[MoralTerpitude]

Cameron, when healthy, can win matchups. The Terps were having a tough time with him at Rutgers, before he got hurt. The guy is a load.

It could be argued that Rutger’s top six have more dodging ability than the Terps top 6. Aside from Erksa, what Terp would you take over Cameron, Knobloch, and Scott in terms of dodging and finishing ability?

But the Terps’ offensive system is much more complex and harder to defend. It obviates the need for pure dodging ability.

[jrn19]

Maryland and Rutgers basically have the same offensive production this year. Their offensive efficiency going into the game in Piscataway was identical. Maryland’s offense has had long stretches of rudderless play all year because of precisely the same reason; no dodging threats.

Maryland had more success against Rutgers offensively, and it’s not like they had a crazy amount of it, because Wierman won a bunch of FOs and Rutgers defense played worse than Maryland’s D did.

[MoralTerpitude]

Maryland has steadily trended upward as their younger players have learned and practiced the offense. This is clear from their increasing shooting percentage in the latter part of the year (over 40% yesterday!), which I pointed out in the Maryland thread. Their off-ball movement and passing has grown in leaps and bounds. I haven’t done an analysis of their assist rate on goals scored, but I’d bet it has gone up as well.

In this case the season-long stats simply don’t tell the story, and Rutgers doesn’t have anything close to Maryland’s offensive system - they are pretty close to polar opposites.

[PulpExposure]

Maryland has steadily trended upward as their younger players have learned and practiced the offense. This is clear from their increasing shooting percentage in the latter part of the year (over 40% yesterday!), which I pointed out in the Maryland thread. Their off-ball movement and passing has grown in leaps and bounds. I haven’t done an analysis of their assist rate on goals scored, but I’d bet it has gone up as well.

In this case the season-long stats simply don’t tell the story, and Rutgers doesn’t have anything close to Maryland’s offensive system - they are pretty close to polar opposites.

And Maryland played a tougher schedule (4th SOS vs 10th). And 45% of Rutgers goals this year (78 goals) came in only 3 games against Marist, St John’s and Utah…skewing the stats immensely. In no game this year did Marylands offense score more than 16, let alone 18 or 20.

[jrn19]

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency literally adjusts for...competition.

Maryland is 27th. Rutgers is 37th. MD 31.2%, Rutgers 29.8%. MD's is better but not significantly so.

[Njlaxx11]

Never viewed Cameron as a guy that wins on a dodge. Always looked at him as a finisher. When Scott got shut down the offense did nothing. Need more that can create.

[PulpExposure]

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency literally adjusts for...competition.

Maryland is 27th. Rutgers is 37th. MD 31.2%, Rutgers 29.8%. MD's is better but not significantly so.

No, that's a significant difference (27th to 37th) - that's about 15% different. But more to the point, to MoralTerp's point, Maryland does not (now) have players the caliber of Scott or Knoblauch on the team. Maryland doesn't have the dodgers, but they create opportunities based on scheme. Rutgers shouldn't be behind Maryland, but watching their offense this year, they're so predicated on individuals beating their defenders. There seems to be little work to scheme a guy open - the most they seem to do is a big little. It's basic as hell. And in high level lacrosse, unless you have a team that can get away with a basic scheme by having overwhelming talent, by and large that will not beat good defenses.

I live in NJ. I'd like Rutgers to be a great team. But the offense is by design...simple. It's not really all that different from what I see in the high schools around here.

[jrn19]

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency literally adjusts for...competition.

Maryland is 27th. Rutgers is 37th. MD 31.2%, Rutgers 29.8%. MD's is better but not significantly so.

No, that's a significant difference (27th to 37th) - that's about 15% different. But more to the point, to MoralTerp's point, Maryland does not (now) have players the caliber of Scott or Knoblauch on the team. Maryland doesn't have the dodgers, but they create opportunities based on scheme. Rutgers shouldn't be behind Maryland, but watching their offense this year, they're so predicated on individuals beating their defenders. There seems to be little work to scheme a guy open - the most they seem to do is a big little. It's basic as hell. And in high level lacrosse, unless you have a team that can get away with a basic scheme by having overwhelming talent, by and large that will not beat good defenses.

I live in NJ. I'd like Rutgers to be a great team. But the offense is by design...simple. It's not really all that different from what I see in the high schools around here.

Scott scored 3 goals in Big Ten play. 3. Maybe he's just not that good?

Also, it's not 15% different. They're 1% different in offensive efficiency. Maryland is 31%. Rutgers is 30%. That's the difference.

[Henpecked]

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency literally adjusts for...competition.

Maryland is 27th. Rutgers is 37th. MD 31.2%, Rutgers 29.8%. MD's is better but not significantly so.

No, that's a significant difference (27th to 37th) - that's about 15% different. But more to the point, to MoralTerp's point, Maryland does not (now) have players the caliber of Scott or Knoblauch on the team. Maryland doesn't have the dodgers, but they create opportunities based on scheme. Rutgers shouldn't be behind Maryland, but watching their offense this year, they're so predicated on individuals beating their defenders. There seems to be little work to scheme a guy open - the most they seem to do is a big little. It's basic as hell. And in high level lacrosse, unless you have a team that can get away with a basic scheme by having overwhelming talent, by and large that will not beat good defenses.

I live in NJ. I'd like Rutgers to be a great team. But the offense is by design...simple. It's not really all that different from what I see in the high schools around here.

Scott scored 3 goals in Big Ten play. 3. Maybe he's just not that good?

Also, it's not 15% different. They're 1% different in offensive efficiency. Maryland is 31%. Rutgers is 30%. That's the difference.

That is a surprising stat for Scott to have only scored 3 goals in Big10 play. I looked it up and saw that he was 3-35 shooting in the Big10 (8.5% shooting). Last year he had 14 goals on 45 shots (31%) in the Big10.

I have always seen him as an efficient inside finisher. Admittedly, I didn't see every Big10 game that he played, but that is a pretty significant drop off.

[PulpExposure]

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency literally adjusts for...competition.

Maryland is 27th. Rutgers is 37th. MD 31.2%, Rutgers 29.8%. MD's is better but not significantly so.

No, that's a significant difference (27th to 37th) - that's about 15% different. But more to the point, to MoralTerp's point, Maryland does not (now) have players the caliber of Scott or Knoblauch on the team. Maryland doesn't have the dodgers, but they create opportunities based on scheme. Rutgers shouldn't be behind Maryland, but watching their offense this year, they're so predicated on individuals beating their defenders. There seems to be little work to scheme a guy open - the most they seem to do is a big little. It's basic as hell. And in high level lacrosse, unless you have a team that can get away with a basic scheme by having overwhelming talent, by and large that will not beat good defenses.

I live in NJ. I'd like Rutgers to be a great team. But the offense is by design...simple. It's not really all that different from what I see in the high schools around here.

Scott scored 3 goals in Big Ten play. 3. Maybe he's just not that good?

Also, it's not 15% different. They're 1% different in offensive efficiency. Maryland is 31%. Rutgers is 30%. That's the difference.

I was talking difference in place. And didn’t know Ross had such a bad year. That’s shocking.

[Farfromgeneva]

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency literally adjusts for...competition.

Maryland is 27th. Rutgers is 37th. MD 31.2%, Rutgers 29.8%. MD's is better but not significantly so.

No, that's a significant difference (27th to 37th) - that's about 15% different. But more to the point, to MoralTerp's point, Maryland does not (now) have players the caliber of Scott or Knoblauch on the team. Maryland doesn't have the dodgers, but they create opportunities based on scheme. Rutgers shouldn't be behind Maryland, but watching their offense this year, they're so predicated on individuals beating their defenders. There seems to be little work to scheme a guy open - the most they seem to do is a big little. It's basic as hell. And in high level lacrosse, unless you have a team that can get away with a basic scheme by having overwhelming talent, by and large that will not beat good defenses.

I live in NJ. I'd like Rutgers to be a great team. But the offense is by design...simple. It's not really all that different from what I see in the high schools around here.

Scott scored 3 goals in Big Ten play. 3. Maybe he's just not that good?

Also, it's not 15% different. They're 1% different in offensive efficiency. Maryland is 31%. Rutgers is 30%. That's the difference.

I was talking difference in place. And didn’t know Ross had such a bad year. That’s shocking.

I think the bigger issue is if 15 places separate two teams that are less than 100bps apart in raw score then I think it doesn’t tell you much as a datapoint if 1/5 of the teams can fall in such a range. Would only tell you much of value on the wings or outliers.

[livelovelax]

Rutgers beat four teams that won their conference tournament, Michigan, Utah, Princeton and Marist. And only lost to Army by one with two starters out.

NCAA Tournament needs to expand to 24.