The Rutgers Men’s Basketball season is almost upon us as the Scarlet Knights are set to tip off against Rider on Wednesday, November 5th, at 6 pm in their home opener.
Rider competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, a mid-major basketball conference, where they finished 14-19 last year with a 9-11 conference record.
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The Broncs’ highest returning producer from last season is Guard Zion Cruz, who averaged 10.1 points per game in 30 games. His two best performances of last season came in a 23-point effort against Merrimack and Canisius.
One transfer to look out for on the Broncs’ roster is senior forward Shemani Fuller, who joins the Broncs after two seasons at DII Clark Atlanta. He played one season for Western Michigan before joining Clark Atlanta. He averaged 12 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game last season.
There are several things that Rutgers fans should look out for during this game. The first one is who is on the court for the tip-off. There has been considerable ambiguity this offseason over who will be in the starting lineup, and that should provide valuable insight into who the coaching staff expects to start for the remainder of the season.
The next thing fans should look out for is how well the team gels on defense. This is a team that will be led by its defensive efforts, which is more in line with head coach Steve Pikiell’s usual philosophy. Last year’s defense was erratic and uncoordinated at times, which should not continue here.
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One final thing that should be looked for is how efficiently the offensive scheme is run. This team might not be the most talented offensively, but it remains to be seen how well the offense will be run with a new starting point guard this year. They might be able to make up for some of their overall talent woes by running an efficient and effective offensive scheme.
