Rui vs Baylor

[Therunner]

One has to have hope he will respond differently next week, yet a realist may ask, "what if he isn't built for this type of moment or stage?"

We already know we are playing one incredible opponent next week, potentially two. 2 teams in 3 days who are Top-10, physical, tough, no mercy on the court.

Can we expect Rui to show up and fight? Mettle, toughness, grit, and heart? Florida St is an uphill battle for 40 mins, what about Michigan and Texas Tech, ranked #1 and #2 defensively in the country.

Nothing will be easy. Rui has become used to easy. Getting his way.

He won't be allowed anything easy, he must impose his will. This either comes within or doesn't come at all.

[SunDevilGolfZag]

Turning on an All-American after a victory into the sweet 16 just because he didn’t have his typical game. Fair weather “fandom.” Really???

[Zagricultural]

You guys are ridiculous. Do your ankles get sore from jumping on and off of the bandwagon so much?

Everyone has off nights EVERYONE... Even the best players in the world.

Give the guy a break, he is our team MVP and our best player when he is on.

No. I've always said Brandon is our best player.

Rui's still learning to turn on beast mode consistently. It's always about aggression with him. His D was awful tonight.

[billyberu]

Rui picked up his 2nd foul with 5 and a half minutes left in the first half and only played 23 minutes total. Watching the tape it is apparent that Baylor was giving him a lot of attention off the ball to my eye. The refs calls were out of sync with what was actually happening out on the court. Mark Few managed his usage of Rui because of this and the fact that Brandon Clarke was off the hook today.

I see a lot of pearl clutching amongst our regulars.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[BayAreaZagFan]

Rui will probably come back next game. Norvell too. There's too much worrying going on - just enjoy it, for God's sake. If you knew in advance he would have such a bad game tonight, you would have expected a blowout loss. There's too many weapons on this team to stress over one or two players having an off night.

[jazzdelmar]

Toward the end of the post game press conference, available elsewhere on the men's board Few was asked the exact question regarding, "What happened to Rui?' His answer,"Look Baylor is a physical tough team, the are like a football team, they bodied up on him some and he didn't finish the first couple and that just kind of got in his head and it kind of snowballed on him. Look he hasn't had a bad game all year so it just really wasn't his night, that happens, look we have BC, Tillie, Kispert and some other guys. That's what makes this team so special!

Few was dissembling a bit. Rui’s Backed away from physical bigs a lot. And if he thinks Baylor was football what will he make of Florida state?

[jazzdelmar]

Elgin is a HOF player he did it with skill and grace ….Rui is not in Baylor's league ...

Rui and Elg? That’s code red delusional

[NEC26]

Few was dissembling a bit. Rui’s Backed away from physical bigs a lot. And if he thinks Baylor was football what will he make of Florida state?

FSU is long and athletic. They aren't short (in basketball terms) and thick like Baylor. Baylor is built more like a football team especially Vital.

[johno]

In the pregame presser Few said in so many words that the demands on Rui from the Japanese press are huge as he is the great hope for Japanese basketball, the Olympics, and the future. How are they managing access? Perhaps just leave him alone with his teammates going forward. Just let the young man play basketball.

[thespywhozaggedme]

Rui and Elg? That’s code red delusional

his pun went over your head. Look at the thread title again

[jazzdelmar]

I know. Duh on me. Long unpleasant night. Just contemplating FSU is nauseating. THE worst pre F4 matchup possible for Zags.

his pun went over your head. Look at the thread title again

[demian]

I know. Duh on me. Long unpleasant night. Just contemplating FSU is nauseating. THE worst pre F4 matchup possible for Zags.

I hear ya Jazz. I didn’t not like the matchup either but we need FSU. I love listening to kispert say postgame “FSU is gonna demand our best and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We draw them two years in a row in sweet 16 and that is what we want.” It gave me confidence I did not have until I heard him and saw his body language as he spoke. GU vs FSU round 2 is gonna be Duke vs UNLV round 2 circa 1991

[Zagricultural]

I know. Duh on me. Long unpleasant night. Just contemplating FSU is nauseating. THE worst pre F4 matchup possible for Zags.

Yes. I'm not looking forward to Thursday, but if we advance I'll be so excited. Cannot stand Hamilton and FSU.

[gueastcoast]

As Dixie pointed out earlier in the thread Rui played well against Duke, and IIRC it was after that when he said he is/we are the best in the country. That's not really a deferential Japanese-style comment.

Rui is capable of doing what he needs to do against FSU, he just needs to pull out of whatever he's in currently. I trust the staff to address whatever is going on.

[Zagger]

Two players on this team are not playing well on offense or defense and its hurting us. Rui and Norvel.

Did we lose?

IMHO the Zags are 9 deep. What’re the chances all 9 are all on in the same game? And, how often could that be in back to back games?

Kudos to Clarke & Kispert .... and that fun 3 by Crandall.

Bring on FSU please Go Zags!