RJ Luis

Status
Not open for further replies.
Beast , you and a few others have presented a accurate assessment of RJ’s play , not only for the Season but , also the final game .
Panther too, has defended him as well against some of the ridiculous and nasty comments .

I like that you referred to the BET Final against Creighton. In particular . RJ had 2 points at the half . But , erupted in the 2nd half for 27!

How many players at any college , in any league were capable of that type points explosion ?
The answer is , none .

We all know and knew , RJ is a streaky player and has been all season . Quite able to erupt into a scoring machine at any time .

There were other factors that happened in the Arkansas game .

KR , the player who created much of our offense this season played 16 minutes out of 40 . Not only was he able to score himself but , was instrumental in getting the ball to Zuby , Scott , RJ and Wilcher .

With him being mostly a spectator , who was going to fill that role ? We had no one !

Smith ? He’s not KR , not even close . He played hard with his injury but , could not deliver the points , assists , rebounds that KR does .
And , that is why we lost against Arkansas .

Mention has been made over and over that RJ lost that game for us .

That’s BS !

Who was going to step up , with Wilcher and KR out of the game ? Zuby ? Yes , but he was well defended and not easy to get him the ball down low , where he thrived

Scott ? He was 1-10 with a injured thumb . He tried but , was not much of a contributor . Smith , great effort . But , critical mistakes at crunch time . Missed free throws and that pass he threw to the Arkansas player that was a turnover we never recovered from .

What happened here is that the players who got us to the BE Title , etc weren’t all available in this game for significant playing time .

And , what many complain about with him are his “ bull rushes “ to the basket .
What isn’t mentioned is that rushes often provided him with free throws and he’s a pretty good shooter from the line .

In fact , he was fouled on his last play , made the 2 free throws and the game was now 62-60.

And , that was that .

Good luck to this young man as he embarks on his next journey , Either in the NBA draft or , at another College .

Make no mistake , he will have many offers from some top tier schools with a lot of $$$ involved .

I’m not a Scout but , it’s amazing that a player like Carraban for example is rated higher as a NBA prospect than RJ ?

To me , RJ has much more game but , that’s only my opinion .
 
Beasts of the East said:
I guess you want the final word. I won't let you have it. You choose to criticize our very best player, ostensibly because we lost. Note thst he shot 4-18 in our blowout of Marquette in the Big East semis, and you were likely silent then. Note he had 2 points at halftime of the BET finals, before torching Creighton for 29 points. Yet you chose after the fact to single out one last play in a regular season loss in an 18-2 season (21-2 if you include the BET) as evidence that he continually disregards the coach.

You wrote this: Would any coach, let, alone a HOF coach, want a player who thinks he is smarter than his coach and can blithely disregard his coach's instructions and just do what he wants. That is what he did on at least two occasions this year...

It's a pretty dumb thing to say considering that there will be enough demand for Luis from coaches who would love to have him.

And yes, by saying you know that Luis thinks he is smarter than the coach is ridiculous. For the record, blithely means in a way that shows a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper. You may have been watching on TV and gotten a better look at his face than I did in attendance throughout. I saw a young man serious as heck, even if his play was at times imperfect.

You choose to be critical of our best player, in process indicting his entire body of work. I choose to support him while acknowledging his imperfections. I'm comfortable where I stand, high horse in your words, but in strong support of Luis as a person and player.
Click to expand...
Don’t let them bother you. When we lose a player, some people can’t help but knock them. I’m waiting for someone to post “addition by subtraction.”
 
Andrew said:
I hope he leaves the Big East, particularly Nova, Georgetown and of course UCONN. Those are the only schools who have that kind of money. UCONN scares me the most as they have some solid Freshman coming in and unfortunately a good coach.
Click to expand...
I hope he gets an NBA contract. That will make a BE POY and 2nd Team All American leaving more palatable. But I also take CRP at his word that Luis' time in college and at St. John's has run its course. Good luck RJ and thanks for a great year.
 
Have been critical of RJ at times w his forcing things, but clearly he was a better player this year and helped us win a lot of games, case closed. Why not appreciate the good and let any of his lapses go? His college suitors will. On to Hopkins.
 
Ralph318! said:
We would not hold 2.5 million dollars until May. Imagine what Coach could do with that money now.
I surmise that Coach, Mike R and Matt met with ROC and had a discussion and made an offer.
ROC probably said no, but hold that offer until the completion of the draft evaluation. Our team probably said no, and best of luck. Coach then said to RJ it’s now in your best interest to shoot for the NBA/G league or Europe. That’s your long game, and I’ll help you.
Just my thoughts.
Ps. If any NBA team watches the RJ isolation video from the Arkansas game they would pass on him. RJ will need to really show out and dominate the pre draft camp and then in the G league. And remember that the NBA prefers the 18-19 year olds, not the 22 year olds with an injury history and a bad tape.
Click to expand...
Reasonable scenario. But RJ commanding $2.5 million? Geesh. If he can get it, all the power to him.
 
"You know, some place in America right now, there's some 10-year-old kid. He's out there on that playground, and he's playing, he's dribbling between his legs, he's going left, he's going right, he's already above the rim, and he's stuffing it home. And you know what's going to happen to this kid? Five minutes from now he's gonna be surrounded by ya. Agents, corporate sponsors, and coaches, I mean, people like me just drooling over this kid because he holds our future employment in his hands. I mean, that's what we made this game. That's what we've done."

Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) in Blue Chips
 
ctstorm said:
"You know, some place in America right now, there's some 10-year-old kid. He's out there on that playground, and he's playing, he's dribbling between his legs, he's going left, he's going right, he's already above the rim, and he's stuffing it home. And you know what's going to happen to this kid? Five minutes from now he's gonna be surrounded by ya. Agents, corporate sponsors, and coaches, I mean, people like me just drooling over this kid because he holds our future employment in his hands. I mean, that's what we made this game. That's what we've done."

Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) in Blue Chips
Click to expand...
I just re-watched this movie last month for the first time in years. It’s just as relevant now as it was when it came out. Always loved the scene when Coach Bell confronts Tony in the dorms about the point shaving incident 😢
 
stjohnschris said:
we need some guardrails...maybe a salary cap and a 2 year minimum contract.
Click to expand...
JohnnyFan said:
I think two year contracts might be the way to go. While I like the idea of a salary cap for parity, it will only prompt a return to cheating.

Nothing will be perfect, but the wild west era is unsustainable.
Click to expand...
The NCAA clearly needs to do SOMETHING. It’s getting out of control and quick. Are freshman even gonna get scholarships anymore?
 
Matt and Coach on the phone yesterday! Let's all move on. RJ was a great player and accomplished so much in his short time at SJU. Hopefully if he gets his degree, we can welcome RJ into our Athletic Hall of Fame. He impacted so many fans this year, young and old with his play and great personality! I wish him the best wherever he decides to resume his career! Screenshot_20250329-124419.jpg
 
Last edited:
After a good night’s sleep, I have put Luis in rear view mirror and retract any and all negative comments. He comes from a great family and seems like a nice young man. He is inexperienced and just beginning his career. And he is entitled to make his own way. I thank him for his hard work and incredible achievements and wish him well.God speed Luis.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top