All of the posts are right on the money. St. John's is not a big time team. We always come up small when we should be making a big statement. Even the TV announcers said several times during the game that this was an important game for our resume. It just boggles my mind that the three players who played so well against Baylor, Sellers, Mitchell and Hopkins ALL were terrible against Auburn. This is setting up to be a long season.
Auburn, Wed., Nov. 26, 8:00p, TruTV / 880 AM
- Thread starter espken
- Start date
We didn’t need anyone to completely transform or prove they could compete at this level. We needed Kadary to be the player he had been for four years. We needed Smith and Scott to be who they were the year prior.
If Sanon and Jackson play like they did last year and Darling doesn’t prove he belongs, we are a bubble team at best.
We are 1-4 against high majors this year and we haven’t played a road game.
I’ll never understand how any high major goes into a season without at least a Malik Boothe on the roster.
I do think Jackson figures it out. I think Darling will be fine for 15-20 minutes too. Sanon remains a complete enigma to me. I just don’t understand how he fits on this roster.
Pettiford scored 27 against Darling? Darling hardly played.
St. John’s outdueled in second half as Auburn topples Johnnies in Players Era finale
Rick Pitino looks on as St. John’s was unable to sustain its defensive momentum in loss to Auburn Wednesday. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)...dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com
At one point in the second half during a timeout the camera quickly showed him holding his knee/leg and it looked like he was in a bit of pain. He then came into the game was blown by and again reached down to his leg, limping a bit and was subbed out.
Maybe Rick needs to buy-in to these guys, though. They don't look capable of playing man-to-man D effectively. It's not that they're not doing it. It looks like they can't do it.
2 types of defensive philosophies that I can't stand:
1. The coach who will never play Man-to-Man
and:
2. The coach who will never play zone.
Rick falls too much into the latter camp. If he's going to be that stubborn about it, then go out and do what McDermott does (I know they're struggling so far, this year) or what Beilein used to do, and find the players who best fit the system. Rick is taking the best players, and telling them to forget everything they've learned, so that they can play the game his way. It doesn't work.
Defense was awful, too many dumb turnovers, Hopkins and Sellers shot 3/18 (1/10 from three) and team had 10-15 missed layups equals a loss
Bookmark this post.
SJUWillRockNYC
Well-known member
Yeah, Rick went to the F4 at every major school that he ever coached, but unless he recruits better, he's never getting there at SJU.
This team has the talent to overpower and steamroll a lot of opponents. And, it will happen. However, there are some fundamental differences between last year and this year.
1. Last year we had 2 quality starting PG's. This year we have a solid backup PG.
2. Last year we had 2 closers. This year we either don't have one or someone hasn't stepped up into the role.
3. Last year we had a team that played elite defense. This year we play good to very good defense in spurts. We also have spurts where it looks like AAU level defense.
what does this mean? We will get our wins. We will bully bad and mediocre teams. We may even bully a few good teams. But, we are not going to win a good share of close games against good teams and may get it handed to us by a great team once or twice without a significant improvement in defense, boxing out and decision making on offense. I know most will agree with the first two, but the third one may raise an eyebrow. My philosophy is that a bad shot is almost as bad as a live ball turnover. It often leads to runouts the other way and can deflate defensive intensity as well as lead to more bad shots. We need to figure out what shots are great shots, what shots are good shots and what shots are bad shots. Time and score also factors into that. It may not be terrible to hoist one up when you are rolling, but it can be a killer to settle when the other team is on a 8-0 or 12-2 run. Last year's team figured it out (maybe due to having 2 PG's). This year has yet to do so. There are two ways to stop runs. 1. Get a stop. 2. have good offensive possession and get a high quality shot. Since option 1 doesn't seem imminent, then we better get damn good at option 2.
1. Last year we had 2 quality starting PG's. This year we have a solid backup PG.
2. Last year we had 2 closers. This year we either don't have one or someone hasn't stepped up into the role.
3. Last year we had a team that played elite defense. This year we play good to very good defense in spurts. We also have spurts where it looks like AAU level defense.
what does this mean? We will get our wins. We will bully bad and mediocre teams. We may even bully a few good teams. But, we are not going to win a good share of close games against good teams and may get it handed to us by a great team once or twice without a significant improvement in defense, boxing out and decision making on offense. I know most will agree with the first two, but the third one may raise an eyebrow. My philosophy is that a bad shot is almost as bad as a live ball turnover. It often leads to runouts the other way and can deflate defensive intensity as well as lead to more bad shots. We need to figure out what shots are great shots, what shots are good shots and what shots are bad shots. Time and score also factors into that. It may not be terrible to hoist one up when you are rolling, but it can be a killer to settle when the other team is on a 8-0 or 12-2 run. Last year's team figured it out (maybe due to having 2 PG's). This year has yet to do so. There are two ways to stop runs. 1. Get a stop. 2. have good offensive possession and get a high quality shot. Since option 1 doesn't seem imminent, then we better get damn good at option 2.
I'm disappointed. And this is why I was nervous about stacking the calendar with so many quality opponents so early. This team is clearly taking it's time to find it's identity, with so many new parts.
That being said, this loss did feels but fluky to me. I felt like we did enough to win. The last 10 minutes, no matter what Auburn flipped up at the rim, including so pretty difficult shots, it went in. I think they had at least 10 in a row at one point. Plus they literally made every free throw. Take some of that away and the end is much closer.
Then there is Pettiford who we just had no answer for. We are not the only team who he is going to make look bad.
Overall I'm still excited about the season, but not as optimistic. There is a lot of talent on the team but as of now does not feel like a collective unit for the most part.
That being said, this loss did feels but fluky to me. I felt like we did enough to win. The last 10 minutes, no matter what Auburn flipped up at the rim, including so pretty difficult shots, it went in. I think they had at least 10 in a row at one point. Plus they literally made every free throw. Take some of that away and the end is much closer.
Then there is Pettiford who we just had no answer for. We are not the only team who he is going to make look bad.
Overall I'm still excited about the season, but not as optimistic. There is a lot of talent on the team but as of now does not feel like a collective unit for the most part.
Johnnies317
Well-known member
This starts to the season is almost exactly the same as last year. 1-2 road trip with 1 excruciating loss and one game we probably should have won. The difference this year is instead of a meaningless win against Virginia we grabbed a quad 1 win against Baylor. Expectation were way to high this year for a team with so many new parts. We are 1 basket away fro 2-2 in these games instead of 1-3 and the picture looks less shaky. A lot of clean up especially on defense but believe we will get better after this trip. Massive game on 12/6 and a chance for a likely Q2 miss and a needed boost for the team.
I’m as pissed and frustrated as everyone here. I know the makeup of this team is different than last year. But don’t forget how we all felt after the Bahamas games. The last 2 years this team played its best basketball after January. I’ll look at the pattern and expect much improvement with our play instead of throwing in the towel on thanksgiving.
Excellent post as usual John. Enjoy our phone conversations as well, always grounded and realistic.
Good to be optimistic, but I think Rick has more concerns w this team than last year’s primarily in having the passion to defend.
Lastly astute posters like LMF, Mug, dk, Logen & others hit it on the head early re roster composition and chemistry. If Rick can make this work, he will have done his best coaching job ever, not saying he can’t.
Last edited:
Larry Wright
Well-known member
Can’t speak for everyone and would not want to, but I believe the Darling criticisms are really frustration with the coach for putting Darling in that position. I believe every right minded person on here understands that. Just can’t come right at Pitino because then have to dodge lightning bolts on here.
But what is done is done. There is no trading deadline in college basketball yet. Though I am sure there will eventually be. Have to move forward. It is clear Darling is not the answer. So going forward they have to figure something out. The forwards are good passers, so really just need people to bring the ball into the front court, then have Zuby and Hopkins initiate the offense.
But what is done is done. There is no trading deadline in college basketball yet. Though I am sure there will eventually be. Have to move forward. It is clear Darling is not the answer. So going forward they have to figure something out. The forwards are good passers, so really just need people to bring the ball into the front court, then have Zuby and Hopkins initiate the offense.
After yielding 55 second half points last night, I think it wise to include defense as an area of asap improvement. We can’t win shootouts w SEC type teams w great guard play and really have to defend better. Not sure some players this year get that.
Redenbacher
Well-known member
Agree, this is absolutely not Darling’s fault. And heading into the season, he was not being portrayed by Pitino as our “next great point guard.” That was Ian Jackson! It’s also not Jackson's fault that he was touted by Pitino as being stellar at a position he’s never played. This was a recruiting blunder, plain and simple. I don’t know who in the organization is to blame, but it was a blunder of epic proportions.