Best Freshmen Moving Forward

[Jack Williams]

I voted for Ellison as a symbolic middle finger to everyone being so rough on him...


Not saying I believe it but yea

The thing with Ellison is, the theory is the more he plays this year the more it will help him down the road. The problem is, the more he plays the worse he looks. Even if he is not as terrible as he looks, playing this terribly could affect his confidence going forward. I would scale his minutes back for his own good.

I understand he hasn't been playing well. But I think it's just incredibly unessecary to say a kid isn't a big east player. I remember a few years ago, we had a player struggling, no confidence, no jump shot, and posters thought he wasn't a big east talent. Some said he should transfer or be red shirted. That player is Sir Dominic Pointer.

All I'm saying is giving up on a player based on what, a 10 game sample, is extremely premature. No I'm not saying Ellison will ever have the same impact as Dom, and yes I know Sir Dom was way higher rated coming out of high school, but the point remains. I'm not giving up on Malik Ellison, from what I heard he works hard in practice. And frankly, I can't believe that there's any criticism being thrown at the freshmen during this losing streak. These kids committed to St. John's knowing we wouldn't be a national power their first year. They knew they would need to work hard and be patient as Mullin rebuilds the program. These freshmen believed in Mullins vision, they are being patient with the program, we should be patient with them as they grow.

You guys think we have it rough watching all these losses from our couches? How do you think they feel getting their teeth kicked in every night? It can't be easy to stay positive, so the last thing they need is some posters thinking they don't belong on the team they took a chance on. That's just my opinion on it.

 

[stjohnschris]

Mussini showed up on campus and started scoring, I give him a lot of credit for that, as well as taking on whatever role on the court he's asked to do. I realize the huge upside to Yakwe and Sima and how their games will improve, but I don't think we should underestimate Mussini as a key piece on our team for the next 4 years.

 

[Knight]

Looks to me like Ellison tries to do too much when playing. This is true most times he is on the court. That is a player and coach issue. Coach has to have his players with the TEAM first mindset. No one on this version of our team can take the game over and push us forward.

 

[ras]

I think Yakwe has a great future here. But my vote is for Sima, because he is 6 11 w a better offensive game. We sure are going to get a lot of blocks when those 2 play together. IMO Ellison will be descent coming off the bench. for us in the future.But taking into consideration the future recruiting plus Mussini,Ponds ,Bashir and RF, I don't think he will ever be a starter. But backups are important. Last year we had a good team. But, other than Branch, our bench was much too Thin,and that was year 5 of Lavins recruiting cycle.

 

[Sherman Sheridan & Grant]

I think Yakwe has a great future here. But my vote is for Sima, because he is 6 11 w a better offensive game. We sure are going to get a lot of blocks when those 2 play together. IMO Ellison will be descent coming off the bench. for us in the future.But taking into consideration the future recruiting plus Mussini,Ponds ,Bashir and RF, I don't think he will ever be a starter. But backups are important. Last year we had a good team. But, other than Branch, our bench was much too Thin,and that was year 5 of Lavins recruiting cycle.

Excellent post RS and posts here...nice to take it easy on these kids some of whom are probably very tough on themselves. They don't need adult fans clobbering them...critique yes but in a considerate way...I like the reference to Sir Dom...none of us knows the path and progress of any of these kids...no r with ourselves

anyway, think Sima will return this season?
thanks
all the best

 

[Ray Morgan]

I like Yakwe a lot but people need to slow down on him. Right now he is more Ryan Williams than David Russell. Has great raw athletic ability but at 6-6 or whatever going yo have to develop some kind of 15 foot shot and become less of a liability at the line. Can be really good but needs a lot of work.

SJU fans can't slow down on him, since we live on hype and hope. You are right in that he needs a lot of work. but he isn't just a good athlete, he is an elite one. I agree that he needs to develop a mid range game. He just isn't strong enough to muscle guys for his points He has already surpassed Ryan Williams. But Russell had more skills at this point in his career by a decent margin.

 

[JohnnyFan]

I voted for Yawke. I see him as a superior athlete with a great motor. With that athleticism, I imagine his offensive game developing leaps and bounds (perhaps even more than Sima).

I try to like Ellison, but I think he comes up short on ability. He lacks speed on both sides of the ball and has average to below average touch. Good kid.....hope I am wrong.