Bowling Green, Fri. Nov. 9, 6:30p, FS2 / 570 WMCA

I was out of town for my sisters wedding so didn’t attend this game and after checking score updates I knew this thread wouldn’t be pretty. Let’s give this team some time to gel there are a lot of new pieces on this team and I think they will get better as the season goes on. Seeing people when they were down 10 with tons of time left proclaiming the season was over I mean come on. I think there just seem to be people on here just out to bash Mullin for every little thing. Bottom line was it pretty no but they came back and pulled the game out. I do agree that it is mind boggling that we can not get someone decent and tall to come here we don’t need a 5 star center just a decent big man that can rebound and defend. Hopefully they come out strong sgainst Rutgers Friday I know it’s on the road but Rutgers is not good and we should beat them.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=301385]Small sample, but Simon seems out of sync a bit and on this small team really has to do the little things, like rebounding on both ends of court. I agree with Marillac to a certain degree that in critical situations he needs to dial it down a bit and make heady plays, not highlight reel clips.

Love him overall, but with Heron assuming such a huge part offensively for good reason, I wonder if Simon feels his role has diminished a bit. That is all part of staff responsibility to integrate new, talented guys like Heron and Figgy. It will be interesting to see how that evolves. It is a nice problem to have actually & what staff gets paid to do.[/quote]

Great observation and I couldn't help but notice the same thing. Simon had such a huge role last year, and that's changed alot with Heron, Figgy and even Dixon coming on and having alot of possession. In my opinion we need to sort out a role for Simon sooner than later. He's a critical part of the team.
 
I love Clark, but when he' our biggest player on the court, we don't need him shooting 3's. He was 3-8 from 3, which looks fine on paper, but we have plenty of guys who can do that. We need him inside, drawing fouls, and creating space.

I can't help but think how much better this team would be if the 3-point line didn't exist. It'd be nice to see them run plays and utilize the many skills that are being ignored.
 
[quote="Action264" post=301394]I love Clark, but when he' our biggest player on the court, we don't need him shooting 3's. He was 3-8 from 3, which looks fine on paper, but we have plenty of guys who can do that. We need him inside, drawing fouls, and creating space.

I can't help but think how much better this team would be if the 3-point line didn't exist. It'd be nice to see them run plays and utilize the many skills that are being ignored.[/quote]

People think the quality of play is bad, especially with chucking 3's. But has anyone checked out the NBA lately? It's even worse there. It's progressed this way over the past few years. There is no emphasis on defense, and 3 pointers are shot at high volume. There were seven NBA games last night, and the final scores were 133-132, 112-110, 123-115, 121-110, 117-108, 124-109, 110-102. I mean that type of scoring was unheard of even in recent years. The game has evolved.

With all of that going on in the NBA, of course it trickles down into the college game. Heck, even West Virginia, who is known for their hard nosed defense under Huggins, game up 99 points last night!

Do I like it or am I defending the style of play we roll out? Not one bit. I'm just providing some perspective on all of this. In fact, i still have no clue why we don't run out a press each game.
 
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[quote="Action264" post=301394]I love Clark, but when he' our biggest player on the court, we don't need him shooting 3's. He was 3-8 from 3, which looks fine on paper, but we have plenty of guys who can do that. We need him inside, drawing fouls, and creating space.

I can't help but think how much better this team would be if the 3-point line didn't exist. It'd be nice to see them run plays and utilize the many skills that are being ignored.[/quote]

Clark is our best 3% shooter, and that strength really helps set up his drives to the basket. I thought Clark did both well against BG.
 
[quote="Action264" post=301394]I love Clark, but when he' our biggest player on the court, we don't need him shooting 3's. He was 3-8 from 3, which looks fine on paper, but we have plenty of guys who can do that. We need him inside, drawing fouls, and creating space.

I can't help but think how much better this team would be if the 3-point line didn't exist. It'd be nice to see them run plays and utilize the many skills that are being ignored.[/quote]

Problem is that Clark is our best outside shooter statistically. He has to shoot whether we like it or not.
 
That is a great point! With the athletes on this team they should be pressing much much more! They did it in the exhibition and generated turnovers and now haven’t seen it at all the first two games.
 
1. Glad we were able to get the win on an off night. A "losing team" would have lost that game.

2. I agree with Marillac on the suggestion that Simon is our best PF candidate. The role is not best for his NBA showcase, but it's the best way he can help our team.

3. We knew that it would take some time for this very talented, guard heavy group to gel. #Patience.

4. Mullin has preached ball movement in almost every preseason interview I have seen. I am sure he was not pleased when, after the first five minutes, we reverted to the one-on-one show. It's up to him to find which guys are willing to play team ball.

5. Stop worrying about last night's injuries being just like the Lovett situation. Lovett's non-sense was unique.

6. I still think we will have a strong season, but it will ultimately be limited by our lack of size. Hard to forgive a staff that has known this for two years. As a fan, it is maddening to suffer the same weakness again, again and again. Further maddening, as another poster mentioned, is seeing mid-major programs who all seem to have at least two serviceable bigs. Good coaches will exploit this weakness.....no doubt.

On to Rutgers where we will have to play much, much better.
 
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[quote="JohnnyFan" post=301399]1. Glad we were able to get the win on an off night. A "losing team" would have lost that game.

2. I agree with Marillac on the suggestion that Simon is our best PF candidate. The role is not best for his NBA showcase, but it's the best way he can help our team.

3. We knew that it would take some time for this very talented, guard heavy group to gel. #Patience.

4. Mullin has preached ball movement in almost every preseason interview I have seen. I am sure he was not pleased when, after the first five minutes, we reverted to the one-on-one show. It's up to him to find which guys are willing to play team ball.

5. Stop worrying about last night's injuries being just like the Lovett situation. Lovett's non-sense was unique.

6. I still think we will have a strong season, but it will ultimately be limited by our lack of size. Hard to forgive a staff that has known this for two years. As a fan, it is maddening to suffer the same weakness again, again and again. Further maddening, as another poster mentioned, is seeing mid-major programs who all seem to have at least two serviceable bigs. Good coaches will exploit this weakness.....no doubt.

On to Rutgers where we will have to play much, much better.[/quote]

"mid-major programs who all seem to have at least two serviceable bigs."
Last night we had NONE!
This team exists to great degree on pure Happenstance!
Picture this team without Heron. The freshmen are not worth discussing. We've lost every big man recruit to dissatisfaction and transfer. Two sit out transfers warming benches not worth discussing. We are optimistic about this year as if it will be the only year to be optimistic because it may just be that. No impact recruits coming. Essentially hoping for April surprises.
No matter the record and reiterating "just enjoy the season" knowing that we have a major weakness that will barely make this team NCAA worthy is very disappointing in year four.
 
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Clark can’t play with his back to the basket. If you want to stick him down low for better offensive rebounding you will completely lose his offense.

The guy I would like to see setup to post up more is Simon, who seems lost right now.
 
Biggest question 2 games in is Mullin's coaching. The team seems to be a little too much 'me ball'. Too often one of our guys would put a shot up and the whole team would retreat on defense instead of crashing the boards looking for an offensive rebound.
Maybe we need a little more Greg St. Jean and less Chris Mullin.
 
[quote="IDRAFT" post=301407]Clark can’t play with his back to the basket. If you want to stick him down low for better offensive rebounding you will completely lose his offense.

The guy I would like to see setup to post up more is Simon, who seems lost right now.[/quote]

What's sad is that we need to discuss 6'5 guards and 6'6 small forwards who play 20 feet from the basket having to play "down low". You all can discuss Ponds and Heron and Figgy all day long but the most important player on this team THIS season is Sedee Keita. Without him every team we face will exploit us inside.
Inescusable recruiting blunder that we, as fans, saw coming since the Owens transfer.
 
[quote="Knight" post=301410]Biggest question 2 games in is Mullin's coaching. The team seems to be a little too much 'me ball'. Too often one of our guys would put a shot up and the whole team would retreat on defense instead of crashing the boards looking for an offensive rebound.
Maybe we need a little more Greg St. Jean and less Chris Mullin.[/quote]

We needed a coach, not a celebrity apprentice.
 
[quote="Knight" post=301410]Biggest question 2 games in is Mullin's coaching. The team seems to be a little too much 'me ball'. Too often one of our guys would put a shot up and the whole team would retreat on defense instead of crashing the boards looking for an offensive rebound.
Maybe we need a little more Greg St. Jean and less Chris Mullin.[/quote]

I was under the impression that St Jean was doing all the in game coaching.
 
[quote="Room112" post=301415][quote="Knight" post=301410]Biggest question 2 games in is Mullin's coaching. The team seems to be a little too much 'me ball'. Too often one of our guys would put a shot up and the whole team would retreat on defense instead of crashing the boards looking for an offensive rebound.
Maybe we need a little more Greg St. Jean and less Chris Mullin.[/quote]

I was under the impression that St Jean was doing all the in game coaching.[/quote]

I don't know. I saw CM parading the sidelines all game.
 
A tale of 8 minute spans in each half. In the first half, Frye torches us for 15, and Ponds is 2 for 5. At the 10:30 mark in the second half, Ponds comes down 3 in and lights up Frye and a few others, while Frye goes 0 for 4 with 2 turnovers. By the 2 minute mark we are up 9. Credit to the staff for seeing the mismatch and to the team for ratcheting up the D. Unsung hero was Trimble, who played like a man who will do what is asked of him just to get on the floor. He really hustled on D, and wasn't worried about his own glory.

BG is well coached and plays to instructions. When Clark goes out, they go to Wiggins. When we go zone, they find the weak spot in the middle of the zone. I tihnk Frye just ran out of gas, and Ponds reminded us of what he is capable of.
 
Had rehearsal till late last night so DVR’d the game and watched when I got home, not knowing the score. Once again, I came away not feeling very good about this team. We have some talent, but we also have some serious deficiencies. If we’re going to be successful we are going to have to play 40 minutes of intensive ball on both ends of the court. And that means against every team, Including the Loyola’s of the world. People got on my case after I criticized the team for letting Loyola out score us In the 2nd half. Well geniuses, bad habits carry over from game to game. We have a nice run and then we revert to street ball. Or we have a bad run, and kids try to get us back in a game by going one on one. I’ve been as supportive of this staff as anyone, but I’m starting to have some serious doubts about their preparation and in-game coaching. At times, we still seem like a rutterless ship. Much of that is due to lack of point guard. I haven’t seen enough of Dixon to know if he can actually take over he PG duties full time, but why not give him a shot and see it he adds some direction to the offense? For as much talent as we have, just rolling out the ball and letting the kids run up and down the court is going to result in no more than a mediocre season. We also better hope that Keita develops, or we are going to get eaten up alive against some of the bigger front lines.
 
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[quote="Knight" post=301417][quote="Room112" post=301415][quote="Knight" post=301410]Biggest question 2 games in is Mullin's coaching. The team seems to be a little too much 'me ball'. Too often one of our guys would put a shot up and the whole team would retreat on defense instead of crashing the boards looking for an offensive rebound.
Maybe we need a little more Greg St. Jean and less Chris Mullin.[/quote]

I was under the impression that St Jean was doing all the in game coaching.[/quote]

I don't know. I saw CM parading the sidelines all game.[/quote]

Who was holding the clipboard?
 
We all agree it would be great to have 2 6’10” players on this team . We don’t . Keita hasn’t had a chance to show his skills yet . He was injured last night and played 4 minutes . As for Owens and Yakwe , looks like they are playing their Roles like they did here . Owens Blocking Shots but, being outmuscled in the post . Yakwe? Occupying his usual spot on the UCONN. Bench as he did here . And , 2 games in , the same old Mullin can’t Coach or Recruit song continues to play . Why is it always Mullin’s fault that lay ups were missed and some highlight dunks too? Why do our Players lose their Man on Defense and 3 point shooters have Open looks . Isn’t some of that on the Player ? I doubt if Mullin , St Jean and Richmond School our Players on how unimportant it is to close out on the 3 point shot ? Maybe Ponds just won’t ever get his hands up on Defense ? Frankly , other than for his future in the NBA , he might not ever . Ponds contributes in nearly every facet of the Game and if all he doesn’t do is get his hands up , we should cut him slack . He singlehandedly took over the game in the last 10 minutes and sparked a Win from a game we looked like we could lose . He’s done that so much in his career here . He seems to save the best of his multi faceted game for Crunch time . Mr. Clutch ! Heron may have that ability too but, it’s still Ponds’s team . Our success this season still largely rests on his shoulders . Enjoy the play of this young Man , he is making his mark as being among the St John’s Legends .
 
Very big scare last night. Anyone who says Rutgers will not be an issue is dead wrong. They always are even in some of our best years recently. They scare me to death because they have size, a great coach, and they are a power team like us. If we win I can see it being a lot like this game where every point is huge. I hope this was just BG catching us off guard but I feel like we all say that way too much for a veteran team with this much talent in year 4 of Mullin. When we played Loyola, they still got some open looks but couldn't make them. BG got them and did make them. They were also bigger.

I made it a point to keep an eye on the coaches and their body language from behind the basket. Mullin looked very confused and stood about 8 ft from the huddle during a timeout while GSJ was in the center of it. Mitch just shook his head most of the game. I keep seeing more evidence this staff is in over their heads, but I keep trying to repress it because I want to believe this is a big year for us. We just play hero ball and no one's moving around without the ball on offense. We pass around, pass around, nothing is there and then we gave it to Heron who breaks down a defender and drives at the rim with 3 guys on him. Luckily he was able to finish well and make his jumpers. Simon looks lost unfortunately. He's such a great kid and I know he will get out of the rut, but he gets to the hoop and it's all iron and bounces right back out. Seemingly every time. Dixon missed a layup on a fastbreak. We left at least 20 pts on the board between missed FT's and missed bunnies.
 
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