@Creighton, Tue., Dec. 31, 4p, PEACOCK

MugCostanza said:
I know this will perceived as one of those cliched sky is falling posts after a close loss on the road that could have gone either way and I don't think the season is over or anything like that but this game has shown that we may be a good team but are well short of being a really good team. This Creighton team is ok at best and this is a game we should win.

It'll be easy to say we should be somewhat optimistic because we had a chance to win despite literally all of our best players playing poorly but they didn't just have off games. Creighton figured out how to make it difficult on us and our guys just didn't or couldn't respond.

The worst part is, the biggest flaw we have is not fixable and it's something we knew about in the summer but kind of hoped it wouldn't be a big deal. We have no shooting. Teams can clog the lane on us with impunity because nobody on our roster is a legitimate threat from 3. That would be a major problem for anybody but especially when our best players - Kadary, Smith, and Luis thrive when attacking the basket. Just not easy to be second weekend threat in the tournament in 2025 without being a good shooting team let alone a literally nonexistent one like we are.

To this point, it's pretty inarguable that Kadary has been a MASSIVE disappointment. The supposed number 1 player in the portal and potential All American looks like pre senior year Dom Pointer. For me it's now gone from "He'll pick it up and look the part soon" to thinking that time is just not going to come. It's not completely his fault either as this roster doesn't really complement him.

Sim is just clearly not ready for big situations like this. He looks great against the Fordhams and Delawares of the world but shrinks physically and mentally in real games. When the margins in games like this are so thin you can't have a guy like him getting big minutes without performing.

Depth is also a problem. There's just nobody beyond the top 6 you can put in there and trust to give you decent minutes. Glover gets lost on D frequently, Vince is obviously a massive drop off from Zuby, and obviously Rick doesn't just Prey yet for whatever reason.

Again I think we'll be a good team that makes the tournament reasonably comfortably and finishes in tier 1 or 1B in a weak Big East. But hard to see this team reaching the achievable ceiling we had for them going into the season.
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Completely agree and hate to have to admit that
 
Rocket said:
Even with 10 turnovers, Ashworth owned Smith tonight! Smith had ONE assist!
Wilcher wilted under the big tent in Omaha. Horrendous offensive effort.
The stat of the day: Zuby hit two 3s in the first half......the only 3s of the game!!!!
Except for Zuby everyone sucked on offense. Aaron Scott especially!
Final seconds and no timeout by Pitino? Too lazy to draw a play? RJ final touch was a DRIVE instead of putting it up again!!! Forget whether he got fouled.....he should have shot the ball immediately.
Kadary Richmond has yet to earn his check as he is no threat on offense except for drives.
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The problem with Scott and his shooting. It is always a pull up early in the shot clock. Move the ball around and take a set shot once in awhile.
 
MugCostanza said:
I could be way wrong on this but this time last year the team felt like they still had so much more room to grow. This team feels like it's far closer to their finished product
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There's a lot this offense has to work on. I absolutely don't think it's a finished product.
 
I hate losing a game like this. Maybe because it’s NYE I’m in a good mood but it’s like when’s it gonna be our turn!
 
mkras99 said:
It’s just one game. Doesn’t mean anything in long run. But annoying in short run. Didn’t deserve to win, but didn’t deserve to get hosed by refs at end of game (two years in a row now).
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Get that, but our abysmal shooting too often puts us in position to lose tough games in spite of defending well for most part.
 
Mug Costanza posted SJUs problem is lack of shot makers and not only is he correct but you could make the same statement for the past ten or more years. Once the big east schedule starts you can usually be sure of three things:
SJU will be the more athletic team
The opponent will be the better shooting team
SJU will lose a very close game
This was true so many times under Anderson and seems to be continuing under Pitino
This year Pitino could put a team on the court that could match athletic skills with any team in the country and still lose a multitude of nail biters. Maybe it would be a better strategy to sit one of the great athletic players even though he might outplay the player taking his minutes in all practices but if that player could bring a talent on the court, shooting skill, that no other SJU player can provide t.he team may benefit
I don’t know if the current SJU roster has a player like that but I would love to see the Greek get a shot.
 
paultzman said:
Cannot expect to win all the time w D bailing us out. This dismal shooting may bite us in ass in long run.
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I agree. It should not have come down to whether a foul was called or not. This team can't shoot period. One more basket and we wouldn't be having this foul call disagreement. The shooting percentages were again dismal except for Zuby, Vince and maybe Smith. St. John's should have beaten Creighton by double digits.
 
Strikes me that Pitino, once again (this year), is panicking less than people on the board. But also basically throws RJ under the bus for not running the play in the huddle and then messing up the follow up attempt as well.
 
classof2010 said:
my question is who is recruiting the talent basketball on both the college and pro side has been about the 3. Why can’t our guys hit it? If it’s transfers is Matt A looking at the talent?
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Yeah, wtf recruited f'ing Kadary? He's garbage.
I know what he did to us at shu.
Look at him though, slow as f, can't hit his FTs and shots, why did we get this guy?

Oh and defensively wtf can this guy defend? I honestly am wondering why we got him.
 
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