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

[Marillac2]

Had this down as a loss coming in, but still stinks watching it unfold. Aaron Scott's shot selection all season has been terrible. He doesn't understand his offensive game very well and someone needs to sit him down with video and stats for certain shots. You aren't a shoot off the dribble guy, Aaron. You are not a catch the ball at the top of the key and chuck guy, Aaron.

Wilcher was disappointing. 1 rebound and 1 assist in 33 minutes? How is that possible? And he had 3 turnovers with almost no playmaking responsibilities. His defense was pretty solid.

Kalkbrenner alters every shot in the paint and Vince alters zero -- the kid plays like he's 5'11. There is zero chance he's on the roster next year. Why the hell is Prey not playing?

 

[Silly Donovan]

What was supposed to be our strength, our back court, overall has not been. Aside from Smith who has had some great outings, the combo of Wilcher and Kadary has certainly not lived up to expectations. It seems that every “good” team has that reliable shooter/bucket getter in their arsenal. I guess that’s what Kadary was supposed to be and despite Marallac’s disdain for him, that’s what we had last year in Jenkins.

The thing I find unusual about Pitino's press conference aside from wanting Zuby to take a 3 with our one point deficit is coach’s reference to not being a three point shooting team? Wasn’t that Pitino’s MO? Was he not known for developing three point shooters and a three point offense? Wasn’t all the pre season talk about how he and the staff were expanding Kadary’s shooting range?

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

Needed Walter Clayton Jr.

The right $ could have drew him from Florida.. instead we went all in on Richmond who clearly is not a player in the Pitino mold.

Could be Pitino's biggest miss.

I don’t think Holloway was terribly disturbed losing Richmond .

I would like Rick , Massiello , Matt , explain why they thought he was going to fit in here?
Clearly he hasn’t and he and Smith are not complimentary to their respective styles .
If RP thought he had a replacement for Jenkins in KR or Smith , he was very wrong . And , it’s showing.
Wilcher’s development hasn’t progressed to anywhere near the level we expected this season . Dunlap , before his injury was having a difficult season shooting wise . And , that’s his forte . Hope he comes back healthy .
The notion of Pitino teams playing great defense is a myth . No matter how many turnovers they forced , they couldn’t defend the 3 . That was the ballgame .

Camden in Delaware had , what 33 points , mostly from long range . Yesterday Creighton had 9 3’s for 27 points .
That doesn’t look like good defense to me .
Scott ? Little contribution from him . I preferred Taylor , an unselfish player who was good getting the ball into the right hands inside .

Our fans , many they are , always proclaim our Athleticism as being better than our opponents . How did that play out yesterday ? The non athletic Blue Jays won the game .
Bad call at end of game ? Was that why we lost ? Hardly . Creighton had us beat for the entire 2 nd half . The call or non call was not the reason we lost . It’s great to bemoan but , playing on the Road means having to over come home Court advantage .
It was similar to the PC game , where we were on the threshold of losing until Zuby made that clutch game ender. Down the stretch we blew a 5 point lead. by lousy free throw shooting .
Last year we had some guys who could shoot . Dingle , Alleyne , Jenkins and once in a while , Dunlap . This year?
Pitino has admitted this team can’t shoot free throws or 3 pointers .
What’s left ?
Make no mistake , BE Coaches know all about our Weaknesses shooting . They will exploit that all season .
Can we overcome those critical weaknesses ? Time will tell .

 

[JohnnyFan]

Had this down as a loss coming in, but still stinks watching it unfold. Aaron Scott's shot selection all season has been terrible. He doesn't understand his offensive game very well and someone needs to sit him down with video and stats for certain shots. You aren't a shoot off the dribble guy, Aaron. You are not a catch the ball at the top of the key and chuck guy, Aaron.

Wilcher was disappointing. 1 rebound and 1 assist in 33 minutes? How is that possible? And he had 3 turnovers with almost no playmaking responsibilities. His defense was pretty solid.

Kalkbrenner alters every shot in the paint and Vince alters zero -- the kid plays like he's 5'11. There is zero chance he's on the roster next year. Why the hell is Prey not playing?

Yes, agree with you on Scott's shot selection. He has a lot to offer -so, once straightened out, this represents an opportunity to get better.

 

[Mean Gene]

I don’t think Holloway was terribly disturbed losing Richmond .

I would like Rick , Massiello , Matt , explain why they thought he was going to fit in here?
Clearly he hasn’t and he and Smith are not complimentary to their respective styles .
If RP thought he had a replacement for Jenkins in KR or Smith , he was very wrong . And , it’s showing.
Wilcher’s development hasn’t progressed to anywhere near the level we expected this season . Dunlap , before his injury was having a difficult season shooting wise . And , that’s his forte . Hope he comes back healthy .
The notion of Pitino teams playing great defense is a myth . No matter how many turnovers they forced , they couldn’t defend the 3 . That was the ballgame .

Camden in Delaware had , what 33 points , mostly from long range . Yesterday Creighton had 9 3’s for 27 points .
That doesn’t look like good defense to me .
Scott ? Little contribution from him . I preferred Taylor , an unselfish player who was good getting the ball into the right hands inside .

Our fans , many they are , always proclaim our Athleticism as being better than our opponents . How did that play out yesterday ? The non athletic Blue Jays won the game .
Bad call at end of game ? Was that why we lost ? Hardly . Creighton had us beat for the entire 2 nd half . The call or non call was not the reason we lost . It’s great to bemoan but , playing on the Road means having to over come home Court advantage .
It was similar to the PC game , where we were on the threshold of losing until Zuby made that clutch game ender. Down the stretch we blew a 5 point lead. by lousy free throw shooting .
Last year we had some guys who could shoot . Dingle , Alleyne , Jenkins and once in a while , Dunlap . This year?
Pitino has admitted this team can’t shoot free throws or 3 pointers .
What’s left ?
Make no mistake , BE Coaches know all about our Weaknesses shooting . They will exploit that all season .
Can we overcome those critical weaknesses ? Time will tell .

It turns out one of the most consequential decisions was Dingle and Ledlum not getting granted that extra year. I would much rather have Dingle and Ledlum on this team than Richmond and Scott. Dingle was coming on at the end of last season and is a much better shooter than Richmond. Neither are great defensively but Dingle fits much better with Smith and would have meshed perfectly with him. Dingle a better free throw shooter also. Ledlum is a better shooter and rebounder than Scott and Ledlum was a Bull going to the hoop. Scott’s defense is better but I loved Ledlum’s intangibles. Plus, both Dingle and Ledlum would have already had a year in Pitino’s system.

 

[RedmanMike]

A disappointing loss, but it’s not worth all the angst on this board today. Our defense is excellent, our ball movement is generally good and our shot selection is fine. (RJ still forces it too much, but he also makes things happen.). We’re not good from long range - other than Scott. That’s a weakness, not a terminal illness…

What does concern me is free throw shooting. That simply has to get better.

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

A disappointing loss, but it’s not worth all the angst on this board today. Our defense is excellent, our ball movement is generally good and our shot selection is fine. (RJ still forces it too much, but he also makes things happen.). We’re not good from long range - other than Scott. That’s a weakness, not a terminal illness…

What does concern me is free throw shooting. That simply has to get better.

 

[otis]

…… one of the most consequential decisions was Dingle and Ledlum not getting granted that extra year.

Dingle and Ledlum were smarter and tougher than most of the players on the StJ’s roster this season. St’s would be a better team if either or both were on this years roster.
………

Question: can anyone explain why Pitino did not push the pace on offense. It seemed to me that all game StJ’s was in a slow paced motion offense rather than attempting to push the pace up the floor.
………

Ashworth proves that better basketball players do not have to be athletic.

.

 

[Mean Gene]

Dingle and Ledlum were smarter and tougher than most of the players on the StJ’s roster this season. St’s would be a better team if either or both were on this years roster.
………

Question: can anyone explain why Pitino did not push the pace on offense. It seemed to me that all game StJ’s was in a slow paced motion offense rather than attempting to push the pace up the floor.
………

Ashworth proves that better basketball players do not have to be athletic.

.

I believe Pitino stated that he did not press or push the pace on offense because he was concerned that an up and down game often could lead to open threes for the other team and that is Creighton’s strength, or something to that extent.

 

[lawmanfan]

[

Two thoughts regarding the final play:

1. You cannot expect to get that call, at moment, on the road. If the shoe was on the other foot, we would be screaming...."let them play".

2. At the same time, despite what Rick wanted, driving hard to the basket when your team is in the bonus is typically not a bad decision.

If you watch the end of that game there are 3 guys open with their hands out begging for the ball. Of course there was zero chance that RJ was going to do anything other than what he did.

Maybe at some point he will figure out that the fact that the whole world knows that makes him too easy to defend and the only thing that saves him is his superior athletic ability, which is not going to get him nearly as far against high level competition as it does against some teams.

 

[paultzman]

[

If you watch the end of that game there are 3 guys open with their hands out begging for the ball. Of course there was zero chance that RJ was going to do anything other than what he did.

Maybe at some point he will figure out that the fact that the whole world knows that makes him too easy to defend and the only thing that saves him is his superior athletic ability, which is not going to get him nearly as far against high level competition as it does against some teams.

Perfect post my mortal enemy.

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

Gee whiz . What games have you been watching? .
Excellent defense ? Where ? On the ball maybe but , can’t defend a 3 to even a little bit
Camden of Delaware torched us for 33 in the game prior . Yesterday the Blue Jays scored 27 points from 3 point distance . That won them the game !
Who cares if Ashworth turned it over 10 times . Did we score off those miscues?
He dropped 18 against us with 4 3’s . We had no one , Smith , KR , Wilcher , etc who defended him from 3 . He’s the type of non athletic player who over time kills us in games . Time and again .
Why because he can shoot ! Something this team doesn’t possess . Scott is not the answer .
If his shot selection and technique are off , after 3-4 seasons of College Ball , it’s not going to improve at this point . He is , what he is .

Pitino,Masiello , etc better get their Ass to Europe or the Midwest or anywhere and get a spot up shooter for next year . One who is ready to play right now at this level .
Too much is made of on the ball defense . Did it do anything to win us the game yesterday ?
If you want a sharpshooter on your team , you don’t worry about his defense . Period the end .

 

[Larry Wright]

[

If you watch the end of that game there are 3 guys open with their hands out begging for the ball. Of course there was zero chance that RJ was going to do anything other than what he did.

Maybe at some point he will figure out that the fact that the whole world knows that makes him too easy to defend and the only thing that saves him is his superior athletic ability, which is not going to get him nearly as far against high level competition as it does against

Who were “the 3 guys”? At this point I am sadly ok with living and dying with Luis at end of games. Not ideal but certainly don’t want Richmond, Smith or Scott taking last shot.

 

[SJU61982]

Yes, agree with you on Scott's shot selection. He has a lot to offer -so, once straightened out, this represents an opportunity to get better.

Scott= yet another "up" transfer struggling with the higher level of competition. Can't say I'm shocked when this happens to anyone, now, even though I know there are some who have beaten that handicap.

He probably drilled the corner three against AAC teams, but here, the defender gets there 1 or 2 seconds sooner, and are probably 1 or 2 inches taller on average. That can make all the difference in the world.

 

[lawmanfan]

In our 5 toughest games so far (New Mexico, Baylor, Georgia, @Providence, @Creighton)

Smith 2-7
Scott 7-25 (And he was 5-6 against Baylor. Yikes)
Sim 3-7
Glover 1-1
Dunlap 2-9

That’s 15-49 from those guys as a whole in the games that aren’t Bryant, Harvard etc.

This was the problem with this team from the start. Zuby has made up for the lack of true depth at the 5 by bringing Josh Hart level energy. That man is a hero.

But if Aaron Scott is not going to be a reliable threat from 3 (and it sure seems like he won't be) then the rest of the primary players on this team are get-to-the-rim players. That helps with rebounding but offense is a problem.

I think Wilcher is probably the best bet for a more reliable 3 point shooter who is ready to play at this level. Pitino has been compelled to put in Glover for shooting but then he winds up eating the freshman lapses and pulls him.

I continue to believe that Pitino is just too damn stubborn and like last year continues to believe that if he pounds square pegs into round holes hard enough eventually they will become round. If he isn't going to bring in players who are good fits for what he wants to do then in my view he should adapt to the players he has but that is clearly not who he is.

Having said all that I don't think the sky is falling and I also think the team will continue to improve. Kadary and Smith are fitting togther better which is a huge key and given the makeup of our team Kalk is the worst possible matchup for us - but nobody else in the league has him so it's an isolated problem and clearly we can beat Creighton in our building.

 

[Delaware]

We’re 3 baskets away from being undefeated and I was negative after the Georgia game got called out by Dave. Hopefully this team uses this as motivation and I’d like to see Brady come back healthy as a sharpshooter. I’ll be in the building Saturday LFG!

As much as I like Brady, he isn't coming back as the sharpshooter savior we need. Amazing that we can't find a couple of knockdown shooters every year.

 

[lawmanfan]

Who were “the 3 guys”? At this point I am sadly ok with living and dying with Luis at end of games. Not ideal but certainly don’t want Richmond, Smith or Scott taking last shot.

Just about every Big East team has a guy or a defense that is going to result in an RJ failure or turnover at the end of a game if we do what we did yesterday. You cannot get away with 4th grade basketball against high major competition. He may hit a few if someone makes a mistake or he gets lucky. But his predicability will be his downfall

 

[lawmanfan]

I don’t think Holloway was terribly disturbed losing Richmond .

How's that working out for Sha?

 

[Larry Wright]

Just about every Big East team has a guy or a defense that is going to result in an RJ failure or turnover at the end of a game if we do what we did yesterday. You cannot get away with 4th grade basketball against high major competition. He may hit a few if someone makes a mistake or he gets lucky. But his predicability will be his downfall

I don’t disagree but if kicks out to wide open Smith or especially Richmond that will fail most of the times. He has to play to Wilcher strengths and incorporate Glover. Then Luis would have feasible options.

 

[Marillac2]

What was supposed to be our strength, our back court, overall has not been. Aside from Smith who has had some great outings, the combo of Wilcher and Kadary has certainly not lived up to expectations. It seems that every “good” team has that reliable shooter/bucket getter in their arsenal. I guess that’s what Kadary was supposed to be and despite Marallac’s disdain for him, that’s what we had last year in Jenkins.

The thing I find unusual about Pitino's press conference aside from wanting Zuby to take a 3 with our one point deficit is coach’s reference to not being a three point shooting team? Wasn’t that Pitino’s MO? Was he not known for developing three point shooters and a three point offense? Wasn’t all the pre season talk about how he and the staff were expanding Kadary’s shooting range?

We didn't lose because of Kadary yesterday. He shot 4 of 10 and played solid defense and rebounded.

Jenkins is as the worst clutch “bucket getter” in the history of the program. Do you not remember we lost last year because he missed two shots and failed to secure a rebound in the last 3 possessions of the game. Swap Jenkins for Richmond and this is an NIT team again. All of our shortcomings tonight can be remedied. There was no fixing Jenkins.