DePaul Game

[JohnnyFan]

I'm as frustrated as anyone, but let's let the season play out. No excuses, but clearly hampered by Harrison being less than 100 percent .

Jordan played ok. Turns the ball over way too much for my liking and has no jump shot.

Ah, yes.........our slogan for the past two years.

I'm curious as to what you want us to do. Fire Lavin mid season?

No, I know that won't help. I am just super frustrated because I have been watching this disaster unfold in slow motion for the past two years. We didn't dump him last spring and now he has us over a barrel. We are actually talking about resigning him, not because of performance, but to protect his possibly strong recruiting class.

So, I excuse me if I have had my fill of the "let's just let this play out" comment. It has been playing out before our eyes.

Not dumping on you at all, but with the way you feel, why haven't you considered just doing something else with your time until 2016-2017 season begins. If we make a change at the end of this season, some recruits and some roster players won't be here, and next season will be a disaster, which gives you no hope at all until then, at the earliest.

Nope, I have not considered that. I am a fan.......I've been addicted to the Johnnies for a lifetime. When they suck, I watch every awful minute. That is why I hate seeing our wagon hitched to the Lavin saga.

 

[Andrew]

I

Eh, they shot 33% from 3pt, that's respectable. We shot 16%

I give you credit Desco for pointing out our last shooting performance, especially from three, was fools gold. We are just not a good shooting team. We depend on steals & TOs for easy buckets to generate offense.

The issues that are most disconcerting, however, are terrible results defending the three & abysmal rebounding. You can often win when shooting poorly by grinding it out. Seldom do you win when you have a high negative three point differential and get killed on the boards. Allowing so many second shots makes it doubly difficult for an offensively challenged team to win consistently.

DePaul took almost three times as many threes as we did. I certainly don't want to get into a three point shooting contest with most teams but if we are going to chuck up shots, maybe more of them should be three pointers?

Other than D'lo, who was playing hurt, and PGIV who else do we have that can even semi-consistently hit 3s? And please don't tell me AA.

Myles Stewart

 

[monte]

I

Eh, they shot 33% from 3pt, that's respectable. We shot 16%

I give you credit Desco for pointing out our last shooting performance, especially from three, was fools gold. We are just not a good shooting team. We depend on steals & TOs for easy buckets to generate offense.

The issues that are most disconcerting, however, are terrible results defending the three & abysmal rebounding. You can often win when shooting poorly by grinding it out. Seldom do you win when you have a high negative three point differential and get killed on the boards. Allowing so many second shots makes it doubly difficult for an offensively challenged team to win consistently.

DePaul took almost three times as many threes as we did. I certainly don't want to get into a three point shooting contest with most teams but if we are going to chuck up shots, maybe more of them should be three pointers?

Other than D'lo, who was playing hurt, and PGIV who else do we have that can even semi-consistently hit 3s? And please don't tell me AA.

Myles Stewart

Forgot all about Myles, now that he has once again been relegated to a little used walk-on and AA is the flavor of the week

 

[Andrew]

I

Eh, they shot 33% from 3pt, that's respectable. We shot 16%

I give you credit Desco for pointing out our last shooting performance, especially from three, was fools gold. We are just not a good shooting team. We depend on steals & TOs for easy buckets to generate offense.

The issues that are most disconcerting, however, are terrible results defending the three & abysmal rebounding. You can often win when shooting poorly by grinding it out. Seldom do you win when you have a high negative three point differential and get killed on the boards. Allowing so many second shots makes it doubly difficult for an offensively challenged team to win consistently.

DePaul took almost three times as many threes as we did. I certainly don't want to get into a three point shooting contest with most teams but if we are going to chuck up shots, maybe more of them should be three pointers?

Other than D'lo, who was playing hurt, and PGIV who else do we have that can even semi-consistently hit 3s? And please don't tell me AA.

Myles Stewart

Forgot all about Myles, now that he has once again been relegated to a little used walk-on and AA is the flavor of the week

[/quote

http://nypost.com/2014/12/05/how-this-st-johns-walk-on-is-making-a-name-for-himself/

 

[beast of the east]

I'm as frustrated as anyone, but let's let the season play out. No excuses, but clearly hampered by Harrison being less than 100 percent .

Jordan played ok. Turns the ball over way too much for my liking and has no jump shot.

Ah, yes.........our slogan for the past two years.

I'm curious as to what you want us to do. Fire Lavin mid season?

No, I know that won't help. I am just super frustrated because I have been watching this disaster unfold in slow motion for the past two years. We didn't dump him last spring and now he has us over a barrel. We are actually talking about resigning him, not because of performance, but to protect his possibly strong recruiting class.

So, I excuse me if I have had my fill of the "let's just let this play out" comment. It has been playing out before our eyes.

Not dumping on you at all, but with the way you feel, why haven't you considered just doing something else with your time until 2016-2017 season begins. If we make a change at the end of this season, some recruits and some roster players won't be here, and next season will be a disaster, which gives you no hope at all until then, at the earliest.

Nope, I have not considered that. I am a fan.......I've been addicted to the Johnnies for a lifetime. When they suck, I watch every awful minute. That is why I hate seeing our wagon hitched to the Lavin saga.

"I'll tell ya, it ain't easy being me." - R. Dangerfield.

 

[Jack Williams]

What if this calf is something that hampers Harrison the rest of the season? We are screwed if so

 

[JohnnyFan]

What if this calf is something that hampers Harrison the rest of the season? We are screwed if so

I think he will be okay for the Duke game, but not 100% for Marquette. Regardless, I have learned that it is always something. Here's what we have faced so far. And, if you know the Johnnies, you know there will be more.

Keith Thomas' fraudulent transcript
ADR ruled ineligible
Briscoe Chooses Kentucky
Jordan takes a "leave of absence"
Branch slices his finger
DLO pulls a calf muscle

We Are........

 

[monte]

I

Eh, they shot 33% from 3pt, that's respectable. We shot 16%

I give you credit Desco for pointing out our last shooting performance, especially from three, was fools gold. We are just not a good shooting team. We depend on steals & TOs for easy buckets to generate offense.

The issues that are most disconcerting, however, are terrible results defending the three & abysmal rebounding. You can often win when shooting poorly by grinding it out. Seldom do you win when you have a high negative three point differential and get killed on the boards. Allowing so many second shots makes it doubly difficult for an offensively challenged team to win consistently.

DePaul took almost three times as many threes as we did. I certainly don't want to get into a three point shooting contest with most teams but if we are going to chuck up shots, maybe more of them should be three pointers?

Other than D'lo, who was playing hurt, and PGIV who else do we have that can even semi-consistently hit 3s? And please don't tell me AA.

Myles Stewart

Forgot all about Myles, now that he has once again been relegated to a little used walk-on and AA is the flavor of the week

[/quote

http://nypost.com/2014/12/05/how-this-st-johns-walk-on-is-making-a-name-for-himself/

Hey I've long felt that Myles could possibly turn in to a solid contributor down the road. But he is clearly not ready for prime time yet. Hopefully in time, but I would still temper expectations with him, AA and ADR. In spite of the fact that many of our faithful have yet again developed a case of Max Hooper cockeyed optimism syndrome towards them.

 

[Andrew]

I

Eh, they shot 33% from 3pt, that's respectable. We shot 16%

I give you credit Desco for pointing out our last shooting performance, especially from three, was fools gold. We are just not a good shooting team. We depend on steals & TOs for easy buckets to generate offense.

The issues that are most disconcerting, however, are terrible results defending the three & abysmal rebounding. You can often win when shooting poorly by grinding it out. Seldom do you win when you have a high negative three point differential and get killed on the boards. Allowing so many second shots makes it doubly difficult for an offensively challenged team to win consistently.

DePaul took almost three times as many threes as we did. I certainly don't want to get into a three point shooting contest with most teams but if we are going to chuck up shots, maybe more of them should be three pointers?

Other than D'lo, who was playing hurt, and PGIV who else do we have that can even semi-consistently hit 3s? And please don't tell me AA.

Myles Stewart

Forgot all about Myles, now that he has once again been relegated to a little used walk-on and AA is the flavor of the week

[/quote

http://nypost.com/2014/12/05/how-this-st-johns-walk-on-is-making-a-name-for-himself/

Hey I've long felt that Myles could possibly turn in to a solid contributor down the road. But he is clearly not ready for prime time yet. Hopefully in time, but I would still temper expectations with him, AA and ADR. In spite of the fact that many of our faithful have yet again developed a case of Max Hooper cockeyed optimism syndrome towards them.

The Max Hooper who is our second best all time 3 point shooter by percentage?

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/stjo/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/prospectus/prospectus.pdf

 

[SJU14]

The strained calf injury is the same one Aaron Rodgers has right now. He's had it for like a month and it's clearly still bothering him so I don't see it being something that just goes away in a week.

On a good note, Dom's dunk was #9 on top 10 on SportsCenter tonight

 

[monte]

I

Eh, they shot 33% from 3pt, that's respectable. We shot 16%

I give you credit Desco for pointing out our last shooting performance, especially from three, was fools gold. We are just not a good shooting team. We depend on steals & TOs for easy buckets to generate offense.

The issues that are most disconcerting, however, are terrible results defending the three & abysmal rebounding. You can often win when shooting poorly by grinding it out. Seldom do you win when you have a high negative three point differential and get killed on the boards. Allowing so many second shots makes it doubly difficult for an offensively challenged team to win consistently.

DePaul took almost three times as many threes as we did. I certainly don't want to get into a three point shooting contest with most teams but if we are going to chuck up shots, maybe more of them should be three pointers?

Other than D'lo, who was playing hurt, and PGIV who else do we have that can even semi-consistently hit 3s? And please don't tell me AA.

Myles Stewart

Forgot all about Myles, now that he has once again been relegated to a little used walk-on and AA is the flavor of the week

[/quote

http://nypost.com/2014/12/05/how-this-st-johns-walk-on-is-making-a-name-for-himself/

Hey I've long felt that Myles could possibly turn in to a solid contributor down the road. But he is clearly not ready for prime time yet. Hopefully in time, but I would still temper expectations with him, AA and ADR. In spite of the fact that many of our faithful have yet again developed a case of Max Hooper cockeyed optimism syndrome towards them.

The Max Hooper who is our second best all time 3 point shooter by percentage?

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/stjo/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/prospectus/prospectus.pdf

Wow, I had Max pegged all wrong the whole time.

 

[logen]

Blaming the wizard for this loss is ridiculous.  First, give credit to DePaul for hitting crucial 3 pointers and for hitting the boards like men vs. boys.
Credit will not be given to these horrendous Big East refs who missed at least 3 calls and one where Harrison was mugged and all but butt fkd.
As for our redmen, Pointer and Obekpa were boxed out smartly by the Blue Demons rendering both useless in the rebounding department.  The rebounding margin was mostly due to their deficiency. Amar grabbed 5 rebs in limited action and his speed and aggressive play was huge when Obekpa collected his usual knucklehead fouls.
Harrison was banged up liked a waterfront whore. He had his worst game of the season.  One criticism I have for Lavin was not designing some isolation plays for Rysheed against Billy Garrett who played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half. This loss may hurt come selection Sunday but DePaul is not as bad a club as some think. The refs put Garrett on the line 13 times and the kid shot 100 %.  We do not have a forward with Henry's shooting or aggressive rebounding and with Pointer reverting to being unproductive, our  only advantage in the game was Rysheed and Green. That will never be enough to win in this conference regardless who was coaching St. John's today.  The game was lost in O/T and Lavin is starting to use Amar because Christian Jones is a liability.  As it was last season, the NCAA will come do to the Big East tourney where anything is possible. 
On to Marquette and anyone who sells their Duke tickets is a pussy, plain and simple.

The refs? The refs weren't jumping at every head fake, opening up the court for those 3 pointers. The refs don't recruit for us, leaving us with such a short roster that Harrison had to play 44 minutes when he probably shouldn't have been playing at all; the same roster that has 1 legitimate consistent offensive creator. Jordan can create but he is not remotely consistent. We got our fair share of calls and shot plenty of foul shots. As someone posted earlier, a glimpse at this team without Harrison; just virtually nothing to go to.

Even the most rose-colored fans know the impact that losing Thomas and ADR has had on the front line but we have been a 6 man team all season and only the Nova game was out of reach. Sure we softened on defending the 3 but DePaul did a great job of protecting Garrett with substitutions. His 13 straight free throws was the major difference and, no, we did not get our share of calls. The refs even had to be asked to go to the monitor when they were giving the ball to DePaul under 2 minutes. On replays there were 2 clear fouls called against us that could be factors in the loss. One was so clear the announcers agreed. I agree about Jordan and that is why players like Obekpa and Jordan need to stay another year. I am glad you see the impact of a bad 2014 recruiting effort but that is not what cost us the game. Two players with bad hands and bad games by Pointer and Obekpa were major factors. You may as well blame Ron Linfonte for a bad tapping job on D'Lo and Branch. 13 straight free throws by Billy! I bet it will not happen again all season. We beat them at our place.

Sorry, bad or missed calls are part of the game; good teams overcome them. Rationalize all you want, the refs had nothing to do with the loss, nothing. We had opportunities, came out and played last years defense in the 2nd half and got outrebounded as badly as we did because Purnell pulled our bigs (as much as we have one) away from the basket. Look at the tape and watch AA rotating and Obepka. Not saying AA is a better player, he is not at this stage, but he understands the game and positioning on the defensive end and has the discipline to hedge and recover; he's not 35 feet from the basket looking to steal the ball one on one. That is why he was in position to get some rebounds while he was in and Obepka could not. That is coachng he got in Europe; coaching Obepka has not received at SJU.

 

[beast of the east]

What if this calf is something that hampers Harrison the rest of the season? We are screwed if so

I think he will be okay for the Duke game, but not 100% for Marquette. Regardless, I have learned that it is always something. Here's what we have faced so far. And, if you know the Johnnies, you know there will be more.

Keith Thomas' fraudulent transcript
ADR ruled ineligible
Briscoe Chooses Kentucky
Jordan takes a "leave of absence"
Branch slices his finger
DLO pulls a calf muscle

We Are........

Self immolation isn't fun, unless you enjoy it.

 

[beast of the east]

Blaming the wizard for this loss is ridiculous.  First, give credit to DePaul for hitting crucial 3 pointers and for hitting the boards like men vs. boys.
Credit will not be given to these horrendous Big East refs who missed at least 3 calls and one where Harrison was mugged and all but butt fkd.
As for our redmen, Pointer and Obekpa were boxed out smartly by the Blue Demons rendering both useless in the rebounding department.  The rebounding margin was mostly due to their deficiency. Amar grabbed 5 rebs in limited action and his speed and aggressive play was huge when Obekpa collected his usual knucklehead fouls.
Harrison was banged up liked a waterfront whore. He had his worst game of the season.  One criticism I have for Lavin was not designing some isolation plays for Rysheed against Billy Garrett who played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half. This loss may hurt come selection Sunday but DePaul is not as bad a club as some think. The refs put Garrett on the line 13 times and the kid shot 100 %.  We do not have a forward with Henry's shooting or aggressive rebounding and with Pointer reverting to being unproductive, our  only advantage in the game was Rysheed and Green. That will never be enough to win in this conference regardless who was coaching St. John's today.  The game was lost in O/T and Lavin is starting to use Amar because Christian Jones is a liability.  As it was last season, the NCAA will come do to the Big East tourney where anything is possible. 
On to Marquette and anyone who sells their Duke tickets is a pussy, plain and simple.

The refs? The refs weren't jumping at every head fake, opening up the court for those 3 pointers. The refs don't recruit for us, leaving us with such a short roster that Harrison had to play 44 minutes when he probably shouldn't have been playing at all; the same roster that has 1 legitimate consistent offensive creator. Jordan can create but he is not remotely consistent. We got our fair share of calls and shot plenty of foul shots. As someone posted earlier, a glimpse at this team without Harrison; just virtually nothing to go to.

Even the most rose-colored fans know the impact that losing Thomas and ADR has had on the front line but we have been a 6 man team all season and only the Nova game was out of reach. Sure we softened on defending the 3 but DePaul did a great job of protecting Garrett with substitutions. His 13 straight free throws was the major difference and, no, we did not get our share of calls. The refs even had to be asked to go to the monitor when they were giving the ball to DePaul under 2 minutes. On replays there were 2 clear fouls called against us that could be factors in the loss. One was so clear the announcers agreed. I agree about Jordan and that is why players like Obekpa and Jordan need to stay another year. I am glad you see the impact of a bad 2014 recruiting effort but that is not what cost us the game. Two players with bad hands and bad games by Pointer and Obekpa were major factors. You may as well blame Ron Linfonte for a bad tapping job on D'Lo and Branch. 13 straight free throws by Billy! I bet it will not happen again all season. We beat them at our place.

Sorry, bad or missed calls are part of the game; good teams overcome them. Rationalize all you want, the refs had nothing to do with the loss, nothing. We had opportunities, came out and played last years defense in the 2nd half and got outrebounded as badly as we did because Purnell pulled our bigs (as much as we have one) away from the basket. Look at the tape and watch AA rotating and Obepka. Not saying AA is a better player, he is not at this stage, but he understands the game and positioning on the defensive end and has the discipline to hedge and recover; he's not 35 feet from the basket looking to steal the ball one on one. That is why he was in position to get some rebounds while he was in and Obepka could not. That is coachng he got in Europe; coaching Obepka has not received at SJU.

Good post. As badly as DePaul shot the ball from three, most were very good looks - reminiscent of Redmen teams that were out of place on defense and scrambling to cover the open man.

So, let me ask you, since you gave an in depth breakdown. If you have a big man who can score from 18 feet, where does Obekpa play? Ignore him and stay in the post daring wide open shots? Come out and guard him, and we get killed on the offensive boards (which happened). Obekpa isn't being coached to reach and foul, so to put that on the coaches is the same as blaming the coaches for Jordan making sloppy passes or finishing weakly after great moves to the hoop. The players are erratic, and the results will reflect that.

 

[monte]

Blaming the wizard for this loss is ridiculous.  First, give credit to DePaul for hitting crucial 3 pointers and for hitting the boards like men vs. boys.
Credit will not be given to these horrendous Big East refs who missed at least 3 calls and one where Harrison was mugged and all but butt fkd.
As for our redmen, Pointer and Obekpa were boxed out smartly by the Blue Demons rendering both useless in the rebounding department.  The rebounding margin was mostly due to their deficiency. Amar grabbed 5 rebs in limited action and his speed and aggressive play was huge when Obekpa collected his usual knucklehead fouls.
Harrison was banged up liked a waterfront whore. He had his worst game of the season.  One criticism I have for Lavin was not designing some isolation plays for Rysheed against Billy Garrett who played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half. This loss may hurt come selection Sunday but DePaul is not as bad a club as some think. The refs put Garrett on the line 13 times and the kid shot 100 %.  We do not have a forward with Henry's shooting or aggressive rebounding and with Pointer reverting to being unproductive, our  only advantage in the game was Rysheed and Green. That will never be enough to win in this conference regardless who was coaching St. John's today.  The game was lost in O/T and Lavin is starting to use Amar because Christian Jones is a liability.  As it was last season, the NCAA will come do to the Big East tourney where anything is possible. 
On to Marquette and anyone who sells their Duke tickets is a pussy, plain and simple.

The refs? The refs weren't jumping at every head fake, opening up the court for those 3 pointers. The refs don't recruit for us, leaving us with such a short roster that Harrison had to play 44 minutes when he probably shouldn't have been playing at all; the same roster that has 1 legitimate consistent offensive creator. Jordan can create but he is not remotely consistent. We got our fair share of calls and shot plenty of foul shots. As someone posted earlier, a glimpse at this team without Harrison; just virtually nothing to go to.

Even the most rose-colored fans know the impact that losing Thomas and ADR has had on the front line but we have been a 6 man team all season and only the Nova game was out of reach. Sure we softened on defending the 3 but DePaul did a great job of protecting Garrett with substitutions. His 13 straight free throws was the major difference and, no, we did not get our share of calls. The refs even had to be asked to go to the monitor when they were giving the ball to DePaul under 2 minutes. On replays there were 2 clear fouls called against us that could be factors in the loss. One was so clear the announcers agreed. I agree about Jordan and that is why players like Obekpa and Jordan need to stay another year. I am glad you see the impact of a bad 2014 recruiting effort but that is not what cost us the game. Two players with bad hands and bad games by Pointer and Obekpa were major factors. You may as well blame Ron Linfonte for a bad tapping job on D'Lo and Branch. 13 straight free throws by Billy! I bet it will not happen again all season. We beat them at our place.

Sorry, bad or missed calls are part of the game; good teams overcome them. Rationalize all you want, the refs had nothing to do with the loss, nothing. We had opportunities, came out and played last years defense in the 2nd half and got outrebounded as badly as we did because Purnell pulled our bigs (as much as we have one) away from the basket. Look at the tape and watch AA rotating and Obepka. Not saying AA is a better player, he is not at this stage, but he understands the game and positioning on the defensive end and has the discipline to hedge and recover; he's not 35 feet from the basket looking to steal the ball one on one. That is why he was in position to get some rebounds while he was in and Obepka could not. That is coachng he got in Europe; coaching Obepka has not received at SJU.

Good post. As badly as DePaul shot the ball from three, most were very good looks - reminiscent of Redmen teams that were out of place on defense and scrambling to cover the open man.

So, let me ask you, since you gave an in depth breakdown. If you have a big man who can score from 18 feet, where does Obekpa play? Ignore him and stay in the post daring wide open shots? Come out and guard him, and we get killed on the offensive boards (which happened). Obekpa isn't being coached to reach and foul, so to put that on the coaches is the same as blaming the coaches for Jordan making sloppy passes or finishing weakly after great moves to the hoop. The players are erratic, and the results will reflect that.

But if CO and Jordan improved in those respective areas wouldn't you at least partially credit Lavin and the staff for their improvement? I know I would.

 

[logen]

Blaming the wizard for this loss is ridiculous.  First, give credit to DePaul for hitting crucial 3 pointers and for hitting the boards like men vs. boys.
Credit will not be given to these horrendous Big East refs who missed at least 3 calls and one where Harrison was mugged and all but butt fkd.
As for our redmen, Pointer and Obekpa were boxed out smartly by the Blue Demons rendering both useless in the rebounding department.  The rebounding margin was mostly due to their deficiency. Amar grabbed 5 rebs in limited action and his speed and aggressive play was huge when Obekpa collected his usual knucklehead fouls.
Harrison was banged up liked a waterfront whore. He had his worst game of the season.  One criticism I have for Lavin was not designing some isolation plays for Rysheed against Billy Garrett who played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half. This loss may hurt come selection Sunday but DePaul is not as bad a club as some think. The refs put Garrett on the line 13 times and the kid shot 100 %.  We do not have a forward with Henry's shooting or aggressive rebounding and with Pointer reverting to being unproductive, our  only advantage in the game was Rysheed and Green. That will never be enough to win in this conference regardless who was coaching St. John's today.  The game was lost in O/T and Lavin is starting to use Amar because Christian Jones is a liability.  As it was last season, the NCAA will come do to the Big East tourney where anything is possible. 
On to Marquette and anyone who sells their Duke tickets is a pussy, plain and simple.

The refs? The refs weren't jumping at every head fake, opening up the court for those 3 pointers. The refs don't recruit for us, leaving us with such a short roster that Harrison had to play 44 minutes when he probably shouldn't have been playing at all; the same roster that has 1 legitimate consistent offensive creator. Jordan can create but he is not remotely consistent. We got our fair share of calls and shot plenty of foul shots. As someone posted earlier, a glimpse at this team without Harrison; just virtually nothing to go to.

Even the most rose-colored fans know the impact that losing Thomas and ADR has had on the front line but we have been a 6 man team all season and only the Nova game was out of reach. Sure we softened on defending the 3 but DePaul did a great job of protecting Garrett with substitutions. His 13 straight free throws was the major difference and, no, we did not get our share of calls. The refs even had to be asked to go to the monitor when they were giving the ball to DePaul under 2 minutes. On replays there were 2 clear fouls called against us that could be factors in the loss. One was so clear the announcers agreed. I agree about Jordan and that is why players like Obekpa and Jordan need to stay another year. I am glad you see the impact of a bad 2014 recruiting effort but that is not what cost us the game. Two players with bad hands and bad games by Pointer and Obekpa were major factors. You may as well blame Ron Linfonte for a bad tapping job on D'Lo and Branch. 13 straight free throws by Billy! I bet it will not happen again all season. We beat them at our place.

Sorry, bad or missed calls are part of the game; good teams overcome them. Rationalize all you want, the refs had nothing to do with the loss, nothing. We had opportunities, came out and played last years defense in the 2nd half and got outrebounded as badly as we did because Purnell pulled our bigs (as much as we have one) away from the basket. Look at the tape and watch AA rotating and Obepka. Not saying AA is a better player, he is not at this stage, but he understands the game and positioning on the defensive end and has the discipline to hedge and recover; he's not 35 feet from the basket looking to steal the ball one on one. That is why he was in position to get some rebounds while he was in and Obepka could not. That is coachng he got in Europe; coaching Obepka has not received at SJU.

Good post. As badly as DePaul shot the ball from three, most were very good looks - reminiscent of Redmen teams that were out of place on defense and scrambling to cover the open man.

So, let me ask you, since you gave an in depth breakdown. If you have a big man who can score from 18 feet, where does Obekpa play? Ignore him and stay in the post daring wide open shots? Come out and guard him, and we get killed on the offensive boards (which happened). Obekpa isn't being coached to reach and foul, so to put that on the coaches is the same as blaming the coaches for Jordan making sloppy passes or finishing weakly after great moves to the hoop. The players are erratic, and the results will reflect that.

Well and there's the rub and my militant stance on Lavin; I can live with his lack of coaching ability; a college coaches main job is to recruit, plain and simple. My solution to Obepka not playing 35 feet from the basket? Recruit a balanced team that has 6'7'' / 6'8'' mobile players with the ability to play on the perimeter; which is not unusual in today's game. Recruit a roster that gives you options. Do your due diligence with a player like Jordan and don't recruit to his number in rankings but try to find out why a Nova didn't even give him a sniff. We have a flawed roster, plain and simple and everyone knows it. Lavin knew it but was he unwilling to get down and dirty recruiting ,establish local ties, go to NY/NJ gyms, HS gyms anywhere and fill out the roster for this year. No, it was all about 2015 and high profile recruits and trips to Californai and Europe and Twitter and PR coach speak drivel. I am pissed with Lavin becasue he OWED Harrison, Greene, Pointer and Branch more than he gave them; way more. Maybe he couldn't have gotten the right players but he didn't really TRY. So we got an ineligible ADR, an academically flawed Thomas and some walk-ons. One of the main attributes IMO that defines a person is their effort and I think Lavin falls ridiculously short in that area. He is real good at PR but where I'm from (Queens/NJ) that usually means bullshitter. And fans to a degree but especially the seniors on this team that should have gotten better are paying for it. So analyze the game and blame the refs, etc., etc., etc. At the end of the day this program is still in the toilet with a little better air freshener than with Roberts, but we still need to start over AGAIN, new recruits be damned.

 

[JohnnyFan]

Too much Jordan yesterday. I don't think he played awful. In fact, we once again saw the incredible potential he has. However, the offense was overall stagnant. I am sure part of this was due to DLO's injury, but we need to get back to good ball movement.

The Jordan isolation play can be a great weapon, but it can't be our offense.

 

[newsman13]

What if this calf is something that hampers Harrison the rest of the season? We are screwed if so

I think he will be okay for the Duke game, but not 100% for Marquette. Regardless, I have learned that it is always something. Here's what we have faced so far. And, if you know the Johnnies, you know there will be more.

Keith Thomas' fraudulent transcript
ADR ruled ineligible
Briscoe Chooses Kentucky
Jordan takes a "leave of absence"
Branch slices his finger
DLO pulls a calf muscle

We Are........

As soon as the first two happened, we were guaranteed a mediocre season. John Wooden himself couldn't have done better.

Watching these games is torture, pure and simple.

On the bright side, we'll probably finish the season with more wins than the Knicks, Giants and Jets combined.

 

[Class of 72]

Blaming the wizard for this loss is ridiculous.  First, give credit to DePaul for hitting crucial 3 pointers and for hitting the boards like men vs. boys.
Credit will not be given to these horrendous Big East refs who missed at least 3 calls and one where Harrison was mugged and all but butt fkd.
As for our redmen, Pointer and Obekpa were boxed out smartly by the Blue Demons rendering both useless in the rebounding department.  The rebounding margin was mostly due to their deficiency. Amar grabbed 5 rebs in limited action and his speed and aggressive play was huge when Obekpa collected his usual knucklehead fouls.
Harrison was banged up liked a waterfront whore. He had his worst game of the season.  One criticism I have for Lavin was not designing some isolation plays for Rysheed against Billy Garrett who played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half. This loss may hurt come selection Sunday but DePaul is not as bad a club as some think. The refs put Garrett on the line 13 times and the kid shot 100 %.  We do not have a forward with Henry's shooting or aggressive rebounding and with Pointer reverting to being unproductive, our  only advantage in the game was Rysheed and Green. That will never be enough to win in this conference regardless who was coaching St. John's today.  The game was lost in O/T and Lavin is starting to use Amar because Christian Jones is a liability.  As it was last season, the NCAA will come do to the Big East tourney where anything is possible. 
On to Marquette and anyone who sells their Duke tickets is a pussy, plain and simple.

The refs? The refs weren't jumping at every head fake, opening up the court for those 3 pointers. The refs don't recruit for us, leaving us with such a short roster that Harrison had to play 44 minutes when he probably shouldn't have been playing at all; the same roster that has 1 legitimate consistent offensive creator. Jordan can create but he is not remotely consistent. We got our fair share of calls and shot plenty of foul shots. As someone posted earlier, a glimpse at this team without Harrison; just virtually nothing to go to.

Even the most rose-colored fans know the impact that losing Thomas and ADR has had on the front line but we have been a 6 man team all season and only the Nova game was out of reach. Sure we softened on defending the 3 but DePaul did a great job of protecting Garrett with substitutions. His 13 straight free throws was the major difference and, no, we did not get our share of calls. The refs even had to be asked to go to the monitor when they were giving the ball to DePaul under 2 minutes. On replays there were 2 clear fouls called against us that could be factors in the loss. One was so clear the announcers agreed. I agree about Jordan and that is why players like Obekpa and Jordan need to stay another year. I am glad you see the impact of a bad 2014 recruiting effort but that is not what cost us the game. Two players with bad hands and bad games by Pointer and Obekpa were major factors. You may as well blame Ron Linfonte for a bad tapping job on D'Lo and Branch. 13 straight free throws by Billy! I bet it will not happen again all season. We beat them at our place.

Sorry, bad or missed calls are part of the game; good teams overcome them. Rationalize all you want, the refs had nothing to do with the loss, nothing. We had opportunities, came out and played last years defense in the 2nd half and got outrebounded as badly as we did because Purnell pulled our bigs (as much as we have one) away from the basket. Look at the tape and watch AA rotating and Obepka. Not saying AA is a better player, he is not at this stage, but he understands the game and positioning on the defensive end and has the discipline to hedge and recover; he's not 35 feet from the basket looking to steal the ball one on one. That is why he was in position to get some rebounds while he was in and Obepka could not. That is coachng he got in Europe; coaching Obepka has not received at SJU.

While part of the game, when the game comes down to ONE possession, that is the game at times. Yesterday the game came down to free throws and their kid was 13-13. I agree 100 % about Obekpa. He was out of position too much and at least we know AA has basketball smarts. Pity a player like Jones is an empty suitcase.

 

[paultzman]

Blaming the wizard for this loss is ridiculous.  First, give credit to DePaul for hitting crucial 3 pointers and for hitting the boards like men vs. boys.
Credit will not be given to these horrendous Big East refs who missed at least 3 calls and one where Harrison was mugged and all but butt fkd.
As for our redmen, Pointer and Obekpa were boxed out smartly by the Blue Demons rendering both useless in the rebounding department.  The rebounding margin was mostly due to their deficiency. Amar grabbed 5 rebs in limited action and his speed and aggressive play was huge when Obekpa collected his usual knucklehead fouls.
Harrison was banged up liked a waterfront whore. He had his worst game of the season.  One criticism I have for Lavin was not designing some isolation plays for Rysheed against Billy Garrett who played with 4 fouls most of the 2nd half. This loss may hurt come selection Sunday but DePaul is not as bad a club as some think. The refs put Garrett on the line 13 times and the kid shot 100 %.  We do not have a forward with Henry's shooting or aggressive rebounding and with Pointer reverting to being unproductive, our  only advantage in the game was Rysheed and Green. That will never be enough to win in this conference regardless who was coaching St. John's today.  The game was lost in O/T and Lavin is starting to use Amar because Christian Jones is a liability.  As it was last season, the NCAA will come do to the Big East tourney where anything is possible. 
On to Marquette and anyone who sells their Duke tickets is a pussy, plain and simple.

The refs? The refs weren't jumping at every head fake, opening up the court for those 3 pointers. The refs don't recruit for us, leaving us with such a short roster that Harrison had to play 44 minutes when he probably shouldn't have been playing at all; the same roster that has 1 legitimate consistent offensive creator. Jordan can create but he is not remotely consistent. We got our fair share of calls and shot plenty of foul shots. As someone posted earlier, a glimpse at this team without Harrison; just virtually nothing to go to.

Even the most rose-colored fans know the impact that losing Thomas and ADR has had on the front line but we have been a 6 man team all season and only the Nova game was out of reach. Sure we softened on defending the 3 but DePaul did a great job of protecting Garrett with substitutions. His 13 straight free throws was the major difference and, no, we did not get our share of calls. The refs even had to be asked to go to the monitor when they were giving the ball to DePaul under 2 minutes. On replays there were 2 clear fouls called against us that could be factors in the loss. One was so clear the announcers agreed. I agree about Jordan and that is why players like Obekpa and Jordan need to stay another year. I am glad you see the impact of a bad 2014 recruiting effort but that is not what cost us the game. Two players with bad hands and bad games by Pointer and Obekpa were major factors. You may as well blame Ron Linfonte for a bad tapping job on D'Lo and Branch. 13 straight free throws by Billy! I bet it will not happen again all season. We beat them at our place.

Sorry, bad or missed calls are part of the game; good teams overcome them. Rationalize all you want, the refs had nothing to do with the loss, nothing. We had opportunities, came out and played last years defense in the 2nd half and got outrebounded as badly as we did because Purnell pulled our bigs (as much as we have one) away from the basket. Look at the tape and watch AA rotating and Obepka. Not saying AA is a better player, he is not at this stage, but he understands the game and positioning on the defensive end and has the discipline to hedge and recover; he's not 35 feet from the basket looking to steal the ball one on one. That is why he was in position to get some rebounds while he was in and Obepka could not. That is coachng he got in Europe; coaching Obepka has not received at SJU.

While part of the game, when the game comes down to ONE possession, that is the game at times. Yesterday the game came down to free throws and their kid was 13-13. I agree 100 % about Obekpa. He was out of position too much and at least we know AA has basketball smarts. Pity a player like Jones is an empty suitcase.

Would be shocked to see Jones spend his last two years here. He is probably better served playing closer to home at a lower level school.