DePaul, Mon. Jan. 16, 4:30pm, FS1/970AM

I'd rather win like we did tonight than Lovett and Ponds doing everything because maybe Ellison developing into the next scoring option which we desperately need
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When he plays within the flow of the game and doesn't try to take over, he is a good player. Tonight, that is exactly what he did.

And, no oblivious actions on his part as well.
 
Returned from the Arena about an hour ago. Here are some observations.

First of all it is always great to see Coach Carnesecca in the arena. He has not been coming much, if at all, this season and was glad to see that he was there. He left after halftime and did not stay for the end of the game but his presence creates positive vibes in the arena.

It was also wonderful to see Felipe Lopez there. They gave away Felipe Bobble heads and he is a big supporter of St. John's and a great ambassador for the University. He was acknowledged at Center Court and got a big ovation from the Crowd. After the game he jumped around and hugged the team during a very cool victory celebration.

Also the 1959 and 1965 NIT teams were acknowledged at center court. St. John's has a rich basketball tradition and it was good to see players from those championship Lapchick teams in the arena.

While he did not have a great game statistically, Marcus Lovett brings a high level of positive energy to the Arena. He is always encouraging teammates, revving up the crowd and being positive when he is not in the game. After the game was over he acknowledged numerous people in the crowd, talked to fans, signed autographs, gave away a pair of sneakers and was thoroughly engaged with fans in the Arena. As a fan who goes to the game regularly it really enhances the experience when a player creates a partnership with the crowd and acknowledges their value. Kudos to Lovett for being front and center in reaching out to fans at the game.

As for the game itself we played well for the most part. Ellison shot the lights out and when he is open and can set himself, then he generally shoots well. Owens had a very good game on the boards, brought great energy to the court and blocked four shots. Ponds heated up late and made some really big threes in the second half. Lovett was not at his best offensively but recognized that his shot was off early and adjusted his game accordingly. He played great defense on Garrett, did not force the action, did not turn the ball over and moved the ball effectively to get others involved. Mussini was solid, played very hard, made good decisions and hit a couple of big shots. Ahmed was out of control at times, but rebounded well, did a good job of getting to the line (although he missed 7 free throws) and wound up scoring 14 points. Yakwe and Williams both contributed positively in limited roles.

It is always great to see us play conference games at Carnesecca. There is a great energy there and the smaller arena lends itself to a better home court advantage for us.

Two other final points. First it was very upsetting that DePaul was allowed to shoot the one and one on the sixth foul of the second half. Everybody was yelling it out but somehow the Refs didn't pick up on it.

Secondly, I am sure it is a scheduling quirk but I wish that the Carnesecca Arena games were not done by January 16th. Hopefully in future seasons they will hold back a game or two for the latter part of the schedule.
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Great points.

And, agree re: CA..actually enjoy the CA experience better. When we improve and can justify MSG, great.
 
Very happy with this win. We really needed the game and we got it. I earlier said this was a must win and it really was to show that we are making progress. We can't lose games we won last year. We can't risk continuing a losing streak and have the season spiral out of control. Look at Hall's game vs Nova tonight as an example of the team giving up.

Feel we'll finish in 7th or 8th place, which would be a solid season. One thing is certain: we outperformed last year already. I really doubted that before the Syracuse game. A season worse than last year's would've been a disaster and fortunately that isn't happening.
 
Big Big win for these kids and their confidence.
Lets see if they can get to 500. in b.e. play

We have a shot, if they lost i'd say no shot.
 
Spanarkle is right. There were 6 fouls on us and they put Garrett Jr on the line. Lovett fouled him dribbling at like half court.
Why was he shooting foul shots?


Refs F'ed that up
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I didn't understand that as well and I believe CM brought it to the attention of the refs...don't understand why the 2 points were not taken off the board
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It certainly seemed to be a miss by the guys at the table - unless the scoreboard was wrong, which is doubtful since it was not corrected. Our coaches were at the table in their faces as the first shot went up. The refs let it go. At that point, the options were to take the points off the board or to play the 7th foul as a non shooting. They did neither, and it had no impact on the outcome or the 9 point spread.

You would have thought we were playing Duke.
 
Spanarkle is right. There were 6 fouls on us and they put Garrett Jr on the line. Lovett fouled him dribbling at like half court.
Why was he shooting foul shots?


Refs F'ed that up
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I didn't understand that as well and I believe CM brought it to the attention of the refs...don't understand why the 2 points were not taken off the board
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That came 1 minute after they called an offensive foul on Garrett, and for some reason went to the monitor (we thought maybe they were looking for a flagrant), The ref then went to the TV announcers and said no foul on Garrett, foul on Ponds (which is illegal to do). When DePaul was about to inboud, two of the refs started talking, then they just said no foul, which I'm still not sure is legal (It's legal to downgrade from a flagrant to a regular foul, but I don't think you can go from foul to no foul). I wonder if associate commish Stu Jackson got involved in that, since he was sitting right near where the second discussion was taking place.

After the game, I gave the refs the benefit of the doubt on that 1-and-1, thinking maybe the scoreboard was slow adding in team foul #7. According to the running timeline though, it was absolutely the sixth foul. Refs probably forgot to subtract the Ponds foul from their memories.

IMO, all three refs should be suspended for twice screwing up the rules.
 
Big Big win for these kids and their confidence.
Lets see if they can get to 500. in b.e. play

We have a shot, if they lost i'd say no shot.
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7-6 since the end of November, when just about all of us gave up on them. I thought it was pretty much hopeless. Then I sat back and watched that Tulane game when they shot the lights out and right there on my TV was Maher jumping up and down in the second row. When Maher returned home to report that the players were fixated on the coach I was sold.

I don't know how many wins are left on the schedule for this young team, but I figure there are at least three before the BET when we can dream of long overdue post season luck.
 
Spanarkle is right. There were 6 fouls on us and they put Garrett Jr on the line. Lovett fouled him dribbling at like half court.
Why was he shooting foul shots?


Refs F'ed that up
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I didn't understand that as well and I believe CM brought it to the attention of the refs...don't understand why the 2 points were not taken off the board
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That came 1 minute after they called an offensive foul on Garrett, and for some reason went to the monitor (we thought maybe they were looking for a flagrant), The ref then went to the TV announcers and said no foul on Garrett, foul on Ponds (which is illegal to do). When DePaul was about to inboud, two of the refs started talking, then just said no foul, which I'm still not sure is legal (It's legal to downgrade from a flagrant to a regular foul, but I don't think you can go from foul to no foul). I wonder if associate commish Stu Jackson got involved in that, since he was sitting right near where the second discussion was taking place.

After the game, I gave the refs the benefit of the doubt on that 1-and-1, thinking maybe the scoreboard was slow adding in team foul #7. According to the running timeline though, it was absolutely the sixth foul. Refs probably forgot to subtract the Ponds foul from their memories.

IMO, all three refs should be suspended for twice screwing up the rules.
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You make a good point. I've never seen a foul called on the floor and reversed by a video review. I don't know why they did the review in th first place. And I, like you thought they were checking to see if it was a flagrant and couldn't believe it was reversed.
 
Great to win one at home in front of a big crowd.
Kudos to Mullin for making all the right decisions with player substitutions. He knew exactly when to sit Marcus and Yakwe and wasn't tempted once to insert error prone Alibegovic.
That we won one with Lovett playing the worst game of his career was impressive and it gave Ponds the opportunity to distribute the ball to the tune of 6 assists.
Yakwe played only slightly better but fumbled the ball on at least two passes and still grabed zero offensive rebounds.
Mussini played to his strenght and hopefully turns the corner.
We have to temper our excitement as this was DePaul, the only team less talented than St. John's and the bigger test is around the corner and across the river.
Every game will be an uphill battle from here on out.
 
Big Big win for these kids and their confidence.
Lets see if they can get to 500. in b.e. play

We have a shot, if they lost i'd say no shot.
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7-6 since the end of November, when just about all of us gave up on them. I thought it was pretty much hopeless. Then I sat back and watched that Tulane game when they shot the lights out and right there on my TV was Maher jumping up and down in the second row. When Maher returned home to report that the players were fixated on the coach I was sold.

I don't know how many wins are left on the schedule for this young team, but I figure there are at least three before the BET when we can dream of long overdue post season luck.
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I still need you to pull me back from the abyss sometimes during games though :)
 
Nice solid win. But what was the deal with Lovett only playing 23 minutes? I realize his game was off, but still.... is he hurt?
 
Nice solid win. But what was the deal with Lovett only playing 23 minutes? I realize his game was off, but still.... is he hurt?
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from watching at home you could see Marcus head to locker room for extended period, so perhaps minor injury....although he did come out with different sneakers.
 
I think a lot of past players reside in the NY metro area. It would be great for the university to make a little fuss when they show up for a game. If a group of them are in the house we should make a big deal out of acknowledging their presence. I think it would add a lot to the atmosphere, and it is the right thing to do.
 
Please get Ahmed off the court, are you kidding me!!
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He may well play out of control at time, but the fact is Ahmed's the only offensive threat we have in the forecourt.
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I was speaking specifically of him on the court at the end of the game when twice he made dumb plays looking for his own rather than running clock.
 
Please get Ahmed off the court, are you kidding me!!
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14 points, 7 rebounds three assists, get him off the court, let's give Alimakeawish some run, are you kidding me, several exclamation points.
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Which of course gives him the freedom to jack and bull rush rather than run clock at the end of the game. But I understand the nuances of playing intelligent, winning basketball go right over your head. I wonder at your response had AA made such dumb plays.
 
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