Detroit Game

[MCNPA]

 Thoughts on this game? I think we have our hands full. They have 4 starts who are quite good. McCallum and Doug Anderson had combined 47 pts in opener. Not sure it is time to experiment with D'Lo at pg on Tuesday. We'll need our frontcourt to dominate because their backcourt is no slouch. I think we also really need Obekpa to be an enforcer in the paint. Defense has to be better than our exhibitions by a mile. I'm also really hoping for some positive news on Bourgault and/or Sanchez by then.

 

[1and1sju]

 Thoughts on this game? I think we have our hands full. They have 4 starts who are quite good. McCallum and Doug Anderson had combined 47 pts in opener. Not sure it is time to experiment with D'Lo at pg on Tuesday. We'll need our frontcourt to dominate because their backcourt is no slouch. I think we also really need Obekpa to be an enforcer in the paint. Defense has to be better than our exhibitions by a mile. I'm also really hoping for some positive news on Bourgault and/or Sanchez by then.

 

I forget most of last year's game (besides Nuri's lack of effort),
did Detroit play us man to.man or zone?

 

[LINY89]

 Thoughts on this game? I think we have our hands full. They have 4 starts who are quite good. McCallum and Doug Anderson had combined 47 pts in opener. Not sure it is time to experiment with D'Lo at pg on Tuesday. We'll need our frontcourt to dominate because their backcourt is no slouch. I think we also really need Obekpa to be an enforcer in the paint. Defense has to be better than our exhibitions by a mile. I'm also really hoping for some positive news on Bourgault and/or Sanchez by then.

 

While they are one of the top mid majors, we are still the better team and should win. With that said, I wouldn't be shocked if we lose. While everyone else is playing cupcakes in their openers we are playing a likely NCAA tourney team and as I said top 10 mid major. I wonder how the kids will react being thrown right into the fire. A lot of it really depends on Harrison IMO...which one will we see? The cold shooting, frustrated one as of recent or the red-hot automatic from 3 machine we saw vs. Cuse last year? Also, does Obekpa's dominance in the 2 exhibitions carry over for a much better team, or drop off in a big way? Finally, the last key for me is whether or not Sanchez/Marco can play. If they can't I think it will be a frustrating game to watch. If they can, I see us winning by double digits.

 

[SJUalum98]

 2011 SJU@ Detroit

Team Stat Comparison
SJU DET
Points 63 69
FG Made-Attempted 20-57 (.351) 23-48 (.479)
3P Made-Attempted 5-21 (.238) 5-18 (.278)
FT Made-Attempted 18-21 (.857) 18-26 (.692)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 20 (0/0) 17 (0/0)
Largest Lead 1 13


STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
God'sgift Achiuwa, F 38 0-3 0-0 6-6 4 8 0 1 0 5 3 6
Moe Harkless, G-F 29 7-15 1-3 4-5 7 11 1 0 0 1 4 19
Nurideen Lindsey, G 21 2-6 0-2 0-0 0 7 0 0 0 6 1 4
Phil Greene IV, G 33 3-9 1-4 2-2 2 2 4 2 0 2 3 9
Sir'Dominic Pointer, G-F 39 5-8 0-2 0-2 3 8 1 0 0 0 3 10
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Malik Stith, G 7 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0
D'Angelo Harrison, G 33 3-13 3-10 6-6 0 1 2 1 0 1 4


STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
LaMarcus Lowe, F-C 28 2-2 0-0 2-3 2 5 0 0 2 2 5 6
Doug Anderson, F 38 3-6 0-0 4-5 3 8 1 1 0 0 4 10
Chase Simon, G 37 7-14 2-7 4-6 0 3 2 1 0 4 1 20
Jason Calliste, G 23 3-5 1-2 2-2 0 3 1 1 0 1 2 9
Ray McCallum, G 32 7-12 2-6 5-8 1 1 4 1 0 2 0 21
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Donavan Foster, G 12 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brandon Romain, NA 2 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Evan Bruinsma, F 14 1-4 0-1 0-0 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 2
P.J. Boutte, G 14 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 4 2 1 0 1 1 0 

 

[Stevo]

 Without Sanchez and Bourgault we are dressing 7 schollies. We will be thin. Either way I expect a tight low scoring game. Nice test right off the bat.

 

[MCNPA]

 We're a very different team than last year. No doubt we can win, but this is gut-check time and a tough game, considering we haven't seen Harrison yet this year and thus far are missing Branch, Gift, Sanchez, Bourgault and Balamou. I hope Lavs at least scratches the idea of redshirting Balamou, so we have his depth next game and beyond.

Are Obekpa and Jones legit? I think so. Neither is a shrinking violet on the court and I think both will be ready to make their mark. If anything they have been two young players who have shown that they are gamers from day 1. Not worried about those 2. Now I want to see Harrison ready to show McCallum why he should be the Wooden candidate.

 

[MCNPA]

 Without Sanchez and Bourgault we are dressing 7 schollies. We will be thin. Either way I expect a tight low scoring game. Nice test right off the bat.

 

A lot can happen between now and game time. We could gain between 1-4 players depth-wise. Let's see what the ncaa does as well as the staff.

 

[LINY89]

 I'm not worried about Obekpa...his big thing is timing to block shots and he is just blessed with it. Therefore it doesn't matter who he goes up against really. As for Jones, I'm not sure yet. He has dominated bad teams, but let's see if he can dominate a good mid major like Detroit, let alone any D1 team. Early in the season we will be depending on Harrison to consistently give us 15+ per game and knock down some 3's. He needs to have some games where he takes over like Harkless did with a 32 pt. game and a few 20+. I'm just nervous because Harrison has been ice cold and an off day for him really puts us in danger. IMO Marco is that 2nd player who can get into shoot out type games with other schools.

By the way, random but FYI Providence won by 1 pt vs. NJIT and their best player Council pulled his hamstring and did not return. He will also miss next game. It might turn out to be a nagging kind of thing. If it is, Providence has a great shot to finish last.

 

[maineqb]

 Hated seeing these guys in the opener when the schedule was released. Assuming we are w/out Orlandito Tuesday, I believe it's a tall task to steal this one. I'll say it again, Sanchez and Branch are the two most important guys on the roster.

 

[1and1sju]

 Heard a comment during one of the games last night (forget which one), but one of the opposing coaches said he was glad they had a big matchup in the first game (maybe it was Turgeon) because he said it makes preseason and summer practices more intense, and the guys are more focused.

I think that could be an issue for us. The staff can say it as many times as they want but I doubt our guys have been thinking "Oh sh*t we better be crisper on offense, we have to play Detroit in 2 weeks". I think thats a good point, playing a big name team in the first game is good motivation for summer and fall practices. And even if you lose nobody will remember in March.


Ps. Let me ask again; does anybody remember how Detroit played us last year? Man to man or zone?

 

[Jnaw17]

 Hated seeing these guys in the opener when the schedule was released. Assuming we are w/out Orlandito Tuesday, I believe it's a tall task to steal this one. I'll say it again, Sanchez and Branch are the two most important guys on the roster.

 

We have better players and we're home (Detroit was not a good road team last year). We should win this game and it's not a "steal" any way you look at it. I'm not saying we can't lose, but let's be real here. We should beat Detroit with or without Orlando and Marco.

 

[LINY89]

 Agreed Jnaw. Is there a decent chance Detroit can win? Sure. But should they? No...not with the improvements in our team. All we really have to do is keep McCallum in check and we should be golden assuming we don't blow it with turnovers. To defend us is way harder...they would have to keep Harrison, Sampson, Jones, Garrett, Pointer, Greene, Sanchez (maybe), Marco (maybe) in check. On D, Sampson and Obekpa are very long and athletic and should be able to overpower a mid major team. Again, this is the theory, but reality is sometimes a different result. On paper we should win this. It would be hard to believe that Detroit beats us 2x in a row especially when we got much better and deeper and have home court advantage this time. We have the talent...we just can't give up stupid TO's and we have to shoot FT's effectively. If either of those things becomes a big issue, we will probably lose.

 

[Stevo]

 Hated seeing these guys in the opener when the schedule was released. Assuming we are w/out Orlandito Tuesday, I believe it's a tall task to steal this one. I'll say it again, Sanchez and Branch are the two most important guys on the roster.

 

We have better players and we're home (Detroit was not a good road team last year). We should win this game and it's not a "steal" any way you look at it. I'm not saying we can't lose, but let's be real here. We should beat Detroit with or without Orlando and Marco.

 

I agree we should win but the difference in talent betw mid majors and power conference teams is not that great.

 

[LINY89]

 Hated seeing these guys in the opener when the schedule was released. Assuming we are w/out Orlandito Tuesday, I believe it's a tall task to steal this one. I'll say it again, Sanchez and Branch are the two most important guys on the roster.

 

We have better players and we're home (Detroit was not a good road team last year). We should win this game and it's not a "steal" any way you look at it. I'm not saying we can't lose, but let's be real here. We should beat Detroit with or without Orlando and Marco.

 

I agree we should win but the difference in talent betw mid majors and power conference teams is not that great.

Disagree. I'd only say the difference isn't that great between mid's vs. power conference teams for a select few teams: St. Mary's, Gonzaga, Butler, UNLV, Temple, Creighton, Murray St., etc. Detroit is good but let's not kid ourselves...they aren't a juggernaut. They are still a team any Big East team should be expected to beat. For the most part, there is way more talent on power conference teams. That's why you hear so much hype about the Big East, ACC, etc. and not the MAAC or CAA. I remember at Marist I would be pumped if we got a 2 star recruit. Right now we are loaded with 6 top 100 4 star players. It's an entirely different level.

 

[MCNPA]

 Hated seeing these guys in the opener when the schedule was released. Assuming we are w/out Orlandito Tuesday, I believe it's a tall task to steal this one. I'll say it again, Sanchez and Branch are the two most important guys on the roster.

 

We have better players and we're home (Detroit was not a good road team last year). We should win this game and it's not a "steal" any way you look at it. I'm not saying we can't lose, but let's be real here. We should beat Detroit with or without Orlando and Marco.

 

I agree we should win but the difference in talent betw mid majors and power conference teams is not that great.

Disagree. I'd only say the difference isn't that great between mid's vs. power conference teams for a select few teams: St. Mary's, Gonzaga, Butler, UNLV, Temple, Creighton, Murray St., etc. Detroit is good but let's not kid ourselves...they aren't a juggernaut. They are still a team any Big East team should be expected to beat. For the most part, there is way more talent on power conference teams. That's why you hear so much hype about the Big East, ACC, etc. and not the MAAC or CAA. I remember at Marist I would be pumped if we got a 2 star recruit. Right now we are loaded with 6 top 100 4 star players. It's an entirely different level.

We should beat them on paper, but they have a Wooden candidate, a lot more upperclassmen, and we are without 4 or 5 important players. If this game was midseason and we had all of our pieces I'd say we'd win no problem, but we are coming in lean right now. We haven't even seen D'Lo this season. I love our talent level this year, but right now we're not yet where we need to be or will be.

 

[Stevo]

 Hated seeing these guys in the opener when the schedule was released. Assuming we are w/out Orlandito Tuesday, I believe it's a tall task to steal this one. I'll say it again, Sanchez and Branch are the two most important guys on the roster.

 

We have better players and we're home (Detroit was not a good road team last year). We should win this game and it's not a "steal" any way you look at it. I'm not saying we can't lose, but let's be real here. We should beat Detroit with or without Orlando and Marco.

 

I agree we should win but the difference in talent betw mid majors and power conference teams is not that great.

It is not only "juggernauts" who give power conference teams problems. Depth is what separates these teams butbon a given night. I means St Petes and NJIT? Detroit is not Betune Cookman. They will give our youngbteam trouble.

That said, not feeling negative about our chances. Just watch too much ball to be unrealistic.

Disagree. I'd only say the difference isn't that great between mid's vs. power conference teams for a select few teams: St. Mary's, Gonzaga, Butler, UNLV, Temple, Creighton, Murray St., etc. Detroit is good but let's not kid ourselves...they aren't a juggernaut. They are still a team any Big East team should be expected to beat. For the most part, there is way more talent on power conference teams. That's why you hear so much hype about the Big East, ACC, etc. and not the MAAC or CAA. I remember at Marist I would be pumped if we got a 2 star recruit. Right now we are loaded with 6 top 100 4 star players. It's an entirely different level.

 

[LINY89]

Who's their Wooden candidate, McCallum? And IMO we still have way more talent than them even without Sanchez, Marco, Branch, and Felix.

 

[1and1sju]

We may be more talented, but the talent you're talking about is projected; it's not a measure of who would help you more in a game today. Guys like Sampson and Obekpa are perfect examples of that.

And don't dismiss Detroit's experience. You saw what it did for us two years ago. They know their offense inside and out by now, can you say that for our guys?


This isn't going to be popular, but: I would be very surprised if we win Tuesday.
We might be good by February, but we're not going to be very good by Tuesday afternoon.

 

[LINY89]

They may very well win...but let's not make Detroit into Davidson with Curry a few yrs ago. This team has 1 great player. You really would be surprised if we won? Home court, deeper team, taller team, 3 top 100 players coming back with experience, etc. We are a Big East team. We are supposed to win. Whether we do remains to be seen.

 

[L J S A]

I think we'll win if GGA and Balamou play. If we attempt to wait out Sanchez and Bourgault and play with seven guys, we'll be screwed at the first sight of foul trouble. And three freshman frontcourt players can't be expected to stay foul free in their first real college game, especially against a point guard with the drive and dish ability to play on any team in the country.