Early Team Evaluations

J

juniorRed

Member
   from stjohnsrivals.com message board:

Sources close to the situation say that O. Sanchez is better than advertised. He does "everything" well and is described as "special".

Other johnnies who have stepped up are J. Sampson & D. Harrison.

The source also says M. Bourgault has been lighting it up from the perimeter & that C. Jones is a bruiser with skill and speed.

Obekpa, we r told, is a game-changer due to his defense.
 
 Everything you wrote makes a great deal of sense.
All of the newcomers should contribute this season if given the opportunity with the exception of Belamou who alongside hooper will benefit from a year of practicing with our great staff and dep and talented team. It should be a fun and exciting season. If Jakaar can step into 90percent of Mo's shoes and Orlando and CO each provide 15 solid minutes at the 4and5 positions we will be a good team.
 
 Everything you wrote makes a great deal of sense.
All of the newcomers should contribute this season if given the opportunity with the exception of Belamou who alongside hooper will benefit from a year of practicing with our great staff and dep and talented team. It should be a fun and exciting season. If Jakaar can step into 90percent of Mo's shoes and Orlando and CO each provide 15 solid minutes at the 4and5 positions we will be a good team.
Click to expand...
 

Not surprised at any positive reports on Sanchez - I fully expect him to have the most EARLY impact. His skill set, combination of size and quickness, alone would dictate that, but his added combination of age, JC Experience, and international playing experience really gives him a step up on the other newcomers as they head into BE level competition.
 
 Everything you wrote makes a great deal of sense.
All of the newcomers should contribute this season if given the opportunity with the exception of Belamou who alongside hooper will benefit from a year of practicing with our great staff and dep and talented team. It should be a fun and exciting season. If Jakaar can step into 90percent of Mo's shoes and Orlando and CO each provide 15 solid minutes at the 4and5 positions we will be a good team.
Click to expand...
 

Not surprised at any positive reports on Sanchez - I fully expect him to have the most EARLY impact. His skill set, combination of size and quickness, alone would dictate that, but his added combination of age, JC Experience, and international playing experience really gives him a step up on the other newcomers as they head into BE level competition.
Click to expand...
 

Agree with your post , he appears to be ready to play from day 1. Personally barring any injuries I see Jakaar and Orlando having the most impact of any newcomers this season but I see Jakaar stepping into mo'srole as opposed to Orlando but I could be wrong. we have a deep and talented team with multiple possibilities and many players who can play more than one position.
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
 
   from stjohnsrivals.com message board:

Sources close to the situation say that O. Sanchez is better than advertised. He does "everything" well and is described as "special".

Other johnnies who have stepped up are J. Sampson & D. Harrison.

The source also says M. Bourgault has been lighting it up from the perimeter & that C. Jones is a bruiser with skill and speed.

Obekpa, we r told, is a game-changer due to his defense.
Click to expand...
 

I had the chance to watch a couple of Sanchez's games during the NJCAA Tournament and a couple of his games on the Pro-Am circuit. So, I'm not at all surprised if this source is on the money. You could clearly see he has the ability to be "special" by the things he can do at 6'9". We're talking about a guy who is a terrific passer; handles the ball well; displays a nice midrange game; a shot swatter; and a solid rebounder. I've been saying it a for awhile that this guy has a pretty, solid all-around game.

Sampson has worked on his shot, and it seems to be paying dividends. Sampson also has a pretty decent handle. He is gonna be deadly on the break.

Harrison, per Lavin, seems to have been working on improving his PG skills. By improving that part of his game, to go along with having more and better overall talent on this team, will (IMO) make Harrison a more dangerous player this season.

Bourgault tore his ACL two seasons ago, and most people, who are familiar with those kinda injuries, will tell you that is usually takes a couple of years before one is truly back to their original form. Hopefully, that is the case for Bourgault. We're talking about a sharpshooter who has possibly totally healed from an ACL injury, who may show parts of his game that we weren't aware he had at his disposal.

I don't particularly know enough about Jones, but you could tell per his video that he's aggressive as a bull! I'm not sure how well he shoots it from the outside, but he seems to, at least, have a soft touch on the vids. I'm curious to see what he's able to bring to the table

Obekpa is the shotblocker extraordanaire. He may not get the assist, but he'll be the catalyst to many fastbreaks this season.

I'm really looking forward to this season tipping off.
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
Click to expand...
 

I think Balamou will get some minutes here and there, but like yourself, I see him being too far down the bench to make a difference.
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
Click to expand...
 

I think Balamou will get some minutes here and there, but like yourself, I see him being too far down the bench to make a difference.
Click to expand...
 

He will get in enough games he is going to be better than we think He as too much talent and our staff will bring out the best in him I could be crazy but I see us going to the big dance again
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
Click to expand...
 

I think Balamou will get some minutes here and there, but like yourself, I see him being too far down the bench to make a difference.
Click to expand...
 

He will get in enough games he is going to be better than we think He as too much talent and our staff will bring out the best in him I could be crazy but I see us going to the big dance again
Click to expand...
 

You're gonna have Greene, Harrison, Garrett, Pointer, Bourgault, Sampson, Sanchez, God's Gift, and Obekpa gobbling up most of the minutes. Not to mention, Branch will also start to gobble up some minutes once mid-December rolls around.

Maybe, Balamou surprises everyone and garner decent minutes, but I don't think he'll get more minutes than the players I've mentioned. He has time to mature, so it's not a bad thing for him to not see much time this season. Quite frankly, I don't believe he'll see many minutes at all this upcoming season.

Finally, I don't think you're "crazy" to see us going to the NCAA Tournament this season. I fully expect to receive an invitation to the "Big Dance." I feel we'll be amongst the top 7 teams in the conference. More times than not, that'll garner a bid for Big East teams.   
 
 Balamou will get time too, but he'll certsinly not get a lion's share this season. I too think he's significantly talented and will have no problem getting court time. We are simply too deep for him to get huge chunks of time is year though.

I too fully expect us to be dancing. We have a nice athletic and deep backcourt and an even deeper frontcourt. This team has the makings of going deep into March if we get all these young players meshed with the returning guys. We even have two legit post player's in Gift and Obekpa, something we had in a long, long time.
 
All this talent coupled with a tenacious defense and the right rotation should enable us to run some very good teams into the ground.

I see us dancing as well. 
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
Click to expand...
 

I think Balamou will get some minutes here and there, but like yourself, I see him being too far down the bench to make a difference.
Click to expand...
 

He will get in enough games he is going to be better than we think He as too much talent and our staff will bring out the best in him I could be crazy but I see us going to the big dance again
Click to expand...
 

Crazy? Barring injuries, I think it's crazy NOT to have us back in the dance.

Our PG was the #52 ranked prospect in the country.
Our SG was the #47 ranked prospect in the country, and the LEADING FRESHMAN scorer in major conference D-1 ball last year.
Our SF was the #41 ranked prospect in the country.
Our PF was the #50 ranked prospect in the country.
Our C was the #69 ranked prospect in the country.

Our BACKUP PG played 31 minutes a game last year, scored 8 a game and led the team in assists.
our BACKUP PF is a JC All American
Our BACKUP C is a JC All American who averaged 9pts and 6 boards for us last year
OUr BACKUP SF was the #73 prospect in the country.

And Boregualt, Balamou and Jones are pure gravy.

Teams with this kind of talent DON'T miss the tourney except for catastrophic reasons.
 
What people have to keep in mind is that it is very rare for a true freshman to come into a power conference like the Big East and start producing from day one. We as St. John's fans were spoiled last season by how well Harkless and Harrison did right off the bat. In the case of players like Balamou and Jones, who are both legitimate freshmen in every sense of the word, they may take time to adjust to the skill and quickness that they will see everyday in the Big East. Maybe they spend the majority of their minutes on the bench this year. The important thing is that neither of them get discouraged. College basketball is a learning process and the majority of incoming players have a major learning curve to overcome due to the better competition.

I think that is one of the saddest things about all of these players transferring year in and year out. Don't get me wrong, there are such things as bad situations. But to see some of these players transfer a year later due to lack of playing time is such a demoralizing trend. What the majority of these players don't realize is that patience is a virtue. In the last few years, there is no better example of that than Thomas Robinson. In his first year at Kansas, he saw 7 mpg and averaged 2 ppg. In his second year, he saw 14 mpg and averaged 7 ppg. There was a learning curve there and he was patient enough to accept that he would benefit from it later on. I'm not saying that this will be the case with every player, but what is more important is for freshmen to take their lumps and try to soak up as much knowledge as you can -- whether it be in practice, film room, or the limited game time action that you are seeing. Only then will you grow as a player. 
 
What people have to keep in mind is that it is very rare for a true freshman to come into a power conference like the Big East and start producing from day one. We as St. John's fans were spoiled last season by how well Harkless and Harrison did right off the bat. In the case of players like Balamou and Jones, who are both legitimate freshmen in every sense of the word, they may take time to adjust to the skill and quickness that they will see everyday in the Big East. Maybe they spend the majority of their minutes on the bench this year. The important thing is that neither of them get discouraged. College basketball is a learning process and the majority of incoming players have a major learning curve to overcome due to the better competition.

I think that is one of the saddest things about all of these players transferring year in and year out. Don't get me wrong, there are such things as bad situations. But to see some of these players transfer a year later due to lack of playing time is such a demoralizing trend. What the majority of these players don't realize is that patience is a virtue. In the last few years, there is no better example of that than Thomas Robinson. In his first year at Kansas, he saw 7 mpg and averaged 2 ppg. In his second year, he saw 14 mpg and averaged 7 ppg. There was a learning curve there and he was patient enough to accept that he would benefit from it later on. I'm not saying that this will be the case with every player, but what is more important is for freshmen to take their lumps and try to soak up as much knowledge as you can -- whether it be in practice, film room, or the limited game time action that you are seeing. Only then will you grow as a player. 
Click to expand...
 

Agree wholeheartedly. But remember that most of these kids are used to being 'the man' every time they stepped on the court. Its tough to go from being the main attraction to a bench warmer. And I would imagine that during the recruiting process, they were told about how much playing time they would get and how great they would be there and this and that (don't see any coach telling a player how comfortable their benches are or how they could really use them as a practice player). So the players think that its all great and gonna be easy, and then when they get on campus, its not like that at all....... The players just want playing time and the chance to prove that they have the talent and ability to succeed, and when that doesnt happen, they go elsewhere.

And as for Mr. Robinson, it's a lot easier to be patient and take your lumps when you are at a school like Kansas when you are winning all the time and are almost guaranteed to go to the dance every year, and also when they are consistently sending players to the NBA.
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
Click to expand...
 

I think Balamou will get some minutes here and there, but like yourself, I see him being too far down the bench to make a difference.
Click to expand...
 

He will get in enough games he is going to be better than we think He as too much talent and our staff will bring out the best in him I could be crazy but I see us going to the big dance again
Click to expand...
 

Crazy? Barring injuries, I think it's crazy NOT to have us back in the dance.

Our PG was the #52 ranked prospect in the country.
Our SG was the #47 ranked prospect in the country, and the LEADING FRESHMAN scorer in major conference D-1 ball last year.
Our SF was the #41 ranked prospect in the country.
Our PF was the #50 ranked prospect in the country.
Our C was the #69 ranked prospect in the country.

Our BACKUP PG played 31 minutes a game last year, scored 8 a game and led the team in assists.
our BACKUP PF is a JC All American
Our BACKUP C is a JC All American who averaged 9pts and 6 boards for us last year
OUr BACKUP SF was the #73 prospect in the country.

And Boregualt, Balamou and Jones are pure gravy.

Teams with this kind of talent DON'T miss the tourney except for catastrophic reasons.
Click to expand...
 

This is "Final Four" talk! :cheer:
 
Oh I said we would be dancing months ago. What most people dont take into consideration will be the red vs white practice sessions will be hell and very competitive now. THat kind of practice will only make us that much tougher   in actual games.

Let's Go Redmen (sorry i cant say redstorm)
 
Did I miss something, what happened with Balamou???? 
Click to expand...
 

Nothing at all. My opinion is he will play very little this season, barring injuries, as there are too many talented players ahead of him.
Click to expand...
 

I think Balamou will get some minutes here and there, but like yourself, I see him being too far down the bench to make a difference.
Click to expand...
 

He will get in enough games he is going to be better than we think He as too much talent and our staff will bring out the best in him I could be crazy but I see us going to the big dance again
Click to expand...
 

Crazy? Barring injuries, I think it's crazy NOT to have us back in the dance.

Our PG was the #52 ranked prospect in the country.
Our SG was the #47 ranked prospect in the country, and the LEADING FRESHMAN scorer in major conference D-1 ball last year.
Our SF was the #41 ranked prospect in the country.
Our PF was the #50 ranked prospect in the country.
Our C was the #69 ranked prospect in the country.

Our BACKUP PG played 31 minutes a game last year, scored 8 a game and led the team in assists.
our BACKUP PF is a JC All American
Our BACKUP C is a JC All American who averaged 9pts and 6 boards for us last year
OUr BACKUP SF was the #73 prospect in the country.

And Boregualt, Balamou and Jones are pure gravy.

Teams with this kind of talent DON'T miss the tourney except for catastrophic reasons.
Click to expand...
 

This is "Final Four" talk! :cheer:
Click to expand...
 


Anything is possible. But All I'm saying is this team SHOULD be dancing. Get into the dance, and Steve Lavin is usually good for one or two surprises - again, barring anything catastrophic (he lost in the first round in 1999 when Dan Gadzuric broke his leg the week before the dance. And we all know we lost in the first round in 2011 when DJ went down in the last game of the season and missed the dance.

But Steve's also survived the catastrophes. In 1997 he reached the Elite 8, despite Jelani McCoy going down with a cracked sternum during the dance (they WOULD have been final four with a healthy Jelani). The following year, they reached the Sweet 16, despite frosh star Baron Davis tearing his ACL in the Round of 32 game. 1999 was the Gadzuric year (and a turf toe in the final regular season game for the soph Baron and they still only lost by 2 pts). In 2000, they reached the sweet 16, despite star PG Earl Watson fracturing his eye socket in the round of 32 game. In 2001 they were back in the Sweet 16. That was the year everyone was healthy - just poor luck of the draw that they didn't advance farther - the Sweet 16 matchup was with eventual champs Duke (JWill, Battier, Boozer, Duhon, Mike Dunleavy, Casey Sanders & Nick Horvath). In 2002 despite Steve's defacto lame duck status (AD Pete Dalis had been caught calling Rick Pitino and offering him the HC job that February), Steve upset #2 seed Cincy to reach the Sweet 16 again - despite having team captain Rico Hines shred his knee in the round of 32 win....

I will be majorly disappointed if THIS years team isn't dancing (and none of that NIT bullpucky)....
 
 Everything you wrote makes a great deal of sense.
we will be a good team.
Click to expand...
 

yes and - besides being a good team -

we are exciting, athletic, evolving and a place to be at, relevant etc. -

what more could we desire?

all the best
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top