Our team is becoming more and more frustrated and is regressing because of a rigid system that hasn't worked. When one of the most successful coaches ever, Bob Knight said that he could never understand how a zone defense can be successful from preventing another team from scoring that is proof enough for me. All these teams have at least two or more sharpshooters that will make 3 pointers if they are open enough which they will be with enough crisp passing around the court. Coach Dunlap was quoted as saying he tried to focus on Georgetown's best two outside shooters but could'nt stop all of them which again shows the weaknesses of a zone defense. It's time to allow our team's quickness and athleticism to be utilized by going to a man defense to salvage the confidence and the rest of this season for this team.
Enough with the Zone Defense Already!
- Thread starter pumpkin83
- Start date
Thank You. You confirmed my point. How can you expect only six players to continuously chase the ball around without tiring and eventually allowing someone becoming open for an unchallenged 3pointer. Man to man defense has alwaya been St John's strength and with only six players available it would be considerably less taxing on the team's stamina.
Class of 72
Active member
.......and Boeheim never did it with 5 freshmen and a JC as the 6th man.
Some observations from tonight:
Our guys had no legs and it showed in the rebounding and defensive rotations.
For the Gift haters, first half of the season he had a few double-doubles. This is the same GG that scored 18 points and 10 rebounds against what I think is the best team in the country - Kentucky. A week ago he scored 15 and 5 rebounds against DePaul. His legs are gone. There is no offense run through him. He touches the ball almost by accident now as Greene looks for only Moe and D'A when he himself is not taking a shot.
The Hall hit 62% from BOTH 2 and 3 pt line. Has not happened all year----won't happen again. Wide open prayer shots went in --- 9 straight 3's at one point. 34% three point shooters do not become 62% shooters because of the opposition----lady luck plays a big part.
The Hall has 5 scoring options on the floor while SJ has two. Both of our guys were ineffective. Moe once again convinced me Bobre and his friend are correct---tonight was another NBA first round worthy game. P.S. he and the rest of the team played like tired and confused freshmen tonight.
Seton Hall had a very good balance of experienced upperclassmen especially Theodore and very good freshmen.
everyone's frustrated. no one, this time last year, thought we'd be 10-16. it is what it is. everyone's doing their best. i'm still convinced this staff will lead us from the horrendous disaster norm left behind. it'll take a bit longer than we hoped.
in the meantime, enjoy savoring the giants' super bowl win...the stanley cup the rangers will be winning this year and the run the knicks will make in the playoffs. it's great to be a new yorker.
in the meantime, enjoy savoring the giants' super bowl win...the stanley cup the rangers will be winning this year and the run the knicks will make in the playoffs. it's great to be a new yorker.
I beg to differ about the record comment; one of the problems on this board is the unrealistic expectations of players once they get to SJU and the dynamics of building a team. I realize fans are fans, but everyone looked at the highlight videos and thought we were bringing in a team that could immediately be successful; basketball people knew otherwise. Personally, we have a better record than I thought we would have. Means nothing because I never post my "predictions" but anyone looking at this objectively knew we were bringing in 2 scorers, one of whom has a well deserved reputation for going invisible for long stretches of games; 2 very good athletic role players, one of whom got here late, and 2 question marks. Greene has generally played well but certainly is not ready for the role he is being forced to perform, and GG, IMO, is not really a BE player, a backup at best. NO UPPERCLASSMEN to smooth the transition, no head coach, and no real opportunity to use one of the best learning tools a coaching staff has with young players, the ability to coach individually during a game and then let the player sit, think, and watch the game. IMO, these kids have OVERACHIEVED and that opinion is shared by many basketball people I know who have no horse in the race, they are not SJU fans. Unfortunately, most fans don't know, don't care, and ignore the real dynamics of having a winning team and building a consistent winning program. We are in like, the fifth grade and most fans expect us to have a Masters.
Logen, I stated on last night how bad Ohio State was, in '97-'98, prior to going to the Final Four in '98-'99 (yeah, the year they beat us in the Elite 8). I'm not predicting us to go to the Final Four next season, but I believe we can certainly make a significant leap with a solid recruiting class and the current core in tact.
This has been a tough year, but I'm certainly not in panic mode. We shall see how things shape up in the spring.
rawdognyc
Active member
What were the predictions by the BE coaches pre season?? Enough said....These posters don't think realistically of what to expect of a team that plays 6...SIX....players in one of the toughest conferences in the whole country...are people really this stupid that they cant understand why we lose games?? I for one understand that they can play a top 10 team and stay in it the whole game, then after 1...ONE...day off they have to play another team that hits like 20 three's and we lose...God forbid these kids are tired and their defense isn't always what it needs to be...I just can't stand posters that are negative because they can't understand the simplicity of why this year is what it is.
So we finally land a name coach and he has a good year and then brings in a top 3 recruiting class with a supposed PG who rang up Wilt Chmberlain numbers etc. and people are getting criticized for having high expectations? Why? Yes the crap hit the fan and expectations had to be greatly reduced but this wasn't forseeable. Maybe people are just tired of disappointment with this program but I don't think they deserve to be criticized for it.
rawdognyc
Active member
Bro, you just admitted that everything went wrong, so what are you expecting?? does it suck things didn't come into fruition?? well duh of course, however since they didn't who's fault is it for keeping a certain expectation?? I for one am enjoying watching these guys play because I know that on any given night they could pull out an upset, and guess what bobby, no matter what team they play, with their current state it would be an upset...No team is in the sitch that this team is in...and if this was a few years in, I could understand disappointment in the program, but it's a year in with a bunch of unforeseeable issues....i now see why others dont bother to have a normal convo with you because you don't think logically about things....
Right on Point....also last nights lopsided loss was also due to our inability on offense to get the ball into the post, so we settled for long shots which allowed Hall to get out on break and spot up on the 3-point line. Many of those 3-pointers were not against a set zone. If were able to get better looks inside and made baskets the game would of been much closer with a lot less open 3's on their end.
beast of the east
Active member
I hear that the NBA banned the zone until 2002 because they wanted teams to score less.
I agree about the legs, but GG is overmatched at this level. Statistically it looks like he was tearing it up at UK, but that was not the case in reality. He was like a kid playing against his big brother...he got his shot thrown back at him and it was like a joke to UK.
He does well against lesser competition, but he's undersized and overmatched against legit frontlines. I love the wahe takes charges, though, and his energy. He's best served coming off our bench and giving 10-12 minutes. The minutes GG plays next year will really be indicative of how good we are IMO. If he's playign 20 mpg, we are in trouble.
As for our zone, it simply cannot be judged at this point. These kids are too tired to rotate and closeout properly. They were even worse in man-to-man and Pope and Theodore would have gone for 25 a piece if we went man all game.
It boils down to starting five freshmen, playing with no size, and playing with six players is just not fair. It's a miracle every conference game hasn't gone like last night.