EXHIB (POST GAME) Queens, Wed. Oct. 30, 7p, ESPN-3, TuneIn

Doubt we will see anything scarier tomorrow on Halloween than Heron going down like he did tonight.
 
Team played pretty well tonight. I think we will be well coached and play hard all year. That said, let's call a spade a spade.....after Heron and Figgy, there is a substantial drop in talent.
 
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Roberts very much improved
Williams needs to be more assertive on offense...needs to get Earlington’s conscience (which is none)
 
My initial thoughts but also in light of level of competition:
Perimeter D. Not good. Haven't seen the numbers but rebounding looked unimpressive. Happy to see the fouls not get out of control which was a concern I had.

ROBERTS: awesome development. His confidence seems sky high and love seeing him vocal and directing traffic like a veteran.
Rutherford: like his hustle and skill on D and poise on offensive. If he can play like that against higher level of competition I would be very happy with him in that role. Lack of flash but solid play and blue collar approach.
Champagnie: two early fouls and not a lot of production, but does not look like a scared freshman.
Williams: looks good. playing poised and smart maybe a little rust. Looks like he'd double as backup PG if Dunn doesn't get clear.
Carraher: pretty much what I expected.
O'Connell: liked seeing him on the floor after the ball.
Cole: Still think he is a good basketball player even in his 11 or so seconds of PT.
Sears: would liked to have seen more. I was expecting him to be more aggressive.
Earlington: He has ZERO lack of confidence. Coach seems to have a lot of confidence in him too as it looked like they were running the offense through him for a while at the high post.
 
Heron going down was scary thank god he seems to be ok. Not sure I would've wanted him in there after that even if he felt pretty good. As others have said, it will be LJ and Heron. Those are the ones every defense will key in on. If you shut them down it will likely be a blowout. Liked the progress I saw from Roberts. Looked like a baby giraffe last year with some awkward play but seems to have put a lot more muscle on and looks way more comfortable and confident. Williams had some decent moments rebounding, but he needs to realize we will need him to help score. The first few minutes were brutal and we looked like we could be headed for St. Thomas Aquinas part 2. That kid Bovell is a D1 player. 6-2 relentless guard from LI who was making 3's like free throws. Plays with a lot of confidence. Thankfully we calmed down a lot and settled down, but it's still a massive, massive problem giving up tons of 3's at a high clip. Just seems to be an issue that never gets solved, but hopefully after more practicing and experience we can fix it.

Heron and Fig looked great and ready for season, however the drop in talent after them is so substantial that we will struggle mightily to find a 3rd scorer. We will get blown out probably a bunch of games but I hope to see improvement. Caraher made a nice 3 and seems to have good touch. Earlington looked clearly better than last year but again this is Queens College. I'll wait to see what happens in D1 and then Big East play. You could see remnants here and there of the defense CMA wants and I like it. Harassing defense and we looked very well-conditioned. If you noticed, the later in the game it got, the better we looked. Queens was tired. By the way, at this point I'll take their asian big man too.

All in all a success. Nerves early but turned into a laugher. Time to ice Heron up and get ready for season.
 
Just got home from the game
1) rutherford will be an issue against some teams in that they will double off him daring him to shoot
2) Julian is a better player than sears. I expected a little more out of sears.
3) LJ's range is like 30
4) Heron was hurt last season - stroke is so effortless now.
5) Williams still a little rust from time off with the back but played well
6) One line up with Caraher , Sears, Earlington looked a little plodding

All in all they looked good on D press wise. 3 point D was eh. Corners were always wide open.
 
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Favorite thing I heard tonight, after an Earlington three "attempt"; "coach doesn't want him shooting from out there" Refreshing after years or watching anybody and everybody shoot from whatever they wanted. There really are things called bad shots!

Also saw something I was unfamiliar with: offensive rebounding, when did that become legal?

Rutherford scares me at the point, sure looks like he can't shoot.

Josh Roberts fumbled a pass, hoping that is something he worked on in the off season.

They did what they were supposed to, beat up on an inferior opponent. Does this do much to get them ready for the season?
 
The main issue with this team, is the PG position. I don't want to hate on Rutherford, because it's not his fault, but him as the primary PG does not bode well for the season, if it stays like that. He passed up a lot of good looks, almost seemed like he was afraid to miss. Right now, they are essentially playing 4-on-5 offensively with him on the court, and that won't work. Now, you're going to ask me what the answer is. I don't have one, that's what makes this season a potentially scary one.

Everybody else seemed to have their share of positive and negative moments out there (except for LJ and Roberts - they didn't have any negatives). Looks like guys understand their roles well, the ones that have been defined, anyway.

You can't take much out of it, which is probably a good thing, because it means that we at least won easily. That being said, Queens was bad, even by D2 standards. They seemed to feel (perhaps correctly) that their only shot at being competitive, was to shoot as many 3's as possible, and hope to stick around. They were hot early in both halves, but it didn't last.

Any time we put even a little bit of pressure D on them, they wilted. I do think pressure D will be a strength of this team, especially when Steere comes back, but no way will it be THIS effective against Big East teams. That's just too much to ask for, IMO.

Overall, it was a satisfying dress rehearsal, IMO. Here's hoping that opening night next week, goes almost as well.
 
Saw the game and was not impressed Roberts looks better and so does a few of the rest We still have a problem with defending the 3 I think it’s because he has everyone double teaming etc thus they are out of position when a team passes the ball to a team mate left open by the pressing. I do like the pressure and think as we go forward we will get better defending the open man buy you are right talent goes off once you go beyond Heron and Figi but they are fun to watch let’s see what they can do with bigger and better teams No real outside shooting other than F/H like them better than last yr they all seem to put out 100%
 
Just finished watching the replay. I see some others posted some general observations. Here is what I saw.
Pros:
1- Ball movement was good. I assume MA wants lots of it and that’s what you got.
2- Mostly aggressive man to man by SJU. Some half court and 3/4 trap.
3- Figgy/Heron look ready to roll.
4- Rutherford looked like he can hold his own. Not great on offense but solid on D.
5- Roberts flashed offensively a few times. Seems improved.
Cons:
1- Still the gang that can’t shoot straight.
2- Too many wide open 3s. The one kid on QC could play for us.
3- Very little inside for us. Too much perimeter shooting.
4- Still too much loose play. I get that’s the style but bigger, stronger D1 teams will feast on our turnovers.

Hopefully, keep working. Maybe get Dunn or Steere back at some point. Will be a long season without depth playing this style. Foul trouble given the reaching could be a huge problem.
 
[quote="JohnnyFan" post=361337]Team played pretty well tonight. I think we will be well coached and play hard all year. That said, let's call a spade a spade.....after Heron and Figgy, there is a substantial drop in talent.[/quote]

Agree JF, but Roberts looked great, aggressive & v athletic & mobile. Williams probably rusty--hope his back issues have healed. Rutherford looked solid on D and steady at the point. Champagnie was flat today but looks like he belongs. Carraher didn't look good. Earlington outperformed my expectations but a butcher underneath. Figgy looked great, as did Mustapha, I think Sears can be a good presence underneath,
I don't think today's game tells us much about how we'll fare against better competition but we will press and we will play hard.
 
We beat up on Queens College and won by 35 points with 9 scholarship players. Pretty much went as expected but had Dunn and Steere played it likely would have been a 50 point blowout.
I feel confident that Dunn will be deemed eligible and Steere will be our center by Christmas so this is not the team that will be competing in Big East games. Therefore the current group is getting beaucoup experience which will pay dividends by February.

As for the players tonight, as others have said, Figgy and Roberts were very good. Heron was OK but not as effective as he should have been against a Queens College level of talent.
For Champagnie to start over Sears tell us that Sears will be 7th or 8th man at best because he seems to lack the athleticism of both Julian and Josh. Hope Sears improves his inside game quickly.
Point guard will be a big issue without Dunn and the little frosh.
 
I was at the game and I think Class of 72 summed up the game very well.

Some additional things I noticed as I watched CMA's coaching. He is not confrontational with the referees. At timeouts he does not spend half the time talking to the other coaches but sits down right away with the team. He did not waste time putting little chairs on the court. He doesn't sweet talk but reads the riot act and he actually uses the board to demonstrate what he wants done.

His Coordinator of BB Ops., Ron Brown, noted a miscall by the referees and told CMA who yelled to the refs and they reversed the call. Ron is a BB lifer who is on top of the game and one of those little things can make a big difference.

Heron has really taken to the leadership role and is talkative with his mates where last season he was reticent. LJ was LJ and loves the full court game. Caraher as good instincts for the game (4 assists) and had one really heads up outlet assist in 1st half. Team is constantly looking down court to speed up the game. They will wear teams down if their opponents play a limited number of players (as we have the last few years). Williams will have to be more selfish and take some more shots. Earlington did a nice job in the high post dishing to the wings. Nick as noted is not the offensive threat but he can be steadying force. Hopefully Dunn can suit up this year.

The speed they play with was giving me whiplash.

Hopefully more "fans" come out next Wednesday.
 
[quote="sjc88" post=361347]Just finished watching the replay. I see some others posted some general observations. Here is what I saw.
Pros:
1- Ball movement was good. I assume MA wants lots of it and that’s what you got.
2- Mostly aggressive man to man by SJU. Some half court and 3/4 trap.
3- Figgy/Heron look ready to roll.
4- Rutherford looked like he can hold his own. Not great on offense but solid on D.
5- Roberts flashed offensively a few times. Seems improved.
Cons:
1- Still the gang that can’t shoot straight.
2- Too many wide open 3s. The one kid on QC could play for us.
3- Very little inside for us. Too much perimeter shooting.
4- Still too much loose play. I get that’s the style but bigger, stronger D1 teams will feast on our turnovers.

Hopefully, keep working. Maybe get Dunn or Steere back at some point. Will be a long season without depth playing this style. Foul trouble given the reaching could be a huge problem.[/quote]

They will get Steere back in December, even if they lose the appeal, so you don't have anything to worry about there.
 
[quote="BrooklynRed" post=361352]I was at the game and I think Class of 72 summed up the game very well.

Some additional things I noticed as I watched CMA's coaching. He is not confrontational with the referees. At timeouts he does not spend half the time talking to the other coaches but sits down right away with the team. He did not waste time putting little chairs on the court. He doesn't sweet talk but reads the riot act and he actually uses the board to demonstrate what he wants done.

His Coordinator of BB Ops., Ron Brown, noted a miscall by the referees and told CMA who yelled to the refs and they reversed the call. Ron is a BB lifer who is on top of the game and one of those little things can make a big difference.

Heron has really taken to the leadership role and is talkative with his mates where last season he was reticent. LJ was LJ and loves the full court game. Caraher as good instincts for the game (4 assists) and had one really heads up outlet assist in 1st half. Team is constantly looking down court to speed up the game. They will wear teams down if their opponents play a limited number of players (as we have the last few years). Williams will have to be more selfish and take some more shots. Earlington did a nice job in the high post dishing to the wings. Nick as noted is not the offensive threat but he can be steadying force. Hopefully Dunn can suit up this year.

The speed they play with was giving me whiplash.

Hopefully more "fans" come out next Wednesday.[/quote]

Very even handed summary, thanks. Caraher and Earlington combined for 8-16 shooting, 7 assists, with only 2 turnovers. Pretty fair “getting your feet wet” beginning for two players some appear to want to write off. Roberts was active, a beast on the offensive boards, not so much on the other end. Rutherford did his job, we generally were organized on offense. Williams very quietly had 5 assists. All in all, not a bad start, albeit against an overmatched team. Keep working, keep improving.
 
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