Fire Lavin!

[beast of the east]

Can somebody please tell me what you would have done differently today?

The only thing I would have done differently is not played Hooper so much. I didn't put much worth in his garbage time performance, but would have given him as much playing time. He shot 1-5 in 18 minutes, and although I do think he is a basketball player who can pass and handle the ball decently, he hasn't shown he can shoot with any pressure on him whatsoever. You can't prove to me that as bad as Branch has been, that Hooper merits 18 minutes to Branch's 8.

Other than that, we played decent defense today, at least if you go by Villanova's shooting %. We did lose the boards 42-31, and I guess when you go three guards, that will happen. I would have started pointer and not Greene. That point hardly mattered since our front line of Sanchez and Sampson immediately got into foul trouble and were not factors from that point out. Once they were in foul trouble, after Obekpa, there aren't any other big men worthy of significant playing time, so we would have gone small anyway.

On offense, we attacked, and attacked, and attacked the hoop. Nova did block 5 shots to our 6, but we were successfully able to penetrate, get relatively easy shots, and draw fouls. As mentioned, we missed so many relatively easy shots, I don't know what Lavin could have done to improve that.

Jordan played reasonably well, and shot 6-14. Surprisingly, as much as he penetrated, he didn't go to the line once. It's amazing how easily he can slash to the basket - he vaguely has the ability of a Monroe to shake free even in heavy traffic and heavily guarded, he gets off the shot he wants.

Harrison: 4-13
Greene: 2-8
Sampson; 4-11
Pointer: 1-8
Hooper: 1-5

Collectively: 12 for 45, 26.6% for players on the floor 123 minutes of the 200 total.

You ask me, two main reasons for the loss are things Lavin or any coach couldn't control: inability to make high percentage shots, and Sampson, Pointer, Sanchez racking up 14 fouls. I thought Sampson and Sanchez were going to have really big games and I think they could have.

I agree about Hooper and ask why wasn't Marco given minutes and Balamou over Pointer but the the missed shots under the basket were the killers, along with the refs. The most flagrant bad call was against Sanchez where the replay showed he was run into on a three point play but the ref gave Gtown 3 shots.

Did Sanchez really commit a foul on the three point shot deep in the right corner in the 2nd half? I took my eye off she shooter to watch the ball and the next thing you know, a 4th on sanchez was called, and 3 FT attempts. A couple of possessions later Jordan gets slammed driving to the hoop, bounces back towards the foul line as he goes up, maintains his body control and makes the shot, and no call. The worst of it wasn't the FT discrepancy, it was taking Sampson and Sanchez off the floor and out of the game.

It was a BS call. Raftery also mentioned it when the replay was shown.

Thanks. I didn't think Sanchez was lunging at him for a block when I took my eye off the shooter. One thing is becoming very clear. GG has regressed in his year off, and is really doesn't provide much depth up front in terms of being an adequate backup. Unless his play improves, we don't have any big bodies after Obekpa off the bench. That hurts us as much as lack of shooting.

 

[ghostzapper]

If you watched on TV you did not get a clear view of this (because it was filmed from the wrong side) but with 5:18 left and St. John's down four 60-56 Josh Hart clearly dribbled the ball off his leg for an obvious Villanova turnover. From where I sat in the Garden it was as clear a turnover as I have seen all season. Somehow a legally blind ref saw the ball go off a phantom Red Storm player (Perhaps it was the Ghost of Lenny Cooke or Darius Miles) and gave the ball back to the Wildcats. Seconds later Jay Vaughn Pinkston found an open Darrun Hilliard on the wing for an open three and a seven point lead. Game Over! That was the crowning bad call in as poorly an officiated game as I have seen since last year's Villanova game. Don't get me wrong we lost the game on the square and I believe Villanova was the better team but the refs did a bad job for most of this game and that phantom turnover call was the height of absurdity.

 

[beast of the east]

If you watched on TV you did not get a clear view of this (because it was filmed from the wrong side) but with 5:18 left and St. John's down four 60-56 Josh Hart clearly dribbled the ball off his leg for an obvious Villanova turnover. From where I sat in the Garden it was as clear a turnover as I have seen all season. Somehow a legally blind ref saw the ball go off a phantom Red Storm player (Perhaps it was the Ghost of Lenny Cooke or Darius Miles) and gave the ball back to the Wildcats. Seconds later Jay Vaughn Pinkston found an open Darrun Hilliard on the wing for an open three and a seven point lead. Game Over! That was the crowning bad call in as poorly an officiated game as I have seen since last year's Villanova game. Don't get me wrong we lost the game on the square and I believe Villanova was the better team but the refs did a bad job for most of this game and that phantom turnover call was the height of absurdity.

Although you can never be sure sitting in the 100's, your description is what it appeared to be. Another big spot, but hey, Nova capitalized and made their shots when it counted. In that regard, our big moment was when Harrison/Jordan lost the ball and Nova scored. Like the Syracuse game, Nova played well enough when it mattered to win, and we didn't play well at all in the deciding moments of the game. Often that is the only difference between winning and losing programs - the ability to perform well down the stretch.

 

[Class of 72]

Very disappointing. How ever Xavier, Georgetown & Villanova are a combined 11-1 in conference play right now. Not making excuses because I expect to for us to win these games but hopefully against the softer part of the schedule we take care of business and maybe we can get on a roll.

We are 0-3, do you think we can go 13-2 from here on out? Can we consistentAntly beat big east teams?

Haven't seen any signs of it but crazier things have happened. Trying to find hope

So from 60% to 90% winning percentage? I hope you are right. We lose once to a team we are expected to beat and our ncaa hope (which are weak at best) are done.

This team can win 11 more games and will lose 4 easily so winning 20 games before the BE Tourney is doable. They will still need to win the BE or, at minimum get to the final.

 

[STJ11Redmen]

If you watched on TV you did not get a clear view of this (because it was filmed from the wrong side) but with 5:18 left and St. John's down four 60-56 Josh Hart clearly dribbled the ball off his leg for an obvious Villanova turnover. From where I sat in the Garden it was as clear a turnover as I have seen all season. Somehow a legally blind ref saw the ball go off a phantom Red Storm player (Perhaps it was the Ghost of Lenny Cooke or Darius Miles) and gave the ball back to the Wildcats. Seconds later Jay Vaughn Pinkston found an open Darrun Hilliard on the wing for an open three and a seven point lead. Game Over! That was the crowning bad call in as poorly an officiated game as I have seen since last year's Villanova game. Don't get me wrong we lost the game on the square and I believe Villanova was the better team but the refs did a bad job for most of this game and that phantom turnover call was the height of absurdity.

Although you can never be sure sitting in the 100's, your description is what it appeared to be. Another big spot, but hey, Nova capitalized and made their shots when it counted. In that regard, our big moment was when Harrison/Jordan lost the ball and Nova scored. Like the Syracuse game, Nova played well enough when it mattered to win, and we didn't play well at all in the deciding moments of the game. Often that is the only difference between winning and losing programs - the ability to perform well down the stretch.

That was bad. Also the play near center court where the guy was falling out of bounds and threw the ball at Sheed and they called a push on Sheed when he never even touched the guy.

 

[gman]

Very disappointing. How ever Xavier, Georgetown & Villanova are a combined 11-1 in conference play right now. Not making excuses because I expect to for us to win these games but hopefully against the softer part of the schedule we take care of business and maybe we can get on a roll.

We are 0-3, do you think we can go 13-2 from here on out? Can we consistentAntly beat big east teams?

Haven't seen any signs of it but crazier things have happened. Trying to find hope

So from 60% to 90% winning percentage? I hope you are right. We lose once to a team we are expected to beat and our ncaa hope (which are weak at best) are done.

This team can win 11 more games and will lose 4 easily so winning 20 games before the BE Tourney is doable. They will still need to win the BE or, at minimum get to the final.

Than mean 10-8 in the new big east which = zero chance of making the ncaa.

 

[beast of the east]

If you watched on TV you did not get a clear view of this (because it was filmed from the wrong side) but with 5:18 left and St. John's down four 60-56 Josh Hart clearly dribbled the ball off his leg for an obvious Villanova turnover. From where I sat in the Garden it was as clear a turnover as I have seen all season. Somehow a legally blind ref saw the ball go off a phantom Red Storm player (Perhaps it was the Ghost of Lenny Cooke or Darius Miles) and gave the ball back to the Wildcats. Seconds later Jay Vaughn Pinkston found an open Darrun Hilliard on the wing for an open three and a seven point lead. Game Over! That was the crowning bad call in as poorly an officiated game as I have seen since last year's Villanova game. Don't get me wrong we lost the game on the square and I believe Villanova was the better team but the refs did a bad job for most of this game and that phantom turnover call was the height of absurdity.

Although you can never be sure sitting in the 100's, your description is what it appeared to be. Another big spot, but hey, Nova capitalized and made their shots when it counted. In that regard, our big moment was when Harrison/Jordan lost the ball and Nova scored. Like the Syracuse game, Nova played well enough when it mattered to win, and we didn't play well at all in the deciding moments of the game. Often that is the only difference between winning and losing programs - the ability to perform well down the stretch.

That was bad. Also the play near center court where the guy was falling out of bounds and threw the ball at Sheed and they called a push on Sheed when he never even touched the guy.

I can't talk about the worst parts of this game anymore. It's close to my bedtime and I will have nightmares.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Very disappointing. How ever Xavier, Georgetown & Villanova are a combined 11-1 in conference play right now. Not making excuses because I expect to for us to win these games but hopefully against the softer part of the schedule we take care of business and maybe we can get on a roll.

We are 0-3, do you think we can go 13-2 from here on out? Can we consistentAntly beat big east teams?

Haven't seen any signs of it but crazier things have happened. Trying to find hope

So from 60% to 90% winning percentage? I hope you are right. We lose once to a team we are expected to beat and our ncaa hope (which are weak at best) are done.

This team can win 11 more games and will lose 4 easily so winning 20 games before the BE Tourney is doable. They will still need to win the BE or, at minimum get to the final.

Than mean 10-8 in the new big east which = zero chance of making the ncaa.

The NCAA's doable? The way they are playing, I would like to see them win a few conference games this season to avoid total embarrassment.

 

[DaTiger]

This team is so over-hyped. They are horrible. I see splits with DePaul and Providence and maybe a ref-aided split with Seton Hall. SJU is just an awful team.

It's a shame for the new Big East to have such lack of media interest in New York. I guess we can dwell on the success of the teams from the original Big East (U-Conn, Syracuse). I suspect Creighton and Xavier will be applying to the AAC at the end of the season.

 

[frank]

It"s better to have low epectations as a fan,this way we would not be so diapointed

 

[JohnnyFan]

It did not look like we had a play called when our team came out of every time out. Disappointing!!!

Thank you!!!! Isn't it amazing!?! What are they talking about during the timeout? Is it just Lavin making a bunch of corny analogies or telling them to play like a concert band, bla bla bla bla? Do they even have any plays? It drives me crazy that we call a timeout only to come back on the floor and look clueless.

 

[salty dog]

This team is so over-hyped. They are horrible. I see splits with DePaul and Providence and maybe a ref-aided split with Seton Hall. SJU is just an awful team.

It's a shame for the new Big East to have such lack of media interest in New York. I guess we can dwell on the success of the teams from the original Big East (U-Conn, Syracuse). I suspect Creighton and Xavier will be applying to the AAC at the end of the season.

Do you read what your write? UCONN has lost to powerhouses Houston and SMU in the AAC. They also receive about 2 million per year for both the football and basketball teams. Creighton and Xavier are receiving 5 million dollars per year from the Big East. You're a college president where would you go?

 

[Class of 72]

Very disappointing. How ever Xavier, Georgetown & Villanova are a combined 11-1 in conference play right now. Not making excuses because I expect to for us to win these games but hopefully against the softer part of the schedule we take care of business and maybe we can get on a roll.

We are 0-3, do you think we can go 13-2 from here on out? Can we consistentAntly beat big east teams?

Haven't seen any signs of it but crazier things have happened. Trying to find hope

So from 60% to 90% winning percentage? I hope you are right. We lose once to a team we are expected to beat and our ncaa hope (which are weak at best) are done.

This team can win 11 more games and will lose 4 easily so winning 20 games before the BE Tourney is doable. They will still need to win the BE or, at minimum get to the final.

Than mean 10-8 in the new big east which = zero chance of making the ncaa.

The NCAA's doable? The way they are playing, I would like to see them win a few conference games this season to avoid total embarrassment.

I said winning 20 games is doable! They will need to win the Big East Tourney in March. Six losses in a weak Big East already has doomed their at large chances and there will be more losses!
An invitation to the Not Intersted Tournament is a likely scenario but the winner of the BE gets an automatic bid so all 10 teams have a chance. That is reality but not a probability.

 

[Class of 72]

This team is so over-hyped. They are horrible. I see splits with DePaul and Providence and maybe a ref-aided split with Seton Hall. SJU is just an awful team.

It's a shame for the new Big East to have such lack of media interest in New York. I guess we can dwell on the success of the teams from the original Big East (U-Conn, Syracuse). I suspect Creighton and Xavier will be applying to the AAC at the end of the season.

Do you read what your write? UCONN has lost to powerhouses Houston and SMU in the AAC. They also receive about 2 million per year for both the football and basketball teams. Creighton and Xavier are receiving 5 million dollars per year from the Big East. You're a college president where would you go?

Steve Snortz too much! The best scenario would be for St. Louis and Dayton to join the Big East, Lavin to go back to California to coach and St. John's to offer Shaka Smart big$$ to come to NYC. That will not happen this year so we will be forever a day late and a dollar short when it comes to basketball.

 

[usguard]

Is it possible we do not win a game in confrence

 

[monte]

IMO the only shot Lavin has of succeeding here is if he can continuously bring in solid points guards who will act as floor generals. During our heyday of the 70's, 80's and 90's we always had those kinds of players. Not necessarily stars(IE Alagia, Moses, Buchanan), but kids who knew how to direct the offense and control tempo. In the short term I'm hoping that Jordan can become that player, but he's more of a shoot first point guard.

 

[dee]

This team is so over-hyped. They are horrible. I see splits with DePaul and Providence and maybe a ref-aided split with Seton Hall. SJU is just an awful team.

It's a shame for the new Big East to have such lack of media interest in New York. I guess we can dwell on the success of the teams from the original Big East (U-Conn, Syracuse). I suspect Creighton and Xavier will be applying to the AAC at the end of the season.

Do you read what your write? UCONN has lost to powerhouses Houston and SMU in the AAC. They also receive about 2 million per year for both the football and basketball teams. Creighton and Xavier are receiving 5 million dollars per year from the Big East. You're a college president where would you go?

Steve Snortz too much! The best scenario would be for St. Louis and Dayton to join the Big East, Lavin to go back to California to coach and St. John's to offer Shaka Smart big$$ to come to NYC. That will not happen this year so we will be forever a day late and a dollar short when it comes to basketball.

No the best scenario would be for UCONN as much as I hate them to work out a deal in another low level conference for their football team - maybe something like Notre Dame did but on a lesser scale - and join the new BE. Adding them would give more credibility to the league. Then we need another team and I dont think St Louis or Dayton are the ones. Enough of the A-10.

 

[beast of the east]

Is it possible we do not win a game in confrence

It's also possible to win 15 in a row, but neither is happening.

 

[NYCRedmen]

Very disappointing. How ever Xavier, Georgetown & Villanova are a combined 11-1 in conference play right now. Not making excuses because I expect to for us to win these games but hopefully against the softer part of the schedule we take care of business and maybe we can get on a roll.

We are 0-3, do you think we can go 13-2 from here on out? Can we consistentAntly beat big east teams?

Haven't seen any signs of it but crazier things have happened. Trying to find hope

So from 60% to 90% winning percentage? I hope you are right. We lose once to a team we are expected to beat and our ncaa hope (which are weak at best) are done.

This team can win 11 more games and will lose 4 easily so winning 20 games before the BE Tourney is doable. They will still need to win the BE or, at minimum get to the final.

Than mean 10-8 in the new big east which = zero chance of making the ncaa.

The NCAA's doable? The way they are playing, I would like to see them win a few conference games this season to avoid total embarrassment.

I said winning 20 games is doable! They will need to win the Big East Tourney in March. Six losses in a weak Big East already has doomed their at large chances and there will be more losses!
An invitation to the Not Intersted Tournament is a likely scenario but the winner of the BE gets an automatic bid so all 10 teams have a chance. That is reality but not a probability.

I don't think the Big East is as weak as you suggest. Right now most projections have us with 4 teams in the NCAA (Villanova, Xavier, Creighton, and Georgetown). Is a fifth team possible, yes, but that may depend on whether someone other than those 4 already mentioned ends up winning the Big East Tournament. Considering the programs that we lost, 4 to 5 teams from a 10 team league in its first year is pretty solid.

 

[Moose]

Is it possible we do not win a game in confrence

Yes this team might not win any games in the Big East.