Ga. Tech game

Great comeback win!! Everyone on this board has been saying that we need to press and be more aggressive going to the basket on offense. Both of those things happened in the second half. The question is, will it continue against Fordham or will Phil Greene start at PG again allowing the offense to stagnate for the first 8 minutes of the game while we're falling behind by 15 pts because Jon Severe is taking apart our match up zone and nailing 3's?
 
If Rick Pitino was coaching this team we'd be undefeated right now with his style of play.
 
This was a must win and our guys dominated the entire second half the way they are capable of against teams from power conferences picked to finish 11th like Penn State and GaTech.
I enjoy reading the play by play comments.  Why even the loyal Paultzman jumped off the ledge!  I had no doubt we would win since GaTech committed way too many fouls to play as loose as they did in the first half.  
Tech also had a limited bench and when we finally pressed they started to force shots and misses that allowed fast breaks.
At the start of the game it appeared like not only did New York City's team fail to show up but New Yorkers failed to show up. SJU fans obviously are obviously afraid to venture to the hood for games. 
Coach Lavin is obviously having a difficult time integrating his players and that is sad since a few guys are in their 5th semester.  Good thing the wizard is not a junior college coach!
Primo did not start and that was expected after seeing him look like a JC player in a D1 game for 5 straight games. The minutes he did log were meaningless and he contributed nada.  In his place the wizard started Max Hooper, who played a total of 26 minutes in the five previous games prior to this tourney. I think the 60 minute walk-through practices for the Barclay games gave the wizard more insight into his starting rotation than 2 freakin' months of twice a day work outs.  
After reviewing last nights game Lav concluded that he did not need a PG in the game and started Phil again and through 18 minutes he did less than zero as the lead guard, never penetrated and had zero assists. The two real PGs, Branch and Jordan, actually played well, not great but at least there was some semblance of ball movement. 
Kudos to the team for a comeback in an empty arena.  These kids need all the support they can get.  Hopefully that starts with the coaches figuring out who plays when and how and with some wins, make some noise again. 

For holidays, we all chipped in to send you;

"The Guide to Being Succinct" and "Paragraphs make the World A Better Place" First Editions I must add.
 
This was a must win and our guys dominated the entire second half the way they are capable of against teams from power conferences picked to finish 11th like Penn State and GaTech.
I enjoy reading the play by play comments.  Why even the loyal Paultzman jumped off the ledge!  I had no doubt we would win since GaTech committed way too many fouls to play as loose as they did in the first half.  
Tech also had a limited bench and when we finally pressed they started to force shots and misses that allowed fast breaks.
At the start of the game it appeared like not only did New York City's team fail to show up but New Yorkers failed to show up. SJU fans obviously are obviously afraid to venture to the hood for games. 
Coach Lavin is obviously having a difficult time integrating his players and that is sad since a few guys are in their 5th semester.  Good thing the wizard is not a junior college coach!
Primo did not start and that was expected after seeing him look like a JC player in a D1 game for 5 straight games. The minutes he did log were meaningless and he contributed nada.  In his place the wizard started Max Hooper, who played a total of 26 minutes in the five previous games prior to this tourney. I think the 60 minute walk-through practices for the Barclay games gave the wizard more insight into his starting rotation than 2 freakin' months of twice a day work outs.  
After reviewing last nights game Lav concluded that he did not need a PG in the game and started Phil again and through 18 minutes he did less than zero as the lead guard, never penetrated and had zero assists. The two real PGs, Branch and Jordan, actually played well, not great but at least there was some semblance of ball movement. 
Kudos to the team for a comeback in an empty arena.  These kids need all the support they can get.  Hopefully that starts with the coaches figuring out who plays when and how and with some wins, make some noise again. 

For holidays, we all chipped in to send you;

"The Guide to Being Succinct" and "Paragraphs make the World A Better Place" First Editions I must add.

Ever since you and a couple of others here got a room at Johnny Jungle you cannot escape speaking from both sides of your mouth Billy boy! Thanks for the books but coming from a guy that recently posted a 20 paragraph quote on JJ it appears you need to read your gifts first then pass them along to me.
Being the busy beaver that you are .......typing away mostly on JJ during the games and coming here here to lecture, I ask how often do you have waffles for breakfast since you waffle so much during a game you make me hungry!
How about this example from todays's game...not made on this site:
"How does last year's BE ROY get only  three shots. He is struggling, but does he ever get rock in good position? Man he would gave fared better at Kansas. He is stifled in this quagmire offense."
Kansas my arse! Is that the same Norm Roberts team that lost to Nova last night?
Jakarr would have likely been riding the bench at Kansas with his erractic offensive game and would have been recruited over already.
You do a good job of cutting and pasting tweets but leave the critiques to me!
Can't wait for the books to arrive!!!
 
I love some of the self-righteous posts in this thread and some of the other recent threads.

I'm not overly negative. I'm usually pretty optimistic and positive and even when I'm pissed by our level of play I don't insult any other posters or players for that matter. Go ahead and look back in any thread you choose.

But...how come any bit of derision is met with "go cheer for another team!!11!!" or something along those lines. I think it's pretty frickin insulting to sit here with my phone on ESPN Game Tracker and my computer with 2 tabs open, 1 on this thread because the updates were faster and CBS Sportsline because they were faster than ESPN.

It was 19-4!! What the hell are our fans supposed to feel? Happy? What were people supposed to think about our effort at the time? That it was good? C'mon!!

Point is, every one in this thread is either doing this because they care. Who'd be crazy enough to be posting in the game thread if they didn care? Who'd be spending a mid-Saturday afternoon doing this crap instead of the myriad of Holliday shit, usual weekend shit their wives need them do to if they didnt care.

And don't give me this you don't go to the games crap, so you don't care that much. I know a lot of posters are older than me but I'm 36 with a kid and a pregnant wife. How about you come here, take care of that for me and I'll GLADLY go to any game you pick. I've PLAYED in scarier gyms than that gentrified arena in downtown Man--err--Brooklyn.

Enough of the sanctimonious posts, please? No one cares, well I don't, if you're a better fan than anybody else here.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????

Welp. There's our answer.

The team doesn't practice the full court press much.

I can't believe I just heard that.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

Great to hear Sampson say that Coach told them that he wants to roll out the press going forward, but I cannot believe he said that that is something that really haven't practiced much to date. Look at the roster...the depth, the length, the athletes, the lack of half court skill...I can't think of another team I've seen all season that could benefit more form a pressing defense.

Defense keys just about every team in the country. We are no different. The reality is that these mixed defense--which I love--take time to learn and master. If/when these guys get them down, it will be really tough. The press has to be the backbone IMO.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????

Welp. There's our answer.

The team doesn't practice the full court press much.

I can't believe I just heard that.

In the spirit of generosity, I will choose to believe that Lavin is trying to build this team one step at a time and will add more complexity (and spend more time on the press) as the season progresses. Small steps in an attempt to build a team that is tournament ready come March.

I couldn't see the last two games but I suffered through them on GameTracker. I'll keep the faith a little longer, reciting a sage bit of insight from our old friend CR Green, who knew Lavin's patterns as much as anyone. I'm paraphrasing, but CR talked about how you could count on Lavin's teams to lose a game they should win before Christmas and steal a couple they should lose come February.

Frustrating as hell right now, but I still think this team has the talent to get much better over the next few months.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????

Welp. There's our answer.

The team doesn't practice the full court press much.

I can't believe I just heard that.

In the spirit of generosity, I will choose to believe that Lavin is trying to build this team one step at a time and will add more complexity (and spend more time on the press) as the season progresses. Small steps in an attempt to build a team that is tournament ready come March.

I couldn't see the last two games but I suffered through them on GameTracker. I'll keep the faith a little longer, reciting a sage bit of insight from our old friend CR Green, who knew Lavin's patterns as much as anyone. I'm paraphrasing, but CR talked about how you could count on Lavin's teams to lose a game they should win before Christmas and steal a couple they should lose come February.

Frustrating as hell right now, but I still think this team has the talent to get much better over the next few months.

I am sure coach is proceeding slowly. A few here attribute that approach to the player's low BB IQ. Sometimes lack of execution and control is from poor practice habits or poorly structured practices.
Of course at UCLA he had 8 McDonald AAs and a bunch of top 50 talent that just the name UCLA attracts.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????

Welp. There's our answer.

The team doesn't practice the full court press much.

I can't believe I just heard that.

In the spirit of generosity, I will choose to believe that Lavin is trying to build this team one step at a time and will add more complexity (and spend more time on the press) as the season progresses. Small steps in an attempt to build a team that is tournament ready come March.

I couldn't see the last two games but I suffered through them on GameTracker. I'll keep the faith a little longer, reciting a sage bit of insight from our old friend CR Green, who knew Lavin's patterns as much as anyone. I'm paraphrasing, but CR talked about how you could count on Lavin's teams to lose a game they should win before Christmas and steal a couple they should lose come February.

Frustrating as hell right now, but I still think this team has the talent to get much better over the next few months.

I am sure coach is proceeding slowly. A few here attribute that approach to the player's low BB IQ. Sometimes lack of execution and control is from poor practice habits or poorly structured practices.
Of course at UCLA he had 8 McDonald AAs and a bunch of top 50 talent that just the name UCLA attracts.

Knew you could do it. Well done.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????

Welp. There's our answer.

The team doesn't practice the full court press much.

I can't believe I just heard that.

In the spirit of generosity, I will choose to believe that Lavin is trying to build this team one step at a time and will add more complexity (and spend more time on the press) as the season progresses. Small steps in an attempt to build a team that is tournament ready come March.

I couldn't see the last two games but I suffered through them on GameTracker. I'll keep the faith a little longer, reciting a sage bit of insight from our old friend CR Green, who knew Lavin's patterns as much as anyone. I'm paraphrasing, but CR talked about how you could count on Lavin's teams to lose a game they should win before Christmas and steal a couple they should lose come February.

Frustrating as hell right now, but I still think this team has the talent to get much better over the next few months.

I am sure coach is proceeding slowly. A few here attribute that approach to the player's low BB IQ. Sometimes lack of execution and control is from poor practice habits or poorly structured practices.
Of course at UCLA he had 8 McDonald AAs and a bunch of top 50 talent that just the name UCLA attracts.

At this stage, I'm not sure you can teach a kid who is a poor shooter to become a good shooter or a kid with poor court vision to see the game better. We have some good players who also have some deficiencies.

But you can expect a coach to figure out how to get the most from the talent he has assembled. I'm going to assume the success with the press this afternoon might inspire a quick transition to building that into our game plan.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????

Welp. There's our answer.

The team doesn't practice the full court press much.

I can't believe I just heard that.

In the spirit of generosity, I will choose to believe that Lavin is trying to build this team one step at a time and will add more complexity (and spend more time on the press) as the season progresses. Small steps in an attempt to build a team that is tournament ready come March.

I couldn't see the last two games but I suffered through them on GameTracker. I'll keep the faith a little longer, reciting a sage bit of insight from our old friend CR Green, who knew Lavin's patterns as much as anyone. I'm paraphrasing, but CR talked about how you could count on Lavin's teams to lose a game they should win before Christmas and steal a couple they should lose come February.

Frustrating as hell right now, but I still think this team has the talent to get much better over the next few months.

Why is it that this entire board can see that we are built to press but he couldn't?

I don't buy the built in excuses anymore. You lose games that you are not prepared for. Very possible that these early deficits could have been avoided.

Learn from it and step on Fordham's throat from the opening tip. We should have it no other way.
 
FYI.. Congrats to Obekpa. He made the all-tournament team. It's great to see a guy get honored for his defense.
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

Great to hear Sampson say that Coach told them that he wants to roll out the press going forward, but I cannot believe he said that that is something that really haven't practiced much to date. Look at the roster...the depth, the length, the athletes, the lack of half court skill...I can't think of another team I've seen all season that could benefit more form a pressing defense.

Defense keys just about every team in the country. We are no different. The reality is that these mixed defense--which I love--take time to learn and master. If/when these guys get them down, it will be really tough. The press has to be the backbone IMO.


defense will key this team even more because of their poor shooting in the half court. This team thrives during helter-skelter times, even more than most teams.
I can't believe how bad GT looked when pressed but composed early in the game.
 
I could not see the game but just logged on now and started reading the game thread comments. They are quite incredible. By Page 9, I assumed we lost by 30.

“Hooper starting over Sanchez. Hilarity will ensue. “
“We look atrocious.”
“This is a bad basketball team simply.”
“Sanchez is awful beyond belief”
“So this is what rock bottom looks like. Next coach?”
“If we don't get better fast then assistants need to start being fired”
“No passion. Just going through the motions. Nobody cares. We need a coach with fire.”
“I'm done. Back to football. This is just pathetic.”
“Horrible coaching, overrated players!”
“If I was on this team I'd transfer.”
“We are getting progressively worse in every aspect of the game”
“We are really outclassed!”
[/i]

Please note not one of those comments were made by me! While some correctly want to wait to evaluate our team and coaches until the end of the season, many, as you see, do not even wait until the end of the game!
They should have their rawdogs cut off!

Now 72, that's funny. But you will not replace FUN
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

The press.....we don't practice it that much.......(Jakarr Sampson)

Anything else not practiced much"??????
actually if you are going to parse a nervous 20-year-olds words and try to use them as evidence that we are poorly coached you should get it right Jakarr said we don't practice it AS much, not that much. Just saying...it could mean it is practiced a lot just not as much as some other things..
 
http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/?media=422848

Great to hear Sampson say that Coach told them that he wants to roll out the press going forward, but I cannot believe he said that that is something that really haven't practiced much to date. Look at the roster...the depth, the length, the athletes, the lack of half court skill...I can't think of another team I've seen all season that could benefit more form a pressing defense.

Defense keys just about every team in the country. We are no different. The reality is that these mixed defense--which I love--take time to learn and master. If/when these guys get them down, it will be really tough. The press has to be the backbone IMO.


defense will key this team even more because of their poor shooting in the half court. This team thrives during helter-skelter times, even more than most teams.
I can't believe how bad GT looked when pressed but composed early in the game.

It's not even how bad we look in the half court, but some of our guys--Branch and Jordan specifically--look very good in space and in a faster paced game.
 
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