Gtown rematch game thread...

Collectively, St. John's fans have to be the most mecurial in all of college basketball. I don't think this was a bad loss at all. G'town hit most of its threes from beyond NBA range. You really can't defend that. They are taller, wider, and more experienced up front. They killed us on second chance points.

Bourgault showed a lot today. He needs more minutes, and I'd like to see both him and Harrison in at the same time. Bourgault is marked at all times by the opposition pointing as he goes through zone, yelling "shooter!" You can't do that with two guys for 35 seconds.

I have to say that I'm a little fed up with Obekpa at this point. He offers nothing on the offensive end, and he's an all or nothing defender. He really should not be playing more than 15 mpg, but there really is no alternative without Sanchez. I thought Garret should have played more than Pointer tonight. He's the second best rebounder on this team and offers more offensively.

Let's hope Branch is okay, and we pretty much have to beat Uconn next! I'm not too worried.
 
This is as pissed as I've been all season. We can't freaking rebound. If we could rebound we'd probably be winning and Branch would still be playing.
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The story of today's game.... Rebounding and second chance points practically did our bunch in.
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No, the story of today's game was that SJU's best player, and the second-leading score in the conference, didn't make a shot and scored two points. In a game with a 12-point margin -- that's the difference.
 
I`ll say it right now, Wednesday is the most important game since January 30th 2011 the day we kicked Duke all over the Garden floor. That was the game right after losing by 22 at G-Town.
Lets see how we respond to losing at Georgetown this year, hope we whoop on Yukon.

A loss Wednesday and we have a 4 game losing streak right after a 5 game winning streak and that would be a disaster. Anyone actually believe we`ll win at Cuse and L`ville?.

Right now we`re 6-4, 14-8. Lets fast forward to the Syracuse, Louisville, and USF games:
I think we`ll go 1-2 in those 2 games which would put us at 7-6, 15-10. So yes this game on wednesday is hugeeeee.
With a win we`d go 2-2 in the next 4 and go to 8-6 and 16-10, a loss Wednesday and we`d most like go 1-3 which would put us at 7-7 and 15-11.

Assuming we go to 8-6, 16-10. Then it`s vs. pitt, @ prov, @ ND and vs. marq. I think they could go 2-2 there. 18-12 and 10-8 would mean NIT. Maybe 10-8 puts us at 6th or 7th, that`s one bye right? Win on Wednesday and possibly Thursday before losing on Friday would be 2-1 in the tourny putting us at 12-7, 20-12. Would that put us on the bubble?

But then lose Wednesday against Yukon and you can forget all that stuff, so yeah this game is the most important in 2 years.
 
I would've pressed and sped up the game against G'town. I would've done it in increments. You can't consistently press with our bunch, as overall they have a low hoops IQ, and it probably would've led to breakdowns (a few easy buckets) and fouls.
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No way. With the modiefied Princeton offense that JT3 runs, there passing would be too good for that. Would also have lead to easy buckets, IMO. His old man tried to do that against Princeton in the NCAA tournament many years ago, and nearly became the first ever 1 seed to lose to a 16.
 
I believe wednesday is the most important game since jan 30th 2011 when they put an ass kicking on Duke, and the game right before that one was a 22pnt loss at who? G-Town.
Win and I think we`ll go 2-2 (ending vs. USF) to put us at 8-6, 16-10.

The last 4 games I think we`ll go 2-2 to put us at 10-8, 18-12. 10-8 put us at 6th or 7th wgich gives us a bye. Win Wednesday and maybe Thursday and go 2-1 in tourny. We`d be 12-7, 20-13.
Would that put us on the bubble?

But then again if we lose then forget all of that because that would be basically a 4 game losing streak, and would our hearts be in the USF game?
So yeah I definitely believe that Wednesday is our season.
 
Very poor showing on national TV after 5 minutes.
We were not even in the game and it was men playing against boys. It was only a question of how much we would loose by.
If Dlo shot 30% for the game it would have been enjoyable to watch and the game would have been competitive.
Had GG played, whom I happen to be high on, Lubbick does not have half the game he had and we would have been right in the thick of it.
Nothing more needs to be said.
Put this bad showing behind us and on to the next.
 
Very simple.... We play our best playing hard nosed man... Pressure leads to turnovers and that allows us to get out in space!! Our match up zone allows way to many open looks.....our kids need to get out and run, it's very apparent in our half court sets!
 
I know after we win many on the board are ready for The Dance and when we lose "Let's show Lavin the door" becomes the emotion of the moment. The bottom line is it is about the players. We got out-rebounded, yes, by 6. Both teams had 15 offensive rebounds. The difference is GT finished. Lubick scored on his offensive putbacks, we didn't. Greene and Harrison shot 5 for 25. They took almost half our shots and shot 2o%, enough said. Having said that, we are just not there yet, we are a middle of the road BE team, which I think is real, genuine progress. As fans we tend to overrate our players and think every loss is reversible if only the coach did this or that. But we we need more players, more depth, more versatility, more experience. Experience not just in years, but in chemistry, in handing down program goals, expectations, practice habits, etc. We are a young program, not necessarily a young team.
Two ancillary comments, my high school coach used to always get really pissed by after game confrontations; you want to show you're tough, knock someone down in the game. We don't have any players willing to play that physical, so spare me the after game nonsense; it means nothing. Finally, Branch's injury was a shame but part of the game, there was nothing dirty about it.
Actually, one last comment, I really wish we would stop with the "white boy" comments every time one has a good game against us. The best player ever to don an SJU uniform happened to be white the last time I looked. Were I to come on here commenting about "black" players as stereotypes (which I would never do) I could only imagine the backlash. The truth is, Jerry West, Rick Barry, Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, etc. were all white and could play with anyone. Yes, blacks dominate the sport but whites can play too. Racism works both ways and I for one am offended by the allowance of the comments on the board.
 
This was the toughest loss to swallow so far this season. I knew going in we needed Jones and Bourgault. But with Branch getting hurt we needed them even more. Georgetown clog the middle and yet have length to make your 3 pointers not a complete open look. I only saw the game live but the one replay they showed Branch lifted his foot up standing on his toes. I guess he felt Lubick coming and it could have been a lot worse.
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I think Lubick had enough time to hold up.It happened so fast that I didn't notice him and Harrison pushing just before. Lubick seemed to be playing semi dirty and pushed us around inside. They showed Harrison on the court which looked like a sarcastic smile right after Branch was carried to the bench. So I don't know what was being said on the court. But knowing how close him and Branch are it was a weird time to show him smiling on camera.

After the Branch play Sampson hit Lubick in the face inside and for once we got the call. You could see him fuming in his teams huddle like I'm going to get him back. The play with Pointer on the foul shot I don't think was as innocent as they played it out to be. The guy went above the neck so accident or not should had been a flagrant.

I think Georgetown was mad that Amir went for the tie up so late. I could see that being a reason something was said to him during the handshakes. But I was glad we played the game out. Not that a bet the game but a 3 at the end could have made a few people a little happier about the loss. Sometimes guys are scared to take shots with fear of being taken out. Bourgault looked confident and Lavin seemed encouraging. A legit 3 point shooter and a extra body inside is what we need. If Jones who has the body can work his way back to 10 minutes and 5-6 rebounds a game this team can really beat some people. Jones hasn't grabbed one clean rebound this year I don't know whats going on with his hands. He let at least 3 get away this game.
 
As Lav says "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery".

Let's hope we can rebound from this loss and beat UConn.

Realize it's a waste of time but wonder what this season would have been like with Sanchez.

Very difficult to se where the wins are going to come from the rest of the way.

Our best chance lies with UConn, USF and PC and none of those are going to be a snap.
 
This is ugly BB to watch, regardless of whether we are winning or losing a game. These players all have some very good BB SKILLS but, it hasn't come together as a team effort and that's on Steve..

G'town is a much better team and better Coached in FUNDAMENTALS. Plus, they will continue to torment us next year in the C7, AS all THEIR PLAYERS ARE BACK TOO!

Today our shooting was atrocious, laughable actually for a big time program.. 3 POINT DEFENSE? Where?

G'town is not a very good 3 pt team yet had so many open looks that is was criminal to watch.

What does Lavin do in Practice? Anything?

What about Keady's wisdom ? Exactly what does he do?

I WASN'T EXPECTING A WIN TODAY BUT, IT WASN'T COMPETITIVE..
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I dont want to see them in the BE tourny, they have our number.
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+1

Not that they have our number but we are not built to beat a system team like GT who execute so effortlessly. We are just too fundamentally poor on the defensive side to counter what they run.

GT did nothing spectacular besides reversing the ball for open 3s and simply out hustling us for 2nd chance opportunities. Completely killed the matchup zone (which we ran all game long for some strange reason).

This team does not move their heads nor their feet.

Am I'm just curious what the gameplan was going into the game.

D'Angelo chucks a 3 off the opening jump ball against three defenders.

We have absolutely no identity on offense and it's just going to get worse with Phil having to play PG.

This is Isolation, Rucker Park, AAU offense. It's disappointing to watch. And that is what frustrates me.

Other schools recruit highly ranked players but they actual employ a system. We implement post-AAU tactics. It has to change to have any sustainable success in conference play. You simply cannot win playing this style of ball. If you cannot draw up a play, you will never win games.
 
Collectively, St. John's fans have to be the most mecurial in all of college basketball. I don't think this was a bad loss at all. G'town hit most of its threes from beyond NBA range. You really can't defend that. They are taller, wider, and more experienced up front. They killed us on second chance points.

Bourgault showed a lot today. He needs more minutes, and I'd like to see both him and Harrison in at the same time. Bourgault is marked at all times by the opposition pointing as he goes through zone, yelling "shooter!" You can't do that with two guys for 35 seconds.

I have to say that I'm a little fed up with Obekpa at this point. He offers nothing on the offensive end, and he's an all or nothing defender. He really should not be playing more than 15 mpg, but there really is no alternative without Sanchez. I thought Garret should have played more than Pointer tonight. He's the second best rebounder on this team and offers more offensively.

Let's hope Branch is okay, and we pretty much have to beat Uconn next! I'm not too worried.
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+1

IMO Georgetown is the only team this season who i can say has been definitively better than us. That is certainly progress. We weren't good enough and don't have all the pieces just yet. Georgetown is a good team, better than I expected actually. They combine upperclassmen as well as talented sophs and it showed in both games. We lost to a good team. Didn't play our best game, but have plenty of good ones left in us. Time to beat uconn.
 
I'm not as down as a lot of the posters about this loss. We don't matchup up well with Georgetown, that's all there is to it. I was proud of the way we hung around in the second half despite our starting backcourt on the bench with injuries. Greene is starting to come around a little bit after being a non-factor for a while. The emergence of Bourgault could be huge for us - very impressed with what I saw and hope he continues to play his way into the rotation. Hope Branch is ok. If we beat Uconn Wednesday I will forget all about this loss.
 
FWIW.... The story here in G'Town is that Pointer threw a cup of water at a Hoya after the game. Take it for what it's worth. Off to breakfast at Martin's.
 
This is as pissed as I've been all season. We can't freaking rebound. If we could rebound we'd probably be winning and Branch would still be playing.
Click to expand...

The story of today's game.... Rebounding and second chance points practically did our bunch in.
Click to expand...

No, the story of today's game was that SJU's best player, and the second-leading score in the conference, didn't make a shot and scored two points. In a game with a 12-point margin -- that's the difference.
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Yes, that certainly did play a huge role in our loss. But by constatnly giving up offensive rebounds, in which they were converting into buckets, certainly was a big reason why we loss, as well.
 
I would've pressed and sped up the game against G'town. I would've done it in increments. You can't consistently press with our bunch, as overall they have a low hoops IQ, and it probably would've led to breakdowns (a few easy buckets) and fouls.
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No way. With the modiefied Princeton offense that JT3 runs, there passing would be too good for that. Would also have lead to easy buckets, IMO. His old man tried to do that against Princeton in the NCAA tournament many years ago, and nearly became the first ever 1 seed to lose to a 16.
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Quite frankly, the Princeton offense is irrelevant to what they do in the backcourt. G'town really doesn't have good ballhandlers, and that is what they would have to do in the backcourt. They aren't gonna be running the Princeton offense in the backcourt. What happened nearly 25 years ago with different players doesn't have anything to do at the moment. I don't remember whole lot about that particular game, but I do recall Princeton having some fairly, decent ballhandlers.

I saw Marquette press this SAME GROUP last season, and they were wreaking havoc. The only problem I thought may have occurred was our low hoops IQ biting us in the butt by breaking down, and giving up easy baskets or committing silly fouls in the process.

By pressing them, you either make them take plenty of time getting the ball into the frontcourt, and give them less time to run their offense when and if they do get it across halfcourt or you could do better than that by creating turnovers. I would've taken my chance pressing, in hopes of speeding them up.
 
As Lav says "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery".

Let's hope we can rebound from this loss and beat UConn.

Realize it's a waste of time but wonder what this season would have been like with Sanchez.

Very difficult to se where the wins are going to come from the rest of the way.

Our best chance lies with UConn, USF and PC and none of those are going to be a snap.
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I, too wonder what this season would look like with Sanchez, but it's unfortunate that is all we can do.

How many times did we hear this from the board after losing to 'Nova and Rutgers at the beginning of the season.... "Very difficult to se where the wins are going to come from the rest of the way." Guess what? We're 6-4 in the conference now. I guess we found a way to "stumble" into 6 wins. Amazing, huh?!

I'm not sure about the extent of Branch's injury, I'm hoping he's able to make it back within 2 or 3 weeks. We need him.
 
Collectively, St. John's fans have to be the most mecurial in all of college basketball. I don't think this was a bad loss at all. G'town hit most of its threes from beyond NBA range. You really can't defend that. They are taller, wider, and more experienced up front. They killed us on second chance points.

Bourgault showed a lot today. He needs more minutes, and I'd like to see both him and Harrison in at the same time. Bourgault is marked at all times by the opposition pointing as he goes through zone, yelling "shooter!" You can't do that with two guys for 35 seconds.

I have to say that I'm a little fed up with Obekpa at this point. He offers nothing on the offensive end, and he's an all or nothing defender. He really should not be playing more than 15 mpg, but there really is no alternative without Sanchez. I thought Garret should have played more than Pointer tonight. He's the second best rebounder on this team and offers more offensively.

Let's hope Branch is okay, and we pretty much have to beat Uconn next! I'm not too worried.
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For the most part, I agree with with you've stated.... with the exception of one thing. I know you pumped up Garrett earlier, so I figured you would be in his corner, per se'. He seems to be a better rebounder (which, we sorely lack) than Pointer, but it seems Pointer has surpassed him, if you wanna go by the last several games, in the offensive department. Lately, he hasn't shown he offers more offensively.
 
Nobody asked me but,.....

1. Steve Lavin gets a F grade for the Orlando Sanchez fiasco. Steve, you're suppose to be a big time Coach. How about somebody vetting recruits before hand?

2. Steve, for REDSHIRTING GG you also get a F! Unless he was injured how can you not let a senior play, especially, since he provided some beef inside? CO is not a complete player yet and has much to learn about playing basketball besides swatting away shots. Right now, that's the only dimension he provides.This is the BE Steve, not the pac 10.

3.Athletes.. Every team in the BE has them.. Building a team takes blending the skills of its players. If all of them essentially are the same skill set, you wind up with the look of our team. Poor FG shooters, awful free throw shooters and no one with a inside game. And, how about some tough D STEVE, IT'S BEEN ABSENT pretty much all year.

3.How does Gene Keady watch this team and be happy? He must have 3 double Maker's Mark before practice and games. And, a couple more at half time. The Purdue Keady would have reamed out nearly all our players during play stoppages for poor play!
4. How does a Coach keep a accurate shooter on the bench all season, Marc A., and not use him? Who cares if he has trouble defending or, isn't quick.. We need a zone buster and he's the only one you've got right now.

5.Why has Phil Greene been allowed to dribble obsessively with no penetration into the scoring area? Tv commentators were saying yesterday you need dribble penetration to break G'town's ZONE. IF Ian Eagle and Clark Kellogg saw it, why don't you? Coaching lapses like this for most of the season, make us think about the UCLA FANS BELIEF THAT YOU CAN'T COACH DURING A GAME.
And, some of us are thinking, can you Coach at all? Coaching is more than just recruiting.

6. I loved your being selected as our Coach and you have done a good job restoring some credibility to our program. You are a classy, likeable guy and a great ambassador for our team but, perhaps you are better suited to be the GM role you self selected last year? JT3 HAS outcoached you twice now in humiliating fashion. His team is only slightly more experienced than ours. He took a quick timeout yesterday a few minutes into the game when we opened up our only lead and made adjustments. In comparison, your timeouts yielded nothing positive on the Court.



6. Branch's injury. If he can't play, are we doomed to see PG run the point again? I'd rather watch overhead subway trains in motion.
 
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