Harrison's "Rivalry" Comments
- Thread starter NYCRedmen
- Start date
TG
Never said that. I'm simply stating, with our mediocre results over so many years, rivalries are the least of our worries. I just don't see many teams taking us very seriously. That perception will change when we achieve a solid level of play consistently and get to the Dance more often than not.
Never said that. I'm simply stating, with our mediocre results over so many years, rivalries are the least of our worries. I just don't see many teams taking us very seriously. That perception will change when we achieve a solid level of play consistently and get to the Dance more often than not.
beast of the east
Active member
I am a big booster of Harrison as a person. He had demons to tame, went at that task like a man, and learned to control outrageous behavior. It will serve him well in life.
I am also a huge supporter of Harrison the warrior. He brings a lot of passion onto the court, and badly wants to win.
Harrison as an all-time SJU great is another story. There is a difference between warrior and winner, and a significant portion of our mediocre season(s) rests on his shoulders. No doubt we have not fielded much more than competitive teams, but coming out on top of winnable games has more often than not been placed on his shoulders. More of than not, he has not delivered. I don't think he a player universally feared by opponents in crunch time, and for good reason.
There are some players who historically won, because they wanted the ball in their hands, and they delivered in big moments: Bird, Johnson, Jordan, and a host of others. Others, notably Ewing, seemed to fall short in very big moments. Still a great player? Arguably, yes, but can never be mentioned in the same breath as those who consistently came through in the clutch.
This season, if Harrison "deserves" an NCAA bid, he will have to play like a guy who is leading his team to that destiny. Twenty points per game, and a solid stat line will not be enough. With the game on the line, he must lead this team to outperform the opposition, and come up big. I'm rooting for him to do just that, but acknowledge that a big burden is on his shoulders - where a warrior wants the burden to be.
Think your examples are more than apt. Ewing and Harrison have played on structurally unsound teams, ones that lacked the plans and execution discipline to maximize the benefits of their talents. Bird, Johnson, and Jordan (Celtics tradition and Phil Zenmeister) knew where their teammates would be, where the defense would be, and how to take advantage of their talent in every situation. To me, this is on coaching, and we have not had an adequate offensive system since early Louie. The exceptions, Jarvis to the elite eight and Lavin in his first year, derived from Riverside practices and Dwight and DJ doing the Vulcan mind meld with the whole team, respectively. Lavin does get credit for creating the atmosphere that allowed that to happen. An amateur practices until they get it right, a professional until they can't get it wrong.
beast of the east
Active member
While I don't think Ewing played on teams that rival the great Celtic-Laker-Bulls teams that the players I mentioned were on, to me his career was exemplified by the missed finger roll in the playoffs. The beast Ewing we saw in college would have slammed that ball so hard it may have deflated on impact with the floor and blown the roof off of a home court, or silenced a deafening away court. In his moments of professional destiny he clanged foul shots or nissed easy shots. There is enough there for NBA HOF, but I never think he struck fear into Michael Jordan's heart in crunch time.
The book isn't closed on Harrison, but there is no cavalry coming up the hill to support him on this years team. If this is to be a tourney team, it will be DLo and Jordan filling it up, and not much else by way of reliable scoring punch. If we are to be a tourney team, we will have to see the best Dlo yet, and the other Dlo's will pale in comparison.
Sorry Beast but I don't see this team as a two man team at all. I believe both Harrison and Jordan are capable of having great seasons but Phil Green can give us 10 points a game off the bench and good d , Obekpa can give us 10 and 6 with a few blocks , Thomas can give us 10 and 7 with good d , Sir Dom can give us 8 and 6 with good d , Branch can give us 5 points and 2 assists, but these are all very possible hypotheticals. Will they happen , we everyone buy into sharing the ball , playing ferocious d, tenacious rebounding , if so we won't be a two man team and can be a very dangerous team no one will want to play. It remains to be seen.
I think harrisons late game "struggles" are exaggerated. He has had more than his share of big shots. At cincy, at Marquette , vs notre dame, game winner vs texas pan american or who ever that school was his freshmen year. We just havnt been in big enough games over his tenure to really recognize big time moments. Think about it, freshmen year was a bad team, sophomore year he was suspended for the crunch time part of the season (if you want to blame him for that its fine), last year down the stretch he hit a Huuuge three on the road at Marquette. And I still am of the belief that the pass he threw to Phil on the last possession at Nova was a great pass, cant fault him for making a good play and his teammate not going up for it.
Don't forget a big 3-pointer to put us up for good against Creighton. Sophomore year, after not hitting a field goal all game, he hit 2 big ones late, to seal the deal against UCONN.
I agree, his late game prowess is better then Beast is giving him credit for. Has he missed his fair share late in games? Of course. All the good ones have. Chris Mullin missed a FT late in an NCAA tournament game (a 93% foul shooter that year, I believe), and we lost at the buzzer. Does that mean he was not an all-time Johnny, too? I think not. Harrison's not as good, obviously, but if he has a great year, he could find himself one rung below that, when all is said and done.
JackofVirginia
Active member
My concern - Harrison being one of our top players along with Jordan will be overplayed defensively. Lavin needs to improve his offensive schemes to help Harrison get his jumpers off.
This is my concern as well, and a major reason I have a problem with Dom and our two guards just standing around the perimeter. There needs to be a lot more movement. I'd like to see 80% or more of the half court sets involve Harrison touching the ball at least once. He stresses the defense and anytime he touches it, there is a good chance someone can overreact or neglect their man.
As a team, we didn't work the baseline well last season. We also throw less skip passes than any team I've ever seen at any level. That needs to change.
beast of the east
Active member
Pointer - bad shooter
Obekpa - bad shooter
Greene - inconsistent shooter
It doesn't mean they can't contribute, but I'd let those guys shoot all day long if it kept the ball away from Harrison and Jordan. For us to make noise, those two guys will have to contribute superlative seasons.
beast of the east
Active member
If each of those guys contributes as per your estimates, that's 43 ppg. If Jordan/Harrison can combine for 35 ppg, that's 78 pts, and we wont have to play defense. Pretty much that's what what this team has done for the past 3 seasons.
Into this mix comes a three guard offense with Branch at the point and Rysheed and D'Lo or Rysheed at the point with D'lo and PGIV or Amar as a wing who can hit the baseline 3, opening the floor for Sheed and D'lo. If the latter happens I now propose Ack Ack as Amar's nickname.