HOLY CROSS, Sat., Nov. 25, 7p, FS-2

“RJ had to go out there tonight and play [power forward]. Not only has he not practiced much, but he has not played the four much. We want to play him at the four and the three and the two. He is a point-forward. It’s difficult on him learning all the sets at the four. He really only made one mistake the whole night, but outside of that he really picked everything up. He is a natural and a terrific young man.”

CRP seems to think he is a point forward, so I am even more confident in my earlier assessment that he is a point forward who will handle the ball a ton for us this year.
 
Was at the game and noticed some significant changes from the Stony Brook game and from last year. First from prior years, there is more discipline on the team. In prior years there was guys doing their dance moves in the lay up lane pre game and at half time; now the team is all business in this small task.

consider HC and SB comparative teams in terms of ability/competition. Suggest folks compare the 2 box scores to see major changes as to turnovers, fouls committed and steals. In the SB game Rick was pissed at the hand checking by the team which was easy call for refs; Simeon was particularly hand aggressive and Rick let him know. Tonight Simeon was a much better defender without hand checking had no fouls in 18 minutes versus only 8 minutes vs. SB. He also had 5A's and only 1T/O while 0A's versus SB.

Folks have noted the RJ effect and he was all that and more. He was fantastic guarding the in-bound pass when we used full court press with a few steals and deflections. He had a great first game/start of a Career at SJU BUT one game does not make a career. Let's sit back and enjoy his progress throughout the year. (PS as Mase said--RJ's one assist was one of the best I have seen at the combined CA and Alumni Hall.)
 
BrooklynRed said:
Was at the game and noticed some significant changes from the Stony Brook game and from last year. First from prior years, there is more discipline on the team. In prior years there was guys doing their dance moves in the lay up lane pre game and at half time; now the team is all business in this small task.

consider HC and SB comparative teams in terms of ability/competition. Suggest folks compare the 2 box scores to see major changes as to turnovers, fouls committed and steals. In the SB game Rick was pissed at the hand checking by the team which was easy call for refs; Simeon was particularly hand aggressive and Rick let him know. Tonight Simeon was a much better defender without hand checking had no fouls in 18 minutes versus only 8 minutes vs. SB. He also had 5A's and only 1T/O while 0A's versus SB.

Folks have noted the RJ effect and he was all that and more. He was fantastic guarding the in-bound pass when we used full court press with a few steals and deflections. He had a great first game/start of a Career at SJU BUT one game does not make a career. Let's sit back and enjoy his progress throughout the year. (PS as Mase said--RJ's one assist was one of the best I have seen at the combined CA and Alumni Hall.)
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Must admit must have missed the Montana to Clark, Manning to Tyree, Magic to Worthy pass that got everyone so excited. But I do like RJ to be clear.
 
Just a few observations:

1. CRP expected to win comfortably from the onset. From early on it was clear Zuby, Brady, Wilcher were going to get real minutes to get comfortable as contributors. Definitely was a game where Luis played more than he normally would in a game like this to catch up to other rotation players. CRP already knows what the others can contribute.

2. Individual stats that matter to players don't matter to Rick. Minutes will be distributed by situation, and aren't earned by scoring points. In limited minutes Alleyne and Conway played solid basketball on both ends of the court and were unselfish on offense. This wasn't an accident. Games like this can become 40 minutes of garbage time if kids don't play disciplined defensive minded basketball and unselfish offensively.

3. Zuby no doubt is a project, but just remember how radically Soriano has improved from Day 1 here. As quickly as Zuby improves may be a sign of how much we can compete at top of league or have a post season. Bigs are important and we are thin there right now. Nice kick out on an offensive rebound for a 3.

4. Brady is NOT too slow to be a productive force on offense or a capable defender. He has a ways to go, but last night played within himself, took good shots, and mixed it up under the boards in ways that dontshow up on stat sheet. Right now teammates don't look for him on the wing when he is open (reminiscent of how the joe barry carroll, sleepy floyd warriors often ignored Mullin his rookie year). He may just be our best pure shooter so this won't always be the case.

5. Joel has become dangerous with the ball in the hole, even in heavy traffic.

6. Luis will be a big asset. He's long and a very quick jumper, especially going after his own misses. Felipe was like that, maybe his best asset. Can't judge too much against an inferior opponent, but definitely gives us valuable depth.

7. I like Dingle more and more. We haven't seen the best of him sustained over a full game yet, just awesome.

8. Alleyne does things on the court that at times makes him one of our most capable players.

Key for these kids is to become rabid defenders first and an unselfish ensemble cast offensively. Minutes change game to game based on situations, all that matters are W's.
 
Offensive spacing and ball movement much improved yesterday. Starting to look more like a Pitino team. Our depth is our strength and I think we have the potential to keep getting better this season and make some waves in a month or so. Now let’s crush the rest of our OOC schedule and have a well-oiled machine heading into Big East play.
 
Place was packed last night. Always great to see Carnesecca like that.

In addition to what has been posted, we forced a lot of turnovers with the press. It has been fun to watch us create turnovers.

Luis looked good on both sides of the ball.

Soriano was a beast in the paint. Was fun watching him, but like others have said, we are small down low (lol).

Jenkins did a much better job of not turning the ball over last night.

Zuby needs to work on finishing at the rim. He misses too many layups.

All in all, great game. I was impressed with the play of Cruz and Conway. Nice to see Dunlap getting more minutes. Looking forward to watching him and Simeon develop over the course of the season.

Let's see who becomes our six man in the coming weeks, looking like it'll be Taylor, and that is no slight on him at all.

Been a while since we were this deep. Very very excited to see us play against WVU.
 
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