Important Observation

[beast of the east]

We looked dreadful last night but who among is willing to give back any of those ugly wins?

Harrison says they're determined to show that the bottom half of the league aren't the only teams we can beat and they intend to prove that on Saturday.

Love the attitude. Let's hope their performance matches DLo's words.

If we looked dreadful last night my god what would you call some of the other gems this year?

Graceless? Inélégant?

Who cares about aesthetics??

We've won 5 in a row and i slept like a baby last night.

I've been very positive all year because expecations on my part have been moderate - jsut play well and improve, and next season will be better.

I'll take a very poorly played win over a well played loss any day.

However, with the prospect of Georgetown, UCONN, Louisville, and Syracuse in front o us, with 3 of those on the road, they'd better play better than last night, or can go 0-4. Throw in ND on the road, and that can mean 5 more losses.

I guess my major concern is that although Branch is a big big plus to the lineup, he's not really a floor general. Certain point guards have such a presence on the floor, like the conductor of a symphony. That's not Branch.

Obepka blocking shots is great fun... he blasted one into the SJU bench in the first half, and smothered a drive to the hoop in the second half. However, around the hoop on offense his skills are no more than a 2 out of 10. Hopefully a lot of work in the offseason and in practice, and he will become capable.

Together, Branch, Sampson, Greene, and Harrison - the core of our offense, shot 19-56, about 35% from the field. It wasn't stellar defense that contained them. It was poor shooting, and poor shot choices,

Went home happy, but this will be the roughest stretch of the season. Anything better than 1-4 against the above mentioned teams would be respectable, but it won't be easy.

Usually pointless to play the games in your head before playing them on the court. But it seems thats what your doing. Half the season is over and we got 6 in the bank, and it could of been 8 or less then the 6. All the home games winnable so why not figure that gets us to 10. ND not real good now even at home. Providence is ok for Providence. That could get us to 12. Your looking at the next 5 and saying we can lose them all. I'm looking at a team I figure is green as grass{Dom on way to being all BE) who has won 5 in a row and is getting better. Overtime win with no Harrison thrills me. What does worry me is Dom in foul trouble. The teams that most of us would put in the unbeatable column. well who knows if they're for real.

Like I said a win is a win, and good teams win the games they have to. SU did that last night. On your home court, a tourney team should have their way with DePaul. Pitt ust beat them at Pitt, by 38, UCONN beat them by 21 at UCONN. We got extended to OT. Not a great sign.

I think you take them one at a time. Certainly a win on the road at Georgetown would speak volumes at a juncture where a win could have much more significance in terms of post season hopes than the earlier road win at Cinn.

 

[SJUalum98]

We looked dreadful last night but who among is willing to give back any of those ugly wins?

Harrison says they're determined to show that the bottom half of the league aren't the only teams we can beat and they intend to prove that on Saturday.

Love the attitude. Let's hope their performance matches DLo's words.

If we looked dreadful last night my god what would you call some of the other gems this year?

Graceless? Inélégant?

Who cares about aesthetics??

We've won 5 in a row and i slept like a baby last night.

I've been very positive all year because expecations on my part have been moderate - jsut play well and improve, and next season will be better.

I'll take a very poorly played win over a well played loss any day.

However, with the prospect of Georgetown, UCONN, Louisville, and Syracuse in front o us, with 3 of those on the road, they'd better play better than last night, or can go 0-4. Throw in ND on the road, and that can mean 5 more losses.

I guess my major concern is that although Branch is a big big plus to the lineup, he's not really a floor general. Certain point guards have such a presence on the floor, like the conductor of a symphony. That's not Branch.

Obepka blocking shots is great fun... he blasted one into the SJU bench in the first half, and smothered a drive to the hoop in the second half. However, around the hoop on offense his skills are no more than a 2 out of 10. Hopefully a lot of work in the offseason and in practice, and he will become capable.

Together, Branch, Sampson, Greene, and Harrison - the core of our offense, shot 19-56, about 35% from the field. It wasn't stellar defense that contained them. It was poor shooting, and poor shot choices,

Went home happy, but this will be the roughest stretch of the season. Anything better than 1-4 against the above mentioned teams would be respectable, but it won't be easy.

Usually pointless to play the games in your head before playing them on the court. But it seems thats what your doing. Half the season is over and we got 6 in the bank, and it could of been 8 or less then the 6. All the home games winnable so why not figure that gets us to 10. ND not real good now even at home. Providence is ok for Providence. That could get us to 12. Your looking at the next 5 and saying we can lose them all. I'm looking at a team I figure is green as grass{Dom on way to being all BE) who has won 5 in a row and is getting better. Overtime win with no Harrison thrills me. What does worry me is Dom in foul trouble. The teams that most of us would put in the unbeatable column. well who knows if they're for real.

Like I said a win is a win, and good teams win the games they have to. SU did that last night. On your home court, a tourney team should have their way with DePaul. Pitt ust beat them at Pitt, by 38, UCONN beat them by 21 at UCONN. We got extended to OT. Not a great sign.

I think you take them one at a time. Certainly a win on the road at Georgetown would speak volumes at a juncture where a win could have much more significance in terms of post season hopes than the earlier road win at Cinn.

The dreaded comparison to other teams.

Last I checked, no player on our roster has ever sniffed a significant game since high school. There is a reason we haven't closed games out all year long.

If this team had a lick of experience, we would've blown out Murray St, Baylor, UNCA and DePaul a few weeks ago. I believe the stat shown last night was that we were 4-2 in games decided by 5 points. I'm sure we blew big leads in all 4 of those victories.

 

[Ray Morgan]

The way this team plays, they can lost to almost anyone. But they can also beat almost anyone in the conference. Without Dom bailing out Branch's TO with a few seconds left, Depaul has a breakaway and slam dunk for the win. Branch seems to slip a lot and does this spin move where he completely exposes the basketball. Just means he needs to work on a few things, and build up strength and stamina. Team is much improved, but has a long way to go. They need to treat their possessions with more respect. Yes, turnovers are low, but they need to make better decisions on shot selection. What were they from the line in OT? 3 of 8 or something similar. Depaul worst rebounding team in league per announcers, yet beat us badly off the boards.

Branch didnt have his best game..but on the play you are referring to, he was pushed/tripped by McKinney...who might as well have put a saddle on whoever he was guarding...refs let him get away with a lot...

Completely missed the push. The good news is that we are on a nice run despite all the shooting and rebounding woes. It's nice to have the kind of athletes we have. The much maligned Dom Pointer has become that all purpose guy that helps you win games like the one last night. Improving shot selection will mask some shooting woes. A free throw guru should help. If not, I would resort to a hypnotist. If that doesn't work, the Vulcan mind meld.

 

[Section3]

The way this team plays, they can lost to almost anyone. But they can also beat almost anyone in the conference. Without Dom bailing out Branch's TO with a few seconds left, Depaul has a breakaway and slam dunk for the win. Branch seems to slip a lot and does this spin move where he completely exposes the basketball. Just means he needs to work on a few things, and build up strength and stamina. Team is much improved, but has a long way to go. They need to treat their possessions with more respect. Yes, turnovers are low, but they need to make better decisions on shot selection. What were they from the line in OT? 3 of 8 or something similar. Depaul worst rebounding team in league per announcers, yet beat us badly off the boards.

I just want to see Obekpa try something else besides falling back and praying...dont understand why we havent seen him try a different routing and certainly a routibe that includes following through toward the hoop

Branch didnt have his best game..but on the play you are referring to, he was pushed/tripped by McKinney...who might as well have put a saddle on whoever he was guarding...refs let him get away with a lot...

Completely missed the push. The good news is that we are on a nice run despite all the shooting and rebounding woes. It's nice to have the kind of athletes we have. The much maligned Dom Pointer has become that all purpose guy that helps you win games like the one last night. Improving shot selection will mask some shooting woes. A free throw guru should help. If not, I would resort to a hypnotist. If that doesn't work, the Vulcan mind meld.

 

[prjohnnies]

I honestly think it plays into our hands when teams press us. I was hoping that Depaul would do it for the whole game last night. Allows us to push the ball up and get easier shots, because we don't have a true low post threat and struggle in the half court. And when we play with three guards plus Jakar and Dom, all of those guys can push the ball up the floor off misses and help beat the press.

Branch did get fouled a few times last night and it wasn't called. But he needs to be stronger with the ball.

 

[DieHard Johnny]

We looked dreadful last night but who among is willing to give back any of those ugly wins?

Harrison says they're determined to show that the bottom half of the league aren't the only teams we can beat and they intend to prove that on Saturday.

Love the attitude. Let's hope their performance matches DLo's words.

I seem to believe our best chance for our next victory will be against the Hoyas. I don't expect us to play as poorly against them as we did in the garden. Not too confident we can win on the road against Cuse and Louisville.

GT will press us from the lockeroom must use the 3guard lineup green-branch-Harrison with Samson & pointer
That lineup can rebound well & match the speed of the hoyas
Its going be a great challenge but this team has bonded together & should play alot better

No way. Your lineup is atrocious on the boards.
Time to get Obekpa back in the starting lineup and make Greene the first guard off the bench.

Thats not true Dlo has started getting more rebounds so has Dom & Jak check the stats unless minkos liying on the radio

 

[beast of the east]

We looked dreadful last night but who among is willing to give back any of those ugly wins?

Harrison says they're determined to show that the bottom half of the league aren't the only teams we can beat and they intend to prove that on Saturday.

Love the attitude. Let's hope their performance matches DLo's words.

I seem to believe our best chance for our next victory will be against the Hoyas. I don't expect us to play as poorly against them as we did in the garden. Not too confident we can win on the road against Cuse and Louisville.

GT will press us from the lockeroom must use the 3guard lineup green-branch-Harrison with Samson & pointer
That lineup can rebound well & match the speed of the hoyas
Its going be a great challenge but this team has bonded together & should play alot better

No way. Your lineup is atrocious on the boards.
Time to get Obekpa back in the starting lineup and make Greene the first guard off the bench.

Thats not true Dlo has started getting more rebounds so has Dom & Jak check the stats unless minkos liying on the radio

Harrison, for all my criticism that he stands around too much on offense, CERTAINLY adheres to one coaching adage - rest on offense, not defense. On defense he is in the mix all of the time, and is always crashing the defensive boards. He works his butt off on defense. In fact, if you pay attention the next time the ball goes up, nearly all of our players are putting a body on their man to box out. Even Marco, in limited minutes does this well.

We are undersized, leading to rebound discrepancies, but fundamentally getting much better on defense. Of course, it appears that the zone has been abandoned for a man-to-man.