Joel

redmanwest

redmanwest

Well-known member
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To me, team has come together nicely and could be undefeated in conference. But, close losses in tough games on the road are to be expected in the toughest conference in college basketball. So, I’m very pleased and frankly surprised by being so good so soon. But there’s a lot of basketball to be played.

Imo, for this team to take the next step up, I think we need our stud center to step it up and play more aggressively and forcefully. He is our difference maker.

There have times he’s disappeared and times he rarely demands the ball. For the most part, his numbers have been there. But I think a more consistent and aggressive approach would make a big difference and could facilitate a great end of season run.
 
redmanwest said:
To me, team has come together nicely and could be undefeated in conference. But, close losses in tough games on the road are to be expected in the toughest conference in college basketball. So, I’m very pleased and frankly surprised by being so good so soon. But there’s a lot of basketball to be played.

Imo, for this team to take the next step up, I think we need our stud center to step it up and play more aggressively and forcefully. He is our difference maker.

There have times he’s disappeared and times he rarely demands the ball. For the most part, his numbers have been there. But I think a more consistent and aggressive approach would make a big difference and could facilitate a great end of season run.
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Considering how far Joel has come skill and conditioning wise, I think this may be the solid, not spectacular level of play you can count on most nights.

On O side of things hopefully he continues to generate second chances via getting some O rebounds and getting his share of points. Defensively, he needs to continue rebound, avoid fouling (big improvement area) and recover quickly on unavoidable switches.

Zuby really is doing the little things, rebounding, defending and Ben drawing some fouls has become the perfect “caddy” for Joel when he needs a breather.
 
Moving into the big east part of the schedule has resulted in Soriano’s diminishing production. This was expected. This puts more pressure on Jenkins since he is the only SJU player with the ability to create his own shot.
He can get an uncontested shot off any time and no other SJU player can accomplish this except Luis who because of injuries is limited even in practice time or possibly Dingle if can up his performance.
Jenkins is not chucking but he and Pitino are aware of this teams difficiences. Dingle has just not lived up to expectations and this has put more of a burden on Jenkins.

’
 
paultzman said:
Considering how far Joel has come skill and conditioning wise, I think this may be the solid, not spectacular level of play you can count on most nights.

On O side of things hopefully he continues to generate second chances via getting some O rebounds and getting his share of points. Defensively, he needs to continue rebound, avoid fouling (big improvement area) and recover quickly on unavoidable switches.

Zuby really is doing the little things, rebounding, defending and Ben drawing some fouls has become the perfect “caddy” for Joel when he needs a breather.
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So true—Zuby showed some really good stuff in the providence and creighton games especially. Those performances against BE level competition has me very excited to see him next year. Definitely less worried about the front court w/o Soriano and wouldn’t be surprised for him to take a Soriano-esque leap in performance.
 
GardenCity62 said:
Moving into the big east part of the schedule has resulted in Soriano’s diminishing production. This was expected. This puts more pressure on Jenkins since he is the only SJU player with the ability to create his own shot.
He can get an uncontested shot off any time and no other SJU player can accomplish this except Luis who because of injuries is limited even in practice time or possibly Dingle if can up his performance.
Jenkins is not chucking but he and Pitino are aware of this teams difficiences. Dingle has just not lived up to expectations and this has put more of a burden on Jenkins.

’
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Luis can also create his own shot as can Dingle to a lesser extent.
 
Can’t argue with most of the above. I’ve just seen him turn his aggressiveness on and off. Wish he could sustain it for longer periods.
 
Redenbacher said:
He's the same player, he's just being tested against a much higher caliber of competition. Yesterday I felt was his first true test, given that Clingan was out against UConn.
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My recollection is Soriano has historically not played well against Kalkbrenner. Some matchups are tough.
 
paultzman said:
I did not think Joel was completely dominated by Kalk, a better player. Game stats seem to support that. He was not the reason we lost.
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Didn't see the game, but we are so lucky to have Joel. Running him down is just nuts imho. Also don't buy that he doesn't want the shots. He was clearly looking for Daniss to give him the lob for the last shot. And I am not at all criticizing Daniss for not making that pass or anything else he did.
It's been a good season so far - let's just beat Hall.
 
NCJohnnie said:
Didn't see the game, but we are so lucky to have Joel. Running him down is just nuts imho. Also don't buy that he doesn't want the shots. He was clearly looking for Daniss to give him the lob for the last shot. And I am not at all criticizing Daniss for not making that pass or anything else he did.
It's been a good season so far - let's just beat Hall.
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Not running him down at all. Love Joel. Just think his motor seems inconsistent. Maybe because it’s not his nature to be demanding the ball. But more touches by him would be a positive. And I think he could be more demanding of the ball.
 
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Seems Joel has two visible sides...Fiery & charged up, or head shaking and a bit low.

Luckily we get more of the fiery. Just need them to be in right games at right times when needed most.
 
Soriano has a good to excellent jump shot but needs to work on his post up moves. If it’s not a dunk it’s a crap shoot. He throws up this hook shot and hopes it goes in.
 
Demo said:
Soriano has a good to excellent jump shot but needs to work on his post up moves. If it’s not a dunk it’s a crap shoot. He throws up this hook shot and hopes it goes in.
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I mean he's shooting 64% from the field. While that number obviously includes dunks I think there is too just much recency bias at play here as against Creighton he looked out of sorts. Yet still had a double double. In the words of Jay Z we have 99 problems, Soriano's not one.
 
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