Kudos Joel Soriano

The issue with Soriano was playing defense. He wouldn’t commit to hustling back on defense. He was beat one on one all the time. Foul with 2 seconds on the shot clock. The plus minus between him and Zuby being on the floor and Soriano was huge.
Trying to hold other players accountable for his play seems like a stretch. If he tried harder on defense the game would of opened up for the other players.
 
Rhythm said:
The issue with Soriano was playing defense. He wouldn’t commit to hustling back on defense. He was beat one on one all the time. Foul with 2 seconds on the shot clock. The plus minus between him and Zuby being on the floor and Soriano was huge.
Trying to hold other players accountable for his play seems like a stretch. If he tried harder on defense the game would of opened up for the other players.
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I think his mind set on defense was getting back to beat or at least stay with the other team's individual big. It was not to get back to be the rim protector against the other whole team...and to help out his team mates.
 
hnkcolumbia said:
I think his mind set on defense was getting back to beat or at least stay with the other team's individual big. It was not to get back to be the rim protector against the other whole team...and to help out his team mates.
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The issue with Soriano’s defense is opposing teams that were smart would pull him out of the paint and force him to make quick decisions defending pick and rolls/other actions.

UConn really exposed this in the semifinal game.

Whoever we get at center to replace joel needs to be able to switch onto guards and hold their own. It is just the name of the game now. And that’s why Zuby started to really show his value down the stretch last year
 
Rhythm said:
The issue with Soriano was playing defense. He wouldn’t commit to hustling back on defense. He was beat one on one all the time. Foul with 2 seconds on the shot clock. The plus minus between him and Zuby being on the floor and Soriano was huge.
Trying to hold other players accountable for his play seems like a stretch. If he tried harder on defense the game would of opened up for the other players.
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For whatever reason, it seems like at some point he just stopped max effort out there. Looked like his motor was running half speed. Maybe it was the higher level of competition in conference, or maybe it was in his head.
 
Beasts of the East said:
I sometimes have a hard time taking swipes at player performances because basketball is such a team game.

I thought Shamorie Ponds got off to a great start in his final season here. He was playing great, the team was winning and he was surrounded by a solid cast - Figueroa, Clarke, Owens, Simons, etc.

Media guys started projecting us as a dark horse final four team.

At some point and for a prolonged period, his teammates could not make wide open shots Ponds provided via drive and dish. Ponds, frustrated and trying to win, started driving in a packed lane against 2 or 3 guys, or hoisting shots over zones from 25 feet out. Everything is related and spacing is important even when you can slice up a defense the way Ponds could.

Soriano started the season off so well, it looked like he was solidly in the draft, maybe as high as late first round. Then he saw double and triple teams whenever he saw the ball. Under control he would pitch it out, where there were few reliable outsider shooters from a group that were all touted to be good 3 point shooters. Soriano was getting sometimes less than 10 shots per game and sll seemed contested. He lost that swagger and confidence. By season's end he was playing more high post than posting up and started to play a lot better even if not dominant.

Putting Soriano at the high post also opened things up for Jenkins and Luis to penetrate. The team found itself, Dingle started plaing like we expected, Ledlum was an asset, etc.

It's a team game and sometimes individuals are only as good as their teammates are playing.
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I was a big Ponds fan . Still believe he was one of our best players over the last 2 decades .
He was hampered by Lovett defecting early , which made Shamorie have to be both , PG and SG.
Which as you stated Beast was playing with Teammates , notably Simon , Clarke , could not throw the ball in the Ocean. Figgy was a exception as he could shoot .

Soriano , had a limited game , not suited to Pitino’s style of play . We , as fans , this year over estimated his abilities . Even being in top shape, Joel was effective against OOC opponents mostly . The better Centers in the BE , took advantage of his limitations . Clingan, Oduro , Kalkenbrenner , Ighodoro .

He also seemed to lose confidence in his own game and was often abused defensively . Still he tried his best up to the very end of his time here.
He deserves our respect and appreciation for his time here .
 
Rhythm said:
He was a big disappointment. If he gave it all up on defense I would feel differently. He was the captain and he let the team down by setting the example of not giving 100 percent in defensive effort.
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Yes, it was perplexing but it looked like he basically stopped playing hard, with a modest improvement at the end of the season (coinciding with our late season resurgence). But, we almost certainly don't lose 8 of 11 if he had shown consistent effort. And that was on both ends of the floor, not just on defense. Sorry, those are just the facts. He could be one of the nicest kids ever to wear the uniform, but to have been handed the captain moniker, and been the guy RP pinned his hopes on, well, that was misguided and did not pan out.
 
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Joel might have been far from perfect and I will agree that his level of play dipped significantly at certain points of the season but he was a far more effective big than we have had for quite a bit of time.

Since Robert Werdann and maybe Zendon Hamilton played for us in the nineties can someone give me a shortlist of St. John's centers who were actually better than Joel Soriano?

All I know was that our last really terrific team that got to the elite eight and was beaten there, because SJU did not have an answer at Center for Ohio State's 6' 11" Center Ken Johnson.

IMHO Joel Soriano (with all his flaws and imperfections) was as an effective a big as we have had here in the 21st century.
 
Soriano needs a mid-range game or he is a very poor mans Edey.

He also got killed against better comp. Maybe in the 90's he could catch on as a 3rd string center but that position doesn't even exist anymore.

It's the way the game has changed. In my opinion for the worst.

Also saying he was the best center in the 21st Century for us is like saying I am the most handsome person in a leper colony (iffy at best)
 
Fizzy said:
Soriano needs a mid-range game or he is a very poor mans Edey.

He also got killed against better comp. Maybe in the 90's he could catch on as a 3rd string center but that position doesn't even exist anymore.

It's the way the game has changed. In my opinion for the worst.

Also saying he was the best center in the 21st Century for us is like saying I am the most handsome person in a leper colony (iffy at best)
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His midrange game was the best thing he had for a lot of the year offensively. But agree with what you said in general.
 
Rhythm said:
He was a big disappointment.
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He was a disappointment, Pitino was a disappointment, the freshmen were a disappointment, the Ivy leaguers were a disappointment, the excruciatingly close losses were a disappointment, the mid season losing streak was a disappointment, selection Sunday was a disappointment, Ubs attendance was a disappointment, the season was a dissapointment, the team was a disappointment, the program was and is a dissapointment and Mrs. A says that I'm a disappointment. If it wasn't for dissapointment, we'd have nothing at all.
 
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