Longwood Game

[Ray Morgan]

Longwood was a wounded duck, without their best player and apparently 2 others out with injuries. Also coming off of games Friday and Sunday. The fact that they hung around as long as they did speaks volumes about where SJU is right now. Which is not ready for prime time. Only our completely overwhelming athletic edge won these games. We won't have that much longer, as we have to play real teams soon. There is nothing good that can be taken out of the early season games. Nothing.

 

[redman#13]

I'm now thinking we should've not redshirted Balamou, as he would be good player to use in a press.

Good move by Branch there. We need to win this game by 20 or more points.

I told my brother the same thing today. We are not getting much from Jordan right now. Felix brings energy and effort.

 

[ccnobz]

I'm now thinking we should've not redshirted Balamou, as he would be good player to use in a press.

Good move by Branch there. We need to win this game by 20 or more points.

I told my brother the same thing today. We are not getting much from Jordan right now. Felix brings energy and effort.

I thought Jordan played better as the game went on, had some nice passes. I think he turned the corner and will start to flourish this weekend

 

[Mean Gene]

Just some quick takeaways from this game. Branch and Jordan should share the point guard duties and Greene should spell Harrison at the two guard position and leave it like that unless Sheed or Branch get into foul trouble. This team better learn to box out and get much more aggressive on the defensive boards as that is what will allow them to get out on the break, finish in transition and score easy baskets. That's what this team is better at, and the way our outside shooting has been we need as many easy baskets as possible. We also need to press more to create fast break opportunities for us because our half court defense is just as poor as our half court offense. when we do have to play half court defense it should be man to man. Although that 1-2-2 zone look towards the end might have some promise. All in all we seem to play down to our opponents. As someone else on the board said previously, let's hope they up to their opponents starting Friday.

 

[Andrew]

If this mean anything.... Penn State beat Monmouth 84-52.

Penn State has played four common opponents.... Wagner (W, 74-62), Bucknell (L, 90-80), Longwood (W, 93-67), and Monmouth.

It means we will be in for a dog fight against Penn State. G Tech and Ole Miss scare me as I think the winner could blow us out if we play lazy.

 

[ccnobz]

Just throwing this out there- Sanchez buried on the bench most of the 2nd half-- don't think he scored either

 

[redman#13]

I'm now thinking we should've not redshirted Balamou, as he would be good player to use in a press.

Good move by Branch there. We need to win this game by 20 or more points.

I told my brother the same thing today. We are not getting much from Jordan right now. Felix brings energy and effort.

I thought Jordan played better as the game went on, had some nice passes. I think he turned the corner and will start to flourish this weekend

He did have some moments today. Maybe I was expecting too much from him as soon as he hit the floor this season. Don't know if anyone who was at the game agrees but I personally didn't like his body language on the bench. Appeared to be sulking and somewhat uninterested.

One last observation that has been bothering me for some time now. Why does our team WALK OUT for pre game and halftime warm ups. Maybe its just me being picky. But id love to see some LIFE in our team and some excitement to get the game going. These guys look like they're walking to their funeral.

 

[Andrew]

We shot 3-19 from 3. That is just terrible. If we shot a normal 7-19, we would have won by 30 which is more in line with what the result needs to be.

 

[Andrew]

Harrison is 8-35 from 3 this year. That won't get it done.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Harrison is 8-35 from 3 this year. That won't get it done.

Yet I trust him from there above anyone else on the team. That tells you something about the rest of our team.

 

[CBA1992]

When I bought tix to Friday nights penn state game I was really excited and was looking forward to the game. Now.... I see at best a 1- 1 weekend with a potential blow out coming our way sooner than later. The second half of the Wisconsin game was the only good half I have seen us play all year.

 

[SJU61982]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/colleges/post/_/id/6283/rapid-reaction-sju-65-longwood-47

 

[Moose]

Just throwing this out there- Sanchez buried on the bench most of the 2nd half-- don't think he scored either

Only allowed 5 guys on the court and 1 ball to go around. So someone has to sit. Two games ago it was Sheed and Branch. Though I think with 6 guys and 2 balls we would still struggle to score

 

[Class of 72]

Well, the easy part of the schedule is over.  We have been very consistent over the course of 7 games (yes I count exhibitions) and that is we hit the court totally unprepared for our opponent. 
Tonight, against the lowest ranked team on the schedule we hardly looked focused on defense and, as usual, disorganized on offense.

Now I know some here will fall back on the low IQ mantra when looking at our players and a couple will obviously not be Rhodes Scholar candidates but it begs the question: when you are the worst shooting 3 point team in the universe, why is coach allowing Harrison 11 attempts while also missing most every type of shot he took for most of 30 minutes?  Is it part of his recovery and redemption process to be a one man offense. Three starters - Phil, Primo and Sampson shot a combined 3 - 19 while Harrison alone took 19 shots. Of course, after 35 minutes of forced shots and 28 footers he hit a couple of 3s but it all looks so helter skelter.
Again, was the plan to have Sanchez only take 3 shots from 20 feet? Yes, Lavin finally sat mi non comprende but his absence was mostly on the court where he seems to have no position assigned since, according to Lavin, he can play 4 positions.  Unfortunately, he plays them all without much passion.
Again, our formidable front line was rendered useless by whatever offense Lavin Wood was running against a small and less talented team. 
In making comparisons with common opponents it appears Monmouth, who played us even for 37 minutes lost to our next opponent by 32 points.
With the many Penn State alums in NYC I see them having the home court advantage, come out more motivated, hit their 3s, and we lose another game to a BIG opponent.
Why? Because we will take too many 3s, Harrison will think he is the offense and Primo will no comprende his role on the team.  Finally, Phil Greene will continue to have the ball in his hands on offense and we will use 30 seconds to get the ball to a shooter......those shooters being only Harrison, Greene and Sampson while the rest of the team is disenfranchised.

 

[sirvoo]

I see the warning signs. The lack of execution offensively(or having players know their own limitations for that matter). The total disregard of control on defense (watch how often we commit to blocks and leave the opposite side of the rim completely unprotected and with an unmarked opponent waiting for an easy basket).

But I still refuse to push the panic button. A lot of these teams are playing so slow offensively, their tempo is really throwing us off. We should be more comfortable as the competition gets better as weird as that sounds.

The blame is completely on Lavin for allowing these cupcakes to play at their pace. No harm done though so I'm not going to ride the guys too hard just yet.

 

[MarkRedman]

I know it's early in the season but we are so fundamentally flawed
On offense, we are a bad outside shooting team that keeps hoisting up jumpers and rarely tries to get the ball inside
On defense, we block so many shots because we are constantly getting beaten off the dribble
It almost looks like we gamble on the perimeter on purpose because we depend upon "the block" as our real (and only) source of defense
We still can't hit 3 point shots or free throws with any degree of regularity
We are winning solely on superior athleticism
That won't cut it most nights during the league season
We better start to jell soon if we going to make a run at the NCAA tournament

 

[oldfan61]

Looking at the positives, Dom has improved every year and is a fine, consistent, BE power player now. D'Angelo was always really good and he now has his emotions somewhat under control (gotta control those F bombs mouthed on nat'l TV that make him look crude). Jakkar has become a great deal stronger and, I think, quicker, over the past year, and Branch has matured as a competent ball handler. Orlando still has a great up side which he will deliver and he is comfortable on the court; Greene IV can shoot and hit and is a joy to watch on a team that can't seem to hit anything. #23 will get his game together and will be a star in league ; he has all the moves of a great one; Hooper unfortunately is uncomfortable right now with his shot but that will change, and Chris got only better at jumping since freshman year.
Our second halves have been consistently strong and productive and we are due to play one whole game at any time. The next two weeks+ will tell us the whole story about what we can expect going forward.
I watched Syracuse from Hawaii tonight , side by side with our game. Right now it doesn't look pretty. It's a 26 point loss today but the game is 19 days from now. If we play like areal team, we have the talent that can beat them on the 15th.
I have watched STJ a long, long time. We do have the talent this year.

 

[rawdognyc]

Well, the easy part of the schedule is over.  We have been very consistent over the course of 7 games (yes I count exhibitions) and that is we hit the court totally unprepared for our opponent. 
Tonight, against the lowest ranked team on the schedule we hardly looked focused on defense and, as usual, disorganized on offense.

Now I know some here will fall back on the low IQ mantra when looking at our players and a couple will obviously not be Rhodes Scholar candidates but it begs the question: when you are the worst shooting 3 point team in the universe, why is coach allowing Harrison 11 attempts while also missing most every type of shot he took for most of 30 minutes?  Is it part of his recovery and redemption process to be a one man offense. Three starters - Phil, Primo and Sampson shot a combined 3 - 19 while Harrison alone took 19 shots. Of course, after 35 minutes of forced shots and 28 footers he hit a couple of 3s but it all looks so helter skelter.
Again, was the plan to have Sanchez only take 3 shots from 20 feet? Yes, Lavin finally sat mi non comprende but his absence was mostly on the court where he seems to have no position assigned since, according to Lavin, he can play 4 positions.  Unfortunately, he plays them all without much passion.
Again, our formidable front line was rendered useless by whatever offense Lavin Wood was running against a small and less talented team. 
In making comparisons with common opponents it appears Monmouth, who played us even for 37 minutes lost to our next opponent by 32 points.
With the many Penn State alums in NYC I see them having the home court advantage, come out more motivated, hit their 3s, and we lose another game to a BIG opponent.
Why? Because we will take too many 3s, Harrison will think he is the offense and Primo will no comprende his role on the team.  Finally, Phil Greene will continue to have the ball in his hands on offense and we will use 30 seconds to get the ball to a shooter......those shooters being only Harrison, Greene and Sampson while the rest of the team is disenfranchised.

and if we beat Penn State will we still have to read your bitchin? Me thinks you'll find something to complain about. Doesn't it ever get old being a grumpy old man? Maybe take a break from watching them for a little bit. Can't be good for your blood pressure 72.

 

[Jack Williams]

Well, the easy part of the schedule is over.  We have been very consistent over the course of 7 games (yes I count exhibitions) and that is we hit the court totally unprepared for our opponent. 
Tonight, against the lowest ranked team on the schedule we hardly looked focused on defense and, as usual, disorganized on offense.

Now I know some here will fall back on the low IQ mantra when looking at our players and a couple will obviously not be Rhodes Scholar candidates but it begs the question: when you are the worst shooting 3 point team in the universe, why is coach allowing Harrison 11 attempts while also missing most every type of shot he took for most of 30 minutes?  Is it part of his recovery and redemption process to be a one man offense. Three starters - Phil, Primo and Sampson shot a combined 3 - 19 while Harrison alone took 19 shots. Of course, after 35 minutes of forced shots and 28 footers he hit a couple of 3s but it all looks so helter skelter.
Again, was the plan to have Sanchez only take 3 shots from 20 feet? Yes, Lavin finally sat mi non comprende but his absence was mostly on the court where he seems to have no position assigned since, according to Lavin, he can play 4 positions.  Unfortunately, he plays them all without much passion.
Again, our formidable front line was rendered useless by whatever offense Lavin Wood was running against a small and less talented team. 
In making comparisons with common opponents it appears Monmouth, who played us even for 37 minutes lost to our next opponent by 32 points.
With the many Penn State alums in NYC I see them having the home court advantage, come out more motivated, hit their 3s, and we lose another game to a BIG opponent.
Why? Because we will take too many 3s, Harrison will think he is the offense and Primo will no comprende his role on the team.  Finally, Phil Greene will continue to have the ball in his hands on offense and we will use 30 seconds to get the ball to a shooter......those shooters being only Harrison, Greene and Sampson while the rest of the team is disenfranchised.

In making comparisons, they lost to Bucknell, we did not.

 

[MJDinkins]

I see the warning signs. The lack of execution offensively(or having players know their own limitations for that matter). The total disregard of control on defense (watch how often we commit to blocks and leave the opposite side of the rim completely unprotected and with an unmarked opponent waiting for an easy basket).

But I still refuse to push the panic button. A lot of these teams are playing so slow offensively, their tempo is really throwing us off. We should be more comfortable as the competition gets better as weird as that sounds.

The blame is completely on Lavin for allowing these cupcakes to play at their pace. No harm done though so I'm not going to ride the guys too hard just yet.

Sensible post.