Anthony Mattia
Well-known member
This will be the headline when he hits the dagger 3, or drives and dishes for the winning dunk, against Villanova in the garden!
LoVett Article in NY Post
- Thread starter paultzman
- Start date
This will be the headline when he hits the dagger 3, or drives and dishes for the winning dunk, against Villanova in the garden!
From Rothstein re under radar freshman;
"Marcus LoVett, St. John’s: This Chicago native is the best newcomer in the Big East that nobody is talking about. A crafty lefty that scores 10-12 points just by falling out of bed, LoVett should be able to impact the Red Storm at the point guard position the same way that Maurice Watson impacted Creighton last season."
Jon Rothstein – Verified account @JonRothstein
20 under-the-radar freshmen for the 2016-17 college basketball season. Here's more @FanRagSports: http://bit.ly/2dKs71d
"Marcus LoVett, St. John’s: This Chicago native is the best newcomer in the Big East that nobody is talking about. A crafty lefty that scores 10-12 points just by falling out of bed, LoVett should be able to impact the Red Storm at the point guard position the same way that Maurice Watson impacted Creighton last season."
Jon Rothstein – Verified account @JonRothstein
20 under-the-radar freshmen for the 2016-17 college basketball season. Here's more @FanRagSports: http://bit.ly/2dKs71d
This is why I am hopeful for improved play from our team this year. Marcus was well regarded coming out of high school and I think he will benefit (believe it or not) from the year of practice. I think that time may have allowed him to mature a little physically and acclimate to college life without the pressure of performing on what was a weak team. Add in Shamorie Ponds and we now have two kids who can play and grow together in what was a position of weakness. I think people are sleeping on not only Marcus but what should be a talented backcourt. Yes there will be growing pains, but I think we will be an improved team and much more fun to watch. Can't wait.
redfan259999888
Active member
This is Marcus
and
and
Rothstein chimes in:
http://www.todaysu.com/rothstein-files/rothstein-20-radar-freshmen-2016-17/
Marcus LoVett, St. John’s: This Chicago native is the best newcomer in the Big East that nobody is talking about. A crafty lefty that scores 10-12 points just by falling out of bed, LoVett should be able to impact the Red Storm at the point guard position the same way that Maurice Watson impacted Creighton last season.
http://www.todaysu.com/rothstein-files/rothstein-20-radar-freshmen-2016-17/
Marcus LoVett, St. John’s: This Chicago native is the best newcomer in the Big East that nobody is talking about. A crafty lefty that scores 10-12 points just by falling out of bed, LoVett should be able to impact the Red Storm at the point guard position the same way that Maurice Watson impacted Creighton last season.
Zags on LoVett:
After Sitting Out as a Partial Qualifier, St. John’s Point Guard Marcus LoVett is Ready to Roll
NEW YORK — Chris Mullin doesn’t know how many more games St. John’s would have won last year if Marcus LoVett had been eligible and healthy to play point guard.
Mullin figures it probably would have been more than the eight St. John’s did win in his first season as head coach, but he doesn’t want to think too long about it, either.
“Who knows, it’s hard to tell,” Mullin, whose team was picked to finish eighth in the 10-team Big East, said Thursday at St. John’s Media Day. “It’s hard to tell. Look, a lot of times things happen and at the time you’re saying ‘Why?’ but then in the long run it will kind of work out. So I think it’s probably more important how we dealt with that to get to this point and now we’ll answer those questions now.”
After the 6-foot LoVett sat out last season as a partial qualifier, now begins on Halloween Night when he makes his debut in an exhibition game against Baruch at Carnesecca Arena. The Johnnies then play Rhode Island in a “secret scrimmage” next weekend before opening the regular season Nov. 11 against Bethune-Cookman.
LoVett cannot wait to get started.
“I’m looking real forward to playing this year,” he said. “This is a big year for us to turn the program around, just coming off of last year, how we did. I think this year’s team is real special.”
Mullin, in turn, cannot wait to get LoVett out on the floor with the new-look Johnnies.
“He’s got so many different skills,” he said. “I think the biggest is speed, his ball-handling, he’s really, really unselfish, very meticulous in his preparation. He wants to execute exactly, wants to be efficient. His ball-handling, his speed and his vision are pretty unique. He’s had big scoring nights but I think he likes to pass. I think he really loves to get his teammates involved first and foremost.”
When I asked Mullin if LoVett compared to any NBA or college guards, he said “Someone recently said he reminded them of Kenny Anderson maybe because he’s lefty. You can go up and down the line of small guards who can have a big impact on the game, maybe small in stature but in the last 5, 10 years those guys have had a big impact.”
LoVett was a four-star, consensus top-25 point guard who finished up at Morgan Park High School in Chicago where he was a First Team All-State selection by the Chicago Tribune. He finished fourth in the statewide vote for Mr. Basketball in 2015 after averaging roughly 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game. LoVett led his team to a third place finish at the state tournament in 2015 and set an Illinois Class 3A playoff record posting 45 points on 20-of-27 shooting in the semifinals.
LoVett didn’t want to talk about how difficult it was sitting out last season but he knows how tough it was on Mullin and his teammates to finish 8-24, 1-17 in the Big East in his absence.
“I can tell it was a little bit tough on him, just seeing him go through what he had to go through,” LoVett said.”But all of it happens for a reason. I think he can go home at night and sleep better knowing that the team will be a lot different.”
While Federico Mussini, a natural shooting guard, was forced in to point guard duties last season, Mullin now has a plethora of options in the backcourt. In addition to LoVett and Mussini, St. John’s returns 6-6 New Jersey native Malik Ellison and brings in 6-1 former Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson star Shamorie Ponds.
Ponds and LoVett have become friends and Ponds is a fan of LoVett’s game.
“He brings leadership,” Ponds said. “He has a strong personality even though off the court he doesn’t talk a lot, but he brings a strong personality and he’s going to help us get where we want to go this year.”
When LoVett plays the point, Ponds can shift off the ball.
“In practice we’ve been playing together and against each other so [Mullin’s] been seeing which lineups work and who works better with each other,” Ponds said. “I believe myself and the three of them, we play well together.”
Mullin has experimented with some three-guard lineups with LoVett, Ponds and Mussini plus former junior college star Bashir Ahmed on the wing and 7-footer Yankuba Sima down low. St. John’s also can go small with a lineup of LoVett, Ponds, Ellison, Ahmed and sophomore Kassoum Yakwe at the 5.
“I’ve tinkered with a lot of diff combinations,” Mullin said. “They all offer something. They’ve done a good job of functioning in that lineup. The biggest thing is the spacing. We want to play with pace all the time but understanding when to attack, when to get in the pick-and-rolls.”
The good thing about sitting out last year was that LoVett spent a lot of time seeing the game from the coach’s perspective and talking to Mullin.
“If I was walking up and down the sideline, just really pointing things out because we worked on them in practice,” Mullin said. “Of course a lot of times I was saying [to LoVett], ‘We want to do this and quite frankly I thought you would’ve been able to do it but we’ll have to wait.'”
Now the waiting is over and the Marcus LoVett Era can begin.
“We’re just ready for this year’s season,” LoVett said, “and we’re just ready to get rolling,”
After Sitting Out as a Partial Qualifier, St. John’s Point Guard Marcus LoVett is Ready to Roll
NEW YORK — Chris Mullin doesn’t know how many more games St. John’s would have won last year if Marcus LoVett had been eligible and healthy to play point guard.
Mullin figures it probably would have been more than the eight St. John’s did win in his first season as head coach, but he doesn’t want to think too long about it, either.
“Who knows, it’s hard to tell,” Mullin, whose team was picked to finish eighth in the 10-team Big East, said Thursday at St. John’s Media Day. “It’s hard to tell. Look, a lot of times things happen and at the time you’re saying ‘Why?’ but then in the long run it will kind of work out. So I think it’s probably more important how we dealt with that to get to this point and now we’ll answer those questions now.”
After the 6-foot LoVett sat out last season as a partial qualifier, now begins on Halloween Night when he makes his debut in an exhibition game against Baruch at Carnesecca Arena. The Johnnies then play Rhode Island in a “secret scrimmage” next weekend before opening the regular season Nov. 11 against Bethune-Cookman.
LoVett cannot wait to get started.
“I’m looking real forward to playing this year,” he said. “This is a big year for us to turn the program around, just coming off of last year, how we did. I think this year’s team is real special.”
Mullin, in turn, cannot wait to get LoVett out on the floor with the new-look Johnnies.
“He’s got so many different skills,” he said. “I think the biggest is speed, his ball-handling, he’s really, really unselfish, very meticulous in his preparation. He wants to execute exactly, wants to be efficient. His ball-handling, his speed and his vision are pretty unique. He’s had big scoring nights but I think he likes to pass. I think he really loves to get his teammates involved first and foremost.”
When I asked Mullin if LoVett compared to any NBA or college guards, he said “Someone recently said he reminded them of Kenny Anderson maybe because he’s lefty. You can go up and down the line of small guards who can have a big impact on the game, maybe small in stature but in the last 5, 10 years those guys have had a big impact.”
LoVett was a four-star, consensus top-25 point guard who finished up at Morgan Park High School in Chicago where he was a First Team All-State selection by the Chicago Tribune. He finished fourth in the statewide vote for Mr. Basketball in 2015 after averaging roughly 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game. LoVett led his team to a third place finish at the state tournament in 2015 and set an Illinois Class 3A playoff record posting 45 points on 20-of-27 shooting in the semifinals.
LoVett didn’t want to talk about how difficult it was sitting out last season but he knows how tough it was on Mullin and his teammates to finish 8-24, 1-17 in the Big East in his absence.
“I can tell it was a little bit tough on him, just seeing him go through what he had to go through,” LoVett said.”But all of it happens for a reason. I think he can go home at night and sleep better knowing that the team will be a lot different.”
While Federico Mussini, a natural shooting guard, was forced in to point guard duties last season, Mullin now has a plethora of options in the backcourt. In addition to LoVett and Mussini, St. John’s returns 6-6 New Jersey native Malik Ellison and brings in 6-1 former Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson star Shamorie Ponds.
Ponds and LoVett have become friends and Ponds is a fan of LoVett’s game.
“He brings leadership,” Ponds said. “He has a strong personality even though off the court he doesn’t talk a lot, but he brings a strong personality and he’s going to help us get where we want to go this year.”
When LoVett plays the point, Ponds can shift off the ball.
“In practice we’ve been playing together and against each other so [Mullin’s] been seeing which lineups work and who works better with each other,” Ponds said. “I believe myself and the three of them, we play well together.”
Mullin has experimented with some three-guard lineups with LoVett, Ponds and Mussini plus former junior college star Bashir Ahmed on the wing and 7-footer Yankuba Sima down low. St. John’s also can go small with a lineup of LoVett, Ponds, Ellison, Ahmed and sophomore Kassoum Yakwe at the 5.
“I’ve tinkered with a lot of diff combinations,” Mullin said. “They all offer something. They’ve done a good job of functioning in that lineup. The biggest thing is the spacing. We want to play with pace all the time but understanding when to attack, when to get in the pick-and-rolls.”
The good thing about sitting out last year was that LoVett spent a lot of time seeing the game from the coach’s perspective and talking to Mullin.
“If I was walking up and down the sideline, just really pointing things out because we worked on them in practice,” Mullin said. “Of course a lot of times I was saying [to LoVett], ‘We want to do this and quite frankly I thought you would’ve been able to do it but we’ll have to wait.'”
Now the waiting is over and the Marcus LoVett Era can begin.
“We’re just ready for this year’s season,” LoVett said, “and we’re just ready to get rolling,”
Thanks Monte. As many have said I can't wait for the games to start and Marcus is the primary reason. College bball is a guards game and rarely have we had a good pg in the last 20 years. The last Time i was as excited was when Eric Barkley joined the team. He had a huge impact. Hopefully Marcus will stick around longer than Barkley and Cook did, the poster boys for not leaving early. I truly believe Marcus will make us a much better team.
Agree completely, and the impact of a good PG can be even that much greater on a team with an inexperienced HC. One example which I've used before is David Cain. Give a mediocre HC a good-great PG and he can easily be made to look like a good-great HC.
BTW my redmen.com fantasy football team is surging this year ever since I changed my team name from " Corporate Raiders " to " get off the scorers table ". True Story
Yes you have.
But of course I have a looooooooooooong way to guy to touch you guys talking about coaching inexperience, defense, table sitting, etc.
we are sju
Active member
Yes you have.
Usually comes down to talent, but a bad coach like a Norm Roberts could absolutely negatively affect the outcome of games. Just like a good coach like Ferret Face would have a positive impact. I would agree that most coaches fall in between those two extremes though.
Marcus Ali LoVett – @Marcus_LoVett
19 and 9assist for my first game in college blessed, loved the fans y'all give me so much energy! Watch the film #HappyVetDay
And don't be late Marcus, need you from the tip.
The kid seems like such a leader ON THE COURT. Now maybe Mullin can get it in his head he needs to lead all the time. Hopefully, he has learned a lesson and takes it to heart.