we are sju
Active member
[quote="gonzalo" post=300061]If our freshmen are not going to play then we don´t have so depth as we thought.[/quote]
We were never playing 10 or 11
We were never playing 10 or 11
Maryville Saints - Exhibition matchup
- Thread starter RedStormNC
- Start date
Yes Roberts is raw & rail thin. However he needs modest minutes more than Greg W, considering guard depth. After we once again failed to bolster the interior, Roberts may have to give a few minutes v decent teams in event of foul trouble or injury to Keita. He’s all we have in that event and obviously an exhibition or a rout v poor teams would at least be a chance to get his feet wet.
[quote="otis" post=300071]I did not see the game.
How did Keita look ?
Thanks.[/quote]
Mixed, IMO.
Took two bad 3's early, but attacked the rim after that. Looks like he has really bad hands, which is a problem, because good hands are something you usually either just have, or you don't. Tough to work on that. Took 2 FT attempts. Swished the first, but looked really, really bad on the 2nd. Need more of a sample to judge, but he may be coming out of games late, if we are ahead. Did crash the boards very well, and did not appear to shy away from contact, but he had the body strength to easily take these guys on.
How did Keita look ?
Thanks.[/quote]
Mixed, IMO.
Took two bad 3's early, but attacked the rim after that. Looks like he has really bad hands, which is a problem, because good hands are something you usually either just have, or you don't. Tough to work on that. Took 2 FT attempts. Swished the first, but looked really, really bad on the 2nd. Need more of a sample to judge, but he may be coming out of games late, if we are ahead. Did crash the boards very well, and did not appear to shy away from contact, but he had the body strength to easily take these guys on.
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we are sju
Active member
[quote="SJU61982" post=300072][quote="otis" post=300071]I did not see the game.
How did Keita look ?
Thanks.[/quote]
Mixed, IMO.
Took two bad 3's early, but attacked the rim after that. Looks like he has really bad hands, which is a problem, because good hands are something you usually either just have, or you don't. Tough to work on that. Took 2 FT attempts. Swished the first, but looked really, really bad on the 2nd. Need more of a sample to judge, but he may be coming out of games late, if we are ahead. Did crash the boards very well, and did not appear to shy away from contact, but he had the body strength to easily take these guys on.[/quote]
Great bad hands. Was already starting to miss Yakwe, guess I won't have to now.
How did Keita look ?
Thanks.[/quote]
Mixed, IMO.
Took two bad 3's early, but attacked the rim after that. Looks like he has really bad hands, which is a problem, because good hands are something you usually either just have, or you don't. Tough to work on that. Took 2 FT attempts. Swished the first, but looked really, really bad on the 2nd. Need more of a sample to judge, but he may be coming out of games late, if we are ahead. Did crash the boards very well, and did not appear to shy away from contact, but he had the body strength to easily take these guys on.[/quote]
Great bad hands. Was already starting to miss Yakwe, guess I won't have to now.
With respect to freshman, I remember one knock against Louie was the very little playing time provided to these youngsters (other than CM). Do you remember Marcus Broadnax? Florida player of the year got zero time (other than 2 mins to hit game winner v FDU). Wound up transferring at the end of his first semester. Elander Lewis? Was promised he would start, but then yanked after five minutes.
It’s just an old school style, but one that doesn’t play well in today’s times. I hope that I’m wrong, but, like everything else, only time will tell. After a single scrimmage and exhibition, I think we all need to chill and see how it all plays out.
It’s just an old school style, but one that doesn’t play well in today’s times. I hope that I’m wrong, but, like everything else, only time will tell. After a single scrimmage and exhibition, I think we all need to chill and see how it all plays out.
we are sju
Active member
[quote="MBaldi" post=300074]With respect to freshman, I remember one knock against Louie was the very little playing time provided to these youngsters (other than CM). Do you remember Marcus Broadnax? Florida player of the year got zero time (other than 2 mins to hit game winner v FDU). Wound up transferring at the end of his first semester. Elander Lewis? Was promised he would start, but then yanked after five minutes.
It’s just an old school style, but one that doesn’t play well in today’s times. I hope that I’m wrong, but, like everything else, only time will tell. After a single scrimmage and exhibition, I think we all need to chill and see how it all plays out.[/quote]
I was looking forward to Broadnax but in fairness to Lou he never wound up doing anything once he left.
It’s just an old school style, but one that doesn’t play well in today’s times. I hope that I’m wrong, but, like everything else, only time will tell. After a single scrimmage and exhibition, I think we all need to chill and see how it all plays out.[/quote]
I was looking forward to Broadnax but in fairness to Lou he never wound up doing anything once he left.
There is a lot to criticize about last night, a lot, but IMO not playing the freshman is not one of them. Like the last two years we continued to get beat off the dribble which leads to over-rotation and open 3's. We continued to close out without our hands up. We continued to run a pro offense but with none of the discipline an experienced team should have in shot selection that "system" demands to be effective. 24-45 from 2, 6-24 from 3 - many of them "the first shot that shows jacks" speaks for itself. Figueroa was obviously impressive, what stood out to me was he looks like that rare combo of stud athlete that is also a basketball player in every sense of the word, very fundamentally sound at first look.
One last point about personnel, you don't fully integrate players in practice, especially those that are sitting out the year. I agree with playing the 7-8 for that reason, for chemistry; the scary part was that there was little evidence of any chemistry even between, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Trimble.
One last point about personnel, you don't fully integrate players in practice, especially those that are sitting out the year. I agree with playing the 7-8 for that reason, for chemistry; the scary part was that there was little evidence of any chemistry even between, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Trimble.
Moose
Well-known member
[quote="Logen" post=300076]There is a lot to criticize about last night, a lot, but IMO not playing the freshman is not one of them. Like the last two years we continued to get beat off the dribble which leads to over-rotation and open 3's. We continued to close out without our hands up. We continued to run a pro offense but with none of the discipline an experienced team should have in shot selection that "system" demands to be effective. 24-45 from 2, 6-24 from 3 - many of them "the first shot that shows jacks" speaks for itself. Figueroa was obviously impressive, what stood out to me was he looks like that rare combo of stud athlete that is also a basketball player in every sense of the word, very fundamentally sound at first look.
One last point about personnel, you don't fully integrate players in practice, especially those that are sitting out the year. I agree with playing the 7-8 for that reason, for chemistry; the scary part was that there was little evidence of any chemistry even between, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Trimble.[/quote]
Maybe the freshman won't make the mistakes you pointed out that we are 'continuing' to do.
Like 72 said. A little jolt to systems by sitting people can work. How many times do you see Roy or K line change sub. (Not saying that specifically last night)
Personally I don't think they staff can coach up these players and change the mistakes you pointed out. So I subscribe to the lets try to see what positives I might have from others and move the chess pieces around.
One last point about personnel, you don't fully integrate players in practice, especially those that are sitting out the year. I agree with playing the 7-8 for that reason, for chemistry; the scary part was that there was little evidence of any chemistry even between, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Trimble.[/quote]
Maybe the freshman won't make the mistakes you pointed out that we are 'continuing' to do.
Like 72 said. A little jolt to systems by sitting people can work. How many times do you see Roy or K line change sub. (Not saying that specifically last night)
Personally I don't think they staff can coach up these players and change the mistakes you pointed out. So I subscribe to the lets try to see what positives I might have from others and move the chess pieces around.
Offensively I actually thought team looked like they were further along than Nov. 1. Shamorie had a weird game but if Shamorie is one of the bigger concerns in an exhibition that's probably a good thing given how we know he competes when lights are on 
. Figgy goes without saying but Keita looked outstanding as well and if Heron is anything close to advertised we added 3 major pieces that can impact this level. Major.
I think Dixon may struggle early at this level, small and not that quick, but seems skilled and is nice depth. A little surprised/concerned Williams didn't play given how Dixon looked. Trimble looked solid and when Heron is back I don't think it's a given Dixon will be taking the reserve guard minutes from him. Being able to physically compete really matters especially as SJU is undersized.
That all said scrimmage or no scrimmage difficult to watch last night and not be concerned about this team defensively. You wouldn't expect a baseball player to pick up a bat in January and time 100mph. But you would expect him not to step in the bucket repeatedly, and that's what SJU did defensively last night.
Either the staff has a severely flawed defensive philosophy that the players are executing as asked, or the players aren't executing a more favorable defensive strategy that the staff is trying to implement. I tend to think it's the former because this is mostly fundamental stuff that has been persistent across seasons. It's not an effort thing as guys seemed really engaged and active last night. But it's not enough to have length and athleticism and effort. Defense is a team sport. Two consistent breakdowns that have been and continue to be bone crunching:
1. There were probably conservatively 10+ times last night that we had 5 guys with at least one foot on the strong side of the rim line. Yes, theoretically that's how you might exaggeratedly teach a youth team to play help defense. But this is high major division 1 basketball in an era when the 3 is being emphasized probably more than ever. Our extreme help creates 3s that wide open wouldn't even begin to describe. Think about the amount of corner 3s Maryville created by driving baseline - with absolutely no play on the rim - and drawing 2-3 white shirts. It's too easy which even Maryville was able to remind last night and we don't need to imagine what better teams can do against this because we watched our 3pt fg defense last year. We need to take more chances with contested shots at the rim (especially since Keita seems like he can alter) as opposed to taking that away and giving away the 3 point line almost completely.
2. We don't defend screens. Not on the ball, not off the ball. In the P&R you either hedge and recover or fight underneath. We seemingly do neither, with both of our guys just sort of drifting with the ball, which kind of prevents the drive (?), but even if it does leaves the screener mostly wide open. This is largely why teams with bigs who can shoot have crushed us in the pick and pop and last night it was there again almost whenever Maryville wanted it. Off the ball you need the man on the screener to get a bump on the opposing player coming off the screen so he can't take his desired path from A to B. With our physical advantage last night we should have been blowing these guys up every time they wanted to come off a screen to the point where they didn't want to run motion off the ball anymore. Instead late in game with game on line Maryville runs a basic downscreen unimpeded for a wide open 3. It would genuinely be unacceptable to have that little resistance on that play if we were defending Draymond Green screening for Klay Thompson. To have it happen last night really makes you wonder if there even is a defensive approach.
Given how basic this stuff is I hope it changes, but given how long it's been going on I don't know if it does. If so team is going to have to press for close to 40, which they probably should anyway to take advantage of skillset, but this sort of defensive approach in the half court will almost necessitate it. Maybe too harsh for a scrimmage, but that was mind boggling last night for a pick-up game let alone right before it starts to count, and only more concerning because consistent with what we've seen previously. I think this team is really going to score but they are going to have to score a lot unless they make some pretty material changes defensively.
. Figgy goes without saying but Keita looked outstanding as well and if Heron is anything close to advertised we added 3 major pieces that can impact this level. Major.I think Dixon may struggle early at this level, small and not that quick, but seems skilled and is nice depth. A little surprised/concerned Williams didn't play given how Dixon looked. Trimble looked solid and when Heron is back I don't think it's a given Dixon will be taking the reserve guard minutes from him. Being able to physically compete really matters especially as SJU is undersized.
That all said scrimmage or no scrimmage difficult to watch last night and not be concerned about this team defensively. You wouldn't expect a baseball player to pick up a bat in January and time 100mph. But you would expect him not to step in the bucket repeatedly, and that's what SJU did defensively last night.
Either the staff has a severely flawed defensive philosophy that the players are executing as asked, or the players aren't executing a more favorable defensive strategy that the staff is trying to implement. I tend to think it's the former because this is mostly fundamental stuff that has been persistent across seasons. It's not an effort thing as guys seemed really engaged and active last night. But it's not enough to have length and athleticism and effort. Defense is a team sport. Two consistent breakdowns that have been and continue to be bone crunching:
1. There were probably conservatively 10+ times last night that we had 5 guys with at least one foot on the strong side of the rim line. Yes, theoretically that's how you might exaggeratedly teach a youth team to play help defense. But this is high major division 1 basketball in an era when the 3 is being emphasized probably more than ever. Our extreme help creates 3s that wide open wouldn't even begin to describe. Think about the amount of corner 3s Maryville created by driving baseline - with absolutely no play on the rim - and drawing 2-3 white shirts. It's too easy which even Maryville was able to remind last night and we don't need to imagine what better teams can do against this because we watched our 3pt fg defense last year. We need to take more chances with contested shots at the rim (especially since Keita seems like he can alter) as opposed to taking that away and giving away the 3 point line almost completely.
2. We don't defend screens. Not on the ball, not off the ball. In the P&R you either hedge and recover or fight underneath. We seemingly do neither, with both of our guys just sort of drifting with the ball, which kind of prevents the drive (?), but even if it does leaves the screener mostly wide open. This is largely why teams with bigs who can shoot have crushed us in the pick and pop and last night it was there again almost whenever Maryville wanted it. Off the ball you need the man on the screener to get a bump on the opposing player coming off the screen so he can't take his desired path from A to B. With our physical advantage last night we should have been blowing these guys up every time they wanted to come off a screen to the point where they didn't want to run motion off the ball anymore. Instead late in game with game on line Maryville runs a basic downscreen unimpeded for a wide open 3. It would genuinely be unacceptable to have that little resistance on that play if we were defending Draymond Green screening for Klay Thompson. To have it happen last night really makes you wonder if there even is a defensive approach.
Given how basic this stuff is I hope it changes, but given how long it's been going on I don't know if it does. If so team is going to have to press for close to 40, which they probably should anyway to take advantage of skillset, but this sort of defensive approach in the half court will almost necessitate it. Maybe too harsh for a scrimmage, but that was mind boggling last night for a pick-up game let alone right before it starts to count, and only more concerning because consistent with what we've seen previously. I think this team is really going to score but they are going to have to score a lot unless they make some pretty material changes defensively.
I did not see the game . But, from comments posted , there are several things to think about ... Ponds not playing with intensity is troubling , especially for him. If he wants a NBA career and being post season BE Player of the Year, he needs to bring it , every night . Simon does a lot of things very well but, not one thing great . He always fills the Stat box but, Stats don’t always tell the story . I sometimes look at his stats with check marks every where but, thinking , he really didn’t play that well at crucial times . But, then again ... His report card looks good , except FT shooting and 3 pt shooting . I know , he has a good percentage on 3 point shots but, can you really think he is a good long range bomber ? Figuroa seems to be a terrific addition ... Heron ? We don’t know yet but, his rep is a sterling player who rarely takes a play off during the game . That intensity is important in BE play especially . Let’s hope his concussion isn’t going to be a long term problem.. Reports on Keita so far indicate we won’t miss TO too much and may actually be better in the front Court this year . The Story continues ...
[quote="Moose" post=300077][quote="Logen" post=300076]There is a lot to criticize about last night, a lot, but IMO not playing the freshman is not one of them. Like the last two years we continued to get beat off the dribble which leads to over-rotation and open 3's. We continued to close out without our hands up. We continued to run a pro offense but with none of the discipline an experienced team should have in shot selection that "system" demands to be effective. 24-45 from 2, 6-24 from 3 - many of them "the first shot that shows jacks" speaks for itself. Figueroa was obviously impressive, what stood out to me was he looks like that rare combo of stud athlete that is also a basketball player in every sense of the word, very fundamentally sound at first look.
One last point about personnel, you don't fully integrate players in practice, especially those that are sitting out the year. I agree with playing the 7-8 for that reason, for chemistry; the scary part was that there was little evidence of any chemistry even between, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Trimble.[/quote]
Maybe the freshman won't make the mistakes you pointed out that we are 'continuing' to do.
Like 72 said. A little jolt to systems by sitting people can work. How many times do you see Roy or K line change sub. (Not saying that specifically last night)
Personally I don't think they staff can coach up these players and change the mistakes you pointed out. So I subscribe to the lets try to see what positives I might have from others and move the chess pieces around.[/quote]
We just disagree on the freshmen.
As to this staff coaching up anything, like I was with Jarvis, Roberts, Lavin and now Mullin, I believe and posted a staff needs to be given time to recruit their team and implement whatever they see as a winning approach/philosophy. Mullin now has his type players and in his third year of putting in the way he wants to play. it was one exhibition but I was not impressed with what I saw last night to say the least. Obviously very unfair to draw conclusions based on that but I expected to see a focused team led by three veterans. Very unfair to put it all on Ponds and I am not, but offensively the man with the ball sets the tone and his performance proved why stats can be very misleading. I already spoke my piece about the defense.
One last point about personnel, you don't fully integrate players in practice, especially those that are sitting out the year. I agree with playing the 7-8 for that reason, for chemistry; the scary part was that there was little evidence of any chemistry even between, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Trimble.[/quote]
Maybe the freshman won't make the mistakes you pointed out that we are 'continuing' to do.
Like 72 said. A little jolt to systems by sitting people can work. How many times do you see Roy or K line change sub. (Not saying that specifically last night)
Personally I don't think they staff can coach up these players and change the mistakes you pointed out. So I subscribe to the lets try to see what positives I might have from others and move the chess pieces around.[/quote]
We just disagree on the freshmen.
As to this staff coaching up anything, like I was with Jarvis, Roberts, Lavin and now Mullin, I believe and posted a staff needs to be given time to recruit their team and implement whatever they see as a winning approach/philosophy. Mullin now has his type players and in his third year of putting in the way he wants to play. it was one exhibition but I was not impressed with what I saw last night to say the least. Obviously very unfair to draw conclusions based on that but I expected to see a focused team led by three veterans. Very unfair to put it all on Ponds and I am not, but offensively the man with the ball sets the tone and his performance proved why stats can be very misleading. I already spoke my piece about the defense.
[quote="mjmaherjr" post=300022]Trust me on this and if I'm wrong at end of year hang me
MUllin and company were largely absent during summer. Can we all agree on that ?
1st half of schedule they are here and it's weaker than a condom with viagra, Thats good. We will improve. By end of year we will be destroying people convincing Mulllin this should be a full time job and not when we get our ass kicked which hopefully wont happen[/quote] The weak out of conference schedule is a double edge sword. It will give us time to gel and develop chemistry. But a few losses, other then Duke will really hurt ,unless we can knock off Duke or Nova. Figaroua looked like he should start. But we looked bad. Also agree w Paultz comment, that we are so thin in the big dept, have to give Roberts some exp. As weak as our schedule is , the bad teams are still better then Maryville. Tues will be telling.
MUllin and company were largely absent during summer. Can we all agree on that ?
1st half of schedule they are here and it's weaker than a condom with viagra, Thats good. We will improve. By end of year we will be destroying people convincing Mulllin this should be a full time job and not when we get our ass kicked which hopefully wont happen[/quote] The weak out of conference schedule is a double edge sword. It will give us time to gel and develop chemistry. But a few losses, other then Duke will really hurt ,unless we can knock off Duke or Nova. Figaroua looked like he should start. But we looked bad. Also agree w Paultz comment, that we are so thin in the big dept, have to give Roberts some exp. As weak as our schedule is , the bad teams are still better then Maryville. Tues will be telling.
There are a number of teams on the SJU schedule this season who will be outmanned athletically to such a degree that their strategy will be to take a lot of threes and stay in the game by making forty to forty five per cent of them.
These teams will not have the inside talent to score so SJU should be able to defend the three with its backcourt speed and the number of players it has to substitute freely.It just means working hard on the defensive end and if you are not willing to do it you sit.
These teams will not have the inside talent to score so SJU should be able to defend the three with its backcourt speed and the number of players it has to substitute freely.It just means working hard on the defensive end and if you are not willing to do it you sit.
we are sju
Active member
[quote="Enright" post=300083]There are a number of teams on the SJU schedule this season who will be outmanned athletically to such a degree that their strategy will be to take a lot of threes and stay in the game by making forty to forty five per cent of them.
These teams will not have the inside talent to score so SJU should be able to defend the three with its backcourt speed and the number of players it has to substitute freely.It just means working hard on the defensive end and if you are not willing to do it you sit.[/quote]
The problem though is two of our best players are the two worst at closing on shooters. Not sure how much they will sit
These teams will not have the inside talent to score so SJU should be able to defend the three with its backcourt speed and the number of players it has to substitute freely.It just means working hard on the defensive end and if you are not willing to do it you sit.[/quote]
The problem though is two of our best players are the two worst at closing on shooters. Not sure how much they will sit
we are sju
Active member
[quote="ron s m" post=300085]Will anyone really be surprised if we lose 3 or 4 non conference games?[/quote]
Yes
Yes
[quote="ron s m" post=300085]Will anyone really be surprised if we lose 3 or 4 non conference games?[/quote]
We are going to get better real fast I think. I don’t see that happening. We have the tools. Just need to come out and defend. The offense is there as is the depth. The one guy I think we should have seen off the bench is Josh Roberts. We are gonna need him as a replacement for Yakwe. Let’s face it, Yakwe had a nice freshman season but took a dump after that. Can Roberts really give us a heck of a lot less than Yakwe last season or two? Both Yakwe and Owens played right away out of need. I think we need our only backup PF to get some time. He’s real athletic, can block shots and maybe even rebound. I’d like to see him out there a little bit for when Keita has foul trouble etc. there will be games like the Rutgers game, where the smallest guy up front might be 6’9”. Need to utilize our second tallest player at least a little bit imo.
We are going to get better real fast I think. I don’t see that happening. We have the tools. Just need to come out and defend. The offense is there as is the depth. The one guy I think we should have seen off the bench is Josh Roberts. We are gonna need him as a replacement for Yakwe. Let’s face it, Yakwe had a nice freshman season but took a dump after that. Can Roberts really give us a heck of a lot less than Yakwe last season or two? Both Yakwe and Owens played right away out of need. I think we need our only backup PF to get some time. He’s real athletic, can block shots and maybe even rebound. I’d like to see him out there a little bit for when Keita has foul trouble etc. there will be games like the Rutgers game, where the smallest guy up front might be 6’9”. Need to utilize our second tallest player at least a little bit imo.
[quote="Class of 72" post=300065][quote="Section9" post=300062][quote="Moose" post=300058][quote="Section9" post=300056]There are a lot of posters wondering why the frosh didn't play last night. I'm not one of them. All summer long the board has been touting them, predicting their minutes, and putting them ahead of returning players. It's all speculation. These are good kids and I'm hopeful they have nice four year careers' but let's temper it with the fact that they were 3*s coming out of high school. Roberts makes Tariq Owens look like a body builder, Earlington is an ex football player and an undersized 4 and Greg, who probably has the most upside, is coming into a very crowded backcourt.
Nobody on the board has seen these kids in practice so it's all hypothetical conjecture. Let it play out and we'll see.[/quote]
It's not the board touting them it's the staff touting them. The staff touting depth. But meanwhile you run 7 out there. Would have been 8 with Heron. You have 13 players on schollie two of which are sitting out per transfer rules and then 3 more are perfectly fine and eligible and can't play in an exhibition. And yes the game is meaningless. But thats when you can get their jitters out of the way and get them into the action a bit. Now their first action is going to mean something.
If the staff wants to play the transfer game thats fine. We all know 13 players will never play so go ahead and use the last 2 spots on the roster for sit outs. No issue there. But then you have to run out 10 players. Especially if you want to play up tempo and fast as they claim. At the end of the day all it says to me is poor planning and management. Getting them 3 minutes as small and stupid as it sounds would have made me content and again just got their feet wet and continued their growing process.[/quote]
Name one staff that doesn't tout their incoming freshman, that's irrelevant. The transfer game has nothing to do with it. If you want to criticize the staff for not getting higher ranked frosh that's fine.
Fact of the matter is we have to integrate four new players who are going to see a lot of time, that's priority number one. The top eight have to get experience playing together because, barring injury, they're going to see 95% of the minutes. If any of the frosh were capable of cracking that top eight rotation they'd be seeing the floor.[/quote]
Poppycock!
LJ Figueroa was the only new face of the the 7 players who stunk up the arena last night. The others have been playing together for a year or more. Ironically, Figueroa was the best prepared because he has not been infected by this staff's incompetent preparation methods.
If Chris Mullin thinks using his little crib notes that he and GSJ put together before the game is preparation someone should remind him this is not going to work for him like it did in college during his many make up exams.
You have to do all the home work and studying long before the game. You have to be able to communicate with your players. You have to spend more time with them over the summer right before the first workouts.
The apathy displayed by Shamorie Ponds last night was troubling. The look of bewilderment on the faces of the coaches was troubling. These guys are in their 4th year of this. There are no more excuses for slow, pathetic starts to a game.
If anything, a more astute coach would have sat 3 of his starters midway through the first half and put in the freshmen to have them observe the other team that was there to run real plays and not just hoist up improvised threes.[/quote]
We are talking about incoming freshman, not how the returning guys played last night. Do you honestly believe that Keita and Dixon got to practice with the first team last year? It's one thing to play together in practice. LJ and Heron have practiced with the team since they arrived, so it's really two totally new guys and two sit-out transfers who are going to be integrated into the 8 - man rotation.
So, I'll ask again, would you rather those top 8 had a chance to jell or rotate in freshman who are going to see minimum minutes, despite what you and some others want. Based on how they looked last night, those seven, eight when Heron returns, need a lot more time together on the floor in real game situations.
Nobody on the board has seen these kids in practice so it's all hypothetical conjecture. Let it play out and we'll see.[/quote]
It's not the board touting them it's the staff touting them. The staff touting depth. But meanwhile you run 7 out there. Would have been 8 with Heron. You have 13 players on schollie two of which are sitting out per transfer rules and then 3 more are perfectly fine and eligible and can't play in an exhibition. And yes the game is meaningless. But thats when you can get their jitters out of the way and get them into the action a bit. Now their first action is going to mean something.
If the staff wants to play the transfer game thats fine. We all know 13 players will never play so go ahead and use the last 2 spots on the roster for sit outs. No issue there. But then you have to run out 10 players. Especially if you want to play up tempo and fast as they claim. At the end of the day all it says to me is poor planning and management. Getting them 3 minutes as small and stupid as it sounds would have made me content and again just got their feet wet and continued their growing process.[/quote]
Name one staff that doesn't tout their incoming freshman, that's irrelevant. The transfer game has nothing to do with it. If you want to criticize the staff for not getting higher ranked frosh that's fine.
Fact of the matter is we have to integrate four new players who are going to see a lot of time, that's priority number one. The top eight have to get experience playing together because, barring injury, they're going to see 95% of the minutes. If any of the frosh were capable of cracking that top eight rotation they'd be seeing the floor.[/quote]
Poppycock!
LJ Figueroa was the only new face of the the 7 players who stunk up the arena last night. The others have been playing together for a year or more. Ironically, Figueroa was the best prepared because he has not been infected by this staff's incompetent preparation methods.
If Chris Mullin thinks using his little crib notes that he and GSJ put together before the game is preparation someone should remind him this is not going to work for him like it did in college during his many make up exams.
You have to do all the home work and studying long before the game. You have to be able to communicate with your players. You have to spend more time with them over the summer right before the first workouts.
The apathy displayed by Shamorie Ponds last night was troubling. The look of bewilderment on the faces of the coaches was troubling. These guys are in their 4th year of this. There are no more excuses for slow, pathetic starts to a game.
If anything, a more astute coach would have sat 3 of his starters midway through the first half and put in the freshmen to have them observe the other team that was there to run real plays and not just hoist up improvised threes.[/quote]
We are talking about incoming freshman, not how the returning guys played last night. Do you honestly believe that Keita and Dixon got to practice with the first team last year? It's one thing to play together in practice. LJ and Heron have practiced with the team since they arrived, so it's really two totally new guys and two sit-out transfers who are going to be integrated into the 8 - man rotation.
So, I'll ask again, would you rather those top 8 had a chance to jell or rotate in freshman who are going to see minimum minutes, despite what you and some others want. Based on how they looked last night, those seven, eight when Heron returns, need a lot more time together on the floor in real game situations.
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[quote="we are sju" post=300073][quote="SJU61982" post=300072][quote="otis" post=300071]I did not see the game.
How did Keita look ?
Thanks.[/quote]
Mixed, IMO.
Took two bad 3's early, but attacked the rim after that. Looks like he has really bad hands, which is a problem, because good hands are something you usually either just have, or you don't. Tough to work on that. Took 2 FT attempts. Swished the first, but looked really, really bad on the 2nd. Need more of a sample to judge, but he may be coming out of games late, if we are ahead. Did crash the boards very well, and did not appear to shy away from contact, but he had the body strength to easily take these guys on.[/quote]
Great bad hands. Was already starting to miss Yakwe, guess I won't have to now.[/quote]
No it’s not nearly that bad. He jumbled one or two. Otherwise he was excellent out there. Good defender and rebounder. Had a few nasty blocks, and is going to be quicker than most team’s big guys. He was very good out there.
How did Keita look ?
Thanks.[/quote]
Mixed, IMO.
Took two bad 3's early, but attacked the rim after that. Looks like he has really bad hands, which is a problem, because good hands are something you usually either just have, or you don't. Tough to work on that. Took 2 FT attempts. Swished the first, but looked really, really bad on the 2nd. Need more of a sample to judge, but he may be coming out of games late, if we are ahead. Did crash the boards very well, and did not appear to shy away from contact, but he had the body strength to easily take these guys on.[/quote]
Great bad hands. Was already starting to miss Yakwe, guess I won't have to now.[/quote]
No it’s not nearly that bad. He jumbled one or two. Otherwise he was excellent out there. Good defender and rebounder. Had a few nasty blocks, and is going to be quicker than most team’s big guys. He was very good out there.