Maryville Saints - Exhibition matchup
- Thread starter RedStormNC
- Start date
Mike Zaun wrote: thankful for the final score but Maryville was within single digits with 1:00 left so very misleading. Seemed like Maryville shot 80% from 3 the entire game. A few were lucky, a few were guarded, and 1 was practically from halfcourt. Ridiculous.
Ponds was extremely immature and did 2 stupid things late: 1) with the game literally on the line and Maryville within single digits and 4 or 5 minutes left, he was called for a foul and instead of handing the ref the ball he walked all the way over to the other end of the court and placed it down like an idiot. They promptly called a technical which was well earned. 2) Up 14 in the last few seconds with time running out he pretended to shoot a long 3 and did a pump fake. Maybe these are more minor than I'm making them seem, but he does not look mature and made stupid decisions. Barely put any effort in for much of the game just like the scrimmage in the tip off.
Positives:
-LJ is the real deal. You guys told me it was just a scrimmage in the tip off and not to get too giddy. But he's for real. Very sneaky athleticism. Made a nice backbreaking 3 towards the end and a possible SC top 10 putback dunk.
-Dixon has a nice stroke and I can see him being quite valuable off the bench. Same for Trimble. Looks good.
-Clark was successful nearly every time I saw him go in the paint offensively.
-Keita is not going to be great, but I think he can end up being an improvement over Owens. We won't fall off much there if at all.
-We won
Negatives:
-We kept Maryville within single digits with 1 min to go. Quickest way to get jokes written and have pundits never give you the benefit of the doubt.
Did not see the game so relying on Mike's reporting. Only thing that concerns me are his comments regarding Shamorie. Loads of talent and seems like a good kid, but he better realize the NBA scouts are watching and looking for things like team play, consistency, defense and maturity.
Ponds was extremely immature and did 2 stupid things late: 1) with the game literally on the line and Maryville within single digits and 4 or 5 minutes left, he was called for a foul and instead of handing the ref the ball he walked all the way over to the other end of the court and placed it down like an idiot. They promptly called a technical which was well earned. 2) Up 14 in the last few seconds with time running out he pretended to shoot a long 3 and did a pump fake. Maybe these are more minor than I'm making them seem, but he does not look mature and made stupid decisions. Barely put any effort in for much of the game just like the scrimmage in the tip off.
Positives:
-LJ is the real deal. You guys told me it was just a scrimmage in the tip off and not to get too giddy. But he's for real. Very sneaky athleticism. Made a nice backbreaking 3 towards the end and a possible SC top 10 putback dunk.
-Dixon has a nice stroke and I can see him being quite valuable off the bench. Same for Trimble. Looks good.
-Clark was successful nearly every time I saw him go in the paint offensively.
-Keita is not going to be great, but I think he can end up being an improvement over Owens. We won't fall off much there if at all.
-We won
Negatives:
-We kept Maryville within single digits with 1 min to go. Quickest way to get jokes written and have pundits never give you the benefit of the doubt.
Did not see the game so relying on Mike's reporting. Only thing that concerns me are his comments regarding Shamorie. Loads of talent and seems like a good kid, but he better realize the NBA scouts are watching and looking for things like team play, consistency, defense and maturity.
Some good things and some bad things.
Gave up too many 3s but they did hit their fair share of long ones. Little sloppy on offense and took far too many 3s without looking to drive or enter it in. Keita can help a lot but I think he’s gonna drive fans crazy. Going for blocks tonight was something I noticed and I can imaging some aren’t excited to see the jump shots and 3s. But his size and ability is brand new to this team so we’ll have to take it and work with it.
Our athleticism and length is obviously our strength. Press needs work but I love it. Really loved that our guards were looking to post up and all of this will get better with Heron. Clark should play his game looking to drive first then set up the 3.
LJ Figueroa will be everyone’s favorite player.
Gave up too many 3s but they did hit their fair share of long ones. Little sloppy on offense and took far too many 3s without looking to drive or enter it in. Keita can help a lot but I think he’s gonna drive fans crazy. Going for blocks tonight was something I noticed and I can imaging some aren’t excited to see the jump shots and 3s. But his size and ability is brand new to this team so we’ll have to take it and work with it.
Our athleticism and length is obviously our strength. Press needs work but I love it. Really loved that our guards were looking to post up and all of this will get better with Heron. Clark should play his game looking to drive first then set up the 3.
LJ Figueroa will be everyone’s favorite player.
Viva Figueroa!
Team looked good when they picked up the defense and when they were pushing the ball inside and played over the top. I'm guessing they spent a lot of time practicing ball movement because there was a lot of settling on the perimeter skip passing and occasional cross court which is what I wanted to see but they settled too much and the shooting was terrible. But it seems to me that there was some method to it.
Perimeter defense still a huge problem but I like Figueroa out there with the long arms and I think he'll help. He got beat at one point then turned around and quickly made a huge defensive stop. Trimble noticeably lighter. Still got beat but overall he looked good in my opinion. Ponds and Simon were way off first half but gradually got on track. Clark looked more aggressive both in attacking the basket and in going after rebounds. Keita looked a little soft defensively to me but you can see they ran a lot to him on offense.
Figueroa looked mad the whole game but it worked for him. He was consistently good whole game. I'd like to see Dixon as our guy who pushes the ball and slashes but he settled a little too much.
Team looked good when they picked up the defense and when they were pushing the ball inside and played over the top. I'm guessing they spent a lot of time practicing ball movement because there was a lot of settling on the perimeter skip passing and occasional cross court which is what I wanted to see but they settled too much and the shooting was terrible. But it seems to me that there was some method to it.
Perimeter defense still a huge problem but I like Figueroa out there with the long arms and I think he'll help. He got beat at one point then turned around and quickly made a huge defensive stop. Trimble noticeably lighter. Still got beat but overall he looked good in my opinion. Ponds and Simon were way off first half but gradually got on track. Clark looked more aggressive both in attacking the basket and in going after rebounds. Keita looked a little soft defensively to me but you can see they ran a lot to him on offense.
Figueroa looked mad the whole game but it worked for him. He was consistently good whole game. I'd like to see Dixon as our guy who pushes the ball and slashes but he settled a little too much.
ronm
Well-known member
The thing that really vexes me is the lack of three point defense. Nothing has changed over the last three years except the players. What does that say about the coaching staff. There was an earlier thread asking what team shoots the best three pointers? My answer would be any team playing SJs!
like many games last year we come out shooting 3 after 3. Why start a game cold and shoot jump shots when they had an undersized opponent and should establish the paint. They will need to establish the paint on biggie teams too because if we don't penetrate we will be in trouble. Disappointed we didn't get a look at Williams and Roberts. Also think Trimbles game is the same as last year. A streaky 3 point shooter but not much else. Figgy like everyone said is legit. Simon needs to DRIVE. Mully and Mitch have yet to perfect his motion. He still looks like he's pushing the ball. Overall sloppy and hope this is not whats to come of the season. We will see.
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=299968]Thankful for the final score but Maryville was within single digits with 1:00 left so very misleading. Seemed like Maryville shot 80% from 3 the entire game. A few were lucky, a few were guarded, and 1 was practically from halfcourt. Ridiculous.
Ponds was extremely immature and did 2 stupid things late: 1) with the game literally on the line and Maryville within single digits and 4 or 5 minutes left, he was called for a foul and instead of handing the ref the ball he walked all the way over to the other end of the court and placed it down like an idiot. They promptly called a technical which was well earned. 2) Up 14 in the last few seconds with time running out he pretended to shoot a long 3 and did a pump fake. Maybe these are more minor than I'm making them seem, but he does not look mature and made stupid decisions. Barely put any effort in for much of the game just like the scrimmage in the tip off.
Positives:
-LJ is the real deal. You guys told me it was just a scrimmage in the tip off and not to get too giddy. But he's for real. Very sneaky athleticism. Made a nice backbreaking 3 towards the end and a possible SC top 10 putback dunk.
-Dixon has a nice stroke and I can see him being quite valuable off the bench. Same for Trimble. Looks good.
-Clark was successful nearly every time I saw him go in the paint offensively.
-Keita is not going to be great, but I think he can end up being an improvement over Owens. We won't fall off much there if at all.
-We won
Negatives:
-We kept Maryville within single digits with 1 min to go. Quickest way to get jokes written and have pundits never give you the benefit of the doubt.
-We looked like hot garbage for much of the game. No real plan, no real desire until quite late.
-We made Maryville losers look like Duke shooting tonight.
-Ponds showed immaturity several times[/quote]
Honestly I did not like the body language I saw from Ponds either. He was carrying himself like he was above this game and already picked for the NBA. The technical was totally unacceptable. I hope this changes.
Ponds was extremely immature and did 2 stupid things late: 1) with the game literally on the line and Maryville within single digits and 4 or 5 minutes left, he was called for a foul and instead of handing the ref the ball he walked all the way over to the other end of the court and placed it down like an idiot. They promptly called a technical which was well earned. 2) Up 14 in the last few seconds with time running out he pretended to shoot a long 3 and did a pump fake. Maybe these are more minor than I'm making them seem, but he does not look mature and made stupid decisions. Barely put any effort in for much of the game just like the scrimmage in the tip off.
Positives:
-LJ is the real deal. You guys told me it was just a scrimmage in the tip off and not to get too giddy. But he's for real. Very sneaky athleticism. Made a nice backbreaking 3 towards the end and a possible SC top 10 putback dunk.
-Dixon has a nice stroke and I can see him being quite valuable off the bench. Same for Trimble. Looks good.
-Clark was successful nearly every time I saw him go in the paint offensively.
-Keita is not going to be great, but I think he can end up being an improvement over Owens. We won't fall off much there if at all.
-We won
Negatives:
-We kept Maryville within single digits with 1 min to go. Quickest way to get jokes written and have pundits never give you the benefit of the doubt.
-We looked like hot garbage for much of the game. No real plan, no real desire until quite late.
-We made Maryville losers look like Duke shooting tonight.
-Ponds showed immaturity several times[/quote]
Honestly I did not like the body language I saw from Ponds either. He was carrying himself like he was above this game and already picked for the NBA. The technical was totally unacceptable. I hope this changes.
JohnnyFever
Active member
Agree 112...didn't like Ponds' body language and he seemed to have a sense of entitlement tonight. Very surprising considering he's a JR now with tons of NBA scouts watching closely. He certainly has some maturing to do. If Zaun and D'Lo can do it, so can he! But he better hurry because we need him at his best.
[quote="Paultzman" post=299976]“In general, very disappointed in the effort and energy.” Chris Mullin after a slow start in tonight’s exhibition #sjubb
Marley Paul[/quote]
Starts at the top.....maybe it would have helped if he and rest of staff showed more energy by getting out of their seats earlier.... instead of 4-5 minutes to go in 2nd half...sometimes appearances matter in leadership
Marley Paul[/quote]
Starts at the top.....maybe it would have helped if he and rest of staff showed more energy by getting out of their seats earlier.... instead of 4-5 minutes to go in 2nd half...sometimes appearances matter in leadership
Last edited:
[quote="Paultzman" post=299976]“In general, very disappointed in the effort and energy.” Chris Mullin after a slow start in tonight’s exhibition #sjubb
Marley Paul[/quote]
Happy to hear the Coach identified the problem. The first step to fixing a problem is being honest. Effort and Energy should be GIVENS when a St. John's (really any good team) team steps on the floor. Didn't happen tonight. We "won" this game because we had bigger and better athletes. Hopefully, CM communicates that this is not acceptable with shall we say a brisk and strenuous practice tomorrow. They should have some energy to burn with what they didn't use tonight.
Marley Paul[/quote]
Happy to hear the Coach identified the problem. The first step to fixing a problem is being honest. Effort and Energy should be GIVENS when a St. John's (really any good team) team steps on the floor. Didn't happen tonight. We "won" this game because we had bigger and better athletes. Hopefully, CM communicates that this is not acceptable with shall we say a brisk and strenuous practice tomorrow. They should have some energy to burn with what they didn't use tonight.
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=299981]Agree 112...didn't like Ponds' body language and he seemed to have a sense of entitlement tonight. Very surprising considering he's a JR now with tons of NBA scouts watching closely. He certainly has some maturing to do. If Zaun and D'Lo can do it, so can he! But he better hurry because we need him at his best.[/quote]
On a positive note, he ended up with something like 11 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. And that was playing like he wasn't even trying. I expect him to adjust.
On a positive note, he ended up with something like 11 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. And that was playing like he wasn't even trying. I expect him to adjust.
No Williams, Roberts, or Earlington tonight, for whatever reason. If they are not hurt, then Mullin has to play them, at least a few first half minutes every game. Especially the two big guys, just have them throw their bodies around. We played 7 guys tonight. I don't want to go through that again this year (it'll be 8 when Heron comes back, obviously).
Agree re: Ponds's body language. Looked like a guy who really wanted to go pro, but was talked out of it by his father. If that was the case, then maybe it was not a good thing that he came back. Still, in a bad game, had 13 points, 12 boards, and 6 assists.
Figueroa 15 points, 7-9 fg, good D too.
1-14 from 3 as a team in the first half. If we're not making shots, then we can't set up the press, and the press looks like it's going to be the #1 strength of this team. Fortunately, we shot 5-10 from downtown in the second half, including a couple late to pull away.
47-31 on the boards, in favor of St. John's. Yes, Maryville was small, but even small teams gave us rebounding trouble last year. A few times, guys were fighting with their teammates for rebounds, which is at least an indication that we are crashing the boards.
I think that #3 from Maryville could be an effective player at the low-to-mid D1 level. Moved really well without the ball, which helped him get free a lot from the perimeter. Fortunately for us, their coach took him out twice in the second half (to give him blows around the media TO), and their offense just was not the same coming down the stretch.
Simon and Clark picked up their games in the second half. Not too worried about them.
But man, burying three scholarship players already? Not a good look.
Agree re: Ponds's body language. Looked like a guy who really wanted to go pro, but was talked out of it by his father. If that was the case, then maybe it was not a good thing that he came back. Still, in a bad game, had 13 points, 12 boards, and 6 assists.
Figueroa 15 points, 7-9 fg, good D too.
1-14 from 3 as a team in the first half. If we're not making shots, then we can't set up the press, and the press looks like it's going to be the #1 strength of this team. Fortunately, we shot 5-10 from downtown in the second half, including a couple late to pull away.
47-31 on the boards, in favor of St. John's. Yes, Maryville was small, but even small teams gave us rebounding trouble last year. A few times, guys were fighting with their teammates for rebounds, which is at least an indication that we are crashing the boards.
I think that #3 from Maryville could be an effective player at the low-to-mid D1 level. Moved really well without the ball, which helped him get free a lot from the perimeter. Fortunately for us, their coach took him out twice in the second half (to give him blows around the media TO), and their offense just was not the same coming down the stretch.
Simon and Clark picked up their games in the second half. Not too worried about them.
But man, burying three scholarship players already? Not a good look.
Last edited:
Yikes! 25% from 3 and just over 40% from the foul line. Won't win many games with those numbers. Only good thing from this box score is the rebounding margin. Don't like the fact we only played 7 guys in the exhibition game; bit of a head scratcher. Looking forward to Tuesday and hopefully better things.
Last edited: