RF looks to be a project at this point. Maybe through the season he will develop and understand the college game better but he looks a little lost and slow. Im not criticizing the kid but think mine and I'm sure others expectations might be a little too high. Thought Eliison was improved ? Hopefully this was an aberration and not whats to come from him. If we could get solid contribution from him it would surely lighten the load from Batman and Robin ( LoVett & Ponds ). Moose will be fine just need to set a pick play for him to get a clean look. Sima and Ali need to play underneath with more aggression.
Minnesota, Fri. Nov. 18, 9pm, BTN/570AM
- Thread starter Knight
- Start date
we are sju
Active member
At least wasju will have adequate material for Freudenberg, Mussini
jokes for a week or so.
Did not see the game so only commenting from box score - Freudenberg played 4 minutes and took no shots, Mussini was 0-3 in 19 minutes. Usually not a good situation when your point guard takes a third of your shots. Have to watch tomorrow to get a real opinion of the game, especially the D.
I'll say it over and over, while Ponds and Lovett can do it on their own, Mussini and Freudenberg need to be set up. Both appear to need picks or a guard that penetrates drawing their defense to the middle leaving them wide open for a three pointer.
Ok here it is!
There will be 5 to 7 games where Mussini knocks down some open threes and it will greatly help us either win or remain competitive in those 5 to 7 games.
The remaining 25 or so games Mussini will either be a non factor or on occasion an actual detriment to the team.
That is what his talent dictates. In a perfect world or a better roster of players his minutes will be dictated by his performance. That could come as quickly as next season hopefully. As for this year just be happy when the 5 to 7 games occur, but understand that on most games it won't. He is going to play but not as well as most on here hope or are disillusioned enough to expect. Games like last night are the norm. The BC game is the exception.
As for RF, if he can shoot, then because of his size he just needs some experience and hard work to figure out when and where he can get his shots. That is not going to come this year. The hope for him is that he improves every year and can really start to be a rotation contributor by his Junior year.
That is who those two guys are. Accept it while you enjoy the dynamic duo and pray that Yakwe, Sima and Ellison can help them out.
[/quote]
I base it on a few things.
After watching St. John's NOT play zone defense for over 50 years I will go out on a limb and say we won't any day soon.
Chris Mullin never learned to play a zone under Carnesecca and never played it in the pros.
The pros don't play zone and our staff are NBA graduates and never played for coaches named Chaney or Boeheim.
Coaching a zone is an art and coach Mullin is still painting with a starter set.
Maybe a picture of what a difference between a Boeheim zone and a Mullin zone would look like may help:
![URL]](http://[URL]http://cdn1.pri.org/sites/default/files/migration/PriMigrationsVivvoFilesImagesMigration/pri.org/files/Jesus_PaintingNEW_293150090.jpeg[/URL])
Nice pictures
, a modified zone defense has been legal in the NBA since the '01-'02 season. Despite your obsession with Chaney and now Boeheim, they are not the only guys who know or can teach a zone. I simply do not agree with your assessment that this staff is incapable of teaching a simple zone which we can use for short stretches to change the flow of the game.
Agree on Amar, which is why I said I was happy when he was inserted during Minny's first have run. I thought he would bring energy and defense, and could help stem the momentum that Minny had then. I have no problem with his first 3 attempt, which he missed by a hair. I wasn't crazy about the 2nd one. He then had a block on the other end, but for all intent and purpose he added nothing yesterday. Hope that changes moving forward. We can use his size and athleticism between he 3 and 4 spots.
I base it on a few things.
After watching St. John's NOT play zone defense for over 50 years I will go out on a limb and say we won't any day soon.
Chris Mullin never learned to play a zone under Carnesecca and never played it in the pros.
The pros don't play zone and our staff are NBA graduates and never played for coaches named Chaney or Boeheim.
Coaching a zone is an art and coach Mullin is still painting with a starter set.
Maybe a picture of what a difference between a Boeheim zone and a Mullin zone would look like may help:
Nice pictures
, a modified zone defense has been legal in the NBA since the '01-'02 season. Despite your obsession with Chaney and now Boeheim, they are not the only guys who know or can teach a zone. I simply do not agree with your assessment that this staff is incapable of teaching a simple zone which we can use for short stretches to change the flow of the game.[/quote]Class of 72
Active member
[/quote]
I base it on a few things.
After watching St. John's NOT play zone defense for over 50 years I will go out on a limb and say we won't any day soon.
Chris Mullin never learned to play a zone under Carnesecca and never played it in the pros.
The pros don't play zone and our staff are NBA graduates and never played for coaches named Chaney or Boeheim.
Coaching a zone is an art and coach Mullin is still painting with a starter set.
Maybe a picture of what a difference between a Boeheim zone and a Mullin zone would look like may help:
Nice pictures
I am looking forward to that modified zone defense versus our modified matador defense.
beast of the east
Active member
When you have two guards that penetrate deep, one guard has to stay back and defend.
Overall not too impressed with an Iverson like 31 points (11-27). I know neither Sima or Yakwe are offensively oriented, but still seems like we have a long way to go until we become a good offemsive and defensive squad.
Is it just me or does Amar look huge on the court - he looks like a legit long 6-10 or 11. Perhaps grown an inch or so?
Class of 72
Active member
You're a funny guy! :cheer:
Marcus Lovett almost singlehandedly kept us in the game while Mussini and Ellison were shooting 0% (0-9) and you were not impressed? When Lovett and Ponds were seeing that Yakwe and Sima were likely NOT going score because they are not that good offensively, they had to take over the game. Bashir Ahmed had a good but not great game. That was about it as far as offensive talent goes. You should have been very impressed with his 31 points!!
Amar Alibegovic LOOKS BIG but plays very very very small because he is useless 25 feet from the basket. When you figure out what defensive and offensive game Mullin is coaching please let us know.
beast of the east
Active member
Wasn't trying to equate his size with ability. Abstract comment
I agree. I'd say the same thing about Ellison. I don't want either of them shooting 3s. And I don't want Ellison or Tariq Owens receiving the ball at the top of the offense. These guys should be interior presence on both O and D focused upon defense, rebounding/putbacks, screens and finding the open shooter.
Not going to happen , it is not the player he wants to be. Not an impossibility but we need him to have a 180 degree change n attitude for that to occur. I hope I am wrong as he could be an asset to this team on a consistent basis if he wanted to be.
Ali B. is not going to have an light bulb go off on his own that he needs to be a banger under the rim.
Mullin needs to make that clear to him (if Mullin is even thinking that way). If Ali B continues to do what he does, it's on the staff for allowing it.
Mullin needs to make that clear to him (if Mullin is even thinking that way). If Ali B continues to do what he does, it's on the staff for allowing it.
Agree. He was not highly recruited for a reason, loves the perimeter & lacks post up game moves & qualities. We tend to like his spirit & his size, but like Vitale's "All Airport" teams, he unfortunately looks better than the end product.