(MSG) Seton Hall, Sat. Feb. 24, 12 NOON, FOX/570AM

[quote="JackofVirginia" post=273643]If I am not wrong we would play Marquette in the first round of the B.E. Tournament, providing the standings stay as they are today. Unfortunately, that brings us into the Nova bracket.[/quote]

Unless Nova can win this game at Crieghton (they are down 2 in OT, unfortunatly). Xavier is in first by a half-game, but Nova controls their own destiny, because they swept X in the regular season.
 
Well fellow redmen that's about it for the season!  Without Desi Rodriguez this was the game I thought we would win.  We are deservedly the last place team in the Big East.  Sure  we can, on paper, beat Butler and Providence with perfect games but our six guys appear to have shot their load. 
The game itself was entertaining with the final margin not indicative of the closeness of the game for 40 minutes.
This team cannot win without balanced effort by every player. Seton Hall had that balance and one only needs to look at the box score.  St. John's, as bad as a three point shooting team there is in college basketball, shot 2 for 19 from deep. 
While I commend the players for never backing down, the Mullin coached free style offense lends itself to one-on-one plays by Shamorie and Ahmed that takes the other 3 guys out of the offense too often.  On defense we were fortunate that Desi Rodriguez did not play or the Pirates would not have been so woeful from the outside. Inside we has nothing.  Owens was owned by Delgado and I was surprised the Pirates didn't go to him more.
The overtime was just a disorganized effort in futility with one forced shot after another with the only seemingly designed play by head coach Greg St. Jean being a white board clear out for Ponds. 
As some have assumed, fatigue became a factor in overtime with Owens sucking wind and Trimble too slow to even foul in the last possession.  After his terrific offensive performance in the previous game he quickly returned to a pedestrian 1 for 5.  Lesson to our over exuberant fans - do not praise a player until the end of the game.
With this loss there is a good possibility we will finish the season 14-18 and finish firmly in last place. That would be the most last place finishes in our Big East history for those keeping count. 
Of course any commentary on the game wouldn't be complete without just a little critique of our Teflon coach.  Having watched him in the Big East show prior to this game I was again taken aback by what a knucklehead he appears to be compunded by nervous twitching and the same simple  repetitive answers.  He sounds like a great cheerleader. Unfortunately, during the game, he did a lot of cheerleading and very little coaching, leaving that heavy lifting to GSJ.  I'm not sure who he keeps looking for in the stands behind him but maybe he is trying to get a play tossed his way by Luigi.
Finally, some interesting threads were started during our 4 game miracle run.  One was about the possibility of our going to the NIT.  Of course we could win the next three but we have to hope the opposing teams are not missing their best player since we seemingly play too complacent.  The last two games proved that.
Also, given our absolute suckiness on the boards and zero inside play, maybe some intrepid fan or reporter could ask associate head coach Mullin why Yakwe, a budding David Russell his frosh season, has been given the Slice banishment treatment.
 
Well Johnnie fans welcome to the "Carmello Anthony" offense in overtime. Ponds dribbled around court waiting until seconds were left on the clock. Why wasn't Clark involved?
Ahmed's missed put back and foul shot hurt.
Owens poor defense against Delgado only proves that we need a strong transfer. The Hall stopped passing the ball down low even after Delgado was eating Owen's alive early while scoring 8 points.
I'm sorry we should not have lost today, especially since Rodriquez was out.
I'm beginning to believe Simon is not the defensive specialist we think he is. Didn't stop Powell's drives to
the basket. Last two games not his best.
Looks as if we will be facing a zone defense from here on in. And why not?
Once again the opposition laid off Owens and Simon daring them to take jump shots.
Let's hope we can enjoy the next three games.
Again, we should not have lost to this team today with a 20 point scorer on the bench!Remember Marquette.

j
 
[quote="JohnnyFan" post=273640][quote="we are sju" post=273639]Shame about this year is if we had a Lamont Hamilton and Ron Rowan type players this is a sweet 16 team. Need another shooter and a guy that can get an easy basket.[/quote]

Anthony Glover would also be great on this team. I am not so high on Marcellus, but to be fair I think Glover was just 6'5" and he was a presence in the paint.[/quote]saw him at game today. As has been noted previously, shame that we don’t highlight former players in attendance more consistently.
 
Just looked at the box score. The fact that freshmen Cale and Sanoga scored 10 points each while Powell, shooting 1 for 11 from three, still scored 18 points tells me our defense was pretty porous today. In fact even sub, Manukelashvili, threw in 5 points.
Outrebounded once again 44 to 31. The Hall had 27 first half in the paint scores.
Perhaps fatigue has caught up with the hustling "six."
 
[quote="JackofVirginia" post=273651]Just looked at the box score. The fact that freshmen Cale and Sanoga scored 10 points each while Powell, shooting 1 for 11 from three, still scored 18 points tells me our defense was pretty porous today. In fact even sub, Manukelashvili, threw in 5 points.
Outrebounded once again 44 to 31. The Hall had 27 first half in the paint scores.
Perhaps fatigue has caught up with the hustling "six."[/quote]

Agree on the disadvantage of 6 guys v 10 & in OT you could see it. Sonogo is a senior btw.
 
[quote="SLYFOXX1968" post=273546]Just built a nice 5 point lead and blew it in a minute . Simon and Ponds not doing much positive yet . They need to step it up .[/quote]
That was biggest moment of game IMO.That’s when the next shot needs to be a good one. At minimum need to get to the line.
We settled for too many jump shots when we should have been driving.

Two consecutive possessions in OT were particularly egregious. Those moments fall on Mullin.

Overall, low energy effort. Kids looked worn down. Didn’t come out attacking on offense and defense as we did during much of the streak.

On to Butler
 
Sounds like the typical St. John's "We'll be better next year." need to keep the fans
buying tickets. Do they not get it !
 
[quote="Enright" post=273622]Ponds is the best thing that has happened to this program in recent years but if a player his size doesn't shoot threes from the college three pt line in the low forties he can't play in the NBA. I don't know his season percentage but I can't imagine it is even near forty.[/quote]
You’re point is valid but college 3 point line is not a factor. His 3s are from NBA line and beyond. That said, you’re right he needs to get back to the reliable shooter he was in his freshman year. Open 3s need to be almost a given.
 
The difference in the game was the referees. They were either awful or paid off. There were a lot of mysterious calls against us but I will just mention one sequence. In overtime the first two baskets by set on hall were back ups to basket. First Owens is hit in the neck by an elbow and they score. No foul called. Then Owens is pushed to the floor when the shooter pushes him back, another score and no foul. Give me a break we were robbed
 
[quote="dee" post=273660]The difference in the game was the referees. They were either awful or paid off. There were a lot of mysterious calls against us but I will just mention one sequence. In overtime the first two baskets by set on hall were back ups to basket. First Owens is hit in the neck by an elbow and they score. No foul called. Then Owens is pushed to the floor when the shooter pushes him back, another score and no foul. Give me a break we were robbed[/quote]

I couldn't tell at the game, but my father, watching on TV, said that the foul on Ponds in the final minute of regulation was BS. Looked like a clean swipe, to him.

And, you are so right on those first two Delgado baskets of OT. Then later in the OT, Owens grazes somebody's jersey, and is called for his fifth foul. Owens was on the receiving end of those two Delgado blows, and you could tell he was upset about it, coming back to the bench (thankfully, he bit his tongue to the refs, but you could clearly see he was ticked off).
 
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We did get some bad calls, but I can't blame the game on the refs. This game was ours for the taking as Seton Hall, particularly Powell, were way off on their outside shots. Simon was just not there today and Ahmed killed us at the end. Owens was completely gassed, I don't know why Yakwe wasn't playing for a few minutes to give him a break at some point.
 
The players give it their all night after night, but are just outsized and outmuscled every game. It's really surprising they stayed in almost every game with a 2 guard that can't shoot, a rail thin center that can't rebound, and a 3 that can't shoot fouls and misses a lot of shots when they count the most. No bench a real dick punch for tired legs.

Ponds carried us for the 4 wins, and teams are all over him ever since. Ponds is good, but his chances to make the NBA, which are slim, will be increased if he plays like a true point. He has good court vision, but forces way too many shots. With the attention he draws, he should average 10 assists per game.
 
[quote="Ray Morgan" post=273667]The players give it their all night after night, but are just outsized and outmuscled every game. It's really surprising they stayed in almost every game with a 2 guard that can't shoot, a rail thin center that can't rebound, and a 3 that can't shoot fouls and misses a lot of shots when they count the most. No bench a real dick punch for tired legs.

Ponds carried us for the 4 wins, and teams are all over him ever since. Ponds is good, but his chances to make the NBA, which are slim, will be increased if he plays like a true point. He has good court vision, but forces way too many shots. With the attention he draws, he should average 10 assists per game.[/quote]

The last two games Mullin allowed Ponds to control almost every aspect of the offense. Teams, seeing that, have played him tighter and to the surprise of no one, except Mullin, Ponds has been forcing his shots and taking bad NBA threes. Shamorie is very talented but the results are the other players standing around, especially Owens and Ahmed who forget to attack the glass on many of Pond's misses. Today he took long range jumpers with not one St. John's player close enough to the basket to rebound. He missed every one of those 3 pointers when working the ball in better organized set plays would have been better options.
 
your dad was right Ponds did make a clean swipe it was right in front of me. He had all ball
 
If Lovett had stayed it would have taken the pressure off Ponds. We had a perfect set up with him and Ponds and Simon as the third guard. We are stuck short handed
 
[quote="dee" post=273685]If Lovett had stayed it would have taken the pressure off Ponds. We had a perfect set up with him and Ponds and Simon as the third guard. We are stuck short handed[/quote]

We are stuck shorthanded because our "balanced" recruiting has 3 red shirts sitting behind the bench. We are shorthanded because this staff has done zilch to create even a miniscule role for Yakwe or Alibegovic even if our starters are exhausted as was Owens today.
In effect, the staff fostered another throwaway season and we are supposed to laud them for that.
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=273691][quote="dee" post=273685]If Lovett had stayed it would have taken the pressure off Ponds. We had a perfect set up with him and Ponds and Simon as the third guard. We are stuck short handed[/quote]

We are stuck shorthanded because our "balanced" recruiting has 3 red shirts sitting behind the bench. We are shorthanded because this staff has done zilch to create even a miniscule role for Yakwe or Alibegovic even if our starters are exhausted as was Owens today.
In effect, the staff fostered another throwaway season and we are supposed to laud them for that.[/quote]

Alibegovic and Yakwe unfortunate;y are not Big East Caliber players. It's not a coincidence that we have had our best stretch of the season with them getting hardly any minutes. If they played 6 minutes between them today we lose in regulation and the game never goes to overtime. I we had Lovett and Wilson as staff thought we would , our record would be 21-8 right now.
 
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