N.Y. Post: Path For St. John's
- Thread starter jerseyshorejohnny
- Start date
Our tournament chances were just discussed on Fox Sports 1.
Croshere was in agreement, we need to go 7-1 down the stretch to have a chance at a tournament.
And yes, penn state was considered a bad loss.
Croshere was in agreement, we need to go 7-1 down the stretch to have a chance at a tournament.
And yes, penn state was considered a bad loss.
beast of the east
Active member
I remember reading that Chamberlain actually intelligently blocked shots, making sure he tipped them to teammates or rejected them far to the perimeter while trying to keep blocked shots in bounds. He could catch some shots mid air, and would avoid tip them to wide open offensive players close tot he basket. Incredibly, he did a this while never fouling out of an NBA game. I also believe that in one season he averaged more than 48 minutes per game because of overtimes.
beast of the east
Active member
Now I am going to bust balls
Our exuberance to block is good for at least 4 pts worth of goaltending and how many fouls
The goal tends are shots that 99.99% would have gone in anyway. That's why the call is made. That impact is negligible. As for fouls, I don't think we get too many of those from blocking shots. Certainly, you wouldn't advocate not playing perimeter defense now that the refs are emphasizing calling the hand check, would you?
It seems we don't even make 80% of our wide open layups.
Never concede layups. I'm with you in that I think our shot-blocking can potentially be our biggest strength as a team--especially late in games. There has to be a good balance, though, because going for blocks is very often gambling. Dom, for example, often lets guys completely go after they get a step on him to go for the block instead of recovering. Early on Obekpa had a block at all costs attitude, and you could tell that opposing teams actually planned to focus on taking the ball to the tin. Yeah, you might get your shot blocked 9 times (let's say 7 stay in bounds and 5 are recovered by SJU), but if it isn't blocked, you get a foul, an offensive rebound, a goal-tending call, or a wide open dump off to the weak side tin. The key is keeping the net effect in our favor. I remember at the JUCO level we had this SF from Wings that was a monster defender. He seemingly blocked 5-6 shots a game (I have no idea the actual stat but that's what it felt like). The impact it had on games was profound. The other team does everything right, gets a good look for a high % shot and this kid comes flying in from nowhere and blocks the shot to ignite transition offense. The residual effects were usual a loss of momentum and confidence.
I think CO is a smart kid and I think he moves well for a big man. He's not a real athletic kid, but he has great lateral movement for a 4/5. As he matures, I believe he'll have some fun with picking his spots, because he seems like a real analytical player.
The thing that SJU hasn't been good at for a long time is that second rotation. They were AWFUL under Norm. If you see a guy driving, and CO is weak side glass, you better be ready to slide down and body his man to prevent an offensive rebound or easy drop off. It's really tough to get kids to the point where they are reacting and not thinking about that switch. Maybe that is one of the reasons why it takes Lavin's teams so long to "get it." There's nothing worse than seeing a kid realize the rotation too late and give that slow-motion pretend run.
beast of the east
Active member
Very briefly (for me, unusual) is that shot blocking doesn't tell the whole story about a defender. It's a weapon, but the shot blocker must also be a straight up defender. If he is always wandering away from his man to contest shots, easy baskets result. Legitimately you could block 10 shots per game and be a huge liability on defense. I'm trying to remember, but I think it was Polee who was always gambling on steals in the passing lanes, and more often then not he gambled and lost. It would be obvious when he missed, because he'd end up alone 35 feet from the basket, while his man was left wide open
You're analogizing steal attempts 25 ft from the basket to blocks within 5 ft of the basket. Totally different animals. A steal attempt out there, which has a low percentage of success (especially by a Dwayne Polee type player) is definitely a bad risk. A block attempt by someone who is extremely adept at it is a much better gamble. I agree that a great shot blocker can be a defensive liability. Unfortunately, CO is a weak one on one defender because he can be easily pushed around under the basket by stronger players. That deficiency has nothing to do with him going for blocks. I was thinking the other day that CO needs to learn to flop a bit and try to sell the player control foul when his man puts the shoulder in his chest. He tries to withstand it but just gets pushed under the basket and his man gets an easy put in.
beast of the east
Active member
Simply comparing that both steal and block attempts can take a player out of position for the primary role, which is defender. When you try to block a shot of a player you aren't guarding, if you don't block the shot, and even if you do, if you repeatedly lose sight of the player you are guarding you will get burned.