(NCAA-WEST/Providence) #10 Arkansas, Sat., Mar. 22, 2:40p, CBS

MJDinkins said:
As Moose implied, fans didn't say anything because RJ was scoring and we were winning. I know myself and a few others were saying things re: RJ's chaotic forays to the basket early in the season AND early on in the conference season. He was nailing the midrange most of the season and caught fire behind the arc late in the season which added a dimension to his game. There were still times he'd play outta control, but we kept winning and he kept scoring, so it was ignored. You just hoped he wouldn't revert back to bad habits or RJ, along with our team, would do enough to where we'd overcome it.

I, myself, would've inserted him back into the during the latter minutes, but I can understand the "other side" of the argument as well. As I said yesterday, RJ was totally out of it.
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I was at the game. I saw Zuby implore RJ to do “something “. I obviously didn’t hear what was said.
However, I do recall earlier in the game that Coach took out RJ. RJ went towards the end of the bench. Coach shook is head in the negative and pointed at the first seat.
Coach Pitino is the absolute best coach. I’ve met RJ at Coach Looie’s birthday party. He is a wonderful person. In fact, he took the photo of me and Coach, with my phone. They need to work it out. And they will. I’m confident that Coach did what was best for the team. And he will continue to advise RJ what is best for him.
 
lawmanfan said:
Some of us were consistently critical of that play style because some of us have watched enough basketball to know that things that work against Seton Hall, DePaul, Butler and Omaha were not going to go well against Arkansas (or Auburn, Florida, Michigan, etc take your pick).
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LMF , a lot of us here have watched a lot of BB over the years as you have … Our longevity can still have 2 different opinions on the same topic or play or Coaching decision .

It’s not a debate or argument nor , is it personal attack on someone else’s opinion .

Sports , like much in life often pose 2 different answers to the same question or , play .

A good example in BB especially is , was that a Charge or , a Block ?
Our viewpoints on whether it was one or the other , are debatable but , without a ability to say which is correct .

So , our airing of our opinions on a BB game are what being a fan is all about . There really isn’t a definitive aspect to saying who is right or , who is wrong .
So , take no offense . I don’t .
 
SLYFOXX1968 said:
A good example in BB especially is , was that a Charge or , a Block ?
Our viewpoints on whether it was one or the other , are debatable but , without a ability to say which is correct .
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The charge/block call is a challenging one for refs in real time but except on the margins there is a right answer and a wrong answer every time.
 
Marillac2 said:
What shots does RJ create from the outside? Over 90% of his threes are off passes.
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Yes, his corner threes, like all corner trees, are set up........I was referring to midrange shots inside the line. Simeon is in that category too but his defense is soft.
 
lawmanfan said:
RJ is largely a one-trick pony
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I guess if scoring inside, scoring outside, ft shooting, clutch game finisher, lethal on the break, monster dunker, great rebounder, shot blocker, ball stealer, on ball defender, help defender, defends all 5 positions and wreaks general havoc with size, speed and athleticism is somehow lumped into one trick?...then yes.
 
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Jack Williams said:
this is kind of a moot point because he fouled out but Kadary's midrange jumper died out around late -February and he never really got it back. Was a huge red flag but we kept winning so I didn't care too much. But in hindsight now, we really needed that added layer to our offense
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I agree. KR is almost unstoppable when driving to the basket but just has very bad shooting form. His foul shooting is a testimonial to how not to shoot foul shots.
It is so ironic that both he and RJ were God-awful in every which way possible, Scott was an offensive horror and we still lost by under 10 points. Not a knock on Arkansas as they had an advantage at 3 of 5 positions and on the bench but this game was very winnable had we played well and hit some foul shots.
 
The refs were horrible for both teams. What I would have like RP to do was for us was to change our game plan for about 5 minutes in the first half and pound the paint with Zuby and Kadary and either draw a bunch of fouls or make the refs change the way they are calling the game. Arkansas could not deal with those 2 pounding the paint. I also think both RP and RJ are at fault. RP could have coached RJ up a little more and implored him to get his head in the game and maybe played him the last 4 minutes. Also RJ could have grown up a bit and fought through whatever was causing the funk. Tough way to end an otherwise storybook and massively enjoyable season.
 
carmineabbatiello said:
I guess if scoring inside, scoring outside, ft shooting, clutch game finisher, lethal on the break, monster dunker, great rebounder, shot blocker, ball stealer, on ball defender, help defender, defends all 5 positions and wreaks general havoc with size, speed and athleticism is somehow lumped into one trick?...then yes.
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I agree with you but think that LMF was overly influenced by this one terrible performance by RJ who was forcing almost everything and took himself out of the game "mentally".
He was not a one trick pond in 90% of his games .......especially against teams like Uconn, Creighton and others.
 
I am sorry if this was touched on already. I was at the game on Saturday with my son. One point that I have regarding the game is when #9 Aidoo had 4 fouls and the coaching staff continued to have Zby away from the basket. We needed to pound the ball inside and try tog et him out of the game.
 
Rocket said:
I agree with you but think that LMF was overly influenced by this one terrible performance by RJ who was forcing almost everything and took himself out of the game "mentally".
He was not a one trick pond in 90% of his games .......especially against teams like Uconn, Creighton and others.
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Actually Rick wanted to see if RJ’s trick pony could score from the Bench .
And , he gave him 4 plus minutes to see if he could .

Alas, he couldn’t
My last comment.

Last night while watching the Maryland - Col State game , one of the announcers made this comment “ What do you think St John’s fans are waking up to this morning ? Wondering why their All American player wasn’t in the game in the last 4 minutes “
“ it’s a head scratcher .”
 
djramps said:
I am sorry if this was touched on already. I was at the game on Saturday with my son. One point that I have regarding the game is when #9 Aidoo had 4 fouls and the coaching staff continued to have Zby away from the basket. We needed to pound the ball inside and try tog et him out of the game.
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Zuby was our best and just about only weapon Saturday, me and my seatmate kept on calling for Zuby to get the ball inside, more touches for our only offensive weapon. You go with the hot hand, so he may get blocked now and then, but more likely a
 
SLYFOXX1968 said:
Actually Rick wanted to see if RJ’s trick pony could score from the Bench .
And , he gave him 4 plus minutes to see if he could .

Alas, he couldn’t
My last comment.

Last night while watching the Maryland - Col State game , one of the announcers made this comment “ What do you think St John’s fans are waking up to this morning ? Wondering why their All American player wasn’t in the game in the last 4 minutes “
“ it’s a head scratcher .”
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RJ is very upset with his performance and has even deactivated his Instagram account.
He knows he didn't follow the script. I knew we were not going to win the backcourt battle after the phantom fouls on Kadary and Wilcher and Smith couldn’t get it done at the point, especially with Smith playing hurt.
 
We will never know all that was in Rick's head when he sat him. We won't know all RJ confronted that made for his
on-court implosion. But I wouldn't be surprised if professional agent(s) or scouts were telling him the NCAA tournament was
his best ticket to be a first round draft choice; adding that he needed to showcase himself by dominating the scorecard. The pressure was already tremendous; but, if my suspicion has substance at all, it helps explain his relapse to "hero efforts" over "team ball". It's been an issue but he had been improving all through the year with some passing and assists.

He has always been a scorer and a natural leader. But pressured to make a personal statement for his NBA future, partially could explain his performance and Pitino's frustration with the lack of passing and conspicuously not mentioning him when discussing players who always did what he asked as a coach.

Whatever the dynamic, let us hope he comes back reconciled with Coach and determined to help elevate everyone's performance on the floor next year, not just his own.
 
It may have been brought up before, but John Starks shot 2 for 18 in game 7 against the Rockets in 1994. The biggest game for the Knicks in 20 years and he shot 11% for the game. Maybe having that open looking 3 in game 6 that Olajuwon got a piece of was stuck in his head. Who knows. And Starks played 13 years in the NBA, yet stunk it up in game 7.

RJ was an unknown 3 star in high school. Never played a pressure game like this. Maybe it got to him, maybe it was the speed and size of the front line of Arkansas. Again, who knows. CRP made his decision, and, knowing how bad he wants to win any game, especially against Cal, he plays RJ if he thinks it will help. He obviously didn't.

Sucks to lose. So we try to figure out what went wrong. In the end, our achilles heel of lack of shooters did us in. I thought the bench always played hard, but no offensive spark plugs on the bench, especially with Deivon hurt, another factor. I had a friend ask me what the board was saying about the loss. I told him a little of this, a little of that. Pitino's fault, the refs fault, and of course RJ. Maybe never being there, with the pressure of being a NYC team, made the players a little tight. After watching the Floridas and Auburns and the nauseating Dukes of the world, and seeing the Big East eliminated early, I realized the final four was not likely anyway. Meanwhile, I can't wait for next season and am looking forward to an off season filled with exciting portal news. In the words of Carl Spackler, "So I have that going for me, which is nice.".
 
RJ got benched because around the 5:15-5:20 mark the Johnnies fought back and were down by two (62-60) with momentum shifting their way. Getting stops had been difficult up to that point and KR had already fouled out on that BS foul call. It felt like they needed to tie the game on that possession or else it was going to be tough to win after using all that energy coming back and guys racking up fouls. RJ being ice cold needed to defer to his teammates (Zuby mostly) unless he was wide open and make winning plays on defense like a leader should. Instead he forced up a mid range fadeaway with three defenders on him and that was the game. I knew we’d lose after that shot and I think Pitino did too. Hurts to lose like that and RJ had a hell of a year but that decision will stick with him for a while.
 
So why continue to go over the screens? His refusal to go under the screen lead to them shooting 57% from 2. They couldn’t shut down the lane. They’re not a good 3pt shooting team. I would have liked to see how they responded if we went under. Start the offense in the low block. They should have feed KR, RJ, and Zuby in the post.
 
Stepping away from the RJ topic for a second. Since I obviously must be a masochist, I turned on the game again on DVR and noticed a few things the second time around. Although I like Lefty on offense and I think that he can develop into a very useful offensive player, I noticed how terrible his defense was as he was totally incapable of staying in front of both Boogie and Wagner. If he is going to be useful to the program going forward, he needs to work on his footwork and speed or he will not be very useful on one side of the court!
 
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