nd game

[Class of 72]

DePaul will be the home team. Always a edge in the BE or anywhere. They also have a very good frontcourt player in Cleveland Melvin who can hurt us inside. He is a bordeline NBA prospect, maybe more than that.

I liked that Lavin limited CO'S minutes as he is a offensive liability until he can handle and shoot free throws and 8-10 foot jumpers. Also too, he is a great shot blocker but, not yet defensively adequate . He will learn to box out his man and be able to rebound eventually.

I liked the man to man better than the D that Lavin seems to like, the match up zone. The players seemed more into playing better D THAN PREVIOUSLY.

Lavin's prevent offense is still a problem until it's corrected. Perhaps he will realize it doesn't fit this team well. In games we've lost,except G'town, it contributed to our losing some late game leads.

It also seemed to me that, FINALLY, Lavin had read the scouting reports on ND and why he went man to man. It showed me he can be flexible in his coaching and not always locked into just 1 defensive scheme. It caught ND off guard and disrupted their usual play.

In a word, Lavin outcoached Brey in this game and Brey didn't adjust. Not playing Cooley at crunch time was bizarre but helped us to victory. What was he thinking? I've not seen any explanation why Cooley wasn't in there.

Obekpa needs to learn that when he helps on a screen, it is his responsibility to rotate back to his man. Not stay up at the perimeter guarding the ball handler.

We've seen this since the exhibition games.

To me it's a glaring issue. I wonder if anyone on the staff is helping him in that area because he just doesn't seem to get it.

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

 

[lawmanfan]

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

Gift at his best is an undersized backup power forward.

Obekpa has a lot to learn, but he's already twice as valuable as Gift, and the minutes he is getting will make him 10 times as valuable by the start of next season.

That the staff is willing to sit Gift on the bench on the possibility that maybe Sanchez might be able to play a quarter of the season tells you all you need to know about their evaluation - which is 100% accurate.

On a tangentially related note, it was good to see the resurgence of Dom (another player who is better than Gift) last night.

 

[JackofVirginia]

i worked late tonight and recorded the game and avoided any sports reports and redmen.com until i had a chance to sit and watch the game.....i have a huge headache from the stress but it was worth it!.....a few things i loved:

1) 80% free throw shooting
2) we won with d'lo only scoring 8 points.....we may end up more than a one-trick pony!
3) much better ball movement on offense....not a lot of the weave
4) defensive intensity was great....especially in the 2nd half....even on possessions where ND would score it felt like they were working hard for each basket....

one thing i didn't like which has been mentioned before....the "prevent offense" when we have a big lead....when we were up 12 i had knots in my stomach.....so glad they weathered the ND run and pulled out the win.....

congrats guys!!!

You are right. I was about to post that Lavin doesn't learn from his mistakes once we started to hold the ball until seconds were left. And there went the lead. Thank God we held on!

 

[Class of 72]

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

Gift at his best is an undersized backup power forward.

Obekpa has a lot to learn, but he's already twice as valuable as Gift, and the minutes he is getting will make him 10 times as valuable by the start of next season.

That the staff is willing to sit Gift on the bench on the possibility that maybe Sanchez might be able to play a quarter of the season tells you all you need to know about their evaluation - which is 100% accurate.

On a tangentially related note, it was good to see the resurgence of Dom (another player who is better than Gift) last night.

CO is a shot blocker at present,,,,,period!
Where you get 2X as valuable is beyond me! Last year against some of the best talent in the Big East and America Gift held his own most games given his inexperience and lesser skills and my only issue with him was his tendency to falter down low on the offensive end but as far as rebounding and shooting, he is vastly superior to CO. I know guys in their 50's that can hit better than .48 from the line ( of course they can't jump more than 4 inches).
Each would have seen around 20 minutes but the depth up front would have been measurably better. Against ND we played Jakarr as our Big! That may have surprised ND but I doubt Syracuse or Louisville will be impressed.

 

[beast of the east]

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

Gift at his best is an undersized backup power forward.

Obekpa has a lot to learn, but he's already twice as valuable as Gift, and the minutes he is getting will make him 10 times as valuable by the start of next season.

That the staff is willing to sit Gift on the bench on the possibility that maybe Sanchez might be able to play a quarter of the season tells you all you need to know about their evaluation - which is 100% accurate.

On a tangentially related note, it was good to see the resurgence of Dom (another player who is better than Gift) last night.

CO is a shot blocker at present,,,,,period!
Where you get 2X as valuable is beyond me! Last year against some of the best talent in the Big East and America Gift held his own most games given his inexperience and lesser skills and my only issue with him was his tendency to falter down low on the offensive end but as far as rebounding and shooting, he is vastly superior to CO. I know guys in their 50's that can hit better than .48 from the line ( of course they can't jump more than 4 inches).
Each would have seen around 20 minutes but the depth up front would have been measurably better. Against ND we played Jakarr as our Big! That may have surprised ND but I doubt Syracuse or Louisville will be impressed.

I like GG. He's a great kid, and a spirited player. At his point he is a better offensive player and better defender than Obepka, but Obepka has an ceiling that is pretty high. I don't think he can become an offensive threat in three years, but then again, no one believed that Ewing would be an offensive player in the NBA if you went by his first year.

Obepka sat a lot vs ND because their bigs are heady offensive players who aren't great leapers. They pick and rollall day, and Obepka would not have fared so well as the shorter, better defenders we used.

 

[Mean Gene]

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

Gift at his best is an undersized backup power forward.

Obekpa has a lot to learn, but he's already twice as valuable as Gift, and the minutes he is getting will make him 10 times as valuable by the start of next season.

That the staff is willing to sit Gift on the bench on the possibility that maybe Sanchez might be able to play a quarter of the season tells you all you need to know about their evaluation - which is 100% accurate.

On a tangentially related note, it was good to see the resurgence of Dom (another player who is better than Gift) last night.

CO is a shot blocker at present,,,,,period!
Where you get 2X as valuable is beyond me! Last year against some of the best talent in the Big East and America Gift held his own most games given his inexperience and lesser skills and my only issue with him was his tendency to falter down low on the offensive end but as far as rebounding and shooting, he is vastly superior to CO. I know guys in their 50's that can hit better than .48 from the line ( of course they can't jump more than 4 inches).
Each would have seen around 20 minutes but the depth up front would have been measurably better. Against ND we played Jakarr as our Big! That may have surprised ND but I doubt Syracuse or Louisville will be impressed.

I like GG. He's a great kid, and a spirited player. At his point he is a better offensive player and better defender than Obepka, but Obepka has an ceiling that is pretty high. I don't think he can become an offensive threat in three years, but then again, no one believed that Ewing would be an offensive player in the NBA if you went by his first year.

Obepka sat a lot vs ND because their bigs are heady offensive players who aren't great leapers. They pick and rollall day, and Obepka would not have fared so well as the shorter, better defenders we used.

Obepka reminds me of Emekor Okafor of UConn when he was Freshmen. He wound up being a pretty dominant player in his Senior year on both ends of the court and I believe became a 1st round draft pick.

 

[bobre45]

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

Gift at his best is an undersized backup power forward.

Obekpa has a lot to learn, but he's already twice as valuable as Gift, and the minutes he is getting will make him 10 times as valuable by the start of next season.

That the staff is willing to sit Gift on the bench on the possibility that maybe Sanchez might be able to play a quarter of the season tells you all you need to know about their evaluation - which is 100% accurate.

On a tangentially related note, it was good to see the resurgence of Dom (another player who is better than Gift) last night.

CO is a shot blocker at present,,,,,period!
Where you get 2X as valuable is beyond me! Last year against some of the best talent in the Big East and America Gift held his own most games given his inexperience and lesser skills and my only issue with him was his tendency to falter down low on the offensive end but as far as rebounding and shooting, he is vastly superior to CO. I know guys in their 50's that can hit better than .48 from the line ( of course they can't jump more than 4 inches).
Each would have seen around 20 minutes but the depth up front would have been measurably better. Against ND we played Jakarr as our Big! That may have surprised ND but I doubt Syracuse or Louisville will be impressed.

I like GG. He's a great kid, and a spirited player. At his point he is a better offensive player and better defender than Obepka, but Obepka has an ceiling that is pretty high. I don't think he can become an offensive threat in three years, but then again, no one believed that Ewing would be an offensive player in the NBA if you went by his first year.

Obepka sat a lot vs ND because their bigs are heady offensive players who aren't great leapers. They pick and rollall day, and Obepka would not have fared so well as the shorter, better defenders we used.

Who knows if Cooley sitting affected CO's minutes. All I know is if I were an ND bettor I would have taken a look at the short spread on the SJU game and looked at it as a good way to recover some of that lost Alabama money. My guess is that Brey isn't the most popular guy with that group right now. A mysterious game in some ways.

 

[SJU65]

For the last 3 years I've given my SJU-ND tickets at MSG to a good friend who is a NC alum and you know what happened the last 3 years. After the last game he told me not to give him the tickets if SJU plays ND at the Garden next season. There goes our good luck charm.

 

[fan5577]

For the last 3 years I've given my SJU-ND tickets at MSG to a good friend who is a NC alum and you know what happened the last 3 years. After the last game he told me not to give him the tickets if SJU plays ND at the Garden next season. There goes our good luck charm.

How much does he want ($$$) to go to the game. I am sure some the board will contribute!

 

[beast of the east]

CO should have been playing behind Gift this year but I beat that horse to death last month.

Gift at his best is an undersized backup power forward.

Obekpa has a lot to learn, but he's already twice as valuable as Gift, and the minutes he is getting will make him 10 times as valuable by the start of next season.

That the staff is willing to sit Gift on the bench on the possibility that maybe Sanchez might be able to play a quarter of the season tells you all you need to know about their evaluation - which is 100% accurate.

On a tangentially related note, it was good to see the resurgence of Dom (another player who is better than Gift) last night.

Look at GG's numbers from last season. The same number of rebounds as Obepka, playing as an undersized center, amost 10 points per game, and shot about 50% from the field. I'd say we could have used him this season in some capacity. With him we might already have had 2 more wins. But I'm pretty much with the Lavin plan - perhaps next year he will eb a valuable piece of a tourney bound team, while this year it looks likes we are still in the classroom.

 

[Stevo]

Just watched the game on DVR. An 8 week old baby girl will do that. And biz travel prevented me from going.

I was really impressed with Dom. Aside from being foul prone he gives meaninful contributions more and more often. He hit a few mid range jumpers and had a nice fast break dish to Jakarr. Impressed. Harrision played a nice all round game and had some nice dishes.

They continue to have sets down the strecth where they whittle away the clock and get into their set way too late in the clock but a good W. Now they need to do something they haven't done yet and win two in a row in BE play.