Nova Game

[logen]

I am not one to be negative about the team, and have always stood by the "give them time", "they are young" mantras....But one thing I can't stand is a lack of effort- and that is what was on display tonight. In the first 10 minutes Nova yanked about 3 possessions right out of our hands, were aggressive on D and the first ones to a loose ball- cause they wanted it more. I'm used to seeing missed shots or a bad pass- i can tolerate that, I dont think we have the shooters so i can't have an expectation that we will be draining shots all over the floor- but knowing that, this team needs to bring an Intensity every possession every game. After the Marquette game- I was proud of the boys and proud of the fight they brought to the court. Today...BE tourney? I didnt see anything that showed me they wanted to win.

The two games I most enjoyed watching were actually losses, Providence and Marquette (gluten for punishment i guess lol) but the way they played in those games as a cohesive unit- made me excited about the future and the direction we were going...but a game like today really puts a bad taste in my mouth. Lavin may not be the X and O guy we want him to be, but there needs to be fight, toughness, grit instilled into these guys- and that comes from the top down. I am a young fan so I only hear the stories of lore about Mullin/Jackson/Berry etc- but I loved watching SJU with Artest/Barkley/Glover/Postell- those guys were bullies and didnt back down- game to every game ready to play. This current team has it maybe once every 5 games or so....seems like we take 1 step forward and 2 back. I dont see drastic changes happening to the roster in terms of personnel, so hopefully Lav n Co can instill some fortitude to bring it every game and leave it all out on the court for next season.

Thoughts for next yr: We are going to need Sanchez to be the player he has been billed to be. Jakarr- good rookie season- add some bulk and consistency to that jumper, and please start driving in to the hoop more. Phil- an egnima, but I actually like him, and we are going to need him if we want to not only get to 20 wins but make a run next year. Hopefully Hooper is the shooter we think he is...cause we need one. Amir- I feel as though he is a good kid and thank him for working to get cleared and his loyalty to the program, but dont think hoops the road for you, 6'6 lefty pitchers who throw heat get paid a lot of $- focus on that. Obekpa- great year, really all we could ask of you, work on the fundamentals- FT shooting, boxing out, a semblance of a low post game and you will be real special- excited to see him develop. CJones, Gift, Felix- improve and bring it next season. D'lo- please get your head straight, like it or not, this team is better with you. Branch- play with confidence and he should be fine at the point.

Sorry for the rant- the team frustrates me- must mean I care ha. SJU 13-14, Big things! what do us Met fans say.... Ya gotta Believe!

Your first two paragraphs express my feelings exactly. It starts with playing hard and we just do not. I don't know where we go from here but this coaching staff has a monumental job in front of them because frankly, I see no improvement from last year. We play the same unorganized, unintelligent, go for the high risk, low percentage play we played last year. We were down 10 with (I think) 4 and change left in the game; Pointer gets a steal and attempts an alley oop from about 25 feet out and throws it out of bounds. This from a guy who has played about 60 college games!! Maybe Lavin spent too much time at ESPN and thinks highlights are the way too play the game but this team wouldn't recognize a fundamental if it kicked them in the behind.

 

[logen]

Very disappointing season. Branch is a fraction of the player we all hoped he would be. It's amazing he was ranked so high since he can't shoot well, has average athleticism, and is a combo guard. He turns the ball over way too much.

Is it just a coincidence that Pointer, Garrett and Branch were ranked so high and have done little? Where is the player development?

They are sophs...give it a rest.

Gee, the Nova point guard was a frosh and missed his senior year due to injury last year and he looked mighty good; stop with the nonsense. Pointer and Garrett have played about 60 and 45 games respectively, they are not young!! Branch I give a pass to because of the injuries but he has not shown any real consistency and his reluctance to even take a 15 footer in rythym is scary to me.