Pitino says Wilcher is future of program

L J S A said:
Didn't have superstar numbers either, though I'm not sure how much the ball was spread around on that team.
Click to expand...
The team will run 10x better next year with Wilcher. He lets others touch the ball and that is more than half the battle. He's no less of a PG than Newton of Uconn.

Combo guards are on a continuum...Wilcher is closer to the PG end than SG end, but he still has to sharpen his tools a lot this offseason. Obviously, pair him with either a defensive-minded PG or another combo that can defend and push alongside him.
 
I believe in positionless basketball more and more. The key thing next year is to get guys on the perimeter that can actually shoot the basketball, penetrate to the basket + draw a foul. We have literally no one on this roster that can reliably do either thing.

If Wilcher takes the second year Pitino leap, maybe he can do one of those things. But we'll still need shot makers around him regardless.
 
dk423 said:
I believe in positionless basketball more and more. The key thing next year is to get guys on the perimeter that can actually shoot the basketball, penetrate to the basket + draw a foul. We have literally no one on this roster that can reliably do either thing.

If Wilcher takes the second year Pitino leap, maybe he can do one of those things. But we'll still need shot makers around him regardless.
Click to expand...
As an undergrad at NYU I got to watch St. John's under Coach Lapchick dissect multiple opponents that had more talent. My take on this has been that Lapchick teams would find one way to score that could not be stopped unless the other team distorted their defense to a degree that opened up other scoring opportunities for the then named Redmen. By the time the defense had finally adapted, the option off of the sure-fire scoring that had been practiced and drilled endlessly in anticipation of the defense changing was triggered and a new defense adaptation was necessary. The opponents were always a little behind in strategy and approach. Rarely, the Redmen were so overwhelmingly out-talented that nothing worked but the sense I had was that in a close game the St. John's player most likely to hit a shot was going to get a chance to take that shot from the spot on the floor where they were most likely to make it. I rooted against SJU until NYU went Division III in 1970 but the respect for Lapchick pre-existed my becoming a Redmen fan and eventual STJ student. My sense of our current team is that it tries to be opportunistic but as games progress we are the ones that emerge without a strategy and sense of how to force the other team to adapt to our system.
 
L J S A said:
Didn't have superstar numbers either, though I'm not sure how much the ball was spread around on that team.
Click to expand...
Pretty much spread around:
Mgbako 16
Wilcher 15
Watson 12
Robinson 11
4-5 guys averaging between 5-7

Boff is a really good coach, teaches the team game. Maybe a bit of a bridge too far comparison but has the Red Holtzman view that he wants guards not PG and 2 guard. Wilcher and Robinson were far and away the assist leaders but neither were a PG per se.
 
dk423 said:
I believe in positionless basketball more and more.
Click to expand...
Me too, but only at the 2, 3, and 4 spots.

If you can get above average (preferably great) play at the 1 and 5 positions, that's probably more than half the battle to getting good.

In the past, I said it would be hard for us, because most point guard and center recruits thought (usually rightly) that it would best help their pro careers, to go with coaches/teams that has success working with those types of players in the past. Now, with NIL, who knows?
 
SJU61982 said:
Me too, but only at the 2, 3, and 4 spots.

If you can get above average (preferably great) play at the 1 and 5 positions, that's probably more than half the battle to getting good.

In the past, I said it would be hard for us, because most point guard and center recruits thought (usually rightly) that it would best help their pro careers, to go with coaches/teams that has success working with those types of players in the past. Now, with NIL, who knows?
Click to expand...
I don't necessarily think we need one traditional point guard to manage the game offensively. Every guard should be a willing passer. UCONN, for example, doesn't have a prototypical point guard.

But this team desperately needs ball handlers. We cannot have our guard spots occupied by players like Dingle & Alleyne, who cannot dribble in traffic.

On the 5 slot, I do think its imperative we have an athletic shot blocker every minute of the game on the court. Pitino's defensive style requires it.
 
paultzman said:
Wilcher seems to be a very good prospect as combo guard who will respond to coaching, get stronger and work hard to play a key role next season. 🤞
Click to expand...
Marillac2 disagrees. He wanted to start him this year over Jenkins and he is steadfast in that belief. I agree. Pitino should also start Traore over Ledlum because he is taller and Conway over Luis because because he looks a little like Cam Sprncer.
I also think we should exchange coaches with Uconn because Hurley is willing to kick a student's ass after a loss. Our coach just wants to kick his players in the ass.
I also think we should be patient with Anthony Glover next year because he needs to get in shape for the current Big East. Thank God he still has eligibility left!
 
fuchsia said:
As an undergrad at NYU I got to watch St. John's under Coach Lapchick dissect multiple opponents that had more talent. My take on this has been that Lapchick teams would find one way to score that could not be stopped unless the other team distorted their defense to a degree that opened up other scoring opportunities for the then named Redmen. By the time the defense had finally adapted, the option off of the sure-fire scoring that had been practiced and drilled endlessly in anticipation of the defense changing was triggered and a new defense adaptation was necessary. The opponents were always a little behind in strategy and approach. Rarely, the Redmen were so overwhelmingly out-talented that nothing worked but the sense I had was that in a close game the St. John's player most likely to hit a shot was going to get a chance to take that shot from the spot on the floor where they were most likely to make it. I rooted against SJU until NYU went Division III in 1970 but the respect for Lapchick pre-existed my becoming a Redmen fan and eventual STJ student. My sense of our current team is that it tries to be opportunistic but as games progress we are the ones that emerge without a strategy and sense of how to force the other team to adapt to our system.
Click to expand...
Great points here. Would have been cool to see that era, glad you got a first-hand account. I would agree that today, the problem is we just are not making the needed adjustments or have that option in place when the other team "figures us out" after the half (a repeating pattern this season). Also as you mentioned, our talent is not up to par. Often they look slow coming out of the half and lazy. I think personally, they are not in great shape or conditioning well outside of practice time with the exception of a couple players. There is also something to alot of these guys being available in the transfer portal as 5th year/grad. If they were top notch they would have not entered but to Rick's point he did not have much of a choice with the departures. Some of the departures he tried to keep i.e. Storr but he could not get them to come back.
 
Marillac2 said:
The team will run 10x better next year with Wilcher. He lets others touch the ball and that is more than half the battle. He's no less of a PG than Newton of Uconn.

Combo guards are on a continuum...Wilcher is closer to the PG end than SG end, but he still has to sharpen his tools a lot this offseason. Obviously, pair him with either a defensive-minded PG or another combo that can defend and push alongside him.
Click to expand...
I have some very bad news for you my ugliest building on campus, Wilcher will not make any team 10x. Pitino needs an offensive beast up front at the 3 or 4 because what he has now are tweeners. I also hope we lose two of the wasted Iona scholarships because depth will be a major issue next year. I expect three impact portal transfers to make the team 10x better because Brady and Wilcher ain't them.
 
dk423 said:
I don't necessarily think we need one traditional point guard to manage the game offensively. Every guard should be a willing passer. UCONN, for example, doesn't have a prototypical point guard.

But this team desperately needs ball handlers. We cannot have our guard spots occupied by players like Dingle & Alleyne, who cannot dribble in traffic.

On the 5 slot, I do think its imperative we have an athletic shot blocker every minute of the game on the court. Pitino's defensive style requires it.
Click to expand...
Uconn has NBA level guards. That's the difference.
 
dk423 said:
I don't necessarily think we need one traditional point guard to manage the game offensively. Every guard should be a willing passer. UCONN, for example, doesn't have a prototypical point guard.

But this team desperately needs ball handlers. We cannot have our guard spots occupied by players like Dingle & Alleyne, who cannot dribble in traffic.

On the 5 slot, I do think its imperative we have an athletic shot blocker every minute of the game on the court. Pitino's defensive style requires it.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with any of that. I consider anybody capable of handling the ball consistently to be a 1. So, Magic Johnson and Ron Artest were 1's, to me.
 
fuchsia said:
As an undergrad at NYU I got to watch St. John's under Coach Lapchick dissect multiple opponents that had more talent. My take on this has been that Lapchick teams would find one way to score that could not be stopped unless the other team distorted their defense to a degree that opened up other scoring opportunities for the then named Redmen. By the time the defense had finally adapted, the option off of the sure-fire scoring that had been practiced and drilled endlessly in anticipation of the defense changing was triggered and a new defense adaptation was necessary. The opponents were always a little behind in strategy and approach. Rarely, the Redmen were so overwhelmingly out-talented that nothing worked but the sense I had was that in a close game the St. John's player most likely to hit a shot was going to get a chance to take that shot from the spot on the floor where they were most likely to make it. I rooted against SJU until NYU went Division III in 1970 but the respect for Lapchick pre-existed my becoming a Redmen fan and eventual STJ student. My sense of our current team is that it tries to be opportunistic but as games progress we are the ones that emerge without a strategy and sense of how to force the other team to adapt to our system.
Click to expand...

As an NYU alum, I appreciate these stories. Thanks for sharing.
 
paultzman said:
Wilcher seems to be a very good prospect as combo guard who will respond to coaching, get stronger and work hard to play a key role next season. 🤞
Click to expand...

I think Marillac is directionally correct about Wilcher - even if one doesn't think of him as a "pure point guard" he is a player who looks to involve others, plays with his head up looking for the pass, will give to to whoever is open.

He may not be Tyler Kolek but with a year under his belt he should be capable of holding down the position for 20 MPG.

They obviously need to bring in more help at the position along with other holes on the roster. But Wilcher is part of the solution, he isn't part of the problem other than being a freshman.
 
lawmanfan said:
I think Marillac is directionally correct about Wilcher - even if one doesn't think of him as a "pure point guard" he is a player who looks to involve others, plays with his head up looking for the pass, will give to to whoever is open.

He may not be Tyler Kolek but with a year under his belt he should be capable of holding down the position for 20 MPG.

They obviously need to bring in more help at the position along with other holes on the roster. But Wilcher is part of the solution, he isn't part of the problem other than being a freshman.
Click to expand...

Plus his ability to do side shuffles is second to none on the team. He's a keeper.
 
Shannon said:
maybe more so then most coaches, would think that all coaches are also thinking about next season. How could they not in this environment?
Click to expand...
True but there is at minimum at least 6 games to go. I’d hate to be a fan trucking into Manhattan thinking that the team and staff are going through the motions to get to next season.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top