Well let me start by saying again that Clark, Owens, and Simon played unreal yesterday. Proud performances for us fans. Ahmed played his par for course game, but not a game changer. I disagree with Yakwe performance though. Although his hands are still terrible and he is a liability on offense, he, Owens, and Marvin did shut down Delgado and the paint yesterday. He is a defensive role player and thats it. Ive stated before on here and ill stick to it that Trimble is overmatched in the BE. He will transfer. No defense, too slow, and looks lost. 20 p;us minutes yesterday and contributed nothing. That being said, Simon, Owens, and Clark are busting their a$$ out there and what happens? A technical from LoVett?!!! I love LoVett, but now I think us fans are getting fed up with his situation. We are assume he will leave after this season. We all question the extent of his injury, and now the tech? If he is leaving, any scouts will look if he is injury prone. If he is seriously hurt, enough NE Patriot psychology, tell us!!! If he CAN play though these injuries, he needs to do what he can to go to war with his teammates. Same goes for Poinds. We need these guys out there. Forget about next year. With our luck they all transfer. We need to win, and win NOW!!!! We are on the verge of a good season and respectable resume. We need some big wins now and stop this slide. The committee will take into account those losses with our leading scorers hurt. But now, we NEED them back! Enough bs!
Ponds and LoVett
- Thread starter cappy105
- Start date
boo haarvey
Active member
Your post implies that LoVett is healthy enough to play and is not playing bc of his pro aspirations. You then go onto suggest that bc Ponds and LoVett may transfer or go pro after this year, Mullin should put them back on the court, injured or otherwise, because “We need them to win and win NOW.”
Now I’m no doctor nor I have I examined LoVett, but I can tell you that he was noticeably limping during the Iona game. A sprained knee can be a serious deal, and putting an injured LoVett on the court woukd significantly increase the risk of him suffering a greater and more lasting injury. Not to mention that putting an injured player on the court would likely not benefit the team in the short-run either. Watching an injured Ponds overmatched by Cartwright in the second half of the Providence game to the detriment of the team illustrates my point.
Now if you have some evidence that LoVett is refusing to play bc he is valuing his future livelihood over the team (a not unreasonable position), I’d be curious to hear. But any such unfounded speculation is unfair to LoVett who by all accounts has been an excellent teammate.
And for what it’s worth, I very much doubt that LoVett chose to delay his pro career and return to SJU only to sit on the bench.
These injuries suck and I’m as frustrated as anybody. Without evidence to the contrary, however, I would caution fans not to blame the kids who are likely dying (even more than we fans) to get back on the court.
no not at all. I only blame LoVett for the tech. Its pure frustration which I'm sure we all have. Enough bs implies to our seamless doom and the unknown extent of the injury from the beginning. Its been day to day for weeks. That is only frustrating because you get the sense its not a serious injury yet we are in all of the games and could really use him. The frustration mounts when you see the starters busting their hump. Obviously not saying he's faking it, but frustrated by the extent of this injury, lack of information, and addition of Ponds being injured. Yes, they are college kids, but we as fans who pay big money for seats, follow the team religiously just like to have a healthy successful team for once. Whats different about this year is, we have the talent. We can beat any of these teams if we have a full squad. Healthy return to ponds and lovett, we NEED you both!
My guess is that the longer Mr. Lovett’s stay out because of injury the more likely that he returns to StJohns next season.
I do not believe that there is much demand in the NBA or top Euro leagues for a “6 foot” guard who may have only played In one of the past three seasons with the last season being sidelined for injury.
I do not believe that there is much demand in the NBA or top Euro leagues for a “6 foot” guard who may have only played In one of the past three seasons with the last season being sidelined for injury.
boo haarvey
Active member
I tend to agree although kids are fickle. Time will tell.
"We all question the extent of his injury,"
Sorry don't speak for me. I do not question the extent of his injury and think its pretty disrespectful to imply that anything else is keeping him on the bench.
"Just heard Vin Parise say that a reason for the outstanding 3 point shooting by PC and SH are due to Ponds being out and that he is such an "impeccable defender".
Agree with you on that but actually when Lovett was playing (this year) I was very impressed with his defensive commitment and I do think he contributed significantly to our early success on D by harassing primary ball handlers and by closing out shooters, both with tons of energy and focus. Perhaps when he returns our D on shooters will improve.
Sorry don't speak for me. I do not question the extent of his injury and think its pretty disrespectful to imply that anything else is keeping him on the bench.
"Just heard Vin Parise say that a reason for the outstanding 3 point shooting by PC and SH are due to Ponds being out and that he is such an "impeccable defender".
Agree with you on that but actually when Lovett was playing (this year) I was very impressed with his defensive commitment and I do think he contributed significantly to our early success on D by harassing primary ball handlers and by closing out shooters, both with tons of energy and focus. Perhaps when he returns our D on shooters will improve.
I do not believe the technical foul was on LoVett. They said it was on a "team manager", also if you watch the replay the referee seems to be reacting to the player to the right of LoVett on the screen.
As for both guards leaving next year. Neither will transfer. LoVett is already a year behind & Ponds seems to love his choice. The NBA is not an alternative for either AT THIS POINT ( 6 foot guards that thrive on getting to the rim). If they wanted to play overseas or in the D league maybe. I hope/believe they are both back for next year.
As for both guards leaving next year. Neither will transfer. LoVett is already a year behind & Ponds seems to love his choice. The NBA is not an alternative for either AT THIS POINT ( 6 foot guards that thrive on getting to the rim). If they wanted to play overseas or in the D league maybe. I hope/believe they are both back for next year.
I was taking my son to school this morning and he said hey look and there was a huge ad on an MTA bus with Shamorie Ponds on it. If you are going to advertise players on city buses then maybe there should be a little more clarity when those players get injured.
TRabinowitz
Member
Going to start this post by saying, overall, I think the staff has done fine in their 2.5 years here and I like what Anton Goff seems to be bringing to the athletic department. With that said...
Add this nonsense from yesterday: Lovett and Ponds both didn't participate in a basic workout where the team was simply putting up shots. How do I know this? Because they were both dicking around streaming live on Instagram last night as the team was at the arena. Lovett was streaming live from the arena playing with the FS1 equipment and Ponds was at the hotel, which means he wasn't even with the team. Now, just a few weeks ago Mullin was saying that Lovett was doing "basketball related things" and even last week or so said he was starting to shoot. And yet yesterday when all the team was doing was putting up shots, he wasn't participating. Do you think Tom Izzo would allow a "day to day" injured player to travel with the team but stay back at hotel or to screw around at the arena to stream live on social media while the rest of the team was practicing and working? What about Jay Wright, think that would fly with him? Coach Cal or Coach K?? This is becoming somewhat of a circus and Lavin'esque. Not a good look. If the staff/athletic department is going to continue to put on this front that they are so close to coming back or one of them is even starting to work out, maybe they should at least be able to control said player(s) enough to at least get them to play along with the act and not post to the contrary on social media.
Add this nonsense from yesterday: Lovett and Ponds both didn't participate in a basic workout where the team was simply putting up shots. How do I know this? Because they were both dicking around streaming live on Instagram last night as the team was at the arena. Lovett was streaming live from the arena playing with the FS1 equipment and Ponds was at the hotel, which means he wasn't even with the team. Now, just a few weeks ago Mullin was saying that Lovett was doing "basketball related things" and even last week or so said he was starting to shoot. And yet yesterday when all the team was doing was putting up shots, he wasn't participating. Do you think Tom Izzo would allow a "day to day" injured player to travel with the team but stay back at hotel or to screw around at the arena to stream live on social media while the rest of the team was practicing and working? What about Jay Wright, think that would fly with him? Coach Cal or Coach K?? This is becoming somewhat of a circus and Lavin'esque. Not a good look. If the staff/athletic department is going to continue to put on this front that they are so close to coming back or one of them is even starting to work out, maybe they should at least be able to control said player(s) enough to at least get them to play along with the act and not post to the contrary on social media.
We cannot afford this to become a soap opera and spectacle. The Staff should communicate more honestly to the fans. If Ponds and LoVett are expected to be out for some time—release that to the public. This undermines their credibility and takes focus away from court business.
SJU14
Well-known member
Why is this topic so important to you? It's not like these kids are doing something illegal or against the rules. I watched some of LoVett's video yesterday, and it was just him on the sidelines at practice basically narrating it. I don't think it is something to nitpick on and get so worked up over. Plus, maybe the "day-to-day" tag is to throw other teams off and make them game plan for our best two players even if we know they aren't playing.
boo haarvey
Active member
My understanding was that the players were given the day off yesterday and several players chose to participate in an optional shoot-around. The fact that two players on the mend did not participate in an optional shoot-around does not strike me as nefarious. To the contrary, the fact that Ponds and LoVett traveled to Omaha would seem to be cause for optimism.
This whole topic is ridiculous. Plenty of teams around the country use “day to day” and don’t give a lot info to the press/media. They are considered student athletes and respect the players privacy. As far as “lavin’esque” lets take a look :
Transfers: Sima & Wilson (who never wanted to be here anyway)
Suspensions: Zereo
Discplined: Lovett didn’t start last year twice for 2 team infractions
I think that’s a marked improvement over the last regime.
As far as social media, who cares it was a day off and they are 20 year olds.
Transfers: Sima & Wilson (who never wanted to be here anyway)
Suspensions: Zereo
Discplined: Lovett didn’t start last year twice for 2 team infractions
I think that’s a marked improvement over the last regime.
As far as social media, who cares it was a day off and they are 20 year olds.
Keep on reaching. You are trying to turn this team into a soap opera, which it is not. Why don't you focus on "basketball related things" and leave the TMZ nonsense at TMZ. It's 2018, no one cares what a college aged player was doing while injured. Who cares if he was "streaming live" on his social media, if he isn't medically cleared to participate. Take off your Inspector Gadget hat, take a breathe and get a grip. Who are you mad at in the admin? Who bothered you, that you are literally fishing for anything to complain and cry about? Pathetic. Very sad.
TRabinowitz
Member
Because it's not what happens on programs with winning culture. Again, the likes of Jay Wright, Tom Izzo, K, etc wouldn't permit that nonsense. If you travel with the team you should be at the arena with the team, and if you're at the arena and "injured" you shouldn't be screwing around while the rest of the team is working. As someone who has sat in on practices, shootarounds and team meetings of major programs for my job I can tell you that none of that stuff would be allowed.