Posh Struggles

Anderson has recruited athletic skilled players without much regard to their shooting ability throughout his time at SJU. This strategy is different than most coaches who prefer to have three players on the court who are adept at putting the ball in the basket.
SJU has had Stanley and WuSu, along with Posh and Curbelo on the court at the same time.
He not only will play Posh and Curbelo at the same time but will surround them with capable ball players who are not considered shooters. Probably goes back to his forty minutes of hell strategy which hasn’t worked at SJU.
 
He’s been banged up this year but nothing different than years past. The lack of a shooter/go to guy hurts him. We thought it was Jones but it wasn’t
 
Posh is best when he's hounding the guy with the ball, with the death of the press, he doesn't do that much anymore. His defense would create his offense, he can't have one without the other.
 
What many have left out of the Posh discussion is his ever regressing handle. This season his ball handling skills have been atrocious. Several times a game he loses the dribble with any kind of pressure put on him. Aside from his shooting woes, his handle is suspect which begs the question, aside from his defensive pressure, what does he add in his role as point guard?
 
GardenCity62 said:
Anderson has recruited athletic skilled players without much regard to their shooting ability throughout his time at SJU. This strategy is different than most coaches who prefer to have three players on the court who are adept at putting the ball in the basket.
SJU has had Stanley and WuSu, along with Posh and Curbelo on the court at the same time.
He not only will play Posh and Curbelo at the same time but will surround them with capable ball players who are not considered shooters. Probably goes back to his forty minutes of hell strategy which hasn’t worked at SJU.
Click to expand...
It's not just Anderson. it's every St. John's coach in the modern era. Watch games from the late 80s and 90s on youtube. The backcourt of Buchanon and Sproling. Matt Brust, who played with tons of heart and did other things well, playing shooting guard with Buchanon, another non-shooter, at the point. Derrick Brown, another non-shooter. Billy Packer commenting, in our last few seconds loss to Florida in the tournament, how Florida just kept packing it in on D, challenging our guys to shoot. And that team had Boo Harvey, who really good shoot from 18 feet and in, and longer if need be. Except Looie didn't seem to let him.

Billy Schaeffer, Glenn Williams, Chris Mullin, Ron Rowan, Bootsy, and that's about it for shooters, and that covers 50 years. It is telling that in recent times our best 3 point shooter was Earlington, who shot over 40% one season. His numbers dropped after he transferred. Champ was good but his numbers were on a downward trajectory. Ponds showed great promise as a shooter and did have range, but his % was not that of an elite shooter. When you get 50% more points for a shot an inch farther than a shot worth 2 points, at some point you have to recruit players that can give you that advantage. Why it never happened here is a mystery to me.
 
Johnny Rapper said:
What many have left out of the Posh discussion is his ever regressing handle. This season his ball handling skills have been atrocious. Several times a game he loses the dribble with any kind of pressure put on him. Aside from his shooting woes, his handle is suspect which begs the question, aside from his defensive pressure, what does he add in his role as point guard?
Click to expand...
This has been the most disappointing and inexplicable aspect of his regression. How has his ball-handling fallen off so dramatically?
 
Ray Morgan said:
It's not just Anderson. it's every St. John's coach in the modern era. Watch games from the late 80s and 90s on youtube. The backcourt of Buchanon and Sproling. Matt Brust, who played with tons of heart and did other things well, playing shooting guard with Buchanon, another non-shooter, at the point. Derrick Brown, another non-shooter. Billy Packer commenting, in our last few seconds loss to Florida in the tournament, how Florida just kept packing it in on D, challenging our guys to shoot. And that team had Boo Harvey, who really good shoot from 18 feet and in, and longer if need be. Except Looie didn't seem to let him.

Billy Schaeffer, Glenn Williams, Chris Mullin, Ron Rowan, Bootsy, and that's about it for shooters, and that covers 50 years. It is telling that in recent times our best 3 point shooter was Earlington, who shot over 40% one season. His numbers dropped after he transferred. Champ was good but his numbers were on a downward trajectory. Ponds showed great promise as a shooter and did have range, but his % was not that of an elite shooter. When you get 50% more points for a shot an inch farther than a shot worth 2 points, at some point you have to recruit players that can give you that advantage. Why it never happened here is a mystery to me.
Click to expand...
I went to NYU undergrad (STJ for doctorate) but became STJ fan when NYU went D3. I have haunted memories of picks and screens and screening the screener under Coach Lapchick when there was always someone named Schaefer or Cluess or some other CYO trained nightmare getting the right pass in the right spot in a close game that made STJ a bear and a half to play. I watched Nova executing an equivalent approach against us on Friday and wound up with three questions.

Are our players taught moving precisely without the ball to free up shooters for their best shots?
Is our defense less effective because not having learned to use floor spacing on offense, are our reactions on defense less intuitive?
Did Nova do something on defense that cause so many dribbling turnovers by STJ?
 
fuchsia said:
I went to NYU undergrad (STJ for doctorate) but became STJ fan when NYU went D3. I have haunted memories of picks and screens and screening the screener under Coach Lapchick when there was always someone named Schaefer or Cluess or some other CYO trained nightmare getting the right pass in the right spot in a close game that made STJ a bear and a half to play. I watched Nova executing an equivalent approach against us on Friday and wound up with three questions.

Are our players taught moving precisely without the ball to free up shooters for their best shots?
Is our defense less effective because not having learned to use floor spacing on offense, are our reactions on defense less intuitive?
Did Nova do something on defense that cause so many dribbling turnovers by STJ?
Click to expand...
In both the Iowa State game and this Villanova game they simply packed it in and dared us to take shots we can’t make. That’s not just open threes (which is bad enough) but mid-range jumpers were missed over an over. So all five defenders were so close to each other as to make any interior play an easy double team. Including the many drives right into the interior.

When you consider how few points SJU scored, and how many they did score off Villanova turnovers, and they scored quite a few that way, nobody made any shots. They also score a few at the line - so I don’t think these guys as a team hit ten shots in the half court all game. That’s one shot every four minutes which jives with the eye test. And begs the question being asked by folks around here this week - how talented is this group anyway?

Because we can focus all we want on Anderson as a strategist, deservedly, but from where I sit his job evaluating and accumulating talent is the bigger issue. He has brought in player after player who cannot shoot seeking athleticism for his defense. So not surprisingly the team can’t play effectively in the half court. But worse he isn’t even bringing in guys who can press effectively. For the second year in a row halfway through the BE portion of the schedule he has abandoned the press as conference teams shredded it.

It’s not an optimal situation.
 
From a scouting report about Posh when he was in High School:

Scouting Posh Alexander​

Posh Alexander has the hops, strength and quickness to be an impact player in Division I. Mike Anderson’s pressure system can always use strong-bodied, aggressive guards, and Alexander is an aggressive slasher with a nice handle.

Alexander did not shoot well from outside the arc in Nike EYBL play last year or this season. He shot 29% in 2018 and 22% in 2019 from beyond the arc.

But his free throw shooting improved from 66% to 73%, and his ability to dish out assists is hard to question. This year, was sidelined with an injury but made it back for summer, continuing to play a physical brand of ball.

Posh was never considered a great three point shooter but when you watch the video below of his 60 point game in High School you would be hard pressed to argue that he was incapable of making a three or had zero deep range. I believe his wrist injury last year has altered his delivery and weakened a part of his game that was never a strength to begin with. That might even possibly explain some of the struggles with his handle. I know one thing about Posh for sure, because of his intense desire to compete he plays hurt all the time and never makes excuses about being injured.


 
fuchsia said:
I went to NYU undergrad (STJ for doctorate) but became STJ fan when NYU went D3. I have haunted memories of picks and screens and screening the screener under Coach Lapchick when there was always someone named Schaefer or Cluess or some other CYO trained nightmare getting the right pass in the right spot in a close game that made STJ a bear and a half to play. I watched Nova executing an equivalent approach against us on Friday and wound up with three questions.

Are our players taught moving precisely without the ball to free up shooters for their best shots?
Is our defense less effective because not having learned to use floor spacing on offense, are our reactions on defense less intuitive?
Did Nova do something on defense that cause so many dribbling turnovers by STJ?
Click to expand...
All good questions. As for the turnovers, Nova players know what they are doing and have active hands. Your post also reminded me that Greg Cluess and his brother Kevin could both shoot.
 
stjohnnie75 said:
Posh was a 3-star recruit. If he could shoot he would have been a 4-star or possibly a 5-star recruit. I do think he over achieved his freshman year and has come back down to reality this year. A good 4 year player but not a stud.
Click to expand...
Not to nitpick but he was listed as a 3 and 4 star recruit depending on the site.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top