(POST GAME) Colgate, Sun., Dec. 12, 12 Noon, FS-1

All you can ask is to beat the team in front of you and to do so impressively. Good team effort on both ends of the floor and really nice to see Champ having a big game.
 
Remember..... This was a team that destroyed Syracuse and took NC State and Pitt to the wire. 
 
Making Plays post=446618 said:
Encouraged with everyone's play today, except Soriano.  CMA may need to give him the Wheeler treatment and let him sit for a couple games to pick-up the energy.  

Wheeler played well today, he was little to trigger happy on the 3's, but other than that, he was active on defense, active around the rim grabbing rebounds, made proper rotations on switches/double teams.  If he can just do that every game, even if he doesn't score he'll be a positive contributor.  

Nyiwe seems to be falling off just a bit, picked up 2 early fouls and didn't do anything else of note after that.  He's gotta at least get in that paint and grab some rebounds.
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CMA was livid with Smith and Soriano during a late time out…Smith had just tried a pocket pass to Soriano (no one should attempt this any longer) and Soriano followed that up by allowing a small guard to drive and score with no resistance. CMA is delivering messages. Soriano needs a lot of work and development. Cant teach size, so worth the effort. At this point. I look at him as being a freshmen and hoping that he delivers something later in the year or next year. Stanley, on the other hand, is a keeper. With experience this kid will be good. His the only big that should be allowed to switch on the perimeter.


Re: Nywie….I think it was a case of getting into foul trouble early for which he has some, but not all, culpability. Our defensive approach needs to be adjusted. Neither Soriano nor Nywie should be allowed to switch on perimeter.
 
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Just back and this was the most satisfying game of the year.  great contribution all around and bench steped up big--they scored half the first half points.  Second half had one of those Butch cassidy and sundance Kid moments for Posh and Dylan on the play where stole the ball around half court and despite getting pocked in the eye, he some how found Dylan and led to easy bucket.  Dylan seemed to enjoy going one on one with the 2 big men after switches, what a tough kid.  After game Dylan and Posh spent time with kids in the stands.  Good to see Wheels contribute but I was saying no when he tried the 3's but the coaches were encouraging him to try some.  Pinzon was a breath of fresh air today; his best offensive show and he looked much more at ease and confident out there.  When we can get Posh to 30 minutes and Julian to 29 minutes, that is a good win. I really feel sorry for Coburn but he looks totally in need of a confidence boost; in warm ups, he shows a great stroke but he just can't seem to get into the flow of the game.  Maybe his Medical PA courses are difficult and that is hampering his play (Hope so) and getting good grades will put him more at ease,  Good Luck to all the team with finals this week.
 
Finally one we can enjoy.  Agree with everyone's analysis, plus.....

Stanley's mid range jumper looked smooth today.  That would be a nice little addition to the offense.  

Those running floaters that Pinzon hit were not a fluke.  A lot of those are on his Puerto Rican team highlights. Kid has a real nice touch.

Today we saw the Wheeler that can help us.  More of that, please.

All in all, I think this game leaves us more hopeful about what this season can be.   #BeatPitt
 
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After the somewhat slow start, this team really surprised me.  While Colgate was without their best scorer, we played as a unit and that left me with more hope than I had most of the season.
 
I was never ready to give up on Wheeler; too much length, athleticism and defensive activity to think he couldn't help us some with the right mindset. I feel the same way about Coburn, just needs to get a few shots to fall and maybe a little longer leash from Coach. 

Onwards and upwards.
 
Lucky day for me today.Best team effort and game and my wife and I were selected to sit court side.In addition Pinzon ,a Boricua like myself had 14 pts and good game.The whole team seem more focus and energized.Kudos to the dance team and cheerleaders.They are awesome and a big part of the game.
 
A big thank you to all the posters that attend the games. It's nice to get the in person perspective- an example being that Posh and Dylan hang around to meet with the young fans.  I'm a long time Florida resident and really miss going to the arena back when it was Alumni Hall.  It's great to have posters that are dedicated fans and stuck with St. John's despite a lot of tough seasons in the past quarter century.
 
solid game from many. We still need to defend the 3 better. Nice to see  Wheeler and Smith more active defensively. Coburn is not in a good spot. Effort, Energy and are enthusiasm are clearly lacking .Mathis is a very solid versatile defender, His half-court offensive basketball IQ is below average. Pinzon is very skillful. A little more strength will aid him tremendously.
 
Nice job overall today by all. Good energy by  everyone. Like others have said, the switching by our bigs up top is hurting us, usually resulting in an open 3, or a layup down low. The BE regular season can't come fast enough.
 
One thing about Champ, which happened again tonight. He rarely gets a true open look from 3. Since he is not a big threat to take a defender off the dribble, the 3 is not conceded to him. He has to create room with the step back or just shoot over defenders. He almost always has a hand in his face.  I'm not certain if will make the NBA. One thing going for him is he will not be the main or even 2nd option in the NBA, and may get more open looks there.
 
Attended yesterday, attendance was again disappointing (and this time few students to make up for it), but the energy from those who came was excellent.

We played better, though I'm not sure how much to take away from the scoring margin given that Colgate was missing its best player.

The key to this team's success remains effort.  Wusu, Posh, Mathis, and Stanley all bring high energy levels every game.  I'm honestly not sure between Wusu and Posh who's tougher.  They're both absolutely fearless and Wusu in particular sacrificed his body repeatedly yesterday.  Stef Smith played a much more aggressive game and getting contributions off the bench from him and Pinzon (in addition to my guy Omar Stanley) was huge.

Julian seemed to find his groove yesterday as well.

It was nice to get some good minutes from Wheeler, who at least for one game got the message that his length and energy are needed down low, not on the perimeter.  I can live with him chucking the occasional 3 if he also does what is needed down low.

I have decided that Nyiwe is a small forward in a large frame.  That skill set may become very useful in Anderson's system, but he's going to need more playing time to get up to speed.  There's potential there, and I think he's getting incrementally more comfortable every game - hopefully that will continue.

Soriano went to the floor for a loose ball yesterday, which was good to see.  But he needs to bring more of that effort and physicality to rebounding and pounding his way closer to the hoop on offense.  It's nice to have a jump hook, but at his size he needs to use his body to get closer instead of settling for that, IMO.

Hopefully the team has a good week of practice and starts fast against Pitt.  The big games are coming soon...
 
NCJohnnie post=446658 said:
I was never ready to give up on Wheeler; too much length, athleticism and defensive activity to think he couldn't help us some with the right mindset. I feel the same way about Coburn, just needs to get a few shots to fall and maybe a little longer leash from Coach. 

Onwards and upwards.
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I have a sense that there is a difference in shooting form when wheeler gets in to shooting position and is the recipient of a pass as he moves toward the 3 pt. line compared to Wheeler catching a pass with shooting room and then setting up to shoot a 3.  If others see it can coaching fix it or should he be coached to shoot outside off passes only.
 
fuchsia post=446714 said:
NCJohnnie post=446658 said:
I was never ready to give up on Wheeler; too much length, athleticism and defensive activity to think he couldn't help us some with the right mindset. I feel the same way about Coburn, just needs to get a few shots to fall and maybe a little longer leash from Coach. 

Onwards and upwards.
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I have a sense that there is a difference in shooting form when wheeler gets in to shooting position and is the recipient of a pass as he moves toward the 3 pt. line compared to Wheeler catching a pass with shooting room and then setting up to shoot a 3.  If others see it can coaching fix it or should he be coached to shoot outside off passes only.

 
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Yes, there is a Marcellus Earlington element to his shooting - when he takes the ones he should take, he seems to be an OK shooter and maybe even a good one.  When he takes the ones he shouldn't take, not so much. 

I think the problem with Wheeler is that there is a lack of connectivity between the role he should play and the role he plays in his mind. 

In real life he should be an energy guy who provides size, defense, rebounding, and some offense down low, creates an obstacle for opposing guards with his wing span out on the press, trap or hedge, and takes a couple of 3 pointers per game when his feet are set and he's open and ready to shoot when the ball finds him.

In his mind he's a scoring wing who can handle the ball some, guard opponents on the perimeter and elevate over them on offense to hit 4 or 5 threes per game.  In other words, he sees himself as a "3 and D" NBA player when for our purposes he's needed down low (and at the moment anyway that's where he mostly belongs).

Hopefully his play will continue to look more like the real-life model as the season goes on.  I believe his parents were at the game yesterday and it seemed to me that (a) Anderson made an extra effort to get him minutes in front of his folks; and (b) he played more of the game we need from him.  No idea how related those two items were, if at all.

Coburn seems to fit in as a spot-up shooter and as we have seen Coach A does not run plays for spot-up shooters - if you can't defend and you can't get your own shot, there aren't a lot of minutes for you.  I for one am in favor of running some plays for spot-up shooters and using Coburn for that - we have started to get the occasional drive-and-kick and I'd rather see him receive that ball than Wusu or Mathis.
 
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Lots to like about yesterdays game but seeing both freshman being productive was exciting. I know some fans have expressed frustration about St Johns not getting top ranked recruits but I think it’s interesting that every single year so far Anderson has gotten production out of a completely unheralded recruit. Champagnie started as a freshman in year 1, Wusu eventually played his way into a 6th man type role last season (I think people expected Posh to have some sort of immediate impact) and we’ll need to see if it continues into Big East play but so far Stanley has been really impressive (I expected Pinzon to look like a future starter type guy)

The staff has shown a knack for turning diamonds in the rough into key contributors.
 
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