(POST GAME) DePaul, Wed., Jan. 5, 6:30p, FS-1

[Mullins Revenge]

2 games in a ros now w/ huge plays down the stretch from Wusu.  He made the 2 free throws in the pitt game.  Then the big 3 to put it away last night.

This is Champys team for the first 39 minutrs, but its Wusu’s team in crunch time/media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

2 games in a ros now w/ huge plays down the stretch from Wusu.  He made the 2 free throws in the pitt game.  Then the big 3 to put it away last night.                                     
This is Champys team for the first 39 minutrs, but its Wusu’s team in crunch time/media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png                                                     Is a possible Name change in the offing to DUKE of WUSU ?    Asking for a friend .  Marcellus Earlington . 

 

[BrooklynRed]

2 games in a ros now w/ huge plays down the stretch from Wusu.  He made the 2 free throws in the pitt game.  Then the big 3 to put it away last night.                                     
This is Champys team for the first 39 minutrs, but its Wusu’s team in crunch time/media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png                                                     Is a possible Name change in the offing to DUKE of WUSU ?    Asking for a friend .  Marcellus Earlington . 

It seems that for the D of E The Times They Are a-Changin' ....Soon to be known as Bob Dylan?????
 

 

[bamafan]

Agree that Soriano played well, in addition to rebounding (notably a few timely offensive boards), he passes well to open guys, cutters. He seems to be developing after a slow start. Watson will be a good test.

Agree there is a lot to like about Soriano but one problem as I see it with him is that as Bill Raftery would say he has a "harsh delivery" around the basket.

 

[monte]

We are very evenly matched with DePaul. If things break well for either or both teams, it's a middle of the Big East pack finish. If not, it's a bottom of the Big East pack finish. Champ was obviously outstanding in all aspects of the game, but I was not at all impressed with DePaul's D and their low post players. Those 2 factors contributed to Champ's lofty stats. Not taking anything away from Champ. He did exactly what we needed him to do, and carried us to victory. As others have said, opposing teams will be keying on him moving forward. He'll always get his 20 +/- points and his share of boards, but we'll need other players  to step up when opposing teams double him. The problem is that we don't really have many other offensive weapons. Posh and Wusu have certainly shown that they can score, but after that I'm not sure who else can be counted on when Champ is not dominating. Anyone else(Smith, Coburn, etc) is just wishful thinking at this point. As for Soriano, I've liked his game since I first saw him play. And I think he'll continue to improve and be a solid contributor in many games. Just wish he had some help up front. 

 

[Mullins Revenge]

2 games in a ros now w/ huge plays down the stretch from Wusu.  He made the 2 free throws in the pitt game.  Then the big 3 to put it away last night.                                     
This is Champys team for the first 39 minutrs, but its Wusu’s team in crunch time/media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png                                                     Is a possible Name change in the offing to DUKE of WUSU ?    Asking for a friend .  Marcellus Earlington . 

HAHAAHAHAHAAHA.  No, Wusu will not be the guy who forces the name change.  I havent come across that player yet.  Stanley was the front runner but hes just not doing it for me.  Im thinking Colby king might be the guy.

 

[MakingPlays]

What did everyone think of Wheeler? He got some good minutes. 

I thought it was probably his best game as a Johnnie (which probably isn't saying much).  He did some things that didn't show up in box score.  If you notice down the stretch he was the guy guarding Freeman-Liberty, and he was picking him up almost full court, his length was causing problems.

Also, he didn't force offense like he normally does, which I really liked.  He had a nice baseline drive, and took a good three pointer in rhythm.  His only negatives I saw last night was he had one really careless turnover, where he just literally got the ball taken from him, and then him fouling on a 3 point attempt.  Outside of those 2 mistakes I thought he had a solid game.  If he can turn into a 6 and 4 guy and just be solid on the defensive end, I think that will be a huge win, his ability to play the 4 and allow Champ to play 3 would be very helpful.

 

[stjohnschris]

Glad to get the W, but it should have come easier.  We had a 25% chance of getting 50/50 balls last night, and why is there always one player on the opposing team that comes from the shadows to light it up from deep.  It happens WAY too often.  Interested to know more about the Smith situation, and I'm still a fan of Coburn if he can find his way back from injuries and school work load.

 

[Anthony Mattia]

What did everyone think of Wheeler? He got some good minutes. 

I thought it was probably his best game as a Johnnie (which probably isn't saying much).  He did some things that didn't show up in box score.  If you notice down the stretch he was the guy guarding Freeman-Liberty, and he was picking him up almost full court, his length was causing problems.

Also, he didn't force offense like he normally does, which I really liked.  He had a nice baseline drive, and took a good three pointer in rhythm.  His only negatives I saw last night was he had one really careless turnover, where he just literally got the ball taken from him, and then him fouling on a 3 point attempt.  Outside of those 2 mistakes I thought he had a solid game.  If he can turn into a 6 and 4 guy and just be solid on the defensive end, I think that will be a huge win, his ability to play the 4 and allow Champ to play 3 would be very helpful.
 

Didn't you jump in my sh!t for saying this same thing a few weeks ago?  /media/kunena/emoticons/wink.png

 

[Section3]

Soriano reminds me a lot of Shawnelle Scott as an underclass man who was a prototypical bull in a china shop… always doing 2 things wrong for everything right but oozing with potential.

last night he looked much more focused after the long layoff. Hope it continues.

IMO, no comparison… Shawnelle had very good post moves and played in the NBA. Soriano has one go-to move and, frankly, isn’t vey skilled at it. I am hoping that his footwork is a point of focus and that we see marked improvement by EOY and into next season. If we do, it should help future recruiting of bigs.

 

[Section3]

Obviously opposing teams know Champ is our best player.

After last night, will he see even more double teams and extra pressure from defenses, I am afraid so.

Other guys will have to step up, Champ is not netting that many points every game.

Your point re: other guys stepping up is a key one….looking back at last season, we depended on the same 2 players but generally could depend on 1 or 2 of the supporting cast to take turns “stepping up”. Although none were a guarantee, we had pretty good success based on the “field” delivering something. And, for the most part, Dunn brought a lot to the table (even if his offense was off, each and every night.

This season, we haven’t been able to depend on the “field” for a 3rd scorer. Neither Wheeler nor Soriano seem capable of providing that role. I had hoped that Coburn would after the first 2 games but think Smith probably has the best possibility - but something is off. Not sure if it is attitude given his fluctuating PT and body language. Suffice it to say, we need a consistent 3rd scorer and probably need to roll the dice with Smith (or Pinzon) and try to get something out of Coburn.

EDIT: I failed to acknowledge Wusu who has become a good 3rd option. Point is we still need something else from the field on a regular basis.

 

[Section3]

What did everyone think of Wheeler? He got some good minutes. 

At this point he is a very dependable 3 point guy. Scores his 3-5 points and not much else. Shows a flash, here and there, of athleticism but nothing that tells me we are going to get 12-15 points on any given night from him. He doesn’t seem like a guy who will be that needed 3rd scorer.

 

[beast of the east]

Soriano reminds me a lot of Shawnelle Scott as an underclass man who was a prototypical bull in a china shop… always doing 2 things wrong for everything right but oozing with potential.

last night he looked much more focused after the long layoff. Hope it continues.

IMO, no comparison… Shawnelle had very good post moves and played in the NBA. Soriano has one go-to move and, frankly, isn’t vey skilled at it. I am hoping that his footwork is a point of focus and that we see marked improvement by EOY and into next season. If we do, it should help future recruiting of bigs.

Agreed. While at first he appears to be a rarity at sju, a big man who plays with his back to the basket on offense and big and strong. Unfortunately offers nothing facing the basket and continually resorts to an 8 to 10 foot right handed hook that should be a much higher % shot.

 

[beast of the east]

This team will go as Champ can take them.  No Champ, no chance.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Wusu for the dunk is not something I expected to see. Didn't know he had the hops. Was that his first career in-game dunk? Wusu is like a running back searching for openings. He has surprising elusiveness for someone his size, and more hops than I realized.

 

[NCJohnnie]

Unless Smith steps up (not impossible but looking less likely) seems pretty clear that our third scoring options are going to be Wusu & Mathis both of whom are averaging 10 points a game with pretty efficient shooting percentages other than from the foul line, a team weakness so far (who would have thought Soriano would be our best free throw shooter). 

We have a pretty good top 5 (Champ, Posh, Wusu, Mathis & Soriano) but need more from the rest plus better decision making from Posh who has been playing a little less under control than last year imho.    

 

[NCJohnnie]

Soriano, in limited minutes (just under 18 mpg), is averaging a solid 6 rebounds per game (pretty much the same as Nate Watson, Samuels and Dixon from Nova) and 2 blocks per game which is 6th in the Big East. He is the least of our problems and one of the two transfers (along with Mathis) who has not disappointed imho. Will be a solid 2 year player for us and can definitely play in the Big East.    

 

[paultzman]

Unless Smith steps up (not impossible but looking less likely) seems pretty clear that our third scoring options are going to be Wusu & Mathis both of whom are averaging 10 points a game with pretty efficient shooting percentages other than from the foul line, a team weakness so far (who would have thought Soriano would be our best free throw shooter). 

We have a pretty good top 5 (Champ, Posh, Wusu, Mathis & Soriano) but need more from the rest plus better decision making from Posh who has been playing a little less under control than last year imho.    

Get the feeling Smith is in CMA’s doghouse. Hopefully, if so, any issues will be resolved. He could help.

 

[IDRAFT]

I think Soriano’s defense is being willfully ignored. There’s a reason he didn’t play the last ten minutes last night. When Mathis fouled out it was Stanley, not Soriano, who was inserted and I’m sure it wasn’t for additional scoring. Not saying he’s been a total zero the last couple of games but the rebounding and scoring numbers do not tell the entire story with him. 

 

[IDRAFT]

Pinzon has had a weird start of the year with a minor injury and now COVID. I like him as a dark horse candidate for bench scoring as there is talent there.