(POST GAME) @Marquette, Tues. Jan. 21, 9pm, FS-1 / 970AM WNYM

[quote="Ken Shark" post=373739]MCNPA-

Josh Roberts has great hands? Where did you come up with that gem? He's been better than he was last year, when he fumbled everything, but great hands? Not even close! Next level leaping ability? Has he even won an opening tap all year with that skill? Not suggesting that's a hugely important thing, but it's always nice to get on the board first.[/quote]

You haven’t been watching or don’t know basketball. He’s 4th in league in blocked shots and 6th in rebounds. He hasn’t fumbled much this season. Opening tap stats? Cmon.
 
Bottom line is we have zero inside presence period. Offensive put backs get blocked and combined with a poor shooting team spells disaster. Our defense keeps us in most games. Combine a good defense with a good shooting team and some presence (or option to go inside) is a potent opponent. Not there yet but hope we're able to build a team like that down the road.
 
For those saying the season is over, if by that you mean our chances of dancing, you are probably right. However, when was that ever an expectation? Before the season started, based on our roster at that time, most everyone on this board agreed that a winning record and NIT bid would be a very successful season. We need to go 4-7 the rest of the way to finish 16-15, a good first year from any reasonable fan's expectation. Beating Depaul Saturday on the road is key to getting us there. We have home games left against Georgetown, Xavier, Marquette, Providence, Villanova & Creighton. All of those except the Villanova game are winnable.
I think we're all disappointed at where we are in BE standings, but a winning record and 7th or 8th place BE finish is still very achievable. I'll wait until the end of the year to make a judgment on team's overall performance.
As far as recruiting, I agree we need to add a solid shooter (whether frosh or grad transfer) and big man in 2020 class and a very good 2021 class but I have faith staff will make that happen.
 
[quote="Mario" post=373745]Bottom line is we have zero inside presence period. Offensive put backs get blocked and combined with a poor shooting team spells disaster. Our defense keeps us in most games. Combine a good defense with a good shooting team and some presence (or option to go inside) is a potent opponent. Not there yet but hope we're able to build a team like that down the road.[/quote]

Again, Anderson just started here. This is year 1 so we can’t go by what happened before now in terms of what we have on the team talent-wise. Fresh start.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=373740]Never said anywhere his career is a failure already. I said most on here seem to think Jordan Tucker, Omari Spellman, and Wragge are coming next year recruiting wise to save us but they aren't. One JUCO, one player we beat out St. Peter's & Wagner for, and one player who is 5'9 had a major injury and cannot shoot even if he slashes well. That's Rasheem Dunn 2.0. I don't think people realize the same talking points have been happening here for the better part of 10 years. The better part of the past 5 have not just been bad but awful. We all understand this is a rebuild but we really need to stop with this notion that it's ok to be at 1-6 or 0-11 or 0-18 because we're "rebuilding". There's enough talent here still to go 3-4 or something. The fact that so many are readily accepting 1-6, 0-11, 0-5, etc. starts just goes to show how far we have to go and how down we have been. CMA appeared to have coached the kids up in OOC but now they all stink when it really counts in Big East play. That original credit I gave him has been taken back and he has to earn it back. Let's all hope he does, because things will continue to be ugly if he doesn't knock the next class out of the park.[/quote]

Mike, I generally support and like your posts, but the repetition is getting to be a bit much. We get your points. No need to rehash the same in every single post.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=373746]For those saying the season is over, if by that you mean our chances of dancing, you are probably right. However, when was that ever an expectation? Before the season started, based on our roster at that time, most everyone on this board agreed that a winning record and NIT bid would be a very successful season. We need to go 4-7 the rest of the way to finish 16-15, a good first year from any reasonable fan's expectation. Beating Depaul Saturday on the road is key to getting us there. We have home games left against Georgetown, Xavier, Marquette, Providence, Villanova & Creighton. All of those except the Villanova game are winnable.
I think we're all disappointed at where we are in BE standings, but a winning record and 7th or 8th place BE finish is still very achievable. I'll wait until the end of the year to make a judgment on team's overall performance.
As far as recruiting, I agree we need to add a solid shooter (whether frosh or grad transfer) and big man in 2020 class and a very good 2021 class but I have faith staff will make that happen.[/quote]

If we're able to somehow miraculously get an NIT bid I'd consider this year a success overall. But the way things are trending at 1-6 and the rock bottom of the league again (beginning to feel normal to be there), how do you see 4 more wins?
 
So when he recruited why not bring in one good shooter There are div 2 kids knocking down shots and at least bring in players that can shoot 70-75/% from the line if we were a good foul shooting team we probably are 4-2 if not better
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=373735]My opinions are correlated with results and evidence. We have been something like 5-26 in conference play the last handful of years. I was very excited with the OOC performance, however it turned out to be obvious fool's gold. [/quote]

We won 8 games in conferences last season alone, but should have won more. Last season we were 12-0 in OOC play.

There's only so much you can coach up players who aren't top level talent.
 
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Mike Zaun wrote: If we're able to somehow miraculously get an NIT bid I'd consider this year a success overall. But the way things are trending at 1-6 and the rock bottom of the league again (beginning to feel normal to be there), how do you see 4 more wins?

Mike, to answer your question, I think we need to beat Depaul Saturday at their place. If we do that we have 6 of our last 10 at home and I can definitely see us winning 3 of those.
 
Yes and practice shooting as should the whole team I could be wrong but it looks like we are the worst shooting team in the league and we still are in most games until we fall apart with 5 mins to go
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=373703]I knew this season was over several games ago. I just don't see all the hope next year and beyond. Posh coming off major injury and is a 4 star recruit, but he basically slashes like Dunn. He can't shoot. Wusu also not a shooter. Heron and LJ (likely) gone which removes 2 guys who can make occasional 3's. How on earth are we going to be better than this year losing those 2 guys and pinning our hopes on 1 player (Cole) to maybe make 3's regularly? Also doubt our bigs problem is addressed. I think there's a very good chance we do worse next year losing 2 of our best players and replacing them with whom? CMA has not really impressed recruiting wise yet. So many keep implying or flat out saying we have big upgrades coming but that's not true...at least I highly doubt it. We've now been a laughing stock for the better part of another decade and I'll be honest, my interest is waning.[/quote]

Yes like many of us we are frustrated with the losing for over most of the last 20 years. Wait till UConn comes in next year and competes with us for recruits. We ain't getting nobody. I use the games now as a way to relax laugh at the incompetence of the staff have a beer and hot dog and go home after another loss. Anderson does not appear to be recruiting well. Welcome to the BE Mr Anderson and your first losing season
 
[quote="usguard" post=373753]Yes and practice shooting as should the whole team I could be wrong but it looks like we are the worst shooting team in the league and we still are in most games until we fall apart with 5 mins to go[/quote]

Do you really think that college players don't practice shooting?
 
[quote="James Ray Lamb" post=373720]Another hard fought game. The competition level in the BE never lets up. Trying to contain Markus Howard is really tough. Holding him to 32 points wasn't pretty.

I still believe the Johnnies will win a few more games this season. It won't be easy, but so far these kids are still working hard and that counts for a lot.

Rebuilding the talent will take time. Probably at least a couple seasons before CMA will have the pieces he needs. By then Josh Roberts, Marcellus Earlington and Julian Champagnie should be the seasoned leaders of the team.[/quote]

"Holding him to 32 points wasn't pretty."
lmao Ah yes, we're lucky the next great MJ didn't score 50 on us, just fabulous.
 
We haven't had UConn here for a while and they would still take some of our recruits. We always lose out on the Kofi/Diallo/Briscoe/Lecque/Curbelo/Key type players with or without UConn. It's not UConn that is forcing us to suck...it's recruits realizing that we are the new DePaul because that's what we have been the last handful of years or so save for 1 year. Under Lavin we were just starting to establish ourselves as at worst a mid pack Big East team getting 10-8 records. We made the tourney a few times but never came close to our ceiling under him. That was the best we were ever getting with him. But feels like centuries ago I'd check my phone and regularly see "St. John's lands big time 4 star ________" and get all excited. Mullin didn't recruit and now we finally try but it might be too late and recruits may see us as a sinking ship. My point is Lavin was not enough for what we wanted. And now that looks like the high water mark. I never thought we would recruit so poorly after him. Bottom line, failure in recruiting is our own doing. That's what happens when you have disgusting conference records every year.
 
Since the BE season began haven't we been underdogs in all of the losses according to the spread? The team is not underperforming, it is not very talented. I can't get upset by the losses, just as I don't get upset every day when the sun rises. They play hard and have given some actual juice to the BE home games. So far not a bad entertainment value. If CMA can keep them together I think they can win a few of the upcoming home games. That would be fun.

It is what it is.
 
As far as Top 50 level talent, let's be fair to SJU. It's fairly obvious those guys are getting paid big bucks by the schools that are landing them. That's the landscape. So you either have to play that game (and have the resources) or accept that you aren't getting those guys and win without them. I liked the CMA hire, and still do of course, as I think he can win without those guys. He just can't win with a mishmash of leftovers and players that the previous staff brought in who don't fit his style of play. At least not win consistently.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=373757][quote="usguard" post=373753]Yes and practice shooting as should the whole team I could be wrong but it looks like we are the worst shooting team in the league and we still are in most games until we fall apart with 5 mins to go[/quote]

Do you really think that college players don't practice shooting?[/quote]

He's trolling.

By the way, Zaun.... Why do you continue to over exaggerate Alexander's injury? He broke his arm, if I'm not mistaken. He didn't tear any ligaments in his lower extremities. I've played sports with quite a few folks who had either broken a finger, hand, arm or leg, and most of 'em never had a recurring issue to my knowledge.

I haven't heard anything about Alexander's injury being serious. He's played almost a full season of high school basketball and there hasn't been not one mention of his injury. You're painting a false narrative as it falls in line with your Eeyore scenario.

Be honest..... Have you ever seen Posh play an entire game? How many times have you witnessed him play? I'll say it again, based on reports, Alexander seems more fit to play PG or be a floor general more so than Dunn. If so, then that means there's a difference in overall play and it better suits the team, whether Posh's shot is flawed or not.

I also still suspect an additional scholarship or two (or three) will open up after the season.
 
[quote="IDRAFT" post=373761]Since the BE season began haven't we been underdogs in all of the losses according to the spread? The team is not underperforming, it is not very talented. I can't get upset by the losses, just as I don't get upset every day when the sun rises. They play hard and have given some actual juice to the BE home games. So far not a bad entertainment value. If CMA can keep them together I think they can win a few of the upcoming home games. That would be fun.

It is what it is.[/quote]

Where is that one or two kids who stay home and bring glory back to this program and themselves?
We need a big man. I say again BIG. And we need a shooter. I say again SHOOTER. Otherwise let's just put the balls away and play poker
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=373735]My opinions are correlated with results and evidence. We have been something like 5-26 in conference play the last handful of years. I was very excited with the OOC performance, however it turned out to be obvious fool's gold. Believe me, I wish there were three 4 star guys with 2 being shooters and 1 being a big coming next year. That would give real hope because maybe we have several players who can shoot and perhaps a real big. But we don't have that coming in. We have a former 4 star Posh coming in but again coming off major injury and stats show he cannot shoot well. And he's like 5'9 and that's the highlight of our class. Cole's stats are exciting but we will see what he brings at this level. Wusu is a HS recruit, but he was recruited by schools like Wagner and St. Peter's. That's like MAAC level recruiting. I know you can't totally go off other offers to gauge a player's talent but it's probably a pretty good indicator.

I don't see that 4 star 6'11 260 lb center or a few big time shooters coming in aside from maybe Cole. Let me ask you guys, let's assume Cole shoots 50% from 3 for us next year. Great...who else is shooting? That's my point...no one else will be able to. So we would go from Heron and LJ who can make occasional 3's at least to Cole. That's from 2 to 1 3 PT threat and I see Posh essentially being Dunn. Rather going off emotion, I'm genuinely curious to see real responses to this.[/quote]

"So we would go from Heron and LJ who can make occasional 3's at least to Cole."

LJ is a 3-pnt shooter? Since very early this season? His last 10 games he's shooting 25.37 from 3.
He needs to cut taking 3-pointers, maybe 3-4 a game. Why take 9 or 10 when he isn't hitting?
Oh because he's a star, got it.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=373729][quote="newsman13" post=373726][quote="MCNPA" post=373724][quote="newsman13" post=373723][quote="Duke of Earlington" post=373706]It was a fun 1st half of the season, but tonight the nail was drilled into the coffin. Outside of winning the BE tourney, we have no hope of an ncaa tourney bid.

Realistically looking at this, it wont be till year 3 or 4 of CMA that we can have a really good team. And that is asuming he is going to get talent to come here.[/quote]

What, other than blind faith, makes you believe CMA will make us competitive in year three or four. We have no difference makers coming in next season. Fact is, this team has a mid-major stench to it. Why would anyone want to subject themselves to a loser career. CMA is an outstanding X and O coach. Even he can't turn chickenshit into chicken salad. We need a hustler like Lavin to bring in future pros.

The smart alternative is to give CMA a lifetime job...and we move to a lesser conference we can dominate. I'd love basketball to be fun again.[/quote]

I think CMA will bring in the talent. It’s getting a lot better with the next class but I agree that we need a lot more. We were left with nothing with our two “best” almost on the way out. A team takes a few years to rebuild even if we landed the best players. Right now we just aren’t there nor even close talent-wise to the rest of the league. The main thing is we have a very good coach and as the talent gets better the team will look a lot better over coming years. None of us have much patience for it, but we made so many bad coaching hires in the past that it’s no easy/quick fix. That said, I’m hoping we find another 2 scholarships to use even this season. If we can land a center like Gray and maybe another talented wing, we’d be rebuilding a bit faster.[/quote]
Gray and maybe another talented wing still won't put us in the top 30.[/quote]

Of course not, but a step in right direction. That said, to really get competitive plane they will have to land impact kids over next two cycles.

By year 3 we’ll get a better sense of that. We have a solid leader and coach, but it is all about getting BE level players. To be frank, re returnees only Greg & Julian strike me as such. Complementary guys like Marcellus & Roberts are good to have, but not of the impact level need here imo. You can’t consistently rely on coaching up lesser talented kids.

Posh will be an obvious upgrade, but PG is hardest spot to master & be patient with his development. I hope Cole & Moore have a solid impact next season, but it is prudent not to assume too much out of gate with Jucos. Yes, we have examples of Jucos who did, but many did not. Rebuilding is tricky & warrants patience. CMA can coach. Now let’s see what the recruiting part of equation looks like over next several years. Lastly, staff knows far better than us that they need to free up several spots to upgrade roster.[/quote]

I agree with everything you say here, except what makes you think that Figueroa won’t be back next year? He has precisely zero chance of getting drafted. Another year here with an improved roster could greatly enhance his pro prospects down the road.
 
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