(POST GAME) Monmouth, Thu., Dec. 9, 8:30p, FS-1

qcredman post=446364 said:
Last night for the first time this season I saw an adhesive mobile defense that can leave the opposition in disarray, create turnovers and keep us in contention against any team.

The rotation is solidifying. Fit in with the system or sit. Very encouraged by what I saw.
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Ahh the old “stick and move” defense.
 
I think some people saw a different game than I saw.  I thought the play, in general, was inconsistent.  We still have problems defending the 3, and we got beat on the boards.
 
Who knows what the season will hold?
or how our team will develop and mature.
I glanced at the league schedules and:

Xavier 63 Niagara 60
Creighton 80 So.I’ll 65
Dartmouth 60 G’Town 60
Marquette 75 New Hampshire 70
Virginia  58 Providence  40
DePaul 84 W ILL 80

‘tis true most Big East teams already have better Ws than SJU.

Just hope as with the season when we were leading Creighton at half in MSG when COVID ended the year - 
well it seems in that year we got better as games went on.

The December Red Storm will not be the February Red Storm. I just pray it’s better and not worse.

blessings in this holiday season
SS&G 
 
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I don’t really get this “Champagnie is off” narrative. He’s a very high volume shooter. Every few games he’s going to shoot 6-18 or whatever. That’s not unusual for a star player who gets the amount of shots he gets. His FT% is down but through 9 games he’s shooting a higher FG & 3PT % than he did last season. I agree he’s had some slow starts but the idea that he’s somehow regressed in some way just doesn’t ring true to me. I think he’s literally the least of the team’s problems.
 
QueensBall post=446374 said:
I don’t really get this “Champagnie is off” narrative. He’s a very high volume shooter. Every few games he’s going to shoot 6-18 or whatever. That’s not unusual for a star player who gets the amount of shots he gets. His FT% is down but through 9 games he’s shooting a higher FG & 3PT % than he did last season. I agree he’s had some slow starts but the idea that he’s somehow regressed in some way just doesn’t ring true to me. I think he’s literally the least of the team’s problems.

He is in a shooting slump. His own words. He also spent much of the year over 40% from 3 until having some poor games from 3 late in the season.   Last night, he passed up a 3 to pass to Mathis who bricked a contested 3.  He is not feeling confident, or so it seems.
 
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IMO the half court offense was better than it has been in years. All of the players are willing to give the ball up for a better shot and when they showed the necessary patience they were constantly getting layups, many of which they blew unfortunately. If they can avoid taking those three point shots in the first ten seconds of the shot clock and work the ball for an easier shot things will improve. This team has talented passing skills.
I don’t have the figures but I think they are shooting close to fifty per cent from two point range for the season. Just avoid those quick threes.
 
I dont care about the offense we are scoring, It's the defense that is the problem
 
redmen70 post=446305 said:
Soriano is too passive ,needs to be more aggressive and develop a hook shot that works consistently.The team is not yet there but hopefully they can work on their deficiencies before Big East games.If and when they can get their act together, they can be a very good team.
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Soriano needs to be able to make his movie immediately upon receiving the ball…he is too deliberate and invites double and triple teams….also needs to rebound much much better…Posh fights harder for rebounds
 
lawmanfan post=446314 said:
Brief observations from last night game:

1.  Unlike far too many of our "fans," I actually went to the game.  Our fan base is very disappointing.

2.  Coach is playing the effort guys, which I heartily approve of.  For an Anderson team to win, it has to compete the full length of the floor from wire to wire.  So he is properly starting and giving most of the playing time to the players who are willing to do that.

3.  Interesting decision to play Wusu at the point and Posh off the ball.  I am honestly not sure what that gets us - I don't think Posh can do anything off the ball that Wusu can't, and Posh is a better ball handler.  It wasn't a disaster against Monmouth, and I'm not saying that I hate it, but it just seemed odd.  Posh and Wusu obviously play very well together regardless of who brings the ball up, though.

4.  Champagnie has been off all year and continues to be off.  I would speculate that it relates to his audition for the pros and that he's either feeling pressure or trying too hard to be something he isn't.  It could also be that the new players don't know how/when to feed him so he isn't getting the looks he wants, but I don't think that's it.  Hopefully he will settle in and just play his game - we are going to need it if we are going anywhere this season.

5.  Unfortunately the team overall is a work in progress, and I don't think it's ready for league play at the moment.  There are too many turnovers, too many empty possessions, not enough rebounding, not good enough defense.  I don't think any of those things are due to a lack of ability or players - I think that in trying to play the style and pace Coach wants the new pieces are just slightly out of sync and that is root of the problem.  I had hoped they would be further along at this point but they're running out of time.  Hopefully it will click in.

6.  The only thing I can say about Posh (other than "my goodness!!") is that he is without question the toughest player I've seen in a St John's uniform since Anthony Glover.  If you saw Glover play then you know that is saying something.  And Posh is doing it as a (short) guard, which is even more jaw dropping.  Just wow.
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6 for 6
 
guinness77 post=446321 said:
I only got to see the last 4 minutes of the game due to being at work, so I can’t comment on the game as a whole, but as tough as Posh is (and the guy could give Len Dykstra a run for the nickname Nails) Wusu is right there with him. These two will will us a few victories in the future for sure. They are both incredibly mentally tough from the outside looking in. 

Champagnie is a great player, there’s no doubt about that, and he’s a pure shooter, but I hope Posh and Wusu’s intensity can rub off on him at the end of games like this. 
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Amen…..I don’t know what kind of water they have over at OSL but they are far and away the toughest kids on the team 2 years running
 
IDRAFT post=446340 said:
mm52 post=446339 said:
Mean Gene post=446331 said:
lawmanfan post=446314 said:
Brief observations from last night game:

1.  Unlike far too many of our "fans," I actually went to the game.  Our fan base is very disappointing.



 
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While I was surprised by the sparse turnout, it was good to see a good amount of students there.  I guess the late start prevented people with school-age children from attending.  I think Father Shanley was there for the first half.
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My niece is a freshman and visited me at halftime. She is dorming and her and her two roommates have went to almost every game. So that's nice to see. FWIW she raved about the UBS game, and how nice it was at UBS and how fast the buses got them there from the school. She's hoping they continue to play games there, and her roommates were nodding enthusiastically.

Don't shoot the messenger!
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Great to hear!!!

Question to anyone who would know. . .

1) do they offer cheap student tix to MSG games and bus the kids to the games?
2) what do students pay for game tix ?
 
Not surexif they do or can afford to, but perhaps offer students some type of priority registration, dorm selection or tuition discount based on the # of games attended..and that can be for all sports but give most weighting to men's basketball
 
Enright post=446379 said:
IMO the half court offense was better than it has been in years. All of the players are willing to give the ball up for a better shot and when they showed the necessary patience they were constantly getting layups, many of which they blew unfortunately. If they can avoid taking those three point shots in the first ten seconds of the shot clock and work the ball for an easier shot things will improve. This team has talented passing skills.
I don’t have the figures but I think they are shooting close to fifty per cent from two point range for the season. Just avoid those quick threes.
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This is they key

If they can avoid taking those three point shots in the first ten seconds of the shot clock and work the ball for an easier shot things will improve.

They have a habit of settling for jump shots when they should be going downhill
 
Ray Morgan post=446375 said:
QueensBall post=446374 said:
I don’t really get this “Champagnie is off” narrative. He’s a very high volume shooter. Every few games he’s going to shoot 6-18 or whatever. That’s not unusual for a star player who gets the amount of shots he gets. His FT% is down but through 9 games he’s shooting a higher FG & 3PT % than he did last season. I agree he’s had some slow starts but the idea that he’s somehow regressed in some way just doesn’t ring true to me. I think he’s literally the least of the team’s problems.

He is in a shooting slump. His own words. He also spent much of the year over 40% from 3 until having some poor games from 3 late in the season.   Last night, he passed up a 3 to pass to Mathis who bricked a contested 3.  He is not feeling confident, or so it seems.

 
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If he said that then obviously he’s the authority on how he feels but that’s what I’d expect the team leader to say after an off shooting night. I just think that being disappointed in a guy who is shooting 40% from 3  with the number of attempts Julian has seems pretty demanding. He’s shot well in all but 3 games where he was 6 for something in the high teens (16,17 19) and even in those games he was still a very effective player (scored plenty, very high # of steals, blocks and doing more of the rebounding than he should be responsible for.) I think if just 2 or 3 more shots go down in those 3 games this wouldn’t even be anywhere near a thing. Our bench needs to step up and we need to rebound, defend the 3 better & continue focusing on valuing the basketball. I think anything else we focus on outside of those issues isn’t really part of the underwhelming play. Just my opinion.
 
We run plays to get Julian elbow jumpers coming off a curl. For a guy who is an NBA player, a shocking number of those have bounced off the front of the rim.  His 3 point shooting has been more streaky than consistent - you can get to 40% by missing 6 and then hitting 4 in a row, and his shooting has been more that variety than anything else.  And he's been tentative when he gets the ball on the wing in deciding whether to rise up for his 3 or just move the ball.  

I'm sure he will break out of it, but having been at most of the games in person there is no question in my mind that - although he is ultimately productive every game and has shown up to take over late a few times when needed - he is fighting it a little bit so far this year.  As he more or less said himself.  

It isn't a criticism of the player or the person - the kid is obviously tremendous in every way.   Players go through stretches, he's in one at the moment, better times are coming. 
 
As long as he is healthy, I have zero concerns for Julian.   I also don't pay attention to his boxscore.   If his teammates respond, he can be a great decoy.   Teams know he is out first, second, and third best offensive player and key on him.   It provides lots of good looks for his teammates.   If guys like Smith and Mathis can consistently respond by making shots, we have 4 reliable scorers (along with Posh) and will be a very tough BE team.    If the rotation players (Nyiwe, Soriano, Wheeler, Coburn, Pinzon) provide any considerable value at all, we can become what we felt we would be in the beginning of the year.

To me at least, JC getting 22 points per game is the sign of a weaker team, not a stronger team.  I'd be really okay with 16-17 and 6-7 boards if it means the others are putting points up consistently with good shooting %.
 
We don’t have any NBA caliber shooters or even top collegiate shooters, no one is consistent enough. Our most reliable shooter close to the basket is a 6’ guard who’s as tough as nails and who knows how to fake out players 6”-10”  taller than him!

Maybe Stef Smith might become reliable but not yet. You need a guy who can just sit out on the corner and hit threes all day after a few crisp passes around the perimeter. If we had that guy it would also take pressure off Soriano(Nyiwe) inside , and then they go inside out.Might open up some easy inside buckets too if defense doubles up guy in corner! Who can that guy be?
 
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