(POST GAME) @Seton Hall, Mon., Jan. 24, 9p, FS-1

Coach should take a page from Louie and wear the same top for the Nova game.

Wheeler now 6 games in a row in double figures but beyond his increased offensive production is his playing the point of the full court press.  His wingspan/height/speed really are perfect for that "position". 

Some folks may be upset at the foul differential, but I believe it reflected our defensive pressure and the Hall's lack of any defensive intensity.  
 
FYI, Wheeler and Mathis both have an additional year eligibility (COVID year) as this is their fourth year so they can comeback next year.  Soriano has two more while this is the last year of eligibility for Smith and Coburn.
 
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Hard to fathom that the team that showed up last night is the same as the one that plyed Saturday.

As an optimist, I want to believe that the "Anderson way" is kicking in, as it has late in the past 2 seasons, and that more wins are on the way.  A much better outlook than 2 days ago.

On the players:

Posh is the man, and has stepped up and led.  Need that the rest of the way.

Champ is struggling, but nice to see that he has not let that affect his rebounding, assists etc.  If we can get him back on track, with Posh, Wheeler and others playing well, we do have that depth that we hoped for

Wusu needs to stay within himself and stop the reckless drives and shots..  His defense and toughness are his strong suits, hopefully the staff impresses that on him

Wheeler has come around and been a revelation, KEEP IT UP and continue to play within himself and we've got something

Soriano and Stanley and even now Nywie, continue to give good minutes

Coburn and Smith and Mathis need to get their minutes in situations that suit them

Basically, as roles are defined and adhered to, all of these guys are capable of positive contributions.  I think  maybe early on, some resisted embracing what they needed to do.  Hopefully (we'll see) they are "getting it" and if they continue to grow into their  respective roles, we can win some more games.  (And, getting Pinzon back would also help tremendously)

A big win always makes things look brighter.  But, as with our past 2 years, maybe Coach has these guys improving just in time????   Hoping so.
 
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https://open.spotify.com/episode/7d6b2TajE4QPScVxriEXUH?si=y8f89hquT1uWffWjyZSR-g

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/red-storm-rapid-reaction-st-johns-hoops/id1542114512?i=1000548935835

Last 6 games for Aaron Wheeler:
14 points 
5.8 rebs 
2 asts
1.7 balks 
13/28 from 3

- 84 points during stretch, his previous best 6 game stretch was 45 points. 
- 35 boards past 6 games vs 35 total the first 11 games. 
- Making impact all over the court and beginning to find himself open for some Moore’ish looking dump offs. Those are much needed easy buckets for this team. 

Not sure how to explain or describe his improvement I just know I didn’t see it coming and I hope it continues. 
 
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JohnnyFan post=453086 said:
The recent criticism of CMA has been warranted, but he deserves some props for tonight.  We had reached a point in the season where kids could have become disenchanted, selfish and folded.  It didn't go that way and Mike did shake things up a a bit.

I also thought CMA managed Wheeler's playing time perfectly, especially after he picked up his 3rd foul early in the second half.  He also had to give Wheeler some rest which he did with about 14 minutes left.  This gave him a few minutes of rest leading into the under-12 media timeout.   Mike also called a timeout in between that stretch which further extended that much needed rest.  This was smart because we were clearly feeding off of Wheeler's energy.
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On Sunday, Anderson sat down the entire team to watch film of the prior loss. Players spoke up as the Johnnies dissected the defeat, and identified shortcomings, such as rebounding and defense.“Nobody took anything personal, but we were able to figure out things in that film session,” Wheeler said.
 
What a night! My wife and I are huge tennis fans and during the first half I was running between the upstairs bedroom where the game was on and the first floor where my wife was watching Madison Keys (our favorite female player) make it to the Aussie Open semifinals. Was so glad she won easily so I was able to concentrate totally on our game for all of second half and last 5 or 6 minutes of first half lol.
This is the team we were all hoping for and so happy my guy Wheeler has found his best self out there. I'd say he is my favorite Johnnie since Justin Simon except for the fact we have Posh who you can't not love - 100% all the time on both ends of the court, my type of team first basketball player.
Even I didn't see Wheeler as a double digit scorer, saw him more as an 8 or 9 ppg., 5 or 6 rebounds and a complete disrupter on defense; he is a monster in our backcourt press and hustles like crazy on the defensive end. Hope he returns next year. Also like that coach seems to be willing to trust Coburn for 10 or 15 minutes per game as he can really help us in spots offensively and while no defensive wiz is not as much of a liability as some have suggested. Kudos to Mathis for his big threes (classic No! No! YES moments) and for that huge steal and slam.
Unlike some other late games where I couldn't get to sleep for an hour I was sleeping peacefully 10 minutes after last night's game ended. Onwards & upwards! As Amase has pointed out numerous times, a Big East season can turn on a dime and it is by no means over for us although lots and lots of work yet to be done.
Just keep up the energy, harass the hell out of Gillespie, Champ is due for a big shooting night so who knows?     
 
IDRAFT post=453110 said:
Undefeated when Nyiwe hits a three.
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Dare I say our front court has some potential? I’ve loved what Stanley has given us last 3-4 times he’s gotten a chance. Soriano improving and wheeler blossoming.
 
It looks like CMA read the NY Post article suggesting more opportunities for Coburn and Smith. He inserted them early on, and also brought Posh off the bench. The team chemistry and energy looked better from the start. Coburn hit 2 long threes in the first half, and another in the  second that really finished off S.H.

In the second half, with Champ and Wheeler having foul trouble, CMA had a lineup that looked like a disaster waiting to happen. No shooters on the floor. Instead, that group expanded the lead back to double digits and S.H. never threatened from there.
 
IDRAFT post=453110 said:
Undefeated when Nyiwe hits a three.
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Fools gold /media/kunena/emoticons/cool.png

Glad he made it, but would much rather him down low to help out with the boards.
 
There were times last night where Nyiwe and Stanley were out there on the floor together.  Made us very tall and lengthy on D.  I dont believe CMA ran a lineup with 2 bigs in there this year.  I would not mind seeing it again.
 
Amaseinyourface post=453113 said:
IDRAFT post=453110 said:
Undefeated when Nyiwe hits a three.
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Dare I say our front court has some potential? I’ve loved what Stanley has given us last 3-4 times he’s gotten a chance. Soriano improving and wheeler blossoming.
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The three legitimate bigs (Nyiwe, Soriano, and Stanley) each have different limitations that really call for using a rotation that maximizes their effectiveness and limits mismatches for opponent's benefit.     As they progress, Anderson is figuring this out.   Thank God he is a lot more patient, balanced, and smarter than most of us armchair gms who already decided the game has passed him by and he is an interim coach (interim $2 million coach).
 
Not downplaying the importance of us outrebounding Hall last night but my two favorite stats from last night are: (i) each of our 3 starting frontcourt players outrebounded Posh for a change and (ii) we had 11 blocked shots to Halls's 3, a pretty good indication of how aggressive we were defensively.  
 
Johnny4Life post=453087 said:
We finally get to see what a 10-man rotation can do with a ton of on the ball pressure. Great team win! This should be the formula for the rest of the season. 
 
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and we're still missing Pinzon!  Maybe he'll be allowed to redshirt if he can't come back soon. 
 
lawmanfan post=453071 said:
Do not think we can count on long range shooting from Mathis or sustained production from Coburn, but what we should be able to count on is what won the game tonight - pressure defense, effort on the boards, sharing the ball - and hopefully more offensive production from Julian.

Excellent job by the coaching staff keeping the team together and having them not only ready to play but playing that well in that atmosphere in that spot in the season.

Hope the aggression and confidence continues - if it does it may turn out that in the immortal words of Denny Green, they are who we thought they were.
 
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Finally it seems like the depth will pay off because, even with Champ and Wusu down last night, others were more than capable of stepping up.  And we have seen Wheeler and Soriano make marked improvement to become contributors in BE play.

More importantly, as i wrote during the game, the players' commitment to CMA and his style of play was evident last night.  They did not give up and came out with one of their better performances in a long time.  That is a testament to the players and coaches.  Win or lose, it's good to see the players and coaches together.
 
When you put pressure on like last night especially with Wheeler in their bsvk court not only does that creates passing problems for them it just disrupts them they have a hard time getting the ball over half court quickly Wheeler with his long strides most of the time can easily get back on defense then continued focus on D makes them uncomfortable they don’t get good sets their guys can’t get comfortable and they can’t swarm the basket for offensive rebounds against us
 
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