(POST-GAME) St. Francis (Brooklyn), Tues., Nov. 23, 7p, FS-2

Just back and thought CA was very lacking in fan involement until late when we tied and went ahead.  Very, very few students, my assumption of early leaving for home took precidence over the game.  (They announced student tickets on sale Monday for Kansas game at $10/ticket at the ticket booths in CA.)

I do not wish to read any more about Dylan being the back up point guard to Posh.  Dylan plays with fire but he is not a PG.  Monty has continued to grow as a positive force on both ends of the court (CMA offense really is designed for his type of play) and scored 20 in 37+ minutes..   Three point shooting "in the foot" continues to be a problem--thank God Julian saw the light and went inside the arc and went 10 for 16.  Mathis seems to get it; didn't shot any treys but was 8 for ten inside and Wheeler, no treys while 3 for 3 in 11 minutes.

Must have been an interesting halhtime "discussion in the locker room.  ST Francisshot 52% from three in 1st half and then went 0 for 5 in second.  (Wilcox and Moreno had 28 at the half and 6 in the second half.) 

Plus/minus leaders Coburn (surprise) +15, Monty and Smith each +10.  Still surprised to see so little of Wheeler while O'mar has come down to earth.

Please God--get Posh back ASAP.
 
Monte post=443907 said:
Making Plays post=443904 said:
Monte post=443876 said:
shamsman2 post=443869 said:
Monte post=443854 said:
mjmaherjr post=443850 said:
I'll take the win but other than that I dont take anything good from this game
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Clearly you missed the posts from some of our crack fans who claim that this is part of some sort of master plan by CMA to get the team ready for conference play. We've learned nothing positive about this team the last 2 games. Players who we hoped would be nice contributors(Stanley, Coburn, Wheeler, and Soriano) showed very little tonight against a low level team. I didn't watch the last game but sounded about the same.  Not good. 

I did not see past two games, realize that CMA's defense takes time to be effective. But still against poor competition, probably overacted our some of our new players. Big question for me is Soriano, another big stiff, his stats are pathetic.





 
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Soriano is a 10 MPG guy on a good team. We have no one else down low but him. So we need more from him then he's probably capable of giving us. Stanley and Wheeler have given us next to nothing down low. Nyiwe is, well, a non factor. Champ is going to play away from the basket most of the time. We're in deep trouble up front IMO, and Im not sure how we remedy that. 
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Bigs have been a disappointment thus far.  Jackson-Davis took Soriano's soul, he hasn't been the same since he got dominated by him.  Wheeler and Stanley have had their moments, but both also are not great rim protectors and seem to foul a lot and not rebound well.  Best lineup when everyone is healthy seems to be Champ, Wusu, Mathis,  Smith, and Posh.  If we had Mathis to finish the Indiana game could have been different, I like what he's done so far, been one of the few bright spots since the Indiana loss.
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Agree those are our 5 best players, but that combo gives us very little low post presence. We'll get eaten alive by teams with even  average sized front lines. Champ does not want to guard big men, and Wusu, as strong and tough as he is, is going to be overmatched against most big men. Still hoping CMA finds a role for Wheeler, but becoming less and less confident by the game. Stanley may be a solid player for us down the road, just don't see him giving us much this year. I believe he hasn't scored a point in the last 3 games, and hasn't exactly made an impact on the boards or on D either. Not sure what the answer is. 
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Yep, one of the bigs is going to have to step up, it's not looked good so far.  But, I will say you can have success with small ball with the right pieces.  Auburn was ranked a couple years back and won the SEC with a lineup with their tallest guy was 6'6.  In the NBA, Chicago Bulls have been playing a lot of small ball when a lot of time their tallest guy is 6'6 and Golden State has the best record in the NBA when a lot of times their tallest guy is Draymond Green who's 6'8.  With that said unless Champagine turns into Steph Curry or Demar DeRozan, we don't need to depend on that.  I think Soriano will figure it out.  Verdict still out on Wheeler and Stanley.
 
Let's not forget that Champ has an amazing amount of pressure on him.  Besides being the go to guy, Champ is auditioning every game for a shot at the NBA, Same as Ponds 3 or 4 years back. Ponds had some peculiar games his final season. Champ is 1 for 11 from 3 last 2 games against lesser comp. Is the pressure of playing to be a draft pick getting to him?  Hopefully not, but it has to be considered.
 
I’m back in NY for the week and almost bought tickets for this game. So happy I didn’t. That was a miserable game. Glad we got the win. Let’s move on. This team without m Posh is in trouble. 
 
Knight post=443877 said:
Did anyone notice Champy yelling for the ball when Smith was dribbling late in the 2nd?  Seems like Smith does not like to pass to Champy, even though he had 6 assists tonight.
 
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I and the guy next to me also noticed Posh didn’t seem happy with Smith in the previous game and appeared frustrated,
 
People saying Wusu shouldn’t be allowed to handle the ball seem to have forgotten he had a couple of key drives and scores during the game that at one point stopped an St. Francis run IIRC and was part of our run that put us over the top (along with a key dunk by Champ which off a dish from Smith I think which might have started momentum for us).  Yes, some horrible decisions by Wusu that lead to bad turnovers late in the game, so maybe not have him handling the ball so much at end time where his decision making is questionable is the solution.

I also thought Braica end game decision making was flawed.  Felt they should have fouled and put us on the line especially the way we played.

Lastly, I had forgotten former St. John’s Assistant Coach and current member of the Kansas staff Fred Quartlebaum’s son, Trey, plays for St. Francis.
 
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SJU85 post=443933 said:
People saying Wusu shouldn’t be allowed to handle the ball seem to have forgotten he had a couple of key drives and scores during the game that at one point stopped an St. Francis run IIRC and was part of our run that put us over the top (along with a key dunk by Champ which off a dish from Smith I think which might have started momentum for us).  Yes, some horrible decisions by Wusu that lead to bad turnovers late in the game, so maybe not have him handling the ball so much at end time where his decision making is questionable is the solution.

I also thought Braica end game decision making was flawed.  Felt they should have fouled and put us on the line especially the way we played.

Lastly, I had forgotten former St. John’s Assistant Coach and current member of the Kansas staff Fred Quartlebaum’s son, Trey, plays for St. Francis.
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Figured that had to be his son. That's a last name that's pretty uncommon, plus playing for his former assistant coach partner Braica.

Was anything done before the game to acknowledge Braica for his time at St John's? Kidding of course, those were the dark ages.
 
I was at the game (half full Carnesecca Arena, at best) last night too...without Posh we're just a mediocre team and without Posh & Pinzon we're a sub .500 team.  As much as I love the aggressive mindset Wusu brings, he should NOT be handling the ball.  Let's hope Posh & Pinzon will be back soon.  Any updates on their return?
 
Wusu plays hard.
Wusu is not a guard
Wusu made some nice passes.
Wusu made some terrible passes.

Our full court press is not effective.
Our switching man is leaving too many open players.

Our bigs do not play big.
Our bigs do not receive the ball inside.
The bloom is off the rose with Stanley.
If niywe can’t play in this game,  when can he play?
 
FWIW, my impressions/observations from last night's game:
  • all critics of Champ need to pipe down; without him down the stretch making baskets that needed to be made, we might not have won
  • Montez fits in well, but makes one or two plays that frustrates coach; you take the mostly good with a little bad with him
  • Although we did not see him in person last year, Addae-Wusu does not seem to be the same player as last year; he seems a bit tentative; it could be he's still not fully healthy
  • I like that Traore is fully engaged in the game on the bench
  • I can't figure out why we could not gather more of the long rebounds last night, which gave SFU an unlikely advantage.It could be because, and I'm stating the obvious, our 3 bigs have got to get things right, soon, or our hopes for making the tournament will fade
  • we need Posh
 
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Rehobie post=443942 said:
Wusu plays hard.
Wusu is not a guard
Wusu made some nice passes.
Wusu made some terrible passes.

Our full court press is not effective.
Our switching man is leaving too many open players.

Our bigs do not play big.
Our bigs do not receive the ball inside.
The bloom is off the rose with Stanley.
If niywe can’t play in this game,  when can he play?
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A harsh dose of reality. We have 2 very good ballplayers and a bunch of role players. If one of our two very good ballplayers is out or has an off game, we can loose to almost anyone...except maybe Baruch and MVS. As for Nyiwe, I hate to say "I told you(not you) so". Wait, who am I kidding?, I love to say "I told you so"!  
 
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Going into the game, I thought that we would win easily.  This team seems to have no FIRE.
They struggle bringing the ball up court against any press.  They don’t know to pass the ball, rather than dribble.  Why was Smith dribbling the ball when surrounded by 3 defenders?
Someone please teach these guys how to box-out and be in position to rebound.

Back to the drawing board.
 
Ray Morgan post=443928 said:
Let's not forget that Champ has an amazing amount of pressure on him.  Besides being the go to guy, Champ is auditioning every game for a shot at the NBA, Same as Ponds 3 or 4 years back. Ponds had some peculiar games his final season. Champ is 1 for 11 from 3 last 2 games against lesser comp. Is the pressure of playing to be a draft pick getting to him?  Hopefully not, but it has to be considered
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Lets not forget that Champ is the focus of every opponents defense.
 
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Am I the only one who was mildly impressed with all our backdoor cuts for easy baskets?
 
We played a local game with both of our point guards out. If Posh and Pinzon play we win this game by 15 at least. Without them , just happy to get the win and move on. 
 
Mean Gene post=443961 said:
We played a local game with both of our point guards out. If Posh and Pinzon play we win this game by 15 at least. Without them , just happy to get the win and move on. 

Many of the issues that plagued us yesterday would not have been remedied by Posh or Pinzon.  I don’t doubt their absence was a  contributing factor, but I’m not sure it was the main factor.
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