Post Game Thoughts

Didn't cover.
Transition game was absent.
I love Amir Garrett.
Sampson's first game, gets a pass.
Branch will be the needed 3rd guard.
Obekpa made up for some poor half court defense.
Team should rebound better.
D'Angelo is a TWO GUARD, case rested.
Jones will get more minutes than Pointer.
Not sure if zone or man suits this team best yet, only one game.
Wow, how we miss Harkless.
Phil Greene MOTM.
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If Branch is real deal I would start him and Harrison. Greene could play Vinny Johnson/ Jamal Crawford role. Only one game but if Branch is a real point your best 5 is CO,Garrett and the three guards. You could play that lineup for long stretches.
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Is that line up gonna board? I would rotate the guards and play Sampson. He's gonna do some of everything and I would not want to stunt his growth. If he turns out to be a stiff, we go your way. If OS is on the team, that changes things some. Would you like to see Gift on this years team?
 
Gritty, gutty performace by a very athletic group of young men
Greene, Harrison, Garrett, Jones and Okekpa were outstanding
Man defense was poor. They drove past our perimeter players at will throughout the game
Rebounding was poor. Bad fundamentals. We don't box out. We merely turn to the basket and leap for the ball.
Any time Pointer takes a jump shot, he should immediately be pulled
As much as Greene's shooting has improved, Sir Dom's looks as bad as last year
Great win. Should be an exciting season. Looking forward to the matchups at Charleston.
 
This was a nice win.

Good teams do not lose games that they are suppose to win.

To make the post season a team can't lose a game like Detroit.

Onto Thursday for a win against Charleston.
 
Great vibes off of this game. Only negative, Pointer. Idk where the hyped defense went. Sloppy game by him.
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These first few games are going to be essential to Pointer's future at St. John's. I believe he is capable of so much more than he showed out on the court today. But if he struggles in the first part of the season, he is going to watch his minutes dwindle. This isn't 2011-'12. There is a lot more depth on this team. And he's going to have to fight for time unlike last year.
 
This was a fun game, and nice win to grab coming out of the gate.

I was impressed today. I've been pretty critical recently and had set low expectations - but for Joe and everyone else who said we'd be better, I'm happy to say you were right so far.
We have some sloppy fundamentals still, and they add up to cost possessions and points. But there was a lot to like about today. Greene, Garrett, Harrison, and Obekpa all looked good. And the offense moved much more efficiently than I expected.

Wish there was a better crowd, but nice win!
 
This was a fun game, and nice win to grab coming out of the gate.

I was impressed today. I've been pretty critical recently and had set low expectations - but for Joe and everyone else who said we'd be better, I'm happy to say you were right so far.
We have some sloppy fundamentals still, and they add up to cost possessions and points. But there was a lot to like about today. Greene, Garrett, Harrison, and Obekpa all looked good. And the offense moved much more efficiently than I expected.

Wish there was a better crowd, but nice win![/quotehave to

Yes light a fire under the students SAD
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I said we needed at least 55 pts from the trio of Garrett-Harrison-Greene to win. We got 57 :) We'll go as far as they take us.

My thoughts on the new guys...

Christian Jones - I was impressed with his pace and vision. He plays solid defense both in man and in the matchup. His lack of rebounding is astonishing, though. 1 board in 29 minutes? Obekpa and Garrett both had 11 and Sampson had six in only 18 minutes. I HATE to see that especially with his lackluster high school and prep rebounding #'s.

Obekpa - Wow. I am not sure we can keep him from the NBA for too long. His timing is incredible and he keeps everything in play like usual. He looks to have trouble when guys take it straight at him physically, but he is incredible in help D. His offensive game needs plenty of work, but he has all the potential in the world. This might be another year where an ineliglbe player allows a rookie to accumulate stats that wow the scouts.

Sampson - Played way too fast and out of control. I'm hoping it was the nerves and he's not another Dom on the offensive end. When he is in the game with Obekpa, nobody will want to do anything inside. Unless something drastic happens, no way this kid is considered by the NBA this year.

Old guys - Phil and Garrett are very solid. Harrison played a great second half, but he showed why he is, at best, two years away from the NBA. McCollum got by him at will. He is so slow.

Pointer - Disappointing

If I was an NBA scout I come away ranking the prospects in this order: Obekpa, McCollum, Garrett, and then Harrison.
 
Are people here really saying we have no PG when Phil Greene just went against one of the best PG's in college ball and put up 20 pts, 7 rebounds and 6 assists? If Phil is playing this way, going to be hard to unseat him. He's surely cruising down thankless lane right now. Kudos to Phi Greene who should share the game ball with Obekpa. We got GREAT play at PG spot out of Phil today with the exception of a few ill timed turnovers.

As of now, best lineup is Greene, Harrison, Garrett, Jones and Obekpa. Sampson will be excellent but needs to hone his game. We certainly can use Branch, but it isn't because Phil Greene isnt sufficient. We need Branch for depth at guard. Bourgault also a capable ball handler, so looking forward to him. If we get Sanchez cleared, we are scary...
 
I said we needed at least 55 pts from the trio of Garrett-Harrison-Greene to win. We got 57 :) We'll go as far as they take us.

My thoughts on the new guys...

Christian Jones - I was impressed with his pace and vision. He plays solid defense both in man and in the matchup. His lack of rebounding is astonishing, though. 1 board in 29 minutes? Obekpa and Garrett both had 11 and Sampson had six in only 18 minutes. I HATE to see that especially with his lackluster high school and prep rebounding #'s.

Obekpa - Wow. I am not sure we can keep him from the NBA for too long. His timing is incredible and he keeps everything in play like usual. He looks to have trouble when guys take it straight at him physically, but he is incredible in help D. His offensive game needs plenty of work, but he has all the potential in the world. This might be another year where an ineliglbe player allows a rookie to accumulate stats that wow the scouts.

Sampson - Played way too fast and out of control. I'm hoping it was the nerves and he's not another Dom on the offensive end. When he is in the game with Obekpa, nobody will want to do anything inside. Unless something drastic happens, no way this kid is considered by the NBA this year.

Old guys - Phil and Garrett are very solid. Harrison played a great second half, but he showed why he is, at best, two years away from the NBA. McCollum got by him at will. He is so slow.

Pointer - Disappointing

If I was an NBA scout I come away ranking the prospects in this order: Obekpa, McCollum, Garrett, and then Harrison.
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Danny Ainge was there scouting today.
 
Very good w.... Great way for the frosh to cut there teeth!! Dlo is the man, a lot of our success depends on sanchez....we are still without our most skilled front court player
 
I would say that "O" is the guy we've been NOT getting since forever. I'm watching SJ B'ball since the 70's. We've NEVER had a shot blocker like this. NEVER.

Forget the stats for a moment including setting the record for blocks. You could see Detroit being tentative - especially in the first half. Not just O but we've got several good shot blockers. This changes games dramatically. At one point Detroit was shooting about 20% and they are not a weak sister team. Really good guards and some big athletes and bangers.

What we need now:

1) A leader. Floor General.
2) Box out. This is terrible!
3) Protect the ball (Freshman stuff - will get better) but it could have been a lot worse. The talent shown through the inexperience for the most part.
4) Free throws win games.

DH and JS need to get out of their heads and play ball. The skills and natural talent are there the head isn't.

Defense was brilliant at times for a first game of a young team, but can't have those long lapses of ineptitude. This was a great team to start the season against and come away with a W. Saw a little bit of everything in terms of facing one of the best guards in the country, shooters, slashing, banging and some high flying athletes.

I hope the students get behind him and we hear a collective "O" chant at the beginning of every game when he's announced.

CO is the kind of player we were not getting. His skills usually end up at Georgetown or Conn. Thats why I think Coach Steve should not get flack when something doesn't break our way. He has turned the program around.[/quote]
 
As good a game as Phil had still need a true pt like hopefully Branch is for penetration in half court and setting up others. Phil is a good combo guard and he dlo and Branch will make a good 3 g rotation with any 2 of 3 on the court making for a good backcourt.
 
Does Sampson remind anyone of Polee? Granted Polee's first game was his best but he needs to bulk up to be a factor in BE play. There is not 1 knock ppl should have on Greene. I don't care what anyone says "we need a floor general blah blah blah." Positions in basketball are overrated. Normally our sets involve handoffs at the top of the arc and movement without the ball, if we can have a guy put up 20, 7, and 6 I wouldn't want Branch taking any minutes away from them. The question is, can Phil keep it up?
 
Does Sampson remind anyone of Polee? Granted Polee's first game was his best but he needs to bulk up to be a factor in BE play. There is not 1 knock ppl should have on Greene. I don't care what anyone says "we need a floor general blah blah blah." Positions in basketball are overrated. Normally our sets involve handoffs at the top of the arc and movement without the ball, if we can have a guy put up 20, 7, and 6 I wouldn't want Branch taking any minutes away from them. The question is, can Phil keep it up?
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Sampson went to school up here, so I got to see him a few times last year.
The only player on this team that can touch him is D'Lo.
Give him time, he's the goods.
 
First off, leader/Floor General is not a position. Ideally it is your point guard but those are two different things.

I would say the opposite. Numbers are overrated. Blah blah. Name one great college team that did not have a great leader? On the flip side you could probably come up with dozens of examples of high scoring, stat stuffing players and teams that never amounted to much. Probably more than a few that led the nation or near the top in scoring but had poor records.

No matter how much talent you have, you need chemistry and team work to be a great team. When you've got a young team, you need leadership even more.

I don't care what anyone says "we need a floor general blah blah blah." Positions in basketball are overrated. Normally our sets involve handoffs at the top of the arc and movement without the ball, if we can have a guy put up 20, 7, and 6 I wouldn't want Branch taking any minutes away from them. The question is, can Phil keep it up?
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Does Sampson remind anyone of Polee? Granted Polee's first game was his best but he needs to bulk up to be a factor in BE play. There is not 1 knock ppl should have on Greene. I don't care what anyone says "we need a floor general blah blah blah." Positions in basketball are overrated. Normally our sets involve handoffs at the top of the arc and movement without the ball, if we can have a guy put up 20, 7, and 6 I wouldn't want Branch taking any minutes away from them. The question is, can Phil keep it up?
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I see a lot of similarities, but Sampson is MUCH better on the boards and defensively. He also has a better handle and shot.
 
Took one of my buddies to the game today.

It was his second St. John's on-campus game.

His first was when Rick Barry and Miami took on the Redmen many, many, many years ago!!!

Game was great fun. Would guess there were somewhere around 2,500 people there, give or take, including The Maven.

Happened to sit behind a fellow who I hadn't seen for over 35 yrs. We both worked together at Gimbel's at Roosevelt Field when the earth was cooling. He is now a golf pro in Garden City.

Very impressed by Phil. Let the game come to him.

Guys who think they can play in the NBA come up big and DH certainly did.

Not concerned about Sampson for a second. He will become the player we all think that he will.

A priest at St. John's told me Sampson shows up at St. John's Bread and Life and that he is a very respectful young man and a very nice individual.

CO is the real deal. A shot blocking machine. Sure glad he chose St. John's.

Amir had an excellent game, as you know and appreciate.

Jones has a huge upside IMO. A recruiting coup for the staff.

Looking forward to Branch joining the team next month. A true point guard will certainly help. This is NOT a knock on Phil who played great today.

I have my doubts that Sanchez will be playing for us.

Good job by the team of not getting into foul trouble today.
 
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