(POST-GAME) @Villanova, Tues., Jan. 8, 7p, FS-1 / 970 AM

I fear we’ll continue to play fast and furious for 35 mpg in the BEC all season and be winning at that point, but then be body punched for the last 5 minutes, struggling to hang on for wins, unless the Staff makes adjustments and gives guys needed rest.
Let’s hope the Staff now gets this and gives Keita and Williams minutes in key spots.
 
[quote="Mean Gene" post=313900][quote="NCJohnnie" post=313864]As Jack W & others have said, loss was tough because of way we lost it (blowing several nice leads). Imho reason we lost is too many second chance points allowed Nova due to offensive rebounds and 2 of our 5 starters having off games (Heron & Clark shot combined 6-20 with only 8 rebounds between them). We rely heavily on our core 5 and, while we can survive an off game from one of them, it's tough to beat good teams like Nova when 2 of the 5 have off games. Ponds & Simon playing too many minutes also appeared to hurt us at the end as they both looked tired.
Coach & players all said right things after game, except that Coach really didn't address why he hardly played bench other than to say something like "in game situations, foul trouble and didn't overthink it". Hopefully we'll get back to more of the nice 8 man rotation going forward.

Good news is we have 5 very winnable games coming up before Duke, 3 at home and on the road games against Butler & Creighton. Feel like we should take 4 of 5 which would put us at 6-3 at halfway point with 5 out of last 9 at home.[/quote]

If we can do that that then we have an excellent chance to go 13-5 in conference which is where I thought we needed to be all along in order to solidify and NCAA bid. I think we will get there. Would have loved to win this game but it's not a bad loss as long as we win Saturday. I agree with the sentiment that Mully must use his bench more.[/quote]

Vs DePaul (W)
Vs Creighton (W) 1-3 on the road
@ Butler (W) Not the same good Butler team
Vs. G-Town (W) This is another war

Gotta get these 4.
 
[quote="Marillac" post=313984]There will be some lessons this teams has to learn to go from awful to very good or even great. We all knew this. What makes these lossses tough to accept is we were the better team and we controlled most of the games.

Winning on the road is a skill. Finishing opponents when you are up big is a skill.

Learn from these games and improve.[/quote]

Agree. And think they will. I actually think team is ready to win late and close especially with Ponds. Already demonstrated VCU, Georgia Tech, GTown. I think it's more that we are not a 40 minute team away from home right now against better competition, and there are things we need to be doing in minutes 1-36 proactively/preventitively to ensure we are there in the last 4 minutes. It's not like it's isolated missed execution here and there that we need to tighten up. We hit a wall, there is very little execution at all, and it's just a question if we can hang on / gut it out. Kids are tough so sometimes we will, but not as much as we could with better game management.
 
4 key differences in this game, probably worth noting because they are unlikely to be isolated to this game under current construct:

1. Wright made in-game adjustments that moved the needle. I doubt he came into yesterday's game pre-determined he was going to zone SJU at the 12 minute mark of the first half. But when SJU made six 3's in the first 7 minutes he did and it was disruptive. Late in the game when Simon got rock Nova defender backed way off him and they denied everyone else - this wore SJU under 10 seconds on the shot clock without getting into offense on 3 different occasions in the last 4 minutes leading to 3 empty possessions.

Outside of a few offensive sets particularly out of timeouts (which is a welcomed addition), I don't think there are many moments "this is an interesting wrinkle from our staff here, let's see how this plays out." I think we have a very defined pre-game strategy which we execute well and are immensely prepared for the opposition. But it seems like the approach is if that's good enough for 40 minutes if it's not, so be it. We don't mix defenses, we don't sub, we don't call timeouts. We just play. I don't like the percentages of that strategy with a 6 man rotation at the Nova level and this year we are capable of winning at the Nova level including on road.

2. There were two of Booth and Paschall. There was only one of Ponds. Figgy took the 5th most shots on the team last night and I don't know how many nights we can have like that. He needs to be more involved. And obviously everyone will have off nights and I think it was little more than that but we will need more from Heron in these types of games.

3. 21-5 bench points. Tough to need to go +17 against opposing starters to get a win. The fact that we went +11 against Nova's starters in their building is frankly an incredible and just another data point on how special our first 5 are, but not sure how much more you can expect that edge to be against good teams.

4. 1 free throw attempt for anyone not named Ponds contrasted against 4-17 from 3 from Clark/Heron/Simon. That's double trouble.
 
[quote="SJU1512" post=313991]4 key differences in this game, probably worth noting because they are unlikely to be isolated to this game under current construct:

1. Wright made in-game adjustments that moved the needle. I doubt he came into yesterday's game pre-determined he was going to zone SJU at the 12 minute mark of the first half. But when SJU made six 3's in the first 7 minutes he did and it was disruptive. Late in the game when Simon got rock Nova defender backed way off him and they denied everyone else - this wore SJU under 10 seconds on the shot clock without getting into offense on 3 different occasions in the last 4 minutes leading to 3 empty possessions.

Outside of a few offensive sets particularly out of timeouts (which is a welcomed addition), I don't think there are many moments "this is an interesting wrinkle from our staff here, let's see how this plays out." I think we have a very defined pre-game strategy which we execute well and are immensely prepared for the opposition. But it seems like the approach is if that's good enough for 40 minutes if it's not, so be it. We don't mix defenses, we don't sub, we don't call timeouts. We just play. I don't like the percentages of that strategy with a 6 man rotation at the Nova level and this year we are capable of winning at the Nova level including on road.

2. There were two of Booth and Paschall. There was only one of Ponds. Figgy took the 5th most shots on the team last night and I don't know how many nights we can have like that. He needs to be more involved. And obviously everyone will have off nights and I think it was little more than that but we will need more from Heron in these types of games.

3. 21-5 bench points. Tough to need to go +17 against opposing starters to get a win. The fact that we went +11 against Nova's starters in their building is frankly an incredible and just another data point on how special our first 5 are, but not sure how much more you can expect that edge to be against good teams.

4. 1 free throw attempt for anyone not named Ponds contrasted against 4-17 from 3 from Clark/Heron/Simon. That's double trouble.[/quote]

I like your analysis and would add one thing: It's a bad trend to allow opposition to pound offensive glass, especially in crunch time, game after game. Especially when we have ignore the offensive glass ourselves. When we ISO Simon, no one crashes, and we lose Simon's athleticism on the glass. When a player gets within 6 feet, their finishing percentage needs to be pretty high. Not so sure Simon elevates his numbers that much. His quickness and length get him there, but his touch not quite enough to ensure the finish.
 
[quote="Ray Morgan" post=313996][quote="SJU1512" post=313991]4 key differences in this game, probably worth noting because they are unlikely to be isolated to this game under current construct:

1. Wright made in-game adjustments that moved the needle. I doubt he came into yesterday's game pre-determined he was going to zone SJU at the 12 minute mark of the first half. But when SJU made six 3's in the first 7 minutes he did and it was disruptive. Late in the game when Simon got rock Nova defender backed way off him and they denied everyone else - this wore SJU under 10 seconds on the shot clock without getting into offense on 3 different occasions in the last 4 minutes leading to 3 empty possessions.

Outside of a few offensive sets particularly out of timeouts (which is a welcomed addition), I don't think there are many moments "this is an interesting wrinkle from our staff here, let's see how this plays out." I think we have a very defined pre-game strategy which we execute well and are immensely prepared for the opposition. But it seems like the approach is if that's good enough for 40 minutes if it's not, so be it. We don't mix defenses, we don't sub, we don't call timeouts. We just play. I don't like the percentages of that strategy with a 6 man rotation at the Nova level and this year we are capable of winning at the Nova level including on road.

2. There were two of Booth and Paschall. There was only one of Ponds. Figgy took the 5th most shots on the team last night and I don't know how many nights we can have like that. He needs to be more involved. And obviously everyone will have off nights and I think it was little more than that but we will need more from Heron in these types of games.

3. 21-5 bench points. Tough to need to go +17 against opposing starters to get a win. The fact that we went +11 against Nova's starters in their building is frankly an incredible and just another data point on how special our first 5 are, but not sure how much more you can expect that edge to be against good teams.

4. 1 free throw attempt for anyone not named Ponds contrasted against 4-17 from 3 from Clark/Heron/Simon. That's double trouble.[/quote]

I like your analysis and would add one thing: It's a bad trend to allow opposition to pound offensive glass, especially in crunch time, game after game. Especially when we have ignore the offensive glass ourselves. When we ISO Simon, no one crashes, and we lose Simon's athleticism on the glass. When a player gets within 6 feet, their finishing percentage needs to be pretty high. Not so sure Simon elevates his numbers that much. His quickness and length get him there, but his touch not quite enough to ensure the finish.[/quote]

Do not over analyze. Certain players had open shots that they did not make, Villanova stepped up the defense in the last 5 minutes and did a very good job of denying the ball to Ponds to take offensive out of rhythm and let other players try and beat us. Good game against evenly matched teams. We could play them 10 times and it would be 5-5.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=313826][quote="DoodyNY33" post=313825]I hope this isn’t true

@tominsalem All he did was pass the ball.
We need another threat.
At Williams can goto the hole.
Heard tonight he's definitely gone.
That's a shame.[/quote]
Total nonsense[/quote]
1) the kid is the most animated on the bench
2) his father says he loves NYC and how he has been embraced by Johnnies fans
 
[quote="SJU1512" post=313875]Feel bad for these kids. They've played so hard in all 3 road games, but the rotation just isn't long enough and largely as a result the execution is just so poor in the last 4-8 minutes of games. It's like watching two different teams, one for the first 30-35 minutes and a totally different one for the last 5-10.

Staff is really coming up short in this regard and this aspect is on them. We are giving wins away. [/quote]

"Giving wins away." On point, if you ask me. We should be 4-0 or no less than 3-1.
 
[quote="oldschool Redmen" post=313986][quote="Mean Gene" post=313900][quote="NCJohnnie" post=313864]As Jack W & others have said, loss was tough because of way we lost it (blowing several nice leads). Imho reason we lost is too many second chance points allowed Nova due to offensive rebounds and 2 of our 5 starters having off games (Heron & Clark shot combined 6-20 with only 8 rebounds between them). We rely heavily on our core 5 and, while we can survive an off game from one of them, it's tough to beat good teams like Nova when 2 of the 5 have off games. Ponds & Simon playing too many minutes also appeared to hurt us at the end as they both looked tired.
Coach & players all said right things after game, except that Coach really didn't address why he hardly played bench other than to say something like "in game situations, foul trouble and didn't overthink it". Hopefully we'll get back to more of the nice 8 man rotation going forward.

Good news is we have 5 very winnable games coming up before Duke, 3 at home and on the road games against Butler & Creighton. Feel like we should take 4 of 5 which would put us at 6-3 at halfway point with 5 out of last 9 at home.[/quote]

If we can do that that then we have an excellent chance to go 13-5 in conference which is where I thought we needed to be all along in order to solidify and NCAA bid. I think we will get there. Would have loved to win this game but it's not a bad loss as long as we win Saturday. I agree with the sentiment that Mully must use his bench more.[/quote]

Vs DePaul (W)
Vs Creighton (W) 1-3 on the road
@ Butler (W) Not the same good Butler team
Vs. G-Town (W) This is another war

Gotta get these 4.[/quote]

I told Maher two weeks ago that I think we need to be 6-2 or 7-1 after eight games.
 
The Staff gets appropriate kudos for the Starting 5 they've recruited. But it's also appropriate to criticize in-game rotation management that has our starters gassed late in games, unable to execute the offense and be ineffective on D and turning clear and hard-fought wins into nail-biting finishes.
The Staff recruited its 'bench' as well and should calibrate timely substitutions around game / media timeouts to give our core guys needed rest.
Yeah, our bench is thin, but Trimble, Keita, and Williams should see PT during games.
Otherwise, we might as well replace our bench with orange road cones--they'd be as useful.
 
[quote="Knight" post=313877]Anyone who watched the game and could not see our guys were tired leaves me perplexed. I don't care how many minutes Villanova guys played, all things are not equal. If you can't see how tired our players were at the end of the game I have to question any analysis of the game made by you.[/quote]
Absolutely tired resulting in too much dribbling at top of key late into shot clock.

Williams and Keita should have played more. Nova has a number of players that can be guarded relatively easily. Should not have been any trepidation to play the bench.

Think donny Marshall had it right. Nova about 4th best in league. Wright elevates them. He purposely rotated guys in hoping we would wear down. This should have easily been an 8 point win.

Rematch in MSG will go our way.
 
Did you hear Mullin in the huddle telling them not to hit the offensive glass and to get back on defense.
 
I DVR every game, then turn on the TV 30 minutes in. Hit "start from the beginning", and fast forward the timeouts. I usually make it almost to halftime before catching up. Winning games I watch again the next morning. Still won't look at the end of the Seton Hall game. Once was enough
 
[quote="SJU65" post=314041]Did you hear Mullin in the huddle telling them not to hit the offensive glass and to get back on defense.[/quote]
Is this a real question?
 
[quote="SJU65" post=314041]Did you hear Mullin in the huddle telling them not to hit the offensive glass and to get back on defense.[/quote]

Two things that really bother me from last nights game:
Why no bench other then Trimble, they played vs. G-town, then the genius decides to just use Trimble last night.
2. You tell your team not to go for the offensive board, so if they miss, it's one and done. I'm sure DePaul scouts were watching, and told their coach that if we miss then not to worry about getting the rebound because we won't even go for it.
 
We ran out of gas at the end. Basically played 6 guys. Didn't get a fair whistle. Their two best players outplayed our two best players. We lost a close game on road to a good team with championship experience.
That was basically the whole story.
Only lingering concern for me would be Heron when things going bad can't seem to right himself, presses and seems to makes things worse.
 
[quote="SJU65" post=314041]Did you hear Mullin in the huddle telling them not to hit the offensive glass and to get back on defense.[/quote]. Yes, I did and was disbelieving .. I mean it’s so obvious our guys won’t even challenge for a offensive rebound on the outside jumpers which produce a fair amount of put back opportunities . Didn’t make sense to me , why a Coach would tell his team to not hit the glass .
 
[quote="SLYFOXX1968" post=314166][quote="SJU65" post=314041]Did you hear Mullin in the huddle telling them not to hit the offensive glass and to get back on defense.[/quote]. Yes, I did and was disbelieving .. I mean it’s so obvious our guys won’t even challenge for a offensive rebound on the outside jumpers which produce a fair amount of put back opportunities . Didn’t make sense to me , why a Coach would tell his team to not hit the glass .[/quote]

Avoid transition layups by Nova?
 
[quote="SLYFOXX1968" post=314166][quote="SJU65" post=314041]Did you hear Mullin in the huddle telling them not to hit the offensive glass and to get back on defense.[/quote]. Yes, I did and was disbelieving .. I mean it’s so obvious our guys won’t even challenge for a offensive rebound on the outside jumpers which produce a fair amount of put back opportunities . Didn’t make sense to me , why a Coach would tell his team to not hit the glass .[/quote]

It might not make sense to you or I, but it definitely doesn’t make sense to marillac. With that said, agree or not, mullin gave his reasoning for it right there in the huddle which was to get back early on D.
 
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