(POST GAME) @Xavier (Cintas Ctr), Sun. Jan. 5, 4:30pm, FOX / 970AM

[quote="NCJohnnie" post=370890]SJU16982 wrote: As great as Rutherford and Williams were on Tuesday, they completely disappeared in this one, although they were not the only ones.

Last year's team had a great starting 5, and nothing else. This year's team has 10 or 11 guys with similar skills, most of whom are probably one notch below Big East level.

This is where I disagree. We have two guys who have proven they can play significant minutes and score 14-15 ppg in high major play, but we are playing as if we have 10 or 11 players of roughly similar ability. We don't. Can't win that way in BE imho.[/quote]

CMA needs to play 10-11 guys in order to keep up the pressure D for 40 minutes. And when we’re not hitting our shots, as we weren’t yesterday, the only thing keeping us in the game is our pressure D. Now, Heron and LJ cannot play 30-35 minutes each of pressure D. No one really can without it exhausting them. So it’s a bit of a catch 22 for CMA.
 
[quote="SJU61982" post=370926]This team basically looks like the Hatten teams, if Hatten were not there.

Hatten would just do it all by himself on those teams, sometimes, and while that's not the textbook way to play basketball, it was the only way those teams had a chance. Even with teams tailoring their game plans to stop him, they couldn't do it. Only problem was that he couldn't make other players better, he could only do it for himself.

Still, this team could use a Hatten-like player.[/quote]

Had similar thoughts but my head went to Jarvis being a defensive coach as is Anderson. As a long time follower (while NYU was still Div. 1) and then fan of STJ, I always expect ball movement off penetration and kick out with a second pass ending up in the hands of someone named Schaefer or Cluess or McEntyre who cuts the heart out of the opposing team with a jump shot.

That requires shooters who know their role and play good defense and a coach who teaches disciplined half court offense, with adaptations to the era of the 3pointer. I don't know if we currently have catch and shoot quick release 3point shooters or a coach who is comfortable teaching that system. We will get the shooters and I suspect that CMA if he doe not feel personally comfortable teaching a penetrate and kick offense, will find someone to join his staff who does. Quality of play in the Big East may demand it.
 
Our defense begins on the offensive boards. We seem to have slacked off battling for rebounds and adopted the Mullin shoot and retreat tactic. Sears seems to be the only one in position to battle for O-boards, but I hope Earlington goes back to what made him a force to be dealt with.
Our shooters seem to lack the nice stroke and touch of confident shooters. Looks tight, rather than smooth and fluid.
 
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[quote="Knight" post=370954]Our defense begins on the offensive boards. We seem to have slacked off battling for rebounds and adopted the Mullin shoot and retreat tactic. Sears seems to be the only one in position to battle for O-boards, but I hope Earlington goes back to what made him a force to be dealt with.
Our shooters seem to lack the nice stroke and touch of confident shooters. Looks tigh, rather than smooth and fluid.[/quote]

I think the Duke is trying but at 6'5, its different getting boards against mercer then it is against big east teams.
 
[quote="Duke of Earlington" post=370955][quote="Knight" post=370954]Our defense begins on the offensive boards. We seem to have slacked off battling for rebounds and adopted the Mullin shoot and retreat tactic. Sears seems to be the only one in position to battle for O-boards, but I hope Earlington goes back to what made him a force to be dealt with.
Our shooters seem to lack the nice stroke and touch of confident shooters. Looks tight, rather than smooth and fluid.[/quote]

I think the Duke is trying but at 6'5, its different getting boards against mercer then it is against big east teams.[/quote]

Last 2 games he was not near enough to be a factor as he was tracking his defensive assignment and was retreating back to cover him.
 
Maybe we could get away with Cole being the only 3 pt threat added if we still had LJ and Heron next year. Heron is graduating and LJ is almost certainly gone though. So it's possible we have 1 player who MIGHT be able to hit a 3 point shot every so often. Posh is a slasher like Dunn he is not a shooter and doubt that changes. Wusu shooting 33% from 3 at a much lower level. Doubt that changes much. We need about 2-3 more shooters along with Cole if we want any chance to do damage in this conference. As someone else said, we really have reached the point where if any player shoots a 3, they should be benched immediately. Opponent defenses are going to dare us to shoot wide open shots with confidence they won't go in. If you can't make regular 3's, there go your slashing lanes. Also, it's really silly when we pump fake as if we're going to shoot a 3 when opponents know we can't. They don't get fooled. Nova fools players with pump fakes all day long but that's because they have a number of guys who can make them easily.
 
Why is it considered a lock LJ is leaving after this year? I honestly don’t see him getting drafted in the NBA next year , I love LJ but he’s not an NBA player. Is he planning on leaving to go play overseas?
 
[quote="Knight" post=370954]Our defense begins on the offensive boards. We seem to have slacked off battling for rebounds and adopted the Mullin shoot and retreat tactic. Sears seems to be the only one in position to battle for O-boards, but I hope Earlington goes back to what made him a force to be dealt with.
Our shooters seem to lack the nice stroke and touch of confident shooters. Looks tight, rather than smooth and fluid.[/quote]


I have been saying the same thing regarding offensive boards the last few games. But why? We can't shoot so hit the damn boards. Not going to win with one and done!
 
[quote="SJU2000alum15" post=370958]Why is it considered a lock LJ is leaving after this year? I honestly don’t see him getting drafted in the NBA next year , I love LJ but he’s not an NBA player. Is he planning on leaving to go play overseas?[/quote]

Each game I watch I feel the same way about LJ, not ready for the NBA but probably leaving for overseas.
 
Roberts better wake up because he won't be in any late tight games,especially since he is a HORRIBLE foul shooter. As I have posted in the past he has to change that horrendous over the head foul shot. You cannot control the shot, just notice how hard the ball comes off the back of the rim. I am a firm believer in aiming for the front of the rim softly.
 
Roberts getting fouled is the equivalent of a turnover, just horrendous. Makes Sears look like Rick Barry.
Not that it mattered, but they really weren't aggressive with the press, like last game, when it worked so well. They just backed off after the inbound pass. Would have liked to have seen more pressure, because layups were the only thing that had a chance of working(they were iffy as well).
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=370944]In some ways Anderson and staff have overachieved to date. I think Steere was factored in as a credible big, but clearly the jury is out on that one, LJ & Heron have struggled to date & perimeter shooting is abysmal. The positives are team is well conditioned, play hard and generate a lot of turnovers.

In my opinion, enjoy the bumpy ride and be realistic that CMA will probably need two more seasons to construct a highly competitive, sustainable Big East roster. I expect some roster change after season to free up slots for a big and perimeter shooter to continue this process. Recruiting is the key to going forward obviously. Patience works for me at this point.[/quote]



Just imagine if we didn't press and run, probably be blown out each game. Kudos to coach Anderson.
 
[quote="Monte" post=370949][quote="NCJohnnie" post=370890]SJU16982 wrote: As great as Rutherford and Williams were on Tuesday, they completely disappeared in this one, although they were not the only ones.

Last year's team had a great starting 5, and nothing else. This year's team has 10 or 11 guys with similar skills, most of whom are probably one notch below Big East level.

This is where I disagree. We have two guys who have proven they can play significant minutes and score 14-15 ppg in high major play, but we are playing as if we have 10 or 11 players of roughly similar ability. We don't. Can't win that way in BE imho.[/quote]

CMA needs to play 10-11 guys in order to keep up the pressure D for 40 minutes. And when we’re not hitting our shots, as we weren’t yesterday, the only thing keeping us in the game is our pressure D. Now, Heron and LJ cannot play 30-35 minutes each of pressure D. No one really can without it exhausting them. So it’s a bit of a catch 22 for CMA.[/quote]

I don't dispute any of that. In fact, I've said before, that is the one style where you can justify playing 11 guys.

I was just pointing out that this is the complete opposite of last year's team. Just a random observation, not a rip job.
 
[quote="JackofVirginia" post=370962]Roberts better wake up because he won't be in any late tight games,especially since he is a HORRIBLE foul shooter. As I have posted in the past he has to change that horrendous over the head foul shot. You cannot control the shot, just notice how hard the ball comes off the back of the rim. I am a firm believer in aiming for the front of the rim softly.[/quote]

He's also too tall and lanky to be doing that sink way down and pop up movement. Painful to watch. I'm surprised actually that the coaching staff is allowing it to persist. He'd be better off just standing straight up and shooting one handed. He's strong enough to make free throws with a wrist flick. That at least is something that can be consistent and repeatable muscle memory. He'll never be consistent with his frame doing that movement he does...
 
[quote="Paul Massell" post=370966][quote="JackofVirginia" post=370962]Roberts better wake up because he won't be in any late tight games,especially since he is a HORRIBLE foul shooter. As I have posted in the past he has to change that horrendous over the head foul shot. You cannot control the shot, just notice how hard the ball comes off the back of the rim. I am a firm believer in aiming for the front of the rim softly.[/quote]

He's also too tall and lanky to be doing that sink way down and pop up movement. Painful to watch. I'm surprised actually that the coaching staff is allowing it to persist. He'd be better off just standing straight up and shooting one handed. He's strong enough to make free throws with a wrist flick. That at least is something that can be consistent and repeatable muscle memory. He'll never be consistent with his frame doing that movement he does...[/quote]

I don't know if his movement is to blame. If you notice he does take a soft one handed shot when shooting from 2 or 3 feet away from the basket. And it is not over his head.
 
[quote="JackofVirginia" post=370968]
I don't know if his movement is to blame. If you notice he does take a soft one handed shot when shooting from 2 or 3 feet away from the basket. And it is not over his head.[/quote]

That's my point actually. He could do the same at the FT line and be a lot more consistent than he is with that way too complicated movement he has at the FT line. He needs to apply the KISS Principle. Get to the line don't think about it and just do what you've done thousands of times before and let the muscle memory do it. Simple, consistent and repeatable.
 
[quote="JackofVirginia" post=370964][quote="Paultzman" post=370944]In some ways Anderson and staff have overachieved to date. I think Steere was factored in as a credible big, but clearly the jury is out on that one, LJ & Heron have struggled to date & perimeter shooting is abysmal. The positives are team is well conditioned, play hard and generate a lot of turnovers.

In my opinion, enjoy the bumpy ride and be realistic that CMA will probably need two more seasons to construct a highly competitive, sustainable Big East roster. I expect some roster change after season to free up slots for a big and perimeter shooter to continue this process. Recruiting is the key to going forward obviously. Patience works for me at this point.[/quote]



Just imagine if we didn't press and run, probably be blown out each game. Kudos to coach Anderson.[/quote]


Shooting, shooting, shooting or lack thereof.
SOOO many missed 3 pters - when even a few could have brought a W.
IMO Terrific coaching and staff and wondrous hustle by the players - but we are what we are, an okay team - a last minute collection of players performing the best they can. With two star players under-achieving.
Hope we wind up .500 or a bit above.
all the best
 
LJ is a 4 year college player. Love him but hed be silly to try to go play overseas at this point. He has alot to work on before he can think about playing professionally.
 
We are last in the Big East in 3pt shooting at 29%, 8th in 2pt FG% at 47%, and 6th in free throw % with 69.8%.

However, we are 4th the conference in PPG at 77.5 points per game. Somehow those numbers don't seem to add up.

Our three big men struggle the most at free throws. Josh Roberts is shooting a miserable 33.3% (7-21) from the free throw line. You almost have to try to be that bad. But I still think he has too much talent to be shooting that bad, and eventually that number will climb as the season goes on.
 
[quote="Eric Williamson" post=370979]We are last in the Big East in 3pt shooting at 29%, 8th in 2pt FG% at 47%, and 6th in free throw % with 69.8%.

However, we are 4th the conference in PPG at 77.5 points per game. Somehow those numbers don't seem to add up.

Our three big men struggle the most at free throws. Josh Roberts is shooting a miserable 33.3% (7-21) from the free throw line. You almost have to try to be that bad. But I still think he has too much talent to be shooting that bad, and eventually that number will climb as the season goes on.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure we're tops in the league in turnover margin (I think we're among the national leaders in that), so while our percentages are low, our number of makes is probably average, since we're getting many more shots then the opposition, even when we lose the rebounding battle.
 
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