(POST-GAME) Xavier, Thur. Feb. 28, 6:30pm, FS-1 / 970AM

At least we will have several more chances to secure a bid. But we better make some adjustments. I've seen the same recurring problems for several games now. The couch, players, and fans seem to think that simply bringing the "energy" will solve it. That reflects a misunderstanding of the problem.

Missing the tournament is a distinct possibility considering our upcoming opponents and the way the team has been playing. I could also see us in the play-in game with a losing BE record.
 
Why can’t we keep any of our players we recruit to stay here? This is a serious question. There’s no other program where guys leave willy-nilly and leave us with huge, gaping holes. And, it’s not just the 1st guy or the 12th guy on the bench. It can be anyone. Dixon, Owens, Mussini, Ellison, on and on and on.

I asked this in the game thread and I want an honest answer. This is why we’re playing with 6 guys and 2 supposed big men in what’s their 4th year. This is why we don’t have a legit big man or a zone busting shooter.
 
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It took until now but we have finally got every ref to be our opposition If we keep after them we might even get excused from the Big East
 
I have felt, all year, that it would be a constant battle to overcome the complete lack of anyone with an inside player's skill or mentality. That's not on the players, it's 100% on the staff. Anyone on the staff that didn't recruit with the same effort and energy that almost every staff recruits at every school should be forced to stand under the rim and get pounded into oblivion by guys 3 inches taller and 40 lbs. heavier. Only Matt gets a reprieve.
 
[quote="Ray Morgan" post=326297]I have felt, all year, that it would be a constant battle to overcome the complete lack of anyone with an inside player's skill or mentality. That's not on the players, it's 100% on the staff. Anyone on the staff that didn't recruit with the same effort and energy that almost every staff recruits at every school should be forced to stand under the rim and get pounded into oblivion by guys 3 inches taller and 40 lbs. heavier. Only Matt gets a reprieve.[/quote]

It's not even that were losing because we have no big men. It's because we don't adjust to force these games to our own strengths. That is 100% on the coaching staff.
 
[quote="Muse" post=326295]It took until now but we have finally got every ref to be our opposition If we keep after them we might even get excused from the Big East[/quote]

Jay Wright and Ed Cooley ride the refs worse than Mullin and nobody whines like Wright. CM just doesn't know when to pull it back. You can see Jay Wright go from wildly animated to calm and collected. He gets it.
 
Most D1 players grow up as scorers. In today's game, most are perimeter scorers. But basketball is a team game the requires basketball skills - shooting, passing, rebounding, movement w/o ball - and cohesive use of those skills.

We have some players who can really score, we have some good shooters, and we have players with secondary skills like quickness and jumping ability. But we are a little light on players with fundamental basketball skills. Good passers need movement without the ball to feed teammates. Shooters need good passers. And all teams need strong team cohesion and fundamentals on defense and when rebounding.

If we think of this team as a group of castoffs and underdogs, they are really fun to watch. But if we assume they should be at the top of the league, we will be disappointed. There are some truly terrific players on this team, but the team as a whole is flawed.
 
Do you guys realize we were in this game for the most part until the last 8 mins or so. We had cut it to 3. If not for some broken plays bouncing their way and some dagger though 3 pointers they hit it would have been closer. I'm just saying.
 
One knock I heard for awhile was Mullin rarely referred to the refs by name. I guess being on a personal level is something they like
 
[quote="Room112" post=326307][quote="Ray Morgan" post=326297]I have felt, all year, that it would be a constant battle to overcome the complete lack of anyone with an inside player's skill or mentality. That's not on the players, it's 100% on the staff. Anyone on the staff that didn't recruit with the same effort and energy that almost every staff recruits at every school should be forced to stand under the rim and get pounded into oblivion by guys 3 inches taller and 40 lbs. heavier. Only Matt gets a reprieve.[/quote]

It's not even that were losing because we have no big men. It's because we don't adjust to force these games to our own strengths. That is 100% on the coaching staff.[/quote]

What adjustments are you thinking about? it's basketball, and you need size or you lose. If we had 3 guys like Rick Mount and one like Freddy Brown, we could bomb away from 3 and outscore everyone. but we don't. We are an average shooting team with not one rim protector or rebounder. We can handle finesse teams because we have a bunch of athletes between 6'1 and 6'6 that excel in the open court. Take that away from us, and we are hopeless in a half court game. Not enough depth, not enough size, and not enough firepower.
 
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Have to say that this is one of the most under-achieving SJU teams (to date) I have seen in my 50 plus years of following the Johnnies. Hope that changes before season ends, but haven't seen anything to give me confidence it will.
 
[quote="Room112" post=326307][quote="Ray Morgan" post=326297]I have felt, all year, that it would be a constant battle to overcome the complete lack of anyone with an inside player's skill or mentality. That's not on the players, it's 100% on the staff. Anyone on the staff that didn't recruit with the same effort and energy that almost every staff recruits at every school should be forced to stand under the rim and get pounded into oblivion by guys 3 inches taller and 40 lbs. heavier. Only Matt gets a reprieve.[/quote]

It's not even that were losing because we have no big men. It's because we don't adjust to force these games to our own strengths. That is 100% on the coaching staff.[/quote]

That is it, 112. Totally agree.
 
Keita works hard on defense and he hustles. But with a perimeter oriented team, he gets no touches and has difficulty getting involved in the game. I don't think he contributed any positive stats in the box score today. Maybe for a different team he would show up more on the stat sheet. But he also lacks high level basketball skills. Rebounding is about a lot more than height.
 
Rebounding is all about effort and desire. You don’t have to be 6 9 to rebound. It helps but if you box out and put in effort you will get your share of rebounds. You might still get out rebounded but it will not be a disaster with much more effort. I have said over and over that this team lacks desire and a killer instinct. All of our players don’t need to be like this but we need a few.
 
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