Postgame observations

tom in salem

tom in salem

Well-known member
Where's out stat guy ESPNKEN?
Hope he's OK-been a while.
Points in the paint.
Not like us not to win that battle.
Rebounds-see above.
Transition baskets-just not there.
Tough to win with only 3 guns-Harrison, Greene and Sampson.
 
Can somone explain to me why we are switching on ball screens? We got caught a few times with guards trying to defend bigs in the post. If Holy Cross is going to takke advantage of that, what do you think the Big East will do?
 
Where's out stat guy ESPNKEN?
Hope he's OK-been a while.
Points in the paint.
Not like us not to win that battle.
Rebounds-see above.
Transition baskets-just not there.
Tough to win with only 3 guns-Harrison, Greene and Sampson.
Click to expand...

What we really need is a PF...(Sanchez). Sampson has proven to me at least that he is really a player that can be our starting SF, he's starting to shoot to range and really play well inside an out. IMO the addition of a PF who can give us more inside both on offense and defense, would be welcome. Sanchez is likely that guy, and Jones hasn't shown yet that he is able to put up PF stats on the glass. Nothing wrong with that, but it might take him longer.

I don't expect Obekpa to be ready yet so I don't expect a ton of offense frm him. Can't ask much more than he's doing already. We're missing our likely starting PF and I think it is re noticeable now. Neither Jones, Sir'Dom nor Amir have shown that they can step into that spot effectively on the glass and scoring-wise. Hope we get Sanchez cleared soon. No doubt he'll start next to Obekpa and Sampson in the frontcourt if and when he does.

Our transition game will be fine. Holy cross tried to stop our transition game. I think we tried to slow our game down a little bit too just to get more work in the half- court. I thought our guys moved their feet better on defense, but still not crisp with switches and assignments.

Addition of Branch will certainly help our backcourt rotation. We have all seen now that Balamou can play. dding another Pg that can play will make us tough to handle depth-wise down the stretch with 4 really good guards.

Bottom line is that it was a win. We looked a lot less tired than prior games, but still have things to work on which I think is understandable. I don't know why some are disappointed that we didn't win by more. I don't expect us to be in post-season form just yet, especially as a team this young.

Most important things we need to work on are:

1) get Sanchez on the court
2) rebounding position
3 defense


The offense will come and we are doing a decent job as is. I've watched a ton of SJU teams that could it score like these guys can. Can't be upset with a double digit win, even if we didn't beat them by 30.
 
Yeah, the rebounding and transition baskets (lack thereof) are mysteries to me. I am hopeful they will come in time. And, the 2 missing guys will do a great deal to lengthen the rotation, and hopefully fill some of these gaps. I still think this will be a really good season (unless we don't get Sanchez cleared). Even then, we will be more than competitive.
 
Sampson is the real deal; reminding me of a smooth Tony Jackson. Jakarr doesn't have Tony's range at this time but appears to have more offensive moves. Was really impressed with his blocking attempts.
We need more offensive rebounds, hence the need for Sanchez. Would like to see Obepka, Sampson and Sanchez in the starting lineup, now that's a Big East frontline.
 
The lack of any plays being called on offense is extremely disappointing.

Swing the ball around for 25 seconds and then go into Isolation mode is not going to win many games. Thinking just because you are the more athletic team that you will win is dangerous.

Great to see the development of Greene and the early progression of Sampson.

But you have an incredible size advantage against a team like Holy Cross but yet we got out scored in the paint (in the first half at least).
 
Sampson is the real deal; reminding me of a smooth Tony Jackson. Jakarr doesn't have Tony's range at this time but appears to have more offensive moves. Was really impressed with his blocking attempts.
We need more offensive rebounds, hence the need for Sanchez. Would like to see Obepka, Sampson and Sanchez in the starting lineup, now that's a Big East frontline.
Click to expand...

Agree Jack. We're feeling the absence of a true PF more than we know. If we had Harkless there, we'd be owning the glass next to Sampson who is doing his share on the boards. I thought we'd have a guy like Jones step up, and while he is solid, especially for an unknown recruit, I think we're desperately missing a starting Big East caliber PF, namely Sanchez. Love guys like Amir and Sir'Dom but we need more size an post savy inside. We have nobody who can score in there right now.

Free Orlando Sanchez!!
 
The lack of any plays being called on offense is extremely disappointing.

Swing the ball around for 25 seconds and then go into Isolation mode is not going to win many games. Thinking just because you are the more athletic team that you will win is dangerous.

Great to see the development of Greene and the early progression of Sampson.

But you have an incredible size advantage against a team like Holy Cross but yet we got out scored in the paint (in the first half at least).
Click to expand...

Fwiw, it's a motion offense, so you're going to see a lot of this style of play, not Princetonian set plays very often. I'm sure more will be added, but it's the style.

We actually didn't have a height advantage. They have as many 6'8-6'9" guys as we do if not more since we are without Sanchez and Gift. I
 
Rebounding is going to be a big problem all year for us--the zone doesn't help at all and neither does Obekpa and Sampson challenging every shot. I absolutely love that they both do that, but when they miss it leaves STJ in poor position to snag the board.

Balamou looks great so far. Best athlete on the floor every game he's in, he hustles his arse off, and he is probably our best guy already with 50/50 balls. He has shown no sign of nerves thus far. This is a kid NBA scouts will be taking note of and keeping tabs on very shortly if they aren't already. We will have a very deep backcourt entering the Big East portion of the schedule, and I don't think many of us expected that.

Sampson can get his shot off at will. It's a pretty unorthodox looking shot, but he can rise above anyone anywhere on the court and get it off virtually uncontested. Good touch, too. He is out of control too much still, but freshmen will be freshmen.

Garrett looks to be struggling a bit of late with the new role. Sampson has relagated him to a clear fourth scoring option and you can see him hesitating a bit when he gets the ball. I think he'll be fine once he gets back into the swing of things.
 
This team is really skinny. Our guards got a little muscle, but Jones only front court guy who's nick name can't be bones. Blocks make up for some boards, but my concern is most BE teams gonna knock our kids around. That makes for a team that gets tired and fouls down the stretch. I hope to hear I got it wrong.
 
What I don't want to see at the end of a close game is having Pointer handling the ball or taking a last second shot, especially since he has no shot and is a weak foul shooter.
 
Is anyone with me in thinking that Sampson should be taking more shots than Harrison?

With opponents having to have to watch Harrison on the perimeter and to some extent Greene as well - the defense can't really help on Sampson. He basically can just spot up and shoot over most defenders, even if there is a guy on him. I am not a believe in Sampson's shooting form, but i'm now a believer in his results from shooting jumpers. His mid-range game is there. I am surprised. It seems that his mid-range shot is better than Harkless's shot. I also like the fact that he doesn't take three's (yet). He seems to know the limitations of his range.

I should add: I think Sampson should only take shots when he's set, going straight up in the air.. don't give him a green light (like Harrison seems to have) to allow him to force it whenever he wants to.

I think Harrison would benefit too - without having to force as many shots up - he'll become a more efficient shooter.

thoughts?
 
The lack of any plays being called on offense is extremely disappointing.

Swing the ball around for 25 seconds and then go into Isolation mode is not going to win many games. Thinking just because you are the more athletic team that you will win is dangerous.

Great to see the development of Greene and the early progression of Sampson.

But you have an incredible size advantage against a team like Holy Cross but yet we got out scored in the paint (in the first half at least).
Click to expand...

Fwiw, it's a motion offense, so you're going to see a lot of this style of play, not Princetonian set plays very often. I'm sure more will be added, but it's the style.

We actually didn't have a height advantage. They have as many 6'8-6'9" guys as we do if not more since we are without Sanchez and Gift. I
Click to expand...

It is deceiving to call that a motion offense simply because scoring opportunities and shots are not created off the motion and movement of the players.

They run a weave to wind down the shot clock. Then they set a one or 2 man pick at the top to free the ball handler.

I do not consider that a motion offense.

If Phil's shots don't fall tonight, we'd be in a jam because the team cannot free any shooters and do not go into the post.

It's really getting annoying to me.
 
My comment in the form of a question is not meant as a criticism, but can anyone provide insight on what we are missing (if anything) with the absence of Dunlap?
 
The lack of any plays being called on offense is extremely disappointing.

Swing the ball around for 25 seconds and then go into Isolation mode is not going to win many games. Thinking just because you are the more athletic team that you will win is dangerous.

Great to see the development of Greene and the early progression of Sampson.

But you have an incredible size advantage against a team like Holy Cross but yet we got out scored in the paint (in the first half at least).
Click to expand...

Fwiw, it's a motion offense, so you're going to see a lot of this style of play, not Princetonian set plays very often. I'm sure more will be added, but it's the style.

We actually didn't have a height advantage. They have as many 6'8-6'9" guys as we do if not more since we are without Sanchez and Gift. I
Click to expand...

It is deceiving to call that a motion offense simply because scoring opportunities and shots are not created off the motion and movement of the players.

They run a weave to wind down the shot clock. Then they set a one or 2 man pick at the top to free the ball handler.

I do not consider that a motion offense.

If Phil's shots don't fall tonight, we'd be in a jam because the team cannot free any shooters and do not go into the post.

It's really getting annoying to me.
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of the half court offense yet either... I'm used to it after all these years... but who knows, maybe one of these I'll show up to one of these games and be surprised.
 
He didnt realy score any points but I thought Felix had a real good game. Not sure of his stat line but just seemed like he did a lot of things and his athleticism really impresses me. Man if he was 4 inches taller
 
Felix has a great motor and can get to higher gears than any other player on our team IMO. His effort is always there and he's all over the place. His offense is also way more polished than I expected.
 
Our guards do not D up well at all. My guy Phil Greene--love him--but he has to do a better job stayin in front of his man. It probably won't be long before Balamou becomes the best defensive option we have. I though Dom would have come back a manchild in this area, but he hasn't.
 
The lack of any plays being called on offense is extremely disappointing.

Swing the ball around for 25 seconds and then go into Isolation mode is not going to win many games. Thinking just because you are the more athletic team that you will win is dangerous.

Great to see the development of Greene and the early progression of Sampson.

But you have an incredible size advantage against a team like Holy Cross but yet we got out scored in the paint (in the first half at least).
Click to expand...

Fwiw, it's a motion offense, so you're going to see a lot of this style of play, not Princetonian set plays very often. I'm sure more will be added, but it's the style.

We actually didn't have a height advantage. They have as many 6'8-6'9" guys as we do if not more since we are without Sanchez and Gift. I
Click to expand...

It is deceiving to call that a motion offense simply because scoring opportunities and shots are not created off the motion and movement of the players.

They run a weave to wind down the shot clock. Then they set a one or 2 man pick at the top to free the ball handler.

I do not consider that a motion offense.

If Phil's shots don't fall tonight, we'd be in a jam because the team cannot free any shooters and do not go into the post.

It's really getting annoying to me.
Click to expand...

The offense is not much different frm what our NCAA team ran 2 years ago. There are differences now, but a lot of that i think is probably due to our execution. We don't have a low post scorer and our ball reversal has been slow and weak. Those two factors along can cause us to stall on offense. We have plenty of guys setting picks, but the guys rolling are not viable options to score down low so they are not drawing defenders. It ends up being jumbled a bit until we get smoother.

Looking at this whole thing, I think we are first and foremost hurt by not having a bonafide PF down low. Without Sanchez AND Gift, it is really a problem. I'm starting to think that we might have had a chance to be undefeated at this point if we had not chose to redshirt Gift, beause he can really board and is certainly at least a threat to score high percentage shots down low.

To be fair, I don't think Steve Lavin thought it was going to be this much if a problem and the we' "make up" for it between Dom, Amir and Jones, but we really have not. If we get Sanchez soon, then the calculated risk will be fine and probably worth it. If we aren't, then we better consider not redshirting Gift because as of now our most glaring weakness is a bonafide Big East PF, and we have 2 sitting on the bench. At this point, we really could/can use Gift and I hope redshirting him is really worth it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top