Providence Game

[sirvoo]

That first half of basketball was the hungriest most dogged effort I have seen in awhile. It's like all these guys checked their egos out the door and forgot how good they were supposed to be. We played with a chip on our shoulder.

Almost every game this year we came out flat. I can only guess that's cause these kids were all highly touted out of hs. We step onto the floor thinking that our talent is so much better that a win is going to come our way.

Really proud of that first half effort. That half had the look of a top 15 team easily. Lav shortened the rotation which I've been clamoring for. Unfortunately I'm not a coach so maybe I was wrong. Maybe it's a catch 22. Cause as good as we played in that first half with basically a 6-man rotation, we were a bit gassed in the 2nd half.

I'm cautiously optimistic moving forward. Every game we win as underdogs makes up for the difficult losses we suffered earlier this season. I said the next 2 games were must-win and would at least put us on the fringe of bubble talk. Something tells me we will be chewing off our nails on selection Sunday.

 

[beast of the east]

Perhaps for this team, better than a 25 point blowout, was that Providence came back with a vengeance. The ability to hold them off in an away game, may prove more valuable in terms of a learning experience. The biggest problem so far has been the inability to close out games. Here we regrouped and held off Providence, who could easily have overtaken and beaten us.

 

[bobo]

Brandon Tierney ‏@BrandonTierney
#sjubb officially out of the grave and the rest of the league knows it. Next: Creighton Sunday at MSG.

 

[doodyny33]

If we win out, we are in.

Bingo! Nothing else needs to be said.

Still lots of work ahead, though.

Not to sound cliche, but the team just needs to take it game by game. They dug themselves in a hole, but have had a really good 6 game stretch here. Sunday will be a tough game, but (a) it's in our building (b) the team should have some confidence after badly outplaying Creighton in the 2nd half of their first meeting.

They have virtually no margin for error (might be able to lose 1 more game), but the team has been busting its ass out there. I have a feeling more good results are coming over the next month.

 

[panther2]

Great game tonight. I'm officially pumped for Sunday. Just bought tickets and I'm bringing my wife to her first STJ game. She watched Creighton crush Villanova with me, so when I told her we had Creighton at home, she decided she had to come and cheer us on!

C'MON JOHNNIES. MY WIFE MAY ACTUALLY STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT ME WATCHING EVERY GAME IF YOU BEAT CREIGHTON!!!

I like this. My wife will go to a game at the Garden but only if we have dinner in the city before or after the game, lol.

 

[thetux1]

Yea I saw that to , I think he is back to red shirting that's if your allowed to do that . Anyone have any info on Felix??

Supposedly trying to get a redshirt for having to go back to Africa

They must have good reason to think he'll get it between the injury and his mother's illness. Honestly, I'd be shocked if he was granted the redshirt.

I don't expect the NCAA to ever do us any favors

 

[terrificboss]

Unbelievable 1st half obviously a tough 2nd half. D'Angelo seemed to make all the FT's. We held them off.
A Win is a Win. It's a lot better than a moral victory.
Hope we keep up!!

 

[MarkRedman]

http://nypost.com/2014/02/04/st-johns-tops-providence-as-teams-chemistry-builds/

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/st-john-rides-best-season-win-providence-article-1.1602411

 

[paultzman]

Hopefully Felix's buddy Diallo was watching last night. His former coach at OSNA was;

@EJack_: Congrats to former OSNA player @obekpa12 on his 10 pt 5 rb and 3 blks last night in @StJohnsBBall 86-76 win over Providence last night

 

[westchesterjoe]

First off, ALL wins are great for this team or, any St JOHN'S team

Next, kudos to DLO because his FT 'S sealed the win. He was 4-15 though and no one said that. but, he did shine in prime time.

Third, BE officiating is the worst I've seen in years.. Where did they get these guys? Moving Screens have not been called all year. Creighton, PC, etc

Fourth,the way I saw it and I haven't seen it twice, PC had given up and it wasn't a aggresive last defense , despite the posters who saw it differently. Let's agree it is a debatable point at least.
Pointer should have cradled the ball, as most kids do as final whistle approaches. His move to the hoop to dunk was, while legal, classless. De ROSIERS on PC was justified in putting him in the seats.

Dom's rep is well earned. It's not BB

 

[SJU1512]

Great win. Agree with the sentiment that although there were a lot of problems with the way we approached the 2nd half, fighting off that kind of rally from Providence, on the road, in a game that had some heat both ways, shows serious guts. We have finally increased the pace, and nobody is benefity from it more than Sampson and Jordan. Both seem unstoppable in transtion and are beaming with confidence in the half-court as a result. Fun to watch.

If we could eliminate (1) out of bounds plays for both teams, and (2) the time Phil Greene spends on the court, we'd have won the game by 30, as we had to be at least -20 in those situations. In all seriousness, if we are just going to throw the ball to halfcourt on every OOB play, we have to at least make sure to take away the opposition's primary option on their OOB plays. We gave Providence exactly what they wanted 4-5 times last night and that could be the difference in closer games. Small item that really needs to be tightened up.

Can't wait for Sunday.

 

[paultzman]

Article and cross reference to this site, under what SJU fans are saying;

http://friarbasketball.com/2014/02/05/friar-starting-five-wednesday-edition-2/

 

[beast of the east]

Great win. Agree with the sentiment that although there were a lot of problems with the way we approached the 2nd half, fighting off that kind of rally from Providence, on the road, in a game that had some heat both ways, shows serious guts. We have finally increased the pace, and nobody is benefity from it more than Sampson and Jordan. Both seem unstoppable in transtion and are beaming with confidence in the half-court as a result. Fun to watch.

If we could eliminate (1) out of bounds plays for both teams, and (2) the time Phil Greene spends on the court, we'd have won the game by 30, as we had to be at least -20 in those situations. In all seriousness, if we are just going to throw the ball to halfcourt on every OOB play, we have to at least make sure to take away the opposition's primary option on their OOB plays. We gave Providence exactly what they wanted 4-5 times last night and that could be the difference in closer games. Small item that really needs to be tightened up.

Can't wait for Sunday.

In terms of the second half, I try not to be too analytical. How many teams consistently are able to sustain two halves of great basketball? Providence is a good team, on a decent roll, and I expected they'd have something to say about the outcome before it was over. They had a great second half run, because good teams don't fold. They ran out of steam, we firmed up - Sampson hit a huge jumper from the right baseline off a pretty dish from Jordan, and we stopped the bleeding. Providence did a really nice job of managing the clock in the last two minutes, making an impossible task look doable at times.

 

[gregbodkin]

Great game tonight. I'm officially pumped for Sunday. Just bought tickets and I'm bringing my wife to her first STJ game. She watched Creighton crush Villanova with me, so when I told her we had Creighton at home, she decided she had to come and cheer us on!

C'MON JOHNNIES. MY WIFE MAY ACTUALLY STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT ME WATCHING EVERY GAME IF YOU BEAT CREIGHTON!!!

I like this. My wife will go to a game at the Garden but only if we have dinner in the city before or after the game, lol.

My wife only went to one game against Duke and we got engaged at center court. After that she does not complain when I watch a game. When I go to the game with my friend Frank, she just says " I know you guys. Just don't get too drunk and get home safely." I love my wife!

 

[beast of the east]

Great game tonight. I'm officially pumped for Sunday. Just bought tickets and I'm bringing my wife to her first STJ game. She watched Creighton crush Villanova with me, so when I told her we had Creighton at home, she decided she had to come and cheer us on!

C'MON JOHNNIES. MY WIFE MAY ACTUALLY STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT ME WATCHING EVERY GAME IF YOU BEAT CREIGHTON!!!

I like this. My wife will go to a game at the Garden but only if we have dinner in the city before or after the game, lol.

My wife only went to one game against Duke and we got engaged at center court. After that she does not complain when I watch a game. When I go to the game with my friend Frank, she just says " I know you guys. Just don't get too drunk and get home safely." I love my wife!

Sheet. Were you in 108 near the aisle on Saturday?

 

[simplyred]

Great game tonight. I'm officially pumped for Sunday. Just bought tickets and I'm bringing my wife to her first STJ game. She watched Creighton crush Villanova with me, so when I told her we had Creighton at home, she decided she had to come and cheer us on!

C'MON JOHNNIES. MY WIFE MAY ACTUALLY STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT ME WATCHING EVERY GAME IF YOU BEAT CREIGHTON!!!

I like this. My wife will go to a game at the Garden but only if we have dinner in the city before or after the game, lol.

If you want to save some mone, tell her you'll have dinner after the game. Then use the impending snow storm as a reason to get out of the City asap.

 

[gregbodkin]

Great game tonight. I'm officially pumped for Sunday. Just bought tickets and I'm bringing my wife to her first STJ game. She watched Creighton crush Villanova with me, so when I told her we had Creighton at home, she decided she had to come and cheer us on!

C'MON JOHNNIES. MY WIFE MAY ACTUALLY STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT ME WATCHING EVERY GAME IF YOU BEAT CREIGHTON!!!

I like this. My wife will go to a game at the Garden but only if we have dinner in the city before or after the game, lol.

My wife only went to one game against Duke and we got engaged at center court. After that she does not complain when I watch a game. When I go to the game with my friend Frank, she just says " I know you guys. Just don't get too drunk and get home safely." I love my wife!

Sheet. Were you in 108 near the aisle on Saturday?

Yes, that was me.

 

[beast of the east]

You moved into my row (16) two one seat away from me after a couple arrived late. You were on the aisle, I was next to your friend. I think we spoke the prior game. My wife was with me this week.

 

[gregbodkin]

You moved into my row (16) two one seat away from me after a couple arrived late. You were on the aisle, I was next to your friend. I think we spoke the prior game. My wife was with me this week.

Sorry for the delayed reply. I had to run out for a few minutes. My real seats are row 17, seats 8 & 9, but I end up roaming around the area so as to not inconvenience other fans while trying to get to my seats. Seasons tix for about 20 years now. I'll be there on Sunday. Say "Hi!" If you see me.
On another subject, the tennis analogies are just fine. I play tennis as well. I understand.

 

[SJU1512]

Great win. Agree with the sentiment that although there were a lot of problems with the way we approached the 2nd half, fighting off that kind of rally from Providence, on the road, in a game that had some heat both ways, shows serious guts. We have finally increased the pace, and nobody is benefity from it more than Sampson and Jordan. Both seem unstoppable in transtion and are beaming with confidence in the half-court as a result. Fun to watch.

If we could eliminate (1) out of bounds plays for both teams, and (2) the time Phil Greene spends on the court, we'd have won the game by 30, as we had to be at least -20 in those situations. In all seriousness, if we are just going to throw the ball to halfcourt on every OOB play, we have to at least make sure to take away the opposition's primary option on their OOB plays. We gave Providence exactly what they wanted 4-5 times last night and that could be the difference in closer games. Small item that really needs to be tightened up.

Can't wait for Sunday.

In terms of the second half, I try not to be too analytical. How many teams consistently are able to sustain two halves of great basketball? Providence is a good team, on a decent roll, and I expected they'd have something to say about the outcome before it was over. They had a great second half run, because good teams don't fold. They ran out of steam, we firmed up - Sampson hit a huge jumper from the right baseline off a pretty dish from Jordan, and we stopped the bleeding. Providence did a really nice job of managing the clock in the last two minutes, making an impossible task look doable at times.

You make a terrific point and I comletely agree. The single most important takeaway from the second half is what you pointed out: a good Providence team made a run at home, and we held them off for a critical win.

But if I was going to slice it more finely I would make this one distinction: I didn't have an issue with Providence making a run at us (as you say, that's going to happen), but I didn't like us falling quasi-trap to the dredded "go away from what got you the lead in the first place". We got conservative, stopped pressing, and tried to milk a lead between the 16 and 8 minute timeouts. That resulted in 20 points in the first 18:17 of the 2nd half until we started making free throws, and it almost cost us the game.

I don't really agree with any team playing more conservtively with a lead (how many times have we seen it cost a game?), but we definitely aren't built to play that way. We have to go until the game is completely wrapped up.

To Lav's credit, he didn't wait for the 8 minute TV timeout, he called one of his own, got D'Angelo back in the game, and started to have us be the aggresor again at 69-63 with 8:12 to play and it never got closer than that.