Yes, Dunlap's fighting for rebounds was nice to see.
Quinnipiac, Sat., Nov. 9, 2p, FS-2
- Thread starter Knight
- Start date
I only got there 20 minutes before, and there was no problem. Looks like they opened up 2 or 3 more lines on each side.
Good game to learn some lessons. Perimeter D, especially handling screens and communication gotta improve. I’m sure it will.
Richmond is actually very selfless. Feeds others…sometimes when he should drive
I am in the minority (though I suspect Pitino may be with me in the group) but I think the team looked like it needs a lot of work yesterday.
Clearly some of that is due to the first game of the 3-guard lineup, in which Richmond decided to minimize his role to help Smith acclimate. Smith is a tough kid and he's fast, but there were also some mistakes (maybe that acclimation, maybe rust, maybe just playing too fast) that I'd like to see go away. Against major comp we will need more out of Richmond (and I think we will get it). Simeon (this year's LMF favorite) is terrific and finds his role regardless of who he's on the floor with and who has the ball.
But overall, the 3-guard lineup needs more work and it's going get late early after Wednesday.
The other problem with the 3-guard lineup is we got killed on the boards. Zuby took the blame for that but he didn't get any help since everyone else was looking to leak out and go the other way. Iwuchuckwu is very interesting but needs to be more physically assertive. He is an absolute menace defending the in-bounds though. Prey seems more like a stretch 4 to me but it looks like there's potential there. I can see why Pitino may feel he has to play some Zuby at the 4.
RJ remains RJ - tremendous ability and athleticism, still does not make smart plays and is far too slow to give up the ball. If you could put Kadary's brain in RJ's body what a player that would be.
Dunlap obviously played well and sparked the team, but I will need to see that against teams other than Quinnipiac and I think so will Pitino. But it is good to know that you can put him in the game and he will be a positive contributor - even if he isn't likely to be a 20 PPG guy he will give you hustle, some boards, and some shooting.
The defense was atrocious (better in the second half) and I am now in my 34th year of season ticket holding without St John's having a reliable in-bounds play. It must be the water, you would think that at least ONE of our many coaches would have had one, but no.
Liotopoulos took one shot but unless it was a fluke (and per reputation it isn't), he is one smooth shooter.
Glover looked like a mini-RJ Luis in his time on the court from a court-awareness standpoint. Interestingly from the RJ-as-pterodactyl standpoint Ruben Prey is a ringer for him (plus a few inches).
That's my ten cents - I think this team needs to practice hard this week and to try to improve cohesion vs. Wagner or it is going to struggle in the slate of games that comes after that. This is what happens in the world of "9 new guys every year" I guess.
Clearly some of that is due to the first game of the 3-guard lineup, in which Richmond decided to minimize his role to help Smith acclimate. Smith is a tough kid and he's fast, but there were also some mistakes (maybe that acclimation, maybe rust, maybe just playing too fast) that I'd like to see go away. Against major comp we will need more out of Richmond (and I think we will get it). Simeon (this year's LMF favorite) is terrific and finds his role regardless of who he's on the floor with and who has the ball.
But overall, the 3-guard lineup needs more work and it's going get late early after Wednesday.
The other problem with the 3-guard lineup is we got killed on the boards. Zuby took the blame for that but he didn't get any help since everyone else was looking to leak out and go the other way. Iwuchuckwu is very interesting but needs to be more physically assertive. He is an absolute menace defending the in-bounds though. Prey seems more like a stretch 4 to me but it looks like there's potential there. I can see why Pitino may feel he has to play some Zuby at the 4.
RJ remains RJ - tremendous ability and athleticism, still does not make smart plays and is far too slow to give up the ball. If you could put Kadary's brain in RJ's body what a player that would be.
Dunlap obviously played well and sparked the team, but I will need to see that against teams other than Quinnipiac and I think so will Pitino. But it is good to know that you can put him in the game and he will be a positive contributor - even if he isn't likely to be a 20 PPG guy he will give you hustle, some boards, and some shooting.
The defense was atrocious (better in the second half) and I am now in my 34th year of season ticket holding without St John's having a reliable in-bounds play. It must be the water, you would think that at least ONE of our many coaches would have had one, but no.
Liotopoulos took one shot but unless it was a fluke (and per reputation it isn't), he is one smooth shooter.
Glover looked like a mini-RJ Luis in his time on the court from a court-awareness standpoint. Interestingly from the RJ-as-pterodactyl standpoint Ruben Prey is a ringer for him (plus a few inches).
That's my ten cents - I think this team needs to practice hard this week and to try to improve cohesion vs. Wagner or it is going to struggle in the slate of games that comes after that. This is what happens in the world of "9 new guys every year" I guess.
Before the game I heard half the team wasn't feeling well. To Khadary"s credit, he didnttry to pad his stats when the game was out of reach. Good for him.
Brady played a near perfect game. I don't think it's a coincidence that Pitino has been generous with his minutes in valuing his spacing, defensive effort, passing, and decisions. His confidence was sky high in the second half and his play wasn't a fluke. Even scorching hot he didn't force any shots.
I don't care what his plus/minus was, Devon Smith can play better and we haven't seen the best of him yet.
Luis had a bunch of offensive rebounds and putbacks. In any given play he might do two or three amazing things with the ball in his hands. He is an artist, take the good with the bad and hope the bad drcisions diminish as he grows. Already far more good than bad.
Zuby gotta realize his pt is based on rebounds and defense. Vince is hungry and bigger and is pushing Zuby to be better.
Not having Aaron for more than a cameo hurts. He's that good.
Wilch is getting better and better and his play is forcing 3 guard configs.
Lots more. Nice second half against a pretty well coached B team.
Nice to see Tommy Pecora from Queens Village in the building. Queens guys always welcomed home.
RJ played an excellent game imho. I can easily see him winding up as our leading scorer and leading rebounder. Yes, he makes some plays that are cringeworthy but he is one of those guys where you take the good with the bad. His effort on the boards is outstanding. I think Smith is going to be a real pain for opponents in league play; he is unbelievably quick and never gives up on a play.
Zuby needs to rebound better or he will lose minutes to Vince & Prey.
Kadary is a very unselfish player and love his game except for his outside shot which still doesn't look good. Brady & Wilch will make us proud this year.
Zuby needs to rebound better or he will lose minutes to Vince & Prey.
Kadary is a very unselfish player and love his game except for his outside shot which still doesn't look good. Brady & Wilch will make us proud this year.
The only thing that drives me crazy so far with this team is the several times a game that Luis is playing 1 on 5 from end to end with blinders on. It's nit constant but it's just so blatant it is amplified for me. If he tightens that up just a bit, then I'd probably like him game so much more.
I know your point and agree but i kinda like watching him shake 4 guys for an easy layup. His first half end to end drive was a thing of beauty.
Clearly our most talented player. Coach will reign in his 1 on 4 tendencies imho but his effort on the offensive boards is beautiful to watch.
SJUDave
Well-known member
A tale of two halves, St. John’s flirted with disaster in the first 20 minutes. Then, Rick Pitino pushed the right buttons at half time and the Red Storm came out firing on all cylinders and dominated the 2nd half. Kevin Connelly from StormThePaint joins Frank and I as we discuss Brady Dunlap’s career high, RJ Luis’ big 24-13 night, Vince Iwuchukwu’s performance and more
SJUDave
Well-known member
this was really well put together - fun to watch
The team looked awful the first half — not unexpected so early, but disappointing.
Glover was bad. Wouldn’t have been a big deal if I didn’t have St. John’s -20
. But up 23, he was the last guy I wanted to touch the ball. It was terrifying…pushing the ball with absolutely no plan. Maybe he gets it going in conference play, but I think we can safely rule out him hitting the ground running.
RJ was terrific. He played inspired and hustled more than everyone else combined…especially on the glass. He made an effort to fit into the offense and get others involved.
Brady was obviously very good. When he rushes his shot, it’s a not a good look at this point in his career…possibly just the echoes from last year.
Prey had a great drive that shows his potential when he gets it going. What a weapon from a 5.
Vince was better than Zuby on the glass. He’s the most ground based 7’1 center I’ve ever seen. Some decent moves on offense. He will be needed.
Smith is constant chaos. He must drive Pitino nuts, but he’s also the only guy that can play 100% Pitino style when he’s on.
Zuby second straight quiet stats night but was super active and looks good from on the perimeter on both ends. He’s a bad defensive rebounder and that area will need serious work. Also 0 offensive rebounds can’t happen. Full stop.
The pressure looked good. I had been afraid with what I’ve seen thus far, since I believe the defense will determine how far we go. I feel much better after this game.
Glover was bad. Wouldn’t have been a big deal if I didn’t have St. John’s -20
. But up 23, he was the last guy I wanted to touch the ball. It was terrifying…pushing the ball with absolutely no plan. Maybe he gets it going in conference play, but I think we can safely rule out him hitting the ground running.RJ was terrific. He played inspired and hustled more than everyone else combined…especially on the glass. He made an effort to fit into the offense and get others involved.
Brady was obviously very good. When he rushes his shot, it’s a not a good look at this point in his career…possibly just the echoes from last year.
Prey had a great drive that shows his potential when he gets it going. What a weapon from a 5.
Vince was better than Zuby on the glass. He’s the most ground based 7’1 center I’ve ever seen. Some decent moves on offense. He will be needed.
Smith is constant chaos. He must drive Pitino nuts, but he’s also the only guy that can play 100% Pitino style when he’s on.
Zuby second straight quiet stats night but was super active and looks good from on the perimeter on both ends. He’s a bad defensive rebounder and that area will need serious work. Also 0 offensive rebounds can’t happen. Full stop.
The pressure looked good. I had been afraid with what I’ve seen thus far, since I believe the defense will determine how far we go. I feel much better after this game.
Site was down during this game so didn’t get the chance to discuss the day of - but honestly this one mildly concerned me.
Pitino plays the long game. He develops his team throughout the course of the season. So much so that I have to keep reminding myself that we are far from a finished product even though we have a handful of experienced guys.
However, we all know that our non conference results will be scrutinized come March. We can't come up empty in these games against NM/KState/Baylor etc. - our opportunities to pick up big wins in BE play may be limited this year based on what I have seen around the league thus far
I am not hitting the panic button or anything like that, I just did not like what I saw from us defensively in this game. We were getting blown by, quite a bit... it started to look like last season all over again. You don't want to see guys getting consistently beat off the dribble against Quinnipiac, and no disrespect to them they played a pretty good game and look decent. I was getting some slight flashbacks to the Michigan game last year where it felt like all 5 guys were playing defense on their own, meaning we didn't feel like a "unit".
Maybe this is just par for the course in the portal era of college basketball, chemistry takes time, but it is troubling when you already know the committee won't be doing you any favors when the selection process comes around. We need to be better against Wagner and then continue that into our bigger games.
Pitino plays the long game. He develops his team throughout the course of the season. So much so that I have to keep reminding myself that we are far from a finished product even though we have a handful of experienced guys.
However, we all know that our non conference results will be scrutinized come March. We can't come up empty in these games against NM/KState/Baylor etc. - our opportunities to pick up big wins in BE play may be limited this year based on what I have seen around the league thus far
I am not hitting the panic button or anything like that, I just did not like what I saw from us defensively in this game. We were getting blown by, quite a bit... it started to look like last season all over again. You don't want to see guys getting consistently beat off the dribble against Quinnipiac, and no disrespect to them they played a pretty good game and look decent. I was getting some slight flashbacks to the Michigan game last year where it felt like all 5 guys were playing defense on their own, meaning we didn't feel like a "unit".
Maybe this is just par for the course in the portal era of college basketball, chemistry takes time, but it is troubling when you already know the committee won't be doing you any favors when the selection process comes around. We need to be better against Wagner and then continue that into our bigger games.
He’s also not small. And was directing upperclassmen around on defense in his first college game. Our freshmen might be our biggest recruits for next season.