Random thoughts based on 120 minutes

[Ray Morgan]

1. If D Lo sticks around, he will be an All American by his senior season.
2. If Bourgault can find a barber from the 80's, he can pass for Ron Rowan. Just what the doctor ordered. We need a three point shooter.
3. With our length and athleticism, we really should rebound better.
4. D Lo's offense very similar to Hardy. Clutch player, handles pressure well, is more scorer than shooter. Brings more to the table than Hardy. I like the way he plays the passing lanes, and can score off the dribble. Does a lot without major quickness or hops.
5. More enthused about the program's long term prospects than in many years. The reason the Murray State loss is bothersome is because, for the first time in a long time, we look like the better team out there every game.
6. With a whopping 10% of the season gone, there is no need to panic before you even buy your Thanksgiving turkey.
7. Coach will have to find about 50 minutes of playing time for the combination of Sanchez, Bourgault and Branch. Adding in Balamou's impressive minutes, if I were Greene, I would be looking over my shoulder.
8. Great to see Coach's wife at the games. Doesn't look like someone who hates NY and wants to move back to Cali to me.
9. There is not be a single potential recruit that will give a hoot that we lost to Murray State. They will continue to come because SJU has a great coaching staff and this is the mecca. In two seasons, Lavin sends two players to the NBA. There will be many more.

 

[doodyny33]

They need Greene to play more like he did in game on. Really need that production out of him.

But it can't be overstated how badly STJ needs another ballhandler out there. Branch will be huge when he becomes eligible in December.

 

[Jnaw17]

1. If D Lo sticks around, he will be an All American by his senior season.
2. If Bourgault can find a barber from the 80's, he can pass for Ron Rowan. Just what the doctor ordered. We need a three point shooter.
3. With our length and athleticism, we really should rebound better.
4. D Lo's offense very similar to Hardy. Clutch player, handles pressure well, is more scorer than shooter. Brings more to the table than Hardy. I like the way he plays the passing lanes, and can score off the dribble. Does a lot without major quickness or hops.
5. More enthused about the program's long term prospects than in many years. The reason the Murray State loss is bothersome is because, for the first time in a long time, we look like the better team out there every game.
6. With a whopping 10% of the season gone, there is no need to panic before you even buy your Thanksgiving turkey.
7. Coach will have to find about 50 minutes of playing time for the combination of Sanchez, Bourgault and Branch. Adding in Balamou's impressive minutes, if I were Greene, I would be looking over my shoulder.
8. Great to see Coach's wife at the games. Doesn't look like someone who hates NY and wants to move back to Cali to me.
9. There is not be a single potential recruit that will give a hoot that we lost to Murray State. They will continue to come because SJU has a great coaching staff and this is the mecca. In two seasons, Lavin sends two players to the NBA. There will be many more.

Agree with all your comments. Regarding rebounding, we know it's a lack if boxing out that's hurting us. I expect they'll be working on that in practice until they get its right. If we're going to have problems, at least have fixable ones. We'll fix our boxing out techniques which should fix the rebounding issue.

 

[LINY89]

We also need to learn to step on a team's throat when we are clearly dominating them. What was it 32-19 at one point? In all honesty Murray State looked just like Charleston in terms of level of competition save for maybe 5 minutes in the entire game. The difference was they threw up prayers and they landed every one when the game was on the line. If they missed just a few of those seemingly auto 3's we take the win there.

This team needs a signature win. Sure Detroit is good and Charleston is scrappy, but those are not signature wins. This game reminded me of last year vs. A&M, Zona, and Duke. All great teams that we easily could have won against, but just let it slip away. We missed those chances and we didn't get a signature win until very late with Notre Dame. It would be a nice start to take down Baylor on Sunday.

 

[Ray Morgan]

We also need to learn to step on a team's throat when we are clearly dominating them. What was it 32-19 at one point? In all honesty Murray State looked just like Charleston in terms of level of competition save for maybe 5 minutes in the entire game. The difference was they threw up prayers and they landed every one when the game was on the line. If they missed just a few of those seemingly auto 3's we take the win there.

This team needs a signature win. Sure Detroit is good and Charleston is scrappy, but those are not signature wins. This game reminded me of last year vs. A&M, Zona, and Duke. All great teams that we easily could have won against, but just let it slip away. We missed those chances and we didn't get a signature win until very late with Notre Dame. It would be a nice start to take down Baylor on Sunday.

Those three's they hit weren't prayers. They were wide open threes hit by a team that can shoot threes. You have been focusing too much on SJU basketball, where hitting the three looks as difficult as knocking down the three pins with one throw at the St. Luke's Bazaar. Worrying about the lack of a signature win this early is like wondering why Tiger didn't win a major 3 tournaments into his career. It will come. By next season, other teams will be looking to beat us as their signature win. Patience. Otherwise you will get ulcers at a young age.

 

[LINY89]

That's assuming this team is going to be one of the best in the nation as Tiger was. That's quite a leap. Until it happens I'll have my reservations. And not to be a wise guy just FYI, stomach ulcers actually aren't caused by stress...they are caused by bacteria. I thought that was interesting.

 

[Ray Morgan]

That's assuming this team is going to be one of the best in the nation as Tiger was. That's quite a leap. Until it happens I'll have my reservations. And not to be a wise guy just FYI, stomach ulcers actually aren't caused by stress...they are caused by bacteria. I thought that was interesting.

Ulcers not caused by stress? That is an interesting side note. OK. Have patience or you will get chronic fatigue syndrome. No one knows what causes that, so it might as well be stress.

 

[Della9250]

Defensive rebounding has been pretty good. The offensive rebounding is horrible. Part of it is some of the rushed shots they take but there are far too many rebounds on the offensive end of the floor where no one is even in position to potentially make a move to grab it.

 

[tom in salem]

Obekpa gives us more than I thought he would.
Addition of Branch will be a bigger difference than I expected.
Sampson is the goods.
We'll go as far as the jucos can take us.
They should provide what's obviously missing.
Very excited to see this team with a 10 man rotation in transition, the one phase we have yet to implement, due to to the current lack of depth.
Great to have coach back.

 

[sjc88]

My random thought based on 120 minutes is that we should have and could have been 3-0 instead of 2-1. We clearly have the talent and hopefully will soon have the depth necessary to win games consistently. My biggest concern was not being able to close the deal when we had Murray State back on their heels (12-13 point lead). I think with a little more playing time together, working Bourgault in as a shooter, getting Branch in the backcourt and hopefully some of Sanchez' experience as a JUCO will put us over the top as a contender.

 

[SJUalum98]

I completely disagree about D'Angelo bringing more to the table than Hardy. For any advantage he has in his shooting range/ability, he lacks in ball handling and decision making. I'm not sold on passing the torch to D'Angelo.

My Obersvations:
-Obekpa is the real deal. Completely changes the oppositions game plan. You can just see the hesitation when teams are in the lane. I honestly hope he keeps getting those early goaltends like Patrick Ewing to give them something to think about.

-Lavin needs to use the depth that he has. No need to run Phil 40 minutes against Detroit, Amir 40 minutes against CoC and D'Angelo 40 minutes the past 2 games.

-Jakarr should be able to dominate inside if he's allowed to. No more talk of transitioning him to SF. Let him board, block and get put backs down low. He should be playing from 15 feet and down. And I feel if he comes back next year, he will dominate the Big East with the departure of those other teams.

-Amir has impressed me the most out of the returning Sophs. I honestly thought he'd be the odd man out this year. I did not believe in him last year and he has proven me completely wrong. I feel he has been the most consistently composed player for us. Last year all I saw him do was barrel into the lane. Love his game.

-I think Phil Greene can be one of the best PGs in the Big East as a Senior. I truly believe that. Just my gut feeling from watching how confident he is.

 

[Section3]

Defensive rebounding has been pretty good. The offensive rebounding is horrible. Part of it is some of the rushed shots they take but there are far too many rebounds on the offensive end of the floor where no one is even in position to potentially make a move to grab it.

You hit it on head with your reference to rushed shots...we looked like the better team yeserday, had them down and could have put them to sleep had we been more patient and used our athleticism to get to the hoop for high % shots...that will come with coaching and experience...

we've all seen games like this where you just see it coming...big lead that came easy, ill advised shots followed by the predictable comeback...had to listen to 2nd half on radio and kept turning it off because i could just sense it (LOL).

in any event, very positive about this team...if they played Murray State again (in a month or so), very confident result would be different...probably be different if it was tomorrow

 

[newsman13]

i'm not sold that this will be a better team next year. it all depends on who's staying. we would have won last night's game had harkless stayed.

 

[SJUalum98]

i'm not sold that this will be a better team next year. it all depends on who's staying. we would have won last night's game had harkless stayed.

What would Harkless have done, lol?

He's gone. Time to move on. Moe was very skilled as a freshman. But he didn't have that killer instinct at times at the end of games.

No guarantee we would've won with him. Especially in the 3rd game of the season.

 

[Ray Morgan]

I completely disagree about D'Angelo bringing more to the table than Hardy. For any advantage he has in his shooting range/ability, he lacks in ball handling and decision making. I'm not sold on passing the torch to D'Angelo.

-I think Phil Greene can be one of the best PGs in the Big East as a Senior. I truly believe that. Just my gut feeling from watching how confident he is.

Comparing Hardy as a senior, with a year of Juco and a year of Big East play under his belt with D Lo, 3 games beyond his freshman year, is like comparing apples to oranges. The only one who is capable of doing that is the Produce Manager at Waldbaum's. D Lo's freshman season was comparable to Hardy's senior year, with Hardy's main edge being field goal %. As for Greene, too much lateral dribbling yesterday for my liking. A lot of dribbling and spin moves leading to him being in the same place he started. He's the guy I'm less convinced about. If Branch is for real, Greene will be seeing less minutes.

 

[usguard]

1. If D Lo sticks around, he will be an All American by his senior season.
2. If Bourgault can find a barber from the 80's, he can pass for Ron Rowan. Just what the doctor ordered. We need a three point shooter.
3. With our length and athleticism, we really should rebound better.
4. D Lo's offense very similar to Hardy. Clutch player, handles pressure well, is more scorer than shooter. Brings more to the table than Hardy. I like the way he plays the passing lanes, and can score off the dribble. Does a lot without major quickness or hops.
5. More enthused about the program's long term prospects than in many years. The reason the Murray State loss is bothersome is because, for the first time in a long time, we look like the better team out there every game.
6. With a whopping 10% of the season gone, there is no need to panic before you even buy your Thanksgiving turkey.
7. Coach will have to find about 50 minutes of playing time for the combination of Sanchez, Bourgault and Branch. Adding in Balamou's impressive minutes, if I were Greene, I would be looking over my shoulder.
8. Great to see Coach's wife at the games. Doesn't look like someone who hates NY and wants to move back to Cali to me.
9. There is not be a single potential recruit that will give a hoot that we lost to Murray State. They will continue to come because SJU has a great coaching staff and this is the mecca. In two seasons, Lavin sends two players to the NBA. There will be many more.

Agree with all your comments. Regarding rebounding, we know it's a lack if boxing out that's hurting us. I expect they'll be working on that in practice until they get its right. If we're going to have problems, at least have fixable ones. We'll fix our boxing out techniques which should fix the rebounding issue.

eally expect
size and quickness is nice but we could use some beef also At this pt Dlo is not a Hardy doesnt shoot nearly as well and decisons need to be better Hope he keep improving Thought Jones would have made a statement I know they are freshman but was really expecting them to win this one

 

[logen]

I completely disagree about D'Angelo bringing more to the table than Hardy. For any advantage he has in his shooting range/ability, he lacks in ball handling and decision making. I'm not sold on passing the torch to D'Angelo.

My Obersvations:
-Obekpa is the real deal. Completely changes the oppositions game plan. You can just see the hesitation when teams are in the lane. I honestly hope he keeps getting those early goaltends like Patrick Ewing to give them something to think about.

-Lavin needs to use the depth that he has. No need to run Phil 40 minutes against Detroit, Amir 40 minutes against CoC and D'Angelo 40 minutes the past 2 games.

-Jakarr should be able to dominate inside if he's allowed to. No more talk of transitioning him to SF. Let him board, block and get put backs down low. He should be playing from 15 feet and down. And I feel if he comes back next year, he will dominate the Big East with the departure of those other teams.

-Amir has impressed me the most out of the returning Sophs. I honestly thought he'd be the odd man out this year. I did not believe in him last year and he has proven me completely wrong. I feel he has been the most consistently composed player for us. Last year all I saw him do was barrel into the lane. Love his game.

-I think Phil Greene can be one of the best PGs in the Big East as a Senior. I truly believe that. Just my gut feeling from watching how confident he is.

Phil Greene is not a PG. He is not a bad player but if Branch can't make him a very valuable 3rd guard we are in trouble in terms of moving this program significantly forward.

 

[SJUalum98]

I completely disagree about D'Angelo bringing more to the table than Hardy. For any advantage he has in his shooting range/ability, he lacks in ball handling and decision making. I'm not sold on passing the torch to D'Angelo.

-I think Phil Greene can be one of the best PGs in the Big East as a Senior. I truly believe that. Just my gut feeling from watching how confident he is.

Comparing Hardy as a senior, with a year of Juco and a year of Big East play under his belt with D Lo, 3 games beyond his freshman year, is like comparing apples to oranges. The only one who is capable of doing that is the Produce Manager at Waldbaum's. D Lo's freshman season was comparable to Hardy's senior year, with Hardy's main edge being field goal %. As for Greene, too much lateral dribbling yesterday for my liking. A lot of dribbling and spin moves leading to him being in the same place he started. He's the guy I'm less convinced about. If Branch is for real, Greene will be seeing less minutes.

I'm not following you. D'Angelo's freshman season was comparable to Hardy's, how? PPG?

To me, it's way too early to even have D'Angelo and Hardy in the same sentence.

 

[SJUalum98]

I completely disagree about D'Angelo bringing more to the table than Hardy. For any advantage he has in his shooting range/ability, he lacks in ball handling and decision making. I'm not sold on passing the torch to D'Angelo.

My Obersvations:
-Obekpa is the real deal. Completely changes the oppositions game plan. You can just see the hesitation when teams are in the lane. I honestly hope he keeps getting those early goaltends like Patrick Ewing to give them something to think about.

-Lavin needs to use the depth that he has. No need to run Phil 40 minutes against Detroit, Amir 40 minutes against CoC and D'Angelo 40 minutes the past 2 games.

-Jakarr should be able to dominate inside if he's allowed to. No more talk of transitioning him to SF. Let him board, block and get put backs down low. He should be playing from 15 feet and down. And I feel if he comes back next year, he will dominate the Big East with the departure of those other teams.

-Amir has impressed me the most out of the returning Sophs. I honestly thought he'd be the odd man out this year. I did not believe in him last year and he has proven me completely wrong. I feel he has been the most consistently composed player for us. Last year all I saw him do was barrel into the lane. Love his game.

-I think Phil Greene can be one of the best PGs in the Big East as a Senior. I truly believe that. Just my gut feeling from watching how confident he is.

Phil Greene is not a PG. He is not a bad player but if Branch can't make him a very valuable 3rd guard we are in trouble in terms of moving this program significantly forward.

And I strongly disagree.

Greene had an outstanding first 2 games. To say he is not a PG simply because he may not be a pass-first PG is not fair.

Greene has all the tools. If he can learn how to penetrate and dish, then he takes that next step as far as being a PG.

Chris Mullin and Fraschilla even compared him to Darren Collison. Greene is legit.

 

[Marillac]

I agree with what most have written. It will be very tough for this team to win when both Phil and Amir have low scoring days. STJ has been awful on the offensive glass for years and that needs to change. Amir is terrific on that end, and I think we will be great as a team with Sampson and Obekpa (and God willing, Sanchez). Second chance points during the Postell-Artest-Bootsy-Barkley days were huge.

When this squad is clicking you can see the potential. Even yesterday there were brief periods of dominance on the glass, passers finding cutters, getting rebounds and going. Sanchez is so incredibly important to this team. I felt for the first month or so that Obekpa should only be playing 15 mpg and Jones 10 or less, and that can only work if Sanchez is available. Even though I think Obekpa should be paying 15 mpg right now, he has impressed me to no end. He changes the game so much. Every opponent scouting us comes into the game thinking nothing will be free in the lane, and that will make them think twice when they are in there, resulting in missed chippies. He'll be a guy that has to be on the floo for 25 minutes by March. I just don't want to rush his growth. It's so imporant for all of the young guys to come back to the bench after mistakes to be coached up.

With a soph Harkless I guaranteed a Sweet 16 or better finish. That was with a soph Harkless. The freshman version is more than replaced with Sampson and Obekpa on the defensive side and on the glass. Also, Mo shot horribly from the outside, and those attempts will go to Bourgault and Garrett. This is a much, much better team that last year already and we get Branch and possibly Sanchez shortly.

This team is only going to get exponentially better over the next month.