Random thoughts based on 120 minutes

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
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A couple of their fans feel the same way. Ran into a few Racer fans at a resturant after the game.
 
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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.

Learn to penetrate and dish? There are dozens of division 1 players that would be great PG's if they could learn how to penetrate and dish. I want a guy that already knows how to penetrate and dish. I can recall 2 elite eights (where we were a bucket from the final four), and one final four in the last 35 years or so. Also, a few Big East titles. Our PG's? Reggie Carter, (although he may have played a lot of 2 guard), the combo of Mark Jackson and Mike Moses, Jackson alone for the Big East title the next season, and Erick Barkley. Although we had great all around talent those seasons, it is no surprise that great guard play, especially PG play is essential. I can't wait to see Branch on the floor. I hope he doesn't disappoint.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Ridiculous. Harrison is a stud. He shoots it at a higher % from deep than Hardy, he has court savvy to spare, and he has great vision. Hardy was a great player for us, but Harrison will be a legend. He's averaging over 20 points per game and he's a preseason All-Big East selection. We've seen three games of Harrison's soph year--Hardy was averaging 15 ppg at a JUCO as a soph.

I love Hardy...look back and see all the crap I took when I predicted his senior scoring average and compared him to Hatten. Harrison will be better than both.

Also--to combine posts--never sleep on Phil Greene. I will never doubt that kid during his career here.
 
I

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.

Learn to penetrate and dish? There are dozens of division 1 players that would be great PG's if they could learn how to penetrate and dish. I want a guy that already knows how to penetrate and dish. I can recall 2 elite eights (where we were a bucket from the final four), and one final four in the last 35 years or so. Also, a few Big East titles. Our PG's? Reggie Carter, (although he may have played a lot of 2 guard), the combo of Mark Jackson and Mike Moses, Jackson alone for the Big East title the next season, and Erick Barkley. Although we had great all around talent those seasons, it is no surprise that great guard play, especially PG play is essential. I can't wait to see Branch on the floor. I hope he doesn't disappoint.
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Phil will be fine. We're talking about 3 games in versus 2 elite PGs in McCallum and Canaan. Those are 2 of the best PGs in the country. Both of those players will be pros.

11.3 PPG
5.0 RPG
4.3 APG

Everyone in here knows they could not predict numbers like that for Phil before the season started.

Yeah it would be nice if he had all the tools of a floor general. But he wasn't recruited to be that until that unnamed player left the program early in the season last year.
 
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.
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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.
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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.
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Ridiculous. Harrison is a stud. He shoots it at a higher % from deep than Hardy, he has court savvy to spare, and he has great vision. Hardy was a great player for us, but Harrison will be a legend. He's averaging over 20 points per game and he's a preseason All-Big East selection. We've seen three games of Harrison's soph year--Hardy was averaging 15 ppg at a JUCO as a soph.

I love Hardy...look back and see all the crap I took when I predicted his senior scoring average and compared him to Hatten. Harrison will be better than both.

Also--to combine posts--never sleep on Phil Greene. I will never doubt that kid during his career here.
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Harrison shoots from a higher % from outside because that's what he is- an outside shooter.

Tell me what court savvy and vision D'Angelo displays out there? Getting a couple of and-1s?
 
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.
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Think he has improved his game more than Harrisson from a yr ago as of right now
 
Tell me what court savvy and vision D'Angelo displays out there? Getting a couple of and-1s?
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You're kidding me, right?
You're telling me Harrison doesn't get to the hoop in the last 5 minutes of ballgames in his year plus, basically, at will? This guy has serious balls, and has no problem being the "man." He might not always make the bucket, but he gets to the rim and gives the big guys a chance for the putback, at the very least. I've watched the majority of his games, he is my favorite Johnnie in years.
 
Marillac,
Spot on! I've been a lifer with this team (since 84) and to see this team in person, with all our athleticism and length (finally!) we can be scary in the not too distant future. It's great to see us on the way back up. Obekpa has the longest arms I've ever seen - his ability to change shots, deflect passes, and obviously block - is such a unique presence that we really have never had. (Or at least in a LONG time)
And I agree with the need for 2nd chance points (it should be a natural trait for us with Sampson and Garrett alone)
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I'm just really excited to watch this team play. Can only hope Branch is legit.... and if we get Sanchez, no reason we can't contend for a possible NCAA bid.
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Tomorrow's game would be huge. :)
 
Getting Sanchez would be huge not only because he is a good player but because he allows Sampson to stay at the 4. Also with Sanchez and obekpa on the court we have a big front line.
 
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.
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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.
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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.
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So he can't penetrate and dish and he doesn't have a clue playing time and score; other than that he is a legit PG. I am not knocking him as a player but he is a 2 guard not a point.
 
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.
Click to expand...

Think he has improved his game more than Harrisson from a yr ago as of right now
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Its only been 3 games. Hardy had the same team returning all Seniors. and DLO is playing w a lot of new FR. players and is only a SO. I think Sampson and Obekpa are going to be stars. Overall we played well, but ran out of gas and made mistakes down the stretch.Team is fun to watch. they are so young and will improve every game. Im keeping my fingers crossed for Sanchez. Balamou looked great in the short time he played. Im looking foward to see what Marco can do. Baylor will be a real test for us. But even if we loose the youths will learn from it. Playing Murray State and Baylor helps our Strength of schedule,
 
One more random thought: It's not easy building a team from scratch. Lavin has done an unbelievable job, yet the lack of experience and the difficulty of finding the right mix of talent after two good recruiting classes tells how tough the task really is.
 
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