Reality check before meat of the schedule

And for those who knocked my Buddy Monte about when CMA got hired and how he was withholding opinion I'll say this. Last year this same time we went 12-0 or whatever but Monte wasn't happy because we didnt stomp anyone and sucked in second halves and didnt have killer instinct. Ironically I was happy during the time and I'm almost never happy when it comes to SJU. Anyway we know how things turned out. If you notice the more Monte watches he is liking what he sees. He never had predetermined judgement he just needed to see something he liked
 
For me the 2 biggest areas for improvement are 3 point shooting and Heron’s lack of consistency.

All of this is negligible when you take into account how enjoyable this team is to watch. They play hard all game and each individual plays within themselves. You wouldn’t see Justin Simon shoot 3’s on a MA coached team when he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from 8 feet out.

I will never take for granted the fact that we finally have a coach. Someone who holds their players accountable. Who very evidently develops their skillsets in quick fashion. It’s no wonder this guy has never endured a losing season.
 
This team has played every segment of the game well. Just not in the same game. I'm hoping for more consistency, especially from Heron, who I like as a good teammate.
 
[quote="mjmaherjr" post=366988]And for those who knocked my Buddy Monte about when CMA got hired and how he was withholding opinion I'll say this. Last year this same time we went 12-0 or whatever but Monte wasn't happy because we didnt stomp anyone and sucked in second halves and didnt have killer instinct. Ironically I was happy during the time and I'm almost never happy when it comes to SJU. Anyway we know how things turned out. If you notice the more Monte watches he is liking what he sees. He never had predetermined judgement he just needed to see something he liked[/quote]

Thanks for the acknowledgement Mike. Me and Dink were probably the 2 biggest critics(maybe the only critics) of our team during the early part of last season. I was actually critical of the team going back to midnight madness. I know we were winning early, but I just didn't like the chemistry and effort, and felt like the bad habits we were exhibiting would carry over to the tougher part of the schedule. We would go up big and then revert to street ball. CM should have used that time to experiment with Roberts, Earl, etc, and work on running plays. OTOH, I feel just the opposite about this team. Great chemistry and effort. Very unselfish. Well coached. Everyone seems to know their roles, even if players occasionally try to do a little more than they are capable of. Vey happy with the team and the staff, Very excited about the remainder of the season. Still not ready to anoint CMA "the savior"(don't want to jinx him lol), but thrilled with what I've seen so far.
 
[quote="Ray Morgan" post=366951][quote="Monte" post=366946]From the very first game I liked the make-up of this team. Once we got Dunn eligible, I liked it that much more. What we lack in talent, we almost make up for in effort, heart and moxie. Now, effort, heart and moxie will only take us so far once we hit the meat of the schedule. My hope is that it takes us far enough to get us an NIT bid, with a NCAA bid being a real long shot. Steere is a huge X factor. If he can provide us real quality minutes down low, we can really be a force to be reckoned with in the Big East. Time will tell. I gotta be honest, besides the first Lavin team, I cannot recall enjoying a team this much since the Artest final 8 team. I know I'm enjoying it way more than last year's team, in spite of the talent on last year's team. It's been a fun ride so far, and while we'll have some stinkers along the way, I fully expect it to be a fun season moving.[/quote]

My favorite team since Hatten's senior year, with a style not that far off. our advantage is our unique style of play for the Big East. No Big East team is used to playing against our swarming, double teaming, pressure defense, Hatten would have been a dream player for this team. Very athletic, deceptively strong, a disruptive force on D and the offensive glass, and the go to guy that some posters mentioned. I am enthused for this season, which I honestly expected to be a rebuilding year, and really upbeat for the future of this program.[/quote]

Actually I enjoyed that Hatten team as well Ray. Maybe I'm enjoying this one more because of what we've suffered through under the last 3 coaches, and because expectations were so low this year.
 
I've seen a lot of bad teams that could shoot. I don't remember any bad teams that could defend, rebound and share the ball. I want us to shoot better but there are worse flaws a team can have.
 
[quote="QueensBall" post=367004]I've seen a lot of bad teams that could shoot. I don't remember any bad teams that could defend, rebound and share the ball. I want us to shoot better but there are worse flaws a team can have.[/quote]

I agree with this here. We are doing most of the other things really well. We know that we aren’t the most talented team in the league, especially offensively. That said we are well-coached and are doing really good things at many other places in the court.
 
We are indeed well coached. I am very impressed with Coach Anderson. However, regardless of the statistics from the WVU game, our guard play is beyond concerning. It just not pass the eye test. Rutherford is not a good Point Guard. He is a wonderful defender but that's it. Dunn is not a PG. He is out of control too often and dribbles too much. As a 2G he is not a good shooter. Heron's problems have been discussed ad nauseum. We can only hope his game comes around. As for Williams, I hope for his game to continue to improve. If our guard play does not improve we will lose games in conference that we should win.
 
[quote="Monte" post=367001][quote="mjmaherjr" post=366988]And for those who knocked my Buddy Monte about when CMA got hired and how he was withholding opinion I'll say this. Last year this same time we went 12-0 or whatever but Monte wasn't happy because we didnt stomp anyone and sucked in second halves and didnt have killer instinct. Ironically I was happy during the time and I'm almost never happy when it comes to SJU. Anyway we know how things turned out. If you notice the more Monte watches he is liking what he sees. He never had predetermined judgement he just needed to see something he liked[/quote]

Thanks for the acknowledgement Mike. Me and Dink were probably the 2 biggest critics(maybe the only critics) of our team during the early part of last season. I was actually critical of the team going back to midnight madness. I know we were winning early, but I just didn't like the chemistry and effort, and felt like the bad habits we were exhibiting would carry over to the tougher part of the schedule. We would go up big and then revert to street ball. CM should have used that time to experiment with Roberts, Earl, etc, and work on running plays. OTOH, I feel just the opposite about this team. Great chemistry and effort. Very unselfish. Well coached. Everyone seems to know their roles, even if players occasionally try to do a little more than they are capable of. Vey happy with the team and the staff, Very excited about the remainder of the season. Still not ready to anoint CMA "the savior"(don't want to jinx him lol), but thrilled with what I've seen so far.[/quote]

Great points about last season. I will always have fond memories of that team, but man it was very frustrating to watch at times. You could see the effort, chemistry, and coaching were all lacking.
 
Take care of business against Brown and Albany to lock in 10 OOC wins.

Positions a 6-12 performance in conference to result in +.500 on the season. Am hopeful for better than that, but view anything more a bonus. Think that 4-5 home, 2-7 road is reasonable expectation, maybe steal one on either side to get to 7-11 which would really be a great outcome.
 
I read that NYP article and smiled, it had great quotes from Coach. I am feeling better and better about this hire.

My buddy from WVA was upset about the call on Culver, I was upset about such a long dry spell at the end; I was much happier than him when the buzzer went off. I was happy to see Huggins was very complimentary towards us, and didn't cry about the call.

Keep up the hustle, O rebounding and defense and we will win our share of games even with below par shooting.
 
[quote="Monte" post=367001][quote="mjmaherjr" post=366988]And for those who knocked my Buddy Monte about when CMA got hired and how he was withholding opinion I'll say this. Last year this same time we went 12-0 or whatever but Monte wasn't happy because we didnt stomp anyone and sucked in second halves and didnt have killer instinct. Ironically I was happy during the time and I'm almost never happy when it comes to SJU. Anyway we know how things turned out. If you notice the more Monte watches he is liking what he sees. He never had predetermined judgement he just needed to see something he liked[/quote]

Thanks for the acknowledgement Mike. Me and Dink were probably the 2 biggest critics(maybe the only critics) of our team during the early part of last season. I was actually critical of the team going back to midnight madness. I know we were winning early, but I just didn't like the chemistry and effort, and felt like the bad habits we were exhibiting would carry over to the tougher part of the schedule. We would go up big and then revert to street ball. CM should have used that time to experiment with Roberts, Earl, etc, and work on running plays. OTOH, I feel just the opposite about this team. Great chemistry and effort. Very unselfish. Well coached. Everyone seems to know their roles, even if players occasionally try to do a little more than they are capable of. Vey happy with the team and the staff, Very excited about the remainder of the season. Still not ready to anoint CMA "the savior"(don't want to jinx him lol), but thrilled with what I've seen so far.[/quote]

I'll also add Class of '72 was thinking along the lines of you and I, Monte. I'll continue to say Anderson will receive the benefit of the doubt as he's been a head coach for nearly two decades and never had a losing record. It's a large sample that cannot be disregarded.
 
Last edited:
[quote="Ray Morgan" post=366951]
My favorite team since Hatten's senior year, with a style not that far off. our advantage is our unique style of play for the Big East. No Big East team is used to playing against our swarming, double teaming, pressure defense, Hatten would have been a dream player for this team. Very athletic, deceptively strong, a disruptive force on D and the offensive glass, and the go to guy that some posters mentioned. I am enthused for this season, which I honestly expected to be a rebuilding year, and really upbeat for the future of this program.[/quote]

That's all well and good but that team was 15-12 in the regular season. The Duke game was magic and the win at UCLA was fun to attend with my 5 year old, but I remember being pretty uninspired by that team and wishing a plague on House Jarvis. That team was far too talented to have results that bad. Was it fun watching Marcus win the NIT almost by himself? Sure. But the program has been paying for that ever since as it saved Jarvis' job (for 6 games), begat the Pittsburgh scandal and the hiring of Norm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top