Reasonable Expectations to Close Season

[redfazed]

It is really hard to fathom how it is possible that this team can be worse than last year's teem, when all the key players are back PLUS a top 25 recruit and a top JC transfer. I think that Lavin is trying to play too many guys and that's why some of them are out of sorts. But, that does not explain it all.

The ever-changing rotations have to be a big part of it. And when players aren't confident about how much playing time they'll see, they get selfish, trying to rack up their individual stats.

At least that's my working theory.

 

[GardenCity62]

Two reasons there is hope for some improvement.
This team's major problem has been no player has been able to make shots at crunch time and and the entire team seems unable to perform in the last 5 min. of close games. Going forward any pressure any player felt because of NBA draft dreams or making the NCAA tournament as a result of regular season play are now gone. This may result in improved play.
I hope that Lavin continues to increase Jordan's minutes at the expense of Branch and Greene. This should help and maybe by the Big East tournament they could win 3 or 4 in a row.

 

[Section3]

Nothing is going to change and there are few reasonable expectations unless our coach changes his fundamental approach. He talks about "the maturation of the group". The group doesn't need to mature - he needs to. His usage of Greene is one of the most egregious cases of petty favoritism I have ever seen beyond the coach's son in 5th grade. This is supposed to be bigtime college hoops.

In 4 Big East games Greene has 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist...total. 3 games with no assists and 2 games with no rebounds. He's averaging 20.5 MPG in those contests. His minutes are empty, he brings nothing to the table save the occassional scoring streak but hasn't scored double digits in a month. Yet he's started 14 games this season. He registered 15 minutes last night and his contribution was a steal and 2 fouls, the latter of which on some bizarre offense/defense sub in the last few minutes where Greene ended up on Melvin and Melvin made both free throws.

To always argue how Greene negatively impacts Branch is an insult to Branch. We could argue why Marco or Felix aren't getting Greene's minutes. But if we are on Branch as it relates to our coach's blinders to him, did anyone watching that game last night think Branch should have played the least minutes of the 10 players who checked in for SJU? I didn't, the announcers didn't, and I'm sure most don't.

Our coach did, despite the fact that Branch had 3x more assists in 10 minutes last night than his boy Greene has in conference play. We want to talk about executing coaching basics the rest of the season, i.e. identifying the players who are making your team go, then we can talk about expectations. With Branch and Jordan we actually have a chance to facilitate some playmaking. But until basic, fundamental coaching strategy changes we're just banging our heads against the wall talking about expectations, because little if anything is going to change with the illogical evaluation of our own talent we currently employ.

Can't disagree...even worse than the poor stats is his terrible defense...if you watch him play his man off the ball, he routinely gets lost...last night was just plain ridiculous as Branch's performance stood out, Greene struggled -- and he still got PT in 2nd half

 

[SJUISBACK]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

 

[doodyny33]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

If they lose tomorrow, I don't think I'm even coming on this board. Half the members will be on suicide watch.

 

[dee]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

If they lose tomorrow, I don't think I'm even coming on this board. Half the members will be on suicide watch.

Providence is better than you think. We can definitely lose

 

[doodyny33]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

If they lose tomorrow, I don't think I'm even coming on this board. Half the members will be on suicide watch.

Providence is better than you think. We can definitely lose

I wasn't slighting Providence with that statement

 

[westchesterjoe]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

If they lose tomorrow, I don't think I'm even coming on this board. Half the members will be on suicide watch.

The other half will be holding LAVIN back from joining them..

 

[usguard]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

Because they can run and jump but can not put the ball in the basket, They have trouble staying in front of their man on D They are slow passing to an open man Their rebounding intensity is not there They do not move without the ball well to get themselves free they are weak setting picks and we do not have many offensive options .Obekpa need to be able to hit a foul shot This team would have been very good with3 very good 3 pt shooters but this is an emotional comment showing disappointment but I still am in back of the team and staff and I hope coaches pieces fit and we go on a run The players are all decent kids presenting our school well wish them success the rest of the season

 

[GardenCity62]

It's sad that in two months the topic has changed from how many players were leaving early to the NBA to can we compete with a team slated for the middle of the Big East that lost both last years and this years top recruit.
If tonight's game was played on a neutral floor it would be an even game according to the oddsmakers.

 

[Jack Williams]

@NYPost_Brazille: “I think they’re an NIT team," Doug Gottlieb on St. John's and its struggles. #sjubbhttp://t.co/rr7Bv5DeBJ


Off all the thing Gottlieb could've cited for our struggles, why did he pick jordan?

 

[redfazed]

@NYPost_Brazille: “I think they’re an NIT team," Doug Gottlieb on St. John's and its struggles. #sjubbhttp://t.co/rr7Bv5DeBJ


Off all the thing Gottlieb could've cited for our struggles, why did he pick jordan?

With Tyler Ennis playing the way he has and Arcidiacono's strong debut last year, Jordan is paling by comparison--and he was so hyped. But I think Jordan has at least as much upside as either of those 2.

 

[paultzman]

@NYPost_Brazille: “I think they’re an NIT team," Doug Gottlieb on St. John's and its struggles. #sjubbhttp://t.co/rr7Bv5DeBJ


Off all the thing Gottlieb could've cited for our struggles, why did he pick jordan?

With Tyler Ennis playing the way he has and Arcidiacono's strong debut last year, Jordan is paling by comparison--and he was so hyped. But I think Jordan has at least as much upside as either of those 2.

Both Nova & Cuse would have incorporated him in more effectively IMO. Wright has been masterful getting Hart involved. Granted, different circumstances, but also better managed programs.

 

[redfazed]

@NYPost_Brazille: “I think they’re an NIT team," Doug Gottlieb on St. John's and its struggles. #sjubbhttp://t.co/rr7Bv5DeBJ


Off all the thing Gottlieb could've cited for our struggles, why did he pick jordan?

With Tyler Ennis playing the way he has and Arcidiacono's strong debut last year, Jordan is paling by comparison--and he was so hyped. But I think Jordan has at least as much upside as either of those 2.

Both Nova & Cuse would have incorporated him in more effectively IMO. Wright has been masterful getting Hart involved. Granted, different circumstances, but also better managed programs.

Agreed. It's hard to know what was going on behind the scenes with Jordan early on--there was that suspension plus family illness. He's showing his leadership skills last couple of games, looking real good. He's gotta get 30+ mins from here on in.

 

[SJU1512]

@NYPost_Brazille: “I think they’re an NIT team," Doug Gottlieb on St. John's and its struggles. #sjubbhttp://t.co/rr7Bv5DeBJ


Off all the thing Gottlieb could've cited for our struggles, why did he pick jordan?

With Tyler Ennis playing the way he has and Arcidiacono's strong debut last year, Jordan is paling by comparison--and he was so hyped. But I think Jordan has at least as much upside as either of those 2.

Both Nova & Cuse would have incorporated him in more effectively IMO. Wright has been masterful getting Hart involved. Granted, different circumstances, but also better managed programs.

Bingo bango. To be fair, Lavin has had the BE ROY two years running, and while both benefited from tons of minute right out of the shoot it's difficult to be too critical of Lavin in incoporating freshman. The issue this year has been managing/incorporating just about everyone on the roster outside of Harrison, not just the freshman Jordan (who at this moment is by far and away the best player on this team outside of Harrison).

 

[SJU61982]

@NYPost_Brazille: “I think they’re an NIT team," Doug Gottlieb on St. John's and its struggles. #sjubbhttp://t.co/rr7Bv5DeBJ


Off all the thing Gottlieb could've cited for our struggles, why did he pick jordan?

With Tyler Ennis playing the way he has and Arcidiacono's strong debut last year, Jordan is paling by comparison--and he was so hyped. But I think Jordan has at least as much upside as either of those 2.

Both Nova & Cuse would have incorporated him in more effectively IMO. Wright has been masterful getting Hart involved. Granted, different circumstances, but also better managed programs.

Agreed. It's hard to know what was going on behind the scenes with Jordan early on--there was that suspension plus family illness. He's showing his leadership skills last couple of games, looking real good. He's gotta get 30+ mins from here on in.

31 minutes vs Nova, and 33 vs. Depaul, so he is getting up there WRT playing time.

 

[austour]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

I give you stuff sometimes but if this team doesn't win 10 of the last 15 the season is a failure. End of story. I don't think that's even unreasonable. Win at least 7 of the remaining home games. That should be easy. Win 3 on the road against lesser teams. That's the harder part but not unthinkable.

 

[austour]

Hope they can atleast finish 7-11 in the B.E., if not then they will not be better then 2 years ago when we had all freshmen.
This team is mostly Seniors and Juniors, and alot of depth. How can they not be better then that team?

I gotta think that SJU wins the next 3 games. They lose to PC and I`ll think that 6-12 is a possibility.

If they lose tomorrow, I don't think I'm even coming on this board. Half the members will be on suicide watch.

Providence is better than you think. We can definitely lose

Yes they are but they shouldn't lose to them at home, especially not in Carnesecca.

 

[MBoutchatski]

3-15 in conference. close win over dartmouth.