Rick Pitino - Head Coach at St John’s University!!!

Some idle comments in where the team is now;

1. Rick was frank about Kadary not being where he needed to be shape wise a while back and to staff/KR’s credit he got there.

2. Many posters wanted to see Prey early get more time to provide more size and relief for Zuby. It seems clear they had a “catch up plan” for this late arriving big and at perfect time he now is a big factor.

3. Rick/staff figured how to make the Kadary/Smith style incongruity work for most part after some rotational experimenting.

4. Rick/staff melded a group of new people w holdovers successfully, not easy, to establish a culture of toughness and dedication to defense and rebounding, knowing deep shooting was not our strength to be kind.

5. Most fans felt Glover was going to have a big impact early, but Rick/staff knew his defense was not a the level the “D culture” & consistency required and did not throw him to the wolves.

6. Rick/staff did a good job getting the most out of Sim and making him more comfortable w combo guard status v going pure PG route fans envisioned for him.

I expect some lumps in the February gauntlet, but kudos to staff for such collective success, blue collar culture commitment and positioning a somewhat one dimensional team w/o good shooting for success. Enjoy the ride!
 
paultzman said:
Some idle comments in where the team is now;

1. Rick was frank about Kadary not being where he needed to be shape wise a while back and to staff/KR’s credit he got there.

2. Many posters wanted to see Prey early get more time to provide more size and relief for Zuby. It seems clear they had a “catch up plan” for this late arriving big and at perfect time he now is a big factor.

3. Rick/staff figured how to make the Kadary/Smith style incongruity work for most part after some rotational experimenting.

4. Rick/staff melded a group of new people w holdovers successfully, not easy, to establish a culture of toughness and dedication to defense and rebounding, knowing deep shooting was not our strength to be kind.

5. Most fans felt Glover was going to have a big impact early, but Rick/staff knew his defense was not a the level the “D culture” & consistency required and did not throw him to the wolves.

6. Rick/staff did a good job getting the most out of Sim and making him more comfortable w combo guard status v going pure PG route fans envisioned for him.

I expect some lumps in the February gauntlet, but kudos to staff for such collective success, blue collar culture commitment and positioning a somewhat one dimensional team w/o good shooting for success. Enjoy the ride!
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No. 4 is why we are where we are. And why RP is who he is.
 
Redenbacher said:
Yes, the Kadary/Smith style incongruity works extremely well when Smith isn't playing! :)
Just kidding (sort of), but there is a direct correlation between Smith minutes and Kadary's performance.
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I guess I meant “collective success” achieved so far when 2 of your main 3 guards are are so stylistically different.
 
paultzman said:
I expect some lumps in the February gauntlet, but kudos to staff for such collective success, blue collar culture commitment and positioning a somewhat one dimensional team w/o good shooting for success. Enjoy the ride!
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While 8-1 is amazing/impressive for an SJU team… it’s a bit sobering looking at the standings realizing we are just 0-1 vs 3 right behind us…

Feb 4th… WE RIDE!!!
 
paultzman said:
I guess I meant “collective success” achieved so far when 2 of your main 3 guards are are so stylistically different.
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All of us remember all the concerns that Frazier and Monroe could not play together, that both were ball dominant guards with completely different styles - Monroe was completely a one-on-one player who would destroy the chemistry of the Knicks "open man" team first philosophy.

Kadary IMO stepped it out because with Smith out we are markedly less effective in transition, reducing a prime offensive weapon. He was needed in order to provide points and he did that.

On the court together they both create mismatches. At 6'6 and very strong, few guards match up with Kadary. At 6'0 and blazing speed and hops, Smith is also a nightmare to guard. I like the tandem.


At 16-3, with 3 losses by a total of 5 points I'd say it's working well enough.
 
Beasts of the East said:
All of us remember all the concerns that Frazier and Monroe could not play together, that both were ball dominant guards with completely different styles - Monroe was completely a one-on-one player who would destroy the chemistry of the Knicks "open man" team first philosophy.

Kadary IMO stepped it out because with Smith out we are markedly less effective in transition, reducing a prime offensive weapon. He was needed in order to provide points and he did that.

On the court together they both create mismatches. At 6'6 and very strong, few guards match up with Kadary. At 6'0 and blazing speed and hops, Smith is also a nightmare to guard. I like the tandem.


At 16-3, with 3 losses by a total of 5 points I'd say it's working well enough.
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Good analogy on Clyde & Monroe Beast
 
SJU14 said:
I don't think Marquette and UCONN have played each other yet either which will make for a great February/March finish.
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We all haven't played each other yet, and we all have one game left against Creighton.

Hard to understate how huge the UConn/Xavier game on Saturday is for Xavier. After that, they only have two left with Creighton along with the rest of the conference. If they can end up splitting with UConn, Creighton and Marquette, that's a great result for them and makes them an interesting bubble team/scary BET foe
 
Beasts of the East said:
All of us remember all the concerns that Frazier and Monroe could not play together, that both were ball dominant guards with completely different styles - Monroe was completely a one-on-one player who would destroy the chemistry of the Knicks "open man" team first philosophy.

Kadary IMO stepped it out because with Smith out we are markedly less effective in transition, reducing a prime offensive weapon. He was needed in order to provide points and he did that.

On the court together they both create mismatches. At 6'6 and very strong, few guards match up with Kadary. At 6'0 and blazing speed and hops, Smith is also a nightmare to guard. I like the tandem.


At 16-3, with 3 losses by a total of 5 points I'd say it's working well enough.
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paultzman said:
Good analogy on Clyde & Monroe Beast
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While I think it is a great analogy, there are a slew of Posters here who do not “remember all the concerns that Frazier and Monroe could not play together” as they were either too young at the time and weren’t even born yet as that was over 50 (yikes) years ago.
 
paultzman said:
Some idle comments in where the team is now;

1. Rick was frank about Kadary not being where he needed to be shape wise a while back and to staff/KR’s credit he got there.

2. Many posters wanted to see Prey early get more time to provide more size and relief for Zuby. It seems clear they had a “catch up plan” for this late arriving big and at perfect time he now is a big factor.

3. Rick/staff figured how to make the Kadary/Smith style incongruity work for most part after some rotational experimenting.

4. Rick/staff melded a group of new people w holdovers successfully, not easy, to establish a culture of toughness and dedication to defense and rebounding, knowing deep shooting was not our strength to be kind.

5. Most fans felt Glover was going to have a big impact early, but Rick/staff knew his defense was not a the level the “D culture” & consistency required and did not throw him to the wolves.

6. Rick/staff did a good job getting the most out of Sim and making him more comfortable w combo guard status v going pure PG route fans envisioned for him.

I expect some lumps in the February gauntlet, but kudos to staff for such collective success, blue collar culture commitment and positioning a somewhat one dimensional team w/o good shooting for success. Enjoy the ride!
Click to expand...
Great post. Would also like to add to this, there did seem like a time when things could have crumbled, around the time of the incident with Smith and his suspension. But it seems everyone came out stronger, the group has jelled, and everyone has fully bought in.
 
paultzman said:
Some idle comments in where the team is now;

1. Rick was frank about Kadary not being where he needed to be shape wise a while back and to staff/KR’s credit he got there.

2. Many posters wanted to see Prey early get more time to provide more size and relief for Zuby. It seems clear they had a “catch up plan” for this late arriving big and at perfect time he now is a big factor.

3. Rick/staff figured how to make the Kadary/Smith style incongruity work for most part after some rotational experimenting.

4. Rick/staff melded a group of new people w holdovers successfully, not easy, to establish a culture of toughness and dedication to defense and rebounding, knowing deep shooting was not our strength to be kind.

5. Most fans felt Glover was going to have a big impact early, but Rick/staff knew his defense was not a the level the “D culture” & consistency required and did not throw him to the wolves.

6. Rick/staff did a good job getting the most out of Sim and making him more comfortable w combo guard status v going pure PG route fans envisioned for him.

I expect some lumps in the February gauntlet, but kudos to staff for such collective success, blue collar culture commitment and positioning a somewhat one dimensional team w/o good shooting for success. Enjoy the ride!
Click to expand...
WRT your second point about Prey, it seems that he's been subbing for Scott lately while Zuby is still in the game giving St.John's a different look by having two bigs in the game at the same time. Also, Prey does not seem to get in Zuby's way which allows Zuby more freedom near the basket.
 
espken said:
Guys with made up titles are slacking 😎

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But he did not explain why he went "tieless" in the first half and "tied" in the second half. I thought he was having a Looie moment as to superstition as he was having success while wearing a tie and without it, he was getting killed in first half.

Think we will continue to see him "Tied".
 
The "Pitino Factor" continues to impact the team's success. This was the 6th time we went into the half time break (3 at 10 to 14 down) and won the game. Rick stays calm and doesn't scream at his players unlike Miller last night. He gets them focused and they believe--heck in the postgame Zuby was talking like the coach and it carries onto the court. I hope Zuby stays for another year because he is a good leader and gets what Rick wants to do on the court. I hope the Vice Series on the team goes inside the locker room for a half time so we can hear he talks to the team, particularly where we are behind in the game.
 
BrooklynRed said:
The "Pitino Factor" continues to impact the team's success. This was the 6th time we went into the half time break (3 at 10 to 14 down) and won the game. Rick stays calm and doesn't scream at his players unlike Miller last night. He gets them focused and they believe--heck in the postgame Zuby was talking like the coach and it carries onto the court. I hope Zuby stays for another year because he is a good leader and gets what Rick wants to do on the court. I hope the Vice Series on the team goes inside the locker room for a half time so we can hear he talks to the team, particularly where we are behind in the game.
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I hope the vice series has a budget to follow us to San Antonio
 
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