RJ Luis

Enormity of the moment.

I sat very close to RJs family yesterday, and chatted with his lovely Mom. His entire family except for his dad was decked out in number 12s. I joked with her asking why only the Dominican flag, part of RJs heritage so publicized that it brought great Alex Rodriguez to the Garden only last week. She quickly produced an Ecuadorian flag and draped herself in it. She told me she is going to make a flag sewing both flags together.

Yesterday RJ wasn't playing for himself, or just his family, or even two ancestral countries. He was playing for the name on the front of his uniform, for his adopted city, for all of us and each of us. He tried to carry too much of the burden of star player to get us one more win.

In doing so, he abandoned all the reasons this became a great team, a team way better than the sum of its parts. Sim and Khadary were victimized by aggressive whistles, refereeing styles that mess up college basketball. No one could make shots and still the game was close. Other than Zuby, not one player shined yesterday.

After one of our two conference losses, Pitino chided Luis by saying that if RJ ran the last play of the game instead of shooting and missing, we would have won.

Again and again yesterday, RJ drove into piles of packed in Arkansas defenders. Their strategy was clear - until the Johnnies made enough outside shots they were not going to be allowed to take it inside. Yesterday, RJ wasn't RJ. Unlike Thursday, where he made 5 threes, he couldn't hit from outside or in. He abandoned the game plan. He had to sit.

All game, his mom urged him on loudly and continually. She knows basketball, that much is clear. "C'mon, baby. You can do it, baby. Go RJ, Go RJ". Another Johnny with a great family behind him.

Yesterday's loss reminded me of our loss in Dayton vs Arizona State, where no one could make shots. Actually in that season, when no one could shoot, Shamorie tried to do too much in a way that RJ did yesterday. It rarely works out well in basketball.

The good news is the strong likelihood is RJ will be back. He is still BE player ofvthe year, and his upside potential is NBA star. He is a wonderful young man and I told his mom that, saying nothing about his basketball skills.

Looie, God rest his soul, liked to say, "We have to go back to the lab", there was more work to be done. He also liked to say, "It’s time to put the balls away." In a season, where Looie put the balls away forever, the Johnnies sparkled so brightly, they captured an entire city in a way not seen for decades.

We will be back, and hopefully so will the legions who suddenly became crazed passionate Johnny fans. And RJ was as big a reason as anyone for that.
 
MainMan said:
Problem is if I’m another big money program and I saw what happened yesterday, I’d be reaching out to RJ today with a Brink’s truck.
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Definitely will be happening. He’s going to need to sit down with Rick and hash it out. Not much more you can do. The big picture is he took a giant leap this year with us. He still has room to improve and I think it is more understanding his leadership ability and intangibles. Rick’s trying to build a complete basketball player…which takes time.
 
I'm not in a position to question Rick or RJ, especially after the season both had. We've seen the type of high quality kid that RJ is and find it hard to believe he was blatantly ignoring orders. Also have to wonder if that was the case, why wasnt Rick able to reign his guy in and get the message through?
 
room112 said:
I'm not in a position to question Rick or RJ, especially after the season both had. We've seen the type of high quality kid that RJ is and find it hard to believe he was blatantly ignoring orders. Also have to wonder if that was the case, why wasnt Rick able to reign his guy in and get the message through?
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That's a good question. Perhaps in the moment he just loses control but for many great players if a coach tells you "don't/stop doing X", do Y" that is easily within a players direct control....and they still do X, multiple times then something just isn't clicking with the player. He did so well with this most of year compared to last but it camd out in full force yesterday.
 
RedStormNC said:
That's a good question. Perhaps in the moment he just loses control but for many great players if a coach tells you "don't/stop doing X", do Y" that is easily within a players direct control....and they still do X, multiple times then something just isn't clicking with the player. He did so well with this most of year compared to last but it camd out in full force yesterday.
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Zuby's moment with RJ in the second half, eye to eye trying to 'shake' him back into focus was telling. Clearly everyone knew what was going on and I would be that players were not surprised that RJ sat the end of the game. Was odd that Ayo didn't share a bit more of Lefty's playing time. Ayo was a spark plug at times this year.
 
Beasts of the East said:
Enormity of the moment.

I sat very close to RJs family yesterday, and chatted with his lovely Mom. His entire family except for his dad was decked out in number 12s. I joked with her asking why only the Dominican flag, part of RJs heritage so publicized that it brought great Alex Rodriguez to the Garden only last week. She quickly produced an Ecuadorian flag and draped herself in it. She told me she is going to make a flag sewing both flags together.

Yesterday RJ wasn't playing for himself, or just his family, or even two ancestral countries. He was playing for the name on the front of his uniform, for his adopted city, for all of us and each of us. He tried to carry too much of the burden of star player to get us one more win.

In doing so, he abandoned all the reasons this became a great team, a team way better than the sum of its parts. Sim and Khadary were victimized by aggressive whistles, refereeing styles that mess up college basketball. No one could make shots and still the game was close. Other than Zuby, not one player shined yesterday.

After one of our two conference losses, Pitino chided Luis by saying that if RJ ran the last play of the game instead of shooting and missing, we would have won.

Again and again yesterday, RJ drove into piles of packed in Arkansas defenders. Their strategy was clear - until the Johnnies made enough outside shots they were not going to be allowed to take it inside. Yesterday, RJ wasn't RJ. Unlike Thursday, where he made 5 threes, he couldn't hit from outside or in. He abandoned the game plan. He had to sit.

All game, his mom urged him on loudly and continually. She knows basketball, that much is clear. "C'mon, baby. You can do it, baby. Go RJ, Go RJ". Another Johnny with a great family behind him.

Yesterday's loss reminded me of our loss in Dayton vs Arizona State, where no one could make shots. Actually in that season, when no one could shoot, Shamorie tried to do too much in a way that RJ did yesterday. It rarely works out well in basketball.

The good news is the strong likelihood is RJ will be back. He is still BE player ofvthe year, and his upside potential is NBA star. He is a wonderful young man and I told his mom that, saying nothing about his basketball skills.

Looie, God rest his soul, liked to say, "We have to go back to the lab", there was more work to be done. He also liked to say, "It’s time to put the balls away." In a season, where Looie put the balls away forever, the Johnnies sparkled so brightly, they captured an entire city in a way not seen for decades.

We will be back, and hopefully so will the legions who suddenly became crazed passionate Johnny fans. And RJ was as big a reason as anyone for that.
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+1,000. Nice post, totally agree.
 
Redenbacher said:
I love RJ. But he is also an adult who is being paid around $700k a year to listen to his coach. If he wants to ignore his hall of fame coach, he sits. Pitino did the right thing, hopefully RJ and his family understand that and he’ll be back to grow and improve more next year.
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Did RJ really make close to $700k this year? I don’t think that’s right
 
austour said:
Didn't listen to his coach, didn't stick to the gameplan, didn't pass the ball, didn't look like the RJ of the last 3 months, didn't seem to be committed to defense. Just one bad game at the worst time. Still thankful for the year he put in.
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I believe you are the first to point out RJ's horrible defense yesterday, and you are right to point it out. He was lethargic on defense all game long. The only time he showed any spark was when he was erroneously driving into 3 defenders. I so enjoyed our year. LJ greatly improved his game during the year, but as I posted early in the year, LJ's lack of a basketball IQ would bite us in the ass in a BIG spot.
 
AlBovino said:
I believe you are the first to point out RJ's horrible defense yesterday, and you are right to point it out. He was lethargic on defense all game long. The only time he showed any spark was when he was erroneously driving into 3 defenders. I so enjoyed our year. LJ greatly improved his game during the year, but as I posted early in the year, LJ's lack of a basketball IQ would bite us in the ass in a BIG spot.
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Al, I know you are a passionate Johnny's fan, but you can do be better than that
 
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RJ had an amazing year and contributed greatly to the success of this team; they would not have accomplished what they did without him.

Alot was said about RJ doing last night what RJ has done all year and we, as fans, are only mad because it didn't work out. Yesterday was a different game against a different opponent. All year RJ was used to getting into the lane and making plays over guys that weren't as physically gifted as he is, and with that clear advantage he was able to make it work. Yesterday he had to recognize that what he was doing was not going to work against Arkansas, but he kept trying anyway. He needed to change his game plan and look to his teammates when the lane collapsed around him.

I don't blame RJ because I really felt like he saw what was going on around him and wanted to step up. He saw his teammates struggling mightily on the offensive end and the other main playmaker fouling out with the game on the line. RJ tried to do too much all by himself and took on more than he should have, and I think the weight of the situation plagued his defense as well as his offense. Zuby tried to right him, and I'm sure Rick tried too, but he was determined to make it work. I also don't blame Rick. I'm sure all game Rick was trying to get RJ to flip the script, and it just wasn't registering. Rick gets paid to make the tough decisions and this one was the toughest all year. Was is the right one? I don't know, but it was the one that was made.

At the end of the day, this year was a step in the right direction, and I truly hope that RJ remembers this and learns from it. He will make money playing basketball and we will have pride in knowing he was one of our own. Next year is another year and I want to see him come back and develop his game the way Kadary did here. RJ has the talent to post triple doubles and be a high-volume scorer and playmaker. If next year he can be the type of player Kadary is today, then he will be a first-round draft pick next year.
 
RJ is a great kid and he had a wonderful year. He just didn't have it yesterday, and it appeared he let his shooting woes affect the rest of his game and mindset. Pitino did the right thing at the end of the game IMHO. I very much hope RJ returns next year, but wish him very well no matter what happens.
 
Howie71 said:
RJ is a great kid and he had a wonderful year. He just didn't have it yesterday, and it appeared he let his shooting woes affect the rest of his game and mindset. Pitino did the right thing at the end of the game IMHO. I very much hope RJ returns next year, but wish him very well no matter what happens.
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Agreed, only this “mindset” has been an issue all season long. Constantly dribbling into trouble and unwillingness to distribute the ball on fast breaks. It was just highlighted yesterday because he didn’t score much. Had he scored and we won, all would have been forgiven. It’s a huge task for CRP to fix what between his ears, something that he hasn’t been able to do all year. Hope CRP doesn’t give up on him.
 
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