Seton Hall, Sun. Feb. 21, Noon, FS1 & 570 AM

[we are sju]

Ron whacked Whitehead a couple of times. Right call

I was at game, couldn't tell from my seat....he def fouled him?

I think he forgot the score looked like he intentionally fouled him. He was trying for awhile and ref didn't want to call it but he kept hitting him

 

[Wolfie]

Looked like a jump ball call to me.

 

[we are sju]

Looked like a jump ball call to me.

5 seconds left under your own basket, even if the refs could have maybe swallowed the whistle it was stupid. My first reaction watching on TV was to yell at TV to get away from him and was not shocked by call.

Nice comeback but we played terribly the last two minutes with bad foul shooting , to's, bad coaching and stupid play.
Whatever just sucks that they played so hard and then threw it away.

 

[SJU61982]

Ron whacked Whitehead a couple of times. Right call

I was at game, couldn't tell from my seat....he def fouled him?

I think he forgot the score looked like he intentionally fouled him. He was trying for awhile and ref didn't want to call it but he kept hitting him

Looked like Yakwe was fouled first, though. Why no call there?

 

[we are sju]

Ron whacked Whitehead a couple of times. Right call

I was at game, couldn't tell from my seat....he def fouled him?

I think he forgot the score looked like he intentionally fouled him. He was trying for awhile and ref didn't want to call it but he kept hitting him

Looked like Yakwe was fouled first, though. Why no call there?

I agree, but the way Ron was swiping at the ball made it more um visible? Yakwe thing happened quickly. Look I wish they hadn't called it but was not a good play. But fouling Johnson wasn't a good play in the first place and that worked out for SHU.

I am Mullin guy no matter what but that last play to Sima was destined to fail. And if he had been fouled no chance he was making a FT

 

[paultzman]

Ron whacked Whitehead a couple of times. Right call

I was at game, couldn't tell from my seat....he def fouled him?

I think he forgot the score looked like he intentionally fouled him. He was trying for awhile and ref didn't want to call it but he kept hitting him

Looked like Yakwe was fouled first, though. Why no call there?

I agree, but the way Ron was swiping at the ball made it more um visible? Yakwe thing happened quickly. Look I wish they hadn't called it but was not a good play. But fouling Johnson wasn't a good play in the first place and that worked out for SHU.

I am Mullin guy no matter what but that last play to Sima was destined to fail. And if he had been fouled no chance he was making a FT

Your last point is spot on. I am sure Logen will disagree, but last play was an odd choice. Granted there was only a few seconds left, but Sima, who I like, has tendency to fumble the ball & even if fouled may not make them. I agree with poster above who noted surprise that Sima was in there. Oh well.

 

[stjohnschris]

Ron whacked Whitehead a couple of times. Right call

I was at game, couldn't tell from my seat....he def fouled him?

I think he forgot the score looked like he intentionally fouled him. He was trying for awhile and ref didn't want to call it but he kept hitting him

Looked like Yakwe was fouled first, though. Why no call there?

I agree, but the way Ron was swiping at the ball made it more um visible? Yakwe thing happened quickly. Look I wish they hadn't called it but was not a good play. But fouling Johnson wasn't a good play in the first place and that worked out for SHU.

I am Mullin guy no matter what but that last play to Sima was destined to fail. And if he had been fouled no chance he was making a FT

Was at the game, and then watched the replay at home. No-call would probably be the way to go, but it's not far fetched to have the foul called on Ron. The Yakwe contact was quick and went uncalled, but Ron and Whitehead were tangled and Whitehead clearly had the ball. I'm sure Ron would go about that differently if he had it to do again, but in the heat of the moment, it's an understandable bad foul. The refs had plenty of calls that were far more questionable than that one. We missed a few chances to seal it on our own, and then had some flat out bad luck. Running a play through a big was a good idea, but the big should not have been "bandaged hand" Sima. Yakwe or even Amar would have been a better choice I suppose. Disappointing loss, but a really fun game to attend. The energy at the Garden was awesome.

 

[we are sju]

Ron whacked Whitehead a couple of times. Right call

I was at game, couldn't tell from my seat....he def fouled him?

I think he forgot the score looked like he intentionally fouled him. He was trying for awhile and ref didn't want to call it but he kept hitting him

Looked like Yakwe was fouled first, though. Why no call there?

I agree, but the way Ron was swiping at the ball made it more um visible? Yakwe thing happened quickly. Look I wish they hadn't called it but was not a good play. But fouling Johnson wasn't a good play in the first place and that worked out for SHU.

I am Mullin guy no matter what but that last play to Sima was destined to fail. And if he had been fouled no chance he was making a FT

Your last point is spot on. I am sure Logen will disagree, but last play was an odd choice. Granted there was only a few seconds left, but Sima, who I like, has tendency to fumble the ball & even if fouled may not make them. I agree with poster above who noted surprise that Sima was in there. Oh well.

And even if you design the play for Sima get it to him where he just turns and shoots. Had too much to do and too much could go wrong asking him to make a play there.

 

[Ray Morgan]

At least I was yelling and screaming at the TV again during the second half
If we were in contention for post season play, the ending would have destroyed me
But, given our circumstances, I can live with it
I wonder how many (or few) times, one of our guys hit 2 FT's in a row this season
Should be a major area of focus - after all, they're supposed to be FREE!!
BTW, not terribly impressed with Whitehead - seems to have a poor attitude to me

Whitehead has had a good season adjusting to the point, but in my opinion needs to stay another year & continue to mature. Yesterday he gets credit for making key FTs at the end, but overall played poorly. I think it is 50/50 he comes back.

I don't question Whitehead's talent, but his maturity level is lacking. Just look at the post game scuffle as evidence. He can blow by most guards and sees the floor well. When his shot is falling he is very difficult to defend. His immaturity won't cut it in the NBA.

 

[RM86]

I drove home thinking we got one of the worst ref jobs in sju history with that loose ball foul. I guess you guys saw differently on tv

1st have was beyond sickening. 2nd half was fun to watch. Very sloppy though

How is it that this late in the season we are so horrible at ft's ?

Also that last play we had one one of the worst I have ever seen

Yakwe was great today

If Sima catches it and passes back to Mvouika which is what I believe he was supposed to do we might think differently. Mvouika was open. I think we can all agree Sima trying to dribble and make a post move was horrendous in that situation.

Also, up 3 Ellison walked right into that trap on the sideline. I think he thought they were going to foul. Worst part is if he gives it put right away Mussini is wide open in the corner to kill some clock and get fouled.

 

[Ray Morgan]

I drove home thinking we got one of the worst ref jobs in sju history with that loose ball foul. I guess you guys saw differently on tv

1st have was beyond sickening. 2nd half was fun to watch. Very sloppy though

How is it that this late in the season we are so horrible at ft's ?

Also that last play we had one one of the worst I have ever seen

Yakwe was great today

If Sima catches it and passes back to Mvouika which is what I believe he was supposed to do we might think differently. Mvouika was open. I think we can all agree Sima trying to dribble and make a post move was horrendous in that situation.

Also, up 3 Ellison walked right into that trap on the sideline. I think he thought they were going to foul. Worst part is if he gives it put right away Mussini is wide open in the corner to kill some clock and get fouled.

If you are going to make a mistake like that, no better time than in a game with nothing on the line for SJU but pride. If Ellison learns from it, the lesson learned will be of more value to us than a meaningless, in the big picture, Big East win.

 

[fan5577]

Wasn't at the Garden but watched on TV at work. Disappointed in slow start but phenomenal job by our guys getting back into it and playing their tails off. Definitely stings to lose it though, especially because we controlled our own destiny free throw-wise.

While we likely got jobbed a few times in terms of the officiating the fact of the matter is that if we do better than 10-24 from the line we win the game. Make your free throws. No excuses in this one.

The last play of the game was a god-awful play call. You absolutely cannot give the ball to a guy with his back to the basket with time winding down. It's a pretty fundamental thing even for coaches of middle school and high school players. There was virtually no player movement during inbounds and Durand Johnson needs to be an active part of the play. End of the day I don't care if its Chris Mullin, Greg St. Jean or Jesus H. Christ who draws up the play as long as it's good and executed to a decent degree. This was a horrid play call with 2.6 seconds left.

The extracurriculars after the game was disappointing, especially because this group of kids have done SUCH a fantastic job keeping their heads cool on the court throughout this trying season, and we hadn't seen any of this nonsense unlike Lavin's teams when we saw stuff like this all the time. FWIW, a friend of mine who is also friends with Derrick Gordon spoke to him after the game and Derrick said nothing homophobic was said that caused him to go off during scuffle. Just sounded like some trash talk and our guys (as well as SHU's) reacted to it.

Loved Yakwe today (how could you not?) and it's going to be really exciting to see what identity of a player he gets carved into offensively. He is bambi and so raw right now. Will he be a slasher? Back to the basket guy? Mid range jump shooter?? Looking forward to seeing the development he makes.

I really like Ellison at the point although he made some really really poor decisions down the stretch. He is continuing to make progress overall though which is great to see. I know Sima hasn't been the same player since injury but I think he just needs a bit of time to work his way in like Ellison did.

On to the next one...

I don't understand why people are saying it was a bad play. How do you know it was a first, 2nd or even third option to go to Sima. People could have done a poor job getting free. In my mind we are jumping to conclusions here. If he was the 1st or second option, yes bad call, but we do not know that.

 

[logen]

Prior to the game :
11 point underdogs
Delgado will kill us
Whitehead will kill us
Hall playing to dance
Hope we don't get blown out
Who will attend early Sunday morning MSG may be empty?

Lo and behold we were getting blown out at half time by one of the better teams in the Big East but we came back. We fought and clawed and made a great game out of it. Delgado and Whitehead had terrible games. We showed something very special in front of a damn good crowd. Do I feel bad for coach and staff you bet and of course all of the fans in attendance , but when you sit back and reflect we exceeded everyone's expectations in respect of this game. Too bad we lost but in terms of the big picture things will be great. Our free throw shooting will improve, Sima's hand will get better and he will be an outstanding center and a great half of a tandem with Yakwe. Ron M will be replaced by a jcaa next season , what an improvement that will be. We add two dynamic guards to our backcourt and Johnson's minutes will be split among Richard F , Owens , Williams ( hope he recovers ) and we will see who else.
Too bad we lost but a great sign of things to come.

Great post!!

On the last play; from where the ball was inbounded from and less than 3 seconds IMO there are 4 basic options in no particular order; all are high risk plays, let's face it is a very low percentage play any way you look at it -
1) High lob to the basket - very risky since it needs a perfect, lengthy pass with perfect timing between thrower and catcher; also contact under the basket is probably going to be ignored so it is relatively easy to disrupt the play
2) Pick for a jumper into the short corner - tough play because even if a pick frees the shooter there is a small window to complete the pass with the harassment of the inbounds defender; you also are feeding the ball into the corner to a player moving away from the basket and not squared up for the shot
3) Pick for a jumper into the middle of the court (key area) - again and even more than the corner jumper because he has to go hard to the ball the shooter's momentum is moving away from the basket and his back is basically to the basket even if he is coming from the far side of the court rather than up the middle; very difficult shot at best
4) Two man game play (the one they ran) - again very high risk although it is the one that provides two options; Sima, in this case, can either go hard to the basket or pitch back to Mvouika, obviously he did neither. The downside, it needs an instantaneous decisive read from Sima, which just as obviously didn't happen. Sima can pass and score from in low, but..............

It is always easy to second guess a single play but the position of the ball out of bounds makes that a very difficult place to score from in 3 seconds; much better chance if the ball is farther down the court where options exist to pass to a player facing the basket and squared up because the defense has to be concerned with the legitimate threat of running something going to the basket.

 

[bobo]

I don't understand why people are saying it was a bad play. How do you know it was a first, 2nd or even third option to go to Sima. People could have done a poor job getting free. In my mind we are jumping to conclusions here. If he was the 1st or second option, yes bad call, but we do not know that.

Ron had gotten called earlier for a 5 second violation and maybe he rushed the inbound pass a little so as not to be called again for the 5 sec violation.

 

[tred]

Does anyone else find it a bit odd that our couch, who makes millions of dollars, isn't involved in the huddle down 1 with 5 seconds to go in the game. I have seen this in previous games and was perplexed. How can this be possible? It's pretty embarrassing that Mullin doesn't have the aptitude to design plays in pressure situations.

 

[weathermannyc]

I don't understand why people are saying it was a bad play. How do you know it was a first, 2nd or even third option to go to Sima. People could have done a poor job getting free. In my mind we are jumping to conclusions here. If he was the 1st or second option, yes bad call, but we do not know that.

Ron had gotten called earlier for a 5 second violation and maybe he rushed the inbound pass a little so as not to be called again for the 5 sec violation.

Excellent point. I didn't have a problem with the play design, but I probably would have used Yakwe as the entry point. Would have loved to have seen someone dive to the rim from the weak side as the pass is going into Yakwe so he can catch, turn and hit a cutter going hard to the rim. Probably a lot to ask of a freshman big, but always want to go to the rim rather than settle for a contested long jump shot in that situation.

 

[tom in salem]

go to the 2:37 mark.
mussini picks sima's man and m'vouika waits a tad too long to get it to Sima.

 

[fun]

Does anyone else find it a bit odd that our couch, who makes millions of dollars, isn't involved in the huddle down 1 with 5 seconds to go in the game. .

I think the plan was to run a settee play against ottoman to ottoman defense. But that got tabled so he went back and sat on the bench.

 

[88grad]

Does anyone else find it a bit odd that our couch, who makes millions of dollars, isn't involved in the huddle down 1 with 5 seconds to go in the game. .

I think the plan was to run a settee play against ottoman to ottoman defense. But that got tabled so he went back and sat on the bench.

Funniest. Post. Ever.

Thanks for the Monday morning laugh!!

 

[bobo]

go to the 2:37 mark.
mussini picks sima's man and m'vouika waits a tad too long to get it to Sima.

If you advance the clip slowly from the inbound pass, ( 2:37 mark) you'll see that Johnson is wide open while Ron is still out of bounds, and Derrick Gordon who is supposed to be guarding Johnson is in the paint and facing Sima and leaves Johnson all alone.