Seton Hall (UBS), Sun., Feb. 18, 5p, FS-1

[IDRAFT]

We should be getting blown out by 40 each game if we are so unathletic and etc etc. Not build huge leads. I don’t care if a game is 40 minutes. It’s not a one time thing we had a big lead. It’s been several now.

I think there is a serious lack of mental toughness going on. I agree, they are the same players in the first half. They can’t take a punch, they panic. Everything breaks down. Blame the coach, blame the players, blame the fans, whatever. The team went off the rails.

Honestly weird, in that I agree, talent wise if you can build these leads you should be able to keep some. But the pattern has went on long enough that I suspect no one in UBS felt confident at the half. You could feel the worry in the air, which is bizarre with a twelve point lead at “home.”

Bizarre year. And once again there will be a Wednesday night appearance in the Big East tournament. Tradition!

 

[Eric]

I think there is a serious lack of mental toughness going on. I agree, they are the same players in the first half. They can’t take a punch, they panic. Everything breaks down. Blame the coach, blame the players, blame the fans, whatever. The team went off the rails.

Honestly weird, in that I agree, talent wise if you can build these leads you should be able to keep some. But the pattern has went on long enough that I suspect no one in UBS felt confident at the half. You could feel the worry in the air, which is bizarre with a twelve point lead at “home.”

Bizarre year. And once again there will be a Wednesday night appearance in the Big East tournament. Tradition!

At halftime we all said I’m sure. Seton hall has us right where they want us!

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

There isn’t a team in the country that wouldn’t take Alleyne tonight if he was a free agent.

I agree but , I still believe he’s not 100 percent . That ankle had slowed him defensively and affected his offense too .

A healthy Alleyne shoots more and scores more.

 

[bamafan]

I think there is a serious lack of mental toughness going on. I agree, they are the same players in the first half. They can’t take a punch, they panic. Everything breaks down. Blame the coach, blame the players, blame the fans, whatever. The team went off the rails.

Honestly weird, in that I agree, talent wise if you can build these leads you should be able to keep some. But the pattern has went on long enough that I suspect no one in UBS felt confident at the half. You could feel the worry in the air, which is bizarre with a twelve point lead at “home.”

Bizarre year. And once again there will be a Wednesday night appearance in the Big East tournament. Tradition!

Was on the phone with a friend while watching the game and we both agreed that even when we were up 19 if we continued to play the way we were we weren’t going to win this game. We were making shots (which is unusual for us) but were playing dumb sloppy basketball. What we didn’t think would happen is the team basically quitting on the court which was beyond their usually folding at times of adversity.

 

[AlBovino]

That's what a lot of us thought this year, even myself to some extent.

For the most part, we had better players on last years team than on this years. My point is as long as Pitino can retain the underclassmen, which is now up in the air and bring in quality recruits, we will be better next year because we will not be losing anyone of note (seniors) from this years team.

 

[Larry Wright]

Rotations and PT has been inconsistent and frankly kind of bizarre. Team is disjointed and reminds me of Mahoney teams. Pitino didn’t just wake up one morning and turn into Brian Mahoney. No offense to those on here but maybe into his 70’s he has finally lost some of his sense or the suck of ST John’s is just too strong.

 

[AlBovino]

I think there is a serious lack of mental toughness going on. I agree, they are the same players in the first half. They can’t take a punch, they panic. Everything breaks down. Blame the coach, blame the players, blame the fans, whatever. The team went off the rails.

Honestly weird, in that I agree, talent wise if you can build these leads you should be able to keep some. But the pattern has went on long enough that I suspect no one in UBS felt confident at the half. You could feel the worry in the air, which is bizarre with a twelve point lead at “home.”

Bizarre year. And once again there will be a Wednesday night appearance in the Big East tournament. Tradition!

Are we building these leads because we are playing well, or because the other team is playing poorly?

 

[Larry Wright]

Was on the phone with a friend while watching the game and we both agreed that even when we were up 19 if we continued to play the way we were we weren’t going to win this game. We were making shots (which is unusual for us) but were playing dumb sloppy basketball. What we didn’t think would happen is the team basically quitting on the court which was beyond their usually folding at times of adversity.

Ledlum 3 bad shots at end of the half.

 

[lawmanfan]

I agree but , I still believe he’s not 100 percent . That ankle had slowed him defensively and affected his offense too .

A healthy Alleyne shoots more and scores more.

He's averaging 6.4 PPG. His career average is 8 PPG. His best seasons were 11 PPG and 9 PPG on a team where he was getting 30 MPG.

Good kid, good defender, team player, appreciate that you love him but Steph Curry he ain't. He has never been a consistent shooter or scorer, ever. He's a complementary piece on a good team, that is who he has always been.

Honestly your posts about him are more consistent (although wrong) than his shooting.

 

[Redenbacher]

Are we building these leads because we are playing well, or because the other team is playing poorly?

I could not believe how badly Seton Hall played for the first 10 mins or so. I was thinking they were like a high school team. They woke up, we went to sleep.

 

[mjmaherjr]

I think there is a serious lack of mental toughness going on. I agree, they are the same players in the first half. They can’t take a punch, they panic. Everything breaks down. Blame the coach, blame the players, blame the fans, whatever. The team went off the rails.

Honestly weird, in that I agree, talent wise if you can build these leads you should be able to keep some. But the pattern has went on long enough that I suspect no one in UBS felt confident at the half. You could feel the worry in the air, which is bizarre with a twelve point lead at “home.”

Bizarre year. And once again there will be a Wednesday night appearance in the Big East tournament. Tradition!

Our crew was definitely not confident the way the half ended

 

[MJDinkins]

I don’t really put much stock in it IMO. Even DePaul may keep it close with better teams early. Doesn’t mean they’re good.

DePaul is regularly down by double digits about six minutes into the game.

 

[Silly Donovan]

Rotations and PT has been inconsistent and frankly kind of bizarre. Team is disjointed and reminds me of Mahoney teams. Pitino didn’t just wake up one morning and turn into Brian Mahoney. No offense to those on here but maybe into his 70’s he has finally lost his some of his sense or the suck of ST John’s is just too strong.

Come on Larry, the “suck of St John’s is too strong”? For that matter maybe there’s a Voodoo doll involved . I think it’s just that coach tried to put a square peg (his style of play) in a round hole (his players abilities/limitations) and it didn’t work out.

 

[Silly Donovan]

Our crew was definitely not confident the way the half ended

I’m just grateful I didn’t make another trek up from Florida for this debacle.

 

[fan5577]

At least this loss puts us out of misery.
Also really think Rick gone after this year.

He won't let this be his epitaph! He has to turn thus around next year. He won't leave on this sour note

 

[IDRAFT]

Our crew was definitely not confident the way the half ended

I ran into David Russell at the half and I would call our mood optimistically terrified.

 

[fan5577]

If it was anyone but Pitino, we’d have five threads a week about thus

But it is Pitino and he has a resume to stand on.

 

[dk423]

But it is Pitino and he has a resume to stand on.

Which is why I'm still optimistic about being a upper half BE team next year.

 

[ghostzapper]

For the most part, we had better players on last years team than on this years. My point is as long as Pitino can retain the underclassmen, which is now up in the air and bring in quality recruits, we will be better next year because we will not be losing anyone of note (seniors) from this years team.

I think the only thing that would make anyone believe we will be better next year is faith in Pitino. There is no hard evidence to believe we are definitively bringing in better players.

If you take Pitino at his word that Freshman are not impactful under his M.O. (see Wilcher and Dunlap) then our three Freshman recruits: Lefteris, Maker and Glover will not likely be game changers. If this is the case, then it brings us back to the portal and as we have seen this past season that the portal is a crapshoot.

When we bagged Dingle and Ledlum last year, the praise was pretty effusive, but now they are considered to be yesterday's mashed potatoes. Pitino himself said yesterday, that he took players quickly based on what they saw on paper and not on them being his type of guys. What evidence is there that he has players lined up, that are dying to come here, that are a serious talent upgrade. In my opinion it is just blind faith that it will happen. Now that faith may get rewarded, but after one season of watching the Pitino regime perform I am still firmly in wait and see mode. I definitely hope we will be better next year, but we will not really know much until around mid-season to see if this will come to fruition.

 

[gregbodkin]

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying in general. But the Seton Hall players yesterday, down 19 points, showed grit and determination. Adults need to lead the way and their coach did.

I do recognize your point of view, however my point is that we have produced an entire generation, again not all but most, of persons who think that is is good enough to just show up, make a good showing, get a pat on the back for a good game and go home. I think that we have some of these types on our team.

Our team leader has slacked off recently. I love Joel but he needs to be tougher and more engaged in winning rather than participating. There's others as well. I don't think that Tyler Kolek's parents told him that it was OK to just show up and participate. That kid is a leader and a winner. That's why we all hate him so much.

CRP was looking to Joel to be a leader but Joel was never given the tools to be that leader. I get what CRP is saying and what he's trying to do. He's trying to get more out of certain players down the stretch in order to get something out of this season. He's not being disrespectful to the players by trying to get more out of them. He's just up against a mental attitude that comes from "I showed up, didn't I? That should be enough!"