SJU Portal Targets
- Thread starter dk423
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Guys – for the last time please stay on topic.
Maher, LJSA, Larry Wright, et. al - believe it or not, the vast majority of posters and lurkers on this site care more about St. John’s basketball than your stupid jokes or whatever is going on in your personal lives. Keep all that stuff to the Maher thread.
Maher, LJSA, Larry Wright, et. al - believe it or not, the vast majority of posters and lurkers on this site care more about St. John’s basketball than your stupid jokes or whatever is going on in your personal lives. Keep all that stuff to the Maher thread.
I would expect the same drop offs for everyone we bring in this year if a certain player was back. But you already knew that. I don't expect Smith and Wilcher to over-dribble the ball or make people stand around and wait for passes that may or may not arrive. Richmond might be a little bit more of a concern there, but several orders of magnitude less than 2023-24.
Watkins has a knack for drawing contact and that is very important in the college game. Perhaps a slight decline would be in line here due to the # of chefs in the kitchen, but I wouldn't think anything major.
There should also be a lot more transition this year with the increased defense and athleticism -- which will result in more fouls near the basket area.
Wouldn’t you agree that offensive rebounding is also something that would result in fouls near the basket? Didn’t really get us there last year.
And I don’t even disagree. Other than the continued exaggerations disparaging a very good player of ours. But the free throw stuff. Richmond and Watkins are guys who seek contact and that is a huge asset. I have no reason to think that won’t continue. I’m only admitting that I had those same thoughts last year regarding Dingle, ledlum and Taylor. And it’s based on a lot of the same numbers.
One thing is there’s usually not multiple guys on one team who live at the line, so there’s bound to be some regression from 1/2 of those 3 if we’re lucky enough to get Watkins.
Offensive rebounding can lead to fouls due to the defensive players being out of position from the scrambles, but I think we did our best passing out from those spots instead of going straight back up. Those were really the only reliable spot up shots our perimeter players got.
There is only one ball, so that will limit both FGs and FTAs. But there is no reason their ratio's should fall off short of a completely lack of chemistry and/or someone dribbling the air out of the ball.
If we landed Watkins, it would take some time to sort out the pecking order.
My apologies to the mods.
When we're sitting here waiting and checking this site every 5 minutes to see if we signed Watkins or not and to hear any news about Ledlum and Dingle (who I hope win their cases), it's easy to get distracted and go off topic.
We're like kids watching the ice cream truck slowly come down the street and stopping at every house! We easily get impatient and distracted.
When we're sitting here waiting and checking this site every 5 minutes to see if we signed Watkins or not and to hear any news about Ledlum and Dingle (who I hope win their cases), it's easy to get distracted and go off topic.
We're like kids watching the ice cream truck slowly come down the street and stopping at every house! We easily get impatient and distracted.
you mean our Off-season PT distribution isn't Gospel?
Was thinking the same thing though... and this may be just my being a beaten down StJ fan... where I should be estatic thinking about the potential signing of a player like Watkins... I find myself thinking - well "how does this effect RJs BE POY?" ... "Will Brady get the court time he needs to become that sniper i know he can be?".... "WHAT ABOUT AYO!!!" lol
RJ/Scott/Watkins... these guys are good... and somewhat similar- all seemingly deserve a lot of touches... Similarly with the Kadary/Smith/Sim trio at guard...
Even without the Watkins signing... our practices should be effin competitive, moreso than some games.... I hope they have more Open Practices this pre-season.
Iron sharpens Iron... Pressure makes diamonds... whatever cheesy analogy you want.... its gonna apply to this group.
If we add any prior coach in my lifetime but Pitino, I'd be similarly more worried than excited.
ChiTown Red
Well-known member
My apologies to the mods.
When we're sitting here waiting and checking this site every 5 minutes to see if we signed Watkins or not and to hear any news about Ledlum and Dingle (who I hope win their cases), it's easy to get distracted and go off topic.
We're like kids watching the ice cream truck slowly come down the street and stopping at every house! We easily get impatient and distracted.
Silly Donovan
Well-known member
What I’ve learned from this years portal experience is the following…..
1. No such thing as a done deal even after it’s a done deal.
2. Never get too excited about any potential recruit, whether it be Watkins or whoever till he signs AND MAKES IT TO CAMPUS. If we don’t end up getting him it just magnifies the disappointment.
3. Don’t get too connected to any player currently on board. They are but a better NIL deal away from bolting.
4. No one is irreplaceable.
Welcome to the new reality of college fandom.
1. No such thing as a done deal even after it’s a done deal.
2. Never get too excited about any potential recruit, whether it be Watkins or whoever till he signs AND MAKES IT TO CAMPUS. If we don’t end up getting him it just magnifies the disappointment.
3. Don’t get too connected to any player currently on board. They are but a better NIL deal away from bolting.
4. No one is irreplaceable.
Welcome to the new reality of college fandom.
Larry Wright
Well-known member
Kadary, Smith, Luis and Watkins if come are guaranteed big mins. Zuby will play a lot fouls permitting and Wilcher and Scott will be in rotation. Anyone else not mentioned will have to fight for whatever mins left.
Disagree re: Luis mostly because of the shins.
MugCostanza
Well-known member
It's a decent point but Dingle was barely in the top 500 of D1 players in FT Rate in his final season at Penn and had extremely low FT rates the previous seasons and Ledlum also had a modest FT Rate in his final year at Harvard. Not a surprise they didn't get to the line much here given their boost in competition as well.
Taylor definitely had a huge drop off in FT Rate but that can be attributed to going from the #1 usage guy at Oregon State to a full-on role player here.
Watkins had an extremely high FT Rate in a major conference while being efficient at high volume. I can see it dipping a bit here if he's trying to shoot more 3s to improve his NBA stock but it's going to be a completely new offense next season, I expect much more frequent trips to the FT line.
Storm Tracker
Well-known member
I’m afraid I can’t wait that long
Ill take decent!
Take this how any of you wish.
% decrease for our guys FT rate last year after transferring to SJU.
Dingle - 49.8% decrease
Taylor - 48.2% decrease
Jenkins - 36.2% decrease
ledlum - 27.3% decrease
Luis - 17.8% decrease
Meanwhile, with an increase in competition and a lesser role (2 things that should work against it), Conways went up 23.2%
Mase, get Mug on your next podcast, both you guys have great grasp of statistical analysis, hoops and are always enlightening.
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