The last game I attended prior to last night's opening exhibition, was the SJU vrs. Robert Morris debacle...one of the worst coached games it has ever been my displeasure to witness. The game at Carnesseca Arena, that I watched last night, was barely any better. In the absent roar of this empty gym, I watched a division II ballclub, a team giving away considerable talent and size to it's opponent, give them all they could handle for 40 minutes. Only the depth and talent gap of St. John's served to leave us with a victory. Humbolt State should leave with their heads held high, as they left a ton of heart on the floor.
For St. John's it was pretty much a thank you to Chris Obepka that we left this game with a W. No thanks however, to Coach Lavin, whose failure to understand the dynamics in this contest almost rivaled the dreadful Robert Morris game. Apparently, completely unnoticed was the speed differential between the HB St. guards and that of our own. Insisting on above the key defense for most of the game, we relentlessly pressured their guards 25 feet from the basket...despite the fact that both their guards were considerably faster than Jlo and Rasheed....a move that led to breakdowns in our defense for most of the game. The helter skelter nature of our defense created continuous mismatches, blown assignments, fouls, open jump shots, and layups for our opponents. Why does Coach Lavin insist on this idea of defense? When the circumference defense if penetrated any skilled guard...NOTHING good can happen. Someone will always be out of position as a result. Particularly when the team is spread and unavailable to provide real help without leaving someone completely open. Chris Obepka, who blocked 11 shots last night in a wonderful effort cannot, as one man, provide enough band aids to cover all the defensive errors and opportunities provided to the opponent. We never really tested the HB St. ability to hit the three point shot. It looked to me like there was only one player who could really hurt us that way. Yet still, we left the middle open and the opportunities to break us down, throughout the game. Would you believe that we were beat over the top-down court- for fast breaks, at least 4, maybe five times in this game. All thing being equal, Humbolt St. was quicker and faster...and we completely failed to address that as an issue.
The offense in the first half was also pathetic. Much like the Robert Morris game, we failed to exploit our superior size under the boards. For those of you who haven't seen Chris Obepka play yet, you are indeed in store for a very pleasant surprise. This young man has obviously worked very hard in the off season. The box score will tell you that he hit 8 of 9 from the free throw line. What is not discernible from that stat is the form and ease with which he made them. No one will be deliberately sending our big man to the line this year. He is a new man. He is moving like a gazelle, has a new found understanding of the game, and will be a force to contend with for our opponents. HB State certainly had no answer for him. It looked like he could score at will. It also looked like no one on our coaching staff noticed this. A team, much like Robert Morris, whose butts we should've kicked black and blue under the boards, hardly paid for this weakness at all. This might have been a formidable option if our guards weren't busy concentrating on their one on one games...an option that left us looking inferior for the first 40% of this game.. Branch's brief minutes on the court were somewhat wasted because everyone else apparently forgot that he is a playmaker, and needs the ball to do his thing. Imagine...someone who actually wants to make a play with an assist in it? Poor ball handling, charges, poor shot choice, lack of spacing, poor ball movement, among other things...led to a deficit at half time...quite criminal all things being considered. Chris Jones had some decent minutes...and yes, DeAngelo finally found his mojo somewhere near halftime...but for the most part it was a lackluster performance for the entire squad except for Obepka. Sir Dom had some nice on court minutes with ball hawking and a few nice drives. But his jump shot still looks like someone doing orthopedic exercises, something I had hoped he might have worked on in the off season. The big kid from Europe (sorry, I still don't know his name) is an unaggressive work in progress and not a factor. Phil Greene was a no show. There is already a thread here regarding Rashid...I suggest you read it. His contribution of 19 points was also surrounded by an uninspired floor game. I would suggest that teams, eyeing the Red Storm as an opponent, will direct their efforts at getting Obepka out of the game. Given his aggressive nature as a defensive player, this might be much easier than you think. Without him, we will become Humbolt St.....just slower.
For St. John's it was pretty much a thank you to Chris Obepka that we left this game with a W. No thanks however, to Coach Lavin, whose failure to understand the dynamics in this contest almost rivaled the dreadful Robert Morris game. Apparently, completely unnoticed was the speed differential between the HB St. guards and that of our own. Insisting on above the key defense for most of the game, we relentlessly pressured their guards 25 feet from the basket...despite the fact that both their guards were considerably faster than Jlo and Rasheed....a move that led to breakdowns in our defense for most of the game. The helter skelter nature of our defense created continuous mismatches, blown assignments, fouls, open jump shots, and layups for our opponents. Why does Coach Lavin insist on this idea of defense? When the circumference defense if penetrated any skilled guard...NOTHING good can happen. Someone will always be out of position as a result. Particularly when the team is spread and unavailable to provide real help without leaving someone completely open. Chris Obepka, who blocked 11 shots last night in a wonderful effort cannot, as one man, provide enough band aids to cover all the defensive errors and opportunities provided to the opponent. We never really tested the HB St. ability to hit the three point shot. It looked to me like there was only one player who could really hurt us that way. Yet still, we left the middle open and the opportunities to break us down, throughout the game. Would you believe that we were beat over the top-down court- for fast breaks, at least 4, maybe five times in this game. All thing being equal, Humbolt St. was quicker and faster...and we completely failed to address that as an issue.
The offense in the first half was also pathetic. Much like the Robert Morris game, we failed to exploit our superior size under the boards. For those of you who haven't seen Chris Obepka play yet, you are indeed in store for a very pleasant surprise. This young man has obviously worked very hard in the off season. The box score will tell you that he hit 8 of 9 from the free throw line. What is not discernible from that stat is the form and ease with which he made them. No one will be deliberately sending our big man to the line this year. He is a new man. He is moving like a gazelle, has a new found understanding of the game, and will be a force to contend with for our opponents. HB State certainly had no answer for him. It looked like he could score at will. It also looked like no one on our coaching staff noticed this. A team, much like Robert Morris, whose butts we should've kicked black and blue under the boards, hardly paid for this weakness at all. This might have been a formidable option if our guards weren't busy concentrating on their one on one games...an option that left us looking inferior for the first 40% of this game.. Branch's brief minutes on the court were somewhat wasted because everyone else apparently forgot that he is a playmaker, and needs the ball to do his thing. Imagine...someone who actually wants to make a play with an assist in it? Poor ball handling, charges, poor shot choice, lack of spacing, poor ball movement, among other things...led to a deficit at half time...quite criminal all things being considered. Chris Jones had some decent minutes...and yes, DeAngelo finally found his mojo somewhere near halftime...but for the most part it was a lackluster performance for the entire squad except for Obepka. Sir Dom had some nice on court minutes with ball hawking and a few nice drives. But his jump shot still looks like someone doing orthopedic exercises, something I had hoped he might have worked on in the off season. The big kid from Europe (sorry, I still don't know his name) is an unaggressive work in progress and not a factor. Phil Greene was a no show. There is already a thread here regarding Rashid...I suggest you read it. His contribution of 19 points was also surrounded by an uninspired floor game. I would suggest that teams, eyeing the Red Storm as an opponent, will direct their efforts at getting Obepka out of the game. Given his aggressive nature as a defensive player, this might be much easier than you think. Without him, we will become Humbolt St.....just slower.
