St. John's-Arizona game thread
- Thread starter tom in salem
- Start date
JackofVirginia
Active member
:cheer: Hats off to this talented team, didn't look nervous at all. It's going to be a very exciting year. Don't like to lose but really enjoyed the game.
I know we have to play zone but if we were able to play man to man, there wouldn't be as many three pointers. Thought there were a few light touch fouls against us early in the game. Looking better at the foul line.
I know we have to play zone but if we were able to play man to man, there wouldn't be as many three pointers. Thought there were a few light touch fouls against us early in the game. Looking better at the foul line.
JackofVirginia
Active member
Speaking of Harrison, did he take any outside shots in the second half? It appeared he was having trouble getting open. Could have used some picks for his outside shot, especially when we trailed at the end of the game. Love this team.
In response to the comment that we are just young and the loss had nothing to do with depth.
Have to disagree. This team could have won today. Was at the game. If we had a few more serviceable bodies this game was ours. These players are the real deal. They performed well on the big stage. We just ran out of fouls.
Coach is building a strong foundation. Very excited about the future!
Have to disagree. This team could have won today. Was at the game. If we had a few more serviceable bodies this game was ours. These players are the real deal. They performed well on the big stage. We just ran out of fouls.
Coach is building a strong foundation. Very excited about the future!
With all due respect, why were they lucky? Both teams played well; as games between good teams go it was a game of runs and Arizona had the last one. They made the plays and won the game more than we lost it. We played an excellent game but their experience showed in winning time. We will improve on D as we get more comfortable in the zone. On offense (and I HATE to agree with Dickie V.), we need to play through Harkless a little more in the half court but those are nits really. All in all, very happy, no question we belonged on the court with a very good team that played and shot very well.
With all due respect, they had the last run because of two bogus calls on Nuri. Had Nuri played out the game, we win IMO. Regardless, it was a close ga,e and AZ squeaked a win over us.
Some might not have been impressed with AZ but we lost to a pretty decent tea, tonight. We'll win tomorrow IMO and head to the next at 4-1...
Gotta give credit both to coaches and the talent they collected. These kids are ballers!!
Too many three's 14 for 29 last I heard. That and Lindsey fouling out is the story of the game.
Dickie V and Shulman love the Johnnie talent and feel they will be reckoned with. Dickie V also
predicts that Harkness can become Big East player of the year in the future. Very high praise.
Extremely enjoyable game.
Dickie V and Shulman love the Johnnie talent and feel they will be reckoned with. Dickie V also
predicts that Harkness can become Big East player of the year in the future. Very high praise.
Extremely enjoyable game.
This team is a joy to watch, and they are all young guys. They have heart, talent, desire to win, they play with passion
you could use a lot more words to describe them. They all have motors that keep on running.There were some terrible calls on Nuri......There were at least 2 fouls called on him that I absolutely did not see. Yes we played well. Our coaching staff is brilliant. These kids are going to give a lot of people fits.We just need more people. Can you imagine what the game would have been like if we had our entire recruited class. Zona was lethal from behind the arc. A great game and our kids proved they can play with the big boys. I LOVE THIS TEAM..........
you could use a lot more words to describe them. They all have motors that keep on running.There were some terrible calls on Nuri......There were at least 2 fouls called on him that I absolutely did not see. Yes we played well. Our coaching staff is brilliant. These kids are going to give a lot of people fits.We just need more people. Can you imagine what the game would have been like if we had our entire recruited class. Zona was lethal from behind the arc. A great game and our kids proved they can play with the big boys. I LOVE THIS TEAM..........
jumbo_peanuts
Active member
Hate to criticize this team because I think we played really well but I think at certain times tonight this team really showed a lack of strong basketball IQ and understanding of situational basketball.....which falls on both the coaches and the players...
For instance, Harrison's foul with 2 seconds left in the first half, while I think he was 90 feet away from the hoop. While it didn't result in any points for Arizona, it was a very cheap foul, and with a team that only plays 7 players we can't really afford to waste any fouls.
Another example is the drive by Lindsey that resulted in his 5th foul. While I liked his assertiveness and scoring mentality, he needed to understand that with 4 fouls he couldn't be quite as aggressive. As a PG, he needs to know when he should try to be the aggressor and when he should run the offense and get others involved. His 5th foul was truly the turning point in the game...
These are just two examples that I could remember, and I am sure that there were probably a few more. Not sure if they can be classified as freshman mistakes or not. Hopefully they aren't making those same mistakes in a few months...
However, overall I think they played really well and put on a great performance...
For instance, Harrison's foul with 2 seconds left in the first half, while I think he was 90 feet away from the hoop. While it didn't result in any points for Arizona, it was a very cheap foul, and with a team that only plays 7 players we can't really afford to waste any fouls.
Another example is the drive by Lindsey that resulted in his 5th foul. While I liked his assertiveness and scoring mentality, he needed to understand that with 4 fouls he couldn't be quite as aggressive. As a PG, he needs to know when he should try to be the aggressor and when he should run the offense and get others involved. His 5th foul was truly the turning point in the game...
These are just two examples that I could remember, and I am sure that there were probably a few more. Not sure if they can be classified as freshman mistakes or not. Hopefully they aren't making those same mistakes in a few months...
However, overall I think they played really well and put on a great performance...
Class of 72
Active member
I think our guys played as well as expected against a deep Zona team that played 11 to our 7.
Props to Sean Miller for preparing his team well against a very soft zone. Their entire game plan seemed to be pass to an open 3 point shooter because SJ does not defend the 3 ball well. The Zona inside game only came into play at the end of the game off our freshman turnovers.
GG was not effective in this game but when a big guy gets almost no touches, it will take him out of the game very easily.
Moe had a very good game but, like GG, was not given the ball enough to take advantage of his speed inside.
Nurideen has great control on his drives but unless he starts to show some mid-range ability teams will close in on him for charging fouls and tonight was a prime example.
Harrison and Greene were great except for a late turnover by D'Angelo.
SJ crowd was sparse but loud but there are plenty of folks that need to get up at 6am to get to work. The students were good as usual.
This team can beat A&M if GG comes ready to play since they have some quality inside but nowhere near the outside shooting that Zona had...I predict Zona will not shoot 50% the rest of the year from the trey though
Props to Sean Miller for preparing his team well against a very soft zone. Their entire game plan seemed to be pass to an open 3 point shooter because SJ does not defend the 3 ball well. The Zona inside game only came into play at the end of the game off our freshman turnovers.
GG was not effective in this game but when a big guy gets almost no touches, it will take him out of the game very easily.
Moe had a very good game but, like GG, was not given the ball enough to take advantage of his speed inside.
Nurideen has great control on his drives but unless he starts to show some mid-range ability teams will close in on him for charging fouls and tonight was a prime example.
Harrison and Greene were great except for a late turnover by D'Angelo.
SJ crowd was sparse but loud but there are plenty of folks that need to get up at 6am to get to work. The students were good as usual.
This team can beat A&M if GG comes ready to play since they have some quality inside but nowhere near the outside shooting that Zona had...I predict Zona will not shoot 50% the rest of the year from the trey though
upstate redman
Member
Here is my quick take as I am exhausted. I was at the game, loud and yelling, tried to get people near me into it. I really love this team. I will start with the pros then the cons.
Pros
-Nuri is spectacular, he reminds me of hatten with his ability to score and take it to the rim
- Harkless is quiet but hes EXCELLENT, gets rebounds, knows how to finish and just is smooth
- I love SirDom at the top of the zone (i think we need to play more man will get to that late)
- greene has been a nice surprise, very good game
- never thought I would say this, but Malik Stith is a legit d1 player, he works his tail off, knows how to run the offense, and makes good plays, he is much improved
- Harrison finally showed his shot, needs to not go away in the 2nd half
Cons:
- we needed to play man, i understand the foul trouble, but if we play man we win that game, they couldn't do much one on one
- Godsgift was nowhere to be found
- turnovers turnovers turnovers
Overall, I thought the refs were really bad, hate to blame them. I loved our intensity and we showed we can really play with anyone. These kids were not unnerved in their first big game. Lets remember, this is 6 of 7 players first game on a big stage against a big time team. Lets beat A and M tomorrow, they looked terrible.
Pros
-Nuri is spectacular, he reminds me of hatten with his ability to score and take it to the rim
- Harkless is quiet but hes EXCELLENT, gets rebounds, knows how to finish and just is smooth
- I love SirDom at the top of the zone (i think we need to play more man will get to that late)
- greene has been a nice surprise, very good game
- never thought I would say this, but Malik Stith is a legit d1 player, he works his tail off, knows how to run the offense, and makes good plays, he is much improved
- Harrison finally showed his shot, needs to not go away in the 2nd half
Cons:
- we needed to play man, i understand the foul trouble, but if we play man we win that game, they couldn't do much one on one
- Godsgift was nowhere to be found
- turnovers turnovers turnovers
Overall, I thought the refs were really bad, hate to blame them. I loved our intensity and we showed we can really play with anyone. These kids were not unnerved in their first big game. Lets remember, this is 6 of 7 players first game on a big stage against a big time team. Lets beat A and M tomorrow, they looked terrible.
as i said on a previous post on another thread Lindsey has the ability to get to the hoop anytime he wants and finish! Also another thing ,everyone was praising GG for games he played against BUMS, today was his true test against bigger more talented guys and he was a non factor this will probably be the story on him for the rest of the year, since GG does not have any inside moves and just uses his strength. not to discredit GG's ability but I'm just being real! Before we go ahead and call someone the 2nd coming of anyone lets see them do it against talent! Everyone stepped up but GG. Good Night
redstorm89
Active member
lindsey is awesome but needs to develop a jumper. opponents will just draw offensive fouls against him
as i said on a previous post on another thread Lindsey has the ability to get to the hoop anytime he wants and finish! Also another thing ,everyone was praising GG for games he played against BUMS, today was his true test against bigger more talented guys and he was a non factor this will probably be the story on him for the rest of the year, since GG does not have any inside moves and just uses his strength. not to discredit GG's ability but I'm just being real! Before we go ahead and call someone the 2nd coming of anyone lets see them do it against talent! Everyone stepped up but GG. Good Night
I think it is a little too early to come down on God's Gift. For sure he was not at his best tonight and the talent he faced was probably a factor, but it was not the only factor. Our inability to score off run outs, a strength for GG, had more to do with Arizona's hot shooting and low turnovers than any deficiency in GG's ability. Also his floor minutes were way down and that cut his opportunities to impact the game positively.Lastly, while he seemed out of sync at times, each of our players have been out of sync from time to time this season. In the end I am confident that when his body of work for the season is done there will be many God's Gift highlight moments against top D1 competition.
I think it is a little too early to come down on God's Gift. For sure he was not at his best tonight and the talent he faced was probably a factor, but it was not the only factor. Our inability to score off run outs, a strength for GG, had more to do with Arizona's hot shooting and low turnovers than any deficiency in GG's ability. Also his floor minutes were way down and that cut his opportunities to impact the game positively.Lastly, while he seemed out of sync at times, each of our players have been out of sync from time to time this season. In the end I am confident that when his body of work for the season is done there will be many God's Gift highlight moments against top D1 competition.
STJ11Redmen
Active member
Nuri and D'angelo played outstanding games. Mo played well. Phil Greene stepped up and was a real catalyst in our comeback that led to us taking the lead. Stith played great in the first half. Gift was a non-factor. Pointer is so unrefined on offense, but if he ever puts it all together he will be a scary good player. All in all we had a fantastic showing, they weren't missing threes. I thought our interior defense was superb, I thought we ran the offense smoothly and efficiently. Only negatives are that we have no depth and rely on inexperienced players. Both things we knew and will have to deal with all year. All in all I was very impressed by the way the team was punched in the gut a few times and bounced right back.
That maybe what the coaching staff says, but I don't believe them that nothing was wrong with Gift. I was at the game. It would have been one thing if he just had bad numbers. However, he was not even running up and down the court with his usual effectiveness. My guess is that he was under the weather a bit.
Bottom line, once Lindsey fouled out, there was no leadership on the floor for us. This offense runs through Lindsey, that is clear.
Man though, what a show these guys put on up until that point. There will be frustrations, but you could clearly see that the core is extremly talented, and with more experience, will get better. I'm dissapointed for our kids, not dissapointed in our kids.
Concerned about our lack of depth in the back-to-back tomorrow, especially against another ranked opponent. Texas A & M is tall and long, so they will likley kill us on the boards. However, they could not throw it in the ocean today. If they are making 3's tomorrow, then you know that our defense needs to be changed.
STJ11Redmen
Active member
He was pissed about not starting. He had a look on his face when he was coming out of the tunnel where he just looked downright furious. Hopefully he learned his lesson, won't be late for the bus again and we all can move on, we will need him to be a factor all year.
Class of 72
Active member
GG is being unfairly targeted here IMO. We did not lose this game because of our inside defense but because our perimeter defenders constantly lost their man in a porous 2-3. This entire game was dictated by our guards and in the end turnovers and charging fouls by our guards lost this game and not anything that GG did. Moe Harkless also should have been the focus of more offensive sets but I guess, like last year, Lav is giving the green light to Nurideen as he did with Hardy. One thing is clear, once GG sits, we have zero inside presence.