St. John's-Arizona game thread

[STJ11Redmen]

i wasn't able to watch the game.....i noticed god's gift barely played....did he get injured? 

 



no just a non-factor

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

I don't think anyone is targeting him, he didn't play well offensively tonight, that's a fact. As for his defense, I thought it was phenomenal, he was able to make their bigs alter their shots without leaving his feet or taking fouls. He actually has shocked me at how savvy he is on the defensive end. I thought he was going to be like a Coker type who just collects fouls but he is a tremendous defender.

 

[beast of the east]

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 the assessment of GG is way off base. Arizona clogs the middle, making it tough for even a polished offensive player to operate down low. GG is an undersized big, and he his not going to get a ton of points in games like this. My opinion though, if you take him away form last night's game, they lose by 25.

 

[beast of the east]

This game was their first real test, and these guys were more than up to the task. I expected a 10-15 point loss, and at 66-58, they threatened to pull away until a 16-2 run by Arizona turned the tables. The final score didn't eflect how compettive the game was. Again, it's early, and we really don't know how Arizona is going to do the rest of the way. At 15, they could be way overrated. All in all, a very good sign from this team, that even playing a short rotation, they can play ball with a ranked team. They certainly didn't look like a team loaded with freshmen on a completely new roster.  With the lack of depth, foul trouble is going to kill them at times, but all in all, there is a lot of talent on this squad, and overall athleticism is better than last year. We didn't get killed on the boards, and that's a great sign.

 

[MCNPA]

 Nuri fouling out killed us. We are a very good tea, that will compete thus year. Zona
Very lucky to win this one.

 

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!! 

 

Gee sorry I tried to get into a discussion with you, I should have known it was the refs fault, my bad.

 

My apologies Logen, can't get into a rational discussion with me after my team loses and a few too many cocktails. Lol

 

[thetux1]

 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.

 

He hasnt shown any offensive ability at all including shooting FTs and has a knack for careless turnovers. That said I thought we played a great game, the fouls and lack of depth just caught up to us. I'd like to see Lindsey develop a little teardrop shot. The way the refs were blowing the whistle in the 1st half I'd have sat him with 2 fouls

 

[logen]

 Nuri fouling out killed us. We are a very good tea, that will compete thus year. Zona
Very lucky to win this one.

 

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!! 

 

Gee sorry I tried to get into a discussion with you, I should have known it was the refs fault, my bad.

 

My apologies Logen, can't get into a rational discussion with me after my team loses and a few too many cocktails. Lol

 

Understood, no problem

 

[redman#13]

Beast from The East - my point about GG is directed more to the posters on this forum. I love GG i think he is good! But posters on this forum were hyping his game up after two games against lesser teams, his test was yesterday against a good team and bigger guys and he was a non factor. I'm sure he will have some good games.. But lets not hype anyone too HIGH, because at the end we will be disappointed.

 

[ccnobz]

Beast from The East - my point about GG is directed more to the posters on this forum. I love GG i think he is good! But posters on this forum were hyping his game up after two games against lesser teams, his test was yesterday against a good team and bigger guys and he was a non factor. I'm sure he will have some good games.. But lets not hype anyone too HIGH, because at the end we will be disappointed.

 


Scary stat: GG played 30 minutes last night and only grabbed 2 rebounds.

 

[tom in salem]

Beast from The East - my point about GG is directed more to the posters on this forum. I love GG i think he is good! But posters on this forum were hyping his game up after two games against lesser teams, his test was yesterday against a good team and bigger guys and he was a non factor. I'm sure he will have some good games.. But lets not hype anyone too HIGH, because at the end we will be disappointed.

 

As Lavin said, they did an awful job of getting him the ball.
Arizona played great half court defense.
Sagged all night and took away any semblance of an inside game that we have.
Also drew 2 charges on Lindsey.

 

[Joe]

GG didn't have a good offensive game but I believe he was solid defensively inside. Curious as to how his getting benched for the start of the game affected him-not that he didn't deserve it. From the little I know/hear about GG I would think he took it as deserved and will deal well with it.
Really enjoyed the game-no not the outcome of course but I was impressed by several things and believe the presence of Amir will add a lot to the mix-were he playing last night I believe we would have won or had a one or two point loss.
I thought there were a couple of cheap or non fouls called on us, especially on Nuri, but that may be me being a homer. It was obvious that Nuri was the ring leader for us last night and when he was out it showed. As a team we are going to have to get past depending on one player-sure it happens on good teams that there is a go to guy (and it's good we have one in Nuri), but in this case(at least yesterday) he was the glue, the ignitor the finisher etc. I'll take that for a few minutes at a time in a game but it seemed like when Nuri wasn't in last night we were a bit flat offensively-and that was our downfall -when Nuri got 4 fouls and then fouled out. Hopefully in the future the team won't be so dependent on one player.
I really love the way Moe looks and think he is going to be awesome in a relatively short time.
Greene seemed to find his stroke again. Harrision seems to be getting comfortable shooting. Pointer is a defensive nightmare for other teams, and I believe when Amir gets on board the duo of Amir and Dom will be hellacious on D. Stith looks to be getting more comfortable and aggressive, and is a useful player for us now.

 

[usguard]

 Think the % they shot the 3 was better that he will shot it in most of thir games It was just falling for them They are off a few % points we win , Thats basketball no complaints on the team or the staff

 

[ccnobz]

 Think the % they shot the 3 was better that he will shot it in most of thir games It was just falling for them They are off a few % points we win , Thats basketball no complaints on the team or the staff

 

Arizona nailed 14 3's and shot 48% from 3-- of the 14 do you remember any where a defender had a hand in the shooters face? Maybe 2 were contested shots

 

[tom in salem]

 Think the % they shot the 3 was better that he will shot it in most of thir games It was just falling for them They are off a few % points we win , Thats basketball no complaints on the team or the staff

 

Arizona nailed 14 3's and shot 48% from 3-- of the 14 do you remember any where a defender had a hand in the shooters face? Maybe 2 were contested shots

 

They shot 11-31 from 2 point range.
I'd play the same defense again.

 

[usguard]

 Think the % they shot the 3 was better that he will shot it in most of thir games It was just falling for them They are off a few % points we win , Thats basketball no complaints on the team or the staff

 

Arizona nailed 14 3's and shot 48% from 3-- of the 14 do you remember any where a defender had a hand in the shooters face? Maybe 2 were contested shots

 

48% is still a high Number no matter if there is a defender or not they still had to put it in the bucket. They are not going to shoot 48% everynite. If it were a different nite we win by 10

 

[IcemanSJU]

 I was extremely proud of our team last night. It was the first time I got to watch them and they are good as advertised. They stood strong adn tough as nails last night on the big stage. Yes these freshmen had some lapses on defense and some bad fouls but for the most part and I am talking like 85% they were phenomenal! We were basically either 3 fouls or 1 extra player away from beating Arizona at their very best because I am sure they had their whole team! If we had either one of Amir, Sampson, Pelle or all three we win this thing easily! I could write alot more but I am going to say they were GREAT! Lindsey can handle the point no problem! If've never seen a STJ's team play with so many dribble penetrations and convert!! It was the best from a guard stand point. Now I would've like to have seen Moe Harkless get alot more touches. Even at the very end after Nuri fouled out Moe almost gave us a chance but with no solid PG to handle the rock we let it slip through our hands. Arizona was very much at the edge of the cliff and ready to fold to 7 freshmen!!!! Sean miller but run with this win because he knows that our team was entirely better then his. Must've been hard for the coaches adn players to take this loss but their is so much potential and room from growth that this season will be fun to watch!!!! GO REDMEN!!

 

[newsman13]

the bottom line...the refs consistantly called a tight game. that's a killer with a thin lineup. those last two fouls on lindsey don't get called in most games. the players did adjust to the tight calling in the second half by not getting a foul called against them until past the ten minute mark. at the end, it was a big factor.

i'm sure the coaches are working on three point defense. even the mid majors we played lit us up from deep.

all in all...the kids put on a spectacular show. i hope coming up against another top 20 team with a short bench less than 24 hours after the arizona game doesn't guarantee a big loss.

 

[ccnobz]

 Think the % they shot the 3 was better that he will shot it in most of thir games It was just falling for them They are off a few % points we win , Thats basketball no complaints on the team or the staff

 

Arizona nailed 14 3's and shot 48% from 3-- of the 14 do you remember any where a defender had a hand in the shooters face? Maybe 2 were contested shots

 

They shot 11-31 from 2 point range.
I'd play the same defense again.

 

Obviously with the foul trouble and limited bench they had no choice but to stay in the zone-- but they have to gamble less and rotate better or teams will be patient and get open 3 looks all night long.

 

[Class of 72]

 Think the % they shot the 3 was better that he will shot it in most of thir games It was just falling for them They are off a few % points we win , Thats basketball no complaints on the team or the staff

 

Arizona nailed 14 3's and shot 48% from 3-- of the 14 do you remember any where a defender had a hand in the shooters face? Maybe 2 were contested shots

 

They shot 11-31 from 2 point range.
I'd play the same defense again.

 

Obviously with the foul trouble and limited bench they had no choice but to stay in the zone-- but they have to gamble less and rotate better or teams will be patient and get open 3 looks all night long.

 

This afternoon it will be the A & M inside game that can kill us . Moe will have to be more aggressive on defense and GG will likely collect more fouls. It will be another NR show but hopefully with a better result.

 

[bobre45]

I still think they have to be more disruptive at the top to cut down the ball movement that's leading to all thelong possessions and open threes. We need more stolen passes and ball pressure rather than dumb fouls away from the basket. More man would have made a difference in that game and created runouts instead of forced drives. I think we were the better team but not with the 14 threes and refs against us.

 

[DaninAlbany]

Our failure to defend the three will hurt us again. It must be a coaching decision not to defend it. Granted we are short handed and had to play zone due to early foul trouble but this is what caused Brian Mahoney's downfall although we have much better talent now.