Watching today's second half collapse against Marquette was really pretty frustrating. Fortunately amidst all the missed free throws and other misplays we did just enough to hold on.
The struggle with our end game has been a theme during our Big East campaign. The Xavier, Georgetown, Butler losses and even the West Virginia and Arizona non-conference wins were all marked by our late game struggles. Some have expressed concern that this is a flaw in the way Coach Anderson plays out the end of games with the lead, but I think it is more likely a talent issue.
The Big East Conference has a number of teams who have a star player that they lean on in crunch time to carry them home. Watching Kamar Baldwin for Butler battle Naji Marshall for Xavier tonight making big shot after big shot down the stretch was a real reminder of the power of having that bail out guy on your roster. There are others in the conference too. Myles Powell at Seton Hall, Alpha Diallo at Providence, Saddiq Bey at Villanova, Markus Howard at Marquette and Ty-shon Alexander at Creighton all fill that role for their teams.
At SJU this is still a work in progress. Mostly down the stretch of games we have struggled to have the star power to push us across the finish line. That said Champagnie, Dunn and Williams have shown growth in their games and may develop, in time, to be that guy for us in the future. Additionally Vince Cole, Posh Alexander or others coming in could also be that guy for us. Ultimately having that guy will reduce the stomach agita I experience watching us play with late game leads.
Having the Big Shot Guy is like having Mariano Rivera in the bullpen, it increases faith, reduces worry and keeps your blood-pressure stable.
The struggle with our end game has been a theme during our Big East campaign. The Xavier, Georgetown, Butler losses and even the West Virginia and Arizona non-conference wins were all marked by our late game struggles. Some have expressed concern that this is a flaw in the way Coach Anderson plays out the end of games with the lead, but I think it is more likely a talent issue.
The Big East Conference has a number of teams who have a star player that they lean on in crunch time to carry them home. Watching Kamar Baldwin for Butler battle Naji Marshall for Xavier tonight making big shot after big shot down the stretch was a real reminder of the power of having that bail out guy on your roster. There are others in the conference too. Myles Powell at Seton Hall, Alpha Diallo at Providence, Saddiq Bey at Villanova, Markus Howard at Marquette and Ty-shon Alexander at Creighton all fill that role for their teams.
At SJU this is still a work in progress. Mostly down the stretch of games we have struggled to have the star power to push us across the finish line. That said Champagnie, Dunn and Williams have shown growth in their games and may develop, in time, to be that guy for us in the future. Additionally Vince Cole, Posh Alexander or others coming in could also be that guy for us. Ultimately having that guy will reduce the stomach agita I experience watching us play with late game leads.
Having the Big Shot Guy is like having Mariano Rivera in the bullpen, it increases faith, reduces worry and keeps your blood-pressure stable.
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