VCU, Thur. Nov. 24, 7pm, AXS/570AM-B4A

[mjmaherjr]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

Might need him, but would have to play zone. Again tomorrow just watch him on D, no one else. He is the worst defender I can remember. Like I said, most of it is physical but he is constantly looking around and is not ready when his guy gets the ball. This is a huge problem because everyone in the country that he is guarding goes right to the basket and he is on his heels.

I'd like to know the onus minus when he is on the floor because when he can hit shots not only do we need that but he draws his guy to the perimeter freeing up our guys to drive to the basket with clearer lanes. Will see tomorrow but when we need offense I think the positives outweigh the negatives when our other guys aren't scoring

Not a good stat for basketball. Steve Kerr and John Paxson probably had great plus minus when they played with Jordan. You could be a scrub in with 4 good guys and have a good number w/o actually doing anything.

Agree with Kerr and Paxson but the difference is Muss is coming into score when no-one else is so I think the stat would be more indicative of impact ( I;m not even sure if his plus minus is good. I'm just curious ) but when no-one else is hitting shots and then he nails 2 3's is takes pressure off the others and can loosen them up

 

[we are sju]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

lost his man 2 straight times one of which Owens had to foul guy. He came out right after that and never came back in

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

He played better D tonight. Minko said so.

Lost his man on two straight possessions. Owens had to foul guy on 2nd one. He came out right after that and never came back.

He looked good on the radio.

I am not saying to not play Mussini. Just when you do play zone. Or somehow combine the worst offensive player in the nation with the worst defensive player in the nation into one guy. Like they did in the movie the Fly.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

lost his man 2 straight times one of which Owens had to foul guy. He came out right after that and never came back in

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

He played better D tonight. Minko said so.

Lost his man on two straight possessions. Owens had to foul guy on 2nd one. He came out right after that and never came back.

Owens fouls guys in his sleep

Yes he does not need any help but Mussini offered it anyway

I agree about Mussini. I thought that in limited minutes he played the best D I've ever seen him play here. I absolutely agree he's been a very poor defender but I also see what mjmaherjr has seen over the last two games. Moving his feet and staying in front of his man for the first time.

Thx. I'm not saying he is lockdown defender but I thought the last 2 games he played D overall much better then previous games. Just my opinion

 

[redfan259999888]

Atleast Sima did something tonight 12pnts on 4 of 8 shooting with 7 boards.
Yakwe 5pnts and 5 boards
18pnts for Ponds
Only 10 for Marcus but 5 assists
7pnts for moose 2-3 from 3

Team stats 14 overs for us and 12assists, 18assists and 9 turnover for vcu
Boards SJU 40 VCU 36

I originally said 15 wins, then after looking game by game I said 18.
Well it's definitely back to 15.

Just play much better by February, and get us excited for 2017-18.

 

[paultzman]

Zach Braziller – Verified account ‏@NYPost_Brazille

There is a reason St. John's was picked 8th in Big East. Talented, but so inexperienced. Asking a ton from freshmen. #

Concur

 

[we are sju]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

lost his man 2 straight times one of which Owens had to foul guy. He came out right after that and never came back in

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

He played better D tonight. Minko said so.

Lost his man on two straight possessions. Owens had to foul guy on 2nd one. He came out right after that and never came back.

Owens fouls guys in his sleep

Yes he does not need any help but Mussini offered it anyway

I agree about Mussini. I thought that in limited minutes he played the best D I've ever seen him play here. I absolutely agree he's been a very poor defender but I also see what mjmaherjr has seen over the last two games. Moving his feet and staying in front of his man for the first time.

Thx. I'm not saying he is lockdown defender but I thought the last 2 games he played D overall much better then previous games. Just my opinion

I would pay, to see Mussini guard Ellison in practice. Something would have to give. Mussini can't guard anyone and Ellison can't make a shot.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Atleast Sima did something tonight 12pnts on 4 of 8 shooting with 7 boards.
Yakwe 5pnts and 5 boards
18pnts for Ponds
Only 10 for Marcus but 5 assists
7pnts for moose 2-3 from 3

Team stats 14 overs for us and 12assists, 18assists and 9 turnover for vcu
Boards SJU 40 VCU 36

I originally said 15 wins, then after looking game by game I said 18.
Well it's definitely back to 15.

Just play much better by February, and get us excited for 2017-18.

If Sima plays the rest of the season like tonight that's good progress but he still needs to handle the ball better off passes

 

[paultzman]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

lost his man 2 straight times one of which Owens had to foul guy. He came out right after that and never came back in

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

He played better D tonight. Minko said so.

Lost his man on two straight possessions. Owens had to foul guy on 2nd one. He came out right after that and never came back.

Owens fouls guys in his sleep

Yes he does not need any help but Mussini offered it anyway

I agree about Mussini. I thought that in limited minutes he played the best D I've ever seen him play here. I absolutely agree he's been a very poor defender but I also see what mjmaherjr has seen over the last two games. Moving his feet and staying in front of his man for the first time.

Thx. I'm not saying he is lockdown defender but I thought the last 2 games he played D overall much better then previous games. Just my opinion

I would pay, to see Mussini guard Ellison in practice. Something would have to give. Mussini can't guard anyone and Ellison can't make a shot.

Better do that this year. Likely one moves on with Simon coming.

 

[Ray Morgan]

I am a broken record but you just don't learn to win overnight. We have seriously upgraded our talent but not to the extent where we can just out talent people. Just the way it is, like it or not. The team, the coaches, are obviously competitive but not where they need to be but you have to get to the hump before you can learn to get over it. And again, that goes for both coaches and players.You can't teach experience, you have to earn it.

I hope you keep being a broken record, as the fan base here on the board needs to be talked off the ledge. We are not battle tough because we are not battle tested. Nice that this game when down to the last minute, as this is how you learn how important decision making is in the end game. Thought overall the effort was good tonight. Fought hard to be right there despite Lovett having an off night. Going to have to check "recruiting central" to see where we are with some big, athletic and talented players. Patience and optimism about the future: can't be a SJU fan without it.

 

[Amaseinyourface]

All three loses have felt eerily similar. Lovett our best player but 3 huge sequences by him tonight lost it for us I thought. I have no doubt he'll figure it out.

 

[Class of 72]

Last night Ponds had a poor game.  Tonight it was Lovett.  Once they get it all together and learn to find guys inside we should be better.  The killer tonight were the missed free throws and turnovers.  Field-goal percentage was equal but our new guards got owned by the older, more experienced VCU guards.  At this point playing defense is not their strong suit.  But some of that is on Mullin.  He did a horrible job of substituting and designing plays....if he even designs anything in time outs.  Instead of instructing the guards to feed the bigs he allows freelancing to rule at the expense of set plays when we had the double bonus very early in the second half.  Benching Bashir in favor of Ellison was a head scratcher as Ellison is a horrible finisher and tonight was no different shooting ZERO %.
The good news is that every loss was winnable except for lack of experience and in game coaching.

 

[Andrew]

The assist to turnover ratios by both teams was the difference.

VCU - 18 Assists/9 Turnovers
SJU - 12 Assists/14 Turnovers

 

[JackofVirginia]

I am disappointed with Mullin's substitutions thus far. With only 5 minutes gone in the first half he stopped our momentum by taking Sima and Yakwe out replacing them with Owens and Ellison. Apparently he has this love affair for Malik who immediately missed a pass from Lovett. As far as I am concerned if you are looking for offense you can't have Owens, Sima and Ellison in the game together or even Sima, Yakwe and Ellison. Which brings me to the end of the game. Mussini, granted not the best defender, still can score as can Ahmed. Poor bench coaching by Mullin.

 

[ccnobz]

All three loses have felt eerily similar. Lovett our best player but 3 huge sequences by him tonight lost it for us I thought. I have no doubt he'll figure it out.

I agree with that missed 2 free throws and a wide open 3 , he nails them we may win. We will be fine with him

 

[Class of 72]

All three loses have felt eerily similar. Lovett our best player but 3 huge sequences by him tonight lost it for us I thought. I have no doubt he'll figure it out.

He may have to figure it out on his own. Too much shaking and baking and not involving others at this point may lead others, especially Bashir Ahmed, to look for their points in street ball fashion unless they get coached up. I'm sure one of our Hall of Fame coaches will get right on it.

 

[JackofVirginia]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

lost his man 2 straight times one of which Owens had to foul guy. He came out right after that and never came back in

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

He played better D tonight. Minko said so.

Lost his man on two straight possessions. Owens had to foul guy on 2nd one. He came out right after that and never came back.

Owens fouls guys in his sleep

Yes he does not need any help but Mussini offered it anyway

I agree about Mussini. I thought that in limited minutes he played the best D I've ever seen him play here. I absolutely agree he's been a very poor defender but I also see what mjmaherjr has seen over the last two games. Moving his feet and staying in front of his man for the first time.

Thx. I'm not saying he is lockdown defender but I thought the last 2 games he played D overall much better then previous games. Just my opinion

Speaking about defense we allowed Williams to penetrate and score three feet from the basket.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Down by four, key possession...Ellison looks for noone, drives and misses the layup.
I blame the coaches for having him there at a key time.

Ellison hasn't hit a shot tonight and Mussini was 2/4 yet Ellison is on the floor

You gotta find time for Mussini when we go so cold from the field at the end. He even got friendly roll on one of the 3's

lost his man 2 straight times one of which Owens had to foul guy. He came out right after that and never came back in

Bad job not sticking him in there and his D wasn't bad tonight I thought

He is playing fine offensively but if you want to play him for longer stretches will have to play zone. He can't guard anyone. Like in the history of basketball. I agree Ellison is annoying but Mussini cause everyone to rotate because his guy goes right by him. Next year both guys won't play.

I actually thought his D was good the last 2 games but regardless you put him in for offense which is what we needed when we don't hit a fg for 5 minutes

MJ tomorrow just watch him on D. It is awful. He never keeps his man in front of him. Triple threat. Slow, small and turns his head all the time. This is not me picking on him, I am explaining why Chris Mullin chose not to leave him in.

Overall I agree about his D but for some reason I thought it was better the last 2 games but regardless when you aren't scoring you gotta put him in when he is hitting shots and no-one else is regardless of defense.

He played better D tonight. Minko said so.

Lost his man on two straight possessions. Owens had to foul guy on 2nd one. He came out right after that and never came back.

Owens fouls guys in his sleep

Yes he does not need any help but Mussini offered it anyway

I agree about Mussini. I thought that in limited minutes he played the best D I've ever seen him play here. I absolutely agree he's been a very poor defender but I also see what mjmaherjr has seen over the last two games. Moving his feet and staying in front of his man for the first time.

Thx. I'm not saying he is lockdown defender but I thought the last 2 games he played D overall much better then previous games. Just my opinion

Speaking about defense we allowed Williams to penetrate and score three feet from the basket.

thats why I wanted Ellison to switch to him. Don't know if it would have worked but I thought the extra height might have altered his shots if he could stay in front of him

 

[Amaseinyourface]

We need to give Lovett some screens with Ahmed. Need to force the defense to make a choice and sima and Yakwe aren't doing that. CJ would have been a nice pair with him.

 

[JackofVirginia]

Lovett and Ellison cleaned up betting VCU tonight

why Ellison? just curious

That's easy ---- he can't score or even finish on drives.. We desperately need at least three offensive players in together.

 

[RedStormNC]

Post game quotes

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/112416aad.html