Very unrealistic expectations

[fun]

But what in the three games have you seen that would warrant him getting significant enough minutes to be our third option this year

Melanin. He's the best shooter SJU has seen since Federico Mussini.

 

[redfanO10101ll]

I'm happy with where we are! Would have of course loved a W in Minny but we know this team isn't a finished product yet so I just want to keep seeing growth. That was the first time we got to see this team get punched in the mouth. Yes they lost but the good news is that they didn't fold up and lose by 20 or 30. They made a game out of it. I get the sense that we have a couple of guards on this team who do not like to lose and that's an attitude that can't really be taught.

LoVett and Ponds have exceeded my already high expectations. Unfortunately the progress of our front court players is behind where I thought they'd be and I still think we have team-wide defensive issues. So it's a wash. Still think we're a 15 win team here. If we double up our wins from last year and keep adding talent, I can more than live with that.

 

[monte]

The only conclusion that I can draw after reading this thread is that any poster who both questions whether Lovett hoisted up to many shots last game, and still feels that RF and Muss can contribute this year, is without a shadow of a doubt a card carrying member of the aryan nation.

 

[Red.Fans]

another positive side is that unlike previous years this staff is actually program building. we are reloading in areas where need is obvious and we have high level talent wanting to come play. We've got size and athleticism coming in next season. Last year Lovett would have made a big difference and this year Simon and Clark would have. Point being that we are making some incremental progress regardless.

Lovett coming in with a year of practice allowed for some immediate impact that might have taken longer otherwise. Hopefully Simon/Clark will have the same type of integration. They both already have high major experience so the integration should be even better. If we see the Defense improving this season then we are on the right track. As a program, defense takes years and we don't have any upper classmen as a foundation. I'd be happy to see our guys first back on D in the next game. That at least means the effort is there. Footwork and timing takes longer.

 

[Amaseinyourface]

I'd like to know what peoples expectations were for Sima this year.. cause his per 40 #s round out to about 24 pts and 12 rebs while shooting 59% from the field and 67% from the line.

 

[L J S A]

I'd like to know what peoples expectations were for Sima this year.. cause his per 40 #s round out to about 24 pts and 12 rebs while shooting 59% from the field and 67% from the line.

I was hoping for somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 and 7.

 

[Amaseinyourface]

I'd like to know what peoples expectations were for Sima this year.. cause his per 40 #s round out to about 24 pts and 12 rebs while shooting 59% from the field and 67% from the line.

I was hoping for somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 and 7.

Me too, and I thought that would come in about 25 minutes a game. So I am more than fine with what Sima is giving us, just needs to stay out of foul trouble. Think we have 3 quality bigs its just that none of them are offensive oriented. Thats where CJ for 15-20 minutes a game would have been nice.

 

[paultzman]

I'd like to know what peoples expectations were for Sima this year.. cause his per 40 #s round out to about 24 pts and 12 rebs while shooting 59% from the field and 67% from the line.

I was hoping for somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 and 7.

Me too, and I thought that would come in about 25 minutes a game. So I am more than fine with what Sima is giving us, just needs to stay out of foul trouble. Think we have 3 quality bigs its just that none of them are offensive oriented. Thats where CJ for 15-20 minutes a game would have been nice.

7&7 is reasonable.

 

[usguard]

I'd like to know what peoples expectations were for Sima this year.. cause his per 40 #s round out to about 24 pts and 12 rebs while shooting 59% from the field and 67% from the line.

WOW i thought you were talking about Kareem I just wanted him to be more of a back to the basket center with some hooks short jumpers 3-5 blocks a game and holding the apposing team center to under double digits

 

[bamafan]

When and if a poster states an opinion that Mussini, Amar and Freudenberg need to take the majority of the shots then inferring racism may be warranted. All our players seem to get along very well so why try and divide the fan base. Have no problem if LoVett and Ponds take the most shots and are our leading scorers but for the benefit of the team we will need some easy baskets inside from our bigs as outside shooting tends to have off nights. Would behoove the team and staff to figure out a way to get more production inside.

 

[Class of 72]

This conversation is very premature. Just be happy we have Ponds and Lovett regardless of the number of shots they take. Both are special players. Once this team learns to play some defense they will surprise some of you.

 

[Class of 72]

When and if a poster states an opinion that Mussini, Amar and Freudenberg need to take the majority of the shots then inferring racism may be warranted. All our players seem to get along very well so why try and divide the fan base. Have no problem if LoVett and Ponds take the most shots and are our leading scorers but for the benefit of the team we will need some easy baskets inside from our bigs as outside shooting tends to have off nights. Would behoove the team and staff to figure out a way to get more production inside.

I confess that I have not read every thread here but why and how is race even a remote issue here??? Every single one of our best players is African American. Case closed! Our three European players are support players and will contribute as the season progresses.

 

[bamafan]

When and if a poster states an opinion that Mussini, Amar and Freudenberg need to take the majority of the shots then inferring racism may be warranted. All our players seem to get along very well so why try and divide the fan base. Have no problem if LoVett and Ponds take the most shots and are our leading scorers but for the benefit of the team we will need some easy baskets inside from our bigs as outside shooting tends to have off nights. Would behoove the team and staff to figure out a way to get more production inside.

I confess that I have not read every thread here but why and how is race even a remote issue here??? Every single one of our best players is African American. Case closed! Our three European players are support players and will contribute as the season progresses.

Said my piece, don't want to belabor the point as you are right race should not even be an issue. But if you want to know how it became an issue read the opening post of the thread.

 

[Class of 72]

When and if a poster states an opinion that Mussini, Amar and Freudenberg need to take the majority of the shots then inferring racism may be warranted. All our players seem to get along very well so why try and divide the fan base. Have no problem if LoVett and Ponds take the most shots and are our leading scorers but for the benefit of the team we will need some easy baskets inside from our bigs as outside shooting tends to have off nights. Would behoove the team and staff to figure out a way to get more production inside.

I confess that I have not read every thread here but why and how is race even a remote issue here??? Every single one of our best players is African American. Case closed! Our three European players are support players and will contribute as the season progresses.

Said my piece, don't want to belabor the point as you are right race should not even be an issue. But if you want to know how it became an issue read the opening post of the thread.

I took We Are SJU's reference as humorous sarcasm. It should have stopped there. AMF are clearly lesser talents but Richard is a pure freshman and I like what I see in his potential. I just hope this issue is never mentioned again.

 

[prjohnnies]

All of these issues get glossed over if we play better defense. Play games in the 60s, 70s or even low 80s and we likely won't need Lovett and Ponds to take so many shots. Through 3 games, they are as impressive a backcourt as I've seen here since EB and Bootsy, or maybe the few games where Sheed as a soph had his head on straight with D-lo. Yes, we will need contributions from others this year to get some more W's and, yes, we will need Lovett and Ponds to facilitate for others in addition to scoring, but the latter is going to take time given that these kids are 3 games into their freshman year!! These kids are something to be excited about. And if we can turn up the D even a little bit -- which we should be able to do with our quickness and rim protectors -- we won't be having these debates.

 

[Knight]

I have when someone throw race into a situation out of the blue. Can't we just enjoy this team and debate the strategies used and bitch about the refs?

 

[frank]

We are St. John's. Our history has never been about race or creed . Some of you may remember when our best players were Jewish . When I was in grammar school , we played Kentucky at Kentucky with Solly Walker and Jewish kids and lost by more than 40 points later that same year at a neutral site and we beat them .Do I have to draw a picture? In my senior year ,the best players were Al Seiden and Tony Jackson. We were never a Kentucky or other similar schools and we will never be.

 

[logen]

See the problem is not people on these boards being overly optimistic, they were just looking for a reason to bitch.
If you went into this season with modest expectations of looking forward to watching as exciting a pair of guards as the school has ever had and hoping we would win 5 or so more games and be competitive....Well then you thoroughly enjoyed the season's first three games. I did!

First off for the love of Kate Upton's boobs, if one more person criticizes Marcus Lovett for being selfish, I will have no choice but to label that person either the stupidest person on the planet a racist or both. SJU best shot is any shot that Lovett or Ponds choose to throw up there. That was the case with most of Harrison's career here as well as Marcus Hatten. If we start to get better offensive players in here and Lovett still is shooting 30 times you can circle back to me. But for right now I am happy with any shot those two take and am not the least bit worried about how many shot a small slow guard that has to be wide, I mean really wide open to get off a good shot gets.
This team is way better than last year but will still only account for 5 or 6 more wins. We are starting from zero. We have to nice building blocks that are fun to watch. Yakwe and Sima are nice pieces but are as raw as anything on the menu at your favorite sushi place.
Enjoy Lovett and Ponds, hope Ahmed can pick it up and Sima and Yakwe improve. If you chose to watch by bitching that is your loss!

An SJU fan racist is they are critical of two guards on a roster that for the past 25 years has been predominately African American? Are you out of your mind? Is a D1 college basketball fan is racist he had better start rooting for another sport and likely at the high school level in Garden City.

At this point the dropoff in offensive prowess after Ponds and Lovett is steep, and there were many on here who predicted NCAAs in Mullin's year 2 and definitely by year 3. Steadfastedly I thought year 4 form the beginning was more realistic once it became clear the cupboard was bare.

Ponds and Lovett are our best two players. period. If they have to shoulder this offensive load, the team will not win. That's a reality, and not a personal shot at either.

Unless there is an overt racist comment, please remove that rhetoric from discussion here. We have had a number of great backcourts in SJU history, so for that matter, it's foolish to proclaim Lovett and Ponds as exciting a pair as any that have played here is just foolish.

I'm not crapping on you, but using the word racist in a discussion of how our team is doing thus far is pretty damned inflammatory.

The constant DLO criticism and recent Lovett sniping coupled with the bizarre pimping of Mussini and German Fred Lyson is very curious. Lovett is 27 shots better than Mussini, end of story. Team has a bunch of issues, Ponds and Lovett aren't any of them.
Every game is different and 27 shot is a lot but that game dictated those 27 shots!

I may be missing something, but I have observed most posters thrilled with Ponds & LoVett. Expressing concern about depending on them so much doesn't mean they are ripping anyone. Regarding Freudenberg & Mussini, both are role players who may or may not contribute much this year. No sense in blowing this up into some social experiment. You don't see their upside, some guys do. Why beat it to death?

PS - I do think Freudenberg will be a solid player at some point. I feel next year this is likely. The Fred Lyson joke may have to be retired. If not, he was still worth recruiting.

Not aimed at you, just using your post as a vehicle. To judge Freudenberg or LoVett or any player after 3 games is nonsense. To judge the team after 3 games is just as silly. As far as the racist crack I'm sure the Lyson sarcasm has absolutely nothing to do with them both being white; idiotic look at me posting.

 

[rawdognyc]

Fair to judge an 18 year olds talent who is from half way across the world after only 3 games.. He doesn't have the luxury of a Luca or Louie to help make the part of the transition being away from everything and everyone you know easier and now playing a whole new style of basketball than what you've played your entire life.. However, I'm going to trust the staffs eye for talent than any one on this board.. I swear for as intelligent as some of the posters here are, they lack common sense and basic logic thinking abilities.

 

[beast of the east]

Fair to judge an 18 year olds talent who is from half way across the world after only 3 games.. He doesn't have the luxury of a Luca or Louie to help make the part of the transition being away from everything and everyone you know easier and now playing a whole new style of basketball than what you've played your entire life.. However, I'm going to trust the staffs eye for talent than any one on this board.. I swear for as intelligent as some of the posters here are, they lack common sense and basic logic thinking abilities.

Point well taken