Villanova, Sun. Jan. 31, Noon, FOX & 970AM

[usguard]

Not much to say critically about today's game. We've seen enough of our kids to know that they are not in the same class as Nova and no one expects them to be.



Final score doesn't matter much. Nova had one 5 minute spurt at the start of the second half, and sleepwalker through the game otherwise. Had our kids played much better, Nova kids would likely have woken up and played a better game as well.

In the crowd were a bunch of Nova students and recent alums with the SJU alum parents. Pretty good crowd for Sunday at noon, and the manager gave us a smile. The larger crowd was almost entirely due to Nova fans, who largely were quiet all game.

Big takeaway for me was that our kids bust it the entire 40 minutes. Mullin has also taken the reigns of this team and is much more engaged start to finish. It's easy for the wheels to fall off when you are in a tailspin like this, but incredibly they have not.

Think if Mussini hit 3 more 3s and we did better at the foul line we could have won this one

 

[keenanherlich]

Not much to say critically about today's game. We've seen enough of our kids to know that they are not in the same class as Nova and no one expects them to be.



Final score doesn't matter much. Nova had one 5 minute spurt at the start of the second half, and sleepwalker through the game otherwise. Had our kids played much better, Nova kids would likely have woken up and played a better game as well.

In the crowd were a bunch of Nova students and recent alums with the SJU alum parents. Pretty good crowd for Sunday at noon, and the manager gave us a smile. The larger crowd was almost entirely due to Nova fans, who largely were quiet all game.

Big takeaway for me was that our kids bust it the entire 40 minutes. Mullin has also taken the reigns of this team and is much more engaged start to finish. It's easy for the wheels to fall off when you are in a tailspin like this, but incredibly they have not.

Think if Mussini hit 3 more 3s and we did better at the foul line we could have won this one

or if we didn't miss any chippy layups we would have won too

 

[ghostzapper]

Otis wrote:
Rawle is headed to tonight's 7:30 pm Knicks v. Golden State game where he will be told by Golden State personnel that Coach Mullin is best prepared to guide him to an NBA career.

On the Knicks telecast I saw a closeup shot of Coach Mullin at the game sitting next to John McEnroe. I didn't see Rawle there but hopefully he is nearby and getting some tips from McEnroe on how to avoid picking up technical fouls.

BTW the Warriors can really play. They may be on their way to the best record in league history. They will be 44-4 after finishing off the Knicks tonight

 

[keenanherlich]

Rawle is there...he posted a pick of him and Curry on instagram and got a pick of him and Klay on snapchat...looks like Rawle is living the superstar NYC life

 

[RedStormNC]

I'd hope Mullin was sitting next to Alkins during game unless McEnroe can break down opposing defenses.

 

[salty dog]

Rawle is there...he posted a pick of him and Curry on instagram and got a pick of him and Klay on snapchat...looks like Rawle is living the superstar NYC life

yeah well Calipari can take him the see the Royals in Cincinnati if they still played there otherwise he has to take him up to Indy for the Pacers and sit courtside. with Joyce De Witt :cheer:

 

[simplyred]

It would be nice if Mussini or Yakwe could add a couple of inches,which is possible.

Unfortunately we Italians are not known for our late growth spurts

My dad was 5'9" when he was 11 and thought he would be 7 feet tall. He topped out at . . . 5'9"

I laughed out loud when I read that. Can't be true! Talk about peaking early. :lol:

 

[L J S A]

It would be nice if Mussini or Yakwe could add a couple of inches,which is possible.

Unfortunately we Italians are not known for our late growth spurts

My dad was 5'9" when he was 11 and thought he would be 7 feet tall. He topped out at . . . 5'9"

I laughed out loud when I read that. Can't be true! Talk about peaking early. :lol:

He was also shaving. I'm convinced my grandparents must have lost his birth certificate and forgot how old he really was.

 

[beast of the east]

It would be nice if Mussini or Yakwe could add a couple of inches,which is possible.

Unfortunately we Italians are not known for our late growth spurts

My dad was 5'9" when he was 11 and thought he would be 7 feet tall. He topped out at . . . 5'9"

If your dad Wayne McKoy?

The LI Press started covering Wayne Mckoy's exploits when he was playing for Elmcor in middle school. He was about 6'8 when he was 13, and with everyone thinking Alcindor type of height, and the next great NYC center, he never grew.

Kudos to Monte for the growth spurt comment about Italians. I know some HS coaches who would take a small Irish kid who could play as a freshman or soph, with the thought that a lot of Irish kids grow late.

 

[Serhan_The_Mann]

I'm sorry to pick on this kid but why Balamou - why? why? why? He can't help offensively and continues to play matador defense. Obviously Felix can't make a layup or God forbid a jump shot. I would have preferred Amar getting more playing time.
Speaking of defense when are we going to learn to block the baseline and force the offensive player toward the middle. Hell, I taught this early to our youth groups in Smithtown.

he was another lavin recruit ... all he can do is drive to the lane and what made matters worse for him he didnt play much throughout his days at st. johns so yea lol

 

[usguard]

I'm sorry to pick on this kid but why Balamou - why? why? why? He can't help offensively and continues to play matador defense. Obviously Felix can't make a layup or God forbid a jump shot. I would have preferred Amar getting more playing time.
Speaking of defense when are we going to learn to block the baseline and force the offensive player toward the middle. Hell, I taught this early to our youth groups in Smithtown.

he was another lavin recruit ... all he can do is drive to the lane and what made matters worse for him he didnt play much throughout his days at st. johns so yea lol

You can teach the basics ,some get it right away,some take a little longer but some never do get it

 

[Serhan_The_Mann]

I'm sorry to pick on this kid but why Balamou - why? why? why? He can't help offensively and continues to play matador defense. Obviously Felix can't make a layup or God forbid a jump shot. I would have preferred Amar getting more playing time.
Speaking of defense when are we going to learn to block the baseline and force the offensive player toward the middle. Hell, I taught this early to our youth groups in Smithtown.

he was another lavin recruit ... all he can do is drive to the lane and what made matters worse for him he didnt play much throughout his days at st. johns so yea lol

You can teach the basics ,some get it right away,some take a little longer but some never do get it

honestly all he is athletic but thats all he does ...what really hurt him there was no playing time for him aka harrison phil greene and etc so he got stuck with nothing and all he could do is practice on the team and be rudy now he got his chance by next year his college basketball days are numbered

 

[GardenCity62]

Balamou is a good example of why you cannot assume freshmen who can't make a jump shot will at some point in their college career be able to do so.

 

[stjohnschris]

I'm sorry to pick on this kid but why Balamou - why? why? why? He can't help offensively and continues to play matador defense. Obviously Felix can't make a layup or God forbid a jump shot. I would have preferred Amar getting more playing time.
Speaking of defense when are we going to learn to block the baseline and force the offensive player toward the middle. Hell, I taught this early to our youth groups in Smithtown.

he was another lavin recruit ... all he can do is drive to the lane and what made matters worse for him he didnt play much throughout his days at st. johns so yea lol

You can teach the basics ,some get it right away,some take a little longer but some never do get it

honestly all he is athletic but thats all he does ...what really hurt him there was no playing time for him aka harrison phil greene and etc so he got stuck with nothing and all he could do is practice on the team and be rudy now he got his chance by next year his college basketball days are numbered

He was lost in the shuffle for 3 years with no defined role on the team, and clearly received very little coaching in that time as well.

 

[MarkRedman]

One thing I love about this team is that they continue to play hard
They make a lot of rookie type mistakes but they fight until the end
I've seen many a team go through the motions with a record like ours
But these kids give it their all night in and night out
This mind set will surely pay dividends for us in the future

 

[Jack Williams]

Balamou is a good example of why you cannot assume freshmen who can't make a jump shot will at some point in their college career be able to do so.

I take this as an indirect jab at Ellison.

To that I say there's hundreds of players, no thousands of players who you can't assume will never be good because of a rough freshmen year

 

[fun]

Balamou is a good example of why you cannot assume freshmen who can't make a jump shot will at some point in their college career be able to do so.

I take this as an indirect jab at Ellison.

To that I say there's hundreds of players, no thousands of players who you can't assume will never be good because of a rough freshmen year

Phil Greene shot 28 percent from 3 as a freshman and 22 percent as a sophomore. You can't tell much of anything about freshmen, except for the good ones.

 

[SJU14]

Balamou is a good example of why you cannot assume freshmen who can't make a jump shot will at some point in their college career be able to do so.

I take this as an indirect jab at Ellison.

To that I say there's hundreds of players, no thousands of players who you can't assume will never be good because of a rough freshmen year

Phil Greene shot 28 percent from 3 as a freshman and 22 percent as a sophomore. You can't tell much of anything about freshmen, except for the good ones.

Ironically enough, PGIV's shooting woes were probably because of his injuries. Something Ellison had just been dealing with.

 

[we are sju]

Balamou is a good example of why you cannot assume freshmen who can't make a jump shot will at some point in their college career be able to do so.

I take this as an indirect jab at Ellison.

To that I say there's hundreds of players, no thousands of players who you can't assume will never be good because of a rough freshmen year

Phil Greene shot 28 percent from 3 as a freshman and 22 percent as a sophomore. You can't tell much of anything about freshmen, except for the good ones.

Ironically enough, PGIV's shooting woes were probably because of his injuries. Something Ellison had just been dealing with.

Probably injuries and also not being able to shoot

 

[austour]

Balamou is a good example of why you cannot assume freshmen who can't make a jump shot will at some point in their college career be able to do so.

I take this as an indirect jab at Ellison.

To that I say there's hundreds of players, no thousands of players who you can't assume will never be good because of a rough freshmen year

Phil Greene shot 28 percent from 3 as a freshman and 22 percent as a sophomore. You can't tell much of anything about freshmen, except for the good ones.

Ironically enough, PGIV's shooting woes were probably because of his injuries. Something Ellison had just been dealing with.

Probably injuries and also not being able to shoot

If he didn't shoot 40% from 3 as a Jr, 39% from 3 as a sr and wasn't shooting 41% from International 3 in the Turkish BB league you'd have a point.