I’d rather have better shooting and players who are more gifted offensively. You can teach defense.
Villanova, Wed., Dec. 21, 6:30p, FS-1
- Thread starter Knight
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The staff had all summer, including the DR games, along with all of our OOC games, to figure how to best mesh the collection of talent we have on our roster. The weak OOC schedule did nothing to help us work out our weaknesses. All it did was camouflage them. So here we are, in to our conference schedule, with more questions then answers. Feels like deja vu all over again.
Except it ain't one game. Our backcourt play has been suspect all season long, and against far inferior comp. As has our lack of half court sets. Our outside shooting issues didn't start yesterday. I could go on, but I think you get my point. If it were one bad game against a tough foe on the road, we'd all be more understanding, but it wasn't just this one game.
I know that was a conscious decision not to double, but at some point they should have realized it was hurting us and adjusted somehow.
stjohnschris
Active member
And that's exactly what our coach should have told our players. I'm knocking the coaching, not the player. Letting Villanova have their way one-on-one time after time and not making any adjustments is beyond strange. Not playing any of our bench bigs, even if just for a few minutes is odd as well.
Larry Wright
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After Soriano and Stanley 2 guys that shoot from 10 feet in he is the only guy shooting over 50%
From three he is shooting over 47%
Curbelo is not a great defender and can’t shoot
You are throwing out these observations about getting shots off
Posh gets all his shots off because no one is guarding him
Stat sheet which has no irrational bias agrees that he should play way more
Not trying to give you shit and trust me I agree that Storr should play more. But are there not more numbers on a stat sheet than scoring?
Take the limited minutes out of it. Per 40 minutes he is:
- 12th in rebounds (2.3 for a guy with his size and athleticism! Honestly, you’d probably do better)
- 9th in assists
- 9th in steals
- 10th in blocks
- 12th in defensive rating
His contributions away from scoring have been zilch and he has continued to get beat on defense. If you cant acknowledge that then id say boo has a point about nuance.
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It sure is funny to see all of these pro-Pitino posts.
I sure could have used some of that support in April of 2019....LOL
I just remember making the case that yes there was baggage but I argued that if you make a call to Indianapolis(NCAA HQ) and find out the status of Pitino inquiry (Iona did). Assuming there was no major downside you hire him. The bottom line was it is better to be lucky then good. Under normal circumstances Rick Pitino is not leaving a job like Louisville for SJU. But when one of the 2 or 3 best coaches of his generation is available to a once proud program that has been treading water for 2 1/2 decades you swallow some of the baggage and you make it happen. Period.
I am not giving up on CMA yet, good man.
But I just wonder how different things would have been if they made that call almost 4 years ago.
And what a kick in the nuts it would be if a certain Jesuit school in Washington DC does make that call...
I sure could have used some of that support in April of 2019....LOL
I just remember making the case that yes there was baggage but I argued that if you make a call to Indianapolis(NCAA HQ) and find out the status of Pitino inquiry (Iona did). Assuming there was no major downside you hire him. The bottom line was it is better to be lucky then good. Under normal circumstances Rick Pitino is not leaving a job like Louisville for SJU. But when one of the 2 or 3 best coaches of his generation is available to a once proud program that has been treading water for 2 1/2 decades you swallow some of the baggage and you make it happen. Period.
I am not giving up on CMA yet, good man.
But I just wonder how different things would have been if they made that call almost 4 years ago.
And what a kick in the nuts it would be if a certain Jesuit school in Washington DC does make that call...
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I’d agree if the guy I was quoting didn’t just say the stat sheet has no bias
People were probably hung up on the fact of you drinking at the bar with him or seeing him at the bar at Rosie Ogradys years ago
Larry Wright
Well-known member
People were probably hung up on the fact of you drinking at the bar with him or seeing him at the bar at Rosie Ogradys years ago
You have a good memory Mike.
Haaaa thanks. That's how I can figure out all this time over the years when people change their screen names and who they are with new screen names. It helps that I like reading your posts so I remember things.
Like the Iowa State game, beyond the loss, a full array of deficiencies were on display. The team and CMA will have to do better. I target the following:
1. Either Curbelo or Posh have to make shots. Preferrably it will be Curbelo canning the mid-range shot and Posh scrapping.
2. The defense needs to be tighter. There was a plethora of missed assignments (especially on help defense) and the intensity was not there for 40 minutes. We are not good enough to win without a stifling defense.
3. Expand the rotation. I am surprised about this one because CMA is known for going deep on the bench. I know they all have some glaring weaknesses, but Pinzon, Storr, Stanley and/or Nywie have to earn more minutes.
4. Take care of the ball and value possessions. I am looking at you Curbelo. While not always a turnover, we too often have undisciplined offensive possessions. Needs to get better.
1. Either Curbelo or Posh have to make shots. Preferrably it will be Curbelo canning the mid-range shot and Posh scrapping.
2. The defense needs to be tighter. There was a plethora of missed assignments (especially on help defense) and the intensity was not there for 40 minutes. We are not good enough to win without a stifling defense.
3. Expand the rotation. I am surprised about this one because CMA is known for going deep on the bench. I know they all have some glaring weaknesses, but Pinzon, Storr, Stanley and/or Nywie have to earn more minutes.
4. Take care of the ball and value possessions. I am looking at you Curbelo. While not always a turnover, we too often have undisciplined offensive possessions. Needs to get better.
Nice post JF! On your fourth point, this team is not good enough to be cavalier with the ball and not value every possession. MA is paid well enough to address that, but I fear the laxness and lack of structure is part of culture he built here. The forty minutes of hell nonsense is bogus and all the cheating on D to generate turnovers and easy buckets is not productive. Terrible shot selection and getting jumper happy has to make opponents salivate.
Of course Nova was one game and an away contest, but the team has been sloppy most of the ooc season, which did nothing to prepare them for BE. Can Mike put the brakes on these patterns quickly before once again they get off poorly in BE? Lastly the notion MA’s team come on as season progresses is flawed since they have not yet Danced. Just missing the NCAA T is fools gold and evidence this regime may not be the answer.
They failed two tests poorly v ISU and Nova, Xavier seems test #3. Flunk and it is hard to see this group achieving the goal of Dancing Mike articulated.
Driving up to NY now for holidays..
I'm not expecting much when I attend game but will hope for the best on two fronts
1) they play decently
2) the tickets i got w/ the new quasi-seatbacks won't be as crappy as they appear
Which do has a better chance of happening?
I'm not expecting much when I attend game but will hope for the best on two fronts
1) they play decently
2) the tickets i got w/ the new quasi-seatbacks won't be as crappy as they appear
Which do has a better chance of happening?
Ray Morgan
Well-known member
All good points, which point to a long time problem in the management of the program. A leopard never changes his spots. Curbelo was a turnover machine last season. He does not shoot it well. Neither does Posh. We have 2 years of college stats to go by. Posh not being a shooter was known before he signed here. Whatever the outcome, it was a given that the backcourt was going to shoot it poorly, especially from 3.
So we have the recurring problem of hoping players do things that they never did well before. Or expecting a coach who has done things a certain way his entire career to suddenly abandon a failing defensive scheme. Which is why success here is so elusive. It starts with hiring the right coach and staff, who in turn bring in the right mix of players. I had high hopes for CMA early on. I don't anymore. Unless there is a major turn around as the season progresses, he will end up on the scrap heap of St. John's coaching hires that began the day that Looie retired and seemingly will continue for years to come.
Larry Wright
Well-known member
Curbelo is careless, we knew that going in. Not going to change. Wusu is careless as well and Posh a mess. Don’t see that problem going away
Forget the 3 with Posh, not that it’s not a mess and important, but that’s not what’s regressed. He shot 52% from two as a frosh and 57% from 2 last year. This year he is 43% from 2. That is not just a little bit of a drop off. I think pointing to curbelo as Posh’s problem (not that they are clicking all together, they’re not) is tough when we’ve seen posh just miss shots around the rim he has consistently made in the past.
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