Villanova, Wed., Dec. 21, 6:30p, FS-1

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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.
Different player but kind of reminds me of how Reggie Jessie fell apart his last year
 
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. Curbelo will not make shots and Posh will not make the shots he is currently taking.
2. We play stifling defense about 1 of every 10 games. So, Anderson needs to improve the offense, or change the defensive strategy or both.
3. I agree the rotation should be expanded, but it is more than that. The floor needs to be more balanced with defensive and offensive players, and
also players who are willing to play team ball.
4. Not going to happen unless people who are undisciplned (Curbelo, Jones, Wusu (Yes, I know he does a lot of good things but he also does a lot
of bad things and he is too inconsistent) are taken out of the rotation or have their time in the rotation reduced.
 
Because, IMO, Nyiwe would give us close to zero(I'm being kind) offensive contributions against a team like Nova. And on a night when we lost our offense early, and the staff was look to find a spark somewhere, Nyiwe was not the place to look.
Perhaps, but he only played the usual 3 from the bench--Storr, Stanley and Wusu. He didn't even try to get offense from Pinzon.
 
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?
Even if the seats have tacks on them I still think a better chance of number 2 🤪🤣
 
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?
Gotta feeling your seat is going to be uncomfortable and hope the person in front of you likes having your knee in their back
 
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 think I'm only one (or a few others) who has expressed that I actually do not mind the seatbacks as they beat the alternative.
 
I'm hoping for some good performances coming up against X, SH, and Mq to make me forget this loss. I have a feeling it will be a typical Jekyll and Hyde season that we've had the last few with CMA, including an almost improbable victory against Nova in the BE tourn.
 
Different player but kind of reminds me of how Reggie Jessie fell apart his last year

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.
Posh is playing out of position. That is affecting his total game. The 3 point shot is in his head and that is also affecting his total game. Curbelo being out of control and undependable is also affecting Posh's total game.
 
Posh is playing out of position. That is affecting his total game. The 3 point shot is in his head and that is also affecting his total game. Curbelo being out of control and undependable is also affecting Posh's total game.
Personally I think the curbelo stuff is reaching for excuses. There have been plenty of shots that he has missed that he has made in the past that have zero to do with curbelo. He also played with another point guard his freshmen year.
 
Personally I think the curbelo stuff is reaching for excuses. There have been plenty of shots that he has missed that he has made in the past that have zero to do with curbelo. He also played with another point guard his freshmen year.
Dunn was not a PG. He played the 2G that entire year. Posh played the point guard position winning freshman of the year and defensive player of the year in the Big East. My point is that Posh is being asked to play out of position this year, and Curbelo cannot play the PG position as well as Posh can.
 
Personally I think the curbelo stuff is reaching for excuses. There have been plenty of shots that he has missed that he has made in the past that have zero to do with curbelo. He also played with another point guard his freshmen year.
I don’t think Curbelo is directly responsible for Posh struggles but the fact that he can’t shoot either doesn’t lessen the load. Ideally you would like your guards to compliment each other or at least cover for their shortcomings
Not happening here
 
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.
Agree with much of what you say, but Posh has clearly regressed. I think it was realistic to assume his mid-range game would continue to improve and that he could be a 30 percent shooter from three, not to mention make layups and garbage points that he consistently made in the past.

I continue to believe that if somehow Posh and Curbelo can consistently find the best versions of themselves — flaws and all — we have the potential to dance. You can say that for a lot of teams of course, but that’s all I got.
 
Dunn was not a PG. He played the 2G that entire year. Posh played the point guard position winning freshman of the year and defensive player of the year in the Big East. My point is that Posh is being asked to play out of position this year, and Curbelo cannot play the PG position as well as Posh can.
I disagree that it was dunn at 2 and posh at 1. It was split pretty evenly. I will agree that playing with dunn forced the opposing teams pg to guard posh and that’s not the case with curbelo.
 
They added Curbelo, worth a shot based on his Illini freshman year, who was also a key guy attracting David Jones, along with Soriano. Both I am sure were assured major minutes. The question may be is team chemistry where you want it, a work in progress or is it the free lance, unstructured style of play that is not conducive to beating quality, well coached teams? The next three or four games should yield a clearer picture imo.
 
One thing about 40 minutes of hell this season. It doesn't seem anywhere near as disruptive as it was during CMA's first season here. The numbers bear that out. Steals are down about 1 per game, and opponents are turning it over about 1.5 less. Turnover differential way down, as this team is turning it over at a higher rate than the makeshift roster CMA had his first season here. Being that the numbers this season include playing mostly mid-major programs, those differentials may look worse when the season is over. Iowa State turns teams over without having athletes as quick as st. John's, primarily doubling and trapping at the right time. With the CMA system, most steals seem to be based on 1 on 1 on ball pressure. Our double teams seem to lead to a lot of open threes more than causing turnovers.
 
There is an approach in family therapy known as "paradoxical intervention". At its core it tries to organize resistance to change in to an effort to make things worse, with the paradoxical effect of uniting people in working together and creating change. Two family members are always arguing, and the paradoxical intervention is to get them to work on techniques to win arguments, the result being that they are learning more about cooperating than winning arguments.

Both Posh and Andre are gifted guards at scoring inside, Posh with surprising physical strength and Andre with almost serpent-like capacity to get through small defensive gaps to score. Villanova packed its defense inside so densely that not only was Soriano burdened but there was less room for Posh and Andre to do their respective things on offense. My two cents are to pack things inside even more, but with a St. John's player whose main job is moving defenders out of the way, cutting through the lane again and again to make space for Soriano and our guards, and an occasional drive by Jones.

The two players on our roster who seem most suited for this role are Stanley and Assae Wusu (playing power forward). If Soriano and Posh and Andre know the direction the tanks are moving, they can use them as cover to get off good shots.
 
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