X Factors for Next Season

J

JohnnyFever

Active member
Was thinking about what players everyone thought were X factors to either give us a surprise contender or total letdown. For me I'd say Caraher and Wright. They both seem like great guys, however Caraher appeared significantly slower than anyone else on the court...though maybe that's not entirely fair since it was a scrimmage. I hope he pleasantly surprises us. Wright has the gaudy HS ranking...if he can be rock solid or better, then we suddenly have a nice 3 guy set of Heron, Wright, and Fig. That's what it will take IMO for us to win more than 15 games.
 
To be honest, I think that there's a much better chance to win 15 games (a pretty modest goal) than that. I think that if Heron and Figgy play like the players that they are, and we get better interior play, rebounding etc., better sets and coaching, that goal should be pretty easy to reach. The PG situation is the key I think. We need to bolster that more to get those guys the ball. I don't think you can just look at the fact that we lost Ponds, Simon and Clark and say that's a lot to replace. I think that the 2 remaining stars we have can adequately replace their production now that it is their team. We should see a completely different dynamic of hopefully more coherent and designed possessions, position-specific basketball, rebounding etc. that has been lacking. I think we've forgotten how a team "should" operate, and if we see that change, despite deficiencies, we should easily win 15 games. JMHO.
 
Not a player, but the new system CMA will put in place. Our pressure defense will have good results and make us more competitive than most of us believe.
 
Unless you have lay down talent a la, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, it is how a team plays together that matters, not individual player skills. Now, obviously you need talent to succeed but we had good to very good talent last year and underachieved, getting worse as the season wore on. Poor coaching, lack of chemistry, guys playing for themselves all probably contributed but without being in the locker room, at practices, etc. it is really all speculation as to why. I will reserve judgement on anything until I see Anderson and co. put a product on the floor. I am a firm believer that it starts with chemistry and defense while most judge players almost strictly by their offensive numbers. I don't subscribe to the "everyone will be better under Anderson's system" speculation but I look at a Williams and Roberts for instance and think both could be significant contributors on a defense oriented team. We shall see, but I think next year will be very interesting and have my fingers crossed we will surprise. I think it is very possible.
 
Unless you are picking from guys who have already played for SJU this is a fun, albeit shooting in the dark topic. I would say Greg Williams since from everything about how we think MA wants to play seems to fit with GW’s style. Very athletic, open court player.

However, it is impossible to guess on Caraher and Wright or any of the freshman for that matter. No one has really seen them play. D1 basketball is played at a different level than say high school or pick up games of a transfer at Carnesseca. Lots of unknowns with this team.
 
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Will any of Williams, Wright, or Steere be able to get double figures on occasion. We’ll need a 3rd option as the season progresses.
 
There is also the "It" factor
(the person who commands a presence when he/she walks into a room...the person who exhibits magnetism that makes others gravitate to him...everyone wants to be on his team...everyone wants to work with him...)

My take = Mike Cragg + Mike Anderson (+ Mike Francessa lol) = the IT factor and success!
all the best
Ulysses Grant :)
 
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(1) Adding a starting caliber Big East PG capable of being the #3 behind Figgy and Heron (easier said than done obviously); and

(2) Steere, Williams, Wright, and Roberts capable of being a legitimate #4-8 to fill out the rotation (far more confident in this transpiring).

If those two things happen and we stay healthy I like our chances of finishing something besides last in the conference and having good springboard type Year 1 of Anderson era, as opposed to total rebuild exercise. Something probably right in the middle of Lavin's magical first year and Mullin's disastrous first year (through no fault of his own, but brutal nonetheless).
 
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I think Graig Williams is going to surprise a lot of people next year and step up his game to me he’s going to be our third option
 
Have to agree that system and of course defense will be looking for. Will be tough to win a lot without good point guard play so defense will be even more important. I think Ellington is going to surprise. Not talking all conference numbers but a contributor.
 
I think it's Steere.

Also needs to be McGriff or we could be a 10-win team even though we have at least two top-flight Big East players.
 
I expect Steere to be a force offensively so long as he can stay out of foul trouble. Wright is the x factor - highly recruited out of HS and showed promise as a frosh, but numbers fell off his second year. Hoping it was just a case of poor fit as Miss. St. was very guard heavy that year.
 
Steere is a beast physically and athletically. That said, I think he’s more of a big PF with his mobility and skill set. Either way I think he’s going to be a big talent for us but he needs more help up front.
 
Wright has a rep for being talented, so hopefully his college career to date will improve a great deal. He could be a key offensive weapon here with a lot of minutes. Hopefully Anderson & staff bring best out of him and he responds to the challenge.
 
I guess it reads like a cop out but who knows how we will do next year? We will have an entirely different approach then we have seen in a long time (if ever) at SJU. Everyone is worried about offense but to me the key to our success will be predicated on our ability to disrupt, take teams out of their comfort zone and the possible advantage that no other BE team plays or has played the Anderson way. Can we do it with the current roster? Not having seen Steere, Wright, Caraher, Sears, McGriff and only cameos from the three freshman (alright cameo+ from Williams), I certainly don’t know, but I am looking forward to finding out.
 
IMO the over under number of wins is 14.
At any rate a more efficient system will be installed and the season will reflect new found hope.

Recall Buffalo Braves/ NY Knick’s former GM Eddie Donovan’s quote to the effect that the team with the best talent does not always beat the team that plays best together. Let’s hope.
 
[quote="otis" post=351453]IMO the over under number of wins is 14.
At any rate a more efficient system will be installed and the season will reflect new found hope.

Recall Buffalo Braves/ NY Knick’s former GM Eddie Donovan’s quote to the effect that the team with the best talent does not always beat the team that plays best together. Let’s hope.[/quote]

I don't know how anyone can predict how many games we will win since we do not even know our complete schedule yet.
 
[quote="ron " post=351456]

I don't know how anyone can predict how many games we will win since we do not even know our complete schedule yet.[/quote]
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Right you are Ron ..... “we do not even know our complete schedule yet“ but 24 of the anticipated 31 regular season games are either Big East or games announced by Rothstein or other considered source. The majority of remaining 7 games will likely be against low or mid majors, so yeah, with 77% of the games announced it is possible to speak in lose terms about projections.
 
Steere, Wright, Heron, and Figueroa are all 4star+ caliber talents. Roberts, Williams, Caraher, Sears, McGriff can all play D1 ball. The X factor will be the last recruits added to the roster. Last year the closest thing to a point guard was only Shamorie Ponds but we needed him to score so his point guard skills didn't develop. Marvin Clark had a terrible Big East season and was a double zero in his last two games. Justin Simon will be missed the most but Wright may make up for his loss. So, if we get another point guard in my opinion we will have a more talented and deeper team than last year. I don't expect this staff to coach at the .500 level that was standard for the last regime.
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=351473]Steere, Wright, Heron, and Figueroa are all 4star+ caliber talents. Roberts, Williams, Caraher, Sears, McGriff can all play D1 ball. The X factor will be the last recruits added to the roster. Last year the closest thing to a point guard was only Shamorie Ponds but we needed him to score so his point guard skills didn't develop. Marvin Clark had a terrible Big East season and was a double zero in his last two games. Justin Simon will be missed the most but Wright may make up for his loss. So, if we get another point guard in my opinion we will have a more talented and deeper team than last year. I don't expect this staff to coach at the .500 level that was standard for the last regime.[/quote]

Definitely agree '72, we have a solid base of talent but a critical need is a solid and seasoned PG and--being greedy 1 more big--that with this new Staff, may surprise more than a few people.
We shall see.
 
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