Very tough to see this team developing into anything other than what they are. We have no identity, no chemistry. You see nothing at crunch time except guys going one on one or two or three. I'm sorry but IMO Lavin, and his staff, should be embarrassed by the product they put on the floor. I know those are strong words but really what do we do well, consistently, other than try and make highlight reel plays.We try for steals and blocks, almost always go for the spectacular rather than the fundamental, and have absolutely no stability or even sanity in our lineups/substitutions. I said last year this is one of my least favorite SJU teams and I continue to think that. Not as people at all but strictly as a basketball team.
Xavier game
- Thread starter tom in salem
- Start date
Yeah, except this is supposed to be "our year", and we are not supposed to be losing games like this.
redstorm80
Well-known member
You're never as good as you think you are after a win, and never as bad as you think you are after a loss. Lets take it to Georgetown, Happy New Years everyone
guinness77
Well-known member
I don't like it at all. Especially considering Pointer added nothing today. Hooper misses a shot and he's pulled. Pointer thinks he's a point guard and not only does he still play, it seems no one even tells him to stop.
guinness77
Well-known member
At this rate, no one's going pro or leaving, so next year we should have a fighting chance, as well.
It seems most of us respect Lavin's recruiting skills, his personality - especially the way he projects an image for us. He shows a true interest in his players, the sense of community he projects,, and the real leadership
he provides in his willingness to impose discipline and adherence to rules and even to show vision. He puts forth a lot of energy in the varied responsibilities of a coach. AT half time I urged we not spend time with "everyone gets a chance at pont". but that's just what happened. We had point forwards, point shooting guards, point anyone with the ball deciding what happened while the two point guards sat on the bench and the game got away very quickly.
So, how can it be that something as basic as selecting and consistently playing a point guard is so foreign to him?
I understood when he had none and Phil G had to carry that role or when Harrison had to be both the point and the
two guard, but that was two years ago. When Branch was hurt last year it was inevitable. But it isn't acceptable now.
I realize Jordan is young and he wanted to bring him along at a modest pace, but it is just incomprehensible that we
didn't have him in at the critical opening of the second half, let alone other times that were shifts in momentum. I would rather see Branch for a few minutes when RJ needs a break than PG, DP or GG.
Lavin may not be one making the dumb passes or the selfish drives or the missed free throws; but he is the one
selecting who walks on the court. I am starting to think he is unable to tell players that are almost as good as others, that nevertheless they are not automatically going to get their proportionate share of the time or even make cameos. He has to play the best point guard with Harrison most of the game, and the next seven will back them up or play the other three front court spots.
I remain grateful that SJU hired Steve, but I wouldn't put a platoon on a battlefield without a platoon leader. That is what a point guard does for a college team. He makes most of the floor decisions, controls the pace, calls the plays,
and is a proxy for the coach. I hope Steve can make the adjustment very soon to playing a core group around his point.
I believe it's the difference between finishing third or fourth from the top or from the bottom of the conference.
he provides in his willingness to impose discipline and adherence to rules and even to show vision. He puts forth a lot of energy in the varied responsibilities of a coach. AT half time I urged we not spend time with "everyone gets a chance at pont". but that's just what happened. We had point forwards, point shooting guards, point anyone with the ball deciding what happened while the two point guards sat on the bench and the game got away very quickly.
So, how can it be that something as basic as selecting and consistently playing a point guard is so foreign to him?
I understood when he had none and Phil G had to carry that role or when Harrison had to be both the point and the
two guard, but that was two years ago. When Branch was hurt last year it was inevitable. But it isn't acceptable now.
I realize Jordan is young and he wanted to bring him along at a modest pace, but it is just incomprehensible that we
didn't have him in at the critical opening of the second half, let alone other times that were shifts in momentum. I would rather see Branch for a few minutes when RJ needs a break than PG, DP or GG.
Lavin may not be one making the dumb passes or the selfish drives or the missed free throws; but he is the one
selecting who walks on the court. I am starting to think he is unable to tell players that are almost as good as others, that nevertheless they are not automatically going to get their proportionate share of the time or even make cameos. He has to play the best point guard with Harrison most of the game, and the next seven will back them up or play the other three front court spots.
I remain grateful that SJU hired Steve, but I wouldn't put a platoon on a battlefield without a platoon leader. That is what a point guard does for a college team. He makes most of the floor decisions, controls the pace, calls the plays,
and is a proxy for the coach. I hope Steve can make the adjustment very soon to playing a core group around his point.
I believe it's the difference between finishing third or fourth from the top or from the bottom of the conference.
BotE, I disagree for one reason - if we played hard, smart, team ball and lost I would agree with you. But we generally played uninspired, selfish ball and that is MY reason for being so negative. There is losing and there is losing. Mix that with Lavin's mind boggling personnel decisions and this team is just very frustrating. Other than blind allegiance tell me what happened today for you to say chalk it up and move on with a degree of confidence better things are coming.
Lavin would have been better off starting Hooper instead of Gift. We didn't redound anyway and maybe Hooper would have buried a couple of threes in that first 8:30 minutes when Xavier didn't score and then we would have been up 13 at that point.
This team is poorly coached on both ends of the floor. The time has come to stop playing more then the best eight players because guys like Gift, Hooper & Balamou are not Big East talent. I also think the way Jordan has been handled was wrong. He should have been given the team from day one much like Barkley was when he was a freshmen & Ennis has at Syracuse. He may not be as good as those guys but he's pretty damn good. Where is Mike Dunlap? This team needs him.
I just don't understand why our limited players are allowed to do whatever they want. Butler has guys that aren't well rounded, but they stick to what they do well. Sampson, Pointer, and Sanchez should not be allowed to handle the ball 20 feet from the rim. Ever.
We are one and done it seems like every possession because Sanchez and Sampson want to pretend they are guards instead of working the offensive glass. Sampson is a matchup nightmare when he gets the ball in the lost and faces up, but he would rather play on the perimeter.
We are one and done it seems like every possession because Sanchez and Sampson want to pretend they are guards instead of working the offensive glass. Sampson is a matchup nightmare when he gets the ball in the lost and faces up, but he would rather play on the perimeter.
I`d go with the next 6, after PC SHU comes in.
At G-Town is definitely a must win, you`ll have people saying: "oh how is the second game of conf play a must win." well you can`t go in a 0-2 hole right off the bat with #11 Nova coming in next Saturday.
At G-Town is HUGE, unless people on here accept an 0-2 start because they think we aren`t that good anyway. If you think we`re a good team then you`ll know Saturday is huge.
At G-Town is definitely a must win, you`ll have people saying: "oh how is the second game of conf play a must win." well you can`t go in a 0-2 hole right off the bat with #11 Nova coming in next Saturday.
At G-Town is HUGE, unless people on here accept an 0-2 start because they think we aren`t that good anyway. If you think we`re a good team then you`ll know Saturday is huge.
How many easy baskets did we get in the half-court today? X slipped a pick and roll for a dunk where they had us so spread out defensively (separate issue) nobody was within 5 feet. Jordan was terrific in trying to will us to a W by breaking X down off the dribble, but as Rafferty said, you have to mix it up. This seems fundamental, but the last 10 minutes was us trying to crash our way to the basket. I like the aggressiveness, but you have to help each other get easy baskets. We don't.
The loss to Cuse while certainly had me angry at the end of the game overall didn't bother me too much because at least I had a good feeling overall because we almost had them.
This game bothered me much more. Even at halftime I didn't have a great feeling about it.
Now we are 2 games behind where I thought we would be. I think I had us at 23 wins before the season
beast of the east
Active member
I was thinking of requesting the internet be shut down after losses. Some of you might be looking up instructions on how to make suicide bombs at this moment.