Xavier, Sun. Jan. 29, 6pm, FS1/970AM

[SJU1512]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Surprised at the negativity on this thread given how our first game with Xavier went.

IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.

I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.

There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.

Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.

Defensive commitment is the core deficit, still too many end to end lay ups & wide open threes in transition IMO. Young guys will learn the importance of playing both ends of the court sooner than later I hope. Xavier has struggled offensively for a while, last night had it too easy IMO. Oh well, on to perimeter shooting Marquette, who does not defend well either. Also, let's not let Luke Fischer look like Bill Walton.

No doubt team just doesn't show the commitment on defense that is needed. They are starting at a physical disadvantage at most positions, so the need for 40 minutes of effort is even more essential. I also think the offense needs to be more efficient, especially since we have enough playmakers. We played 9 guys, and only 2 players had assists yesterday. Imagine how nice this offense would be if our shooters could get open looks instead of just relying on their great one on one skills.

 

[monte]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

 

[beast of the east]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

I like that he is 6'6" with a decent body. If we get talent up front, he will relegated to a backup guard to see decent minutes. IF we strengthen the backcourt also, I think he's just an expendable piece better off playing D2.

 

[we are sju]

I thought we played hard and 2nd half was enjoyable. Xavier is better than us. Was closer than I thought would be. Broken record but need bigs to really compete.
Only somewhat negative thought for me was for next year I don't think you can have both Ellison and Ahmed play a big part. Frustrating having two wildcards. One is more than enough

 

[Redmen88]

As almost everyone has said, the team's defense is awful. Soon as a guard breaks down one of our guards and drives to the hole, one of our skinny bigs has to help. That leaves one skinny big left to rebound against 2-3 beasts from the other team. This is killing us. We really need some big bodies to take up space underneath the rim. This will help us on offense too giving more room for our 3 point shooters if some big guys eat up space down in the post. On the plus side I enjoy watching the team as there is some hope as our small guards are tremendous and Owens works hard with his lean frame. Lets hope Clark & Simon help out and we score a transfer big next year.

 

[lawmanfan]

Surprised at the negativity on this thread given how our first game with Xavier went.

IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.

I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.

There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.

Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.

Defensive commitment is the core deficit, still too many end to end lay ups & wide open threes in transition IMO. Young guys will learn the importance of playing both ends of the court sooner than later I hope. Xavier has struggled offensively for a while, last night had it too easy IMO. Oh well, on to perimeter shooting Marquette, who does not defend well either. Also, let's not let Luke Fischer look like Bill Walton.

No question our D remains atrocious, though I think the open 3s were a result of committing to protect the paint. They just don't have the players to cover both the paint and the perimeter against Xavier. But "stop the ball" said no-one ever in practice, it seems.

I never said this is a flawless Top 5 team. Just saying that if you accept the group for what it is - still young, not enough size, not enough quality depth - I think they are making progress game over game. The job last night was to compete for 40 minutes against a superior opponent and to try to find a way to make up for the physical mismatches. I thought they did that. I'm not really expecting this squad to consistently post wins over top 20 teams. Though it's kind of interesting that some of the same people who think I am overrating us by projecting 7 conference wins are complaining about the loss to Xavier. If you think we are only going to win 4 or 5 games, then you can't really have expected a win last night, right?

It's a learning curve. They were down a dozen a few times last night, and I think 15 at one point. Instead of turning that into 20 or 25, they fought back and kept it a game all the way to the end. A month ago that wasn't the case. Similarly they found a way to (at least partially) offset the size disadvantage by using their quickness.

On my to-do checklist they have made a fair bit of progress on the things that are under their control. The D remains the top item on the list, with sharing the ball better a close second. The rest of the pieces are going to have to wait another year, nothing you can do about that.

 

[logen]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

You are so right....

 

[SJU1512]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

I like Malik as well, and also hope he will be a good 4 year player for us. And he is certainly not the only player who should spend some time at Tariq Owens camp. Just think he is not being used in the right role at all right now, possibly to the team's and perhaps also his detriment.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Xavier recap:http://www.bigeastboards.com/

Much like the Xavier game was to St. John's, the recap was a blown opportunity to feature a pic of Phoebe Cates exiting the swimming pool in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. For it was that movie that gave Robert Romanus his 15 minutes of fame as scalper and girlfriend stealer Mike Damone, who had evolved from taking Mindy Cohn's virginity to taking Jennifer Jason Leigh's. For some strange reason, I have this notion that you once featured Phoebe Cates in her wet red bikini. If not, here was a chance. If so, it's worth seeing twice.

 

[logen]

Surprised at the negativity on this thread given how our first game with Xavier went.

IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.

I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.

There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.

Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.

Defensive commitment is the core deficit, still too many end to end lay ups & wide open threes in transition IMO. Young guys will learn the importance of playing both ends of the court sooner than later I hope. Xavier has struggled offensively for a while, last night had it too easy IMO. Oh well, on to perimeter shooting Marquette, who does not defend well either. Also, let's not let Luke Fischer look like Bill Walton.

No question our D remains atrocious, though I think the open 3s were a result of committing to protect the paint. They just don't have the players to cover both the paint and the perimeter against Xavier. But "stop the ball" said no-one ever in practice, it seems.

I never said this is a flawless Top 5 team. Just saying that if you accept the group for what it is - still young, not enough size, not enough quality depth - I think they are making progress game over game. The job last night was to compete for 40 minutes against a superior opponent and to try to find a way to make up for the physical mismatches. I thought they did that. I'm not really expecting this squad to consistently post wins over top 20 teams. Though it's kind of interesting that some of the same people who think I am overrating us by projecting 7 conference wins are complaining about the loss to Xavier. If you think we are only going to win 4 or 5 games, then you can't really have expected a win last night, right?

It's a learning curve. They were down a dozen a few times last night, and I think 15 at one point. Instead of turning that into 20 or 25, they fought back and kept it a game all the way to the end. A month ago that wasn't the case. Similarly they found a way to (at least partially) offset the size disadvantage by using their quickness.

On my to-do checklist they have made a fair bit of progress on the things that are under their control. The D remains the top item on the list, with sharing the ball better a close second. The rest of the pieces are going to have to wait another year, nothing you can do about that.

I guess there is just a disagreement on how to analyze what we are seeing. W/L are great; why you play the game but personally I watch the game and react. The fact is this team does not put out the effort on defense one would hope for and, in my case, expect. So, yes, on one hand, losing to Xavier by 5 is far from horrible but IMO, playing 5 minutes hard and the first 35 sporadically hard at best is horrible. I believe we have had one wall to wall concerted defensive effort, against Butler. So yes, the result from a certain point of view could be thought of as "acceptable" but how different might it had been if we played with 40 minutes of urgency instead of 5? My expectations are a product of what I see, I don't adjust what I see by my pre-conceived expectations.

 

[SJU14]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

I like that he is 6'6" with a decent body. If we get talent up front, he will relegated to a backup guard to see decent minutes. IF we strengthen the backcourt also, I think he's just an expendable piece better off playing D2.

D2? He's our best on ball defender and has led this team in scoring and assists on multiple occasions. He might not play as hard as he should, but he is definitely a Big East level player.

 

[Ray Morgan]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

I like that he is 6'6" with a decent body. If we get talent up front, he will relegated to a backup guard to see decent minutes. IF we strengthen the backcourt also, I think he's just an expendable piece better off playing D2.

D2? He's our best on ball defender and has led this team in scoring and assists on multiple occasions. He might not play as hard as he should, but he is definitely a Big East level player.

Of the 4 players that returned, he is by far the only one that showed huge improvement. Has made some big baskets in crunch time, and had a few game changing steals and breakaway dunks. If he was more consistent, Ellison would be good, He is not yet good, but has enough good moments for me to believe that he has a chance to get there. not saying he will, but definitely enough size and ability to be a division one contributor.

 

[Red.Fans]

Surprised at the negativity on this thread given how our first game with Xavier went.

IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.

I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.

There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.

Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.

Defensive commitment is the core deficit, still too many end to end lay ups & wide open threes in transition IMO. Young guys will learn the importance of playing both ends of the court sooner than later I hope. Xavier has struggled offensively for a while, last night had it too easy IMO. Oh well, on to perimeter shooting Marquette, who does not defend well either. Also, let's not let Luke Fischer look like Bill Walton.

No question our D remains atrocious, though I think the open 3s were a result of committing to protect the paint. They just don't have the players to cover both the paint and the perimeter against Xavier. But "stop the ball" said no-one ever in practice, it seems.

I never said this is a flawless Top 5 team. Just saying that if you accept the group for what it is - still young, not enough size, not enough quality depth - I think they are making progress game over game. The job last night was to compete for 40 minutes against a superior opponent and to try to find a way to make up for the physical mismatches. I thought they did that. I'm not really expecting this squad to consistently post wins over top 20 teams. Though it's kind of interesting that some of the same people who think I am overrating us by projecting 7 conference wins are complaining about the loss to Xavier. If you think we are only going to win 4 or 5 games, then you can't really have expected a win last night, right?

It's a learning curve. They were down a dozen a few times last night, and I think 15 at one point. Instead of turning that into 20 or 25, they fought back and kept it a game all the way to the end. A month ago that wasn't the case. Similarly they found a way to (at least partially) offset the size disadvantage by using their quickness.

On my to-do checklist they have made a fair bit of progress on the things that are under their control. The D remains the top item on the list, with sharing the ball better a close second. The rest of the pieces are going to have to wait another year, nothing you can do about that.

I guess there is just a disagreement on how to analyze what we are seeing. W/L are great; why you play the game but personally I watch the game and react. The fact is this team does not put out the effort on defense one would hope for and, in my case, expect. So, yes, on one hand, losing to Xavier by 5 is far from horrible but IMO, playing 5 minutes hard and the first 35 sporadically hard at best is horrible. I believe we have had one wall to wall concerted defensive effort, against Butler. So yes, the result from a certain point of view could be thought of as "acceptable" but how different might it had been if we played with 40 minutes of urgency instead of 5? My expectations are a product of what I see, I don't adjust what I see by my pre-conceived expectations.

I'm pretty much with you Logen but I think part of it may have to do with the fact that most of our guys do not know how to play defense without fouling and have a corresponding mindset of biding their time. Then when you have refs like yesterday who are totally inconsistent and repeatedly no-calling Ponds getting hacked, while calling what should otherwise be playons, what are you to do? Owens has improved over the course of the season but it is a work in progress for all and for some, to extremes.

 

[paultzman]

Surprised at the negativity on this thread given how our first game with Xavier went.

IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.

I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.

There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.

Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.

Defensive commitment is the core deficit, still too many end to end lay ups & wide open threes in transition IMO. Young guys will learn the importance of playing both ends of the court sooner than later I hope. Xavier has struggled offensively for a while, last night had it too easy IMO. Oh well, on to perimeter shooting Marquette, who does not defend well either. Also, let's not let Luke Fischer look like Bill Walton.

No question our D remains atrocious, though I think the open 3s were a result of committing to protect the paint. They just don't have the players to cover both the paint and the perimeter against Xavier. But "stop the ball" said no-one ever in practice, it seems.

I never said this is a flawless Top 5 team. Just saying that if you accept the group for what it is - still young, not enough size, not enough quality depth - I think they are making progress game over game. The job last night was to compete for 40 minutes against a superior opponent and to try to find a way to make up for the physical mismatches. I thought they did that. I'm not really expecting this squad to consistently post wins over top 20 teams. Though it's kind of interesting that some of the same people who think I am overrating us by projecting 7 conference wins are complaining about the loss to Xavier. If you think we are only going to win 4 or 5 games, then you can't really have expected a win last night, right?

It's a learning curve. They were down a dozen a few times last night, and I think 15 at one point. Instead of turning that into 20 or 25, they fought back and kept it a game all the way to the end. A month ago that wasn't the case. Similarly they found a way to (at least partially) offset the size disadvantage by using their quickness.

On my to-do checklist they have made a fair bit of progress on the things that are under their control. The D remains the top item on the list, with sharing the ball better a close second. The rest of the pieces are going to have to wait another year, nothing you can do about that.

I guess there is just a disagreement on how to analyze what we are seeing. W/L are great; why you play the game but personally I watch the game and react. The fact is this team does not put out the effort on defense one would hope for and, in my case, expect. So, yes, on one hand, losing to Xavier by 5 is far from horrible but IMO, playing 5 minutes hard and the first 35 sporadically hard at best is horrible. I believe we have had one wall to wall concerted defensive effort, against Butler. So yes, the result from a certain point of view could be thought of as "acceptable" but how different might it had been if we played with 40 minutes of urgency instead of 5? My expectations are a product of what I see, I don't adjust what I see by my pre-conceived expectations.

I'm pretty much with you Logen but I think part of it may have to do with the fact that most of our guys do not know how to play defense without fouling and have a corresponding mindset of biding their time. Then when you have refs like yesterday who are totally inconsistent and repeatedly no-calling Ponds getting hacked, while calling what should otherwise be playons, what are you to do? Owens has improved over the course of the season but it is a work in progress for all and for some, to extremes.

Staff is thus a work in progress on defensive side as well one could conclude.

 

[dee]

Sometimes it seems like the guards are not thinking about situations. For instance, with less than 5 seconds on the clock lovett (could have been ponds) took the ball up court to drive to the basket for a layup and I suppose if fouled for a 3 point play. Why? Mussini was free in the corner by the bench. Why not try for a three, maybe get fouled and get a 4 point play to tie the game. As great as those odds are, it was much better than going for the layup. I've watched them in other situations and it just seems they lack the feel of the moment and what needs to be done. We really should have won sunday. I am tired of moral victories. I want a tournament berth this year.

 

[fun]

Xavier recap:http://www.bigeastboards.com/

Much like the Xavier game was to St. John's, the recap was a blown opportunity to feature a pic of Phoebe Cates exiting the swimming pool in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. For it was that movie that gave Robert Romanus his 15 minutes of fame as scalper and girlfriend stealer Mike Damone, who had evolved from taking Mindy Cohn's virginity to taking Jennifer Jason Leigh's. For some strange reason, I have this notion that you once featured Phoebe Cates in her wet red bikini. If not, here was a chance. If so, it's worth seeing twice.

Yeah, I used that picture already, Indiana last year in the Maui. Kevin Kline went to Indiana. Ironically an almost identical game flow

http://www.bigeastboards.com/?p=414

I was going to go with Raquel Welch from the Three Musketeers but I figured I'd never get another opportunity to work in the Facts of Life.

 

[frank]

Boards, yes we need to get them . I have seen smaller St. John's teams play great big teams in the past and do better. There has to be a solution, to me , it is you just want the ball more than the other guy and having the fundamentals.

 

[we are sju]

Boards, yes we need to get them . I have seen smaller St. John's teams play great big teams in the past and do better. There has to be a solution, to me , it is you just want the ball more than the other guy and having the fundamentals.

Probably the thinnest team in BE history

 

[JackofVirginia]

Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.

Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.

We have a number of guys who should spend a few weeks at Tariq Owens camp this summer. Makes so many little/energy plays, gets a lot of out of area rebounds based mostly on hustle, and just brings it. If we had a few more guys, especially complimentary guys, giving us 70% of what he is in these areas we might have a few more wins this year. Kind of guy you make a captain even before his senior year.

I like Malik, and expect and hope he will be a good 4 year player for us, but in the time he has been here I do not ever once recall seeing him go hard for a loose ball. That irks the crap out of me.

Agree. With a little more then 4 minutes left in the first half and the ball at our end of the court he gave a half ass effort at a loose ball that eventually resulted in a Macura basket.