@Xavier, Wed., Jan. 31, 6:30p, FS-1

NCJohnnie said:
I know its sacrilegious to criticize coach in any way, but some of his substitution patterns puzzle me. Clearly we were counting on Dingle as a major peace on offense. Last night was at least the third game where he started well getting into the middle and drawing fouls and had a quick seven points. He was then pulled for a long period and when he came back seemed to have lost his mojo. Maybe as someone pointed out he was gassed from the strep aftereffects, but this is not the first time. Coach just seems to have him on a really short leash and Dingle appears to be a rhythm player. Anyway, what do I know? At least we are still in the hunt for a bid halfway through the BE season.
Click to expand...
NC Johnnie , I’m beginning to wonder if you need a new spot to watch the games?
Your performance has Swooned like the team over the last 5 losses .

Did you vacate your seat while X went on the 13-tear in the last 2 minute and some odd seconds ? That was a complete collapse with the game on the line .

I think we all expected a lot more from Dinkins than he has delivered over the bulk of the season . Your points about him getting pulled is true . But , is it his fatigue from illness ? Or , does Pitino pull him because he can’t guard quicker guards ?
I may be wrong but , I think it’s possible there is no chemistry between Dingle and RP? Pitino reamed his Ass during a time out and pulled him . And , Is Dingle pissed because he’s not the straw the stirs the drink on this team ?
By any definition , he’s a big disappointment . More a role player than impact .

Ledlum is marginally better but , is slow afoot against BE players . He also hasn’t delivered the goods that was expected of him .

So , we essentially have. 2 man go to players . Jenkins and Soriano .

Next year we need more Team quickness ,more deep shooting and anyone who can get offensive rebounds . Our Guards need to be able to get to the rim and finish .

We are going to need the 4 wins Vs G’Town and DePaul plus a 2 wins over SH and Creighton . That would mean 11 wins

Doable but , not easy
 
lawmanfan said:
I have posted the path many times, it's been the same since the beginning of the season:

1. Beat Georgetown and DePaul = 4 wins
2. Win home games against Nova, Providence, X, Butler, Seton Hall (5 wins, 4 in the bank 1 outstanding)
3. Win a road game against one of those 5 teams = 1 win (in the bank, Nova)
4. Go 1-5 against UConn, Marquette, Creighton = 1 win (3 opportunities left, most likely is home vs Creighton)

At 11-9 in the Big East and 19-12 overall, with their metrics, they will be someplace between a 7 and a 10 seed.

For point of reference, as of this morning they remain an 8 seed in Lunardi's bracketology and I think that Nova is somehow still in the last 4 in or the first 4 out.

A loss at home vs the Hall (the game I am most concerned about) could be offset by a win at Butler or (less likely) at Providence. And they do need to win one game against the top 3 teams. If they don't beat the Hall and they can't win 1 game against the top 3, then they don't deserve to be in the NCAA tournament anyway. But even in that scenario it would not surprise me if they make enough of a run in the BET to get back in the conversation - their depth and coaching will be a big plus in the BET, I think.
Click to expand...
But at 19-12 would def need at least one BET win
19-13 not getting in
 
A lot of good, objective (sober) assessments in this thread. Let's just enjoy the rest of the year, hope for the best and hopefully dance. Either way, this is a rebuild and Pitino will get it done. May take another year, but I am very optimisitc.
 
How about, especially when the shots aren't falling, getting Zuby out there with Joel, and thug it out in the paint? Zuby was +9 last night, things just seem to go well with him in the game.
I wish there were some other guys who had Taylor's hesitancy to shoot.
13 fouls had been called 5 minutes into the second half, is this what the Big East wants?
 
lawmanfan said:
Dingle just miscast in his role here. He's a scorer who needs the ball in his hands but Jenkins has that role taken. He has rarely been able to get into a groove with his midrange and drive to the hoop game in a part-time, off-ball role.

Somebody needs to sit RJ in a room with tape and work on his decision making process. Clockwork Orange style.

Wilcher I think will be just fine, but like Dingle he suffers from Jenkins using most of the available oxygen (and Pitino's intolerance for mistakes, which freshmen are going to make - although that intolerance somehow does not extend to RJ).
Click to expand...
Wow, so it’s Jenkins the culprit for Dingle being a role player in the BE and Wilcher’s lack of progress ?

Give RP some credit in knowing early on that this team was going to be, Soriano and Jenkins and then , the rest of them . Last night showed that quite noticeably .

Dingle isn’t quick enough to play tough defense in the BE . And , he rarely can get to the rim .

Wilcher is still making the jump from HS to
the BE. Probably wait until next year to see his development .

We , as fans and , RP thought we were getting 2 stud players on Ledlum and Dingle . Good for 25-30 points between them on average . It hasn’t happened . Making the jump from Ivy League to BE has shown them to be role players and not impact . Sorry to say .

We were all guilty of that when they first came here .
 
If we get 19 wins, I actually do think we'll be playing the Lobos as a 8/9 match-up or 7/10. Too obvious for TV executives to not pass up
 
A lot of rust, expect a much better performance Saturday. Common issues we've had all season really...

[1] Too many fouls. Fouls in backcourt, poor positions on the court, unnecessary fouling...leads to too many FTs by the competition, and a clear advantage because our free throw shooting is mediocre compared to everyone else.

[2] Dingle and Wilcher are over matched. Dingle misses too many open shots for someone who was 2nd in the nation in scoring. No Dartmouths or Cornells 2x a year. As PG depth, this leads to another issue, poor assist to shot made ratio...As a team, we missed enough layups and three footers to have won the game.

[3] This is a patchwork roster...will be a whole new team next year.
 
logen said:
I never intimated you or anyone else should “quit” on the team, whatever that means. But we were in this game primarily due to two players, one of whom played half a game, and one of whom has been criticized, as usual, for missing a perfectly legitimate shot after almost solely keeping us in the game with great shooting. I don’t praise a team for coming back from a double digit deficit caused primarily by not coming to play AGAIN. I have rooted for this team for decades and will continue to but I refuse to acknowledge teams for fight and heart because they decide to play hard 8 of the last 10 minutes of a game and then again show their true colors by being steamrolled 13-2 after coming back to tie.
Click to expand...
I just stated I refuse to quit on this team, never said you did. Although ‘show their true colors’ indicates one’s mind is already made up regarding this teams success for the 2023-24 season.
 
Mullins Revenge said:
If its close, the committee will do everything they can to get Pitino in the tourney. 19 will get us in.
Click to expand...
I actually think this might be correct. Rightly or wrongly the tournament selection committee likes marquee names and over the years watching it happen has kind of pissed me off.

At the end of the day, despite what is said about the integrity of the selection process being a meritocracy, TV ratings impact committee selections. In this particular case if we are on the border, the cache of a Rick Pitino could push us inside the bubble.

That said, I would rather us get in based on our body of work than because the committee shows us favor because of the name of our coach.
 
Not much to add as everything has been said. Just a few thoughts:

The polarized 50% distaste on this board (I don't use "hate") for Jenkins is absolutely crazy to me. You can fairly criticize that he does not make his teammates better, or - gasp! - he shoots too much, but under the specific circumstances of this particular team in my humble opinion he is the MVP and it is not even close. We frequently go 4-6 minute stretches where he is the only hope for points. There is no other player on this team other than the wildly erratic Luis who can create off the dribble on the perimeter, which is an absolutely necessary skill for your perimeter players in order to succeed as a high major Division 1 program. We go nowhere without Jenkins in the middle of everything. Is the the distaste with Jenkins perhaps more related to general disappointment that the overall ceiling of the team is lower than we once fantasized about if in fact Jenkins is the most necessary and/or valuable player? That ain't Jenkins' fault.

Pitino's use of Wilcher reminds me a bit of Louie's use of Marcus Broadnax and Elander Lewis, Broadnax in particular being absolutely wasted as an asset at the time. I have no idea what Wilcher's future holds, and I think there is talent there, but frankly I am very worried if we are pinning future final 4 hopes on him being a nationally prominent top 10 point guard.

The team absolutely cannot guard on the perimeter against the higher end teams with top guards and it is simply killing them. Compounding the problem is that once beaten on the ball, the rotations from the weak side are dreadful. We can't even use the baseline as help. How many times are we going to see a spin move to the baseline beating our perimeter defender setting up a clear path to hoop and multiple options for the attacker?

We need better guards.
 
We rarely win in these tough conference rival arenas, see Providence and Butler, and a new highly paid coach hasn't changed that. I hope it doesn't lead to a Larry David effect on Saturday.
 
espken said:
I just stated I refuse to quit on this team, never said you did. Although ‘show their true colors’ indicates one’s mind is already made up regarding this teams success for the 2023-24 season.
Click to expand...
That is their true colors, I base my comments on performance, not rooting interest. If you disagree, I would be interested in hearing why, with evidence. They have yet to step up and play hard or smart for the majority of the 40 minutes in any of these close losses. There is a huge difference between getting beat and losing, and right now SJU loses. That is my objective assessment and has nothing to do with my rooting interest.
One more point, my bad in assuming you were intimating I was referring to quitting on the team, my bad in misinterpreting your post.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top