Youngstown State Game

[logen]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

 

[Jack Williams]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

Aren't you tired of being the negative one? I know your posts are true but every opportunity you have to say something negative about the team you take it. I can't disagree with your posts, but why must you pour it on so much? Give it a rest

 

[Class of 72]

What the hell is going on here ,I sure hope the team does not get caught up in this type of thinking. WE'll beat anyone who runs ect. Why not start claiming we'll go undefeated the rest of schedule. Right now it is necessary to beat Youngtown State not U Mass or Pitt.

True....one game at a time!
As for undefeated for the rest of the season, it sounds crazy! But in the new Big East it is actually possible! LOL!
We already played the two toughest opponents in Wisconsin and Syracuse. B)

 

[qcredman]

112, Tony, simply red, any other poster pm me if you want two tickets to the game tomorrow.

TICKETS TAKEN.

 

[logen]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

Aren't you tired of being the negative one? I know your posts are true but every opportunity you have to say something negative about the team you take it. I can't disagree with your posts, but why must you pour it on so much? Give it a rest

I have been on this board for a long time and those that know me know I am by no means "negative". In fact many rightfully accused me of being too "positive" during the Norm Roberts era. I try to be honest with what I see, period. Doesn't mean I am always right by any means. If all you want is good news I would suggest you filter your reading to those posters who satisfy your fantasies. Even though my "posts are true" I suggest you skip them if the truth bothers you so much. But please don't tell me what or when to post.

 

[Marillac]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

Aren't you tired of being the negative one? I know your posts are true but every opportunity you have to say something negative about the team you take it. I can't disagree with your posts, but why must you pour it on so much? Give it a rest

I have been on this board for a long time and those that know me know I am by no means "negative". In fact many rightfully accused me of being too "positive" during the Norm Roberts era. I try to be honest with what I see, period. Doesn't mean I am always right by any means. If all you want is good news I would suggest you filter your reading to those posters who satisfy your fantasies. Even though my "posts are true" I suggest you skip them if the truth bothers you so much. But please don't tell me what or when to post.

Have you posted under any other names?

 

[usguard]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

Aren't you tired of being the negative one? I know your posts are true but every opportunity you have to say something negative about the team you take it. I can't disagree with your posts, but why must you pour it on so much? Give it a rest

I have been on this board for a long time and those that know me know I am by no means "negative". In fact many rightfully accused me of being too "positive" during the Norm Roberts era. I try to be honest with what I see, period. Doesn't mean I am always right by any means. If all you want is good news I would suggest you filter your reading to those posters who satisfy your fantasies. Even though my "posts are true" I suggest you skip them if the truth bothers you so much. But please don't tell me what or when to post.

I did not take it as a neg post but a factual opinion Our play and record is what it We all back our team but we have the right to call it as it . This team is going to do great things

 

[logen]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

Aren't you tired of being the negative one? I know your posts are true but every opportunity you have to say something negative about the team you take it. I can't disagree with your posts, but why must you pour it on so much? Give it a rest

I have been on this board for a long time and those that know me know I am by no means "negative". In fact many rightfully accused me of being too "positive" during the Norm Roberts era. I try to be honest with what I see, period. Doesn't mean I am always right by any means. If all you want is good news I would suggest you filter your reading to those posters who satisfy your fantasies. Even though my "posts are true" I suggest you skip them if the truth bothers you so much. But please don't tell me what or when to post.

Have you posted under any other names?

yes I posted under Littlemin for a number of years; changed about 2 years ago or so.

 

[billyfa]

Are they better than Syracuse?

Hey Andrew2... What does it matter to St.John's if UMass is " better than Syracuse"?
St.John's lost to Syracuse.
Playing a close game to Syracuse is not a plus in St.John's win - loss record.
St.John's stands at 7 wins and 3 losses.
Each of its 3 losses were "winnable".
Good teams win winnable games.
Losing games to Wisco, PennState and Syracuse will hurt if St.John's ends up as a sub 20 win "bubble team".

I agree they will be in trouble if they are sub 20, but losing those games isn't completely negative. See this article about Georgetown's schedule:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/usatoday/article/4114629&usatref=sportsmod

"For all the big names listed on Georgetown's slate, there really is little risk in scheduling them, at least in the eyes of NCAA Tournament Selection Committee members. Even if all three (Oregon, Kansas and Michigan State) are losses, they are losses to likely NCAA tournament-bound teams. One is a true road game, and the other two are on neutral sites."

 

[beast of the east]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

As someone who has sat through multiple Syracuse whippings of SJU over the past decade, I disagree. Coming close doesn't affect your record, but it does boost your confidence and provide a window to fans that we are damned close to being a fine team, and we can match them talent wise on the court. You could wish all you wanted for an NCAA bid over the past 9 seasons, but except for Lavin's first year there was no way it was going to happen.

 

[logen]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

As someone who has sat through multiple Syracuse whippings of SJU over the past decade, I disagree. Coming close doesn't affect your record, but it does boost your confidence and provide a window to fans that we are damned close to being a fine team, and we can match them talent wise on the court. You could wish all you wanted for an NCAA bid over the past 9 seasons, but except for Lavin's first year there was no way it was going to happen.

From a pure fan, rooting point of view, I understand. From my perspective, I look in the now, and I had no doubt in my mind we had the talent to play with Syracuse and as such expected a victory; just as I expected a victory over Wisconsin and certailnly Penn State. Maybe I am overrating our talent but I fully expected a hard pressing, in your face, tempo setting team from Day 1 this year and I have seen that only for short stretches of the season. It is all well and good we pressed San Fran off the court but I still wonder why we did not approach the Cuse game the same way. I thought going in the Cuse was very beatable; we played 16 good minutes of really good basketball, basically the same MO as Wisconsin and PSU and pretty much all our games? Why not 40, or 35? Had we, I don't believe the Cuse could stay on the court with us, ratings be damned. Why wait until we are down double figures to force tempo; doing it out of desperation rather than choice? And then backing off when we catch up? Maybe we have an epiphany as a coaching staff and team and it all clicks as I know many are hoping for and even expecting but I really think we should be there by now.

 

[bk8664]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

As someone who has sat through multiple Syracuse whippings of SJU over the past decade, I disagree. Coming close doesn't affect your record, but it does boost your confidence and provide a window to fans that we are damned close to being a fine team, and we can match them talent wise on the court. You could wish all you wanted for an NCAA bid over the past 9 seasons, but except for Lavin's first year there was no way it was going to happen.

From a pure fan, rooting point of view, I understand. From my perspective, I look in the now, and I had no doubt in my mind we had the talent to play with Syracuse and as such expected a victory; just as I expected a victory over Wisconsin and certailnly Penn State. Maybe I am overrating our talent but I fully expected a hard pressing, in your face, tempo setting team from Day 1 this year and I have seen that only for short stretches of the season. It is all well and good we pressed San Fran off the court but I still wonder why we did not approach the Cuse game the same way. I thought going in the Cuse was very beatable; we played 16 good minutes of really good basketball, basically the same MO as Wisconsin and PSU and pretty much all our games? Why not 40, or 35? Had we, I don't believe the Cuse could stay on the court with us, ratings be damned. Why wait until we are down double figures to force tempo; doing it out of desperation rather than choice? And then backing off when we catch up? Maybe we have an epiphany as a coaching staff and team and it all clicks as I know many are hoping for and even expecting but I really think we should be there by now.

The answer is because it's really really hard to put a complete game together. If playing awesome ball for 35 minutes every game was as easy as better prepping or motivation by coaches, then you'd have 6 to 8 undefeated teams and 10 to 15 teams with only a couple of losses entering the NCAA tournament every single year. And of course that doesn't happen. College ball is game of runs and spurts. You just try to not get your doors blown off when the other team starts to play well during a stretch.

Syracuse is undefeated, and they looked liked garbage for spurts during our our game with them..

It's really hard to be play great ball for an entire game. It's as simple as that.

 

[austour]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

As someone who has sat through multiple Syracuse whippings of SJU over the past decade, I disagree. Coming close doesn't affect your record, but it does boost your confidence and provide a window to fans that we are damned close to being a fine team, and we can match them talent wise on the court. You could wish all you wanted for an NCAA bid over the past 9 seasons, but except for Lavin's first year there was no way it was going to happen.

From a pure fan, rooting point of view, I understand. From my perspective, I look in the now, and I had no doubt in my mind we had the talent to play with Syracuse and as such expected a victory; just as I expected a victory over Wisconsin and certailnly Penn State. Maybe I am overrating our talent but I fully expected a hard pressing, in your face, tempo setting team from Day 1 this year and I have seen that only for short stretches of the season. It is all well and good we pressed San Fran off the court but I still wonder why we did not approach the Cuse game the same way. I thought going in the Cuse was very beatable; we played 16 good minutes of really good basketball, basically the same MO as Wisconsin and PSU and pretty much all our games? Why not 40, or 35? Had we, I don't believe the Cuse could stay on the court with us, ratings be damned. Why wait until we are down double figures to force tempo; doing it out of desperation rather than choice? And then backing off when we catch up? Maybe we have an epiphany as a coaching staff and team and it all clicks as I know many are hoping for and even expecting but I really think we should be there by now.

So essentially you were expecting the team to go undefeated coming into the season and then you are annoyed when it doesn't happen? It's not like they lost to Niagara or something.

 

[beast of the east]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

As someone who has sat through multiple Syracuse whippings of SJU over the past decade, I disagree. Coming close doesn't affect your record, but it does boost your confidence and provide a window to fans that we are damned close to being a fine team, and we can match them talent wise on the court. You could wish all you wanted for an NCAA bid over the past 9 seasons, but except for Lavin's first year there was no way it was going to happen.

From a pure fan, rooting point of view, I understand. From my perspective, I look in the now, and I had no doubt in my mind we had the talent to play with Syracuse and as such expected a victory; just as I expected a victory over Wisconsin and certailnly Penn State. Maybe I am overrating our talent but I fully expected a hard pressing, in your face, tempo setting team from Day 1 this year and I have seen that only for short stretches of the season. It is all well and good we pressed San Fran off the court but I still wonder why we did not approach the Cuse game the same way. I thought going in the Cuse was very beatable; we played 16 good minutes of really good basketball, basically the same MO as Wisconsin and PSU and pretty much all our games? Why not 40, or 35? Had we, I don't believe the Cuse could stay on the court with us, ratings be damned. Why wait until we are down double figures to force tempo; doing it out of desperation rather than choice? And then backing off when we catch up? Maybe we have an epiphany as a coaching staff and team and it all clicks as I know many are hoping for and even expecting but I really think we should be there by now.

I do not believe this team can be as good as it can be by simply pressing and running. You will be all measures run into very good teams that even a good press doesn't rattle, and whose size gives them a big rebounding edge so running isn't a strategy - then what do you do? Lavin, as in the past, used the pre-season to try to teach a zone defense, but like other years when they approach the BE season or play big time talent that would shred a zone, they go man to man and have better results. I am pretty sure Syracuse could do better in the early going playing man, but they stay with the zone as players learn it, and then are prepared to win with it against good competition. There is no brilliance in saying we should have gone man and run form the get go, because a great zone, and a half court offense are important to winning down the road.

 

[room112]

112, Tony, simply red, any other poster pm me if you want two tickets to the game tomorrow.

TICKETS TAKEN.

Appreciate the offer. I actually took advantage of the Living Social deal someone had posted. Here's the link:

 

[jr49]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

we might be as good as Pitt, but that statement can't be based on Pitt beating Penn State by 9. I was disappointed the way we came out against Wisconsin. I think Penn. St. got nothing, so of course I still haven't shakin that loss off. Against the Cuse we were good enough to lose a home game. No way can we take for granted we are as good as Pitt or U.Mass. I love the SJU hoops. If we get a win at Xavier you can sell me on this being a final 4 team. Nothing yet shows me I can say we better then anybody thats good. I can say we have played better lately.

 

[Marillac]

We could beat Pitt or Umass any given night. Umass is better than Pitt IMO. I really wanted Gordon to transfer here. His rebounding from the guard position is amazing.

 

[paultzman]

@FarcoSJU: Preview: St. John's welcomes Youngstown State as Harrison seeks three-point record. #sjubbhttp://t.co/D6BgtRsRvG

 

[Andrew]

Are they better than Syracuse?

Hey Andrew2... What does it matter to St.John's if UMass is " better than Syracuse"?
St.John's lost to Syracuse.
Playing a close game to Syracuse is not a plus in St.John's win - loss record.
St.John's stands at 7 wins and 3 losses.
Each of its 3 losses were "winnable".
Good teams win winnable games.
Losing games to Wisco, PennState and Syracuse will hurt if St.John's ends up as a sub 20 win "bubble team".

I was responding to the comment that they would run us off the court. I don't see that the way we are starting to play.

 

[dee]

They are 8-5. No real big wins. But they have lost @ UMASS 85-69 and @ Pitt 91-73.

They can score averaging over 81 ppg ranked 31st in D1 and can pass dishing 17 dimes a game good for 20th in D1. Also they take good care of the ball only averaging 10 turnovers a game.

Oh and Larry Johnson Jr is on the team.

We are as good as UMASS and Pitt so this should not be a terribly difficult game if we play solid like last night.

We could be competitive with UMass and Pitt.

But it a stretch to say we are as good as them.

Personally, I think UMass would run us off the court if we played them today.

I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we'd have more than a good chance of besting UMass. I think we'd beatPitt. Our offensive output is monstrous compared to them this year. Totally overrated team.

Have you seen UMass play this year? They have size, speed and athleticism. And their PG would kill us.

Pitt, I dunno. Overrated or not, they it's not like they didn't beat us last year didn't they.

Why are we acting like we beat quality teams this year? Our offensive output is sporadic.

A ridiculous and defeatist mentality. They are pretty good, but I think we hve more than enough talent to beat them. We are also big and fast. And I don't think Chaz would kill us. Combo of Rysheed and Branch is big and fast, with Obekpa behind them. I'm not going to to automatically concede a loss to Umass when we just went to the wire with undefeated Cuse and were a missed free throw from bating PSU and only having losses to two top 5 teams.

As the great Bill Parcells said..."You are what your record is". Unfortunaely we haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Coming close counts for nothing.

As someone who has sat through multiple Syracuse whippings of SJU over the past decade, I disagree. Coming close doesn't affect your record, but it does boost your confidence and provide a window to fans that we are damned close to being a fine team, and we can match them talent wise on the court. You could wish all you wanted for an NCAA bid over the past 9 seasons, but except for Lavin's first year there was no way it was going to happen.

From a pure fan, rooting point of view, I understand. From my perspective, I look in the now, and I had no doubt in my mind we had the talent to play with Syracuse and as such expected a victory; just as I expected a victory over Wisconsin and certailnly Penn State. Maybe I am overrating our talent but I fully expected a hard pressing, in your face, tempo setting team from Day 1 this year and I have seen that only for short stretches of the season. It is all well and good we pressed San Fran off the court but I still wonder why we did not approach the Cuse game the same way. I thought going in the Cuse was very beatable; we played 16 good minutes of really good basketball, basically the same MO as Wisconsin and PSU and pretty much all our games? Why not 40, or 35? Had we, I don't believe the Cuse could stay on the court with us, ratings be damned. Why wait until we are down double figures to force tempo; doing it out of desperation rather than choice? And then backing off when we catch up? Maybe we have an epiphany as a coaching staff and team and it all clicks as I know many are hoping for and even expecting but I really think we should be there by now.

The answer is because it's really really hard to put a complete game together. If playing awesome ball for 35 minutes every game was as easy as better prepping or motivation by coaches, then you'd have 6 to 8 undefeated teams and 10 to 15 teams with only a couple of losses entering the NCAA tournament every single year. And of course that doesn't happen. College ball is game of runs and spurts. You just try to not get your doors blown off when the other team starts to play well during a stretch.

Syracuse is undefeated, and they looked liked garbage for spurts during our our game with them..

It's really hard to be play great ball for an entire game. It's as simple as that.

I take it as Lavin's decision to try different defenses and different combinations of players in the early part of the season to see how things work. I dont agree with it if only because he had what I believe 9 games in Europe to that out before the season started not to meniton the exhibition games