(4) Tuesday Big East Games 11/29/16

[billyjack]

I watched the Delaware State game up until the 14:05 mark in the 2nd when it got up to 13.

First, to get this out of the way, just a minor point in the grand scheme, but the bald ref must have taken Delaware State plus the points:
- early 1st Freundenberg was hip checked on baseline but was called out of bounds...
- under 2 minutes in 1st, i think Ponds got an offensive board underneath and was called for a phantom travel...
- then under a minute in 1st, i think it was Ahmed who banked in a drive and got fouled but the bald guy called a charge...
- so that adds up to a 7 point swing on 3 outrageous calls, and for a young team it can really hurt.

But anyway...

- also, the Morgan kid, #10 on Delaware State, was unconscious from deep.
- also, Delaware State was very very disciplined on both ends, actually ran plays and played great defense.

St John's:
Defense:
- The team is talented, but young, so they are totally lost on defense.
- In actual halfcourt defense, Lovett is lost and floats aimlessly much of the time. He constantly bites on drives and abandons his man, leading to wide open shots.
- Ponds, Freundenberg and Ahmed are all lost on defense too. Each of those 4 are freshmen, and they don't know yet how to play defense or where to be.
- Probably half of Delaware State's points were a result of cluelessness on where to be and who to cover and communication... like, two Johnnies standing shoulder to shoulder at the foul line guarding one opponent... i mean, SJU would often be fine for 20 seconds of D, then those last 10 seconds would be a disaster.
- Mussini is too weak and short to play effective defense. He's also too slow to react to drives to the hoop. Key early 2nd possession he was guarding a Hornet player from the side at the top of the lane, so the guy just broke in for a layup.
- Yakwe and Sima are still raw. Their rebounding is an adventure every time. Owens is too raw and gangly.
- The Johnnies are talented, athletic and have great potential, but they need time together to work as a unit. It's really tough to toss 3 or 4 freshmen or 1st year guys on the court and expect them to just gel. This is only their 7th game. Of course it was a really sucky opponent, so it's a crushing loss. Just need patience and get minutes under their belts. I didnt watch the Atlantis games but I'm amazed that they stayed pretty close to ODU and Michigan State and Minnesota.

Offense:
- way too many threes, holy cow. They hit a bunch, but that was ridiculous. Just pound it inside, which worked when they did it... or drive to the hoop, draw fouls, get to the line. Unbelievable.
- vs the zone... not rocket science... get a couple of guys running the baseline for backdoor layups, throw a couple of alley oops... the DSU zone was way high up near the foul line. Man that was tough to watch.
- even on the few fastbreaks, they didn't look to go to the hoop.
- DSU played zone for the entire first half. Second half they came out in man, and then kept switching back and forth between the two. Again , not rocket science but SJU needs more experience.
- need to run set plays rather than playground stuff.

Conclusion:
- The talent is there but gotta have patience. Winning starts with defense. Guys have to learn where to be. 79 points against vs Delaware State is crazy. Defense needs time to grow though.
- Mullin is fine... i think... for now. Look, last year they tore up the Syracuse zone, so he knows how to attack it, but he has a lot of new faces this year.
- If at the beginning of the year, we're in agreement that a team like SJU will suck and struggle, and then 7 games into the season they lay an egg, why should it be a surprise. I guess we hope that the process speeds up, i understand that. And yeah, Delaware State is awful. But this season was understood to be another weak year for SJU, so try to roll with it.

[Irishdawg]

Good wins for Nova, Xavier and Creighton last night.

What I really don't get about the St. John's loss is that Mussini apparently said that part of the problem is that they were looking ahead. To what? Their next 4 games are Tulane, Cal State Northridge, Fordham and LIU Brooklyn before they play Penn State here in about 3 weeks. I don't think all is lost for this season with St. John's, but to this point I do believe that Mullin is in over his head as an actual in-game coach and potentially as a developer of talent. Considering that this is far worse than any loss that they suffered last season with significantly less talent (Incarnate Word was about 100 spots higher than Delaware State), St. John's will really have to hope that the transfers that become active next season are what this team's been missing or it could be a painful process trying to get rid of Mullin down the road.

[milksteak]

I didn't watch any basketball last night. Just saw St. John's lost to Delaware State.

[kayako]

I'll watch some of the SJU game, I'm not to excited about Delaware St.
I really don't care about winning by 25-30pnts.

Until our big men stop being soft, we'll continue to lose.
If they can't score then fine, but atleast REBOUND THE F'ING BALL. Ponds is 6'1 and had 10boards??? and out bigs can't do jack s*.
Freaking makes me sick. Hopefully they men up soon .

If you really thought St. John's would win by 25-30, hopefully you didn't watch any of the game, let alone some. St. John's fans, man. Unbelievable.

I think he just meant to say the line didn't really reflect how poorly SJU has been playing lately.

Nova looked sloppy again last night. Jay Wright appears to have found another perimeter stud in Divincenzo, but man they're gonna miss the big guy Ochefu in the tourney. He was literally the perfect center for Wright's offense.

[Bill Marsh]

Billy Jack, thanks so much for your observations on the game.

I wasn't able to watch it bit I'm fond of SJU, so I appreciate getting the low down. I did see them over the weekend. Your comments are spot on in describing the team I saw. Can't play a lick of defense. Also good point about them being young. I think they're still learning each other's names. They can score some points when they turn it on.

[Bill Marsh]

I'll watch some of the SJU game, I'm not to excited about Delaware St.
I really don't care about winning by 25-30pnts.

Until our big men stop being soft, we'll continue to lose.
If they can't score then fine, but atleast REBOUND THE F'ING BALL. Ponds is 6'1 and had 10boards??? and out bigs can't do jack s*.
Freaking makes me sick. Hopefully they men up soon .

If you really thought St. John's would win by 25-30, hopefully you didn't watch any of the game, let alone some. St. John's fans, man. Unbelievable.

I think he just meant to say the line didn't really reflect how poorly SJU has been playing lately.

Nova looked sloppy again last night. Jay Wright appears to have found another perimeter stud in Divincenzo, but man they're gonna miss the big guy Ochefu in the tourney. He was literally the perfect center for Wright's offense.

Agree about Ochefu. It's not how many points he scored, it's when he scored. Every one of his points last year seemed to be back breakers. Just when a team thought they had stopped Nova's perimeter game, they would change it up and go down low where Ochefu was so reliable. I was very impressed with him last year.

[milksteak]

Nova won by 25 last night. Let's not find reasons to be negative.

[SJHooper]

I always get killed on the boards (pun intended being a SJ fan) for being brutally honest about my Johnnies. Maybe this will finally wake up even the most optimistic fans. As shocking as it is, there are STILL some SJ fans acting like this isn't a big deal. Last night was an utter disaster. Not only was Del. St about the #340 team in division 1 (among the very worst), not only was it not a nail-biter (they dominated all game), but it was at HOME! These past few years we have lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, Incarnate Word, and now Delaware State. Last night, Mullin's seat warmer was turned on in a real way. These are the kinds of losses that not only kill seasons and kill hope among the team, but also brings mountains of negative national press. ESPN was all over this loss on Twitter. Goodman, Dick V, almost everyone who's anyone in college hoops media noticed this loss and highlighted it as being a disaster. Think recruits don't notice? I'm finally at the point where I'm shocked we even get good recruits. It's painfully clear Mullin is not and will never be a good coach. We need to see how the rest of the year plays out and shake his hand and move on. This is a program that knows it sucks, yet waits too long to pull the trigger on a new coach. My guess is that we drag things out to at least 5 years with him, further killing our brand and ensuring our irrelevance. I understand wanting to try him out originally...it's a very attractive hire and it's the stuff movies are made of if he could turn us around. As much as I hate saying it, I want the young rising coach without the famous name who understands how to develop players and design plays. I want a coach who STANDS all game instead of rubbing his eyes while sitting like he's in shock. These are not 50 year old men, these are teenagers and 20 somethings. You need to bring the ENERGY to get them going. As bad as Lavin was, at least he was on his feet the whole time, shouting, running up and down the court, and putting his arm around players after making bad plays giving them a teaching moment showing proper techniques. This is New York, we need straight talk and we need energy. Shocked Mullin doesn't know that being a Brooklyn kid. We need to cut our losses and move on to a new coach with tons of experience. Hopefully Matt would stay but he's the only coach I want to keep. Also the only guy delivering real, tangible results.

I know I'm going to get the typical, "but they are a young team" nonsense, but it does not even come close to excusing a loss like this. We have essentially all 4 star kids out there starting for us and they were playing 1 and 2 star kids who could barely handle ANY D1 teams let alone major conference ones.

[Bill Marsh]

I don't think all is lost for this season with St. John's, but to this point I do believe that Mullin is in over his head as an actual in-game coach and potentially as a developer of talent. Considering that this is far worse than any loss that they suffered last season with significantly less talent (Incarnate Word was about 100 spots higher than Delaware State), St. John's will really have to hope that the transfers that become active next season are what this team's been missing or it could be a painful process trying to get rid of Mullin down the road.

No way that we are anywhere close to even talking about St John's getting rid of Mullin. He is a god-like figure on that campus, the face of St John's basketball.

He took over a program that needed a major rebuilding job and needed to reconnect with the high school and AAU coaches in and around the city. That's his major task right now. His ability to recruit the NY area will determine whether he succeeds.

Where his team is now says nothing out his ability to develop talent. Where the team is in March will tell us something, but more relevant is where they are after 2-3 years of working with a solid nucleus.

Just my 2 cents.

[Bill Marsh]

Nova won by 25 last night. Let's not find reasons to be negative.

I doubt that's of much consolation to the St John's fans.