Chief’s Briefs - St John’s Edition

[Chief00]

Tristen Newton was outstanding with Donovan a victim of UConn’s Big East officiating handicap. Tristen had 20 points in the first half as Donovan was riding the 2 foul pine and Karaban was cold.

Stewart, Spencer and Diarra also played well.

It is that time of the season. I will try to put my personal feelings about Rick Pitino aside - and focus on the game but I would love him leaving as a losing coach tonight, eventhough I respect his coaching ability.

Brian O’Connell is about as anti Hurley and UConn as you can get. He bad mouths Hurley all summer long. To have him be the crew leader in a UConn Quarter Final game is yet a new low by a League Commissioner, who sets one new low after another.
As a result Donovan missed 1/2 of the first half.

Once again Samson Johnson’s high hedge BS puts him hopelessly out of position in the post on defense and defensive rebounds. We have seen this all season - enough is enough - the high hedge is a disaster for Samson. Coach Hurley admit the truth! Let Samson figure out the center position before you have him defend a guard 25 feet from the basket.

Fortunately Stewart came in as back up center and played well. He ran the floor well. We shot 63% to 42% FG in first half but only up by 5. Giving up 9 offensive rebounds with Samson out of position killed us.

UConn leading FG by 12% and 3pt by 5%. Karaban came on with big plays late. Spencer and Newton both finished with 9 assists. We had 4 less rebounds but 7 more assists. Newton led with 25 and Spencer had 20 with a strong 4 for 5 from three.

Diarra had 10 and handle the ball well against pressure, a key to winning today.
Good win! Next!

 

[Dove]

This will be our toughest game in March. And we won.

 

[jorge34]

Good win, great offensive. Defense and rebounding, not good. Give St. John’s credit in that regard. Hopefully just an outlier game

 

[jibsey]

Tristen Newton was outstanding with Donovan a victim of UConn’s Big East officiating handicap. Tristen had 20 points in the first half as Donovan was riding the 2 foul pine and Karaban was cold.

Stewart, Spencer and Diarra also played well.

It is that time of the season. I will try to put my personal feelings about Rick Pitino aside - and focus on the game but I would love him leaving as a losing coach tonight, eventhough I respect his coaching ability.

Brian O’Connell is about as anti Hurley and UConn as you can get. He bad mouths Hurley all summer long. To have him be the crew leader in a UConn Quarter Final game is yet a new low by a League Commissioner, who sets one new low after another.
As a result Donovan missed 1/2 of the first half.

Once again Samson Johnson’s high hedge BS puts him hopelessly out of position in the post on defense and defensive rebounds. We have seen this all season - enough is enough - the high hedge is a disaster for Samson. Coach Hurley admit the truth! Let Samson figure out the center position before you have him defend a guard 25 feet from the basket.

Fortunately Stewart came in as back up center and played well. He ran the floor well. We shot 63% to 42% FG in first half but only up by 5. Giving up 9 offensive rebounds with Samson out of position killed us.

UConn leading FG by 12% and 3pt by 5%. Karaban came on with big plays late. Spencer and Newton both finished with 9 assists. We had 4 less rebounds but 7 more assists. Newton led with 25 and Spencer had 20 with a strong 4 for 5 from three.
Good win! Next!

I agree on the refs.

 

[Hi-Low]

It is that time of the season. I will try to put my personal feelings about Rick Pitino aside - and focus on the game but I would love him leaving as a losing coach tonight, eventhough I respect his coaching ability.

Brian O’Connell is about as anti Hurley and UConn as you can get. He bad mouths Hurley all summer long. To have him be the crew leader in a UConn Quarter Final game is yet a new low by a League Commissioner, who sets one new low after another.
As a result Donovan missed 1/2 of the first half.

It was the Semi-finals.....agree though, BE Refs under par and inconsistent as usual

 

[TheChamps990411]

That was the worst game on defense we`ve played this season. Castle was utterly atrocious! Fouling, getting screened constantly and just leaving guys open he looked absolutely lost. That was our C- game tonight and im being kind. If DC and Slam get in foul trouble in the tourney we are cooked. AK cant guard a chair in the post. Speaking of AKs foul on a 3 point attempt was the perfect exclamation to todays putrid defense. Lets all hope we dont run into UK. Anyway shout out to the rocks of this team Cam and Tristan.

 

[Mets8692]

The 2nd foul on Clingan should be a fineable offense. Spencer was in the guys face and Clingsn had his back turned running back on D. If I was Danny I might of gotten thrown out over that.

 

[slepers]

That was the worst game on defense we`ve played this season. Castle was utterly atrocious! Fouling, getting screened constantly and just leaving guys open he looked absolutely lost. That was our C- game tonight and im being kind. If DC and Slam get in foul trouble in the tourney we are cooked. AK cant guard a chair in the post. Speaking of AKs foul on a 3 point attempt was the perfect exclamation to today’s putrid defense. Let’s all hope we dont run into UK. Anyway shout out to the rocks of this team Cam and Tristan.

Rather harsh………Someone steel your lunch money today.

 

[Zonepress]

Tristen Newton was outstanding with Donovan a victim of UConn’s Big East officiating handicap. Tristen had 20 points in the first half as Donovan was riding the 2 foul pine and Karaban was cold.

Stewart, Spencer and Diarra also played well.

It is that time of the season. I will try to put my personal feelings about Rick Pitino aside - and focus on the game but I would love him leaving as a losing coach tonight, eventhough I respect his coaching ability.

Brian O’Connell is about as anti Hurley and UConn as you can get. He bad mouths Hurley all summer long. To have him be the crew leader in a UConn Quarter Final game is yet a new low by a League Commissioner, who sets one new low after another.
As a result Donovan missed 1/2 of the first half.

Once again Samson Johnson’s high hedge BS puts him hopelessly out of position in the post on defense and defensive rebounds. We have seen this all season - enough is enough - the high hedge is a disaster for Samson. Coach Hurley admit the truth! Let Samson figure out the center position before you have him defend a guard 25 feet from the basket.

Fortunately Stewart came in as back up center and played well. He ran the floor well. We shot 63% to 42% FG in first half but only up by 5. Giving up 9 offensive rebounds with Samson out of position killed us.

UConn leading FG by 12% and 3pt by 5%. Karaban came on with big plays late. Spencer and Newton both finished with 9 assists. We had 4 less rebounds but 7 more assists. Newton led with 25 and Spencer had 20 with a strong 4 for 5 from three.

Diarra had 10 and handle the ball well against pressure, a key to winning today.
Good win! Next!

Don’t like to buy into the anti UConn by officials
But today changed my mind
-st johns was constantly holding on the press
Very obvious but never called
Caused a 5 second call

-2 defensive rebound fouls which made no sense given how much contact was allowed especially
As they did not affect the play

Numerous obvious fouls not called on t newtons
Drives to the basket

Perhaps time to expand the pool of officials

 

[Scrappy3]

Officiating ok. Give St. John’s a lot of credit for playing scrappy and hitting timely shots. We had our chances to extend the lead and the johnies just made olays
Don’t agree with any criticism of Johnson. He was very good

 

[TheChamps990411]

Rather harsh………Someone steel your lunch money today.

Calling out poor play is harsh? Im not wrong. Sorry the language is too much for your feelings.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Chief, Samson has not gotten burned on the high hedge more than a small handful of times the whole year.

I know this is your narrative, but it is absolutely untrue. Postivies outweigh the negatives of it. And always will.

 

[bendm]

chief you can complain about the refs all you want but save your breath on samson and the high hedge already. we won a chip w/ sanogo doing it last year and could win again w/ samson doing it this year. the issue is samson should not be playing so many minutes which goes back to the officiating on clingan.

 

[husky8273]

The 2nd foul on Clingan should be a fineable offense. Spencer was in the guys face and Clingsn had his back turned running back on D. If I was Danny I might of gotten thrown out over that.

he came close telling the refs it was Spencer's foul

 

[TheRealKBuks]

That was the worst game on defense we`ve played this season. Castle was utterly atrocious! Fouling, getting screened constantly and just leaving guys open he looked absolutely lost. That was our C- game tonight and im being kind. If DC and Slam get in foul trouble in the tourney we are cooked. AK cant guard a chair in the post. Speaking of AKs foul on a 3 point attempt was the perfect exclamation to todays putrid defense. Lets all hope we dont run into UK. Anyway shout out to the rocks of this team Cam and Tristan.

We played poorly enough on Defense tonight to drop of 11 in AdjD to 17 on kenpom. Wouldn't be surprised if we drop a little lower when the remaining games settle tonight.

Fortunately we have the best backcourt in the country. For Tristen and Cam to combine for 45 pts, 18 assists, and 1 turnover. This is an all time backcourt.

The officials seemed to have a vested interest in keeping the game within in the spread. After Tim Donaghey it is forever fair to question the motives of basketball officials. I don't think the refs have it in for UConn or Hurley but can't rule out. Some of the calls and then vice versa non-calls against both teams were head scratchers. I just always find it interesting when a game remains within the spread because the officials start to call it a certain way. I'll have to queue up conspiracy kitty on this one.

 

[Skiblets]

Donovan's two fouls in the first half were legit calls....the second was just a dumb reach in...

St John's put a lot of pressure on the refs with their holding and grabbing. Thought it would open up after the double techs on both coaches but it never did.

Kind of a crazy game with all the clutching and grabbing and yet played in the 90/80 point range. Felt like this would've been a good game to mix in a zone more than just that 1-2 possessions we played it on D.

 

[Conndog]

Chief, Samson has not gotten burned on the high hedge more than a small handful of times the whole year.

I know this is your narrative, but it is absolutely untrue. Postivies outweigh the negatives of it. And always will.

I agree with Chief about the hedge- you may say only a small handful of times it failed, but it succeeded zero number of times.

 

[Citrusdog]

22 for 24 at the free throw line - solidifies wins. Numerically - although not very realistic or applicable - 16 for 24 doesn’t bring smiles to faces. I know that is not necessarily how the game plays out - but, it is an indicator of a move in the right direction. I’m a believer at the college level teams should make 7+ out of 10. I think our guys are working on it. Tristan and Cam are solid. I mean - when these two were shooting free throws - was there any real concern? Albert Mouring seemed like he made 100% - Ben Gordon made 90% - the 2014 team may have missed a couple in the last 100+. Love me some solid FT shooters.

 

[Chief00]

That was the worst game on defense we`ve played this season. Castle was utterly atrocious! Fouling, getting screened constantly and just leaving guys open he looked absolutely lost. That was our C- game tonight and im being kind. If DC and Slam get in foul trouble in the tourney we are cooked. AK cant guard a chair in the post. Speaking of AKs foul on a 3 point attempt was the perfect exclamation to todays putrid defense. Lets all hope we dont run into UK. Anyway shout out to the rocks of this team Cam and Tristan.

Donovan makes everyone else better defensively, when the refs let him play.

 

[Chief00]

I agree with Chief about the hedge- you may say only a small handful of times it failed, but it succeeded zero number of times.

I guess what is someone’s definition of success on a high hedge for Samson?
I prefer to focus on the the 17 offensive rebounds we gave up at the rim when Samson was still on the journey back to the rim area from guarding a guard 25 feet from the basket. Which would you rather give up?
Almost inherently, through no fault of his own, he is out of position. And if he messes up it looks real bad.

 

[Dove]

I guess what is someone’s definition of success on a high hedge for Samson?
I prefer to focus on the the 17 offensive rebounds we gave up at the rim when Samson was still on the journey back to the rim area from guarding a guard 25 feet from the basket. Which would you rather give up?
Almost inherently, through no fault of his own, he is out of position. And if he messes up it looks real bad.

Why are you going all Brian O'Connell on Samson?

 

[uconnfan68]

chief you can complain about the refs all you want but save your breath on samson and the high hedge already. we won a chip w/ sanogo doing it last year and could win again w/ samson doing it this year. the issue is samson should not be playing so many minutes which goes back to the officiating on clingan.

Clingan earns those fouls.

 

[Chief00]

 

[Secure Dog]

Samson on the hedge. I think he became a victim of his success against Xavier. He was going one or two steps too much before retreating. He had already altered the momentum of the ball handler and allowed his teammate to recover defensively but he stayed a beat too long too many times. That messed up not only the help on the guy that rolled to the rim but the rotation on the perimeter players for St Johns. I think they will correct this tomorrow. They will have to especially if they play Marquette. I think the staff will get him straightened out.

 

[Chief00]

Tristen kept us together tonight and made big play after big play - especially in the first half.