Chief Brief’s - St John’s Edition | The Boneyard

Chief Brief’s - St John’s Edition

C

Chief00

Big picture - We have managed to be competitive without our star player. Something to keep in mind. But, in every game, let’s fight and get the “W”. At the end of the day you need the “W”.

Chief liked the shooting we came out with. We also moved well and just as importantly hit the guy at the right time in the right place for the shots. Cole, Adams and Tyler strokes looked good early. Cole played a good all round game.

Sanogo, Chief just loves the way he posts and demands the ball and he’s just a freshman. Great hands and soft touch too. Like the way he uses his shoulder to create space. He needs many more minutes and now. Love his patience on offense. He’s our best upside Big by Chief’s eye test. Period.

On the downside Josh is playing poorly. Doesn't display good hands, isn’t finishing strong, missing foul shots. Josh is not alone, our other Bigs (besides Dam Break recruit Sanogo) aren’t finishing strong at the rim. Neither is Martin. Whaley was a step behind the play all game. Foolish foul by Whaley to end the first half. Akok is looking more ready on defense and running the court. On Offense - he’s still rusty.

Gaffney, Chief still believes in that Dam Break recruit as I did when we recruited him. When he finds his confidence (likely soon), he will be real solid.

Give Martin credit on defense - doing a great defensive job on Champagnie. Chief really liked Dylan Addae Wusu though. A tank dude.

Chief is in total agreement with Donny that we need to run more and I will add guys need to do it in a discipline way using basketball fundamentals. We just don’t seem to have that mindset. We should attempt to run at the start of almost every possession. Even after made shots. True, if it’s not there, or a trailer, don’t force it and pull it out.
UConn got lots of points off turnovers - and this team needs to convert it’s good defense into offense. Martin closed the game fairly strong but missed the two big FT’s at end. . St John improved their 3 point shots and UConn did a really bad job finding the 3 point shooters. Our help defense on drives was poor too.

Cole is a good foul shooter but he chokes late in the game. Not like CV.

Hurley really fell asleep on Adama. I can’t explain it.
Foul shooting lost the game for us again! Get in the gym guys.
 
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Funny, reading the other threads(Not your's)so many on this board take this loss personally. Hard game to watch down the stretch....they just let this one slip away. You saw more positives than I. Fact is SJ is a young but very athletic group. They were bound to pull one out.
 
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Great job Chief, as always. Bottom line, If this game played out the exact same way with our team at 100%, then I would be way more upset than I am now. Yes, this was a bad loss, we need to hit the free throws when they matter, but we need to focus on getting Bouknight, and AJ back ASAP. Let’s hope Adama doesn’t take this situation to personally either.
 
C

Chief00

Funny, reading the other threads(Not your's)so many on this board take this loss personally. Hard game to watch down the stretch....they just let this one slip away. You saw more positives than I. Fact is SJ is a young but very athletic group. They were bound to pull one out.
We missed our best guy, bad foul shooting and Sanogo being wasted on the bench. Hurley needs to show he can change his game plan during the game.
 
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C

Chief00

Great job Chief, as always. Bottom line, If this game played out the exact same way with our team at 100%, then I would be way more upset than I am now. Yes, this was a bad loss, we need to hit the free throws when they matter, but we need to focus on getting Bouknight, and AJ back ASAP. Let’s hope Adama doesn’t take this situation to personally either.
And let’s get Sanogo in the game when he’s hot. You create your own matchup issues for your opponents don’t let them create the match up problems on you. Post them when they play 4 guards and there will be no Big help.
 
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We missed our best guy, bad foul shooting and Sanogo being wasted on the bench. Hurley needs to show he can change his game plan during the game.
Hurley’s game plan was fine. We missed key free throws, offered minimal help side defense, and took bad shots down the stretch. This loss was poor execution by the guys on the court, not the ones on the sidelines. We love to overreact when guys overachieve, now we blame the coach when they revert back to the players they are? This loss sucks, it should have been a win, but it wasn’t. The criticism of Hurley is not only head scratching, it’s embarrassing. Not the best day for the ‘yard. A knowledgeable fan base, which we are, should react better. Shame on us.
 

HuskyHawk

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And let’s get Sanogo in the game when he’s hot. You create your own matchup issues for your opponents don’t let them create the match up problems on you. Post them when they play 4 guards and there will be no Big help.

This is the game. St. John’s has no bigs. Couldn’t guard Sanogo. We were up 8 with a 7-1 foul advantage when he went out. Give him a 2 minute rest and put him back in and we win this by double figures. This one is on Hurley. Yes, Martin missed layups and key FTs. Polley missed everything and his defense was like a chair on wheels, less an impediment than a stationary chair.

Small ball sucks. If people go small run out Sanogo Whaley and Akok. St. John’s got most of their points at the rim where we had nobody to alter their shots when we went small. Just a colossal coaching mistake. Dictate to other teams. Don’t let them dictate to you. I am as pissed as I’ve ever been about a basketball game.
 

StllH8L8ner

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Good summary. While I've been hoping for the best without Bouk, deep down I've been waiting for a letdown game and it came today unfortunately. Frustrating to say the least and while I heard the explanations, I still don't like Adama sitting most of the second half after being pretty unstoppable early on.

I was pretty salty watching today's game play out but looking forward to the next one. Stay healthy my friends!
 
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When is Martin going to get the hang of playing thru contact on inside shots? No team will ever get anywhere if they can't make clutch free throws.

Chief is worth read7ng.
 

Hankster

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Big picture - We have managed to be competitive without our star player. Something to keep in mind. But, in every game, let’s fight and get the “W”. At the end of the day you need the “W”.

Chief liked the shooting we came out with. We also moved well and just as importantly hit the guy at the right time in the right place for the shots. Cole, Adams and Tyler strokes looked good early. Cole played a good all round game.

Sanogo, Chief just loves the way he posts and demands the ball and he’s just a freshman. Great hands and soft touch too. Like the way he uses his shoulder to create space. He needs many more minutes and now. Love his patience on offense. He’s our best upside Big by Chief’s eye test. Period.

On the downside Josh is playing poorly. Doesn't display good hands, isn’t finishing strong, missing foul shots. Josh is not alone, our other Bigs (besides Dam Break recruit Sanogo) aren’t finishing strong at the rim. Neither is Martin. Whaley was a step behind the play all game. Foolish foul by Whaley to end the first half. Akok is looking more ready on defense and running the court. On Offense - he’s still rusty.

Gaffney, Chief still believes in that Dam Break recruit as I did when we recruited him. When he finds his confidence (likely soon), he will be real solid.

Give Martin credit on defense - doing a great defensive job on Champagnie. Chief really liked Dylan Addae Wusu though. A tank dude.

Chief is in total agreement with Donny that we need to run more and I will add guys need to do it in a discipline way using basketball fundamentals. We just don’t seem to have that mindset. We should attempt to run at the start of almost every possession. Even after made shots. True, if it’s not there, or a trailer, don’t force it and pull it out.
UConn got lots of points off turnovers - and this team needs to convert it’s good defense into offense. Martin closed the game fairly strong but missed the two big FT’s at end. . St John improved their 3 point shots and UConn did a really bad job finding the 3 point shooters. Our help defense on drives was poor too.

Cole is a good foul shooter but he chokes late in the game. Not like CV.

Hurley really fell asleep on Adama. I can’t explain it.
Foul shooting lost the game for us again! Get in the gym guys.
Well Chief last game I chimed in on how teams are driving through our defense like butter to the hoop. I got a few replies where a few said, they where giving the ball to whoever Adams was guarding. Well it wasn't on Adams today, or at least not as much. We have zero defense. St. Johns looked like layup warmups before the game. Just terrible. Many on here are stilling my quotes. So, I will join in. Sonogo should of been out there.
 
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This is the game. St. John’s has no bigs. Couldn’t guard Sanogo. We were up 8 with a 7-1 foul advantage when he went out. Give him a 2 minute rest and put him back in and we win this by double figures. This one is on Hurley. Yes, Martin missed layups and key FTs. Polley missed everything and his defense was like a chair on wheels, less an impediment than a stationary chair.

Small ball sucks. If people go small run out Sanogo Whaley and Akok. St. John’s got most of their points at the rim where we had nobody to alter their shots when we went small. Just a colossal coaching mistake. Dictate to other teams. Don’t let them dictate to you. I am as pissed as I’ve ever been about a basketball game.
All 100% correct. Hurley makes decisions and then doesn’t change his mind when it’s not going well. He’s stubborn with his timeouts and his subs. It’s not good to be reactionary too much but at some point you do have to react and adjust.
 
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I liked Gaffney's athletic layup finish today. He still plays tentative most of the time, stands around not in an athletic position and he has to get rid of his one handed passes, which don't work at this level. Cole is doing so much as it is, that I think he wouldn't make it to games end if we try to go up tempo. That can wait until we get Bouk back. Our guard depth is SOOO thin minus Bouk and to a lesser extent AJ.
 
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All 100% correct. Hurley makes decisions and then doesn’t change his mind when it’s not going well. He’s stubborn with his timeouts and his subs. It’s not good to be reactionary too much but at some point you do have to react and adjust.
Calhoun would hook kids 3 seconds into a game. Talk about reactionary! Seemed to work out though LOL
 
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SJU has played 15 games to UConn's 9. Maybe that partly explains why SJU seemed so much more relentless at the end. Once they got within 2 UConn looked scared.
This is something that I don’t know is being talked about enough. Im not trying to make excuses, but It’s pretty rare to be in mid January and other teams in your conference have played 5-6 games more than you have. Thats what some teams are dealing with given the Covid shut downs, but I think teams that have played significantly less games compared to their opponent have to be at some kind of disadvantage.
 
C

Chief00

Well Chief last game I chimed in on how teams are driving through our defense like butter to the hoop. I got a few replies where a few said, they where giving the ball to whoever Adams was guarding. Well it wasn't on Adams today, or at least not as much. We have zero defense. St. Johns looked like layup warmups before the game. Just terrible. Many on here are stilling my quotes. So, I will join in. Sonogo should of been out there.
Fair criticism about driving through us and Adama not being in the game - that was insane. Whaley was all over the place out of position in a bad way. What’s the point having your center at the top of the key when guards are strolling in for lay-ups? Our only Big who played well was held hostage on the bench for the last 12 minutes for some inexplicable reason other than letting St John’s dictate to us what the match ups were. Definitely a “D” grade tops for our staff today. They are better than that.
 
C

Chief00

When is Martin going to get the hang of playing thru contact on inside shots? No team will ever get anywhere if they can't make clutch free throws.

Chief is worth read7ng.
Thank you.
 
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C

Chief00

Hurley’s game plan was fine. We missed key free throws, offered minimal help side defense, and took bad shots down the stretch. This loss was poor execution by the guys on the court, not the ones on the sidelines. We love to overreact when guys overachieve, now we blame the coach when they revert back to the players they are? This loss sucks, it should have been a win, but it wasn’t. The criticism of Hurley is not only head scratching, it’s embarrassing. Not the best day for the ‘yard. A knowledgeable fan base, which we are, should react better. Shame on us.
Adama should have play in the last 12 minutes is my complaint. He was our best player today.
 
C

Chief00

This is the game. St. John’s has no bigs. Couldn’t guard Sanogo. We were up 8 with a 7-1 foul advantage when he went out. Give him a 2 minute rest and put him back in and we win this by double figures. This one is on Hurley. Yes, Martin missed layups and key FTs. Polley missed everything and his defense was like a chair on wheels, less an impediment than a stationary chair.

Small ball sucks. If people go small run out Sanogo Whaley and Akok. St. John’s got most of their points at the rim where we had nobody to alter their shots when we went small. Just a colossal coaching mistake. Dictate to other teams. Don’t let them dictate to you. I am as pissed as I’ve ever been about a basketball game.
Agreed. 5 stars.
 
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Adama should have play in the last 12 minutes is my complaint. He was our best player today.
Reasonable complaint. But to call out Hurley at the extent this board is is completly absurd. Who knows, with as fast as St. John's was playing, Adama could have picked up 3 fouls in 2 minutes. He made a judgement call and was wrong. He isn't the first coach that has happened too. And to blame not playing Adama as the reason we lost is comical. We lost because we can't hit free throws, a few guys(i won't name anyone) refused to offer any help side defense, and another player came back to earth. With a minute to go, with 20 seconds to go, we still should have won. Thats execution. Thats not coaching.
 
C

Chief00

Reasonable complaint. But to call out Hurley at the extent this board is is completly absurd. Who knows, with as fast as St. John's was playing, Adama could have picked up 3 fouls in 2 minutes. He made a judgement call and was wrong. He isn't the first coach that has happened too. And to blame not playing Adama as the reason we lost is comical. We lost because we can't hit free throws, a few guys(i won't name anyone) refused to offer any help side defense, and another player came back to earth. With a minute to go, with 20 seconds to go, we still should have won. Thats execution. Thats not coaching.
Agree it was a team lost for the reasons you cited and the coaches not playing Sanogo was a factor.
 
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Disappointing lost but quite frankly I agree, one of my better Briefs after the moderator finally released it.
Chief please have a word with Coach about the Sanogo situation. No reason Brendan Adams should have played 30 minutes when Sanogo gets yanked out. He’s a great coach but not perfect. Help him to realize his mistake. We need you on this one Chief. We gotta keep this ship headed the right direction
 

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