Favorite Takeaway From Today

[Chin Diesel]

The newcomers- Clingan, Joey C and Alleyne looking comfortable in the Garden in front of a lively crowd.

Good, bad or otherwise, it's NYC and it's the Garden. Some players love the limelight and some take time getting used to it. These guys showed they were ready for the moment.

One less thing to worry about is deer in headlight come BET time.

Yeah Karaban had a stinker due to foul trouble but I am confident in his ability to perform the second and third, fourth time around.

 

[REB1094]

I have a feeling Joey is going to love playing in MSG for the BET. He's our 5th year veteran, and the closest he's gotten to March is the WCC semifinals his freshman year. He's ready to go

 

[my2cents]

Easy, the return of Joey C

 

[Rocktheworld]

Between MSG and Kellogg calling color, it really felt like March. What a fun game to watch

 

[XLCenterFan]

Everyone contributed. AJax settling in and finding his spots. Joey C is back. DH called some timely timeouts. MSG warmup. Looks like we’re back in our groove, playing loose and having fun. Cling block party.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

AJax settling in and finding his spots.

I'm glad he's not putting up 4 threes in the first half anymore (and his first one tonight was an end of clock situation so he had no choice) but every once in a while he takes one in rhythm and you can tell it's down when it leaves his hand. I felt that way about the one he hit down the stretch tonight.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Jordan’s run down block or the Clingan block where he grabbed it himself after blocking it. Or when he tipped in his own miss and the announcer said it looked like he was playing nerf basketball and it kind of did.

 

[GotNets?]

Nahiem’s midrange game looked great today.

 

[jibsey]

Joey looked really good out there today. Does he get more time?

 

[bluestreak]

They look like they're having fun again. Winning kinda does that for you. For the Boneyard too.

 

[Scottobot]

Between MSG and Kellogg calling color, it really felt like March. What a fun game to watch

I like Clark Kellog as an announcer. Also thought the CBS capture of the crazy lady was classic. Very funny to hear the announcers lament that they have been suffering from her rants all game.

 

[Scottobot]

My favorite play was when Andre drove to the hoop, with primary intent to draw contact and get to FT line. I have been waiting all year for him to do that. He drove, it was an obvious foul that refs had to call, and he got to shoot 2 FTs. I think he could easily do that 3 times a game and give us 4-5 points, and it would give us another way to score when 3 ball, and Sanogo post up not working.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm glad he's not putting up 4 threes in the first half anymore (and his first one tonight was an end of clock situation so he had no choice) but every once in a while he takes one in rhythm and you can tell it's down when it leaves his hand. I felt that way about the one he hit down the stretch tonight.

He took that 3 right after he made 2 FT. Almost like ge needed to dial in his shooting touch.

 

[SportsFan88]

The environment we create at MSG still amazes me, St.John’s played some reckless ball and it still was a good game to watch for me because of our crowd

 

[willie99]

Everything

All of the above

WINNING

 

[RichZ]

There was a play early in the 2nd half -- Adama just inside the 3 pt line passes the ball to Newton in his favorite spot. Hawk circles under the basket and goes into high gear heading for the 3 pt line. Sanogo starts moving toward the basket, but when Hawk goes flying by, the two defenders on that side of the court both both go with him. Sanogo walks to the basket and Newton tosses him the ball for what had to be the easiest layup of his career. The fear of letting Hawk get to the 3 point line uncovered gave Sanogo an unmolested layup. I really felt like that breakdown really took the air out of the St J's players on the floor.

 

[freshler40]

There was a play early in the 2nd half -- Adama just inside the 3 pt line passes the ball to Newton in his favorite spot. Hawk circles under the basket and goes into high gear heading for the 3 pt line. Sanogo starts moving toward the basket, but when Hawk goes flying by, the two defenders on that side of the court both both go with him. Sanogo walks to the basket and Newton tosses him the ball for what had to be the easiest layup of his career. The fear of letting Hawk get to the 3 point line uncovered gave Sanogo an unmolested layup. I really felt like that breakdown really took the air out of the St J's players on the floor.

This was a classic bait and switch with the defense both buying the bait! Loved it. Me thinks Santago was totally amazed how easy it was.

 

[jibsey]

My favorite thing was the ball movement that made the team look like they did early in the season, especially with Joey in there.

 

[Umami Zen]

The bench.. How many teams in the country have two 1,000 pt career scorers and a 2024 first round draft pick coming off the bench??

 

[AtlantaHusky]

Definitely a lot to like. Here are a few of mine off the top of my head:

• We can have a down game from a great player (Alex tonight) and the other guys pick them up
• Sanogo is not the vortex he used to be and has improved passing
• Jordan is fearless with his shot taking
• Alex's ability to drive the ball
• Help Defense
• St Johns making the game ugly since they couldn't compete every other way and we still hung on
• Danny's better use of TO's this year
• Cling-Kong block party (the future is BRIGHT!)
• Alleyne becoming what we wanted - I'm getting the feeling now that everything he shoots is going in
• Me knowing the alley oop play is coming but ST John's coach didn't (that's def. one of Danny's favorite post- time out play)
• Our guys helping each other control their emotions
• our Fans at the Garden! What a showcase. BET will be nuts.

 

[oshkosh]

Joey looked really good out there today. Does he get more time?

Why the heck not? Games he’s played over 15 minutes how has the team done? I never understood why he was basically benched as soon as he had one off game

 

[Son of Robert]

Definitely a lot to like. Here are a few of mine off the top of my head:

• We can have a down game from a great player (Alex tonight) and the other guys pick them up
• Sanogo is not the vortex he used to be and has improved passing
• Jordan is fearless with his shot taking
• Alex's ability to drive the ball
• Help Defense
• St Johns making the game ugly since they couldn't compete every other way and we still hung on
• Danny's better use of TO's this year
• Cling-Kong block party (the future is BRIGHT!)
• Alleyne becoming what we wanted - I'm getting the feeling now that everything he shoots is going in
• Me knowing the alley oop play is coming but ST John's coach didn't (that's def. one of Danny's favorite post- time out play)
• Our guys helping each other control their emotions
• our Fans at the Garden! What a showcase. BET will be nuts.

Great post!

 

[RichZ]

Why the heck not? Games he’s played over 15 minutes how has the team done? I never understood why he was basically benched as soon as he had one off game

I will never understand how fans watch him go 2 for 17 from three over a 6 game span and wonder why he's not getting the minutes he was when he was shooting over 40%.

 

[jibsey]

I will never understand how fans watch him go 2 for 17 from three over a 6 game span and wonder why he's not getting the minutes he was when he was shooting over 40%.

3 shots and just a few minutes per game is not enough for players to get their rhythm. He played big minutes for San Diego State so this is different. He is a scoring threat.

 

[RichZ]

3 shots and just a few minutes per game is not enough for players to get their rhythm. He played big minutes for San Diego State so this is different. He is a scoring threat.

He was a major scoring threat early and earned a lot of minutes. But then fell into a black hole offensively. No way to play him big minutes when he's not scoring, because his defense is mostly awful. It looks like he has come out of that shooting slump, and if he keeps shooting well, he will see a lot of minutes post season.