Red Sperm ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. Lot of energy expended early, with little to show for it.
2. At the first time-out I was out of breath just watching this thing. Lot of runnng, lot of turnovers, not much score to show for it, for either team.
3. Hawkins seems weak with the ball. Avoiding taking it into traffic at all costs. But he had a great play when he bounced it out of bounds off a St John's player as he was about to fall out of bounds near the end of the half. For naught, but the effort and move were there.
4. Gaffney -- two good, bordering on great, plays, then an unforced turnover. Par for the course.
5. WTF was that foul call on Tyrese at 6:51 in the first half?
6. After Cole scored a bucket for the bad guys, he'll hate himself if we lose by 2.
7. The first half had a weird scoring pattern. We go up by 5, then they come back and tie the game, then we go up by 5 again, and so on.
8. Up by nine early in the 2nd.
9. This game is still chaotic. It can't decide whether it's an all out running game or a rock fight.
10. 11 point lead, now shrunk to 7. Was it coincidence that Cole was getting a blow and Gaffney had the point.?
11. All of a sudden with less than 5 minutes left, we can't make foul shots.
12. St John's gets more points on broken plays. It's like that's their primary strategy.
13. Would have won in regulation if not for Cole's bucket for the sperm.
14. And in OT, we finally remembered how to make free throws.
15. Odd statistic. We had more blocks than offensive boards.
16. Pretty sure Cole's 4 FTs in OT were his only FTs of the game.
17. We won. I'll sleep well tonight.

 

[Hi-Low]

Out bench not looking so great anymore. Polley and Akok are it. Out guard depth is very very shaky

 

[Chin Diesel]

Mentioned it in a different thread. The more a play breaks down and the more chaotic it becomes, the more efficient SJU is in their halfcourt sets.

 

[Ts5034]

We needed this. The kids needed to win this for confidence alone. The schedule is a little less hard with our next four coming up, Butler X 2, vs Georgetown, and at DePaul. We need to go 4-0 here, and continue to work on things to improve before we play Creighton and Villanova back to back.

 

[UCLJ0211]

We needed this. The kids needed to win this for confidence alone. The schedule is a little less hard with our next four coming up, Butler X 2, vs Georgetown, and at DePaul. We need to go 4-0 here, and continue to work on things to improve before we play Creighton and Villanova back to back.

We play at Providence on Saturday unless it’s canceled?

 

[Edward Sargent]

Mentioned it in a different thread. The more a play breaks down and the more chaotic it becomes, the more efficient SJU is in their halfcourt sets.

Remember they have pChampagnie to end the chaos he is a terrific player

 

[djct1999]

This is a flawed team with some glaring deficiencies. That said, kudos to Danny for pulling the plug on Akok and Gaffney. They each played 7 minutes and it was about 5 minutes too many. Akok simply does not have the strength to play at this level and Gaffney has regressed to the point where he really isn't playable. The sequence in the second half after Cole picked up his 3rd foul sealed the deal. It was painful.

I still believe Hawkins will turn around. Needs to play within himself, let the game come to him. He is forcing things. Seems like he is trying to squeeze in a game worth of highlights in his lmited minutes. Once it clicks, watch out.

Looking at the box score vs real time, I feel Danny managed the minutes the best he could, giving the circumstances and getting the win. Only thing I can see going forward, play Polley a bit more and be patient with Hawkins. Honestly, when Cole comes out of the game, move AJ to the point and put one of the above guys at the 2.

 

[Dove]

Red Sperm?

 

[Huskybass]

I was at the Game. Despite Champagnie, St. John's isn't very good. This game never should have gone to overtime, it should have been an easy win in regulation. It feels odd to say that a player has regressed, but Gaffney is really struggling. Lucky to get a W and move on. If we play like that against a real good team it's going to be a double digit loss.

That said, Sanogo was a beast. He continues to get better and has learned to pass out of double teams. His touch is better than any UConn big I can recall and he was really good on the defensive end last night. I never thought of Sanogo as a guy that would block six shots in a game, but he continues to expand his game and impress.

Cole really needs help running the point. With Gaffney and Hawkins struggling and Diggins glued to the pine, Jackson has become our second ball handler. I can live with his turnovers, since he does so many things to help the team win.

This team has lots of talent, it just feels like they are often firing on 6 Cylinders instead of 8. Lots of games left, but lots of work to do if this team wants to make a run in March.

 

[Candyman]

Cole body was just exhausted. Front rimming all his shots the last 5 minutes and OT. Gaffney can’t be trusted to give him a break.

Jackson was key to beating their pressure as you remember their pressure killed us last year.

 

[dennismenace]

Starting 5 overall played very well considering the track meet they were in and the minutes they played.
They actually "out uptempoed" St Johns. A lot of those speedy and physical guards on SJ had WILSON imprinted on their foreheads trying to take it to the rack. I think we are conditioned enough to go up-tempo with any team in the country and it looked like it surprised St John's. Our guys looked liked they believed they were going to win this game down the stretch; especially in OT. The body language on AJ and Sanogo showed a real swagger near the end. The SJ guards looked particularly down and confused when they kept getting stuffed. I also heard the crowd ROAR at one particular time near the end of regulation or OT when our guys were making some quick back to back plays. From a morale standpoint I think this was a bid win because they are starting to look like they believe in themselves and contributions can come from many player. They seem to be feeding off of that.

 

[thatguyed]

We play at Providence on Saturday unless it’s canceled?

postponed

 

[coachn]

Was that sequence at the end of regulation a planned pass by Cole to Sonogo off glass. Great play call or improvising by Cole?

 

[huskiesouth]

Was that sequence at the end of regulation a planned pass by Cole to Sonogo off glass. Great play call or improvising by Cole?

My guess half-improvised half hail-mary

 

[Chin Diesel]

This is a flawed team with some glaring deficiencies. That said, kudos to Danny for pulling the plug on Akok and Gaffney. They each played 7 minutes and it was about 5 minutes too many. Akok simply does not have the strength to play at this level and Gaffney has regressed to the point where he really isn't playable. The sequence in the second half after Cole picked up his 3rd foul sealed the deal. It was painful.

I still believe Hawkins will turn around. Needs to play within himself, let the game come to him. He is forcing things. Seems like he is trying to squeeze in a game worth of highlights in his lmited minutes. Once it clicks, watch out.

Looking at the box score vs real time, I feel Danny managed the minutes the best he could, giving the circumstances and getting the win. Only thing I can see going forward, play Polley a bit more and be patient with Hawkins. Honestly, when Cole comes out of the game, move AJ to the point and put one of the above guys at the 2.

Hurley has realized he needs to let Jackson play through his mistakes and Hurley has to deal with the 2-3 boneheaded plays Jax makes every game. He may have to do the same with Hawkins.

 

[dennismenace]

Hurley has realized he needs to let Jackson play through his mistakes and Hurley has to deal with the 2-3 boneheaded plays Jax makes every game. He may have to do the same with Hawkins.

Kinetic learning. "Hands on" as opposed to visual/audio learning. Wasn't he a point guard in HS before he shot up in height? What I really like about him is his passion for the game and team. Unlimited potential. Winning attitude and a strong work ethic with great natural abilities. What a blessing to this program.