St. John's Post Game Thread

[JSB60]

SJU is not a great team, but they played Pitino defense, especially in the first half (my autocorrect wants to call him Putin). Any win in this BE is good. But I don’t like our offensive flow at all the last two games. Guards have to drive more and better when the defense overplays the perimeter so hard.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

A St John's fan thought Spencer was getting calls on non fouls? For the first ten minutes of the game it looked like it was open season on Spencer, they could mug him all they wanted and get away with it. To a lesser extent they also did that to Newton for the entire game.

 

[freshler40]

Agreed that Newton and Cam looked tired.

Them playing that many minutes, and remaining effective, is not sustainable.

We need another guard to step up.....hoping Solo can fill that role, but he's regressed the past two games.

Solo needs to look for some shots. Much to passive out there.

 

[freshler40]

A needed win at home, especially after going behind a couple times. We've very rarely won those types of games in the recent past.

Only 8 turnovers against a Pitino defense is good.

The Newton 3 point attempt from the wing 24 feet away with plenty of time on the shot clock and 40 seconds on the game clock up 2 almost killed me. Maybe it was a 2 for 1 attempt, but damn.

22 FTA in the 2nd half. Refs started calling a lot more of the bumps on rebounds and some more freedom of movement stuff. Called it both ways, but I'm sure Hurley got into them at halftime due to us not attempting a FT for the first 19 min of the 1st half.

Obviously love what Samson did tonight stepping up. He had that huge tip steal late in the 2nd half that was so crazy impressive using his length and athleticism (but then immediately got blocked from behind on the roll on the next play.)

Still gotta work on matchup zone offense. Castle has to drive to finish strong and draw fouls and not just hang in the air avoiding contact.

Great summary. Give it to the coaches who also made some serious in-game adjustments. This game had the stamp of coaches earning their money. To enter this game missing a major piece, two real freshmen, a small transfer in Spencer, injuries and win is masterful chess.

 

[willie99]

A St John's fan thought Spencer was getting calls on non fouls? For the first ten minutes of the game it looked like it was open season on Spencer, they could mug him all they wanted and get away with it. To a lesser extent they also did that to Newton for the entire game.

Newton gets fouled nearly every time he drives. At least two or three guys converge on him, 4 to 6 hands reaching and grabbing and slapping, and none of them ever touch him.

And that's not mentioning the body bumps / hip checks, those more discrete fouls that you only notice if you're watching for a change in his body trajectory

To be fair, fans of every Big East school complain about Big East officiating. One thing that hurts us more, bad officiating is a great equalizer.

 

[JohnnyJr]

How painful was it to delete the other 6 paragraphs you wrote after we didn't lose that game? Some people just like to be miserable

I’m not being miserable just being realistic. Glad we won but we looked like crap. If you wanna do a backflip after that go for it

 

[willie99]

I’m not being miserable just being realistic. Glad we won but we looked like crap. If you wanna do a backflip after that go for it

You evidently don't understand the game

And all Debbie Downers, also known as Karens nowadays, tell us "they're being realistic". So damn cute ,

 

[CL82]

Did anyone piss and moan about style points in the 2011 title game?

Yes. Quite a few actually.

 

[freshler40]

You evidently don't understand the game

And all Debbie Downers, also known as Karens nowadays, tell us "they're being realistic". So damn cute ,

Well, my friend, you haven't played golf. You don't play your best game every time out. I'm real happy with this win, a good turn around from the first half and last game!

 

[Dove]

Okay, for the first time this season, I’m officially worried.

Earlier, I thought of this team as a great offensive team, able to work inside out, with great outside shooting and freshmen that would be developing as the season goes on. The Clingan injury changes a lot of things. Three point shooting is a genuine concern, and none of the freshmen are developing.

Karaban – this is perhaps the biggest surprise for me. His shot is so off right now. He’s not just going through a streak where they’re not dropping, they don’t look good at all. I’m thinking the finger has to be causing that. This is affecting his overall offensive rhythm. And he’s getting exploited defensively.

Spencer – Confidence in his shot is not there like it was. He’s not hunting it like he was before. Great effort by him overall though. I like that he recognizes times where he has to try and create something when the team is not going well.

Newton – I love Newton. I have said since early last year that this team goes as Newton goes. He’s the one guy on the team that can create offense on his own. Singlehandedly kept us in the Kansas game. Two limited games in a row though. Seems to have lost confidence in his three point shooting. Even his free throw shooting has been off?! He needs to provide offensive toughness when things are not going well. Did just enough of it to win tonight, especially late. Smart foul at the end.

Diarra - Seems to be maxing out his potential. I think his upside is limited, but he has played tough. Smart tough dude.

Johnson - I have never seen the upside of Johnson that many have on this board. He’s been a pleasant surprise to me this season. Very happy for him, great story. Great game from him tonight.

The freshmen- NONE of them have improved. This is concerning..

Castle – Just simply has not shown he is an NBA pick. A non-shooter who isn’t creating anything off the dribble. Was ineffective in the middle against the zone tonight. You can see the ability, and I think he will find himself. We absolutely need it. He showed some things late in the game tonight.

Ball – Great athlete that completely lacks confidence right now.

Stewart and Ross – Have not shown enough to even get off the bench. Hurley needs to develop them.

Singare – I thought he provided some decent minutes tonight. Some light there.

Great write up effort-wise, Jake, but it's two games, and both in the ferocious Big East.

The coaches will adjust to a Cling-free game plan.

 

[Dove]

I loved how Johnson caught the ball in the flat and then exploded for 8 yards to collect a key first down. Huge play.

lol. I yelled out loud "God dammit, Sam!!!!!"

 

[Dove]

16/24 ft ain't great but it's not horrible

It actually is during real time.

 

[Umami Zen]

Big East rock fight win. Style points out the window. Gotta win our BE home games.

12 minutes to go in second half. Slight SJU lead. UConn had three freshmen on the floor. Ball/Castle/Singare. Rested the vets for a few minutes. Progress.

 

[The Yakk]

A needed win at home, especially after going behind a couple times. We've very rarely won those types of games in the recent past.

Only 8 turnovers against a Pitino defense is good.

The Newton 3 point attempt from the wing 24 feet away with plenty of time on the shot clock and 40 seconds on the game clock up 2 almost killed me. Maybe it was a 2 for 1 attempt, but damn.

Same here, my first thought was, "that's a crazy shot," but then I saw we would be getting the ball back no matter what. Newton is a very smart player.

Obviously love what Samson did tonight stepping up. He had that huge tip steal late in the 2nd half that was so crazy impressive using his length and athleticism (but then immediately got blocked from behind on the roll on the next play.)

If Samson would have just pumped-faked like Sanogo then we would have got the 5th foul on Soriano right there. St. John's was selling out all night to block shots.

 

[JellyBean]

Wow! I have not watched the fellas play all season until yesterday. They dang near gave this game away. Way to hang in there to get the win.

 

[Umami Zen]

Was great to see Newton chirpin' at SJU guys trying to get in his head. Showing leadership and emotion. He and Castle were taking it to the hole in second half.

Sam-I-Am bangin' with Soriano and making him work.

Might have to work on our Steve Nash FT drills to close out games down the road.

 

[AllHusky]

Need:

1. Ball, Castle-Confidence and experience. Learn when and how to go hard to the hoop. Keep coming, Hurleys template comment about Castle is perfect.

2. Johnson, Singare-Promising, more of the same(#1). Singare looked "interesting" for his first meaningful minutes.

3. Karaban-Relax and play within yourself aggressively, shed the mantle of expectation. Someone suggested him at foul line on offense to receive ball. Pefect spot, make good decisions decisively.

4. Newton, Spencer-Keep finding ways. Both showed the "will to win, do what it takes" leadership, someone claimed we needed

5. Diarra-Steady as she goes

6. Clingan-Obvious

6. Boneyard-Lose the words "worry" and "give up", enjoy US. This isn't last year, so strap in and enjoy the roller coaster. Sometimes you throw up during the ride!!

Can't wait for a Happy New Year!

 

[BGesus4]

What they’re saying about us. Unaltered quotes from red.fans​

Pregame:

I would have preferred to see Soriano thoroughly outplay a healthy Clingan in a win.
On a side note, I feel like this is the type of thing that will allow UConn supporting cast to improve without Clingan, which then propels them to a repeat championship.

Karaban is the guy I'm a little wary of tonight. Feel like he's a bad matchup for Ludlum. Hope I'm wrong.

Samson can be a tough matchup. Hopefully he doesn't go off tonight.

They’re very confident in the Boneyard. I hate them and their fans. Bunch of clowns wearing Marlboro red sweatshirts splitting kings at Mohegan. Would love a victory tonight.

Annoying, loud mouths like Rutgers transfer Spencer usually kill us.

As much as I hate Uconvict, tonight’s game will tell us where we are and how far we have to go DC or no DC!

Gametime:

LETS GO REDMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I really can’t stand PUKON fans.

Whatever happened to the Coaching box? Hurley is basically the sixth man.

Johnson really hurting us. Where's Clingan?

If I had to pick a player that I wanted an elbow to the face it would be Spencer

Samson Johnson saying "Clingan who?"

Pukon is not flat. They're playing like that because of our defense.

We definitely look like the better team, but Hurley will adjust.

Get those 3rd fouls on Johnson and Karaban.

Alex Karaban is not even in the game - yet

Yeah exactly Danny and they call a total BS foul on Soriano

4 fouls to 0 this half. Good job Hurley.

Ralph Samson Johnson killing us

I really hate Spencer already "Punchable face" lol



That’s the second time this older white haired ref has come over and overruled the other ref in favor of UConn

Every freakin call going against us!

UCONN playing tough D, plus being aided by refs

When’s the last time UConn scored besides a free throw

WTF is it???? Every time we play Yukon in their building, the refs make all the calls go their way!!!

Spencer good at creating non-foul calls.

I'm getting the urge to punch the s* out of Hurley's face.

My new most hated player is Cam Spencer of UConn. Little snake flopping, faking and grabbing and getting no calls…kid plays diirty and seems to get the Duke treatment.
Plays dirty a lot, taunts constantly
He should be playing for Duke with that face

Dear Santa If you can ruin Uconn fans xmas tonight I'll take the Jessica Alba sex tape off my xmas list this year

Ughhh that was a killer

On the next one

Talking about Jessica Alba, anyone else find it hilarious that Fox asked Soriano what his dream date would be?

 

[mauconnfan]

It’s fun to read all of the thoughts before you comment. Funny thing is I agree with those naysayers who are concerned as well as the fact that a win is a win.

Hey both games had its ugliness for sure and if you aren’t a bit nervous about what you’ve seen, you are lying to yourself. Look the dynamic of this team changed dramatically with DC down. The other teams no longer dropping 2-3 guys down when he gets the ball or trying to keep him from getting it therefore leaving others open for looks. They will need to adjust no doubt and who knows for how long.

Very happy with the win no doubt, they gutted one out and it’s huge to assure they’re not 0-2. But it’s not pretty right now and it does make you very nervous about who they can be. I look at Castles inability to finish early as a positive though. He’s a really good basketball player and smart as well. He will figure it out and did at the end. I mean the fact he gets where he wants and when he wants is impressive now it’s up to him to think of how to get better shots off, pull up short bank home 8 footers. I think he will and he is a key moving forward.

Samson was really good even getting respect to take 3 long steps for a dunk lol. Thrilled with his game but he’s a foul away from us playing too small. Singare looked fine, certainly battled his heart out. Good for him.

I could go on and on but they need the week off to continue to work on what they will see from every Big East team moving forward. If I’m the other staff and I see the refs are letting teams beat up Newton and Spencer then why not? They need Castle and Alex to help take that away with more aggressive finishing and creating shots.

And I still want to see a 2-3 mixed in on occasion because I’m sick of blow bys!

 

[1999GoodSon]

Reverse score of Kansas game but one thing was identical.

I don't even want to think about either game without Newton's leadership. Special props to MR. SAMSON JOHNSON!

 

[Rocktheworld]

I was calling for Castle to sit on the FT line and facilitate from there, either for himself or for a pass. Think I saw it once and it started off well but the play just wasn’t finished. I think he can be a great option there when teams throw zone at us.

 

[REB1094]

Couldn’t watch live but just finished watching the replay. Hurley won a close game!!

The good

• Shoutout Samson Johnson! Outplayed Soriano in his first start
• The team had a clear focus to get to the paint and it worked. Both teams were trying to live down there
• We needed a leader to close it out. Newton and Castle stepped up. We need this role more clearly defined while DC is out

The bad

• Perimeter defense is still a huge problem. They were 4-18 from three, take a step back!
• Castle came through in the clutch but still needs some time to get used to this level. Great work to get to the rim, next step is to finish or get fouled
• 28% from three and 66% on FTs will lose more games than it wins

One more thing.. someone must have said something at halftime. We played the exact same way each half. 2 FTs in the first, 18 in the second (not counting the 4 intentional foul FTs at the end). Whoever that person is, do it more plz

 

[USNavyDog]

Spoiled. Arrogant.

That was BE basketball. This fan base forgot what a hard fought physical win looks like

In my opinion just because St. John's isn't a great team (mediocre actually) doesn't mean they can be tough on a particular night. Alao, Uconn had to make some readjustments in Clingan's absense.

 

[USNavyDog]

In my opinion just because St. John's isn't a great team (mediocre actually) doesn't mean they can be tough on a particular night. Alao, Uconn had to make some readjustments in Clingan's absense.

Typo correction, doesn't mean St John's "can't be tough...." St. John's is capable on a given night to be a tough match for very good teams.

 

[metsfan2323]

I’m not being miserable just being realistic. Glad we won but we looked like crap. If you wanna do a backflip after that go for it

Being able to win when we play our "C" game actually is a positive sign.