St. John's Post Game Thread

[Hey Adrien!]

At least @gwhuskyfan got me in the building for a group rate price and that positive mojo is what led Alex to have a nice afternoon.

 

[Scoe]

I do not think Marquette’s recent woes makes them a gimme.

None of these games are a gimme, 3-1 would be ideal that’s 21 wins before BE tourney play, 4-0 would be very nice.

 

[jibsey]

if you doubt Pitino's basketball x and o's (not necessarily today, didnt need to) I doubt you have any bball understanding, at all. Respectfully

Didn’t say he can’t do that of course but with this team he has suffocating man to man D and junkyard dog fighting for rebounds and putbacks. Is that an X and O? Plus great dribble stop and pop 2 point jump shooters.

 

[Stinger92860]

It's not hard to beat UConn when the other team can consistently go in for layups

Every team can do this to us. You will see more of it now.

 

[uconngb]

I do not think Marquette’s recent woes makes them a gimme.

Um, we lost to SHU. NONE of these games left are “gimmes”

 

[Stinger92860]

Our plan going into the game was to stop their penetration and make them shoot 3’s.

They had 34 points in the paint, plus free throws. They were driving downhill.

 

[freshler40]

Yep. This team is so flawed. It lacks so much that it's hard to even coach around it. Our one playable point guard has 1 good leg. We are slow and unathletic and by the end of the game it looks worse because we are exhausted becuase we play like 6-7 players real minutes. Our bench is pretty much a non-factor. We need the portal bad for several players or next year will be an issue as well.

Both teams had five (5) players in double figures. If you look at the scoring percentages, It's a different story. Other than Reed, our shooting %'s were poor. After nearly each of our scores, they scored. We gave up nearly 90 points, 50 in the first half. Defense, a hall mark of this team? Our bench, other than Reed scored two (2) points. Help!

 

[Gurleyman]

That was insane.

I would forgive it. Hey, at least he felt good and confident for a moment. We need a confident AK to have a chance. Five seconds later though he was in position to provide help defense and maybe draw a charge, backed up and got out of the way and then didn’t go for the rebound. St. John’s got it, and earned an and one. Potentially down 6 or 7 to down 12. That was the part that upset me. I don’t even know what he was doing on D. He left the play and went off to guard a ghost somewhere.

Hoping March will feel like a fresh start to him and he can make some plays and lead us. The missed shots happen - but the little intangible things around the shots have to be there from him. They just have to.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

It is what it is. The flaws of Hurley’s roster construction and inability of most of the sophomore class to develop at all have been beaten to death. I’m over getting upset at losses. My expectations are zero but a nice little March run would be fun. Then on to next year and hope Hurley and staff learned a lesson.

 

[3rdbass]

No chance, he was always one and done and he's a lottery pick. He's being asked to carry way too much on this team. He had a really rough game but he's a stud and the least of our problems.

I know he is probably gone but he is showing that he can be physically overmatched and that will only get worst in the NBA were the players are quicker and stronger. His outside shot hasn't looked as good too. Just a little worrisome. Maybe he hasn't totally recovered from his high ankle sprain. Too bad there is no one who can really spell him to give some time off during the game.

 

[BlueWolf25]

That was legit crazy, he thought he was Durant there. It was nice to finally see some shots go down but the rest of the game I was scratching my head as to what he was doing out there. Getting blown by on defense, fumbling the ball, not being able to inbound, standing flat footed and losing rebounds that came right to him. It's legit sad watching AK on this team. I love the kid and want him back for a fresh start next season back in the role hitting shots and making winning plays we saw his first two seasons. This is a throwaway season for him.

I echo this completely. I love AK too but man that just was not winning basketball from him today. It felt like he couldn’t catch a single pass or rebound today even if it was placed perfectly in his hands. The last two years his IQ and 3 point shot were all we needed because he was surrounded by stud athletes. This year his lack of athleticism is getting majorly exposed because the supporting cast isn’t there, he was getting destroyed defensively and on the glass today

 

[Scoe]

If I'm Duke I don't wanna see the Johnnies in my bracket.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Didn’t say he can’t do that of course but with this team he has suffocating man to man D and junkyard dog fighting for rebounds and putbacks. Is that an X and O? Plus great dribble stop and pop 2 point jump shooters.

you're right, Pitino doesnt know his X and O's.

All I said, was he's the among best game planners and x and o coaches to EVER do it (I added the bold this time). (ps- x and o's also describes defensive assignments, and trapping, mid-range quick hitters, out of bounds plays, how they designed to kick it directly to corner for open 3 when we run high hedge rotation early etc). Aren't many better i've seen in last 40 yrs., independent of how he runs a program.

My punctuation on here is bad, but your post seems kinda gibberish?

 

[ctbro1999]

We are not athletic enough. Not big enough at the gaurd spots. Not tough enough at the big spots. Cant dribble drive past defenders easily. And when we do we don't attack the rim. We're soft. Can't play from behind because our offensive sets take time to run. 1 serviceable pt gaurd that is hobbled and small. Brought in a 2 to be our starting pt. Surprised when he can't do it.

Not good mojo blaming refs early and proclaiming to be the best coach right now. This team is not who we thought it was nor who they thought they were.

When we had Nowell, Ball, Mahaney, McNeeley and Karaban on the floor (i think) I thought to my self " this is the smallest lineup I've ever seen".

 

[NickDanger]

I mean he’s a projected lottery pick. This is crazy talk

If the NBA Scouts watch today, that’s out

 

[king conn]

You guys can say all you want, but this game immediately fell apart in the first half the second Nowell came out of the game

 

[NickDanger]

Howell did not play well. Not sure what you were watching

Howell did not play at all

 

[uconn_jack]

Hopefully this stops all the "No team will want to see us on their side of the bracket" posts.

I'm starting to think that too. Unless we dominantly tear through the BE tournament, I don't think teams will be afraid of us and be more likely to lick their chops for the opportunity to take down a vulnerable UConn team.

 

[Agent0]

I know he is probably gone but he is showing that he can be physically overmatched and that will only get worst in the NBA were the players are quicker and stronger. His outside shot hasn't looked as good too. Just a little worrisome. Maybe he hasn't totally recovered from his high ankle sprain. Too bad there is no one who can really spell him to give some time off during the game.

This is crazy talk

 

[Agent0]

If the NBA Scouts watch today, that’s out

Any reason you didn’t say anything after he won the Villanova game for us?

 

[Gurleyman]

I know he is probably gone but he is showing that he can be physically overmatched and that will only get worst in the NBA were the players are quicker and stronger. His outside shot hasn't looked as good too. Just a little worrisome.

To be fair, this is what I expected from him coming off the injury. I’ve said it before but that high ankle really messes with shooters. It’s the equivalent of a shoulder for a pitcher - the mechanism from which everything happens. You lose your lift and then everything else is out of whack. Then he somehow pulled off that 38 point game out of muscle memory - but has come back down to earth. It’s like that first day you play golf after you haven’t played and you randomly hit it great, but then the second or third time reality sets in

He did look badly swallowed up around the rim today and looked weak trying to squeeze shots off in traffic, which would have me a bit worried as a scout. The athleticism doesn’t exactly go down at the next level. But the shooting problems wouldn’t worry me at the moment and a more spread out floor could help a little with finding space.

 

[cellocgg]

I love how CBB fans trash Hurley but seem to all but have forgotten Pitino's slime

 

[gmc1055]

This team reminds me of the 2020 thru 2022 team. The Championship teams never missed at the rim. This team misses a lot of layups.

 

[storrsroars]

While our guys on this team are considerably bigger, when they drove into the paint, I consistently had the feeling I was watching Alterique and Gaffney get lost in a forest of larger men. I think 4 of AK's 6 TOs were losing it on drives. Even Liam couldn't get in there.

 

[Scoe]

It's quite simple if McNeeley and Ball don't play well we have no chance, that allows AK to be the 3rd guy also not being an unforced turnover machine would help.