St. John's Post Game Thread

[Improviser]

Ross and Stewie are fine playing weaker teams but it's time to step up when playing ranked opponents

Over the season, they have had their opportunities and this is what happens. I don't think it is lack of effort on their part. SJU had better subs, with better quickness, and seemingly more per minute production over the course of the game. That Darling reminded me of Gillespie from Villanova with his drives to the basket and timely outside shooting.

 

[BigTenFan]

First time I have watched St Johns- super athletic team. Not sure how deep their bench is. I think Uconn played well in stretches. The full court pressure definitely impacted Uconn's ability to set up the half court offense.

 

[Mister P]

That one sucked. I tried to make sense of it.

UConn win streak comes to halt as Huskies upended by St. John’s in MSG classic

Silas Demary, Jr. tries to fight off St. John’s pressure defense as Red Storm forced UConn guard into nine turnovers as Huskies fell to John...

dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com

Wow.
Interesting mention that SJ forced Silas into 10 turnovers last year when Georgia played them.
I would expect the same on ball and full court pressure by SJ at PBA. Curious to see what adjustments the staff makes to help with that pressure. But, Silas needs to be better protecting the ball against that pressure and not give up wasted possessions.

 

[Umami Zen]

Pitino's in game coaching adjustments are/were exceptional. Was determined to limit Ball and Mullins with catch and shoot opportunities by jumping our sets/getting in passing lanes/physical D. Refs accommodated his strategy .

He has always been a proponent of the press as a tool to wear down the opposition over the course of a game.-Affecting shooting with tired legs, etc. Even free throw accuracy. Also takes time off of the clock getting ball up court prior to starting offensive sets. Certainly contributed to Silas's off night re: TOs and FTs.

 

[RuffRuff]

Wow.
Interesting mention that SJ forced Silas into 10 turnovers last year when Georgia played them.
I would expect the same on ball and full court pressure by SJ at PBA. Curious to see what adjustments the staff makes to help with that pressure. But, Silas needs to be better protecting the ball against that pressure and not give up wasted possessions.

And the issue is we have no alternatives on ball handling with Smith playing the way he is.

 

[jfuchs91]

Malachi Smith has had some big moments this season, but it might be time to cut back his minutes. He’s an impossibly bad finisher. His shots at the rim are just prayers.

I was curious if the stats matched the eye test, and it’s even worse than I thought. Malachi is shooting just 16-58 (27.6%) inside the arc, which is literally THE single worst 2P% in UConn history with at least 50 attempts. (If you lower the minimum to 40, the last player with a worse 2P% was Vicente Ithier’s senior year in the Perno era in 1984!)

Malachi still has a role on this team, but would like to see us experiment more down the stretch (sixth man Solo? Point Furphy?) as we play against a weaker Big East with some overmatched opponents.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I’m going to concentrate more on Duke and less on UConn. Last night helped me put my priorities in perspective. I’m grabbing the bull by the horns and running with it. The cow can stay out to pasture.

 

[Vancat]

My only complaints are FT shooting and inbounding. Both awful and should be basic.
Other than that, you can’t win ‘em all (unless you’re the women’s team). As has been said, if we had to lose one that probably was a good one to lose.

 

[uchusky32]

We got 9 rebounds from our starting center and PF in 69 minutes. Plus poor FT from everyone and that’s the game.

 

[giddyup]

As navery said this was a much needed wake up call. Confident we will rebound from this and be better in the long run.

How many wake up calls does this team need? This was their big test on their schedule and they failed. Can’t be that angry about it. They are just not built well to handle long, quick athletic teams and it shows every time.

 

[Umami Zen]

Can't remember too many games this year where Silas was so frequently left with the ball in his hands-at top of the key- No apparent outlets as the clock is winding down. Had to rely on his improvisational skills going to the hole.

Seemed almost as if St Johns was content with the results as long as they were locking down the other four guys on the floor.

 

[Valleyfan]

Mullins looked like a pro in the opening minutes, culminating with a step back 3 late clock. Pitino quickly called a time out and Mullins didn't score again until 2 minutes left in the game. Is that good game plan to take Mullins away or is it Mullins fault for not adjusting?

I agree, I also wish Dan had a different substitution pattern as it always seems Mullins sits early in the rotation. Mullins far and away your most skilled offensive player. He’s gonna be drafted in the NBA. To not run some set plays for him seems criminal. The offense needs to run through him.

But he also needs to get a bit aggressive. SJ put one back in his face and that seemed to effect his confidence.

 

[FightOnCT]

Silver lining is that Silas can make things work if the play collapses

 

[KingAG]

I love Silas, he's our best player and a money player but he had 9 turnovers and missed critical ft's. You don't win with that from your point guard.

Silas competed, had some straight line drives and had a really nice line if you don't look at turnovers. He was terrible. He will be better but the Johnnies have his # for now.

A lot of his turnovers were unforced. At least 4 of them

 

[Scoe]

Well it's back to the drawing board, now we really have something to play for and losing our last 3 to St John's gives us the hunger factor. We need to take this on the chin and own it and correct things and stop talking about it and do it.

We rely too much on heroics and lack the basics still. Free throws, layups, ball security, bench, and defense all need to be corrected. Need to be better with game pressure for 40 minutes.

 

[djct1999]

It’s not the result. 1 loss in conference on the road vs a top 25 is not the worst thing. It’s the little things why we lost. It’s the fact these little things have been perculating for some time vs inferior competition and haven’t been resolved. The recipe on how to beat UConn is out. There are probably 10-12 teams on any given night that can beat us. If these little things aren’t fixed one of these teams in a six game tournament most certainly will. Tarris’s silly fouls and horrendous ft shooting. Silas ball handling and decision making under pressure was sub par. Braylon’s second half disappearing act can’t happen. Malachi and Eric couldnt handle the size, pressure, or athleticism. Stewie has been a total non factor. Jaylen for everything good he has done there is always something equally bad that hurts us. I root for him but never trust him. More generally, the team can’t handle the press. They are poor w the ball. The defense adjustments tonight were terrible. The offense was stagnant at times. Our team ft % is the worst I remember in 30 years. We are very good when we play in rhythm. We have championship dna and a lot of heart. For the past 6 weeks and especially last night, we have been overrated. This team is not the 23 or 24 team. Not yet atleast. A lot has to be fixed.

Danny said something recently about how there was a lot of nitpicking for a 20-1 team. Last night showed why that was valid. Winning masks warts. Last night the warts showed their ugly head.

 

[Husky Alien]

I'm still irked by Reed's too small gesture at the beginning of a game.

Last night’s game against St. John’s was frustrating, no doubt—but it might end up being one of those losses that helps more than it hurts.
Reed is obviously a huge part of what makes this team dangerous. His energy, confidence, and swagger can spark runs and lift the whole group. That said, the early-game gestures and demeanor stood out in the wrong way. Instead of rattling St. John’s, it felt like it poured gasoline on the fire. Pitino-coached teams thrive on that kind of emotion—they feed off it.
There was even a moment when AK seemed to be in Reed’s ear trying to calm things down, and it didn’t quite land. Reed can be a handful for opponents, but on nights like this he can also become a liability if the edge turns into a distraction. That balance matters, especially in March.
And honestly—were we expecting anything different from a Rick Pitino team? Relentless pressure, attacking the rim, forcing mistakes. Those are areas that have bothered UConn before, and Hurley will absolutely zero in on that film. Reed’s on-court demeanor is something that can be coached, and handling pressure defense has to become second nature by tournament time.
The encouraging part? These are fixable things. Better composure, sharper responses to pressure, and turning frustration into focus—that’s what championship teams do after a tough loss. If UConn uses this as fuel instead of letting it linger, it could be exactly the kind of wake-up call that makes them sharper, tougher, and more dangerous when the games really matter in March.

 

[uh-no]

I’m going to concentrate more on Duke and less on UConn. Last night helped me put my priorities in perspective. I’m grabbing the bull by the horns and running with it. The cow can stay out to pasture.

well...there's a shocker.

 

[boog204]

Pitino knows how to disrupt Hurley's system. Even in his first year, he played that Uconn team tougher than anyone. It's starting to feel like as long as these two are coaching, Pitino is going to have the upper hand strategically. Hurley just needs to hope his system translates better to March.

That’s totally over the top. Great coaches will be great against each other. Hurley has gotten the upper hand at times, Pitino at others. You don’t win back to back nattys and build programs off hope. Jeez.

 

[BGesus4]

We need Reibe back to doing what he can do as a backup. There’s a reason Reed is a monster the first 5 minutes of games. Same thing for the PG situation. Silas has showed just how unbelievably good he is but I’m concerned we may be starting to ride him a bit too much too early in the season—and maybe the TOs are a symptom of this.

If we can even get close to maximizing Reeds potential and instilling confidence in the bench, I like our chances.

 

[Husky Alien]

 

[campcalhoun2009]

I agree, I also wish Dan had a different substitution pattern as it always seems Mullins sits early in the rotation. Mullins far and away your most skilled offensive player. He’s gonna be drafted in the NBA. To not run some set plays for him seems criminal. The offense needs to run through him.

But he also needs to get a bit aggressive. SJ put one back in his face and that seemed to effect his confidence.

Sub patterns have been, and continue to be, Hurley’s only weakness

It cost us games when he used to sit a young Sanogo too long.

This year the problem is the bench rotation patterns. You cannot have Malachi/Reibe/Stewart all on the floor at the same time. We consistently play that trio together and consistently give up big runs. There’s so little offensive ability when you consolidate the backups into one lineup.

I’d also start making Ross our first wing off the bench vs Stewart. He had one bad turnover last night, but ultimately he gives you way more than Stewart does with less mistakes.

I also think we need to take the next couple games to see if Ball/Mullins or Karaban in some sort of point forward role can handle 5-8 minutes of primary on ball duty. Malachi’s minutes are really killing us and if we could even squeeze a handful of minutes at the point out of anyone else it would be a big help.

 

[uconngb]

We get grabbed more than any other team in the league and it hurts us because of the way we play but St. John's flat out deserved to beat us.

They were the tougher team tonight.

We aren’t particularly tough or physical. Or aggressive on offense. That’s why teams routinely get more FT attempts than we do. It’s not because of some refereeing conspiracy and people just need to stop bitching about it. It comes off really lame.

As Woody Hayes famously said, the other guys are on scholarship too.

 

[Hi-Low]

SJU was a pre-season top 5 team that has figured it out so no shame in losing to them at MSG. It should have been a 1 possession type game but the turnovers killed us and made that impossible. Learn and move on.

 

[uconngb]

Sub patterns have been, and continue to be, Hurley’s only weakness

It cost us games when he used to sit a young Sanogo too long.

This year the problem is the bench rotation patterns. You cannot have Malachi/Reibe/Stewart all on the floor at the same time. We consistently play that trio together and consistently give up big runs. There’s so little offensive ability when you consolidate the backups into one lineup.

I’d also start making Ross our first wing off the bench vs Stewart. He had one bad turnover last night, but ultimately he gives you way more than Stewart does with less mistakes.

I also think we need to take the next couple games to see if Ball/Mullins or Karaban in some sort of point forward role can handle 5-8 minutes of primary on ball duty. Malachi’s minutes are really killing us and if we could even squeeze a handful of minutes at the point out of anyone else it would be a big help.

1000% agree and I’ve been dating this for many games now. Have to sprinkle in the subs, it do the hockey line thing. That 2nd unit as a collection is so deficient offensively it’s just like gifting the opponent a run.

How do they not see this??