St. John's Post Game Thread | Page 14 | The Boneyard

St. John's Post Game Thread

For the first time since Pitino took over, the Johnnies blinked first and UConn imposed their will on SJU.

And that's a good thing.
 
UConn when struggling has had trouble with teams that use screening to open up shooters- defensive switching hasn’t been good in those games. St. John’s did very little screening & they don’t have good outside shooting. Other teams during these struggle games also were able to drive frequently to the basket and kick it out again to shooters or just put up close range shots or get fouled. Coach must have concentrated practice on defense switching and rebounding- UConn was outstanding in theses areas. The expected foul and free throw disparity just didn’t happen. Reed really impressed me with staying in position on defense and not fouling but keeping hands straight in air. Love Ross playing over Stewart- by the way, what was the story with Stewart not playing, was he injured?
 
Chin Diesel said:
For the first time since Pitino took over, the Johnnies blinked first and UConn imposed their will on SJU.

And that's a good thing.
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St Johns was completely destroyed mentally before the 2nd TV timeout in the 2nd half. We crushed whatever spirit they had left after halftime. So many easy layups, dunks, blowbys they just gave up. Looked like they weren't even trying on the offensive end because they knew it was pointless.
 
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dtrumpet said:
The defense was as connected as ever. Crisp switches, great help. And Reed was at the center of it all. Mobile, physical, assertive. More of that please for the next 6 weeks!
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Yes, and did anyone say "burned by the Hedge again" in Chat? No. Because he almost never hedged. Hurley kept him in the paint and that led to all those blocks when he was helping others and coming from behind. That was an adjustment by the staff against a team that lives by driving to rim.
 
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Was watching the highlights this morning and one of the things I think that shocked at John’s was how quickly UConn played. You saw last night in the first few minutes St. John’s was jogging or walking up the floor. They were expecting the slow pace that UConn ran up the floor and didn’t let sju setup their defense. They never adjusted to the up tempo of UConn and all night they got burned.
 
Great win. Everyone showed up big for a big time game! Ball security. Defense. Rebounding loose ball intensity. Got the ball into the post consistently. They were locked in for 40 minutes. Even the reserves.
 
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Crazy thing is we shot 28% from three, 7 out of 25 and we missed a half dozen wide open ones in the flow of the offense later in the game. If we shot it better we easily win by 40+.

Reminds me of the 25 point win over Illinois in the elite 8 in '24 where we shot 3 for 17 from three. Sheer domination while shooting it terribly from deep which is extremely rare.
 
If someone posted this and I missed it, I'm sorry, but it gave me some Elite 8 Illinois vibes. Clearly the team got into St. John players heads. When you airball an 8 footer (I think that was Hopkins on the baseline), all is not right between the ears.
 
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superjohn said:
Crazy thing is we shot 28% from three, 7 out of 25 and we missed a half dozen wide open ones in the flow of the offense later in the game. If we shot it better we easily win by 40+.

Reminds me of the 25 point win over Illinois in the elite 8 in '24 where we shot 3 for 17 from three. Sheer domination while shooting it terribly from deep which is extremely rare.
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I can’t remember a shooter like Mullins who can look so good with his quick release and then shoot a brick. It wasn’t just this game but he had a few against St. John’s.
 
HCCForever said:
I can’t remember a shooter like Mullins who can look so good with his quick release and then shoot a brick. It wasn’t just this game but he had a few against St. John’s.
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He’s the one you want to shoot when there is 0.7 seconds left on the clock- can’t think of anyone with a quicker release
 
HCCForever said:
I can’t remember a shooter like Mullins who can look so good with his quick release and then shoot a brick. It wasn’t just this game but he had a few against St. John’s.
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He's done that all year. He is good for one or two bricks every game. The important thing is that he is shooting them at a good percentage, even when they are more difficult (not wide open). He is a special talent. Imagine how good he will be when he irons out those wrinkles?
 
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HCCForever said:
I can’t remember a shooter like Mullins who can look so good with his quick release and then shoot a brick. It wasn’t just this game but he had a few against St. John’s.
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It seems every game Mullins takes a very very deep 3 shot. Probably not his best decision to do this.
 
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