St. John's Post Game Thread

[Horatio]

Lots of dumb comments about roster construction and coaching in this thread. It’s a simple analysis:

1) We have a talented roster that is one of the best 5-6 teams in the country
2) We need to shoot 30% from 3 to beat top 25 teams
3) Our offense requires freedom of movement which we generally don’t get with the physicality/officisting in our league.


When #3 doesn’t happen it often causes us to also miss out on #2. 2 of our 3 Q1 losses came against the most physical team in the country. The other came while missing 2 of our starters. The sky isn’t falling.

1000% and number 3 has been the story forever. It actually aids us in the National Tournament

 

[Donyell 360]

He is a kid gm’s drool over. He is closer ro 13. The slander on this board is insane.

People are confusing their frustration with his lack of present production with his potential once he grows into his body. He is an intriguing prospect. He could be a bust but there is definite potential there. That being said, if he is not projected as a lottery picik, it might be worth considering coming back. I'd love to see what he becomes next year. Probably won't happen but I hope it does.

 

[Mr. French]

TR had zero assists. Who would imagine the passing skill he recently showcased would be missing from the game plan?

The team had its best games on offense lately when he was passing out of the double teams.
But, of course, for there to be assists the shooters need to move to open spots where he can find them and then make the shot.

They never doubled him, they let Zuby play him straight up. No one cutting into his path, let him try to score. Not many assist opportunities.

 

[Kemba15]

So I guess Matt Norlander's comment about the 32 point UConn win sinking SJU's psyche didn't age very well. I figured it wouldn't. Call it hyperbole, sensationalism, whatever, it was a dumb comment.

That was a really strange comment coming from him. I was so confident they’d bounce back the next game vs Nova, and of course that game was over 5 minutes in. They are way too good to just fold up shop after one horrible loss

 

[giddyup]

This team is not a top 10 squad. Sad to see it’s developed nothing since January. Ross is the only kid that had actually blossomed. Many have regressed. Hurley was touting this as a Championship quality team. So far when it matters they have come empty. I can’t blame college kids. I can blame the clown making 60 million for a pile BS. Less books, podcasts and a little more coaching Dan. You didn’t develop this team at all.

 

[Drame]

Hurley had this huge emotional experience winning those two titles and he became wedded to his new system and to certain players. He needs to rethink everything starting with his roster construction. You need talent, athletes, dogs, ballers and use your system as a base structure. No one next year should expect starting roles. Bring a bunch of players in, including guys from this year, and start from scratch.

 

[Kemba15]

This team is not a top 10 squad. Sad to see it’s developed nothing since January. Ross is the only kid that had actually blossomed. Many have regressed. Hurley was touting this as a Championship quality team. So far when it matters they have come empty. I can’t blame college kids. I can blame the clown making 60 million for a pile BS. Less books, podcasts and a little more coaching Dan. You didn’t develop this team at all.

Is this also “venting” @FreeKlaiber? 😂

 

[RashadRay11]

This team is not a top 10 squad. Sad to see it’s developed nothing since January. Ross is the only kid that had actually blossomed. Many have regressed. Hurley was touting this as a Championship quality team. So far when it matters they have come empty. I can’t blame college kids. I can blame the clown making 60 million for a pile BS. Less books, podcasts and a little more coaching Dan. You didn’t develop this team at all.

Crazy.

 

[FightOnCT]

Just an insane statement.

Not that insane. Overly reliant on system-based efficiency which constrains us if shots don’t fall.

@RuffRuff mentioned Nate Oats’ robotic style of pure shooting play and I’m afraid this team doesn’t look too far off that, just add a reliable center to the mix.

 

[Blue Huskie]

This years team is a "Jekyll and Hyde" act and so are the fans. One day people are pumped for regaining a one seed and hours later we suck again. Hurley is clueless and all our players are soft and non athletic. We'll see what the coming NCAA's reveal. I'm just glad to be playing other than in the Big East for a few games.

 

[Donyell 360]

TR had zero assists. Who would imagine the passing skill he recently showcased would be missing from the game plan?

The team had its best games on offense lately when he was passing out of the double teams.
But, of course, for there to be assists the shooters need to move to open spots where he can find them and then make the shot.

Credit their defense.

 

[Donyell 360]

This team is not a top 10 squad. Sad to see it’s developed nothing since January. Ross is the only kid that had actually blossomed. Many have regressed. Hurley was touting this as a Championship quality team. So far when it matters they have come empty. I can’t blame college kids. I can blame the clown making 60 million for a pile BS. Less books, podcasts and a little more coaching Dan. You didn’t develop this team at all.

Easy to complain. Dan is not perfect. You have to take the good with the bad. You prefer Kevin Ollie?

 

[FightOnCT]

Reed played really well. But his 2 missed shots on our first 2 possessions were costly. zuby made a 2, Tarris missed, Sellers made a 3, Tarris missed, Ball fouled Sellers on a 3, Sellers makes all 3 foul shots and within 2 minutes we are down 8-0.

Never seemed to recover. Tarris played great in the 2nd half and got us back in the game at 49-42. But no one else picked up the slack. As others said the possession when we had 4 shots and could not score, including a wide open, unguarded 3 for Ball was kind of the nail in the coffin.

I think getting away from the Big East style of reffing will help in the Big Dance. Still think we are one of the best 8 teams and we can surprise the fair weather fans on this site.

Tarris missing was costly because nobody else could generate anything.

 

[housekeys]

Well -they just beat us.

So this one game result says we will play this way, always? We beat them a few weeks back. So what is your prediction of how far SJ will go?

 

[RitzLuce1]

On a night when our team was dominated physically and mentally, our coach spoke most passionately in the postgame about the need for our players to stay off social media.

 

[RuffRuff]

Not that insane. Overly reliant on system-based efficiency which constrains us if shots don’t fall.

@RuffRuff mentioned Nate Oats’ robotic style of pure shooting play and I’m afraid this team doesn’t look too far off that, just add a reliable center to the mix.

Oates and Hurley are pretty close I think.

It's just a flawed roster - amongst other things, it's missing a ton of BBIQ. If you look at that 2024 team, they had 4 high level IQ players on the floor, and then a smart role player in Alex. Even if this team is running the "system", it's robotic and lacks instincts and improv. Nothing looks smooth or anticipated.

Even with some players having talent on this team, the IQ is so low - Tarris, Solo, even Demary are not high level IQ athletes. Mullins is a kid and we have him sitting in the primary scorer role. Alex is the same guy, but he's such a complimentary wallflower at times - I honestly don't know why Hurley has been so compelled to run him back twice.

Maybe the non BE refs thing turns into something. If not, this will be two years running where Hurley has basically made the same mistakes with the roster. The only starting spots next year that should be locked are Silas and maybe Reibe. Silas is not a good enough natural PG to play next to Solo, who has zero on ball creating skills. We roll that back out there, it's not going to look much different. Building a roster around Solo creates major limitations.

 

[SwingDog]

St. John's opened the game with a 10-0 run and closed it with a 13-2 run. Huskies had ZERO field goals over the final 8 minutes. 😳

 

[ZooCougar]

This is the worst the Big East had ever been. The idea that this team will spring to life in the tournament seems like wishful thinking. But hey, maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Marat]

What was the secret ingredient in the effort vs SJU @ Hartford that was missing tonight?

 

[HooperScooper]

Reed plays very hard. But how is it that’s he’s much bigger than Sanogo but a much less effective rebounder? His positioning and rebounding angles arent great. We got destroyed by offensive rebounds and second chance points among other things.

SJU only had 8 offensive rebounds. Huskies had 17. So I'm not sure that was a big issue.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

On a night when our team was dominated physically and mentally, our coach spoke most passionately in the postgame about the need for our players to stay off social media.

On a really crappy night I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment out of your posts. You should post on nights when they don’t lose. You should also get some fresh air.

 

[SwingDog]

I said this previously - Get ready, every team we face now will constantly pressure us and force us away from the basket. We might not get out of the first weekend.

NOTHING can be taken for granted. We lost to Creighton and Marquette and won a bunch of games to lesser opponents by narrow margins. We are vulnerable.

But we also beat ST. JOHN'S, BYU, Florida, Kansas, Texas, and Illinois- and came within 4 points of beating Arizona.

Because this team has been so inconsistent, you don't know what you're going to get. That said, you never know how far they can go which is what makes this time of year so exciting.

 

[HooperScooper]

I just got through about half this thread. Some of the takes here are......smh.

Get some sleep and let's regroup about 7:00 tomorrow. I don't think this is a national championship team but they're not as bad as they showed tonight or as bad as some on here are saying. Let's calm down.

 

[UCTitleTown]

What was the secret ingredient in the effort vs SJU @ Hartford that was missing tonight?

St. John's going ice cold for like 12 minutes.

 

[AdamaNation]

I know this sucks, but it's literally the same team that boatraced SJU a few games ago, it's not the team construction.

I love all the newbies on Here that have extreme bipolar takes on this team week to week. We literally got what we dished last month. Pitino built this team to beat us. AK was getting torched by everyone at the start but no one.not one player could match up. My bigger concern is ball’s lack of confidence and forced hero ball and Silas’ ball security and now his health. There was a lid on the basket but let’s remember, preseason had us 4 and St. John’s 5. We are like both very dangerous 3 seeds. If we lose in a. Lose game we stay in the 2 line but that didn’t happen. And as far as not being ready. Hurley chilled in his hard tactics with his team for good reason and I promise, they were prepared. Pitino was prepared too. I’m not thrilled by no means. But I will always remember Louisville in 14. Just wish we had a dog like boat or bazz. Thought Silas was that guy. Maybe next year. He will be preseason fave for POY. Let’s get 6 wins.