Thoughts on Big East title game

[Kemba15]

Easily 70/30 Johnnies fans but there was nothing to cheer for on the UConn side, so maybe closer to 60/40 or 50/50?

That building is not our home anymore.

You can’t expect it to feel like our home once the team that actually owns it is good again. But it was close to 50/50 last night, which is still a great UConn turnout.

 

[boog204]

Dude, you are taking this way too far. Neither AJ nor Hawkins could take anyone off the dribble. Hawkins was a motion, off the ball shooter and AJ was a well below average offensive player. You keep trying to jam square pegs in round holes.

Dude, literally Hawkins’ NBA mock scouting report talked about his elite off the dribble shooting ability. He could create space with a bounce or two in addition to his catch and shoot ability. That’s creating offense for himself.

I never said Andre was a guy who could take people off the dribble and score. But he could, again, create space with the bounce and his athleticism. He literally averaged almost 7apg during the tourney. Thats elite playmaking from someone who is not your primary ball handler.

Again, this roster was constructed with a lack of playmakers both in terms of facilitating and creating their own offense. As great as our system is, we don’t have guys like Newton, Cam, etc. who can create offense. We are entirely system based which can be negated with strong defensive teams.

 

[gsmooth]

Dude, literally Hawkins’ NBA mock scouting report talked about his elite off the dribble shooting ability. He could create space with a bounce or two in addition to his catch and shoot ability. That’s creating offense for himself.

I never said Andre was a guy who could take people off the dribble and score. But he could, again create space with the bounce and his athleticism. He literally averaged almost 7apg during the tourney. Thats elite playmaking from someone who is not your primary ball handler.

Again, this roster was constructed with a lack of playmakers both in terms of facilitating and creating their own offense. As great as our system is, we don’t have guys like Newton, Cam, etc. who can create offense. We are entirely system based which can be negated with strong defensive teams.

Hawkins couldn't dribble multiple times to create a shot, but I remember one of those draft scouting videos where it stated he averaged 1.2 ppp (something close to that) off of catching the ball off screens and creating with 1-2 dribbles after that catch making 3s even if defenders had a hand up.

 

[boog204]

Hawkins couldn't dribble multiple times to create a shot, but I remember one of those draft scouting videos where it stated he averaged 1.2 ppp (something close to that) off of catching the ball off screens and creating with 1-2 dribbles after that catch making 3s even if a defenders had a hand up.

Highlights from the tourney. You’ll see him put it on the floor several times to create space for 3’s. Side steps off the dribble, and a few pull ups off the dribble. Im not saying he’s Kyrie for f’s sake, be he could create space to get his shot off when needed. Solo cannot do that. Braylon can against weaker defenders. Hawkins didn’t become completely useless if he had a tough on ball
Defender. Why is this so difficult to understand?

 

[gsmooth]

Highlights from the tourney. You’ll see him put it on the floor several times to create space for 3’s. Side steps off the dribble, and a few pull ups off the dribble. Im not saying he’s Kyrie for f’s sake, be he could create space to get his shot off when needed. Solo cannot do that. Braylon can against weaker defenders. Hawkins didn’t become completely useless if he had a tough on ball
Defender. Why is this so difficult to understand?

It's not difficult for me to understand, I agree with you in your original post that stated he can create off the dribble. I was just specifying when and how he did it. It is why I never agreed with posts last year saying Ball was ahead of Hawkins' sophomore year despite shooting 41% from 3. Just like you said, Ball doesn't have it in his bag to do what Hawk did. Hawk was such an explosive scorer and shooter that created KenPom kill shots. I think the BoneYard forgets or doesn't give credit for the impact Hawk had on that 2023 team.

 

[TGW93]

Storrs South represented itself exceptionally well. It was 50/50 to 60/40 Uconn fans, and the crowd "pops" were awesome (my son's Apple watch kept warning him the sound was at unhealthy levels).

As someone previously said, the team didn't exactly give us a lot to cheer about. People came in all day, so the trains into NYC were not terribly crowded on the way in, but the train home was packed - standing room only and uncomfortably warm because of the sheer number of people on the train.

 

[boog204]

It's not difficult for me to understand, I agree with you in your original post that stated he can create off the dribble. I was just specifying when and how he did it. It is why I never agreed with posts last year saying Ball was ahead of Hawkins' sophomore year despite shooting 41% from 3. Just like you said, Ball doesn't have it in his bag to do what Hawk did. Hawk was such an explosive scorer and shooter that created KenPom kill shots

That was my original point. We have a 2,3, and 4 that really struggle creating space for themselves. If they are not absolutely wide open from 3, they are not going to be very productive. Mullins has the skill, but physically he can be deterred and his handle can be a bit loose. Hawk could still create space and offense for himself if he was tightly guarded and was considered elite off the dribble (even though he didn’t need to do it that often) and could hit contested shots.

Our offense is so predicated on the system and we lack guys who can create offense for themself (Hawk) or others (AJax).

 

[ScottVib]

The St. John's faithful was there earlier than the UConn folks, I think it was closer to 60/40 -> 55/45 in favor of the St. John's faithful. I did think that the few points where UConn fans had something to cheer about that the UConn fans were louder than the St. John's fans, but that could've been a function of the section I was in.

 

[gsmooth]

That was my original point. We have a 2,3, and 4 that really struggle creating space for themselves. If they are not absolutely wide open from 3, they are not going to be very productive. Mullins has the skill, but physically he can be deterred and his handle can be a bit loose. Hawk could still create space and offense for himself if he was tightly guarded and was considered elite off the dribble (even though he didn’t need to do it that often) and could hit contested shots.

Our offense is so predicated on the system and we lack guys who can create offense for themself (Hawk) or others (AJax).

Unfortunately, they are not making 3s when they are wide open let alone not having the ability to create space for a shot when tightly guarded.😥

Very true. AJax, for all his limitations, he made a lot of winning plays, was a fast break creator, and great at ball handling against the pressure defense.

 

[superjohn]

Unfortunately, they are not making 3s when they are wide open let alone not having the ability to create space for a shot when tightly guarded.😥

Very true. AJax, for all his limitations, he made a lot of winning plays, was fast break creator, and great at ball handling against the pressure defense.

We're bricking so many wide open threes. AK and Mullins three point shots left them over the last bunch of games and Solo's three point shot hasn't been there all season.

 

[NJHusky]

We're bricking so many wide open threes. AK and Mullins three point shots left them over the last bunch of games and Solo's three point shot hasn't been there all season.

Agree. But i can’t like the content, even though its true 😤

 

[Kemba15]

We're bricking so many wide open threes. AK and Mullins three point shots left them over the last bunch of games and Solo's three point shot hasn't been there all season.

This and the turnovers are the most frustrating things to me. The turnovers are probably worse, but in a way more understandable given our roster and lack of creators. The 3P shooting makes zero sense.

 

[superjohn]

This and the turnovers are the most frustrating things to me. The turnovers are probably worse, but in a way more understandable given our roster and lack of creators. The 3P shooting makes zero sense.

Yep, Hurley assembled an unathletic team with only one creator on the whole team. The only we could mask these major flaws would be incredible halfcourt execution and making our open shots. Instead as the season has winded down we're turning it over a bunch and missing our open three pointers.

 

[gsmooth]

Yep, Hurley assembled an unathletic team with only one creator on the whole team. The only we could mask these major flaws would be incredible halfcourt execution and making our open shots. Instead as the season has winded down we're turning it over a bunch and missing our open three pointers.

Everything you said implies the thin margin of error this team has.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

This and the turnovers are the most frustrating things to me. The turnovers are probably worse, but in a way more understandable given our roster and lack of creators. The 3P shooting makes zero sense.

For me it's the blocked shots because UConn players are not athletic enough to dunk. Reibe and Demery had shots blocked from behind cuz they didn't think a powerful dunk was possible. How can you be 7 feet and not dunking all over people.

 

[Edward Sargent]

For all the talk about how St John’s has all these guys who can create off the dribble, they’re not known for running good half court offense. St. John’s relies heavily on scoring in transition off turnovers and their rebounding. And they play very physical defense. That’s what they killed UConn with last night.

No they don’t run half court offense but we do and last night they had 13 assists to our 11. We didn’t run any half court offense either and we don’t have good iso

 

[Edward Sargent]

Highlights from the tourney. You’ll see him put it on the floor several times to create space for 3’s. Side steps off the dribble, and a few pull ups off the dribble. Im not saying he’s Kyrie for f’s sake, be he could create space to get his shot off when needed. Solo cannot do that. Braylon can against weaker defenders. Hawkins didn’t become completely useless if he had a tough on ball
Defender. Why is this so difficult to understand?

I do wish Braylon took more side steps with his shot he’s resorted to flinging it off balance especially last night

 

[jibsey]

And the Rx for opposing teams is to drive it down our throats, score or get to the line. Everyone does it but we have a finesse offense and a pretty good defense usually.

 

[ArizonaHsky]

Define “shine”. McNeeley has played 6 minutes on an NBA floor since January 6th.

Mullins is better than McNeeley.

 

[Deepster]

Mullins is better than McNeeley.

Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down. Your in depth analysis has my head spinning!

 

[freescooter]

My thought is we apparently dodged a bullet with Demary in a meaningless exhibition game. We were a 2 going in 2 going out. Johnnie’s were a 5 going in. 5 coming out. It meant nothing.

Oh and it absolutely was a home game for them. A couple of their players even talked about MSG as their home court. I know we can’t just skip it but in future years we should play our subs more. Get them game experience and avoid possible disasters with injuries.

 

[CTBasketball]

I’m going to dispute my charge on Capital One for services not rendered.

I bought tickets to a basketball game but saw a football game.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

My thought is we apparently dodged a bullet with Demary in a meaningless exhibition game. We were a 2 going in 2 going out. Johnnie’s were a 5 going in. 5 coming out. It meant nothing.

Oh and it absolutely was a home game for them. A couple of their players even talked about MSG as their home court. I know we can’t just skip it but in future years we should play our subs more. Get them game experience and avoid possible disasters with injuries.

While the outcome of the game did not have a whole lot of impact on our tournament fate (a win would have placed us 1 or 2 in the south with Florida. Houston would have been 2 in the east), I cannot agree with your comments.

For openers, if they're keeping score, I want the W. Some W's are more important than others, but still.

Additionally, if there are trophies involved, I want to be the team that holds it over their heads. They day we believe we should send out our subs in a tournament championship game so our starters will be rested for what comes next is the day we will need to clean house.

Finally, in what was clearly the worst version of the Big East in its nearly five decades of existence, that we couldn't win either the regular season or the conference tournament title needs to be viewed by everyone involved with the program (players, coaches, fans) as a failure on a massive level.

On to the next tournament.

 

[jibsey]

My thought is we apparently dodged a bullet with Demary in a meaningless exhibition game. We were a 2 going in 2 going out. Johnnie’s were a 5 going in. 5 coming out. It meant nothing.

Oh and it absolutely was a home game for them. A couple of their players even talked about MSG as their home court. I know we can’t just skip it but in future years we should play our subs more. Get them game experience and avoid possible disasters with injuries.

Still trying to wrap my mind around how they are a 5. Yes they blew their early season non conference but that was ages ago and they are different and and improved now.

 

[freescooter]

While the outcome of the game did not have a whole lot of impact on our tournament fate (a win would have placed us 1 or 2 in the south with Florida. Houston would have been 2 in the east), I cannot agree with your comments.

For openers, if they're keeping score, I want the W. Some W's are more important than others, but still.

Additionally, if there are trophies involved, I want to be the team that holds it over their heads. They day we believe we should send out our subs in a tournament championship game so our starters will be rested for what comes next is the day we will need to clean house.

Finally, in what was clearly the worst version of the Big East in its nearly five decades of existence, that we couldn't win either the regular season or the conference tournament title needs to be viewed by everyone involved with the program (players, coaches, fans) as a failure on a massive level.

On to the REAL tournament.

Fixed it for you. 😁