6th Man of St. John's Basketball
St. John's Red Storm => In The Jungle... => Topic started by: Poison on June 13, 2017, 01:49:10 PM
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
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That wouldn't be very good to me?
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With your numbers we will average 74.5 ppg ....I hope our scoring does not go down 4 points this year that would be a problem.
Ponds 19ppg
Lovett 14ppg
Ahmed 11ppg
Clark 8ppg
Simon 7ppg
Owens 7ppg
Yawkee 4ppg
Trimble 4ppg
Wilson 4ppg
Ali 2ppg
Hoping we can Average 80 points a game this season....I do hope this is because we are winning games 80-70 not having to score 80 plus because we are trying to keep pace with other teams =)
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That wouldn't be very good to me?
I think this is an NIT/bubble team. If they landed enough rebounding, and interior d, they'll dance. On paper, it looks a lot like they still have not addressed those issues.
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Ponds 16ppg
Lovett 14ppg
Ahmed 12ppg
Clark 7ppg
Simon 10ppg
Owens 7ppg
Yawkee 6ppg
Trimble 2ppg
Wilson 6ppg
Ali 2ppg
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Unless we really blow up in the non conference slate i dont see why this team cant win 10 big east games this year.
2-0 vs DePaul and Gtown
1-1 with Hall, Marq, Butler, Providence, X and Creighton
0-2 vs Nova
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Clarks biggest impact will come on offensive end.
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I think that we will be a lot better this year and a tourney team. We were the second youngest team in the country last year. We had a high powered offense for the most part, yet we were nearly all freshmen and sophs. We add some big and physical forwards and guards to the roster. Our team lead the league in blocking shots and will easily do so again. Guys like Simon, Wilson and Clark are BIG upgrades at the forward spot, where we mainly relied only upon Ahmed last year.
I think physically we will be a lot stronger. Hopefully our defense improves and I'd like to see us incorporate some zone defenses to deal with teams that work the inside a lot. Vegas oddsmakers see us as the 5th ranked team in the Big East pretty much, and I certainly can see that.
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Some low expectations from Clark huh
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Some low expectations from Clark huh
Clark is excellent. Very goodoutside shooter, rebounder, and can defend big forwards. Capable of scoring double digits. We have a lot of talent this season. I'm not sure people realize how much. It's not just talent, we have athletes that can run teams out of the gym.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
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Some low expectations from Clark huh
Clark is excellent. Very goodoutside shooter, rebounder, and can defend big forwards. Capable of scoring double digits. We have a lot of talent this season. I'm not sure people realize how much. It's not just talent, we have athletes that can run teams out of the gym.
Agreed. I'm expecting a lot more from Clark
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
In limited time no less.
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Shamorie, Marcus, Bash, Marv and Tariq are going to be special together. They are all ultra athletic, multi faceted and hustle. Their commitment to DEFENSE will determine our success. Regardless, I expect 2-3 of them on the 1st and 2nd All BE teams by season's end. Ultimately I think we make the top25 at one point next Winter and will be dancing next March.
Shamorie will be making a run at BEPOY and will be flirting with the draft next Spring. His stats will be in the 18-20ppg/6 assists/5 rebounds/2 steals/1 block range (Not a stretch). I expect dominant play from him and Marcus all season, together they're going to toy with some teams. Monster season from Bash as well. He's going to take it to the next level this year after another summer w Mitch.
Our bench is loaded. Kassoum should spot start, while contributions from JSimon, Trimble, Sid and even Amar as a Senior will make for a fulfilling and exciting year for Johnnie Nation.
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Some low expectations from Clark huh
Clark is excellent. Very goodoutside shooter, rebounder, and can defend big forwards. Capable of scoring double digits. We have a lot of talent this season. I'm not sure people realize how much. It's not just talent, we have athletes that can run teams out of the gym.
We need Clark to be a defensive force. Simon, too. We can't have another roster full of players who are offense minded and don't bother playing defense. We're not good enough to play like the Warriors.
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Shamorie, Marcus, Bash, Marv and Tariq are going to be special together. They are all ultra athletic, multi faceted and hustle. Their commitment to DEFENSE will determine our success. Regardless, I expect 2-3 of them on the 1st and 2nd All BE teams by season's end. Ultimately I think we make the top25 at one point next Winter and will be dancing next March.
Shamorie will be making a run at BEPOY and will be flirting with the draft next Spring. His stats will be in the 18-20ppg/6 assists/5 rebounds/2 steals/1 block range (Not a stretch). I expect dominant play from him and Marcus all season, together they're going to toy with some teams. Monster season from Bash as well. He's going to take it to the next level this year after another summer w Mitch.
Our bench is loaded. Kassoum should spot start, while contributions from JSimon, Trimble, Sid and even Amar as a Senior will make for a fulfilling and exciting year for Johnnie Nation.
Do you think Clark starts over Simon? If he does, that would give us what appears to be a much more appropriate starting 5. Not a lot of wiggle room for an injury. Still hoping the staff heeds the warnings of our past and adds a grad transfer. Depth alone could be the difference between dancing and playing in the NIT.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
With ellison and mussini gone, I think it will be hard for Lovett not to get 14+. Simon isnt taking any shots away and ahmed might lose a few minutes.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
With ellison and mussini gone, I think it will be hard for Lovett not to get 14+. Simon isnt taking any shots away and ahmed might lose a few minutes.
Ahmed will lose minutes because he isn't a great defender and we have 3 new and very talented forwards. It's not bad for Ahmed. He will have to get more selective on offense and learn to defend, or he will get yanked. We are lucky to have such talent. Simon and Clark are both very talented and will get plenty of minutes. It will come at expense of Ahmed, Owens will be used appropriately and we have no more Mussini. Yakwe will lose some only because he regressed last year and can't hang with the offense of Clark and Wilson. He will get some center minutes in Owens stead. We will play small more often because that is where our talent is concentrated. Luckily "small" means 6'5"-6'8" unlike in the past when for SJU it means 6'3".
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
With ellison and mussini gone, I think it will be hard for Lovett not to get 14+. Simon isnt taking any shots away and ahmed might lose a few minutes.
Ahmed will lose minutes because he isn't a great defender and we have 3 new and very talented forwards. It's not bad for Ahmed. He will have to get more selective on offense and learn to defend, or he will get yanked. We are lucky to have such talent. Simon and Clark are both very talented and will get plenty of minutes. It will come at expense of Ahmed, Owens will be used appropriately and we have no more Mussini. Yakwe will lose some only because he regressed last year and can't hang with the offense of Clark and Wilson. He will get some center minutes in Owens stead. We will play small more often because that is where our talent is concentrated. Luckily "small" means 6'5"-6'8" unlike in the past when for SJU it means 6'3".
I don't really get why Ahmed is singled out as such a poor defender. Nobody played good defense outside of Owens and, at times, Ponds and Yakwe. Simon and Clark should raise everyones' defensive intensity and probably nobody more than Bash. I would expect him to be more focused this year as well with less minutes and shouldering less of the scoring load with Clark just as good of a shooter and Simon being a better penetrator.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
With ellison and mussini gone, I think it will be hard for Lovett not to get 14+. Simon isnt taking any shots away and ahmed might lose a few minutes.
That's what I'm afraid of. We are a better team when he is setting the table. Even with Mussini gone, you'd have to figure we are a better shooting team overall. Clark shot 40% from deep as a PF (compared to Yakwe last year), Ponds and Ahmed figure to improve slightly, Wilson can shoot well, and Trimble has a great 3 pt %s and a rep as a shooter. I don't think
Simon will be completely inept from three either. He should also steal some of Lovett's drives when the matchups are favorable.
The less of Lovett driving for finishes that leave him on the floor two feet past the baseline while we are left defending 5 with 4, the better.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
With ellison and mussini gone, I think it will be hard for Lovett not to get 14+. Simon isnt taking any shots away and ahmed might lose a few minutes.
Ahmed will lose minutes because he isn't a great defender and we have 3 new and very talented forwards. It's not bad for Ahmed. He will have to get more selective on offense and learn to defend, or he will get yanked. We are lucky to have such talent. Simon and Clark are both very talented and will get plenty of minutes. It will come at expense of Ahmed, Owens will be used appropriately and we have no more Mussini. Yakwe will lose some only because he regressed last year and can't hang with the offense of Clark and Wilson. He will get some center minutes in Owens stead. We will play small more often because that is where our talent is concentrated. Luckily "small" means 6'5"-6'8" unlike in the past when for SJU it means 6'3".
I don't really get why Ahmed is singled out as such a poor defender. Nobody played good defense outside of Owens and, at times, Ponds and Yakwe. Simon and Clark should raise everyones' defensive intensity and probably nobody more than Bash. I would expect him to be more focused this year as well with less minutes and shouldering less of the scoring load with Clark just as good of a shooter and Simon being a better penetrator.
You didn't read correctly. I remarked that he isn't a great defender, but also that the reason he loses minutes is because of influx of good forwards. I also said that it should push him to be more selective on offense and improve on defense. Ahmed is great but needs to tighten it up and reel it in. Both on offense and defense. Our guards are probably as bad or worse, but we don't have others immediately on board creating impetus for change.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
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I don't see the point in projecting totals for the entire roster. But I'm going to predict Ponds crosses the 20ppg threshold, while Lovett dips in scoring but reaches 6.5apg.
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We need double digit points and 6+ rebounds from Clark
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If we get double digit points and 6 rebounds from Clark, we will be in the NCAA next year.
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What we really need is to share the ball a bit more on offense and defend. Our offense is going to be fine. I'm not sure that point totals per person matter all that much. We have plenty of dynamic scorers. The team committing to defense and buying in at that end is paramount to our success.
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If we get double digit points and 6 rebounds from Clark, we will be in the NCAA next year.
Thats exactly my thinking
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If we get double digit points and 6 rebounds from Clark, we will be in the NCAA next year.
Thats exactly my thinking
Team still needs to defend. Everyone can't be a three point shooter. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have, but we can't put up 75 if the other team puts up 90. Clark and Simon, and Ahmed and even Alibegivic need to set the tone for defense. If Mullin is going to truly bring this program back, all of our guys needs to get after it on d.
One thing that stands out to me is that 17-18 will be much more equipped to press than last year's team. Mussini, Freudenberg, Williams and Sima couldn't move their feet. Ellison improved on d a little, so I'm not throwing him in there with the others, but if you compare the guys who left to the new guys, Wilson, Simon, Clark and Trimble, we should be able to d up like a BE team.
If someone gets hurt? That's ALL on the staff for thinking 10 guys were enough. I couldn't stand Norm Roberts, but his depleted rosters came with an excuse.
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If we get double digit points and 6 rebounds from Clark, we will be in the NCAA next year.
Thats exactly my thinking
Team still needs to defend. Everyone can't be a three point shooter. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have, but we can't put up 75 if the other team puts up 90. Clark and Simon, and Ahmed and even Alibegivic need to set the tone for defense. If Mullin is going to truly bring this program back, all of our guys needs to get after it on d.
One thing that stands out to me is that 17-18 will be much more equipped to press than last year's team. Mussini, Freudenberg, Williams and Sima couldn't move their feet. Ellison improved on d a little, so I'm not throwing him in there with the others, but if you compare the guys who left to the new guys, Wilson, Simon, Clark and Trimble, we should be able to d up like a BE team.
If someone gets hurt? That's ALL on the staff for thinking 10 guys were enough. I couldn't stand Norm Roberts, but his depleted rosters came with an excuse.
Defense has to start with Lovett and Ponds. They need to keep the guards in front of them. Otherwise our bigs won't be in the game for long with foul trouble. Again
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If we get double digit points and 6 rebounds from Clark, we will be in the NCAA next year.
Thats exactly my thinking
Team still needs to defend. Everyone can't be a three point shooter. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have, but we can't put up 75 if the other team puts up 90. Clark and Simon, and Ahmed and even Alibegivic need to set the tone for defense. If Mullin is going to truly bring this program back, all of our guys needs to get after it on d.
One thing that stands out to me is that 17-18 will be much more equipped to press than last year's team. Mussini, Freudenberg, Williams and Sima couldn't move their feet. Ellison improved on d a little, so I'm not throwing him in there with the others, but if you compare the guys who left to the new guys, Wilson, Simon, Clark and Trimble, we should be able to d up like a BE team.
If someone gets hurt? That's ALL on the staff for thinking 10 guys were enough. I couldn't stand Norm Roberts, but his depleted rosters came with an excuse.
Defense has to start with Lovett and Ponds. They need to keep the guards in front of them. Otherwise our bigs won't be in the game for long with foul trouble. Again
That's a good point. Hopefully, LoVett and Ponds are hitting the weight room this summer.
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Simon will be able to guard the big guards that torched us last season.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Simon averaging 3.5 assists and Clark averaging just 4.1 points won't happen. You really see Clark and Amar averaging the same?
I do. Possibly. In my head the season plays out with some key performances off the bench by Amar. I don't expect him to be as good as I hoped, which was Donald Emanuel senior season good, but if he isn't the stupidest player we've ever had, he should put together 10/12 solid games as a senior. Some of those games should actually help the team win.
As far as Clark, IDK what to expect from him, but I do know he didn't exactly tear it up at Michigan State, so I'm conservative with his offense. I do however, think that because he was coached by Izzo that he probably knows how to box out. So he should get some boards.
Clark can get 8 and 6 in his sleep.
As for AA, I'm not going to write off a 6'9 240 lb senior, but he really needs to drop this Eurostep SF bullsh*t and take a look at the roster. He needs to be a straight up C/PF -- and I put the C first on purpose. He's got 25 lbs on everyone not named Clark.
I think Ponds will score around 20, and I expect Ahmed, Clark, and Lovett to be near or (likely) above double figures with Simon and Owens not too far behind....perhaps in the 7-8.5 range. If Lovett is north if 13 ppg, that's a bad sign. I'd happily take 10 and 6. I've got Sid pegged for 5.7 and 3.6, but I'd love to be surprised here.
With ellison and mussini gone, I think it will be hard for Lovett not to get 14+. Simon isnt taking any shots away and ahmed might lose a few minutes.
Ahmed will lose minutes because he isn't a great defender and we have 3 new and very talented forwards. It's not bad for Ahmed. He will have to get more selective on offense and learn to defend, or he will get yanked. We are lucky to have such talent. Simon and Clark are both very talented and will get plenty of minutes. It will come at expense of Ahmed, Owens will be used appropriately and we have no more Mussini. Yakwe will lose some only because he regressed last year and can't hang with the offense of Clark and Wilson. He will get some center minutes in Owens stead. We will play small more often because that is where our talent is concentrated. Luckily "small" means 6'5"-6'8" unlike in the past when for SJU it means 6'3".
I like most of your guesses but......I expect Ahmed and Clark to be very productive......Ahmed has breakout year, 15+ and 6.....Clark 8-10 and 6. Ahmed needed a year to adjust to BE play and get JC out of his system. Pond and Lovett may not score as much as last year as the ball will be spread around more but their assists will be up.
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What Baldi said.
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I believe we should temper our expectations with Clark. He gives us a big body for the four spot which we didn't have. However, Clark was a 3 star prospect out of HS. He picked up solid minutes on a MS team as a freshman and averaged 4.5 points a game but was also prone to turnovers. If he can give us double digit scoring that would be great, but I wouldn't expect it.
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Simon will be able to guard the big guards that torched us last season.
This. We couldn't guard anyone 6'2-6'7 with a handle.
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Simon will be able to guard the big guards that torched us last season.
This. We couldn't guard anyone 6'2-6'7 with a handle.
I thought Simon was a PF, not many PF are asked to guard a G with a handle. ;) :)
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I believe we should temper our expectations with Clark. He gives us a big body for the four spot which we didn't have. However, Clark was a 3 star prospect out of HS. He picked up solid minutes on a MS team as a freshman and averaged 4.5 points a game but was also prone to turnovers. If he can give us double digit scoring that would be great, but I wouldn't expect it.
A skill set and a body that no one else on team has + a 3 pt shot playing for a coach who encourages 3 pt shots = great chance at scoring double figures.
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Ponds-17ppg
Lovett-15 ppg, 4 dimes, 23 times late for practice / class, 120 threads about him.
Ahmed- 11 ppg, 5 boards, 3 charges, 7 bad shots, 2 WASJU broken remote controls
Clark- 10ppg, 6 rebs, 1000 comparisons to Glover, Middleton, Grant, Singleton
Simon-8ppg
Owens-7ppg 6 boards, 2 blocks
Yakwe- 4ppg, 3 boards, 3 dropped passes, 1000 posts about "what happened to him"
Wilson-3ppg, 2 boards
Trimble-1.5 ppg
Alibegovic-1.5 ppg-One game where he goes for 15 and 8, 100 posts on "why can't our 10th man can't do that every game?"
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Simon will be able to guard the big guards that torched us last season.
This. We couldn't guard anyone 6'2-6'7 with a handle.
I thought Simon was a PF, not many PF are asked to guard a G with a handle. ;) :)
I could see how me writing he won't play PF could make you think I was saying he was a PF. 🙄
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Love it with every bit the offensive game equal to Walden matches his point total again.
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If we get double digit points and 6 rebounds from Clark, we will be in the NCAA next year.
Thats exactly my thinking
Team still needs to defend. Everyone can't be a three point shooter. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have, but we can't put up 75 if the other team puts up 90. Clark and Simon, and Ahmed and even Alibegivic need to set the tone for defense. If Mullin is going to truly bring this program back, all of our guys needs to get after it on d.
One thing that stands out to me is that 17-18 will be much more equipped to press than last year's team. Mussini, Freudenberg, Williams and Sima couldn't move their feet. Ellison improved on d a little, so I'm not throwing him in there with the others, but if you compare the guys who left to the new guys, Wilson, Simon, Clark and Trimble, we should be able to d up like a BE team.
If someone gets hurt? That's ALL on the staff for thinking 10 guys were enough. I couldn't stand Norm Roberts, but his depleted rosters came with an excuse.
Defense has to start with Lovett and Ponds. They need to keep the guards in front of them. Otherwise our bigs won't be in the game for long with foul trouble. Again
Id be more concerned if I didnt think Lovett and especially Ponds can be really good defenders. But if they dont play better d then our ceiling will not be reached.
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Love it with every bit the offensive game equal to Walden matches his point total again.
Love that you are gonna fight this one to the death and it is not far off, but the hmm, idk ... how about aplomb that Ponds shows around the basket is something Lovett doesn't quite have.
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Ponds-17ppg
Lovett-15 ppg, 4 dimes, 23 times late for practice / class, 120 threads about him.
Ahmed- 11 ppg, 5 boards, 3 charges, 7 bad shots, 2 WASJU broken remote controls
Clark- 10ppg, 6 rebs, 1000 comparisons to Glover, Middleton, Grant, Singleton
Simon-8ppg
Owens-7ppg 6 boards, 2 blocks
Yakwe- 4ppg, 3 boards, 3 dropped passes, 1000 posts about "what happened to him"
Wilson-3ppg, 2 boards
Trimble-1.5 ppg
Alibegovic-1.5 ppg-One game where he goes for 15 and 8, 100 posts on "why can't our 10th man can't do that every game?"
Well done
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Love it with every bit the offensive game equal to Walden matches his point total again.
Crazy talk.
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Love it with every bit the offensive game equal to Walden matches his point total again.
Crazy talk.
Shot a better percentage from the field and from three in their initial season.
If Ponds and/or Lovett prove me wrong next season - I'll be the first to admit it.
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Love it with every bit the offensive game equal to Walden matches his point total again.
Crazy talk.
Shot a better percentage from the field and from three in their initial season.
If Ponds and/or Lovett prove me wrong next season - I'll be the first to admit it.
I am with you on this one Carmine.
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Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
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Simon has been coached by Mitch and Mullin. You have to figure his shooting has improved. We will see how much soon enough.
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Simon has been coached by Mitch and Mullin. You have to figure his shooting has improved. We will see how much soon enough.
That's what we're all hoping. It's why a lot of these kids picked St.John's.
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Love it with every bit the offensive game equal to Walden matches his point total again.
Crazy talk.
Shot a better percentage from the field and from three in their initial season.
If Ponds and/or Lovett prove me wrong next season - I'll be the first to admit it.
I am with you on this one Carmine.
I've always known you to be a reasonable man.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
That's what happens when you only have 3 major level players on your roster. This year we will have 5, hopefully 7 if Wilson develops quickly and the coaches teach ahmed how to best utilize his talents
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
That's what happens when you only have 3 major level players on your roster. This year we will have 5, hopefully 7 if Wilson develops quickly and the coaches teach ahmed how to best utilize his talents
I think Ahmed's development will be on his shoulders. The staff wants him to stop hogging the ball, and at times he did share it more. They all did, but when shots don't fall, we see a greedier style of play. As a senior, it's on him to settle things down, as opposed to making them significantly worse. We've had seniors who did the little things well, like box out and go all out for loose balls. Ahmed does none of the little things. That's what is missing from his game, and it's missing in the form of leadership anywhere on the team.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
That's what happens when you only have 3 major level players on your roster. This year we will have 5, hopefully 7 if Wilson develops quickly and the coaches teach ahmed how to best utilize his talents
I think Ahmed's development will be on his shoulders. The staff wants him to stop hogging the ball, and at times he did share it more. They all did, but when shots don't fall, we see a greedier style of play. As a senior, it's on him to settle things down, as opposed to making them significantly worse. We've had seniors who did the little things well, like box out and go all out for loose balls. Ahmed does none of the little things. That's what is missing from his game, and it's missing in the form of leadership anywhere on the team.
I think the staff was pretty clear in how often they wanted him to be aggressive and take it to the hole. They said he would "live at the free throw line." Simon and Clark both relieve him of some of the pressure of being the only non-guard who can score.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
That's what happens when you only have 3 major level players on your roster. This year we will have 5, hopefully 7 if Wilson develops quickly and the coaches teach ahmed how to best utilize his talents
I think Ahmed's development will be on his shoulders. The staff wants him to stop hogging the ball, and at times he did share it more. They all did, but when shots don't fall, we see a greedier style of play. As a senior, it's on him to settle things down, as opposed to making them significantly worse. We've had seniors who did the little things well, like box out and go all out for loose balls. Ahmed does none of the little things. That's what is missing from his game, and it's missing in the form of leadership anywhere on the team.
I think the staff was pretty clear in how often they wanted him to be aggressive and take it to the hole. They said he would "live at the free throw line." Simon and Clark both relieve him of some of the pressure of being the only non-guard who can score.
I don't think the staff was telling him to dribble through the triple team.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
Why do you insist on comparing our future point guard to small forwards? Justin Simon is a point guard. Period. Stop.
That's what he calls himself. And that's what the staff refers to him as. They intend to use him as the primary ball handler.
Can't express it any clearer. He will lead out team in assists and have the ball in his hands more than any other player.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
Why do you insist on comparing our future point guard to small forwards? Justin Simon is a point guard. Period. Stop.
That's what he calls himself. And that's what the staff refers to him as. They intend to use him as the primary ball handler.
Can't express it any clearer. He will lead out team in assists and have the ball in his hands more than any other player.
Lovett is the PG and primary ball handler.
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The best comparison for Simon is Kris Dunn. Except he can't shoot as well as Dunn, for now.
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The best comparison for Simon is Kris Dunn. Except he can't shoot as well as Dunn, for now.
Geez. I'm not arguing that Simon isn't a point guard but let's cool it with the Kris Dunn comparisons
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
Why do you insist on comparing our future point guard to small forwards? Justin Simon is a point guard. Period. Stop.
That's what he calls himself. And that's what the staff refers to him as. They intend to use him as the primary ball handler.
Can't express it any clearer. He will lead out team in assists and have the ball in his hands more than any other player.
Andre Iguodala (my comparison not Marillac) has played point guard in the NBA, is 6'6, and does everything on the basketball court extremely well except shoot the basketball.
-
The best comparison for Simon is Kris Dunn. Except he can't shoot as well as Dunn, for now.
You have to read the dosage on the edibles before eating the entire thing.
-
Since it's the beginning of the summer, it's a perfect time to day dream about actually being good again.
Here's how I think the player production will play out.
Of course, this is just a guess, so keep that in mind.
Starters
SG Ponds - 18.5 PPG | 4.4 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 2 steals
PG LoVett - 12 PPG | 5.3 assists | 1.9 steals
SF Simon - 6.8 PPG | 4.3 rebounds | 3.5 assists | 2.1 steals
PF Ahmed - 12.1 PPG | 4.8 rebounds | .7 assists
C Owens - 7.5 PPG | 7.1 rebounds | 1.1 assists | 2.2 blocks
Bench
PF/C Yakwe - 3.5 PPG | 2.5 rebounds | 1 block
PF/C Clark Jr - 4.2 PPG | 6.1 rebounds
SF/PF Alibegovic - (in limited time) 4.1 PPG | 3.1 rebounds
SG Trimble - 3.1 PPG | 1 rebound
SF Wilson - 2.7 PPG | 1.3 rebounds | .8 blocks
Ellison, the player we all loved to hate averaged 7.4 last year, are we really expecting a top 30 recruit like Simon to score less?
Yes, I am. Ellison played on two teams with very few options. He had the opportunity.
I know rankings aren't everything, but as a recruit Simon was ranked higher than Tyler Dorsey, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Lydon and Marcus LoVett. I really hope we're underestimating how good this kid is.
I expect Simon to be better than Ellison. I expect him to be a defensive stopper but that's only because of what I've read about him. Ellison scored over 7 a game only because he was a good 3 point shooter. Simon apparently isn't. Since we have a roster loaded with guys who can shoot the 3, I think Simon is likely not to be guy taking too many of them. That's not to say he's not good, but that's one reason why I think he'll score less. But hey, who knows?
Simon is going to both create and score a ton of very easy baskets, especially while on the court with Ponds. The posters mentioning the Mullin/Mitch shooting definitely have a point too. Everyone shoots as good or better than we expected. If only defense were that way.
Our Andre Iguodala
Yep, or to keep it more familiar, a taller Paris Horne without the jumper and with a handle (for a SF/SG). It was crazy to me how many easy points we got when Paris was on the court, especially with Boothe. That will be a welcome addition to the team because I've never seen a group get less easy points than the last two years. It's hard to win games when you give up 15+ uncontested or lightly contested its per game and don't do the same or better yourself.
Why do you insist on comparing our future point guard to small forwards? Justin Simon is a point guard. Period. Stop.
That's what he calls himself. And that's what the staff refers to him as. They intend to use him as the primary ball handler.
Can't express it any clearer. He will lead out team in assists and have the ball in his hands more than any other player.
What are you some kind of Nazi? Don't tell me to "stop" having opinions -- especially when it is the correct opinion. Simon didn't log a single minute at PG at Arizona and they had one PG who was only a soph and not exactly a world beater. You expect him to unseat Lovett and Ponds now? Jesus Christ. Ponds is a future NBA point guard and both Lovett as Jackson-Cartwright have a fraction of his potential to run the point at the next level.
If you want to be foolish and think a 6'5 210 wing is a PG, go right ahead. Don't you dare tell others they don't have the right to an opinion on the matter, though.
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The best comparison for Simon is Kris Dunn. Except he can't shoot as well as Dunn, for now.
Jesus Christ.
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If you want to be foolish and think a 6'5 210 wing is a PG, go right ahead
He was a PG in high school according to CBS
"Last spring and summer, though, Justin Simon emerged as a potential top-tier prospect at the point guard position – and he followed that up with an impressive high school season to cement his standing as one of the premier point guards in the class."
http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/breakdown-justin-simon-commits-to-arizona/
and Scout
"Coming out of high school, Simon, a 6-foot-5 lead guard , was ranked No. 27 overall, but Simon played just 7.5 minutes a game during his freshman season at Arizona, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game."
and Chris Mullin seems to think he's a PG
“He’s an instinctive playmaker with good court vision and he distributes the ball well . We are glad Justin chose St. John’s for the next chapter of his basketball career.”
Maybe he's morphed into a wing who's capable of playing the 4 but it's hardly foolish to think he's a PG.
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I'd like to see development from Lovett as a passer this season. I think he will be the primary point guard in favor of Ponds and Simon. He appears to have all the tools to be an elite passer, just needs to be more careful with the ball, and perhaps become a bit more unselfish.
I hope we do not have unrealistic expectations for Simon. I admit I haven't seen a ton of him, but those expecting to see him play like a 5 star top 30 recruit from the get go here are probably going to be disappointed. I think he'll fill the vacant Ellison role nicely and most likely a lot better. 8-10ppg and 3-4 ast is what id expect.
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So, since a few of you guys are fired up, I thought I'd see if I could make things even more interesting.
When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? The terms combo guard is thrown around often, but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action, and frankly, in regards to Simon all I know is what I've heard from former players and friends and that's that the kid can play. No one mentioned where he'd play. I guess we will have to wait and see.
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So, since a few of you guys are fired up, I thought I'd see if I could make things even more interesting.
When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? The terms combo guard is thrown around often, but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action, and frankly, in regards to Simon all I know is what I've heard from former players and friends and that's that the kid can play. No one mentioned where he'd play. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Ponds is quite clearly the best at running the offense. His passes are delivered with perfect touch, his vision is superb, and his basketball IQ and awareness are off the charts. But he's really good at shooting and scoring the ball so that makes many posters write him off as a PG while Simon's lack of a shot bumps him from SG to PG. Go figure. Ponds is a future NBA PG.
With that written, Ponds plays better at the two than Lovett and it's in the best interest of the team for those two to play as much as possible. I expect Simon to be a huge addition and play the three. When the matchup is favorable, I hope and expect him to bring the ball up, lead some offense, and take his man off the dribble. In the modern college game, good teams have 2-3 guys that can lead an offense and attack the basket from various positions. Roosevelt Jones had the ball in his hands quite a bit for Butler and few people labeled him a PG. I'm not sure why some posters are fighting so hard to force him to be a PG when we already have Ponds and Lovett, but they have a right to their opinion. Point-forward, I could live with that. Point guard and Kris Dunn comparisons, no way.
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I really have to see how tight Simon's handle is before saying he is a PG. Many on here said Rysheed Jordan was a PG too and his handle was not crisp at all. He was definitely a better 2 guard.
I think LoVett is the best option at PG because of his elite quickness with the ball in his hands. There are very few PG's nationally with his speed and handle combo. The key to him is taking better care of the ball and finding open guys.
Ponds is more skilled overall then LoVett. Maybe mix in Ponds and LoVett at the 1 as well but I think LoVett should be the primary ballhandler.
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The beauty of this years roster, w the exception of the 4 and 5', is we have quality depth, I would love Simon to play like a 5 star recruit, however, w .Ponds, Lovett and Bash , he doesn't have to. He might not even start. Re ; Ponds, at 6 1 , I would be begging to play PG. It would make him more appealling to the NBA.
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I really have to see how tight Simon's handle is before saying he is a PG.
As far as PGs go, his handle is about as tight as a King's Landing whore. He's a SG that can't shoot. Some bump him down to PG because of that deficiency. I default those players to SF. I'd classify his handle as a plus for SG and even better for a SF. A few month's will put this to rest until he gets his first 6-7 assist game -- which he will at some point next season.
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I really have to see how tight Simon's handle is before saying he is a PG.
As far as PGs go, his handle is about as tight as a King's Landing whore. He's a SG that can't shoot. Some bump him down to PG because of that deficiency. I default those players to SF. I'd classify his handle as a plus for SG and even better for a SF. A few month's will put this to rest until he gets his first 6-7 assist game -- which he will at some point next season.
:laugh: Based on that skillset, SF/Wing sounds about right I agree. If the handle is there, then it's all gravy. He's a big asset in terms of guarding those big, athletic guards on Nova, Xavier and the rest.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
Please explain how sloppiness can be reflected in stats? That is an eye test. Ponds' turnovers were mostly a result of him being nonchalant. Lovett's turnovers were almost always a result of being out of control or delivering passes that couldn't be handled. In truth, many more turnovers could have been attributed to Lovett instead of his desired recipients. When Ponds dishes it, he almost always leaves his man in a position to finish and with a ball that is easily controlled. Lovett will fire a laser laser second to a guy like Yakwe.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
LoVett had Ponds to finish plays. That is the only reason why he averaged more assists than Ponds did. In the games he started at the point, Ponds had Mussini Ahmed, Ellison, Owens and Williams. Not an apples to apples comparison.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
Please explain how sloppiness can be reflected in stats? That is an eye test. Ponds' turnovers were mostly a result of him being nonchalant. Lovett's turnovers were almost always a result of being out of control or delivering passes that couldn't be handled. In truth, many more turnovers could have been attributed to Lovett instead of his desired recipients. When Ponds dishes it, he almost always leaves his man in a position to finish and with a ball that is easily controlled. Lovett will fire a laser laser second to a guy like Yakwe.
If you're going to pick out the one stat that comes closest to gauging "sloppiness" - it would be turnovers.
The other observations you make about LP turnovers and passes are interesting but I don't recall feeling that way while watching the dynamic duo.
We'll see what next season brings.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
LoVett had Ponds to finish plays.
And vice versa. Marcus was the better finisher than Walden last year. Remember?
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
LoVett had Ponds to finish plays.
And vice versa. Marcus was the better finisher than Walden last year. Remember?
Ponds gets no respect. He's the best player we've had in 20 years. He also is one of the best in the country finishing with his off hand. Lovett finishes every layup make or miss by sitting on the baseline and letting his team defend 4-5.
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Ponds gets no respect.
Everyone acknowledges that Ponds is a prodigy. I cannot think of one post expressing a negative opinion about his talent or potential. If by "no respect" you mean that some people think that Lovett at 22 is as good a player as Ponds is at 19 - which I think he is - then your statement is true. Otherwise not so much.
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Ponds gets no respect.
Everyone acknowledges that Ponds is a prodigy. I cannot think of one post expressing a negative opinion about his talent or potential. If by "no respect" you mean that some people think that Lovett at 22 is as good a player as Ponds is at 19 - which I think he is - then your statement is true. Otherwise not so much.
One caveat to the above, posters have rightfully called out his defensive effort on occasion. Not that Lovett is any better in that area. They've both shown a tendency to play some matador-D.
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Ponds gets no respect.
Everyone acknowledges that Ponds is a prodigy. I cannot think of one post expressing a negative opinion about his talent or potential. If by "no respect" you mean that some people think that Lovett at 22 is as good a player as Ponds is at 19 - which I think he is - then your statement is true. Otherwise not so much.
One caveat to the above, posters have rightfully called out his defensive effort on occasion. Not that Lovett is any better in that area. They've both shown a tendency to play some matador-D.
Ponds is worse. He's great at grabbing steals and pick pocketing, but must improve a ton at stopping his man.
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Ponds gets no respect.
Everyone acknowledges that Ponds is a prodigy. I cannot think of one post expressing a negative opinion about his talent or potential. If by "no respect" you mean that some people think that Lovett at 22 is as good a player as Ponds is at 19 - which I think he is - then your statement is true. Otherwise not so much.
A few hours ago Desco wrote that Ponds was the third best PG on our team. We have just four guards on the roster (on a sub .500 team) and only two of them have ever played a minute of PG in college. He took that a step further to call Simon a "bonafide" PG. Simon's stats at Arizona projected over 30 minutes were 1.2 assists and 2.4 turnovers compared with 5 rebounds. Not only did he fail to unseat a lower ranked 5'8 soph PG, who played just 9 mpg as a freshman and who averages 4.4 pts and just 3.1 assists in his career to this point, he lost the backup PG spot to a first year JUCO SG from Ahmed's alma mater. Simon played exclusively at the three and two spots at Arizona, backing up their best players instead of a so-so PG.
Ponds is the best player we've had in 20 years and that includes Hatten. He is a future NBA draft
pick as a PG which is his natural position, yet seemingly 80% of the fans on this board don't think he can play PG. That doesn't seem like respect to me.
Simon has both a high dribble and a loose dribble compared with other PGs. He overrelies on one hand to dribble and finish. His PG skillset can only be described as raw at this point, and unlike Ponds, he has not proven he can run an offense in college. Elijah Ingram was a McDonald's All-American PG rated much higher of a PG than Simon by the same recruiting services and he was an undersized SG. Ponds is a PG that can score. Simon is a SG that can't shoot but can pass.
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And let me also add that I 100% believe Ponds would have started at PG for Arizona two years ago ober PJC.
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Lovett finishes every layup make or miss by sitting on the baseline and letting his team defend 4-5.
That is a valid point. Fortunately, he does run like a deer so when he does decide to get up off his bum and back into the play, he does so rapidly.
Obviously, Sham's opening campaign has been a revelation. I've seen an appropriate abundance of praise for him on this forum thus far.
My point is that Lovett hasn't been chopped liver either. You expound as if Mongaup is head and shoulders above Marcus. One day he might be - but so far he hasn't been.
Many moons ago I was singing the praises of personal fav Paris Hilton here and you wrote that he ain't nothing compared to Kemba Walker - and you were right.
Maybe you'll be right about this too, but I'll just wait and see.
P.S. My only knock against Ponds is that at times last season he showed a wanton indifference to defending that our many other weak defensive guards didn't display.
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Ponds gets no respect.
Everyone acknowledges that Ponds is a prodigy. I cannot think of one post expressing a negative opinion about his talent or potential. If by "no respect" you mean that some people think that Lovett at 22 is as good a player as Ponds is at 19 - which I think he is - then your statement is true. Otherwise not so much.
A few hours ago Desco wrote that Ponds was the third best PG on our team. We have just four guards on the roster (on a sub .500 team) and only two of them have ever played a minute of PG in college. He took that a step further to call Simon a "bonafide" PG. Simon's stats at Arizona projected over 30 minutes were 1.2 assists and 2.4 turnovers compared with 5 rebounds. Not only did he fail to unseat a lower ranked 5'8 soph PG, who played just 9 mpg as a freshman and who averages 4.4 pts and just 3.1 assists in his career to this point, he lost the backup PG spot to a first year JUCO SG from Ahmed's alma mater. Simon played exclusively at the three and two spots at Arizona, backing up their best players instead of a so-so PG.
Ponds is the best player we've had in 20 years and that includes Hatten. He is a future NBA draft
pick as a PG which is his natural position, yet seemingly 80% of the fans on this board don't think he can play PG. That doesn't seem like respect to me.
Simon has both a high dribble and a loose dribble compared with other PGs. He overrelies on one hand to dribble and finish. His PG skillset can only be described as raw at this point, and unlike Ponds, he has not proven he can run an offense in college. Elijah Ingram was a McDonald's All-American PG rated much higher of a PG than Simon by the same recruiting services and he was an undersized SG. Ponds is a PG that can score. Simon is a SG that can't shoot but can pass.
Again, one poster saying Ponds isn't the best point guard on the team hardly translates to him getting no respect. He gets a lot of respect. As to the stuff about Simon, his stats at AU, his tertiary footwork, how high his dribble is, I've never seen him play. Maybe he's a power forward, I don't know, but you do seem pretty emotionally invested in him not being a point guard. As to Ponds and Hatten, Ponds as a freshman is not a better player than Hatten was as a senior, that's crazy talk. Hatten dominated on both sides of the ball, Ponds does not. Despite his gaudy steal numbers he's at best a lazy ineffective defender. The one thing he does better than Hatten did is shoot and Hatten was so good that it didn't matter that he couldn't. Ponds is as good a freshman as I've seen going back to Chris Mullin and except for his size and statute I don't see a ceiling for him but he's not Marcus Hatten. Not yet anyway. That's nearly blasphemous.
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Ponds first collegiate game starting at point guard was against Fordham.
His stats in that game.
26 points 9 assists 7 rebounds 4 steals.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
LoVett had Ponds to finish plays.
And vice versa. Marcus was the better finisher than Walden last year. Remember?
Ponds gets no respect. He's the best player we've had in 20 years.
Ponds has shown the potential to be an all time great Johnny, but to say he's the best player we've had in 20 years considering his liability on defense is a stretch. I wouldn't take him over Hatten or Barkley, and Hardy carried that 2010 team. Darryl Hill post injury was pretty good, and Artest was Artest. This takes nothing away from Ponds. He's a great offensive player and good passer. He has quick hands and plays the passing lanes well so he picks up a lot of steals, but his lateral movement has been terrible. He's young and clearly has the ability to be a good on the ball defender, but does he have the will? We will see this year.
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Who cares which guard position he plays if he helps this team win games?
All that other crap is for his pro aspirations.
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'When LoVett was out, I thought Ponds made crisp passes and good decisions with the ball. Why isn't Ponds running the offense? but that's what he is. LoVett was sloppy at times, and he forced the action'
Love it: 3.8 assists 2.6 turnovers
Mongaup: 3.1 assists 1.9 turnovers
Their assist/turnover ratios were virtually identical , with Marcus having more assists in less minutes per game, so I'm not sure why Ponds was a "much better passer" and Lovett was "sloppy at times".
Potential is great and all but these two were 1a and 1b stars for us in their freshmen campaigns. Love it shouldn't be considered to have taken a back seat to "the future Nba point" until he actually does.
LoVett had Ponds to finish plays.
And vice versa. Marcus was the better finisher than Walden last year. Remember?
Ponds gets no respect. He's the best player we've had in 20 years.
Ponds has shown the potential to be an all time great Johnny, but to say he's the best player we've had in 20 years considering his liability on defense is a stretch. I wouldn't take him over Hatten or Barkley, and Hardy carried that 2010 team. Darryl Hill post injury was pretty good, and Artest was Artest. This takes nothing away from Ponds. He's a great offensive player and good passer. He has quick hands and plays the passing lanes well so he picks up a lot of steals, but his lateral movement has been terrible. He's young and clearly has the ability to be a good on the ball defender, but does he have the will? We will see this year.
We only saw Hatten and Barkley after they had already turned 20. Ponds was a true freshman. Let's see where Ponds is when he's a junior. Guys like Hill are not comparable to Ponds. Hardy was very good, but he wasn't alone. Brownlee, Burrell, Horne and DJ all had key roles.
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It's close between who is a better PG right now between Ponds and Lovett. What's not debatable is that Ponds is a much better player at the 2 than Lovett. Therefore the decision to give Lovett the majority of the minutes at the PG spot seems like an easy one to me.
Also, I'm baffled how people can have such strong, definitive opinions on a guy like Simon who hasn't played in over a year and who most have not seen any more than a couple minutes of his Freshman year at 'Zona and maybe a couple YouTube highlight videos.
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Ponds gets no respect.
Everyone acknowledges that Ponds is a prodigy. I cannot think of one post expressing a negative opinion about his talent or potential. If by "no respect" you mean that some people think that Lovett at 22 is as good a player as Ponds is at 19 - which I think he is - then your statement is true. Otherwise not so much.
A few hours ago Desco wrote that Ponds was the third best PG on our team. We have just four guards on the roster (on a sub .500 team) and only two of them have ever played a minute of PG in college. He took that a step further to call Simon a "bonafide" PG. Simon's stats at Arizona projected over 30 minutes were 1.2 assists and 2.4 turnovers compared with 5 rebounds. Not only did he fail to unseat a lower ranked 5'8 soph PG, who played just 9 mpg as a freshman and who averages 4.4 pts and just 3.1 assists in his career to this point, he lost the backup PG spot to a first year JUCO SG from Ahmed's alma mater. Simon played exclusively at the three and two spots at Arizona, backing up their best players instead of a so-so PG.
Ponds is the best player we've had in 20 years and that includes Hatten. He is a future NBA draft
pick as a PG which is his natural position, yet seemingly 80% of the fans on this board don't think he can play PG. That doesn't seem like respect to me.
Simon has both a high dribble and a loose dribble compared with other PGs. He overrelies on one hand to dribble and finish. His PG skillset can only be described as raw at this point, and unlike Ponds, he has not proven he can run an offense in college. Elijah Ingram was a McDonald's All-American PG rated much higher of a PG than Simon by the same recruiting services and he was an undersized SG. Ponds is a PG that can score. Simon is a SG that can't shoot but can pass.
Again, one poster saying Ponds isn't the best point guard on the team hardly translates to him getting no respect. He gets a lot of respect. As to the stuff about Simon, his stats at AU, his tertiary footwork, how high his dribble is, I've never seen him play. Maybe he's a power forward, I don't know, but you do seem pretty emotionally invested in him not being a point guard. As to Ponds and Hatten, Ponds as a freshman is not a better player than Hatten was as a senior, that's crazy talk. Hatten dominated on both sides of the ball, Ponds does not. Despite his gaudy steal numbers he's at best a lazy ineffective defender. The one thing he does better than Hatten did is shoot and Hatten was so good that it didn't matter that he couldn't. Ponds is as good a freshman as I've seen going back to Chris Mullin and except for his size and statute I don't see a ceiling for him but he's not Marcus Hatten. Not yet anyway. That's nearly blasphemous.
My assessment of Ponds is projected over 3-4 years. He wasn't better than Hatten as a freshman, but Hatten as a freshman wasn't better than the Hatten we knew either.
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It's close between who is a better PG right now between Ponds and Lovett. What's not debatable is that Ponds is a much better player at the 2 than Lovett. Therefore the decision to give Lovett the majority of the minutes at the PG spot seems like an easy one to me.
Also, I'm baffled how people can have such strong, definitive opinions on a guy like Simon who hasn't played in over a year and who most have not seen any more than a couple minutes of his Freshman year at 'Zona and maybe a couple YouTube highlight videos.
I completely agree with your first paragraph. As for the second, I find the persistent Simon PG talk annoying and quite obviously incorrect. We have two capable if not awesome PGs who are just six feet tall. Even if Simon is just as good as the pair, he's 6'5 210! We were absolutely eaten alive by bigger guards and SFs that could handle last year. Why on Earth would he play anywhere but SF for the overwhelming majority of his minutes with Ponds figuring to play 33-34 mpg and Lovett around 30? His handle and passing will be welcome at the three and he will be asked to lead the offense at times to get the Lovett and Ponds jump shots since they are much better shooters.
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It's close between who is a better PG right now between Ponds and Lovett. What's not debatable is that Ponds is a much better player at the 2 than Lovett. Therefore the decision to give Lovett the majority of the minutes at the PG spot seems like an easy one to me.
Also, I'm baffled how people can have such strong, definitive opinions on a guy like Simon who hasn't played in over a year and who most have not seen any more than a couple minutes of his Freshman year at 'Zona and maybe a couple YouTube highlight videos.
I completely agree with your first paragraph. As for the second, I find the persistent Simon PG talk annoying and quite obviously incorrect. We have two capable if not awesome PGs who are just six feet tall. Even if Simon is just as good as the pair, he's 6'5 210! We were absolutely eaten alive by bigger guards and SFs that could handle last year. Why on Earth would he play anywhere but SF for the overwhelming majority of his minutes with Ponds figuring to play 33-34 mpg and Lovett around 30? His handle and passing will be welcome at the three and he will be asked to lead the offense at times to get the Lovett and Ponds jump shots since they are much better shooters.
I completely agree that Simon at his size will be good at the 3 at times when playing along side ponds and Lovett. But I think he will also come in useful playing the 1 or 2 when ponds or Lovett needs a breather.
I don't think experts label him a PG for the hell of it. I gotta believe that's where he'll be most efficient.
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It's close between who is a better PG right now between Ponds and Lovett. What's not debatable is that Ponds is a much better player at the 2 than Lovett. Therefore the decision to give Lovett the majority of the minutes at the PG spot seems like an easy one to me.
Also, I'm baffled how people can have such strong, definitive opinions on a guy like Simon who hasn't played in over a year and who most have not seen any more than a couple minutes of his Freshman year at 'Zona and maybe a couple YouTube highlight videos.
I completely agree with your first paragraph. As for the second, I find the persistent Simon PG talk annoying and quite obviously incorrect. We have two capable if not awesome PGs who are just six feet tall. Even if Simon is just as good as the pair, he's 6'5 210! We were absolutely eaten alive by bigger guards and SFs that could handle last year. Why on Earth would he play anywhere but SF for the overwhelming majority of his minutes with Ponds figuring to play 33-34 mpg and Lovett around 30? His handle and passing will be welcome at the three and he will be asked to lead the offense at times to get the Lovett and Ponds jump shots since they are much better shooters.
Simon (or anybody else) playing PG on the offensive end doesn't necessarily mean he will have to guard the other team's PG, and it would be unlikely the other team's PG would guard him if our smaller guards are on the floor at the same time. Simon can run the offense and guard the other team's best wing player if need be
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It's close between who is a better PG right now between Ponds and Lovett. What's not debatable is that Ponds is a much better player at the 2 than Lovett. Therefore the decision to give Lovett the majority of the minutes at the PG spot seems like an easy one to me.
Also, I'm baffled how people can have such strong, definitive opinions on a guy like Simon who hasn't played in over a year and who most have not seen any more than a couple minutes of his Freshman year at 'Zona and maybe a couple YouTube highlight videos.
I completely agree with your first paragraph. As for the second, I find the persistent Simon PG talk annoying and quite obviously incorrect. We have two capable if not awesome PGs who are just six feet tall. Even if Simon is just as good as the pair, he's 6'5 210! We were absolutely eaten alive by bigger guards and SFs that could handle last year. Why on Earth would he play anywhere but SF for the overwhelming majority of his minutes with Ponds figuring to play 33-34 mpg and Lovett around 30? His handle and passing will be welcome at the three and he will be asked to lead the offense at times to get the Lovett and Ponds jump shots since they are much better shooters.
Simon (or anybody else) playing PG on the offensive end doesn't necessarily mean he will have to guard the other team's PG, and it would be unlikely the other team's PG would guard him if our smaller guards are on the floor at the same time. Simon can run the offense and guard the other team's best wing player if need be
It's not his defense that is the issue. It wouldn't surprise me if he is the best PG defender. He does not have any experience running a half court offense at this level. He doesn't have the handle to do that for long periods of time. He is very raw in the half court.
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"LoVett and Ponds are two of the best guards in all of college basketball and they make up a tremendous backcourt. With their combination of scoring and defense, it is very hard to match-up with Saint John’s. This season, they could take another step up under head coach Chris Mullin and make a run at a NCAA Tournament bid."
https://bustingbrackets.com/2017/07/31/saint-johns-basketball-ponds-lovett-make-great-backcourt/
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"LoVett and Ponds are two of the best guards in all of college basketball and they make up a tremendous backcourt. With their combination of scoring and defense, it is very hard to match-up with Saint John’s. This season, they could take another step up under head coach Chris Mullin and make a run at a NCAA Tournament bid."
https://bustingbrackets.com/2017/07/31/saint-johns-basketball-ponds-lovett-make-great-backcourt/
"With their combination of scoring and defense, it is very hard to match-up with Saint John’s."
Apparently he's never seen them play.
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Looks like Lovett will wear #20 this year.
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"LoVett and Ponds are two of the best guards in all of college basketball and they make up a tremendous backcourt. With their combination of scoring and defense, it is very hard to match-up with Saint John’s. This season, they could take another step up under head coach Chris Mullin and make a run at a NCAA Tournament bid."
https://bustingbrackets.com/2017/07/31/saint-johns-basketball-ponds-lovett-make-great-backcourt/
"With their combination of scoring and defense, it is very hard to match-up with Saint John’s."
Apparently he's never seen them play.
Defense of what? Some people think defense is all steals and blocked shots. We've shown that to be far from the truth.
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Looks like Lovett will wear #20 this year.
He just wants to see all the people wearing #20 jerseys thinking they are for him
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https://twitter.com/Marv_Time15/status/904377026810925057
JSimon is a huge PG/SG, he's going to help our perimeter D and clear up much needed space for Bash. How much better he is than Malik remains unknown, but there must be a reason why he bolted out of town.
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https://twitter.com/Marv_Time15/status/904377026810925057
JSimon is a huge PG/SG, he's going to help our perimeter D and clear up much needed space for Bash. How much better he is than Malik remains unknown, but there must be a reason why he bolted out of town.
Simon is much better at going to the rack, although in fairness Ellison was one of our only guys who could do that. He doesn't shoot as well as Ellison, but he's stronger, and much quicker. We have less three point shooters but hopefully more guys who can move their feet.
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https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/bossi-s-best-remember-me-highly-ranked-transfers
Simon, Clark and former GTown SF Issac Copeland, now with Nebraska (11/16) all mentioned.
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Article from The Torch
www.torchonline.com/sports/2017/09/13/me...rvives-crazy-summer/
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Tony Patelis
@CollegeHoopNews
Must watch backcourts: Temple, Fresno State, Virginia Tech, St John's, LA Tech, Ole Miss, Iona. #CollegeHoops
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Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
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Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
Agreed. Keep hearing this is the most talented team Cluess has had at Iona
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Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
Agreed. Keep hearing this is the most talented team Cluess has had at Iona
How are they defensively?
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Ya think? For me (my age) its the 11-12 team that got the at-large and had the hideous loss to BYU.
Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
Agreed. Keep hearing this is the most talented team Cluess has had at Iona
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Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
that could be a question for both teams
Agreed. Keep hearing this is the most talented team Cluess has had at Iona
How are they defensively?
thats a question for both teams
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Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
Agreed. Keep hearing this is the most talented team Cluess has had at Iona
As talented as the team that had Jones and Machado in the backcourt and Michael Glover inside? I don't one Iona player that sniffs that level. I don't see one Iona player that would start at STJ now.
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Ya think? For me (my age) its the 11-12 team that got the at-large and had the hideous loss to BYU.
Iona/SJU game is gonna be a track meet.
Agreed. Keep hearing this is the most talented team Cluess has had at Iona
I agree with you on that at large team. But people who are around the program every day tell me this. We shall know soon enough
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Any word from practice, likely starting5?
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Any word from practice, likely starting5?
Would expect three guard offense to start season.
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Any word from practice, likely starting5?
Would expect three guard offense to start season.
So there would be a 4 headed monster for the 2 big spots?
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Any word from practice, likely starting5?
Would expect three guard offense to start season.
Really? I'd expect Lovett/Ponds/Ahmed/Yakwe//Clarke. Owens and Simon first off the bench gives them a lot of flexibility.
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I don't know who's going to start. Wouldn't be suprised to see Bash at the 4 and Clark at the 5 at times.
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Any word from practice, likely starting5?
Would expect three guard offense to start season.
Really? I'd expect Lovett/Ponds/Ahmed/Yakwe//Clarke. Owens and Simon first off the bench gives them a lot of flexibility.
Yeah I think they go with Ponds, Simon, LoVett, Bashir & either Yakwe or Owens. We'll see, but the way they rave about Simon, I think he starts from day one. In any event, I agree there is a lot of flexibility in seven man rotation & hopefully Trimble can give a few minutes now and then. Still a Frosh though onviously.
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I expect Lovett-Ponds-Ahmed-Clark-Yakwe to start off games. Owens plays as much as his foul situation permits and Simon is a classic energy guy that can be used at multiple postions. 7 man
main rotation with all 7 getting at least 25 mpg.
Trimble is intriguing. 220 lbs with hops and a jumper. That is the profile of a kid that can really surprise some people if he dedicates himself to defense. We should know right away.
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I really like the Shamorie/Marcus/JSimon/Bash/Yakwe starting lineup. I forsee a breakout year for Tariq however that will eventually have him starting multiple games.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
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Ali will be in the rotation because of the size deficiency. Hopefully Owens and Yakwe have put on some meat. I'm thinking Ponds, Lovett, Clark, Owens and Ahmed with Simon see 25 or more off the bench. Yakwe could be the big surprise if he developed a reliable 15 footer over the summer. The big problem will be rebounding....Cant run if you don't have the ball. Guard rebounding will be a big plus.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
I agree as far as Owens being much more productive but I still might start Yakwe. Owens one knock was that he gets in foul trouble. The last thing you want to do is Owens to get two fouls a couple minutes into the game and lose him for the whole second half. If he shows he can manage his fouls then yes he should start over yakwe if both play similar to last year.
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Did everyone forget how much Yakwe regressed last year? Why would deserve to start? If he starts, he's starting out of necessity, and in that case, the season is already in doubt.
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Did everyone forget how much Yakwe regressed last year? Why would deserve to start? If he starts, he's starting out of necessity, and in that case, the season is already in doubt.
Owens is also much taller and longer. Yakwe has talent - He could improve and become a vital member o our team this season - but I agree it seems crazy that he'd have surpassed Owens.
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I really like the Shamorie/Marcus/JSimon/Bash/Yakwe starting lineup. I forsee a breakout year for Tariq however that will eventually have him starting multiple games.
Guards have to play d, otherwise Owens won't play 20 mins a game
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Did everyone forget how much Yakwe regressed last year? Why would deserve to start? If he starts, he's starting out of necessity, and in that case, the season is already in doubt.
Owens is also much taller and longer. Yakwe has talent - He could improve and become a vital member o our team this season - but I agree it seems crazy that he'd have surpassed Owens.
The only reason to believe that Yakwe could improve is because he was a good player as a freshman.
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Who starts is overrated. Who is going to be on the floor when it's a tie game against Providence coming out of the under 4 media timeout? If Owens isn't in foul trouble it's definitely him over Yakwe with the 3 guards on the floor. Think they'd rotate Ahmed/Clark for offense/defense as much as possible
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I really like the Shamorie/Marcus/JSimon/Bash/Yakwe starting lineup. I forsee a breakout year for Tariq however that will eventually have him starting multiple games.
Guards have to play d, otherwise Owens won't play 20 mins a game
Agree, dude. If the guards are even adequate on defense, then it'll likely allow Owens to log more minutes and put the team in position to have a decent or better season.
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Don't think that either Clark or Simon came here and sat out a year to sit on our bench. If they don't both start, they should each still get at least 25 minutes per game. It's these two largely who will determine how much better this team is than last year's.
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Still a smaller lineup than most teams overall but good defense, rebounding and versatile scorers can overcome that.
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Still a smaller lineup than most teams overall but good defense, rebounding and versatile scorers can overcome that.
We saw in the 1999/2000 season that great defense, experience and luck with health can overcome height. So, that's all we need now.
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Still a smaller lineup than most teams overall but good defense, rebounding and versatile scorers can overcome that.
We saw in the 1999/2000 season that great defense, experience and luck with health can overcome height. So, that's all we need now.
Ha right ;D
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Still a smaller lineup than most teams overall but good defense, rebounding and versatile scorers can overcome that.
We saw in the 1999/2000 season that great defense, experience and luck with health can overcome height. So, that's all we need now.
What that team lacked in height they made up in toughness. Outside of Clarke, not sure who else is going to bring it.
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Still a smaller lineup than most teams overall but good defense, rebounding and versatile scorers can overcome that.
We saw in the 1999/2000 season that great defense, experience and luck with health can overcome height. So, that's all we need now.
What that team lacked in height they made up in toughness. Outside of Clarke, not sure who else is going to bring it.
Owens played tough for us. I think it's reasonable that Ponds and LoVett weren't tough as freshman. Let's see how they return this season. Also, Ahmed was a first year player, and he's now staring at what is probably his last chance at any type of NBA contract.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
Perfect offense off the bench getting 25-30 minutes. Someone will get squeezed
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
Perfect offense off the bench getting 25-30 minutes. Someone will get squeezed
Agree.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
St John's is such a talented 14 win team that a junior who averaged 14 points a game and led the team in rebounds as a senior gets to be sixth man, unless they need defense, which they do, because the defense stinks, then he gets to be seventh man. Good position to be in to have that kind of depth.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
Agree that his minutes were a problem and that he makes sense as a sixth man because he's about the only player they have who can change the game by entering it. But his 18 minutes last year were a little misleading. He played 67 minutes over the first 5 and 65 minutes over the last 6 and and 15 versus Delaware (4 minutes) and Tulane (11). That's 147 minutes in 13 games, 11 mpg. (Four of the seven games he fouled out of were in the pre-season - Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, LIU.) In the remaining 20 he played ~ 23 minutes pg, the bulk of that versus the BE. Which is not outlandish, for a first year player. It may be that he wasn't not as fragile as we think, or as dumb. Maybe he was just a mite too enthusiastic.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
Agree that his minutes were a problem and that he makes sense as a sixth man because he's about the only player they have who can change the game by entering it. But his 18 minutes last year were a little misleading. He played 67 minutes over the first 5 and 65 minutes over the last 6 and and 15 versus Delaware (4 minutes) and Tulane (11). That's 147 minutes in 13 games, 11 mpg. (Four of the seven games he fouled out of were in the pre-season - Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, LIU.) In the remaining 20 he played ~ 23 minutes pg, the bulk of that versus the BE. Which is not outlandish, for a first year player. It may be that he wasn't not as fragile as we think, or as dumb. Maybe he was just a mite too enthusiastic.
Who thinks Owens is dumb? He's the smartest player on the team, and he was from day 1.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
Agree that his minutes were a problem and that he makes sense as a sixth man because he's about the only player they have who can change the game by entering it. But his 18 minutes last year were a little misleading. He played 67 minutes over the first 5 and 65 minutes over the last 6 and and 15 versus Delaware (4 minutes) and Tulane (11). That's 147 minutes in 13 games, 11 mpg. (Four of the seven games he fouled out of were in the pre-season - Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, LIU.) In the remaining 20 he played ~ 23 minutes pg, the bulk of that versus the BE. Which is not outlandish, for a first year player. It may be that he wasn't not as fragile as we think, or as dumb. Maybe he was just a mite too enthusiastic.
Who thinks Owens is dumb? He's the smartest player on the team, and he was from day 1.
I meant only that he commits the occasional dumb foul.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
St John's is such a talented 14 win team that a junior who averaged 14 points a game and led the team in rebounds as a senior gets to be sixth man, unless they need defense, which they do, because the defense stinks, then he gets to be seventh man. Good position to be in to have that kind of depth.
So what’s your our starting five? Ahmed at 4 and Yakwe at 5 is smallest front court option we have. Starting bashir and Owens leaves two 6’7 pf’s off the bench.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
St John's is such a talented 14 win team that a junior who averaged 14 points a game and led the team in rebounds as a senior gets to be sixth man, unless they need defense, which they do, because the defense stinks, then he gets to be seventh man. Good position to be in to have that kind of depth.
So what’s your our starting five? Ahmed at 4 and Yakwe at 5 is smallest front court option we have. Starting bashir and Owens leaves two 6’7 pf’s off the bench.
I expect Lovett, Ponds, Ahmed, Yawke, Clarke/Owens to start. The guards are the two best players on the team, Ahmed's a senior who averaged 13 and 5 as a junior, Yawke's a two year starter and someone needs to play center.
The problem with Ahmed as the sixth man is that it plays into his weakness, which is a tendency to play out of control. Because the message it sends to him is that it's his role to go in and make something happen on offense, whereas ideally he'd let the game come to him.
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People are sleeping on JSimon starting. I lean towards the 3 guard lineup to start out, with Bash and Yakwe complimenting their free flowing, fast break driven offense. I think CM will go with this lineup especially against smaller teams. To be able to bring a 6'7 Clark and 6'10 Owens off the bench will be very dangerous for opponents. Add in solid contributions from Bryan Trimble and Amar and this team is pretty deep.
The Shamorie/Marcus combo should gain national attention this year, they're that good together. Healthy conversation to have bc for the first time since the 2014-15 season we have a loaded roster.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
St John's is such a talented 14 win team that a junior who averaged 14 points a game and led the team in rebounds as a senior gets to be sixth man, unless they need defense, which they do, because the defense stinks, then he gets to be seventh man. Good position to be in to have that kind of depth.
So what’s your our starting five? Ahmed at 4 and Yakwe at 5 is smallest front court option we have. Starting bashir and Owens leaves two 6’7 pf’s off the bench.
I expect Lovett, Ponds, Ahmed, Yawke, Clarke/Owens to start. The guards are the two best players on the team, Ahmed's a senior who averaged 13 and 5 as a junior, Yawke's a two year starter and someone needs to play center.
The problem with Ahmed as the sixth man is that it plays into his weakness, which is a tendency to play out of control. Because the message it sends to him is that it's his role to go in and make something happen on offense, whereas ideally he'd let the game come to him.
All fair but I don't agree with any lineup that has Simon off bench. If Bashir starts its at 4. This staff started Malik Ellison for 2 years.
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All fair but I don't agree with any lineup that has Simon off bench. If Bashir starts its at 4. This staff started Malik Ellison for 2 years.
Ellison started last year because there were not a lot of alternatives. He started barely at all as a freshman despite there not being a lot of alternatives. Re Simon I'm at a disadvantage having never seen him play. He might be the second coming. But he might not be and anyway he and Clark have a lot of rust to shake off, versus various players who are experienced in the system. Ahmed is not a four, Yakwe is. Three guards and those two starting is three players starting at unnatural positions. I don't see how anything good can come from that.
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All fair but I don't agree with any lineup that has Simon off bench. If Bashir starts its at 4. This staff started Malik Ellison for 2 years.
Ellison started last year because there were not a lot of alternatives. He started barely at all as a freshman despite there not being a lot of alternatives. Re Simon I'm at a disadvantage having never seen him play. He might be the second coming. But he might not be and anyway he and Clark have a lot of rust to shake off, versus various players who are experienced in the system. Ahmed is not a four, Yakwe is. Three guards and those two starting is three players starting at unnatural positions. I don't see how anything good can come from that.
Start the best 5 players
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All fair but I don't agree with any lineup that has Simon off bench. If Bashir starts its at 4. This staff started Malik Ellison for 2 years.
Ellison started last year because there were not a lot of alternatives. He started barely at all as a freshman despite there not being a lot of alternatives. Re Simon I'm at a disadvantage having never seen him play. He might be the second coming. But he might not be and anyway he and Clark have a lot of rust to shake off, versus various players who are experienced in the system. Ahmed is not a four, Yakwe is. Three guards and those two starting is three players starting at unnatural positions. I don't see how anything good can come from that.
Start the best 5 players
Lets hear them.
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Starting isn't as important as who is on the court for the final four minutes...
Ponds, Lovett, Simon, Clark and Owens.
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Starting isn't as important as who is on the court for the final four minutes...
Ponds, Lovett, Simon, Clark and Owens.
Starting is pretty important, especially when you're not in games at the end
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All fair but I don't agree with any lineup that has Simon off bench. If Bashir starts its at 4. This staff started Malik Ellison for 2 years.
Ellison started last year because there were not a lot of alternatives. He started barely at all as a freshman despite there not being a lot of alternatives. Re Simon I'm at a disadvantage having never seen him play. He might be the second coming. But he might not be and anyway he and Clark have a lot of rust to shake off, versus various players who are experienced in the system. Ahmed is not a four, Yakwe is. Three guards and those two starting is three players starting at unnatural positions. I don't see how anything good can come from that.
Start the best 5 players
Lets hear them.
Hope it's Lovett, Ponds, Simon, Ahmed, Clark. If Simon and Clark aren't starter material, wtf are they doing here
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John Fanta
@John_Fanta
Talking to @StJohnsBball's Marvin Clark & Justin Simon, they said Bryan Trimble's toughness has stood out. High praise for a freshman #sjubb
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Starting isn't as important as who is on the court for the final four minutes...
Ponds, Lovett, Simon, Clark and Owens.
Starting is pretty important, especially when you're not in games at the end
True Baldi, but if we're not in games at the end, or in a position to win in the last four minutes...then it becomes baseball season real quick.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
St John's is such a talented 14 win team that a junior who averaged 14 points a game and led the team in rebounds as a senior gets to be sixth man, unless they need defense, which they do, because the defense stinks, then he gets to be seventh man. Good position to be in to have that kind of depth.
So what’s your our starting five? Ahmed at 4 and Yakwe at 5 is smallest front court option we have. Starting bashir and Owens leaves two 6’7 pf’s off the bench.
I expect Lovett, Ponds, Ahmed, Yawke, Clarke/Owens to start. The guards are the two best players on the team, Ahmed's a senior who averaged 13 and 5 as a junior, Yawke's a two year starter and someone needs to play center.
The problem with Ahmed as the sixth man is that it plays into his weakness, which is a tendency to play out of control. Because the message it sends to him is that it's his role to go in and make something happen on offense, whereas ideally he'd let the game come to him.
What has happened to Yakwe from the end of last season to now that puts him in the starting line up? Last season he started out of necessity.
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Lovett Ponds simon clark Owens
Ahmed first in if we need offense
Yakwe if we need defense.
We're not going to start our senior?
St John's is such a talented 14 win team that a junior who averaged 14 points a game and led the team in rebounds as a senior gets to be sixth man, unless they need defense, which they do, because the defense stinks, then he gets to be seventh man. Good position to be in to have that kind of depth.
So what’s your our starting five? Ahmed at 4 and Yakwe at 5 is smallest front court option we have. Starting bashir and Owens leaves two 6’7 pf’s off the bench.
I expect Lovett, Ponds, Ahmed, Yawke, Clarke/Owens to start. The guards are the two best players on the team, Ahmed's a senior who averaged 13 and 5 as a junior, Yawke's a two year starter and someone needs to play center.
The problem with Ahmed as the sixth man is that it plays into his weakness, which is a tendency to play out of control. Because the message it sends to him is that it's his role to go in and make something happen on offense, whereas ideally he'd let the game come to him.
What has happened to Yakwe from the end of last season to now that puts him in the starting line up? Last season he started out of necessity.
He's going to get 20 mins this year regardless of how he plays.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
Agree that his minutes were a problem and that he makes sense as a sixth man because he's about the only player they have who can change the game by entering it. But his 18 minutes last year were a little misleading. He played 67 minutes over the first 5 and 65 minutes over the last 6 and and 15 versus Delaware (4 minutes) and Tulane (11). That's 147 minutes in 13 games, 11 mpg. (Four of the seven games he fouled out of were in the pre-season - Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, LIU.) In the remaining 20 he played ~ 23 minutes pg, the bulk of that versus the BE. Which is not outlandish, for a first year player. It may be that he wasn't not as fragile as we think, or as dumb. Maybe he was just a mite too enthusiastic.
Let's hope he can average 25 mpg this year. He's also a very solid FT shooter for a big man.
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John Fanta
@John_Fanta
Talking to @StJohnsBball's Marvin Clark & Justin Simon, they said Bryan Trimble's toughness has stood out. High praise for a freshman #sjubb
I'm really hoping this kid is an animal on d and on the glass. It's about time we landed a wing that can can bully people around.
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What has happened to Yakwe from the end of last season to now that puts him in the starting line up? Last season he started out of necessity.
I have no idea what Yawke has done or not done in his 20 odd years on earth outside the 1000 minutes I've watched him play basketball on the telly, much less from the end of last season until now. My guess is that having started for two years he'll start for a third. Or maybe he won't. I'm not arguing in favor of it or emotionally invested in whether it happens.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
Agree that his minutes were a problem and that he makes sense as a sixth man because he's about the only player they have who can change the game by entering it. But his 18 minutes last year were a little misleading. He played 67 minutes over the first 5 and 65 minutes over the last 6 and and 15 versus Delaware (4 minutes) and Tulane (11). That's 147 minutes in 13 games, 11 mpg. (Four of the seven games he fouled out of were in the pre-season - Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, LIU.) In the remaining 20 he played ~ 23 minutes pg, the bulk of that versus the BE. Which is not outlandish, for a first year player. It may be that he wasn't not as fragile as we think, or as dumb. Maybe he was just a mite too enthusiastic.
Let's hope he can average 25 mpg this year. He's also a very solid FT shooter for a big man.
I hope he plays well and fills his minutes effectively...
That said, Yakwe is a 6'7 forward forced to play center. While he improved FT's in year 2, his 59% at the line is not very good.
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People are sleeping on JSimon starting. I lean towards the 3 guard lineup to start out, with Bash and Yakwe complimenting their free flowing, fast break driven offense. I think CM will go with this lineup especially against smaller teams. To be able to bring a 6'7 Clark and 6'10 Owens off the bench will be very dangerous for opponents. Add in solid contributions from Bryan Trimble and Amar and this team is pretty deep.
The Shamorie/Marcus combo should gain national attention this year, they're that good together. Healthy conversation to have bc for the first time since the 2014-15 season we have a loaded roster.
Who is going to rebound to start the break. Don't think this team is strong enough. I like Owens Clark starting.
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People are sleeping on JSimon starting. I lean towards the 3 guard lineup to start out, with Bash and Yakwe complimenting their free flowing, fast break driven offense. I think CM will go with this lineup especially against smaller teams. To be able to bring a 6'7 Clark and 6'10 Owens off the bench will be very dangerous for opponents. Add in solid contributions from Bryan Trimble and Amar and this team is pretty deep.
The Shamorie/Marcus combo should gain national attention this year, they're that good together. Healthy conversation to have bc for the first time since the 2014-15 season we have a loaded roster.
Who is going to rebound to start the break. Don't think this team is strong enough. I like Owens Clark starting.
Shamorie (4.5 rpg) and Bash (5.5 rpg) can gang rebound throughout the first stanza of the game, this is only against smaller lineups mind you. This is their quickest scoring lineup that would be most adept to the run and gun offense that Mullin covets.
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The team doesn't need more than Ponds, Lovett and Bash flying.....Owens and Clark will get the ball of the boards better and are still reasonably quick. Simon and Trimble provide more quickness off the bench. Agree that the guards will rebound well but the team must correct the glaring rebound deficiency of last year in order to be effective.
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People are sleeping on JSimon starting. I lean towards the 3 guard lineup to start out, with Bash and Yakwe complimenting their free flowing, fast break driven offense. I think CM will go with this lineup especially against smaller teams. To be able to bring a 6'7 Clark and 6'10 Owens off the bench will be very dangerous for opponents. Add in solid contributions from Bryan Trimble and Amar and this team is pretty deep.
The Shamorie/Marcus combo should gain national attention this year, they're that good together. Healthy conversation to have bc for the first time since the 2014-15 season we have a loaded roster.
Who is going to rebound to start the break. Don't think this team is strong enough. I like Owens Clark starting.
This is literally the best aspect of Simon's game, which is why him at the three surrounded by two big time ball handlers makes us more dangerous than him playing guard.
I'd also put Shamorie up in a 50/50 ball situation against just about anyone. He has elite hands.
We need as many easy points as possible, because I don't think we have the staff to be a defensive-minded team. That takes obsession over detail, and someone to be the bad guy. I just don't see it. I hope I'm wrong.
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Unless Yakwe surpassed Owens in practice, Owens deserves to be in the starting 5, at least for first game of season.
Owens averaged 18 mpg last year when we needed him to play 30. I'd rather him miss the first 3-4 minutes of each half than the last. He also changes the game instantly, and that is a big deal with a short bench.
Agree that his minutes were a problem and that he makes sense as a sixth man because he's about the only player they have who can change the game by entering it. But his 18 minutes last year were a little misleading. He played 67 minutes over the first 5 and 65 minutes over the last 6 and and 15 versus Delaware (4 minutes) and Tulane (11). That's 147 minutes in 13 games, 11 mpg. (Four of the seven games he fouled out of were in the pre-season - Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, LIU.) In the remaining 20 he played ~ 23 minutes pg, the bulk of that versus the BE. Which is not outlandish, for a first year player. It may be that he wasn't not as fragile as we think, or as dumb. Maybe he was just a mite too enthusiastic.
Let's hope he can average 25 mpg this year. He's also a very solid FT shooter for a big man.
I hope he plays well and fills his minutes effectively...
That said, Yakwe is a 6'7 forward forced to play center. While he improved FT's in year 2, his 59% at the line is not very good.
As a freshman, Yakwe had several tremendous games. What he returned with the following season wasn't anything like he was that first year. If there's any chance of him getting back to where he was when he played like a pro against Xavier and Marquette he needs start getting after it. He used to. What happened to that guy? Sima was our promising freshman center. Yakwe took over at center and he was better. By a lot.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
Going to get a triple double this year. Almost had one yesterday
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Also to note through 4 games, small sample sizes I know:
Shamorie has increased his rebounding prowess exponentially while showing scouts his ability to dish. Averaging 17.3 ppg/7.3 rpg/4.0 apg/1.8 spg. Only 4 games in but his stat lines are up in nearly every category sans FG and 3P% which are atrocious early, that will most definitely change so you have to figure that he's really in for a big time year.
Bash's FG% is slightly up but what everyone focuses on most with him (FGA) is nearly identical YOY (10.8 FGA).
Tariq is rebounding and blocking at a higher clip, and Marcus is shooting at a much more efficient rate from the field and 3.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
Huge upgrade over Malik. I wish he had been up to the challenge to improve and fight for minutes... but oh well.
I sort of wanted to see Simon and Trimble run the point during garbage time to see if they could run the team and set up the O.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
You can't count yesterday. It was against a d-2 team that was projected to finish at the bottom of their conference. It doesn't count for record and shouldn't count for stats.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
You can't count yesterday. It was against a d-2 team that was projected to finish at the bottom of their conference. It doesn't count for record and shouldn't count for stats.
But it does count for the record and it does count for the stats hence the reason we are considered 4-0. Only thing that doesn't count about Molloy game is NCAA tourney consideration. Please all commit this to memory so we can all stop with the back and forth over whether this game was an exhibition, pre-season, regular season, play off or Super Bowl game.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
You can't count yesterday. It was against a d-2 team that was projected to finish at the bottom of their conference. It doesn't count for record and shouldn't count for stats.
But it does count for the record and it does count for the stats hence the reason we are considered 4-0. Only thing that doesn't count about Molloy game is NCAA tourney consideration. Please all commit this to memory so we can all stop with the back and forth over whether this game was an exhibition, pre-season, regular season, play off or Super Bowl game.
The RPI and the selection comitttee don't consider it...neither should we. They aren't a top 500 team nationally.
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Justin Simon through 4 games is averaging:
10.3 ppg *on only 8 FGA/pg*
9.5 rpg
3.8 apg
2.8 spg
1.0 bpg
All while shooting 53% from the field. Safe to say he's a upgrade over Malik.
You can't count yesterday. It was against a d-2 team that was projected to finish at the bottom of their conference. It doesn't count for record and shouldn't count for stats.
But it does count for the record and it does count for the stats hence the reason we are considered 4-0. Only thing that doesn't count about Molloy game is NCAA tourney consideration. Please all commit this to memory so we can all stop with the back and forth over whether this game was an exhibition, pre-season, regular season, play off or Super Bowl game.
The RPI and the selection comitttee don't consider it...neither should we. They aren't a top 500 team nationally.
Maybe, but we don't get to decide these matters for ourselves. We are an NCAA member institution and must abide by there rules.