St. Peter's 11/13/21

This St. Peter's team is experienced and lost a close one on the road in their opener against VCU.

They return all 4 guys who scored in double figures against us last year.

That said,

Johnnies 84
St. Peter's 75

Will be a better early season test. Will be curious to see how many minutes Soriano gets tonight.

Mike Anderson rocking the casual plain sweater. Looks more comfortable on the bench

Man we got a lot of guys that can make shots. Good movement too.

one of the best half’s in decades. May have a shot against kansas. Great defense is the key

Lots of active guys on defense. Alot of athleticism and length. Lots of guys who can shoot (Coburn...wow)...very promising and we look like wrte a whole different echelon than a team like St. Peter's.

one of the best half’s in decades. May have a shot against kansas. Great defense is the key

Got Indiana first. Not sure how good they are this year but our guys look legit and surprisingly cohesive so early in the season.

Team playing with good energy, sharing the ball, making quick decisions.

I like the rotation so far and think Anderson is doing a good job of letting Coburn be that dude on the 2nd unit to come in and cook.

I think Wasu eventually supplants and takes Mathis' minutes.

Wheeler looking like our version of Mikal Bridges. Omar Stanley hasn't missed a shot. Soriano solid starting anchor to establish tone.

Good times at Carnesecca Arena when we shoot over 40% from three. We dominated them for twenty minutes, and had a second half that was up and down.

Observations:

Joel Soriano
So glad to see a big man who can post up. Soriano had a couple of beautiful post up moves. Yes, he needs work on d, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had an interior presence like this. I honestly can’t even remember when. Can anyone?

Omar Stanley
Ok, it’s early for this, but I’ll say it anyway. This is the guy you hoped he would be and more. He can face the basket, put it on the floor and get right in the lane. He can post up, he can run like a deer, and he can finish in traffic. Lookout.

Tariq Coburn
He has a beautiful step back jumper. Love that lefty jumper. Maybe coach has his reasons for bringing him in off the bench instead of Smith or Mathis, but at first glance in these two early games, Coburn looks like a player that should be starting. That said, he’s not a point guard. I think he knows that. He brought it up once and it wasn’t an easy watch.

Mathis
I imagine I’m not the only who had this thought, but I’d love to see less three point shooting, and more moving without the ball. Let them chase him around the court for 30 minutes, but any team will give him that wide open three point shot all day.

Stef Smith
I’m a little disappointed in where his game is considering he’s a 5th year senior. He’s getting beat on d, but I think he’ll hit some threes for us, even if not as often as we’d like.

Wheeler
Impressed with his shooting, his ball handling, and finishing at the rim. I didn’t see anything that warranted a technical foul, but IDK.

Rafael Pinzon
He’s a freshman, and today he looked like a freshman that’s still getting his footing. Which is the normal order of the things. It will be fun to see which parts of his game develop as the season goes on. He’s a 6’5 backup point guard.

Dylan Wusu
He’s rusty. Wasn’t finishing like he had last year. I think he’s close to breaking out. He blew a couple of layups.

Posh Alexander
He’s f’n great

Julian Champagnie
He’s also f’n great

Esahia Niywe
Welp, remember when we said everyone is ready to play right now, and there are no projects? We were wrong. Niywe is hustling, but he’s a WIP, and that can be cool for now if Wheeler can handle backup center when Soriano is out, but IDK how
long Wheeler is gonna last at center when we’re playing against Indiana’s frontline. We’ll see. Hopefully Niywe can work his way up to giving us solid interior defense off the bench.

Overall, this is a promising group. Although Coburn looks like the early leader to be our number three scorer, it can really be any combination of the others, except for Niywe, on a given night that steps up with 14 points and the occasional 22 here and there.

Spot on post Poison only thing I'll say about Coburn not starting is he gives us offense off the bench and better chance he'll be on the floor when penny gets a rest.

Great post Poison. We were at the game yesterday, St Johns never allowed St Peters to make a presence.

Re Soriano: Shawnelle Scott, maybe? When was the last time we had a physically dominating center position that also had the inside-the-paint offensive skill set.

Tariq Owens--great finisher, good shot blocker, poor rebounder
Chris Obekpa--great shot blocker, poor rebounder, limited offensively.
Lamont Hamilton--good offensive game, good rebounder
Mo Diakite/Curtis Johnson--pass
Anthony Glover--fierce under sized competitor
Robert Werdann-- good center with Malik Sealy
Jayson Williams--going back thirty years

Soriano showed good boxing out, staying home on defense, and good offensive skills we haven't seen often...bring on the Hoosiers!

Soriano's activity and conditioning will be a big boon for this roster all year. A back to the basket big with a low post game? Huge add literally. Love his motor.

Stanley could make All Rookie team in the BE. He's a manly frosh with game.

Coburn and Smith are great complementary pieces on the perimeter. Coburn looks silky smooth, like a pro 2 guard.

As someone else pointed out I love the cohesion this team plays with. They get right into a flow out there.

Pinzon in the short time I saw him yesterday looks like he could be solid too. I like the guard combos with the speedy, dynamic Posh and Wusu offset by some of these bigger 6'5 2 guards.

O’Mar Stanley 10/10 in his sju career.

Great post Poison. We were at the game yesterday, St Johns never allowed St Peters to make a presence.

Re Soriano: Shawnelle Scott, maybe? When was the last time we had a physically dominating center position that also had the inside-the-paint offensive skill set.

Tariq Owens--great finisher, good shot blocker, poor rebounder
Chris Obekpa--great shot blocker, poor rebounder, limited offensively.
Lamont Hamilton--good offensive game, good rebounder
Mo Diakite/Curtis Johnson--pass
Anthony Glover--fierce under sized competitor
Robert Werdann-- good center with Malik Sealy
Jayson Williams--going back thirty years

Soriano showed good boxing out, staying home on defense, and good offensive skills we haven't seen often...bring on the Hoosiers!

Sean Evans and Justin Burrell combined for a decent interior presence. Orlando Sanchez had the skills but only flashed game to game.

It’s still really early, but Smith seems to start fast and fade. Coburn seems to finish strong.

I feel like Coburn has to have a really big game against teams like Indiana for us to do well. Mathis as well.

Sean Evans and Justin Burrell combined for a decent interior presence. Orlando Sanchez had the skills but only flashed game to game.

It’s funny, from Jayson Williams to Ty Grant to Ernest Brown to Darius Miles to Norvel Pelle, we have played many a season down a key player for whatever reason. Usually, the NCAA. Notice how I called them the NCAA instead of the gestapo.

It’s still really early, but Smith seems to start fast and fade. Coburn seems to finish strong.

I feel like Coburn has to have a really big game against teams like Indiana for us to do well. Mathis as well.

I like Smith, but I also feel Coburn is a great get and is the better player. He seems to be a great shooter and has a lot of poise.

I like Smith, but I also feel Coburn is a great get and is the better player. He seems to be a great shooter and has a lot of poise.

Coburn is probably gonna start pretty soon. He’s definitely better than Smith.