[Game Discussion] Mercer

It's encouraging to see confidence level of Earlington and Roberts. They are showing some really good potential. The more I see Earlington he's less Jayvaughn Pinkston and more Desi Rodriguez which would be tremendous career path.

Caraher had a very unassuming 12 and 7. He's always been like that. Great to see him contribute.

Champagnie has played 4 better than I expected early on. Physically he's improved so much from spring.

Rutherford played about as good as we could have asked him to.

Sears having 5 fouls shows you speed of game is gonna be a problem for him.

Overall really good first game and showing. We have some work to do on rebounding and defense.

I'm hoping Sears can be a serviceable big body against some of the teams that slow us up or play more methodical in the half court at times, which absolutely murdered us last year (see Xavier, Depaul, etc).

It's encouraging to see confidence level of Earlington and Roberts. They are showing some really good potential. The more I see Earlington he's less Jayvaughn Pinkston and more Desi Rodriguez which would be tremendous career path.

Caraher had a very unassuming 12 and 7. He's always been like that. Great to see him contribute.

Champagnie has played 4 better than I expected early on. Physically he's improved so much from spring.

Rutherford played about as good as we could have asked him to.

Sears having 5 fouls shows you speed of game is gonna be a problem for him.

Overall really good first game and showing. We have some work to do on rebounding and defense.

I'm hoping Sears can be a serviceable big body against some of the teams that slow us up or play more methodical in the half court at times, which absolutely murdered us last year (see Xavier, Depaul, etc).

I think he can be serviceable and eat space in limited action. I think rotation of Steere, Roberts, Caraher, and Champagnie is more than enough.

I think he can be serviceable and eat space in limited action. I think rotation of Steere, Roberts, Caraher, and Champagnie is more than enough.

I’m wondering what the half court offense will look like, assuming it will be 4 out a lot which should give Caraher some solid minutes.

I’m wondering what the half court offense will look like, assuming it will be 4 out a lot which should give Caraher some solid minutes.

I think you're right on

... The more I see Earlington he's less Jayvaughn Pinkston and more Desi Rodriguez which would be tremendous career path...

How about even more like version 2.0 of Marvin Clark?

It's encouraging to see confidence level of Earlington and Roberts. They are showing some really good potential. The more I see Earlington he's less Jayvaughn Pinkston and more Desi Rodriguez which would be tremendous career path.

Caraher had a very unassuming 12 and 7. He's always been like that. Great to see him contribute.

Champagnie has played 4 better than I expected early on. Physically he's improved so much from spring.

Rutherford played about as good as we could have asked him to.

Sears having 5 fouls shows you speed of game is gonna be a problem for him.

Overall really good first game and showing. We have some work to do on rebounding and defense.

Go on the Arkansas message boards. We were always complaining about rebounding and defense. It never got fixed.

My biggest complaints of Anderson were:
1. Recruiting. It didn't seem like he had a plan and we would have really unbalanced classes. Also, he would sign guys that were never going to contribute and would leave after a year.
2. Crazy substitutions. A guy would score 3-4 buckets and get hot and Anderson would pull him.
3. No half-court offense at all.
4. Rebounding.
5. We seemed to always leave a wide-open 3 point shooter alone.

There are other things, but these are enough to frustrate you.

How about even more like version 2.0 of Marvin Clark?

He looked nothing like Marvin Clark.

Go on the Arkansas message boards. We were always complaining about rebounding and defense. It never got fixed.

My biggest complaints of Anderson were:
1. Recruiting. It didn't seem like he had a plan and we would have really unbalanced classes. Also, he would sign guys that were never going to contribute and would leave after a year.
2. Crazy substitutions. A guy would score 3-4 buckets and get hot and Anderson would pull him.
3. No half-court offense at all.
4. Rebounding.
5. We seemed to always leave a wide-open 3 point shooter alone.

There are other things, but these are enough to frustrate you.

And now he actually has some good assistants for once in his lifetime, he’s learned his lesson and is motivated to actually change and do what it takes to win.

Go on the Arkansas message boards. We were always complaining about rebounding and defense. It never got fixed.

My biggest complaints of Anderson were:
1. Recruiting. It didn't seem like he had a plan and we would have really unbalanced classes. Also, he would sign guys that were never going to contribute and would leave after a year.
2. Crazy substitutions. A guy would score 3-4 buckets and get hot and Anderson would pull him.
3. No half-court offense at all.
4. Rebounding.
5. We seemed to always leave a wide-open 3 point shooter alone.

There are other things, but these are enough to frustrate you.

Which coach are we talking about? I’m not announcing Mike Anderson a savior after waxing Mercer, but we hit the glass last night. We also hit the offensive glass, and I’m sure of that because I remember how frustrating it was seeing our guys rarely bother to even try for an offensive rebound, let alone any rebound.

What confuses me about your post is that you’re saying that Mike Anderson wasn’t aware of the current situation at hand. When he got here, it really looks to me like he recognized that our program didn’t emphasize defense. It doesn’t take much to see that, but instead of recruiting 11 shooting guards, he grabbed rebounders in Champagnie and Sears, and defensive minded guards in Rutherford and McGriff.

These additions were destroyed on this board, but what if Mike Anderson’s recruiting strategy was only to add players that complimented what we already had offensively? It seems like a sensible strategy especially considering that there wasn’t a lot of time.

Mullin was faced with a much greater challenge when he took over, but he also didn’t have the frame of reference to look back on past choices and decide if he would make them again. This is just one way that Mike Anderson’s experience, even knowing that some years were lousy, will help this program. We don’t have to watch him learn how to do everything a coach does for the very first time.

Let’s see how they do as the games first become challenging. I would not be surprised if we came out with a couple of early season duds. But that’s because I’m a St.John’s fan, and it’s simply what I know.

Is your interpreter available to explain this?

Earlington’s outside shot (and overall perimeter ability) is one of the strongest aspects of his game. That should be clear to anyone with even the most basic understanding of the sport.

Last year he had no role. When he came in he jacked up shots. He showed nothing that would lead anyone to believe he had wing talent. The guy barley got off the bench and maybe played 2 games that weren’t complete garbage time.
Very impressed with what I saw from him yesterday. He was aggressive, athletic, and has some skill.

Go on the Arkansas message boards. We were always complaining about rebounding and defense. It never got fixed.

My biggest complaints of Anderson were:
1. Recruiting. It didn't seem like he had a plan and we would have really unbalanced classes. Also, he would sign guys that were never going to contribute and would leave after a year.
2. Crazy substitutions. A guy would score 3-4 buckets and get hot and Anderson would pull him.
3. No half-court offense at all.
4. Rebounding.
5. We seemed to always leave a wide-open 3 point shooter alone.

There are other things, but these are enough to frustrate you.

The half court offense (and defense for that matter) looked suspect last night. Our fans are insane, though, so reality and balance are tough asks.

However bad his teams may have been at rebounding in the past, he will be a marked improvement over our last two coaches who both deemphasized that aspect.

The half court offense (and defense for that matter) looked suspect last night. Our fans are insane, though, so reality and balance are tough asks.

However bad his teams may have been at rebounding in the past, he will be a marked improvement over our last two coaches who both deemphasized that aspect.

For the most part your critique of the game is fair. We didn’t play amazing. But we played hard. We played smarter. We didn’t take our foot off the gas. We took better shots. When we stopped playing well, coach called a time out. Players refocused.
Plenty of things need to be worked on. Defense rebounding especially. But effort and focus were  there. Huge improvement. Foundation is being laid. We are establishing a culture. Every player and coach contributed. And we won by 30.

I assuming the mike anderson hate is coming from pro chris mullin guys.

I will say it again.  We all the love chris mullin.  He is st johns basketball.

He was also the worst gameday coach i have ever seen.  I was embarrassed watching games when he coached.

And thats not his fault because he is not a coach.  He took a stab at it but he was awful.  Its not easy to coach and just cause your a great player doesnt mean you know how to coach.

Is mike anderson coach k?  Of course not.  But st johns now has a professional coach which is something mullin never was.

There is no reason not to be on board with mike anderson.  We are lucky to have him all things considered.

How about even more like version 2.0 of Marvin Clark?

Sorry don't see any remote comparisons here. Very different players

I assuming the mike anderson hate is coming from pro chris mullin guys.

I will say it again.  We all the love chris mullin.  He is st johns basketball.

He was also the worst gameday coach i have ever seen.  I was embarrassed watching games when he coached.

And thats not his fault because he is not a coach.  He took a stab at it but he was awful.  Its not easy to coach and just cause your a great player doesnt mean you know how to coach.

Is mike anderson coach k?  Of course not.  But st johns now has a professional coach which is something mullin never was.

There is no reason not to be on board with mike anderson.  We are lucky to have him all things considered.

This. Mullin will always be the favorite son. Some posters on here get so up in arms when we criticize Mullin as a coach but it's just based off fact and the eye test.

Anderson has his flaws but he's a professional, proven coach with a long track record. Stability is all we want at this point and he looks to be bringing that.

I assuming the mike anderson hate is coming from pro chris mullin guys.

I really don't think your feelings +/- on any past coach impact your feelings on current coach.

For me any frustrations are directed at school administration for lack of direction and overall decision making. I still think the way they handled Lavin was a mistake, hiring Mullin was a mistake, and the way relationship terminated with Mullin was a mistake, and hiring of Anderson was mistake.

With that all being said I do think Mike Anderson is a good player developer and coach. My concerns mostly fall under recruiting.

How was the crowd?

He took a stab at it but he was awful.   

His teams record improved every season he coached and he qualified a team for the Ncaa tournament.  That's not awful at St. John's.

How was the crowd?

The general feeling in Carnesecca during the Mullin era had an air of arrogance to it. The lackadaisical coaching, poor shot selection, badgering of the refs, etc. It's like the building has hit a reset button with IMA, it just feels right. There is firm coaching, discipline, ball movement, effort, intensity and selflessness. The crowd was sparse but it didn't matter, the product on the court was very impressive.