Game 14: #12 Butler, NYE Queens 730P/FS1

I’m a St. John’s grad class of (93)and loved being in the building tonight...
I really wanted us to win and I agree, would have liked to see figs and Roberts put in at the 4 minute timeout..guess’s Anderson wanted to stay with what got him there, and I understand that...we are an exciting team and coach Anderson indeed can motivate...99/100 teams would have folded tonight...let’s enjoy this and move forward and get better....

Game showed coach has developed a great second unit which will develop into 40 minutes of ball busting hoop. 0 points from the two stars and, if not for a bad finish, this would have been a signature win. I’m hoping Duke gets more time. He was everywhere tonight

How can anyone not appreciate this effort?

How can anyone appreciate this effort in 'This beatdown that is good for this team. That is showing them where they stand.'

So proud of this team....

How can you be proud of this team in the midst of 'This beatdown that is good for this team. That is showing them where they stand.'?

The team gave a good accounting of itself tonight. I saw a cat get CPR and then die during the game while waiting for a flight at the Westchester Airport. I was going to help out until I realized it wasn’t a dog.

Anderson seems to do better without stars. Something to keep an eye on. Williams has our together a long string of good games. Him and Dunn on the floor together is menacing from athletic and defensive standpoints.

Rutherford was very good once again.

I agree that Williams had another good game and probably his best game so far, and perhaps was the player of the game for SJU. I think you are right that he seems to have made the shift from thinking to just wanting to play his game. I think a second unit of Dunn, Williams, Earlington, Rutherford and Sears is going to give all BE teams nightmares this year. What i am noticing about a strong second unit coaching strategy (perhaps this is part of the 40 minutes of hell) is that the opposing team cannot keep up with the intensity of constant pressure, and just wears down and either cannot keep the lead or are too worn to make a full comeback. There was also a clear conditioning difference between the two teams. (Maybe that is also why Steere is not playing).

Another encouraging thing for me as a fan and from a pure entertainment factor is that Butler was the one team in the big east that I thought would handle our pressure....and I’m telling you, I was there, for about 13 minutes in second half Butler could not make a pass without being under duress...should be a fun to watch season. Just hoping for 9 BE wins!!

Very proud and still very disappointed. Greg Williams with confidence is a great thing. Changes our team completely and is a guy who can get into the paint.

How can you be proud of this team in the midst of 'This beatdown that is good for this team. That is showing them where they stand.'?

Yes the 1st half beatdown showed where they stood. They needed that to light a fire in their ass for poor ass play! Appreciating the effort and being  proud of this team has nothing to do with what they needed to turn it around.

There are positives and negatives to take away from this game.

We had no business being in the game late in the 2nd but we needed to close that out for a W.

We're going to have to find a way to generate half court offense. Teams are going to figure out quick that the recipe for beating us is simply don't turn the ball over.

There are positives and negatives to take away from this game.

We had no business being in the game late in the 2nd but we needed to close that out for a W.

We're going to have to find a way to generate half court offense. Teams are going to figure out quick that the recipe for beating us is simply don't turn the ball over.

Given last nights game it will not be simple. Butler is one of the top teams. They walk it up and play slowly which normally leads to fewerTOs. 24 turnovers last night shows me that we will turnover everyone. Agree half court offense needs a lot of work

The guys that made the comeback were incredible. Those guys aren’t going to win to many games in the half court. Maybe coach should have went to LJ a little earlier.

I don't expect the half court offense to ever be great but it needs to be better. This is the biggest area where this staff needs to improve. There's just not a whole lot going aside from just swinging it side to side and exchanging. There's not enough playmakers on this team for that to work.

During the Butler run in the 1st half there was a stretch where on 4 straight possessions the shots were: Dunn long 3, Earlington 3, Dunn long 3, Earlington long 2. That can't happen. Shot selection got better in the 2nd half when we started turning them over more but that should have been corrected by this point in the season.

I still worry that certain guys aren't quite understanding their roles and are trying to do too much. Earlington should never be shooting jumpers at this stage and Sears shouldn't be dribbling.

All that said, it was pretty amazing this team showed the fight to come back from that big of a deficit especially with that lineup on the floor. I still don't see us as an NCAA Tournament team but we will be fun to watch all season and will know that the effort is there night and night out. 

Given last nights game it will not be simple. Butler is one of the top teams. They walk it up and play slowly which normally leads to fewerTOs. 24 turnovers last night shows me that we will turnover everyone. Agree half court offense needs a lot of work

I think Butler got complacent and started turning the ball over. Up 20+ can lead to lackadaisical ball handling.

While I like Butler they were still picked 8th preseason. A healthy Heron obviously changes are team dramatically but I'm worried about Big East play. Still early and we are in drivers seat for tourney berth.

Anderson's imprint was all over the court last night.

Do we struggle in the half court? Sure. However we make up for it with relentless pressure D that causes havoc for teams and forces turnovers.

Sure there will be a few games where teams don't turn it over and we'll probably be in trouble unless our outside shooting and overall fg pctg dramatically improves.

Also for those questioning LJ not getting put back in earlier last night, it could've easily worked against us as the offense could've stagnated with him trying to hold on to the ball too long.

The entire team deserves a ton of credit for turning a 23 point deficit into a 5 point lead. It sucks that we didn't close them out. That kid David's only points of the game and they proved to be the dagger. Just the way it works sometimes.

There are positives and negatives to take away from this game.

We had no business being in the game late in the 2nd but we needed to close that out for a W.

We're going to have to find a way to generate half court offense. Teams are going to figure out quick that the recipe for beating us is simply don't turn the ball over.

Heron has to be the one to create in the half court.   He's the guy who can take people off the dribble, or pull up for a jumper.   

Hopefully when he returns he looks more comfortable on the court. 

Anderson's imprint was all over the court last night.

Do we struggle in the half court? Sure. However we make up for it with relentless pressure D that causes havoc for teams and forces turnovers.

Sure there will be a few games where teams don't turn it over and we'll probably be in trouble unless our outside shooting and overall fg pctg dramatically improves.

Also for those questioning LJ not getting put back in earlier last night, it could've easily worked against us as the offense could've stagnated with him trying to hold on to the ball too long.

The entire team deserves a ton of credit for turning a 23 point deficit into a 5 point lead. It sucks that we didn't close them out. That kid David's only points of the game and they proved to be the dagger. Just the way it works sometimes.

I mentioned LJ. This team plays incredibly hard. But their isn’t much talent. Coach only has a few bullets. Anderson coached a great game. I am not suggesting after the fact that LJ should have come in. At the same time he was our best scorer. Tough sitting him in crunch time.
Half court offense will improve with better talent.

Heron has to be the one to create in the half court.   He's the guy who can take people off the dribble, or pull up for a jumper.   

Hopefully when he returns he looks more comfortable on the court. 

Yeah, Heron and Dunn are really the only good 1-on-1 players on this team.  Rutherford has gotten better at it the last two games, but no one else is really a penetrator on this team.  Expect a lot of perimeter passing when those two guys (and maybe Rutherford) don't have the ball.

I mentioned LJ. This team plays incredibly hard. But their isn’t much talent. Coach only has a few bullets. Anderson coached a great game. I am not suggesting after the fact that LJ should have come in. At the same time he was our best scorer. Tough sitting him in crunch time.
Half court offense will improve with better talent.

Agree. When we start getting more alphas, it will improve. Greg Williams is a big wild card. The kid's got it but just needs to bring it out every game.

While I like Butler they were still picked 8th preseason.

I'm confused as to how this statement has any relevance whatsoever on January 1st.