Lance and reality

Quote from: Kmart28Jets on April 20, 2009, 09:44:28 PM

and beating louisville at half and within i think 5 against pitt at half...

yup

Exactly, and than what happenned. I bet we went into a scoring drought and it was over.

yup thats due to lack of execution...my point is that will change if Lance was to come here. and contrary to what other posters are saying, if we were to win those types of games this season we would have made the NCAA.

  Lance brings scoring.  We need scoring.  no arguement.  But please guys,  lets not pretend we were a few lucky bounces away from making the NCAAs. Being close at halftime is not what we should strive for here.  You can't pick a few games which we were competetive for a few minutes and say "if we won".  Its absurd.  How about losing by 30 to Providence for most of that game?  I hope Lance comes.  I hope we make th Ncaa's.  Oh yeah,    we need a   PG.   That would help too.   My point to you BBall fan is that to say we will definitely make the NCAAs if Lance comes....is insane!   Come on man.

nothings definite, as is seen by the loaded teams that dont make the tourny every year...ND was a pick for the final four by some and look what happened...but, i agree that they would have a good shot with lance and being ranked at some point is very possible as well...nothing is a lock though

I don't think the NCAA is out of reach next season with or without Lance. I think a lot depends on our OOC schedule but the conference is definitely inferior than it was last year and we're improving while other teams are taking a step back. This is not to say St. John's is now better than these teams but they could be. A lot is up in the air now but its all possible. Could it happen and will it happen are definitely two different things.


Also to touch upon games last season. I think its a stretch to say we kept games close. Did anyone ever have a feeling we had a chance in the Duke game while the game was on? I sure didn't. I think we screwed over Vegas a few times but other than that it wasn't close. I'd venture to say I thought we kept the UConn game closer than we did the Duke game.

There are still so many question marks surrounding this team but then again many teams around the conference also have question marks as well. I think the goal at this point should be to be in the top half of the conference. 8 or better. If we do that then there is serious chance at NCAA's and also safe to say we're heading in the right direction in terms of a program.

Also Lance would help tremendously, baggage and all I'd gladly take him for more reasons than 1. Ideally adding him and Parrom over Stith or Armstead would be fantastic.

what reasons please specify?

I don't think the NCAA is out of reach next season with or without Lance. I think a lot depends on our OOC schedule but the conference is definitely inferior than it was last year and we're improving while other teams are taking a step back. This is not to say St. John's is now better than these teams but they could be. A lot is up in the air now but its all possible. Could it happen and will it happen are definitely two different things.


Also to touch upon games last season. I think its a stretch to say we kept games close. Did anyone ever have a feeling we had a chance in the Duke game while the game was on? I sure didn't. I think we screwed over Vegas a few times but other than that it wasn't close. I'd venture to say I thought we kept the UConn game closer than we did the Duke game.

There are still so many question marks surrounding this team but then again many teams around the conference also have question marks as well. I think the goal at this point should be to be in the top half of the conference. 8 or better. If we do that then there is serious chance at NCAA's and also safe to say we're heading in the right direction in terms of a program.

Also Lance would help tremendously, baggage and all I'd gladly take him for more reasons than 1. Ideally adding him and Parrom over Stith or Armstead would be fantastic.

   Thanks for the dose of reality Dave.  Well said.  My question is that if St.John's finishes 8th this year. Does the BE get 8 teams in during a down year?  Especially when they only got seven this past season. Its possible i guess.

Your optimism is great but prepare yourself to be disappointed...

I read somewhere that the school is considering that for our new tagline…

The St. John’s Redstorm: prepare yourself to be disappointed!

yup thats due to lack of execution...my point is that will change if Lance was to come here. and contrary to what other posters are saying, if we were to win those types of games this season we would have made the NCAA.

The above is a good example as to why posting while on an acid trip should be discouraged! I would suggest listening to the Dead, Floyd or Phish. Maybe watch Jacob's ladder or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but def do not post on a basketball forum. Tommorow when you come down you are going to look at what you have posted and be very embarrassed! 

yup thats due to lack of execution...my point is that will change if Lance was to come here. and contrary to what other posters are saying, if we were to win those types of games this season we would have made the NCAA.

How is Lance alone going to be able to get the ball over half court?  To stop runouts off a long rebound?  It's not like Lance will be indefensible; I am sure Jamie Dixon and Rick Pitino will find a way to get the ball out of his hands (or make him take bad shots - from all accounts, his range is not his strength) and the rest of the team has to improve to sniff the NCAA bubble.

He is one player.  The team can get better, and I hope they will.  But Lance isn't the only difference; the team needed depth, turnover prevention on offense and turnover creation on defense (both which I think were lacking), more consistent interior scoring, more consistent perimeter scoring... Lance Stephenson can change some of that.  But he can also be a turnover-prone guard who feels that he needs to put the weight of the team on his shoulders (and turn the ball over while doing so. 

I'd like to dream big too, but I'm not talking NCAAs for this team. The gap between this squad and ANY of the NCAA Big East squads' offense is a gulf. 

I'll also note that some of the losses were competitive at times (Pittsburgh and U Conn for example); some involved a team that let a player who wasn't cutting it on the floor (Louisville and Terence Williams' hand - they were unnaturally bad that whole game); and some were not remotely competitive (PROVIDENCE, Marquette, Villanova).  With Lance, maybe the Louisville game is a win. 

How is Lance alone going to be able to get the ball over half court?  To stop runouts off a long rebound?  It's not like Lance will be indefensible; I am sure Jamie Dixon and Rick Pitino will find a way to get the ball out of his hands (or make him take bad shots - from all accounts, his range is not his strength) and the rest of the team has to improve to sniff the NCAA bubble.

He is one player.  The team can get better, and I hope they will.  But Lance isn't the only difference; the team needed depth, turnover prevention on offense and turnover creation on defense (both which I think were lacking), more consistent interior scoring, more consistent perimeter scoring... Lance Stephenson can change some of that.  But he can also be a turnover-prone guard who feels that he needs to put the weight of the team on his shoulders (and turn the ball over while doing so. 

I'd like to dream big too, but I'm not talking NCAAs for this team. The gap between this squad and ANY of the NCAA Big East squads' offense is a gulf. 

I'll also note that some of the losses were competitive at times (Pittsburgh and U Conn for example); some involved a team that let a player who wasn't cutting it on the floor (Louisville and Terence Williams' hand - they were unnaturally bad that whole game); and some were not remotely competitive (PROVIDENCE, Marquette, Villanova).  With Lance, maybe the Louisville game is a win.

Maybe the post of the year Peter.  Lance is a great player no doubt but to say by his mere presence he will make us an NCAA team is a little far fetched.  This team with Lance and Omari has a ton of potential but how many times have we heard things referred to as having potential around here.  There is no doubt if this team lands Lance that we are instantly a better team but adding Lance also adds many question marks.  Here is to hoping we land Lance.

You guys are out of your minds. This is 1 of the best players EVER to come out of NYC. Hes going to be in the NBA soon. This team has thousands of questions marks from the school president to the towel boy and even down to us as fans. Why cant we add one more question mark who would be the best talent to come to this school since Artest?

Omar Cook.

Omar Cook.

Barkley was better I think. Is Stephenson better than Artest coming out of high school?

Quote from: Tha Kid on April 21, 2009, 02:03:23 PM

Omar Cook.

Barkley was better I think. Is Stephenson better than Artest coming out of high school?

He's more talented, but Artest was much more of a team player.

Quote from: Tha Kid on April 21, 2009, 02:03:23 PM

Omar Cook.

Barkley was better I think. Is Stephenson better than Artest coming out of high school?

Barkley was better for us (and had more talent around him), but I believe Cook was more "talented" coming out of HS.  Just not as good a work ethic and teammate as Barkley.

Quote from: Marco Baldi on April 21, 2009, 02:05:51 PM

Quote from: Tha Kid on April 21, 2009, 02:03:23 PM

Omar Cook.

Barkley was better I think. Is Stephenson better than Artest coming out of high school?

Barkley was better for us (and had more talent around him), but I believe Cook was more "talented" coming out of HS.  Just not as good a work ethic and teammate as Barkley.

http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=1335.0 check the poll

Tha kid, were you 1 of the 3 to vote for Cook?  Does anyone know where Cook was rated in the top 100 rankings as compared to Barkley?

You guys are out of your minds. This is 1 of the best players EVER to come out of NYC. Hes going to be in the NBA soon. This team has thousands of questions marks from the school president to the towel boy and even down to us as fans. Why cant we add one more question mark who would be the best talent to come to this school since Artest?

I think if Lance does come here the best comparison will be with Felipe Lopez, right down to the crappy coaches in place.

Quote from: Marco Baldi on April 21, 2009, 01:56:56 PM

You guys are out of your minds. This is 1 of the best players EVER to come out of NYC. Hes going to be in the NBA soon. This team has thousands of questions marks from the school president to the towel boy and even down to us as fans. Why cant we add one more question mark who would be the best talent to come to this school since Artest?

I think if Lance does come here the best comparison will be with Felipe Lopez, right down to the crappy coaches in place.

Felipe was a basketball God coming out of high school,the best player in his class. Where does Lance rank in his class? top 10?

ok this is were everyone is getting it twisted...i never said lance will singlehandedly get us to the tournament...i said him in addition to our supporting cast and added depth next year will get us in. this man is the all time leading scorer in ny highschool bball passing telfair and marbury. the point is some posters were being overly negative by saying "even with lance we wont make the tournament." im not going to act like i can predict the future but with lance, it becomes extremely possible we have a good chance of getting in.