Back from the game

We played a pretty poor game tonight.

For some reason, some scrub on Colombia made 5 three pointers in the first half before we started to guard him.

Hardy and Boothe were awful. Neither played defense. Neither followed shots, or kept their head in the game at any point.

After watching them tonight, you have to wonder if either should be starting. I think all of us call for new guys out there, but at the end of the day, they just aren't very good players.

Burrell is a senior, and he scored two points at home vs a low level Ivy. I hope everyone is still in Alumni Hall ruining suicide drills until they puke.

I was at the game also. This game should have never been close. Our defense against the three point shot is the worse I have seen. In the first half they had a ton of open 3's and made them all thats how they took the lead. Kennedy was very good in the first half when no one was doing anything. Polee and Brownlee played well but neither played very good defense and allowed way too many offensive rebounds. I said this before and I will say it again we just dont have enough size in our starting lineup. They got offensive rebounds way too easily because Brownlee is not a good rebounder. Hardy was terrible, Horne maybe starting soon he was good on defense and his shot looked crisp. Boothe didn't play very well but Stith played well again and he should see more and more time if his play continues. Burrell did a nice job on the boards and had that monster alley oop but hes needs to be more aggressive and look for his shot he can score a lot more than this. Overall it was a game to learn from and move on, not our best effort by far.

Yeah I thought we should have played better but I think Lavin wanted us to keep practicing that zone even when it wasn't working and these are the games to do that in.  We have to learn how to rebound in the zone. The game changed once we switched to man.

 I actually thought Burrell was rock solid on the defensive end and didn't try to force anything on offense.  His oop was amazing.

Polee is a legit stud and it wouldn't surprise me if he's Big East Freshman of the year.

 The student sections were packed, where were you alumni who are always chirping about lack of student support? I saw a lot of empty seats int the upper level. 

Paris Horne played a very sound game.

Stith made a bunch of nice plays but he's not a 2 guard and it baffles me why Lavin continues to put him and Boothe on the floor at the same time when Horne and Q are sitting on the bench.

Keady's hair is ridiculous in person.

Boothe played a really bad game, he seems insistent on driving but always gets stuffed.

Hardy has to find his stroke and when he does he will be fine, he was making plays when driving the ball.

Brownlee was very, very vocal on the floor and barking orders left and right, also he was intense and was going nuts after every basket and even got T'd up.  All of these things are out of character for Brownlee and that has everything to do with Lavin, he looks like a new man out there.  if he wasn't in foul trouble he would have had a monster game.

I like Coker, but if we keep playing this aggressive D, he can't be on the floor, just doesn't have the speed.

DJ looked like he was making a point to be more aggressive from the get go, I'd like to see him shoot a lot more, hes got a great stroke.

All in all, we should have crushed them but we got the win and were in control for the whole game with the exception of the run by #11 late in the first half.  I'm not too upset.

you all need to understand we dont have a good collective team. this is a group of mid major players in a top conference. the ncaa is a joke dream for this team. thre is no way they will end up in the top half of the big east. 4 years of being a shitty team doesnt make you a good team. just wait for the 2012-13 team then we may actually have something to be excited about. this is a nit team.

Poison & Wods317...
I'm curious, which game did you go to tonight? Was it Manhattan vs Penn?

Before you guys go off starting a new website with Danman to get Lavin fired, take a chill pill. The staff has worked with these guys for a little over a month now. They are real good, but they can’t turn our guys into All American’s.

Yes, we’re not playing like Duke just yet, but I have seen improvements in all three games, counting the exhibition game. Give them a little time and I really think you will start to appreciate the difference.

Poison & Wods317...
I'm curious, which game did you go to tonight? Was it Manhattan vs Penn?

Before you guys go off starting a new website with Danman to get Lavin fired, take a chill pill. The staff has worked with these guys for a little over a month now. They are real good, but they can’t turn our guys into All American’s.

Yes, we’re not playing like Duke just yet, but I have seen improvements in all three games, counting the exhibition game. Give them a little time and I really think you will start to appreciate the difference.

What are you talking about? All I mentioned was what when on during the game, I never said anything bad about the staff at all. I knocked the players a little because they had some off nights but that happens. We didn't play very well tonight but we will be better. Lavin and the staff are doing a great job and I have never criticized them, relax.

Just got back from the game..1st thing there was a bunch of students there!!..good to see..it would b nice if the could sync. There cheers lol...as far as the game goes
Brownlee had a great game..foul trouble held him back..and about the tech. Does college have the same rule as the nba as far as the complainin goes because it looked like right when he threw his arms up he got a t..

Hardy's shot was off but it was nice to see him take the ball of the dribble like he did...made a few nice passes as well..

Polee..I contiue to say he is gonna be a special player by the end of his career here..hopefully he can beef up a little tho..1 rebound short of a double double although he did look a little lost on offense at times but as a freshman I expect that occasionally..

Burrell lookd lost/out of shape on offense but he hasn't Had that much practice time..I liked his defense overall..that alley oop was rediculous tho

I personally feel horne should be starting over hardy..I feel he is a overall better player imo.


As a whole I don't think the team did that horrible considering that there still getting used to the system..I feel we could use a little more size in the starting linup but honestly w/ this system I cnt see evans and coker fitting in too well..as far as rebounding goes it seemd to me that the team crashd the boards well but jus couldn't bring down the ball..we can deffinetly improve on d that will come with time tho..we did have a hand in the face on a lot of those 3s jus a tad late..that starks kidd was not missing!!..I'm tired of hearing this team dosnt have talent..this team will look a lot better later in the season it just takes time to get used to/comftorble with the system wich they will...I still have confidence that this team can get us to the tourney 

The biggest thing that stuck out for me was this team still plays w no point guard. Boothe is driving, and looking for his own shot, and Stith never, and I mean never found the wide open man to his left or right.

Stith has obviously improved his 3 point shooting, but he's not running an offense. However, if he hits 3 threes a game, he's going to play.
He should just be playing the 2.

Hardy just chucks threes, and stands around. Someone should show him some tape of Bootsy Thornton. After you shoot the ball, you sprint to the rim.

Evans looked lost. There was no sign of Coker. Are we really going to put Bambi and Brownlee on Melo and Jackson?

hardy is in a shooting slump. i have no doubt he'll come out of it, hopefully sooner then later. stith looks improved, but yeah a couple of times i saw polee streaking down the court for an alley oop but stith never saw him. burrell? i have no idea what he was doing for the 20 minutes he played. evans and coker must be in the dog house?? I really would like to see Q take some minutes from the maliks. DJ showed up in the first half, but disapeared in the second half. overall, it is obvious that the players are working hard to learn a new system, but it will take time. ROME wasn't built in a day

also, as a side note, this is my first year with season tickets. i noticed more students then i can remember which is great and im sure as they get better there will be more and more, but the amount of fans i saw in the post college-40 year old was suprisingly low. my section i sit around a bunch of old men. is this normal? that leads to a pretty quiet crowd. 

Manbearpig, i hear you about Hardy's slump, but I'm talking about overall hustle.

Doesn't ever follow his shot.

my section i sit around a bunch of old men. is this normal?

Normal? It's mandatory. If you'd like to fit in get yourself a red sweater and a toupee, eat at Dante's before the game, and you'd best start watching game films of the Mcintyre brothers, they're a great conversation starter.

Quote from: manbearpig on November 18, 2010, 08:42:52 AM

my section i sit around a bunch of old men. is this normal?

Normal? It's mandatory. If you'd like to fit in get yourself a red sweater and a toupee, eat at Dante's before the game, and you'd best start watching game films of the Mcintyre brothers, they're a great conversation starter.

Didn't Raftery call Alumni Hall the "wine and cheese" crowd. I remember when I was a little kid a family friend played for Wagner and gave us tickets to the game. It was the first time I had ever been to a game on Campus and I was shocked at how much of an older crowd it was.

I thought there were more students there then "old" fans.  Despite what everyone says, the place was dead quiet until the ally oop to burrell.  Alot students were denied access to the student section due to the new policy.  i don't think its a great idea and there were alot of angry students.

Poison and Wods317 I agree with most of what they said. Hopefully the boy's were tired because they looked awful. Polee was good. Paris played well but only after he hit a few shots. I thought Boothe played ok. It is hard to run an offense when there is no offense. Very little movement. Only Ball screens. Burell's only basket which was an awesome dunk one of the few highlights. Brownlee is not a center, he scored points only because he was in the right place. He didn't rebound or play defense. Would rather have Evans in there. Evans played about a minute, Columbia went on mini run and Polee cam back in.
LIKE EVERYONE I AM EXTREAMLY HAPPY LAVIN AND STAFF ARE HERE
However if Norm and Staff were here for last night's game the team would have looked better. If we play solid man defense we win by 30. The press and zone got turnovers but also gave up way to many open looks. We also gave up WAY to many offensive rebounds. I don't want Norm back and I love Lavin but many things have to be fixed just to get back to where we were at the end of last year. We have a week to get ready for Arizona St. Hopefully we are ready.

Poison and Wods317 I agree with most of what they said. Hopefully the boy's were tired because they looked awful. Polee was good. Paris played well but only after he hit a few shots. I thought Boothe played ok. It is hard to run an offense when there is no offense. Very little movement. Only Ball screens. Burell's only basket which was an awesome dunk one of the few highlights. Brownlee is not a center, he scored points only because he was in the right place. He didn't rebound or play defense. Would rather have Evans in there. Evans played about a minute, Columbia went on mini run and Polee cam back in.
LIKE EVERYONE I AM EXTREAMLY HAPPY LAVIN AND STAFF ARE HERE
However if Norm and Staff were here for last night's game the team would have looked better. If we play solid man defense we win by 30. The press and zone got turnovers but also gave up way to many open looks. We also gave up WAY to many offensive rebounds. I don't want Norm back and I love Lavin but many things have to be fixed just to get back to where we were at the end of last year. We have a week to get ready for Arizona St. Hopefully we are ready.

Steve Lavin is now 146-79 with 4 sweet 16's, 1 Elite 8 and just recruited the number 3 class in the country. and has a hot wife. Norm Roberts was 88-169 with 1 NIT appearance recruited Geno and I believe is married to Redstormhoopsfan. Lavin is implementing a new system on offense and defense with a team that has known only losing. It is going to take time! As another shaky game coach, but superb motivator Norman Dale once said"you have to break them down then build them back up". Norm's teams beat no one by 30 and Evans is a severly limited player who is playing the correct amount of ninutes.

To his credit, Stith, according to Lavin, responded well to criticism with improved play.

His point guard game might need work, but he's hitting shots, and we need offense.

as I watched last night, I thought of the old saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks".  i was glad to see coach Lavin switch the team back to their comfort defense last night (Man to man) as they were getting beat from the corners just as SMC had done.  the team seems more suited for the man defense as the results bore out.  Columbia's #11 and #0 combined for 22 points in the first half and ZERO in the 2nd half.  the man defense put someone in #11's jock and he turned out to be a one trick pony and the man defense put a body on #0 and when he got entry passes he was to deep under the boards and had hard shots versus easy layups in the 1st half.  polee clearly seems more suited to the zone with his quickness but was abused in the man defense.

Coach Lavin will continue opening games with the zone as he teaches the team-hopefully they will grow with it as it gives this offensively challenged group a shot at easy layups off steals.  i liked the double high post and ball movement that i saw, if only we had some one who could finish for the open spot (next year we hope that changes.

one positive I noticed was the interaction between the coaches and players.  when ever some one comes out they sit done next to one of the coaches who talks with them--I am sure this is part of the teaching and not discussing the dance team favorites.

the reason there are so many Gene Keady look alikes in the stands is that the young alumni don't come out.  think of what Redmen ball has been for the 15 years and there goes our potential 22 to 37 audience.  hopefully the present students will take up the call when they graduate and become season ticket holders because those in the up front seats will not last forever as they move to seats in the celestial level

I agree redslope. A good analysis.

They played solid man to man defense..
The zone was beatable. I'm not sure we're big enough to use an effective zone with such a tiny line up.

Let's talk about that dance team, though.  I've gone to a few DePaul games and the cheerleaders/ dance team are rough. St. John's dance team... I miss New York, is all I'm sayin'!

Let's talk about that dance team, though.  I've gone to a few DePaul games and the cheerleaders/ dance team are rough. St. John's dance team... I miss New York, is all I'm sayin'!

Noticed that too. Well they looked good on the choppy st. john's internet feed.  BTW was anyone elses feed bad last night?  Mine stopped a few times and had to load but that didn't bother me as much as the commentators, boy were they bad.  They were constantly wrong about things and were all around awful.