Syracuse Post Game Discussion (Embarassing loss)

Just a few thoughts.

-Burrell cant hold onto the ball.
-Hardy doesnt hustle.
-Nobody on this team should have the green light from 3. NOBODY
-Did Brownlee play tonight? Or is he stuck on the A train?
-Stith was the best player on the court for St Johns
-Fast break works better when you make an outlet pass, I dont think I saw 1 of those tonight. Whoever rebounds, dribbles it up
-NIT bound

To me, this game is just as bad as the Fordham game.  What happened to the crisp D, half court game, and movement we saw a few weeks ago?  Air ball after air ball.  16% in 3s.  We gave away so many easy baskets.  I have nothing positive to say about this game. 

There are two big things that have come out to kill us these last two games. There are many more but I will just keep it at two.

One.  We give up way to many threes.  I know Lavin and his staff are set on a certain types of defense but it is killing us against good/great shooting teams.  ND/Cuse to good to give up wide open threes.  We are athletic but when teams move the ball around our guys are just not good enough to defend all game against the three.  In our three wins in the conference, each team shot poorly behind the arc which allowed us to fast break due to long rebounds.  These last two games cuse and ND absolutely destroyed us with the long range shot.

Second.  The starters minutes have caught up to them which this early in the season is a really bad thing.  Guys can not play 35-38 minutes a game, 2 to 3 games in a weeks time.  Our stretch of these 8 games(including Gtwn, ND and tonight) is wearing us really thin especially with such a long season.

I am sure guys on this board can point to many other things, but unless Lavin finds a gem on the bench to come in and not just give minutes but meaningful minutes the better teams are going to have a field day against us.

Overall a bad loss because the way we played, but we have 3 more games(big east) during this stretch to right the ship and get us 2 or 3 games over 500 in conference. 

DJ Kennedy had 2 points.

This guy is suppose to be an NBA player...he's going to get drafted right? he's playing like he doesn't care. He never steps up when St. John's needs him to. He is so scared to shoot the ball this year...it's unbelievable how he just disappears.

HE NEEDS A MAJOR WAKE UP CALL.

Nothing good to take from this game.

I was disappointed on how we opened the game.  I thought we would see more intensity...instead we played like scared Freshman.  We've seen this zone for 3 years I was expecting more.

Burrell got abused...automatic double team because he doesn't make quick decisions.  I really thought Brownlee would be very effective on the foul line.  He  started off way too tentative. 

I'll be in the house for the ND game.  We need to bounce back from this.  Really hard to win when you can't make shots.  Cuse did well getting back in transition.  It seems if we don't score in transition we don't score.  No one to create their own shot makes consistent half court offense impossible.

why is Paris Horne not in when needed to make a different you do not have to go in at half time  down like that, don't put him when you need defence don't forget you have a 1000 point scorer and 3rd all time three point shooter in the history of st john. And if he is your Bruce Bowen get him off the bench at let him do what he does best.

Just got home, VERY ANGRY! Everything said was right. We played a good not a great team. We didnt play as well as we could. I should have left in the beginning of the second half. This was embarrassing. This is not a crazy rant. I am beyond positive before every game. Hardy awful, Brownlee worse, DJ worse! Burell kind of sucked to. Only positive is I don't live in Syracuse and will never visit that arm pit of the world and Fab Melo really sucks.   

its the same shitty players...you cant expect any difference from last year or the year before that or the 8 years before that. JB 1 is the weakest person I have ever seen. He must play with vasoline on his hands bc he cant hold on to the ball for his life. there is not one single positive to take out of this game not one. we have been exposed for what we are. gtown is horrible that win means nothing now. if lavin doesnt recruit some tough big mean we are going to suck next year and the year after that as well. i hate this team. they are the mets of college basketball. they get you excited only to cut your legs out from under you. i really expected more from the coaching staff to. dunlap the magician...i didnt see anything creative in beating that zone. i think my hs coach had a better plan than sju seemed to have. pathetic. how long until next season? even though thats not going to be any better. wake me up when this team is relevant again. poor louie having to watch this nightmare

I was at the game and it was very embarrassing game for us. First of all the Garden was packed with 'Cuse fans and it was a home game for them. Our fans didn't show up and theres did in a big way. We played terrible on offense, no movement against the zone and terrible passing. No one got anyone any good open looks and the ball movement was really bad. On defense it's hard to describe how bad we played.  They got to the rim whenever they wanted and had easily a dozen wide open looks from 3 or just inside the 3 pt line. Kennedy looked so lost, and Hardy and Brownlee were forcing things and missing shots they usually knock down. We played about as poor a game as we could have, we probably should have lost by 40. 'Cuse is good probably Elite 8 good but we played right into their zone and made it way too easy for them to score. We got to start playing like we did our first 3 BE games starting on sunday or we will be back on the NIT bubble before you know it.

No point guard-no zone buster.

If we want to make the tourney, Sunday is a must-win.

You could line the teams up pregrame...bring in someone who has no knowledge of the Ncaa, the Big East, or basketball whatsoever (picture Wasju), have them just look at the teams and they could pick with absolute certainty the contest winner.

The upstaters were bigger, stronger, faster, deeper and more athletic.  I don't know what was expected.

Needed desperately to capitalize early while Cuse scored grand totals of 2 in the first five and 7 in the first 11 minutes of action.  They came out frigid but when they turned it on; it was on.

My pet peeve is end of first half execution.  Cuse ball with 25 secs. remaining.  We have 3 fouls total.  How could we not use the 3 fouls remaining till the bonus so they don't even get a shot up?  How about super aggresively playing steal in that situation?

Great crowd for a snowy Wednesday.  I guesstimate 11k and they weren't Ucan't estrogen ball fans.  It was empty for the ladies.

Let's just keep the ship afloat through suicidal January then come on late season in Feb. and March when the schedule softens.

Perhaps the free flowing booze tempered my dissapointment.

Why did we continue to play zone for most of the game with triche and other drilling wide open threes and the big man often being left wide open underneath??

PLAY MAN TO MAN

First of all Syracuse is 18 points better than us. Even someone who idolized Set Shot Patterson could see that. With that being said, the stubborness to still play zone and the very timid offense that's sole purpose seemed to be to force a pass into Burrell with little time on the shot clock is disconcerting. Most decent BE teams are going to be more talented than us, but coach has to do a better job or this season will get away from us.

It was very disappointing last night at the Garden.  The players talked pre game of regaining the city but they continue to be the not ready for prime time players of the last 3 years. 

it was good to see more red in the Garden (I only wore black the last 2 years as I was in mourning for SJU B ball but I put on some red).  Talked to a few fans and we all sound like the Brooklyn Dodger fans of my youth--"wait until next year".  it is getting like Ranger fans waiting 50 years.  if we can beat SU in MSG, us oldsters will think now at last I can die.

needed to chill after game so we stayed for the first 1/2 of women's game.  no matter what you think of the convicts, their ladies team is a thing to behold.  Coach Kim has a long ways to go and I don't think I can last to see that victory.

I thought they could win. Didn't think they WOULD win, really (but I like positive predictions). People are being a little bipolar about this team. They have an effin' tough January, and if watching your team lose 2,3,4 straight makes you wilt, you're gonna wilt. I'd like it if the Johnnies showed better against either of the last 2 teams - that's disconcerting.

But this team has to pick its battles; there's not really enough firepower to knock off all the top teams. And that's okay; if the Johnnies get to the tourney, it's as an 8 seed or lower, which is to say they're not a top-25 team. And that makes sense - they're better than previous years, but the rest of the league used St. John's as toilet paper for years. Those elite teams, generally, aren't much worse.

St. John's could use the Notre Dame game as a win.  They should be elated (and on their way) with a win over G'Town or Louisville on the road. And they BADLY need to beat Cincy. If they don't, I don't know that the team can recover and go to the tournament.

But you have to remember that when we're down on the team or when we're up on the team, they're playing out the most realistic scenario here. Can't call them a damned bubble team after losing (badly) to the #4 team in the country.

When the game started to slip, DJ and Burrell acted as if the game was already over.

Only Horne held it together.

Man or zone?  It wouldn't have mattered.

They outclassed us. Plain and simple. Burrell looked like a jv player.