Sonoma State Game Re-Scheduled

“@Kieran_Lynch: Confirmed Marco and Sanchez. Has to do with what year they are. (i.e. soph, junior, senior.) #stjbb”

Quick observations:

Obekpa is the real deal. I had him with 9 blocks (they only gave him 7)

Jakarr is the real deal. Better shooter than I expected, better handle as well.

Jones COULD be a star, but he WILL be a STUD. MUCH quicker than I expected given his bulk and build. Confident on his midrange. Even showed the ability to make decent entry pass (bit of a lost art).

If Sanchez REALLY is as good or better than the other 3 frontcourt newcomers, this is going to be a SPECIAL team by mid-season.

Also liked the improvement in Greene. Still love Amir's all around game. Sir Dom is a year older Sir Dom. A solid 4-year guy. D'lo still pressing, tho. Needs to let the game come to him - he's got plenty of help this year - no need to carry the weight of the world.

Still tough to judge the team - Gift, Sanchez, Marco, Felix and Branch not playing - no telling what this team is like at full strength later this season. I mean, those five could easily be a successful D-1 Starting Five....

totally agree

Obekpa's arms are so long and his timing is incredible.  Aside from the blocks, he outreached guys on rebounds that he seemed to have no shot at getting.  Can't wait to see how he does agains quality opponents.

It seems like we will be a good rebounding team due to quickness and athleticism.  CO, Jakarr, Amir, Sir'Dom and Chris Jones all seem like they can get rebounds.  The addition of Sanchez will make them even better.

Quote from: TONYD3 on November 01, 2012, 10:46:48 AM

Face value 130 dollars 2 tickets for great seats vs rutgers at the garden. I can take my dad or a friend. Plus beer and dinner. 200 dollar plus night.
Or scalp 10 dollar tickets find even better seats and have same expirence. To get me to come back as season ticket holder they are going to have upgrade their schedule ( don't mind paying for cuse, duke) or lower prices.

I was online looking at tix for the holiday festival and was shocked at ticket prices. Are people really paying 200+ to see this tourny?

prices will go way down gman, msg hasn't even printed tickets and sent them to season tixx holders yet.   Gurantee prices drop once supply increases 10x

Phil Greene's shot has definitely improved.. Seems like D'lo was benched by Lavin in the second half, he took him out and he never saw the floor again with more than half of the game left. Didn't seem like he was running the offense, but he sure chucked up some shots from about 30 out.

So, i just got back from the game, here's my observations:
I wasn't overly impressed.  But, it early. 
There is certainly talent on the court, and skill, but they still need to be coached up quite a bit.
Not surprisingly, nobody looked too comfortable in the half court offense.
But, with more reps guys will make quicker reads. 

Obekpa is a special shot blocker, reports are not exaggerated.
But, he got boxed out twice that I saw on defense, and picked up a foul on one of them.   The guy who got position on Jim was 4 inches shorter and could barely jump, and I hate to say this but it was really just a case of laziness/ lack of agressiiveness. Im sure the staff will correct that over time, but.still.

Phil looked very good.   I forgot how good his handle is.   He's able to push the pace like no one else on the team (maybe Branch down the road).

Was really looking forward to seeing Orlando and Marco, hopefully Tuesday. 

Phil Greene's shot has definitely improved.. Seems like D'lo was benched by Lavin in the second half, he took him out and he never saw the floor again with more than half of the game left. Didn't seem like he was running the offense, but he sure chucked up some shots from about 30 out.

Harrison was awful. He didn't look anything like a pg tonight.

Quote from: Redman#13 on November 03, 2012, 08:33:54 PM

Phil Greene's shot has definitely improved.. Seems like D'lo was benched by Lavin in the second half, he took him out and he never saw the floor again with more than half of the game left. Didn't seem like he was running the offense, but he sure chucked up some shots from about 30 out.

Harrison was awful. He didn't look anything like a pg tonight.

When he didn't start I knew something was up.  Remember he was hurt supposedly the past few weeks.  Even without that he didnt care to be out there tonight.  Going thru the motions.  When he picked up 4th foul it was pine city and no point putting back out a lethargic player. 

Was Dangelo in the dog house or was coach giving other guys some pt?   
I mean they were playing jamal white and Ndiaye in the.first half even.

Was Dangelo in the dog house or was coach giving other guys some pt?   
I mean they were playing jamal white and Ndiaye in the.first half even.

It looked like he was dogging it

Quote from: desco80 on November 03, 2012, 08:57:05 PM

Was Dangelo in the dog house or was coach giving other guys some pt?   
I mean they were playing jamal white and Ndiaye in the.first half even.

It looked like he was dogging it

Could be he was sulking.  I can't argue if coach was disciplining him, his shot selection was awful.   Two of the fouls on him were bs though.
I just couldn't tell if dangelos benching was because.of his actions or because.coach wanted.to keep Dom on the floor and give Jamal and Khadim some mins. 

I was at the game and agree with a lot of what has been written. The team defense as a whole was good. Obekpa was very good down low. He has great timing and did a very good job of blocking shows without drawing fouls (he did pick up some fouls but not on attempted blocked shots). Pointer, Garrett, Jekarr and Jones and Phil Greene all did a good job of pressuring the Sonoma State ball handlers. I find it interesting that we did not play zone. I don't know if this is a temporary wrinkle or if the team will play more man to man defense now that Coach Dunlap has left the team.

Some other things I took from the game: Jekarr hit a few mid range jumpers but he has a very unorthodox shot. He obviously is very athletic. I'd love to see him develop a game with his back to the basket. He'd be very difficult to guard in the post with the elevation he gets on his shots. Amir Garrett and Phil Greene both looked very good. Amir does a very good job of letting the game come to him. He does a little bit of everything and even hit a few 3 pointers even though he still has that same line drive shot. Phil Greene looked a lot more comfortable with the ball in his hands than D'Angelo did. D'Angelo didn't have a good night but he'll be fine. He started the game on the bench and never seemed to get into the flow.

Christian Jones had the highlight of the night with a sick throw down on an alley oop pass from Phil. He looks strong and athletic. He played well tonight and should contribute this year. Dom was very good on defense but didn't do much offensively.

Did Felix sit out tonight because he is also being red-shirted?

Thoughts on the players:

Harrison: he gets a pass, but he wasn't there tonight.

Garrett: he played well. Still needs work on passing, but he looked stronger.

Pointer: we are told that he may run the point. I can't see it from this game. There was no interior passing at all. He barely brought it up. His handle looked a tad better, and he hustles on d, but I was really hoping to see a well rounded game. It's not evident yet if it's there.

Greene: he was all over the court.as a pg, I liked his work in transition. In the half court, he slowed it down too much, and was often bailed out by a Samp j.

Sampson: he's good. No doubt he'll help us. He can hit the 10 footer, however, my favorite play of the night was watching him drive to the basket with about 12 minutes to go in the game. I want to see more driving.

Jones: he's good. He'll help come BE play. Nice jumper. Good passer. He can really run the floor.

Obekpa: obviously, he can block shots. After that, I love his rebounding. Offensively, he will be brought along slowly.

Overall. These comments should be taken as notes just on the individual player. As a team we are work in progress.

My two cents-

- Surprised we went Man to Man the entire game.  Would like to know if thats our future?  Did they not pick up the zone? Did Lav want them to get better at man? 

- Phil looked really impressive.  Definitely worked his tail off over the the summer.  6 dimes for him was nice in addition to his shots falling.  Confident looking and exuded leadership qualities that Harrison didn't show tonight.

- Harrison didn't start which surprised me.  Injury? Lesson?  When he was in he was going thru the motions and when he picked up 4th foul glued to bench for the game.  Most energy I saw from him was when Christian attempted a 2nd thunderous putback and he jumped up.

- Amir really impressed me.  What was he 2-2 or 2-3 from behind the arc?  Looked very confident out there.  Heady play on the inbounds play.  I was really happy to see him look like he continued his stretch from last 7 or 8 games of last year.

- Dom handling the ball looked a lot better.  Light years better in fact.  He's still Dom and going to bring you energy and intangibles.  He did confidently take a jumper off the dribble early in the clock that he nailed which was nice to see.  The best part of his game is he is fine doing the rest of the stuff and doesnt have to score.

- Karr looked great.  I told people to stop worrying about his jumper.  Does it look pretty?  No.  Neither did Hatten or plenty of others so long as it goes in.  I like how he's comfortable taking the jumper from the FT line extended area.  Too many players live and die looking for a 3.  Great to have him and eventually Sanchez shooting that mid range J.  Karr looked great again.

- Please admit my membership to the Christian Jones fan club.  How the hell did this kid drop in our laps?  I was expecting Sean Evans.  Way past that.  He didn't spend as much time down low today but that was based on the size of comp.  Love his post moves and footwork. Nice smooth J.  Freakish athleticism.  Heady player.  Usually you get scared when a big man puts ball on the floor (JB24 and Evans come to mind).  Not here.

- Obekpa did what I told people to expect.  Couple points, boards and blocks thats it.  He still needs to learn a bit on D in terms of switching and footwork.  Would have loved to see him in a zone.  That being said he hit a smooth long range jumper, was active down low altering the shots he didn't swat.  Should be fun seeing how teams try to get shots off with the likes of Obekpa, Karr, Jones, and Sanchez down low and Dom and Amir lurking from behind.

Really sucks that Marco and Orlando couldnt get out there.  Likely we get 1 yr from Orlando and 2 from Marco.  Lets just get them out there.  There were 3 guys missing tonight adding Branch to the equation who will be playing SIGNIFICANT minutes.  I understand holding out Gift with the new exhibition rule.  If Orlando is one year I'm fine with redshirting Gift.

I honestly totally forgot about Felix and on the drive home called someone to ask if they said anything.  I don't even recall seeing him on the bench but I could be wrong.  Being that we actually have a full team now its not like last year and having to only know one guy on the bench.

Bottom line the team can learn more from this game than a 50 pt blowout.  They learned and succeeded in overcoming key parts not being able to play and their best scorer being invisible today.  Lets not get all crazy about the score.  Michigan St won by 12 last night.  We've seen teams like Cuse lose in the past.  Nova struggle as well.  I took a STJ grad who doesn't follow the team as much as we all do.  That being said he knows basketball and said he's never seen talent like we have in the 10 yrs he's followed the team.  Its clear and evident talent is there.  Let the staff continue to mold them.  These kids I think are better than many of the Sr's we had and they had 4 yrs under their belt.

Was Dangelo in the dog house or was coach giving other guys some pt?   
I mean they were playing jamal white and Ndiaye in the.first half even.

Couldnt figure out why Lav gave two walk on minutes in the 1st half.

on offense, we definitely have more options than last year.  we can still win even if harrison doesn't bring his A game.  wasn't too happy with our defending the three.  and i'm wondering if we're ever going to get a true post player.  someone who could really carve out space down low.  don't think jones is big enough, but i could be wrong.

So I guess Jones really is the real deal, huh? I was convinced Lavin was just trying to boost his confidence, or motivate one of our other bigs to play harder out of fear of losing PT.

So I guess Jones really is the real deal, huh? I was convinced Lavin was just trying to boost his confidence, or motivate one of our other bigs to play harder out of fear of losing PT.

Yea, I thought the same thing.  But he does appear to be the real deal. 
Will he be 1st team All Big East?  No.   But he's talented and will definitely be a key contributor.   Obviously sanchez will cut into his minutes to some degree. 
But i liked what I saw too.   

I also agree with what moose said about Chris O.   Natural shot blocked, great timing, but not a great defender yet.  If he works on his defense though, watch out. 

Quote from: LJSA on November 04, 2012, 12:08:11 AM

So I guess Jones really is the real deal, huh? I was convinced Lavin was just trying to boost his confidence, or motivate one of our other bigs to play harder out of fear of losing PT.

Yea, I thought the same thing.  But he does appear to be the real deal. 
Will he be 1st team All Big East?  No.   But he's talented and will definitely be a key contributor.   Obviously sanchez will cut into his minutes to some degree. 
But i liked what I saw too.   

I also agree with what moose said about Chris O.   Natural shot blocked, great timing, but not a great defender yet.  If he works on his defense though, watch out.

Most big guys like obekpa aren't right off the bat, but kid hit his average in blocks per game at 9 in his first outing which is spectacular and exactly what we need him for.  The rebounds came too.  The rest of his game will come with time but wait til he's in mid-season form.  No doubt he will deter a lot of high level opponents on the glass once he starts getting comfortable and taking it personally.  ThiS game was played without at least 2 starters and 2 other signii ant rotation players.  I still see us being scary good come mid season if Christian Jones is our 3rd best PF.