FGCU Game

Quote from: Moose on November 25, 2012, 03:54:32 PM

Quote from: desco80 on November 25, 2012, 03:51:19 PM

I mean this as a serious question, and not a backhanded way of criticizing the team.
But, does anyone remember a team that turned around their rebounding in the course of a season?

I legitimately can't think.of a team that was a terrible rebounding team in the start.of a season and became at least average, if not.above average, by the end of the season.

For this reason Im hoping a tall athletic guard like branch and a good rebounding forward like sanchez can make the difference.   I think Obekpa, Jakarr and co. may improve incrementally, but it will be at least a year before you can say "wow Obekpa is really boxing out now, hes much improved".

Not really but I'm sure it could be figured out if someone wanted to sit down and split stats.
Just remember how bad the 2011 team was on the boards and they still finished 3rd in the BE and made the NCAA
tournament.

True.  I guess Im just leery of hanging our hopes on.inseason  improvement.  I don't deny guys get better.at.skills over the.course.of the season.. I just think its.incrementally so - not enough to.make a weakness into a strength.
That's what makes me think were a year away.
Will we move the ball better and rebound better by February?  Yea, but Im not sure how much better.

Quote from: P1NSTR1PEZ on November 24, 2012, 10:51:44 PM

I was sitting court side tonight and here are some things I took away.

- I want to see Lavin playing Christian Jones and Obekpa together at the 4 and 5. The two are our best size in the paint and they need to learn how to play together. If we don't get back / until we get back Sanchez they are gonna need to step up. Our issues with rebounding will take years off my life.

- D'Angelo Harrison clearly needs the ball in his hands for us to win any games, BUT, he seems to have an agenda to score his points instead of facilitate the rock. Many times tonight he gave up the open pass to take a shot or layup. It seems to me like he's dying to score 20 pts per game every night to keep his ppg average up and be a top scorer in the Big East. Like there were 5-6 chances for easy pass lay ups or even alley oops that he passed on to take his own shot.

- D'Angelo has been quiet this season, especially tonight. Many times he was giving the evil eye to the ref on no calls (refs were ATROCIOUS tonight, crowd was given them hell. One guy sitting next to me almost got kicked out for yelling at the ref too much) but he made sure to not say anything. It seems like that is something Lavin has stressed to him as part of the maturation effect.

- Refreshing to see Sir Dom have such a monster game - 15 pts, 8 rebs, 6 ast, 3 blocks, 2 steals. It was a career game but I never expect it to happen again. I was shocked at his scoring. His free throw shooting is deplorable.

- Obekpa is really fun to watch in person, the way he anticipates balls to try and block them is great.

Glad we got the win, hard fought victory and as always first and second half were night and day. On to South Carolina.

I have to disagree with you on Jones and Obekpa. We look like a completely different team when Sampson and Obekpa are out there together.  Jones does some things well--good interior passer, really our only interior scorer, and he plays solid D (impressive switch on a guard last night in man defense), but he is a pitiful rebounder.  Obepka relatively weak in this area as well.  Anything more than 5-10 minutes from Jones is too much. 

Great game from Dom.  He had games like this last year as well...the key will be consistency and that comes from constantly being aware of his weaknesses and strengths. 

Win Thursday and it's 5-2 without playing a true scrub.  Not bad at all, and this team will be expontially better come February.

Quote from: bobre45 on November 25, 2012, 11:24:07 AM

Quote from: jumpinjohnny on November 25, 2012, 01:41:57 AM

Felix Balamou has penned a compelling story for St. John’s this season, and his teammates are loving it. He was undeterred when coach Steve Lavin discussed him as a redshirt candidate less than two weeks ago. His work at practice convinced Lavin to reconsider, and his contributions in recent games landed him in the starting five Saturday night against Florida Gulf Coast.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/balamou-injury-sparks-st-john-win-florida-gulf-coast-article-1.1207581#ixzz2DDKz6hs6

CR...Interesting insight into Lavin's approach...all the more reason I hope he commits to seeing what Bourgault has...

Kudos to Lavin for allowing a freshman to break through and start. Two years ago that flexibility led to inserting Hardy at the point and yes, even letting Evans out of the doghouse and help produce a fine year.  He is the anti Norm in that respect.  With him Boothe would have been playing 35 mpg right to the end when we would have been teetering around .500 and sweating the NIT. Way to go Steve!

Because Lavs essentially "missed" last year, folks should remember pre-conference two seasons ago.  ONe of the things I tried to alert the boards to when I first came here is how Steve handles pre-conference games very differently than most coaches.   He experiements.  He tries different player combinations, tries players at different positions,  runs different offenses, different defenses, and most certainly different starting lineups.   Most coaches relegate that kind of "discover" to practice.   But Stevest his history really shows that he doesn't feel practice situations give  him the same level of insight  as seeing the various permutations played out in actual game situations.   My warning was that  he is NOT beyond sacrificing a couple of wins early in the season in order to see if a specific combination of players are effective as starters.   Not beyond what appears to be a strange combination of players  at the end of an early season game, in order to guage how those players and groupings might function come conference and post-season.

His late season success throughout his career (7 of 8 seasons in the dance, with 5 seasons of at least 2 wins in the dance) are why he still does this - it's one of the things that while contributing to getting him fired at UCLA (sacrificing wins - are you kidding me???), has actually accomplished what it was intended to do.   

5 games in, I still have no clue who's going to be starting, other than  D'lo, Jakarr and Phil....with this many newcomers, I doubt we'd have an answer even by Christmas under NORMAL circumstances.  Throwing in the whole Sanchez saga makes it even more of a question mark.

Quote from: Marillac on November 25, 2012, 03:59:07 PM

Quote from: P1NSTR1PEZ on November 24, 2012, 10:51:44 PM

I was sitting court side tonight and here are some things I took away.

- I want to see Lavin playing Christian Jones and Obekpa together at the 4 and 5. The two are our best size in the paint and they need to learn how to play together. If we don't get back / until we get back Sanchez they are gonna need to step up. Our issues with rebounding will take years off my life.

- D'Angelo Harrison clearly needs the ball in his hands for us to win any games, BUT, he seems to have an agenda to score his points instead of facilitate the rock. Many times tonight he gave up the open pass to take a shot or layup. It seems to me like he's dying to score 20 pts per game every night to keep his ppg average up and be a top scorer in the Big East. Like there were 5-6 chances for easy pass lay ups or even alley oops that he passed on to take his own shot.

- D'Angelo has been quiet this season, especially tonight. Many times he was giving the evil eye to the ref on no calls (refs were ATROCIOUS tonight, crowd was given them hell. One guy sitting next to me almost got kicked out for yelling at the ref too much) but he made sure to not say anything. It seems like that is something Lavin has stressed to him as part of the maturation effect.

- Refreshing to see Sir Dom have such a monster game - 15 pts, 8 rebs, 6 ast, 3 blocks, 2 steals. It was a career game but I never expect it to happen again. I was shocked at his scoring. His free throw shooting is deplorable.

- Obekpa is really fun to watch in person, the way he anticipates balls to try and block them is great.

Glad we got the win, hard fought victory and as always first and second half were night and day. On to South Carolina.

I have to disagree with you on Jones and Obekpa. We look like a completely different team when Sampson and Obekpa are out there together.  Jones does some things well--good interior passer, really our only interior scorer, and he plays solid D (impressive switch on a guard last night in man defense), but he is a pitiful rebounder.  Obepka relatively weak in this area as well.  Anything more than 5-10 minutes from Jones is too much. 

Great game from Dom.  He had games like this last year as well...the key will be consistency and that comes from constantly being aware of his weaknesses and strengths. 

Win Thursday and it's 5-2 without playing a true scrub.  Not bad at all, and this team will be expontially better come February.

Just think that with coaching, It's liklely Jones improves as a rebounder - more so than other forward improve as interior passers, interior scorers and "solid d" - the things Jones already does well..

Of course an eligible Sanchez may render this dicsussion relatively moot....

but this kid will likely never be a junkyard dog type of PF. 

Quote from: Marillac on November 26, 2012, 03:47:31 AM

but this kid will likely never be a junkyard dog type of PF. 

Dealing in absolutes when the kid is 6 games into his career? C'mon now.

Quote from: Choz4Life on November 26, 2012, 08:41:41 AM

Quote from: Marillac on November 26, 2012, 03:47:31 AM

but this kid will likely never be a junkyard dog type of PF. 

Dealing in absolutes when the kid is 6 games into his career? C'mon now.

 Our fans can be nuts labeling a kid.

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

Quote from: MCNPA on November 26, 2012, 09:41:34 AM

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

It is quite clear that his minutes will continue to decline as soon as Sanchez suits up. That is not a bad thing, as I never thought he would be a rotation guy before school started. 

Quote from: sju89tr on November 26, 2012, 10:02:10 AM

Quote from: MCNPA on November 26, 2012, 09:41:34 AM

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

It is quite clear that his minutes will continue to decline as soon as Sanchez suits up. That is not a bad thing, as I never thought he would be a rotation guy before school started. 

How do we know i Sanchez will ever suit up.

Quote from: Marillac on November 26, 2012, 03:47:31 AM

but this kid will likely never be a junkyard dog type of PF. 

Dealing in absolutes when the kid is 6 games into his career? C'mon now.

Quote from: MCNPA on November 26, 2012, 09:41:34 AM

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

It is quite clear that his minutes will continue to decline as soon as Sanchez suits up. That is not a bad thing, as I never thought he would be a rotation guy before school started.

Quote from: Poison on November 26, 2012, 10:13:51 AM

Quote from: sju89tr on November 26, 2012, 10:02:10 AM

Quote from: MCNPA on November 26, 2012, 09:41:34 AM

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

It is quite clear that his minutes will continue to decline as soon as Sanchez suits up. That is not a bad thing, as I never thought he would be a rotation guy before school started. 

How do we know i Sanchez will ever suit up.

I have a feeling he will 

Quote from: sju89tr on November 26, 2012, 10:17:09 AM

Quote from: Poison on November 26, 2012, 10:13:51 AM

Quote from: sju89tr on November 26, 2012, 10:02:10 AM

Quote from: MCNPA on November 26, 2012, 09:41:34 AM

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

It is quite clear that his minutes will continue to decline as soon as Sanchez suits up. That is not a bad thing, as I never thought he would be a rotation guy before school started. 

How do we know i Sanchez will ever suit up.

I have a feeling he will 

Ted.. is there something you want to share with the rest of the class?     

Quote from: Poison on November 26, 2012, 10:13:51 AM

Quote from: sju89tr on November 26, 2012, 10:02:10 AM

Quote from: MCNPA on November 26, 2012, 09:41:34 AM

Jones will be very good as he improves.  I don't think he was ever really taught to be a PF, but more of a wing.  He has to get better at rebounding but has some other big time skills and tools namely his athleticism and a great baseline jumper that he's been near automatic with.  Selling this kid short this early is a mistake.

It is quite clear that his minutes will continue to decline as soon as Sanchez suits up. That is not a bad thing, as I never
thought he would be a rotation guy before school started. 

How do we know if Sanchez will ever suit up.

I have a feeling he will