What/who has surprised you the most?

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

I did not expect Obekpa to have such an impact this early. Thought he would get somewhere around 10 minutes to start the season. Also impressed with Phil's shooting with the exception of last game.

Disappointed with Jones, maybe that's a bit unfair, but the way he was hyped I expected more.

Quote from: Dave on December 03, 2012, 07:08:14 PM

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

I did not expect Obekpa to have such an impact this early. Thought he would get somewhere around 10 minutes to start the season. Also impressed with Phil's shooting with the exception of last game.

Disappointed with Jones, maybe that's a bit unfair, but the way he was hyped I expected more.

Jones was hyped?

Surprise Player: Obekpa. I knew he would block shots, but didn't know he would block so many shots and his offensive game is better than expected.

Style of Team Play: Really thought we would be putting on the full court press more with the additional depth.

Something Team is Doing Well: Blocking Shots.  Between Obekpa, Sampson and Felix we are one of the best shot blocking teams in the country.

Something Team is Doing Poorly: Rebounding.  With so many athletes that can jump out of the gym we shouldn't be getting out rebounded by mid-majors.

Rotation: Surprised that Jones hasn't gotten any burn the last couple games.

Coaching: Surprised coach ripped into D'lo and Amir.

1) That we've played so much man to man.   

2) Sampson's jumpshot

Quote from: redstorm212 on December 03, 2012, 07:13:59 PM

Quote from: Dave on December 03, 2012, 07:08:14 PM

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

I did not expect Obekpa to have such an impact this early. Thought he would get somewhere around 10 minutes to start the season. Also impressed with Phil's shooting with the exception of last game.

Disappointed with Jones, maybe that's a bit unfair, but the way he was hyped I expected more.

Jones was hyped?

Yes, on this board by some and from Lavin himself.

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

Felix Balamou - biggest suprise for me thus far.  Kid is an athletic freak and plays with a certain composure that is beyond his years.

Obekpa - as advertised- a shot blocking machine.  Will be responsible, along with Jakarr, with getting SJU top billing in blocks in the BE, and maybe even the nation, by year end.  Once he gets his offensive game together, three letters are in his future - NBA.

Jakarr - seems to be getting better and better.  Blocks, rebounds, scores, and I don't think we've seen his best yet by a long shot.

Greene - last game notwithstanding, most improved player from last year.  Doing a yoeman's job at point, but he's clearly a natural 2 guard with his improved shooting this year.

Amir - FT shooting notwithstanding, he's a gamer.  Does the little things that wins games.  Really stepping up in the rebounding dept, notwithstanding his lack of size.

Jones - jury's still out.  Needs to learn a lot, but he's brimming with potential. 

Harrison - Awesome.  That's it.

Dom -  a work in process offensively, but clearly becoming more assertive/aggressive on defense.  Branch's arrival might help him a lot on offense, as he won't be called on to create his own shot off the dribble as much (I hope).

Sanchez?  Sanchez? (think Ferris Bueller's teacher's voice).

Marco - Not expecting much from him until Branch starts playing.

Balamou-kid is a freak athletically and has shown some skill.  I was expecting a Cedric Jackson type...quick athletic but game being too quick for him.

Obekpa's jump shot is second biggest surprise.  Thought he would simply be a second chance points guy.

Positive surprise - everything- we are much further along then I thought. Branch is going to make us better still.
Negative -we need rebounding - gift is in street clothes- he is not great but we could have used him aginst Baylor -he would be helpful vs cuse and Pitt also

i'm not one to pat myself on the back, but after the Midnight Madness i posted this about Felix:

"while i knew what to expect from guys like JKS, Sanchez, and to some extent Obekpa, which by the way, all surpassed my expectations with freakish athleticsm.  Felix was always a huge question mark. I gotta tell you, this kid will push for minutes.   He's a freak athlete, had good control with his dribbling, and showed a nice touch during the shooting contest.

i like him. A LOT!"

Felix keeps surprising! He's awesome!

JKS' jump shot is a HUGE surprise.  I expect it to go in every time.

i'm not one to pat myself on the back, but after the Midnight Madness i posted this about Felix:

"while i knew what to expect from guys like JKS, Sanchez, and to some extent Obekpa, which by the way, all surpassed my expectations with freakish athleticsm.  Felix was always a huge question mark. I gotta tell you, this kid will push for minutes.   He's a freak athlete, had good control with his dribbling, and showed a nice touch during the shooting contest.

i like him. A LOT!"

Felix keeps surprising! He's awesome!

JKS' jump shot is a HUGE surprise.  I expect it to go in every time.

I'll pat myself on the back Marillac style

Refer back to March and my posts after seeing both Chris and Felix

Balamou.  And I think he'll get better and better. 

Balamou-kid is a freak athletically and has shown some skill.  I was expecting a Cedric Jackson type...quick athletic but game being too quick for him.

Obekpa's jump shot is second biggest surprise.  Thought he would simply be a second chance points guy.

Not just his jump shot. He can pass. He blocks shots intuitively. He understands the game. Had no clue about that.

1) The impact Felix has made so early
2) Sampson's jump shot
3) Phil Greene's improved jump shot

Susprised?

Balamou's readiness at this level and overall skill and smoothness surprised me.  I didn't think much of him when I first saw him.  He then seemed to get a lot better the more games I saw.  I never expected he'd be this solid this early.

Obekpa?  No surprise to me. Always knew he was a baller. 

Phil Greene's improvement really surprised me.  He has gotten sooo much better.

Sampson is a ton better jumper shooter than I expected.  Not even close.  I expected more growing pains.  He's growing, but becoming a killer real quick.  Kid will be a pro but hopefully after at least one more year.

I won't say Lavin's coaching has surprised me, but I love the improvement I've seen, substitutions as well as adjustments made.  We have played a good mix of man and zones and adjusted st halftime of every game we needed to.  In our bad games we really were unable to execute despite adjustments. 

What I WAS surprised about is to see Lavin's fire and comfort level on the sidelines this year.  Since Lavs has been here he hasn't hit his stride?  His first sesason he got back to coaching, had a ton of recruiting and rebuilding onto do.  Second season he had life threatening health issues.  This season he looks comfortable and happy to be here.  Eye of the tiger is there and I always hoped he'd get to that point.  I feel good where we're headed because coach Lavin seems in a very good place with a good team at his side.

The decimation of the BE.

I won't say Lavin's coaching has surprised me, but I love the improvement I've seen, substitutions as well as adjustments made.  We have played a good mix of man and zones and adjusted st halftime of every game we needed to.  In our bad games we really were unable to execute despite adjustments. 

What I WAS surprised about is to see Lavin's fire and comfort level on the sidelines this year.  Since Lavs has been here he hasn't hit his stride?  His first sesason he got back to coaching, had a ton of recruiting and rebuilding onto do.  Second season he had life threatening health issues.  This season he looks comfortable and happy to be here.  Eye of the tiger is there and I always hoped he'd get to that point.  I feel good where we're headed because coach Lavin seems in a very good place with a good team at his side.

Good grief. I hope you were wearing a bib when you typed this. My niece is less effusive describing Justin Bieber. I'm sorry, did I say effusive? I meant objective obviously.

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

Considering how good Sampson is I'm surprised he didn't end up at Syracuse.

The cheerleaders look nothing like ucla's or USC

The way a player is playing? Style of team play? Something the team is doing well/poor? Rotation? Coaching? You name it....lets hear it

Obekpa is way more skilled than I thought. Really impressed with passing skills and general basketball IQ. I'd like to see SJU get him the ball in the post a little more and run some cutters through...the limited number of times theyve done that, he has made good decisions most of the time. Agree with the poster who said I thought he'd be a putback guy offensively..pleasantly surprised by the 15 ft J ( as long as he doesnt get crazy with it). Disapponited in the rebounding, but as has been discussed, thats a function of being block happy. He'll definitely find a happy medium.

Really impressed w JaKarr. I thought he'd be a poor man's Mo and have more growing pains, but he's further along at this point in the season than Mo was last year. I'm already worried about him being one and done.

Surprised and disappointed in the lack of progress in Dom's offensive game. Love the kid, love his energy, attitude, what he brings on defense...just really surprised the handle, the shot, and the decision making have not progressed very much.