Lavin Meter

Was a must win and we won which is the most important thing. There are a couple of however's though.

Issues:
Now I am all in favor of a shorter rotation and I am a big proponent of playing your best guys as long as you can. However number one is I am not sure how long we can play 6 and a half. Eight is ideal, and I could be talked into seven, but Garrett is now getting 10 minutes a game. Again I am happier with this than when Lavin was shuffling in and out guys like it was rush hour on the 4 & 5 train. Eventually though this can't work. Garrett needs to play 15-18 minutes as your 7th man. Then you can mix and match depending on the opponent Balamou and Jones. I have given up on Charles De Gaulle and wish him luck wherever he will be next year. And speaking of Jones, he is a big body who he raved about, struggled, got paroled and started show some toughness and now has again been voted of Lavin Island? Eventually playing Pointer at the 4 is going to cost us! I don't see why Jones can't get 10 minutes a game.

2nd however is, again Obepka was out there during foul time. Lavin's brilliant move to hide it this time was to have him inbound the ball. Was anyone besides coach comfortable with that? Now you can walk blindfolded across a highway and get away with it, but eventually you are going to get run over. I predict we see Obepka shooting a free throw up 1 or 2 in final minutes of a game. It is going to happen if he is going to be continually put out there.

Positives
Coach is basically playing the hot hands and it is working and I don't blame him, but at least the Obepka thing he needs to stop doing.

Big Win, 7.5 for coach

I'm no going to give him a grade because it's counter-productive to nitpick everything he does after every game, but I wasn't sure why Obekpa was on the floor when we were up by a few points near the end of the game.  Lavin took him out of the Notre Dame game and DePaul game when it came down to free throws (after he missed the front-end of a big one and one).  I wonder what the reasoning was today.

The problem is that we needed Obekpa out there for defense against a big SHU front court.  He played less against Rutgers because we didn't have such a big size disadvantage.

I would give him an 8.  I really felt that he outcoached Willard today

The problem is that we needed Obekpa out there for defense against a big SHU front court.  He played less against Rutgers because we didn't have such a big size disadvantage.

I would give him an 8.  I really felt that he outcoached Willard today

But when there are 20 seconds left and they are on the free throw line, there's no need to have him on the floor.  Even if he grabs the rebound it's basically like giving Seton Hall the ball back.

Quote from: simplyred on January 27, 2013, 11:22:37 PM

The problem is that we needed Obekpa out there for defense against a big SHU front court.  He played less against Rutgers because we didn't have such a big size disadvantage.

I would give him an 8.  I really felt that he outcoached Willard today

But when there are 20 seconds left and they are on the free throw line, there's no need to have him on the floor.  Even if he grabs the rebound it's basically like giving Seton Hall the ball back.

But if he isn't in to get the rebound, it's like giving them a shot at 3 extra points, instead of  0, 1 or 2  off that possession (depending on Chris at the line).

Now I am all in favor of a shorter rotation and I am a big proponent of playing your best guys as long as you can. However number one is I am not sure how long we can play 6 and a half. Eight is ideal, and I could be talked into seven, but Garrett is now getting 10 minutes a game. Again I am happier with this than when Lavin was shuffling in and out guys like it was rush hour on the 4 & 5 train.

What's a little funny is that in November when he was seemingly shuffling random players in and out we were assured that he was in reality testing carefully calibrated combinations to see which players played best together and which groups on the floor together at what time gave us the greatest chance for success. And it turns out that none of those combinations worked and the 5 guys everybody knew were the best five guys two months ago are the only ones who deserve to play. It's like he went to Trader Joes and spent hundreds of dollars on exotic foods and then went home and made a grilled cheese sandwich.

What's a little funny is that in November when he was seemingly shuffling random players in and out we were assured that he was in reality testing carefully calibrated combinations to see which players played best together and which groups on the floor together at what time gave us the greatest chance for success. And it turns out that none of those combinations worked and the 5 guys everybody knew were the best five guys two months ago are the only ones who deserve to play. It's like he went to Trader Joes and spent hundreds of dollars on exotic foods and then went home and made a grilled cheese sandwich.


Nice analogy.
And by screwing around with rotations it might have cost us a game or two, which if my 18 win prediction comes true will be huge.

Ironic thing is most on this board were claiming we were going to be good becuase of the simple fact that we now had depth. This would finally enable Lavin to play his "style" whatever that is. Instead, we are now playing the same amount of guys that we did last season. Again I am not saying to radically change this, I just think you will eventually need some minutes from Jones.

I don't think it was crystal clear at all early on that lineups of Branch - Phil -- Harrison - Jakar and Pointer or Branch/Phil - Harrison - Dom - Jakar - Obekpa were going to be our best combinations.  We didn't know what we had in Branch, for one.  Two, coming into the season, I think a lot of people valued Amir as being a better option that Dom for major minutes.  Amir played better last year, and it is only the last few games that people are now clamoring for Dom to be a major contributor (and he deserves all the praise for how he has played).

Two months ago, I think we could have asked many of the posters who follow this team to give their best one or two man units, and the players would have differed somewhat.

I do agree with WASJU that it would be nice to see at least another player work his way into the rotation.

It's amazing. Some guys hates the coach for redshirting Gift.  Some complain that Phil plays too much.  Others complain that Phil doesn't play enough.  A few feel that our best offensive threat scores too much and should be benched.  The logic being that we would win more if we scored less?  Some are (were?) screaming that Dom plays too much, and Amir too little.  Some feel Jones should get more minutes, while others scream whenever he is put in the game.  Some think Balamou is the answer, while others are upset that Bourgault is getting the opportunity to put up 7 threes a game.

I suspect that Lavin knows more about his players, his team and basketball, in general, than any of us on this board.  I know:  fan board; the right to express opinion, yada yada yada.  We don't know what Coach sees in practice or how he perceives the matchups from watching film on the opponents.  We each just want our guy to get the minutes we feel he deserves.

We are basically playing 6 guys now. Can't get away with that for much longer. I would like to see Jones get some minutes as at least he is a big body we could use.

Who is clamoring for Phil to play more?

Playing Obepka at the end of close games is asinine and is going to bite us in the ass eventually. Unless coach thinks he could get away with Obepka pulling an Al Czervik and claiming he hurt his arm every time he gets fouled.   

We are basically playing 6 guys now. Can't get away with that for much longer. I would like to see Jones get some minutes as at least he is a big body we could use.

Who is clamoring for Phil to play more?

Playing Obepka at the end of close games is asinine and is going to bite us in the ass eventually. Unless coach thinks he could get away with Obepka pulling an Al Czervik and claiming he hurt his arm every time he gets fouled.

Phil gets minutes when he knocks down looks and is healthy enough to defend.  He was terrific Sunday. 

CO plays late because he can eliminate anything around the rim and prevent second chance points.  He is a liability on offense unless he's by the rim and that tip on the Branch take was critical.

Dom does everything better then CJ except play offense with his back to the basket, so does Amir. Everything

I think we will see more of Garrett and Balamou.  Jones will make his own bed.  Need to see more out of him out there.  Balamou can play.  If anybody is to earn more minutes to get rotation to 9 it's Amir and Balamou.

The only aspect of the game where the Hall was handling us was down low.  CO is the only big that could have played Teague defensively.  Otherwise, you basically concede a board and putback on every missed shot.

I don't like to call posters out by name but if you read the posts, you can see who wants what with regard to each player.
As for Jones, I would like to see him get more minutes too.  He got some valuable minutes against Rutgers and I think he can provide a bit of physicality down low.  Jakarr doesn't bang down low, and CO was being out-muscled inside.

We have a lot of armchair QB's though.  Some now even taking credit for designing the lineup that has Lavin winning and SJU now in 3rd place in the big east right now.  Not bad for a guy who can't coach this young team.  Hopefully he keeps following the game plan of everybody on these boards so we have a chance to continue getting better...

I am not complaining about Obepka, though he needs to improve his low post defense. I enjoy watching him try to block everything, but his traditional defense is not good.

At this point since his ft % is that of an 8th grade girl, the cons outweigh the pros when it is a foul situation. With a lead you can't have him out there in final minutes.

I think we will see more of Garrett and Balamou.  Jones will make his own bed.  Need to see more out of him out there.  Balamou can play.  If anybody is to earn more minutes to get rotation to 9 it's Amir and Balamou.

When?  Its Feburary now. 

Quote from: MCNPA on January 28, 2013, 11:17:23 AM

I think we will see more of Garrett and Balamou.  Jones will make his own bed.  Need to see more out of him out there.  Balamou can play.  If anybody is to earn more minutes to get rotations to 9 it's Amir and Balamou.

When?  Its Feburary now.

I don't mean double their minutes.  I think with Dom getting in foul trouble a bit lately, Lavin will try to slide Amir in a bit more to spell Dom and Jakarr.  Also like what Balamou can do out there.  He could eat a few minutes from Phil and It would probably be good for the team overall, especially defensively.

We are basically playing 6 guys now. Can't get away with that for much longer. I would like to see Jones get some minutes as at least he is a big body we could use.

Who is clamoring for Phil to play more?

Playing Obepka at the end of close games is asinine and is going to bite us in the ass eventually. Unless coach thinks he could get away with Obepka pulling an Al Czervik and claiming he hurt his arm every time he gets fouled.

If Lavin wears that hat he should get a free bowl of soup....Oh, it looks good Obepka though

Watch replay of Rutgers game and watch Obepka's reaction. It was identical to Rodney faking his arm injury so that Noonan could take his place.

I am not complaining about Obepka, though he needs to improve his low post defense. I enjoy watching him try to block everything, but his traditional defense is not good.

At this point since his ft % is that of an 8th grade girl, the cons outweigh the pros when it is a foul situation. With a lead you can't have him out there in final minutes.

I wish we were at least seeing him trying something different from the foul line...he is stuck in "fall away" mode...I'd like to see him trying something else by now...it can't possibly hurt