San Francisco State Exhibiton Game

Our man to man defense without Obekpa cleaning up mistakes needs to do a 180 before we start facing real teams.

On the plus side, we should be 10000000 better offensively with Jordan and Sanchez, and of course D-lo the whole season.

didn't think Sanchez did much but his line, says he did a hell of a lot, wow.

Man D was atrocious.  They have to do a better job of fighting through the screens or figure out when to switch.  Guys were wide open coming off screens.  Pointer and Jordan played well on D.  I didn't notice Jordan getiing beat off the dribble as has been mentioned.  I will try to watch the game on ESPN3.  Dlo is dlo.  He will get points.  Jordan is the real deal.  I take back my prediction that he will not start over Branch.  Sanchez missed some easy ones.  Butterflies, I'm sure.  Dom drove to the basket well on a couple of occasions.

No. 23 on SFS lit us up.  Dom should have been on him early in the 1st half.  I think Obekpa would have helped a bit on D.  They got some easy buckets inside.  I just don't know how effective he will be playing man.

All in all, a disappointing performance on D but they pulled it out and avoided the embarrassing headline.

Where can I find the box score?

Well it was awful and truly ugly.  Not clean at all, with tons of turnovers, bad shots and mistakes.  That said, Jordan and Sanchez are going to be excellent.  Jakarr was just atrocious today.  We played horrid ball, but this is still the first tune up.  Need to improve a ton before Wisconsin.

Obviously, no one is happy w the way they played so poorly. Still, with the lackluster I saw some good things.

Here's my player by player assessment.

Branch - He started and came out lost immediately. This surprised me most of all. We opened w Branch, Harry, Jordan, Sanchez and Sampson. Branch barely played, and when he did play, he was outplayed by SFS

Harrison - The only guy who played well for the entire game. He did his thing. Scored from all over. 

Jordan - He's a big guard. Our biggest, actually. Terrific and going to the basket and finishing. Can't recall a guard like him on STJ, but I see some Frank Williams from Illinois in him. He's not the distributor we were hoping for. At least at first glance he's not, but he plays d, and he's aggressive. Will be a good one before it's all said and done. Those that think he's a pro after this season are smoking crack, meth, shooting heroin and they are also blind and deaf.

Sampson - I love his attitude. He's a true team oriented guy. Still, IDK what he was doing today. He was a mess. He took 4 threes. Hopefully the last 4 he takes as a Johnny.

Sanchez - I like him. An "NBA starter" is straight up insane, but he's a good rebounder, passer and a decent shooter. Thing he needs to work on is making something happen w out the ball. Box out, set more picks, move around more. If you're going to post up, you need a post up game, and his is limited.

Gift - He started off really, really rusty, but in the second half he really helped, he rebounded, he scored inside, and he held his position in the paint. Still has some terrible big man habits like always putting it on the floor before going up with the ball.

Hooper - Didn't see much of him. Hard to tell what else he can do after the 3 ball, but he didn't show much at all today.

Greene - overall, he played okay. Still can't run an offense,  but he helped off the bench scoring on a drive or two.

Pointer - Sorry Jamal, but you're not going to be starting anymore. Pointer may have made a couple of bad passes, but he's only guy who play any d today. He is active all over the court. I'm really surprised by Lavin's decision not to start him.

Didn't see Jones, Balamou or Bourgault. Not sure if any if them even got in the game at all.

That was ugly.  Harrison, pointer and Jordan looked good. Hooper looked slow and rushed his 2 shots. Gift missed a few bunnies and was same old gift. Jakarr never got into the flow of the game and was floating around the perimeter. Greene was forgettable and will lose minutes to jordan. Branch was in foul trouble and didn't show much.  Sanchez will help this year but don't see him dominating.  Felix, Jones, and bourgalt didn't play and were on the bench. 

Wanted to see an upgrade in coaching and I didn't.
Poison with a spot on evaluation of the players.

That was ugly.  Harrison, pointer and Jordan looked good. Hooper looked slow and rushed his 2 shots. Gift missed a few bunnies and was same old gift. Jakarr never got into the flow of the game and was floating around the perimeter. Greene was forgettable and will lose minutes to jordan. Branch was in foul trouble and didn't show much.  Sanchez will help this year but don't see him dominating.  Felix, Jones, and bourgalt didn't play and were on the bench. 

I thought Sanchez showed a ton.  He made some mistakes but gonna be excellent.

Not sure how you can put that last play on coach. Or much of the game at all. It just looked like lazy defense all around, and while it's true that the Coach should be able to motivate, there is only so much that he can do.

Definitely not what I wanted to see today, but on the bright side, we are going to have some real scoring this year, Gift looked to come back pretty strong, Sanchez is as versatile as advertised and DAngelo (to me anyway) looked like a different player out there.

I think Obekpa will make a huge difference in this defense though. He and Dom out there together will lead to good things.

Obviously, no one is happy w the way they played so poorly. Still, with the lackluster I saw some good things.

Here's my player by player assessment.

Branch - He started and came out lost immediately. This surprised me most of all. We opened w Branch, Harry, Jordan, Sanchez and Sampson. Branch barely played, and when he did play, he was outplayed by SFS

Harrison - The only guy who played well for the entire game. He did his thing. Scored from all over. 

Jordan - He's a big guard. Our biggest, actually. Terrific and going to the basket and finishing. Can't recall a guard like him on STJ, but I see some Frank Williams from Illinois in him. He's not the distributor we were hoping for. At least at first glance he's not, but he plays d, and he's aggressive. Will be a good one before it's all said and done. Those that think he's a pro after this season are smoking crack, meth, shooting heroin and they are also blind and deaf.

Sampson - I love his attitude. He's a true team oriented guy. Still, IDK what he was doing today. He was a mess. He took 4 threes. Hopefully the last 4 he takes as a Johnny.

Sanchez - I like him. An "NBA starter" is straight up insane, but he's a good rebounder, passer and a decent shooter. Thing he needs to work on is making something happen w out the ball. Box out, set more picks, move around more. If you're going to post up, you need a post up game, and his is limited.

Gift - He started off really, really rusty, but in the second half he really helped, he rebounded, he scored inside, and he held his position in the paint. Still has some terrible big man habits like always putting it on the floor before going up with the ball.

Hooper - Didn't see much of him. Hard to tell what else he can do after the 3 ball, but he didn't show much at all today.

Greene - overall, he played okay. Still can't run an offense,  but he helped off the bench scoring on a drive or two.

Pointer - Sorry Jamal, but you're not going to be starting anymore. Pointer may have made a couple of bad passes, but he's only guy who play any d today. He is active all over the court. I'm really surprised by Lavin's decision not to start him.

Didn't see Jones, Balamou or Bourgault. Not sure if any if them even got in the game at all.

How can you make such final assessments on players after one (obviously poor) exhibition game? I'm not sure we really learned anything about the team today. As far as Jordan, those who think they can determine what he is doing after this year after one game (in which I thought his offense was pretty impressive) are also smoking meth or crack or whatever.

How many people thought Mo would go pro after his first exhibition game?

My in person view;

Jordan is poised, talented and great addition.

We still give up too many easy shots, especially off in bound plays.

Pointer is a hustler and a great complementary player. Have to love his warrior mentality as usual.

Sanchez is a Brownlee type guy who can do a lot of things well. Not a stat sheet stuffer, but will bring some smarts to the team.

D'Lo has lost a few pounds and appears a step quicker. Obviously he is the guy you want with the ball in crunch time. Born scorer.

Absence of PT for Jones and Felix still makes me feel one will redshirt. We'll see.

Whitesell was very animated & seemingly involved in strategy discussions. I sense he will be a solid addition.

I am a fan of Sampson, but agree with Poison and others, that he is not NBA ready. His sub par performance means nothing, but IMO he needs to really refine his perimeter game and add strength to be effective inside. With his body type, I doubt he can add much bulk.

Was there and games are going to be longer with new hand checking rules and FT %age is going to be a difference maker.  That being said I thought team was well prepared to deal with them.  Shame that Gift doesn't have the skills/can't get off the ground; but he put in a great effort in the second half and was part of the reason we overcame the dreadful performance.  Thank goodness this is preseason and the time to work on short comings.  SF St got a great look at a 3pointer at the buzzer that could have won the game in a MAJOR defensive boo boo,

Sampson is trying to showcase himself to NBA scouts by stepping out and taking 3's. It's not going to benefit this team. He needs to get in the paint more, face up and play. Can't have guys playing to their own agenda. He was so impressive last year taking mid-range jumpers. Has to get back to his comfort zone first and then work his way out occasionally.

Very disappointed with the defense. I didn't see the intensity and the effort. It's been like that the last few years and I have chalked it up to youth. Well now these guys aren't young anymore. So I have to blame Lavin. He needs to demand more of these guys on defense. Plain and simple, bring it EVERY night. Teams like G'town defensively get into you, we don't at all and it's sad because we have the talent to go far, but defense will hold us back.

Since everyone is giving their first impressions  I'll throw mine out there too...

Dangelo looked like he was in mid season form.   It's truly a pleasure to watch him play.  And I know I've been critical of him In the past for having a low shooting %, but he really is one of the more talented scorers in the league, if not the country.   He's showed a lot today, including solid D and some offensive rebounding.   

Jakarr had a rough game.  He'll be okay though.  The truth is a lot of Jakarrs game is centered on his athleticism, tip-ins, offensive rebounds, running the break.   He'll struggle on the perimeter, but generally I'm not worried about him.  By next week he'll be back to flashing to the foul line and that's  where heck and do his damage.

Jordan looked very promising.  I thought he would have better ball handling skills, looked pretty right hand dominant today, but he'll be a nice addition.   And in a year he'll be ready to take the reigns from Dangelo.

I don't know what to make of Orlando yet.  He's definately an upgrade for us, but I think he tried to do too much at times today.   He also played a ridiculous amount of mins (or so it seemed).  He could've been much better if he was given more of a breather. 

Gift looked lost on defense, I know he had some rebounds and baskets in the 2nd half, but I can't get over his terrible decisions to leave his man at times.   Obekpa can't come back soon enough.   

Overrall it was worse than I expected, but I'm not too concerned.   The 2010 team looked pretty bad in the fall with losses to st bonnies and Fordham, and by march they were blowing out Duke and UCONN.   I think this team takes a similar path. 

Quote from: Poison on November 02, 2013, 06:09:38 PM

Obviously, no one is happy w the way they played so poorly. Still, with the lackluster I saw some good things.

Here's my player by player assessment.

Branch - He started and came out lost immediately. This surprised me most of all. We opened w Branch, Harry, Jordan, Sanchez and Sampson. Branch barely played, and when he did play, he was outplayed by SFS

Harrison - The only guy who played well for the entire game. He did his thing. Scored from all over. 

Jordan - He's a big guard. Our biggest, actually. Terrific and going to the basket and finishing. Can't recall a guard like him on STJ, but I see some Frank Williams from Illinois in him. He's not the distributor we were hoping for. At least at first glance he's not, but he plays d, and he's aggressive. Will be a good one before it's all said and done. Those that think he's a pro after this season are smoking crack, meth, shooting heroin and they are also blind and deaf.

Sampson - I love his attitude. He's a true team oriented guy. Still, IDK what he was doing today. He was a mess. He took 4 threes. Hopefully the last 4 he takes as a Johnny.

Sanchez - I like him. An "NBA starter" is straight up insane, but he's a good rebounder, passer and a decent shooter. Thing he needs to work on is making something happen w out the ball. Box out, set more picks, move around more. If you're going to post up, you need a post up game, and his is limited.

Gift - He started off really, really rusty, but in the second half he really helped, he rebounded, he scored inside, and he held his position in the paint. Still has some terrible big man habits like always putting it on the floor before going up with the ball.

Hooper - Didn't see much of him. Hard to tell what else he can do after the 3 ball, but he didn't show much at all today.

Greene - overall, he played okay. Still can't run an offense,  but he helped off the bench scoring on a drive or two.

Pointer - Sorry Jamal, but you're not going to be starting anymore. Pointer may have made a couple of bad passes, but he's only guy who play any d today. He is active all over the court. I'm really surprised by Lavin's decision not to start him.

Didn't see Jones, Balamou or Bourgault. Not sure if any if them even got in the game at all.

How can you make such final assessments on players after one (obviously poor) exhibition game? I'm not sure we really learned anything about the team today. As far as Jordan, those who think they can determine what he is doing after this year after one game (in which I thought his offense was pretty impressive) are also smoking meth or crack or whatever.

How many people thought Mo would go pro after his first exhibition game?

Well, I'm smoking something, thankfully it ain't meth.

You're right though. No knows regarding Jordan. I liked how he played towards the end. Early on, he deferred to Branch, who was not able to run the offense. Actually, I don't know what they were doing early on. Seemed like they were just standing around ala Brian Mahoney.

Oh, and whoever said we need to tighten up our pick and roll defense was right on the money.    Either switch or play it tighter , but we let their ball handlers turn the corner way too easily.   

For a guy that picked on Gift plenty, I thought he played hard in the second half, and showed some of what we were happy with in 11-12. Hope he keeps it up.

@StJohnsBBall: #SJUBB Hangs On For 82-80 Exhibition Victory Over San Francisco State: Recap, Stats, Video, Quotes, Pics: http://t.co/Wx9JgBe6Hg