Six in. Season to date Recap

I'm an optimist. 

The glimmer is there. We've had four bad wins and two not so bad losses. Wisky is a great team and Penn St. is better than people think. 

And we are not as good as people thought ...yet.   That's why you play season.

I see the improvement.

 see the new wrinkles being added.  I see the guys getting better.  Hooper had his breakout game. Sanchez was close.   The defense is getting better.  Too bad we didn't get Frazier his fifth foul and we'd be 5-1....too bad about a lot of things we were close and getting better.  Barclay's was the first game we tried to go inside repeatedly.

NCAA's here we come, but you don't qualify for the tournament in November...

I'm an optimist. 

The glimmer is there. We've had four bad wins and two not so bad losses. Wisky is a great team and Penn St. is better than people think. 

And we are not as good as people thought ...yet.   That's why you play season.

I see the improvement.

 see the new wrinkles being added.  I see the guys getting better.  Hooper had his breakout game. Sanchez was close.   The defense is getting better.  Too bad we didn't get Frazier his fifth foul and we'd be 5-1....too bad about a lot of things we were close and getting better.  Barclay's was the first game we tried to go inside repeatedly.

NCAA's here we come, but you don't qualify for the tournament in November...

Good post. And I see improvement as well. The defense steps up and we will be pretty good.

We were a free throw away from being 5-1.

It's November.

One potential problem is the Big East is still going to be a beast.  There are no gimmes.  There will be no gimmes.

This wasn't supposed to be a year where we were encouraged by signs of improvement and moral victories. 

Our individual players are better than they were a year ago:  Obekpa is a noticeably better rebounder than he was a season ago; Phil Greene (maybe because he's healthy?) is scoring more efficiently than at any point in his college career.   

But as a team: we've barely improved at all.   We're still making stupid fouls, our offense doesn't get the ball in the paint, and I actually think our defense has regressed as guys have fallen in love with the blocked shot and we've allowed deeper penetration thinking we can swat the shot from behind.   These aren't good signs.

The season obviously isn't over, and I take comfort in the fact that the 2010 team did a complete 180 between this time and February.   But, to date, I haven't thought at any point this season that we've looked like a top 25 team.   I can live with ups and downs, but the problem I have is - how good have we even been in our "good moments"?   Not that great.   I could live with the early-season inconsistency if we were displaying flashes of brilliance - that would give us a sign of what could be if the team meshes.    But I haven't seen those moments of great play.  Have you?

It still drives me nuts that we are now 0-2 against the B1G this year. Obviously not as dangerous with being 0-2 in the BE. The danger is that nobody knows how good the BE is this year so winning these games now is more important then ever. It is a good sign that Nova beats KU so that helps out the league...I'm starting to sound like an SEC football fan. Go team Big East!

There are no bad wins.

I think we are finished  NCAA wise. Of course I still pull for the team and hope to see improvement. Not quiting and making the NIT is important. Going 11-7 in this conference without a good OOC win does not get us in. It is of course a lot better then a team that lays down and goes 5-13. I really must see this team fighting for wins before I rule out that possibility. If things go good we might need to beat the Cuse to get in the mix. It's lucky we have them on the schedule. Some here didn't want to give them a game. I wish we had Conn. and Pitt. too.

Seasons dont make or break in November. Although our play has been somewhat discouraging, the season is still just starting. I believe we have the pieces to be very good. Obviously our play needs to improve but I dont think its fair to judge this team until they play a few conference games.

I'm an optimist. 

The glimmer is there. We've had four bad wins and two not so bad losses. Wisky is a great team and Penn St. is better than people think. 

And we are not as good as people thought ...yet.   That's why you play season.

I see the improvement.

 see the new wrinkles being added.  I see the guys getting better.  Hooper had his breakout game. Sanchez was close.   The defense is getting better.  Too bad we didn't get Frazier his fifth foul and we'd be 5-1....too bad about a lot of things we were close and getting better.  Barclay's was the first game we tried to go inside repeatedly.

NCAA's here we come, but you don't qualify for the tournament in November...

Sanchez was close to what? I thought he played very poorly today.

Quote from: hnk on November 30, 2013, 09:14:31 AM

I'm an optimist. 

The glimmer is there. We've had four bad wins and two not so bad losses. Wisky is a great team and Penn St. is better than people think. 

And we are not as good as people thought ...yet.   That's why you play season.

I see the improvement.

 see the new wrinkles being added.  I see the guys getting better.  Hooper had his breakout game. Sanchez was close.   The defense is getting better.  Too bad we didn't get Frazier his fifth foul and we'd be 5-1....too bad about a lot of things we were close and getting better.  Barclay's was the first game we tried to go inside repeatedly.

NCAA's here we come, but you don't qualify for the tournament in November...

Sanchez was close to what? I thought he played very poorly today.

Close to the bench.

Quote from: hnk on November 30, 2013, 09:14:31 AM

I'm an optimist. 

The glimmer is there. We've had four bad wins and two not so bad losses. Wisky is a great team and Penn St. is better than people think. 

And we are not as good as people thought ...yet.   That's why you play season.

I see the improvement.

 see the new wrinkles being added.  I see the guys getting better.  Hooper had his breakout game. Sanchez was close.   The defense is getting better.  Too bad we didn't get Frazier his fifth foul and we'd be 5-1....too bad about a lot of things we were close and getting better.  Barclay's was the first game we tried to go inside repeatedly.

NCAA's here we come, but you don't qualify for the tournament in November...

Sanchez was close to what? I thought he played very poorly today.

This thread was before today's game.

And Sanchez was 3 for 3 yesterday before he sat yesterday. i still feel he is close to breaking out.   You can see he can hit the three,,,,,,  dish from the paint...... even though he hasn't yet.

Now that we're seven in, we actually had a decent win.....we're getting there.  The potential problem is the rest of the Big East is looking tougher and tougher.  Villie....Butler a one basket loss to Ok St.....Seton hall seems better than advertised....Creighton, Georgetown, Marq, Xavier  for real etc...

After 7 games onl5 of which I have seen, here are my highly anticipated thoughts:
Obepka-My favorite Center ever at SJU. I am currently in talks with developing a reality show about him. Embrace the blocks!

Sanchez-I think the NCAA is totally screwing us over by granting him eligibility.

Sampson-I think he has played very well. For him to ever make the pros he has to get better at a bunch of things but I think he has been fine.

Harrison- I miss the frohawk! PEOPLE WHO CRITICIZE HIM ARE STUPID!

Greene-Never going to be a great shooter or passer. Will have games where people other than Carmine wildly overate him and games where he is the worst player on the court. I am just happy he stopped dribbling around aimlessly. In fact he took my criticism so figuritively that he tried to go in for a dunk without dribbling at all.

Jordan-Honestly looks lost.

Pointer-Would like him do be more involved. One of our best passer's and for a team that can't shoot, he doesn't have a bad touch. Team has too many role players he needs to step up.

Branch-I go back and forth on him, but if it is not a slam dunk for everyone that he is not the answer at the point for us on a team with no other real option what does that say?

Branch adds a dynamic (driving and dishing) that is kind of required given our personnel and non existent offensive scheme.  If making something happen means a couple more turnovers in the half court set, I am OK with it.  Same goes for Jordan.

The time to cut Phil's minutes down is now.  He should be used to spell Harrison for a couple minutes each half and when Jordan and/or Branch are in foul trouble.  And never used as a PG.  That leaves between 20 and 30 minutes each for our 7 best players: Branch, Jordan, Harrison, Sampson, Pointer, Sanchez, and Obekpa. 

Branch adds a dynamic (driving and dishing) that is kind of required given our personnel and non existent offensive scheme.  If making something happen means a couple more turnovers in the half court set, I am OK with it.  Same goes for Jordan.

The time to cut Phil's minutes down is now.  He should be used to spell Harrison for a couple minutes each half and when Jordan and/or Branch are in foul trouble.  And never used as a PG.  That leaves between 20 and 30 minutes each for our 7 best players: Branch, Jordan, Harrison, Sampson, Pointer, Sanchez, and Obekpa. 

+1

Branch adds a dynamic (driving and dishing) that is kind of required given our personnel and non existent offensive scheme.  If making something happen means a couple more turnovers in the half court set, I am OK with it.  Same goes for Jordan.

The time to cut Phil's minutes down is now.  He should be used to spell Harrison for a couple minutes each half and when Jordan and/or Branch are in foul trouble.  And never used as a PG.  That leaves between 20 and 30 minutes each for our 7 best players: Branch, Jordan, Harrison, Sampson, Pointer, Sanchez, and Obekpa. 

Please!

Now that we're seven in, we actually had a decent win.....we're getting there.  The potential problem is the rest of the Big East is looking tougher and tougher.  Villie....Butler a one basket loss to Ok St.....Seton hall seems better than advertised....Creighton, Georgetown, Marq, Xavier  for real etc...

The Hall is the worst team in the BE.

I hope u r right.....we'll need the two wins....and against DePaul too....and someone else.....

I hope u r right.....we'll need the two wins....and against DePaul too....and someone else.....

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but games against the Hall are not lock wins for us.  As it turns out, the only gimme for us was the Humboldt State Sensemillas.