Player Roles

I know I don't post often but I feel compelled to state my opinion due to the amount of posters calling for Branch to play more. I think Jamal Branch plays soft. He hates contact, picks up his dribble and honestly can't play defense. Oh and he's scared to shoot from 3 which destroys his ability to his his quickness (one of the only things he has going). Unfortunately, we don't have another backup pg option and therefore I am ok with him getting 8-10 mins a game to spell Jordan. In these mins he should always have Harrison next to him. Just IMO

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 01, 2014, 03:37:28 PM

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

Are you talking about the alley oop he threw to Gift? Should have been caught. No one else makes that play on this team.

Quote from: goredmen on January 01, 2014, 07:11:01 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 01, 2014, 03:37:28 PM

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

Are you talking about the alley oop he threw to Gift? Should have been caught. No one else makes that play on this team.

There was a play in the 2nd half where it was 3 on 1 and Sanchez could have passed it to either wing for a layup but he was dribbling with his head down and got caught from behind so he had to pick up his dribble and set up a half court offense

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on January 01, 2014, 08:14:20 PM

Quote from: goredmen on January 01, 2014, 07:11:01 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 01, 2014, 03:37:28 PM

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

Are you talking about the alley oop he threw to Gift? Should have been caught. No one else makes that play on this team.

There was a play in the 2nd half where it was 3 on 1 and Sanchez could have passed it to either wing for a layup but he was dribbling with his head down and got caught from behind so he had to pick up his dribble and set up a half court offense

My mistake, I thought you were talking about branch.

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 01, 2014, 03:37:28 PM

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

That was one time, not a large enough sample to say he shouldn't be doing it, imo. We struggle to score in the half court set. Its imperative that we look to score with our early offense. If Sanchez waits to give the ball up to someone else there goes our fast break opportunity. I think he will be ok, lets see how he does these next few games. 

Quote from: goredmen on January 01, 2014, 07:11:01 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 01, 2014, 03:37:28 PM

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

That was one time, not a large enough sample to say he shouldn't be doing it, imo. We struggle to score in the half court set. Its imperative that we look to score with our early offense. If Sanchez waits to give the ball up to someone else there goes our fast break opportunity. I think he will be ok, lets see how he does these next few games. 

Theres been a couple other times where he leading the break didnt work out well like that time a few games back he left his feet before knowing what he was going to do with the ball he wound up throwing it right to the other team. To say that waiting for him to pass the ball would end our fast break opportunity is simply false. That would mean that the only way to score on a fast break in basketball is by the guy who gets the rebound going coast to coast when in fact there are very very few big men capable of doing that in both college and the NBA. The fastest way to advance ball down the court after a rebound is by passing it not by dribbling it

I know I don't post often but I feel compelled to state my opinion due to the amount of posters calling for Branch to play more. I think Jamal Branch plays soft. He hates contact, picks up his dribble and honestly can't play defense. Oh and he's scared to shoot from 3 which destroys his ability to his his quickness (one of the only things he has going). Unfortunately, we don't have another backup pg option and therefore I am ok with him getting 8-10 mins a game to spell Jordan. In these mins he should always have Harrison next to him. Just IMO

I'm not suggesting that Branch should be playing 25-30 mpg for the Johnnies.  But the fact is that when Jordan and him are off the court, their offense becomes very hard to watch.  It is stagnant and unorganized.

For the life of me, I can't understand why Lavin doesn't see that either.  Harrison and Greene are great options at the two guard spot, but neither of them can run an offense.

Branch should be playing more and he should be told that he has to be more aggressive.  He is one of our better shooters (not saying much) but you'd never know it.  He is too passive and it is killing this team. 

He plays well in the open court and he would excel in a fast-paced game if the staff ever gets their heads out of their arses and decides to play that way. 

When I think of the potential of this team in March,  I picture Banch-Jordan-Harrison killing it with drives in the half court and in the open court. 

Against Youngstown they went with man pressure, but Youngstown was smart enough to use their center to pull Obekpa up.  I stopped watching with any real interest, but I thought they went with a zone press against Xavier at the end.  Obekpa was caught 20 feet from the basket and they got an easy layup and the staff called off the dogs.  They need to either play a matchup press or a zone  press to let Obekpa camp out in the lane to protect the goal, so the other four guys can go crazy. 

This team has to press.  Having them play in the half court is like having a NYC apartment full of greyhounds.

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on January 01, 2014, 08:14:20 PM

Quote from: goredmen on January 01, 2014, 07:11:01 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 01, 2014, 03:37:28 PM

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on January 01, 2014, 02:34:51 PM

I don't get how there are no repercussions for anything.  Let's take Sanchez for example.  Under no circumstances should he be bringing the ball up the court or catching the ball on the wing.

I've read this a couple of times and I don't understand why people are against Sanchez bringing up the ball. He isn't that slow, is he as fast as some of the other players, no, but he will make better decisions. Its an advantage that he can initiate the fast break. If he waits to give the ball to another player it will allow the defense more time to get back. 

He dribbles with his head down and passes the ball way too late. He had a couple nice passes leading the break against Wagner or Longwood or whoever. He wont be able to get away with it against BE teams and it showed the one time he tried yesterday against Xavier

Are you talking about the alley oop he threw to Gift? Should have been caught. No one else makes that play on this team.

There was a play in the 2nd half where it was 3 on 1 and Sanchez could have passed it to either wing for a layup but he was dribbling with his head down and got caught from behind so he had to pick up his dribble and set up a half court offense

Sanchez always has his head down after he gets a rebound and charges it up the floor.  He's usually pretty reckless too, and it usually results in him having to sloppily pull it out and hand it off to a guard to start the half court offense. 

Brownlee was more under control when he started the break off a rebound 2010-2011.  I hope Sanchez can get better in this area, because we should avoid half court sets as much as possible.

The problem is other than Harrison, Sampson and for some reason Greene, the coach does not know what the roles should be yet

The problem is other than Harrison, Sampson and for some reason Greene, the coach does not know what the roles should be yet

Or whether or not to wear those Clark Kent glasses.

Quote from: we are sju on January 02, 2014, 09:47:38 AM

The problem is other than Harrison, Sampson and for some reason Greene, the coach does not know what the roles should be yet

Or whether or not to wear those Clark Kent glasses.

I think my man Paultz is being drawn into the dark side

Quote from: paultzman on January 02, 2014, 09:51:19 AM

Quote from: we are sju on January 02, 2014, 09:47:38 AM

The problem is other than Harrison, Sampson and for some reason Greene, the coach does not know what the roles should be yet

Or whether or not to wear those Clark Kent glasses.

I think my man Paultz is being drawn into the dark side

Nah, feeble attempt at humor! Ha! I will judge this regime at end of year. As you always say, Go SJU!

St. John's has put together 7 different starting lineups this year in 13 games.

More staggering: we have had 4 different starting lineups in the last 5 games. 

Like it or not, this is Lavin's MO... He always tinkers and plays around with lineups.  Not say it's smart, but no one should be acting surprised buy it..   This is what he is..  All over the place until Feb, then we pray he figures it out... Enjoy the next month

I think this is much ado about nothing.....way more important are 1) boxing out on defensive end 2) help defense on switches when guards get caught on big men 3) hitting more two point shots 4) interior passing 5) more minutes for Jordan if he can stay out of foul trouble 5) NCAA's here we come! 6) taking advantage of Sanchez around the rim

I had posted my thoughts in another thread but the rotation needs to be 8 with Gift and Hooper used when needed as the 9th and 10th guys and Marco and Felix not used unless blowouts because there are too many players being used this season.

Starting lineup needs to be kept continuous with Obekpa Sanchez Jakarr Dee and Jordan

Sixth Man Pointer

Additional Guards Branch and Greene

I agree our forwards are bringing ball up too much on break and fumbling it thus losing the advantage in numbers that were created either by a block or rebound.

All of this is correctable however will the "stubborn" staff do this to get this season going in right direction.     

We have 7 different lineups in 13 games when we've returned about 95% of our scholarship roster and the only TRUE new addition is Rysheed.

Kentucky has only played TWO different starting lineups in 13 games and they have added 7 true new additions and only returned 4 scholarship players last year.

Which of these 2 teams should be "experimenting" and "trying to figure it out" at this point and which one should have their stuff together??

I think this is much ado about nothing.....way more important are 1) boxing out on defensive end 2) help defense on switches when guards get caught on big men 3) hitting more two point shots 4) interior passing 5) more minutes for Jordan if he can stay out of foul trouble 5) NCAA's here we come! 6) taking advantage of Sanchez around the rim

The basis of having a good basketball team is having an identity, players knowing what their roles are and having consistent time to play together.   Very little progress can be made in many of those areas you mentioned until we know who we are and players know their roles. 

Are there any other teams in "high major" conferences that have had as many starting lineups as we have??  And yet we returned more players from last year than nearly every team in the country.