UMBC Game Thread

Kid is definitely solid but you may be jumping the gun, lets see how he does in BE play.....next year the guard play should be great, hopefully two pure points and this kid.  ( Baldi, I  thought I was an optimist but you are in a class alone)

He will get a lot of run this year, bad or good, he will be on the court. It will only help him in the long run. Kid has the tools.

The guy who will be all big east next year if he keeps improving at this rate is Sima. He's the stat sheet stuffer on this team.

-Nice to see the team finish off an opponent.
-Coach interview straight and to the point with some analysis mixed in.

Mussini will be all big east next year if he hangs around

He's been very impressive but you have to wait to see him against Big East caliber teams first.  He is supposed to be way better than the young players on UMBC and Wagner.  It won't be so easy against better players.  Thank God for him, though, or this season would be pure agony. 

I think he is likely destined for first guard off the bench when Lovett, Ponds, and the 2016 class gets here.  He'll be awesome in that role.

Hard to draw conclusions against this kind of opponent. But...

We are not horrific. Could actually have a respectable year.

Really like the young guys. I continue to be encouraged about the long term future.

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 16, 2015, 08:28:23 PM

Mussini will be all big east next year if he hangs around

He's been very impressive but you have to wait to see him against Big East caliber teams first.  He is supposed to be way better than the young players on UMBC and Wagner.  It won't be so easy against better players.  Thank God for him, though, or this season would be pure agony. 

I think he is likely destined for first guard off the bench when Lovett, Ponds, and the 2016 class gets here.  He'll be awesome in that role.

Lovett and Ponds will have zero experience as compared to Mussini. Mussini is my guy, I wouldn't count on Lovett

Kudos to the staff for the turnaround since the STAC debacle.  It was only Sonoma, Wagner and UMBC, but they went from looking like they would lose every game to showing a little bit of promise in less than two weeks.  That's not easy. 

It was a little worrisome that they froze up when UMBC pressed at the end, but Mussini really has a great feel for the game and is a good passer.  Hopefully we don't run into many 40 minutes of hell type teams this year without a capable second ball-handler.  It could get ugly if we do.



 

win the games we are supposed to win. After the stac game I didn't even think that was possible. It's like night and day between those games.

We still will get our heads beat in against big east teams but at least we see the building blocks going forward and maybe we steal a couple of games

Quote from: Marillac on November 16, 2015, 09:03:58 PM

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 16, 2015, 08:28:23 PM

Mussini will be all big east next year if he hangs around

He's been very impressive but you have to wait to see him against Big East caliber teams first.  He is supposed to be way better than the young players on UMBC and Wagner.  It won't be so easy against better players.  Thank God for him, though, or this season would be pure agony. 

I think he is likely destined for first guard off the bench when Lovett, Ponds, and the 2016 class gets here.  He'll be awesome in that role.

Lovett and Ponds will have zero experience as compared to Mussini. Mussini is my guy, I wouldn't count on Lovett

Thank you

Quote from: Marillac on November 16, 2015, 09:03:58 PM

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 16, 2015, 08:28:23 PM

Mussini will be all big east next year if he hangs around

He's been very impressive but you have to wait to see him against Big East caliber teams first.  He is supposed to be way better than the young players on UMBC and Wagner.  It won't be so easy against better players.  Thank God for him, though, or this season would be pure agony. 

I think he is likely destined for first guard off the bench when Lovett, Ponds, and the 2016 class gets here.  He'll be awesome in that role.

Lovett and Ponds will have zero experience as compared to Mussini. Mussini is my guy, I wouldn't count on Lovett

Why wouldn't you count on Lovett? Can play 3 guard lineup, but, I have to admit our guards are small.

Far from an Insider, but from what I've heard, Lovett is a great kid who really wants to play for this coach/staff, and continues to mature overall.  If he is not ultimately eligible this year, I think the redshirt season will be a positive, and he will do what is necessary to be a major contributor next season.

Durand really rounding into shape.  That's the player I saw in his AAU days.  Mvouika looked much better too.  Another big step up in talent level on Thursday.  Big Ten coming in.  Lets just keep improving.

Just got back from Queens, this team has vastly improved over the past two weeks. In particular, Ron, CJ, and Durand are displaying true leadership as the elder statesmen, while promise is coming in every direction from the likes of Moose, Sima, and Darien.

The defensive intensity is there, hustle points were abound. However, the turnovers have to be cut down. Defensive lapses occurred naturally through attrition, but you can tell that this team has true fight, and is only going to get in better shape. I'm going to enjoy watching the gelling throughout the Winter, it felt good walking out of Carnesecca tn. Bring on Rutgers!

Btw, Darien has loads of potential. I feel that he's been under sung and overlooked to this point , but he's going to shine in due time.

The team looked much bettter and at the same time I don't think they played close to there best game. Looking forward to watching Sima vs Wake Forrest. Durand had great second half. The french Guy finally showed up. I think he is our best PG. The Italian can shoot, but I think he is going to have a tough time.  Every small guard I can think of was Lighting quick. He is slow and small.
The team showed much more athleticism and scired some easy baskets. They also had a plan on offense which is not the norm for St. Johns. Hoping for Felix soon. I feel much better about the season. Big game Thursday!
Edit- Durand atleast in the second half did not resemble Avery Patterson

@NYPost_Brazille: Johnson and Mvouika lead way in #sjubb rout of UMBC: https://t.co/QVQSwxssFb

Great to watch a St John's game without a mindless substitution pattern. People keep saying Mussini is slow but at least on O he makes up for it in movement, craftiness and change of pace.

Mussini will be all big east next year if he hangs around

He isn't going anywhere.

Great to watch a St John's game without a mindless substitution pattern. People keep saying Mussini is slow but at least on O he makes up for it in movement, craftiness and change of pace.

Agree. To say he is slow is only telling half the story. It's just two games but he has done very well keeping the defense on the wrong foot and picking his spots. A true euro ball handler. Nobody would call Manu ginobli fast either.

Just 12 days ago, we lost to a D2 team by 34 points.  Really impressed by the improvements all around.  Yes, we left the arc open too much defensively, but I really enjoyed the TEAM defense and rotations that we saw tonight.

Sima has the chance to be an absolute stud.  Not only will he be a much better offensive big than Obekpa was, but he'll be a better one-on-one defender against bigs.  While Obekpa had other-worldly shot blocking ability, he wasn't a great one-on-one defender against big.  Sima is really solid and knows how to go straight up and stay between himself between the offensive player and the rim.

Mvouika is up and down but it really looks like he's a solid leader out there. 

Ellison wasn't good tonight but I still really think he'll be good.  Needs to foul less and tighten up his handle.

I'm also once again impressed by how good those guys are at sharing the ball.  Durand Johnson appears to definitely be streaky but his hot streak came at crucial moments tonight for us.  Also important to keep in mind that DJ, Mvouika and Darien Williams all didn't play for extended periods because of injuries and such.  I only expect them to get better as they round into game shape and get their feel back.

One of the biggest things I've been impressed with has been our ability to close out games.  In our first 2 games, we've outscored our competition 32-15 in the last 5 minutes of the game.

Team has improved every time out. From a young team with little to no experience together what more can you really ask. If we can get this type of production from Durand and Ron more often we might be a little better then I though. Love sima and Mussini though, those two are huge building blocks. Really excited to see this team grow over the course of the season. Good job by the staff to get these kids ready after those two bad exhibition games.