11/15 St. John's VS Wagner

[Lavinwood]

Lavinwood, I think that you are on target when you say that SJU has to start collecting scalps at some point. But there really is no shame in losing to Wisc on a neutral court early in the season. They just knocked off Florida last night and are probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the B10. Winning games like that really help, but losing then do not hurt. Your season does not bank on beating either Syr or Wisc. Play both tough, win one if you can, take care of the OOC teams that you should beat down, and finish over .500 in a very balanced league and I think you'll be fine to get in the tourney.

As a conference we need to collectively grab enough quality OOC wins to keep our collective RPI high. Part of that is to avoid bad losses. Last year Nova beat prob the Top 5 teams in the BE (Syr, L'ville, Marq, Gtwn & Uconn) but lost to Columbia. That loss probably cancelled out one of the top wins and/or cost Nova the chance to be a 6 or 7 seed instead of a 9 seed. You guy will probably have 8-12 conference games against teams in the RPI Top 50, so your opportunity for quality wins will be there.

The RPI is very interesting. It would be very surprising if St John's had 8-12 conference games against teams in the RPI top 50. I mean 12 conference games would mean 6 other teams in the RPI top 50. I don't think even the most optimistic person could say that. Last year in a 15 team conference we had 8 teams in.

btw- early season RPI's are the best... Right now- Georgetown is 322. Who is #1? Alcorn State.

btw- Kent State- is #2!!!!!

RPI now means nothing... Wait until end of January or February when it really starts to mean something. The teams I expect to be in the Top 50 RPI this year for SJU to play are:

Marq
Gtown
Creighton
Nova

Figure SJU has a good chance of seeing one of those in the post season BE tourney and that is 9 games right there. I also think that a Xavier or Prov have a chance as well. I think the BE this year will be no Top 10 RPI teams but a ton between 25 & 50. If Marq cuts down Ohio St and/or Wisconsin or one of our teams knock off some big names in a Holiday Tourney then that may be the only Top team we see. But the rest should be solid; think last year's MWC.

I've always envied Nova, because they always seem to have teams that make a game out of it every time. They don't get blown out often. In fact, it's hard to remember the last time they got embarrassed. Cuse, L'Ville, Duke, it doesn't matter. They always seem to hang right with them like they belong. SJ on the other hand is routinely embarrassed by Cuse, G'Town, L'Ville, etc. Nova doesn't look up and say "oh, no! It's big bad Cuse!". I think we do. You can never count Nova out of any game. With SJ I feel like we have become predictable. If we seem too good to be true, we usually are. On the other hand, Nova seems to do more with less talent. Not sure if that's just luck recruiting, coaching, chemistry, or all 3. But we are missing that X factor. It's like a Corvette all ready to race...nice and shiny, big engine, ready to go but the key isn't there to get it started. What good is a Corvette in a driveway? IMO if we don't start winning now with this crazy talented team, we never will until Lavin is gone. I really wonder what our team would look like with Coach K, Brad Stevens, Jay Wright, or Tom Izzo at the helm.

[stever20]

I think the comparison with last years MWC is interesting. I think the problem with that comparison is two things. 1 is they had New Mexico, the #2 team last year in RPI. They had road wins OOC against Cincy, New Mexico St- a road loss against SLU, and a neutral site win vs UConn. 3 teams in that 20-30 range. I don't think we'll have that top RPI team, so teams won't get that boost even with a loss playing them.
2- we have 10 teams(they had 9). That equates to 2 extra conference games, which equates to more losses. Also, not really sure if DePaul will stat wise be equal to what Nevada was last year(#171)- by comparison last year DePaul was #202. They only had 2 non top 100 teams- so only 4 games in conference play vs non top 100 teams. It'll be interesting to see how we are in that department.

[jks1985]

St. John's seems to always have a few duds in the non-conference and then pick it up during conference play.

Would not be surprised to see them with a few L's until conference time and then still make the NCAA's

[Jet915]

Also, why is this game on FS2 and not FS1? Or at least on SNY? From what I understand FS1 is standard with most carriers, but FS2 is premium. Can't they fit 1 more game on FS1 instead of another stupid UFC fight that no one cares about?

I think you raise a lot of good points in your post, most of which I agree with. This issue is something that we will just have to deal with. I myself am a UFC fan, but I am a Marquette fan before that. However, you have to understand that while college basketball is one of the most popular sports in the country, the interest is spread over 350 teams. An extremely good college game such as St. John's v. Syracuse might draw around 500,000-600,000 viewers. A bad UFC card on free tv will draw probably draw 700,000. That's the reality of the situation. FS1 is also paying the UFC over twice as much per year as they are paying the Big East, and that has to be taken into account. I don't know the exact numbers for NASCAR, but I would assume they are similar since NASCAR has a similar sized fanbase to the UFC, maybe a little larger.

Agree, UFC and Nascar actually have the biggest ratings for FS1 other than college football. Most basketball games will get a 0.1 rating at best.

[SJUREDMEN85]

Lavinwood, I think that you are on target when you say that SJU has to start collecting scalps at some point. But there really is no shame in losing to Wisc on a neutral court early in the season. They just knocked off Florida last night and are probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the B10. Winning games like that really help, but losing then do not hurt. Your season does not bank on beating either Syr or Wisc. Play both tough, win one if you can, take care of the OOC teams that you should beat down, and finish over .500 in a very balanced league and I think you'll be fine to get in the tourney.

As a conference we need to collectively grab enough quality OOC wins to keep our collective RPI high. Part of that is to avoid bad losses. Last year Nova beat prob the Top 5 teams in the BE (Syr, L'ville, Marq, Gtwn & Uconn) but lost to Columbia. That loss probably cancelled out one of the top wins and/or cost Nova the chance to be a 6 or 7 seed instead of a 9 seed. You guy will probably have 8-12 conference games against teams in the RPI Top 50, so your opportunity for quality wins will be there.

Gumby, it`s really not losing to wisconsin that bothers, but the down 18pnts in the first 15minutes that really pisses me off. Then they decide to play for real. Was that the real Redmen or the Badgers easing up alittle? I`d say probably alittle of both.

Oh well, now we got 4games to get the kinks out before the tournament.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Lavinwood, I think that you are on target when you say that SJU has to start collecting scalps at some point. But there really is no shame in losing to Wisc on a neutral court early in the season. They just knocked off Florida last night and are probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the B10. Winning games like that really help, but losing then do not hurt. Your season does not bank on beating either Syr or Wisc. Play both tough, win one if you can, take care of the OOC teams that you should beat down, and finish over .500 in a very balanced league and I think you'll be fine to get in the tourney.

As a conference we need to collectively grab enough quality OOC wins to keep our collective RPI high. Part of that is to avoid bad losses. Last year Nova beat prob the Top 5 teams in the BE (Syr, L'ville, Marq, Gtwn & Uconn) but lost to Columbia. That loss probably cancelled out one of the top wins and/or cost Nova the chance to be a 6 or 7 seed instead of a 9 seed. You guy will probably have 8-12 conference games against teams in the RPI Top 50, so your opportunity for quality wins will be there.

Gumby, it`s really not losing to wisconsin that bothers, but the down 18pnts in the first 15minutes that really pisses me off. Then they decide to play for real. Was that the real Redmen or the Badgers easing up alittle? I`d say probably alittle of both.

Oh well, now we got 4games to get the kinks out before the tournament.

Was thinking the same that it was frustrating to watch SJU get run out of the game before you got into any kind of rhythm. I thought before the game that Wisc was the type of team that would give you guys fits--at least early in the season. I will make an early prediction that your first trip to Omaha will not be a successful one either; just a hunch. I think CU will play that disciplined, albeit unflashy style that, when done right, is Kryptonite to a team like SJU. You guys need a leader that gets guys to buy into doing what is necessary to win, and not worry about stats. I don't think SJU has learned that yet and quite frankly a team with 7 scorers needs the guy(s) who can set picks and dive after loose balls that sets the tone. Hopefully between now and March SJU figures it out because you guys have some sick talent.

[Lavinwood]

Lavinwood, I think that you are on target when you say that SJU has to start collecting scalps at some point. But there really is no shame in losing to Wisc on a neutral court early in the season. They just knocked off Florida last night and are probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the B10. Winning games like that really help, but losing then do not hurt. Your season does not bank on beating either Syr or Wisc. Play both tough, win one if you can, take care of the OOC teams that you should beat down, and finish over .500 in a very balanced league and I think you'll be fine to get in the tourney.

As a conference we need to collectively grab enough quality OOC wins to keep our collective RPI high. Part of that is to avoid bad losses. Last year Nova beat prob the Top 5 teams in the BE (Syr, L'ville, Marq, Gtwn & Uconn) but lost to Columbia. That loss probably cancelled out one of the top wins and/or cost Nova the chance to be a 6 or 7 seed instead of a 9 seed. You guy will probably have 8-12 conference games against teams in the RPI Top 50, so your opportunity for quality wins will be there.

Gumby, it`s really not losing to wisconsin that bothers, but the down 18pnts in the first 15minutes that really pisses me off. Then they decide to play for real. Was that the real Redmen or the Badgers easing up alittle? I`d say probably alittle of both.

Oh well, now we got 4games to get the kinks out before the tournament.

Was thinking the same that it was frustrating to watch SJU get run out of the game before you got into any kind of rhythm. I thought before the game that Wisc was the type of team that would give you guys fits--at least early in the season. I will make an early prediction that your first trip to Omaha will not be a successful one either; just a hunch. I think CU will play that disciplined, albeit unflashy style that, when done right, is Kryptonite to a team like SJU. You guys need a leader that gets guys to buy into doing what is necessary to win, and not worry about stats. I don't think SJU has learned that yet and quite frankly a team with 7 scorers needs the guy(s) who can set picks and dive after loose balls that sets the tone. Hopefully between now and March SJU figures it out because you guys have some sick talent.

Watching this team no matter who's playing I just feel like many of our opponents score at will and it's a miracle if we ever get the ball in the paint consistently or make 40% or more from 3. We have to have among the worst 3 pt defense in the country...nearly every game it feels like the opponent makes 50% and sometimes more from beyond the arc. SJ reminds me of the Knicks right now. Tons and tons of individual talent. Take each player by themselves and they are loaded with talent. But they have no chemistry. There is no cohesiveness. There is no plan. With SJ I never look at a game vs. a top 25 opponent and say to myself "we have a legitimate chance of winning this game". When playing top 25 squads it feels like we have a 75% chance of losing and 25% chance of winning. The teams have no problem dominating us and getting quick double digit leads and easily have their way. But this should not be happening with this year's SJ team. On the contrary, whenever I see Nova games coming up it doesn't matter if they're playing Duke or UNC...I know they will at the very least compete and for them it's more like a coin flip. That's where I want us to be. We should not be getting dominated by top 25's anymore...we should at the very least make it a game right down to the end and win our fair share too.

[Lavinwood]

Just got back from the game…Johnnies win 73-57 over Wagner.

Takeaways:

Positive:

Good cleaning up around the rim
Good job attacking the paint getting to the line drawing fouls

Negative:

Terrible decisions (passing the ball when you can easily score in the paint then missing the outside shot or traveling for a turnover)…that's the stuff that kills you. If you are Sanchez, Sampson, or Jordan and you get a good look in the paint, why the hell are you passing it back out to other covered players? Insanity.

Very poor consistency…every time the Johnnies put the lead up by double digits again, Wagner came right back to make it a single digit game.

This team is yet another cardiac SJ team. We will not blow anyone out…even cupcakes. It's scary how lost the team looks at times. The final score is very deceptive…this was a single digit game as recently as a few minutes left in the game. They kept the deficit low enough to have a chance and we never put them away until their fouls began adding up.

3 PT shooting…surprise surprise. 0-10 from beyond the arc. Yup…0%. For the team. Basically if a team can force us to shoot 3's, we will be one of the easiest teams to beat in the conference. We cannot buy 3's with Bill Gates' money. Most YMCA league teams with 40 yr olds will make more 3's than this team. And sadly it's not a joke.


Overall:
Very deceptive score…very close game until very late in the game…yet again. Can this team ever put someone away without making things interesting? Can this team stop the 3 point barrages that lets the other team get back in the game all the time? Can we ever hit 3's consistently like many other teams can? We got what we needed: the W, but this game was frightening. Jordan, Sanchez, and Sampson need to attack a LOT more in the paint. Passing is great sometimes, but if you have a shot in the paint, but pass it one more time for a worse shot to a covered teammate only to miss the shot, this will be another long season.

[Bluejay]

Very poor consistency…every time the Johnnies put the lead up by double digits again, Wagner came right back to make it a single digit game.

Lavinwood, I watched your game tonight and I now understand everything you've been saying in your posts. You are exactly right.

As to the above quote, my take on it is as follows - it seemed to me that every time SJU got a double digit lead they either flat out lost focus, or thought, "hey, we are way ahead. Let's try some sh!t." Seemed to happen over and over throughout the second half. I kept thinking SJU was on the verge of blowing them out, only to let them right back into the game.

[Lavinwood]

Very poor consistency…every time the Johnnies put the lead up by double digits again, Wagner came right back to make it a single digit game.

Lavinwood, I watched your game tonight and I now understand everything you've been saying in your posts. You are exactly right.

As to the above quote, my take on it is as follows - it seemed to me that every time SJU got a double digit lead they either flat out lost focus, or thought, "hey, we are way ahead. Let's try some sh!t." Seemed to happen over and over throughout the second half. I kept thinking SJU was on the verge of blowing them out, only to let them right back into the game.

There were times we looked en route to a 30 pt blowout…then they made a big 3, made a few shots and cut it back to 8. This team does not know how to play with a lead. We go hot then cold. We don't have those games where we get out to a fast lead, establish control, and go basket for basket the rest of the way with some stops in between to preserve the lead. It seems we are up by 20 then up by 6 in a matter of a few seconds. And this is Wagner…a low mid major. This game played in the Big East would result in a loss.

We have to learn that because it's impossible for us to make 3's, the paint is our best friend. It may not look as sexy, but get in there, get layups and draw the fouls more. So sick of seeing Sampson or Sanchez 1 on 1 with a defender in the paint, then they kick it out to Harrison who is not open. Harrison then misses the 3 and we wasted an easy paint trip. Harrison is great. The rest of this team needs to step up. 0 its for Jordan is unacceptable…0-7? Branch plays scared, Sanchez would rather pass than attack the rim, and even Sampson is a little hesitant at times to get in the paint. He falls in love with his jumper way too much and misses way too often.