SJU vs. Humboldt St. (Exhibition)

[SJHooper]

SJ won 95-83. There was a long period where Humboldt was winning by about 5-7 late in the first half. They stuck around all game and came within 6 with a few minutes left in the game. Very scary. But pretty typical.

Pros:

-Obekpa had 22 PTS, 10 Rebounds, and 11 blocks…WOW. DII or not, this was a guy who was worse than a typical 40 year old at the YMCA offensively. Today he showed a brand new shot he clearly worked on. He was making FT's consistently, making shots, laying it up, dunking, etc. Watch out.

-Harrison with 28 PTS

-FT shooting looked much better especially with Obekpa and Pointer


Cons:

-The loss of Keith Thomas is clearly going to negatively affect this team and this game was proof

-Very sloppy play…a lot of would be steals given right back, lots of turnovers

-This team still thinks it's a bunch of Chris Mullins shooting from anywhere instead of driving to the paint

-We seemed to get beat off the dribble all game

-Jones is awful…looks like he's running in water up to his chest. Slow and always gets burnt.

-Many times we would have a great scoring play only to have them chuck a full court pass back the other way for a quick score. Unacceptable.

-Lots of missed 3 pointers…some with no one within 10 feet. Missing bunnies keeps weaker teams in games.

-Lavin was seen laughing on the sideline when Humboldt was within single digits late in the game. Sorry, but you should not be laughing. Humboldt was leading at half and controlled the tempo for most of the game. Without all our FT's and Obekpa's renaissance game we would have lost easily.

-EIGHT turnovers for Jordan. Looked like he was in high school. Made back to back 3's at the end but really played awful overall.

[hoyahooligan]

I watched a fair bit of the scrimmage as well today.

Obekpa certainly looks improved.

Jordan did not look improved at all. Out of control 8 turnovers vs. 4 assists.

Italian kid didn't do anything, Delarosa didn't play.

Rebounding will be an issue. tied in rebounds with a D2 team with no size. Gave up 20 offensive rebounds.

Still can't hit 3's

21 turnovers.

Not a great look for St. John's.

[SJHooper]

I really wonder if the problem is that this is the wrong mix of players which is why we won't make the tourney, or if the problem is that the recruits were overrated and that's why we won't make the tourney. Other than Obekpa and Harrison our recruits have been extremely overrated. Branch was a top 60 PG…he sucks and looks lost all the time. Garrett was a top 100 recruit…he did nothing. Pointer was a top 25 recruit…he cannot handle a basketball or shoot. Jordan was a top 25 recruit…he gave up 8 TO's to a DII squad and looked totally lost. Also at least 3 travels. Amar looks awkward and did absolutely nothing. Won't expect a thing from him. Jones will make a shot every once in a while but he mostly sucks and gets beat 90% of the time. Balamou is good at handling the ball but doesn't do much else.

Is it because the recruits suck?

Is it because of terrible scouting?

Is it because of Lavin?

That's what we need to figure out. It's unreal to me to see this team of top 100 players constantly get burnt by DII and DIII players who score at will and make lots of nice shots. They may not look the part. There may be a lot of doofy looking kids who aren't as athletic as SJ players, but they know how to play basketball and have refined skills. We never seem to find players with real skills. Just a bunch of players who are decent at everything but not great in anything except guys like Harrison and Obekpa.

[SJHooper]

Some other tidbits:

Whenever we play our DII or DIII exhibitions I always read their school's site to see how they refer to SJU just to see what their perception of us is. I noticed that they refer to us as a "Big East powerhouse". Now I love the ego boost, but the last time we were a "Big East powerhouse" was probably at least 15-30 years ago. I just find it funny. If they referred to Marquette, Nova, or G'Town as a Big East powerhouse I'd understand, but we have had 1 decent year (ranked + tourney) in our last 15 or so.

[BigEast1]

SJHooper has it ever occurred to you that you can root for another school. I've heard opposing fans of SJU talk better about the Red Storm than you do sometimes LOL.

[SJHooper]

I did post a pro section did I not? In this game there were way more cons. I don't think that's up for debate. As I've said, I am a stone cold realist and the fact is that a DII bum came very, very close to beating a veteran SJ squad that was recently ranked #39 in the Pomeroy rankings and picked by coaches to finish 3rd in the Big East which means they expect it to be a tourney/bubble team.

When the team does well no one will praise them and get behind them more than me. But if they suck, no one will criticize them more than me. Don't confuse disappointment and frustration with hating the program. You have to understand how frustrating it is to be a fan of this team to know where I'm coming from. I never knew the 1985 Final Four St. John's or even the Ron Artest or Felipe Lopez St. John's teams. All I've seen is failure except for one year in 2011 (which would still be deemed a failure by many schools for losing in the first round). This is a team that has not won a tourney game in over a decade.

I simply call it how I see it and don't see how any of my points can really be challenged but you are welcome to. If this team would only go on a run in my lifetime even a Sweet 16 and have a nice window of winning consistently, I would be a season ticket holder and even donate.

By the way, I know people from Redmen.com are watching me now. The people on that forum have unrealistic expectations and are not grounded in reality. They live in a magical world where it's still 1985. They always ask where the students are…well the team has sucked for the past 2 decades. What do you expect? Like I said before…no tourney wins in over a decade. And people ask where the fans are? How dense can you be? Win and they will come. It's very simple. Making the NIT will not bring fans. Barely missing the tourney won't bring fans. Even making the tourney and losing in the first round won't really bring many fans. Making the tourney and reaching the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 will bring thousands of previously casual fans and turn them into diehards who buy season tickets. Because of the failure over the past 2 decades, an entire generation now in their 20's knows St. John's as an irrelevant team nationally, not how the previous generation saw them in 1985 when they actually won stuff. The opportunity to create tons of new fans was botched due to the losing culture. It's all a cycle. The old fans from the glory days are aging. There are no replacements for them, because the team has not been great for so long.

A true pessimist will see the negative even in the light of positive things. For example, yeah we made the Elite 8, but we didn't win a championship so the season is a failure. That's not me. If we actually started getting consistently ranked and consistently making tournaments winning a few games every once in a while, you would see a massive crowd. So if you think I'm being overly critical of this team, just know that I am a results guy. And the results have been awful to barely mediocre. How would you expect me to react?

[Realfan]

Funny you should mention Redmen errr Yesmen.com. While I agree with some of what you are saying, in terms of true fans on the site, the true fans have seen the light and realize the damage that this new coaching staff has inflicted upon the program over the past few years. It's the few fans that have hidden agendas that continue to defend the current staff after one failure after another. I don't have to say their names you know who they are. If you express a real concern or voice an opinion thAt is other then flowery or realistic you are banished by the brain (less) trust, threatened and called all sorts of names. One idiot continues to call anyone who tells it like it is Realfan when frankly I've been off that site for years.

In terms of the game. The team looks no better as a whole from previous years and even worse in some areas due to limited personnel. CO looks vastly improved but he alone can't carry that front line of newbies and limited talent. The guard play is what ut is, same cast of characters for the past three years. But this year one or two are looking to impress scouts.

In terms of the coaching staff, I can't wait to hear the litany of excuses that will transpire this year when things go South. I maintain however that this staff will leave this program in far worse shape that they found it in when they arrived.

[BigEast1]

So a D2 school almost beat St. John's, big deal. D2 schools have beaten D1 schools in the past (remember Leymoine beating Syracuse). As someone pointed out, St. John's beat Humboldt St pretty badly last year, big deal, they still didn't make the Tournament. It's one game, breathe.

[newsman13]

It's funny how we're compared to Syracuse when it comes to bad performances.

The reality is we're far from being Syracuse when it comes to upside.

[stever20]

I wouldn't put much stock in 1st exhibition. I know as a coach- I've found the biggest improvement in a team is between 1st and 2nd time team is on the floor. It's not even close. I've seen that almost 100% of the time every single year. regardless of how experienced the team is.