Seton Hall Thread

[skyhops]

Captain, JP and Bernard are the most careless players with the ball of anyone on the team so playing point not an option in fact Gates should get the bulk of Bernard's playing time. Goodin has lost confidence offensively but he is our best ball handler. Once again AH is spot on regarding Macks inability to win a game win leading at half. Maybe he can call one of the Miller brothers for some advice or Muskieman. At least we are better than we were in the 70's.

[longliveskip]

This team is the most careless team I have ever seen with the ball. Why in the world are we throwing it at Jones feet at the second half? I know that Bernard is a transfer, but he provides absolutely nothing lately. Our inability to play two halves of basketball is concerning. The inability to close games happens almost every time with this team. This team is a mess.

Unfortunately,

it is yet another game where we go into the locker room with a lead, and get blown out in the 2nd half. Adjustments, or lack thereof, is the culprit. CM deservedly won COY in the REGULAR SEASON last year. Let's not discuss the post season tourneys. Respectfully, I say he has been abysmal this year, in the REGULAR SEASON. We run few offensive sets, and he still had most of his timeouts in his pocket as we were getting dismantled in the 2nd half, until the 5-minute mark; this is the norm for him, not the exception.

CM cannot help the cruel number of injuries they've had, but X rarely comes close to what the statistical gurus like Kenpom predict each game, even when adjusted for the injuries. Also, Nova has been without their Top 20 6'9" recruit all year, and projected 6th man in Phil Boothe. Somehow, jay Wright has made it work. However, I predict a reversal of last year: great coaching job in the reg. season, and gross underachievement in the post season tourneys. This year, I think we shock the world and go to the E-8. I don't care, call me a homer. I is what I is.

this is like so far from the truth that i don't even know where to begin.

"go into the lockerroom with a lead" - you act like we were up double digits. it was like 1 or 2 points. c'mon, man. you gotta do better than that.

"blown out" - the score was 55-53 with like 5 minutes to go. we actually had 3 possessions when we were down 2 that came up empty. one was a bad fadeaway by Gates but the others were good looks that just didn't go in.

without Sumner and Bluiett still not 100%, although he didn't look too bad, we just don't have the offensive weapons to score like we used to, so we go on more of those 2-5 minute droughts without scoring, and even though we had a couple of those last night, we were still in a winnable game. the lack of depth is the main issue for shots not falling late in games - guys are tired, legs are fatigued, and shots are short or just off.

the turnovers are disappointing and some shot selections were suspect at times - Mack said the main focus was to "be more cerebral", meaning our mental toughness, understanding situations, needed to be better. we just weren't that at critical times. he can't call timeout before EVERY situation and explain to these guys what they need to do. they have to have a better basketball IQ and some of them seem like they just don't.

i was wondering on the timeouts as well but he had two left at the last TV timeout. he called his second at the right time with about 5 min left but you gotta have those two timeouts for the stretch run, especially if you're in a close game, which we still were. it was a 7 point game with over 2 minutes, we forced a missed shot and didn't rebound it, then they scored from the block on the next possession. game was pretty much over right there.

sometimes your players simply have to MAKE PLAYS.

and you still CANNOT compare our injuries to Nova's. they aren't even close to the same thing. as i said before, if Nova had lost Brunson for the year and then lost Hart for a few games, i'd say it was comparable. but it's not even close to the same.

[brockman231]

excuses are like....this team lacks heart. Plain and simple.

[titansbaseball01]

excuses are like....this team lacks heart. Plain and simple.

Excuses? Come on, they're facts. I'm not saying we couldn't have won a couple games this season that we lost, and last night was one of those. But there are many reasons why this team is struggling.
1) Sumner is out, you cannot lose the talent and explosiveness of Sumner and expect the team to be as good.
2) Trevon has been hurting the last 4+ game and it has effected the roles of everyone else. JP should not be the first scoring option.
3) Myles Davis is been out this whole year. Yes I realize at this point in the season he is not and was never really part of this team. But the expectations of this team were partly based on the fact that he was going to be on the floor.
4) Every big man is playing a new role. We lost by far our 2 best big men on the team last year, and OMara, Gates, and Jones are all playing more minutes then they are realistically ready for, and Gaston is playing at a much higher level for the first time in his career..
5) This team has one legitimate ball handler, who is a freshman being asked to do way more then he should be.
6) Expectations this year were based on what last years team accomplished. However, from last year did not return four of our best 7 players (Farr, Reynolds, Myles, and Remy). And 2 of the other three have been dealing with injuries all year (Tre, Sumner, and Macura).

This team plays hard, this team wants to win, but we just don't have the talent or the scoring that we had last year.
This team isn't making excuses, the fans aren't making excuses, and this team does not lack heart.
They just are not that good this year.

[thecoach]

Are you talking about the same team that was preseason top 10 going into the year? I think less than 2 months ago there was still someone who was mocking me for pointing out that we were nowhere near good enough down low to win against good teams, in fact they insisted this was still a final 4 team. Look, everyone has injuries and guys just have to play thru them. Sumner, when he is on is great, but he has not shown in his 3 years here that he can be relied upon to stay healthy the way he plays. Thus, i think as a coach and coaching staff you cannot build around him. We're capable on nights when the 3's are going in, but we're a very one dimensional team even at full strength with unfortunately fairly average perimeter shooters. At this point i think it's fair to say that the front court recruiting just hasn't come together as they knew Farr and likely Reynolds would not be here, and for whatever reason could not convince London to play front court. The other two guys, Ekylor and Gaston appear to have been last ditch efforts. I'll defer to the guys coming in next year once i see them, and get a feel for the young guy and if he looks to be a 3 or 4 year player.The press seems to get excited when they play well down low as if it's really coming on when the reality is the teams we are playing against are awful down low as well so it's a temporary reprieve. You have to have depth for obvious reasons, and unfortunately we've not developed it. We're not built to play with 6 guys particularly when some of them are green. Here's to hoping they stick around to correct the cycle.

[skyhops]

Agree Coach. This team was probably overrated from the start being in the top 10. The staff has not done a great job keeping and recruiting the correct team players the last few years. Eddie should have never been signed and was a discipline problem from the start. That is a spot that could have helped this town and next year could be worse with the subtraction of Trevon who many think is our savior when healthy (even his 40 couldn't beat UC). I guess I am coming to grips that this one time top ten team (even without Davis) is not very good and coaching/leadership is worse.

[JKC74]

Considering the way last season ended, XU should be playing like men possessed. We really in all honesty have not seen that!

[Anti-Homer]

This team is the most careless team I have ever seen with the ball. Why in the world are we throwing it at Jones feet at the second half? I know that Bernard is a transfer, but he provides absolutely nothing lately. Our inability to play two halves of basketball is concerning. The inability to close games happens almost every time with this team. This team is a mess.

Unfortunately,

it is yet another game where we go into the locker room with a lead, and get blown out in the 2nd half. Adjustments, or lack thereof, is the culprit. CM deservedly won COY in the REGULAR SEASON last year. Let's not discuss the post season tourneys. Respectfully, I say he has been abysmal this year, in the REGULAR SEASON. We run few offensive sets, and he still had most of his timeouts in his pocket as we were getting dismantled in the 2nd half, until the 5-minute mark; this is the norm for him, not the exception.

CM cannot help the cruel number of injuries they've had, but X rarely comes close to what the statistical gurus like Kenpom predict each game, even when adjusted for the injuries. Also, Nova has been without their Top 20 6'9" recruit all year, and projected 6th man in Phil Boothe. Somehow, jay Wright has made it work. However, I predict a reversal of last year: great coaching job in the reg. season, and gross underachievement in the post season tourneys. This year, I think we shock the world and go to the E-8. I don't care, call me a homer. I is what I is.

this is like so far from the truth that i don't even know where to begin.

"go into the lockerroom with a lead" - you act like we were up double digits. it was like 1 or 2 points. c'mon, man. you gotta do better than that.

"blown out" - the score was 55-53 with like 5 minutes to go. we actually had 3 possessions when we were down 2 that came up empty. one was a bad fadeaway by Gates but the others were good looks that just didn't go in.

without Sumner and Bluiett still not 100%, although he didn't look too bad, we just don't have the offensive weapons to score like we used to, so we go on more of those 2-5 minute droughts without scoring, and even though we had a couple of those last night, we were still in a winnable game. the lack of depth is the main issue for shots not falling late in games - guys are tired, legs are fatigued, and shots are short or just off.

the turnovers are disappointing and some shot selections were suspect at times - Mack said the main focus was to "be more cerebral", meaning our mental toughness, understanding situations, needed to be better. we just weren't that at critical times. he can't call timeout before EVERY situation and explain to these guys what they need to do. they have to have a better basketball IQ and some of them seem like they just don't.

i was wondering on the timeouts as well but he had two left at the last TV timeout. he called his second at the right time with about 5 min left but you gotta have those two timeouts for the stretch run, especially if you're in a close game, which we still were. it was a 7 point game with over 2 minutes, we forced a missed shot and didn't rebound it, then they scored from the block on the next possession. game was pretty much over right there.

sometimes your players simply have to MAKE PLAYS.

and you still CANNOT compare our injuries to Nova's. they aren't even close to the same thing. as i said before, if Nova had lost Brunson for the year and then lost Hart for a few games, i'd say it was comparable. but it's not even close to the same.

and you still CANNOT compare our injuries to Nova's

Valid points.

[Anti-Homer]

Captain, JP and Bernard are the most careless players with the ball of anyone on the team so playing point not an option in fact Gates should get the bulk of Bernard's playing time. Goodin has lost confidence offensively but he is our best ball handler. Once again AH is spot on regarding Macks inability to win a game win leading at half. Maybe he can call one of the Miller brothers for some advice or Muskieman. At least we are better than we were in the 70's.

Once again AH is spot on regarding Macks inability to win a game win leading at half.

Hops,

I don't think I've ever stated this about anyone's post, but this is one of, if not the most insightful observations ever to grace the board. Don't be surprised if you receive an anonymous box of Harry & David Peaches sometime this spring.

[joeabe]

Just watched this game for the first time. My take is.......We started the season as a mediocre team and we will finish as a less than mediocre team.....we lose out....I'm not down on the team or CM . Lost our concentration totally and we now believe that we absolutely cannot win!! We are shy scorers and the world of BE knows it!! We ended last season on a sour note and have not recovered. We underestimated the value of the 2 bigs we lost from last years team.....They were very athletic and active especially on defense and put backs on offensive misses. We just don't have the fire power. I'm concerned over our future not just the end of this year bur also next season....We have very little coming back underneath the basket...