St Rose Postgame thoughts

[Orangezoo]

Funny the stark difference between games.
After scrimmage 1, many ready to crown Cope as the new savior and dump Bell. Then he scored 19 and Cope looked like the dope.
But Chris is a defensive liability.
Also interesting that Judah looked a lot like Judah last year, but even more so. Diving falling into the lane, and not looking for others, is a problem.
Our +/- of all starters - including Cuffe (testament to playing solid and not trying to do too much) - was great. But odd how 7’4” giant McLeod only had +/- of 1, while Carey was 19 with 12 rebounds.

Chris was solid on defense last night. It helps to watch the games and not just parrot a narrative. He can't be out there shooting 2-8 from 3 though every night.
Kid was bad in game 1 but far better game 2.

 

[Orangezoo]

I hope you are right but I have not been that impressed with our D. I understand it's a work in progress, but I am concerned foul trouble is going to be a common thing.

Fouls will add up being more aggressive and playing mtm in general. That comes with the territory.

Maliq is the best defender possibly on the team and has only played for 15 mins all pre season and the loss of Westry hurts in this space too. His defense will be a boost when he's back.

 

[Hopkins16]

We are playing an exciting style of basketball and have an abundance of athleticism. Yes, there were a lot of mistakes, flaws, missed jumpers, miscommunication, (the list goes on) but exhibition games are where you get to see what needs to be fixed and what needs to be improved. The coaches and players will be very busy and active the next few days at practice and with film review. I've watched some of the blue bloods exhibition games this week and they too are a work in progress. It's just a matter of which teams figure it out and be prepared for the real action very soon.

 

[Orangezoo]

One thing that is readily apparent in the early season exhibitions is that it's the grad transfers who are the ones out there making their shots early in the year for the most part. That's something I'll be curious to watch how Red handles it in future years. Some of these teams as a result will look better early on by a decent margin given the hired guns.

We are a team of sophomores experience wise for the most part even the transfers.

 

[Sbucketball]

I wish Mike Brey shut JJ down last year instead of having him change his shot mechanics to compensate for an injury, just to win 3 games in the ACC and get fired.

 

[im4cuse]

I just hope we are not referring to the tournament even decades later as the Maui Massacre.

Only because we’re playing in Honolulu . So more like Pearl Harbor if u Cannot make 3s

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Finished w/10 & 12

My sister and I refer to Justin as Fuddy, short for Faux Buddy. I'm not sure if this qualifies for an OttoinGrotto nickname submission or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Sherman20]

Which quickly turns into a packed paint and penetrating won’t be as easy. We need to play excellent defense this year to be successful.

I was watching a Gtown-Cuse game from the mid-80s before the three point line, and it’s wild how close to the basket much of the action took place. The paint was packed. You forget how different the game was. But our guards could still get into the lane. I think Judah and JJ and Quadir will still be able to penetrate no matter how packed the paint is. Plus we have shooters like Bell and Taylor and Cuffe who can knock down 3s. I think our 3 point percentage will improve as the season goes on. JJ and Judah have a lot of room for growth in that area.

 

[Sherman20]

I haven’t expect much out of this year, too many changes along with a new coach and unproven players. Next year, keep the current parts and we could be really really good. It’s going to be tough at times, but I’d rather watch a team like this win 5 games than the past few teams with their records.

I think we need to have some expectations for this year, frankly. We have a really good player in Mintz who’s only gonna be here one season, plus Starling, and we need to take advantage of that high level talent in the backcourt and at least make the tourney. We have the athleticism again that marked Cuse teams of old.

 

[rrlbees]

Thank you Mrs Bell.

I don't care if he got 12 rebounds against school for sisters of the blind

It's 12 rebounds!

Has Chris ever had half that in any game?

Yes or no question...

Was I that obvious? LOL.

 

[tptcuse]

I suspect we are going to experience some wild emotions as fans this year. This team is definitely a mystery in terms of what to expect. My biggest concerns are the forwards and three point shooting. LGO!

 

[CardiacCuse]

One problem with Judah is he does not play fast when the ball is not in his hands. He doesn’t fill lanes. Starling is much better pushing the ball than Judah. Judah also has to get his butt back on defense when he fails to score inside. Teams are going to play a soft man defense against Juda and JJ and dare them to shoot.

great to have a Judah on the team this year...

but a ball dominant guard where the ball goes to die is one thing that team definitely does not need...so many penetrators and scorers...

If I am an opponent, I would love to only have to worry about Judah.

There was one possession this game, with Judah JJ and Copeland all involved...finally Copeland took it to the lane and dished for an easy score...making a team guard multiple creators would be a good strategy with this roster.

 

[TheHaze315]

The only thing I am truly concerned about is JJ’s shooting and our rebounding. If he’s not confident enough to even think about taking a 3 against Daemon and St. Rose, that doesn’t make me feel great about where his jumper is at. He was an elite shooter in high school was drawing comparisons to Devin Booker, whichever coach got in his head at Notre Dame that he had to change his jumper should be shot to the sun.

 

[two3zone]

I think we need to have some expectations for this year, frankly. We have a really good player in Mintz who’s only gonna be here one season, plus Starling, and we need to take advantage of that high level talent in the backcourt and at least make the tourney. We have the athleticism again that marked Cuse teams of old.

I guess I just don’t see it, would be nice to make the tournament but I don’t see how we’re much better than last year, if we are.

Starling still hasn’t shown his ability from high school and neither him or Judah have proved they can shoot at all, this whole “best backcourt in the nation” nonsense needs to slow down.

 

[AlaskaSU]

JJ to Book? When Book was working out for Phoenix doing the usual 1 on 2 drills he was simply unstoppable. Phoenix said time to stop, we have saeen enough. Book said let's keep going. As a HS senior he averaged 31 pts.

 

[Niastri]

Judah will hopefully get to the line a lot this season. He has a knack of falling down with a little contact and shown he can draw fouls. Will the ACC refs call it the same way. Bell getting to the line is a bonus. His stroke is so pure.

Last season Mintz averaged 6.9 free throw attempts per 40 minutes both in ACC and out of conference play. His 90 attempts in conference play were second in the ACC.

Now Mintz will be coming in with a bigger reputation, so probably will get slightly more benefit of the doubt.

 

[NineOneSeven]

We've shown stretches but also get sloppy and lazy when we have a lead. Maui is going to be really important for this team to learn what it takes

I think we get it handed to us in Maui tbh. A huge leap in competition right off the bat against legitimate talent. I'll know a bit more after Colgate at least.

 

[pearl31]

hard to judge from d2 exhibition, esp with key players out-
- Maliq is our most important big (but thought both McLeod and Carey played well last night, and without much fouling)
- Defense, esp switching/communicating needs to get better
- yeah 3pt shooting is a big concern
- Growth, cohesiveness, toughness gonna be key

enjoy the ride!

 

[pearl31]

and agree with others about needing more Taylor than Bell

 

[Orangezoo]

I guess I just don’t see it, would be nice to make the tournament but I don’t see how we’re much better than last year, if we are.

Starling still hasn’t shown his ability from high school and neither him or Judah have proved they can shoot at all, this whole “best backcourt in the nation” nonsense needs to slow down.

Fair skepticism- I will just say you can see where these guys haven't figured out playing together yet too. JJ can't be shooting off the bounce before he has proven as a threat spotting up.

With the injuries and everything still new It's really hard to take much out of these scrimmages to date. Also I don't see this team giving away points as they have more time playing together with this style. The help rotations should improve and the speed and athleticism will be there to run.

Honestly it's going to come down to making shots whoever that is on this team that steps up. We look like a lot of teams look right now outside a few. A decent way too early comparison may be the Bama team from the 21-22 season. They never did figure things out shooting wise ( 30 pct from 3 as a team)but won 19 games the ugly way being aggressive and having so many players who could get to the rim or the FT Line.

Also - I would have been not surprised at all to have seen last years team lose to that Daemen team and not having put away St Rose as bad as they were. That means nothing tbf but just a quick P.S.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think we get it handed to us in Maui tbh. A huge leap in competition right off the bat against legitimate talent. I'll know a bit more after Colgate at least.

I'm looking to see progress game over game starting with NH and having Brown back as well as our starting backcourt intact. Bell was a different player in his second game. JJ was somewhat the wrong direction. Early season volatility is expected. Let's see how things settle in.

 

[dcw914]

Surprised to be seeing a lot of negativity in this thread after two exhibition games that I think were more net positive than anything. This team surely has some deficiencies, but what team in the country doesn't? There will absolutely be some rough shooting nights but I'm not overly concerned here because I think we have enough players who can get their own in other ways. Taylor and Bell should be legitimate threats and I think there's plenty of other guys who at least can be serviceable from distance. Duke is widely considered a top 5 team but look at their roster and tell me what shooter on that squad scares you from deep. Proctor shot 32% last year on a high volume. When the rotations tighten and roles get established, I think our offense will generally be good to very good.

Rebounding... yea I can admit I'm probably pretty concerned here. I think it's fair to be. I just don't think our centers and Benny have the motor to be dominant rebounders. Athleticism on the wings is going to hurt us against top competition. It'll be really important for guys like JJ and Cope and JT/Bell to crash the boards consistently. Especially given that this team is going to look to push and get out in transition... rebounding will be a big swing skill for this team.

And then there's the defense... the biggest question mark and the utmost most critical factor to this team's success. I go back and forth on this team's defensive chops. I like our guards defensive potential a lot. The rest I'm less confident in. As mentioned above, I think a lack of athleticism on the wings and combined with motor questions will rear its ugly head at times. Copeland is the guy to me who could make this team better defensively and hope Red is preaching to him that his defense will be what gets him the most minutes. He has the potential to guard atleast three positions and do so effectively. It's hard to factor in Chance at this stage since it's anyone's guess as to when we'll see him play meaningful minutes. Rebounding I mentioned is the swing skill but rebounding is only going to matter if this team plays strong enough defense to collect those boards.

But even with these things, there are a lot of positive elements to this team. Ultimately, if I'm taking anything away from these past two games, it's that we have the most depth since likely the 2012-2013 final four team. And that's without Chance. The depth matters and it'll give us a solid early read on Red's coaching chops as to how me manages his rotations and exploits matchups based on the opposing team's personnel. Like I mentioned, defense I see as the absolute key to our season but also think how quickly JJ and Judah figure out how to play with one another effectively will be the other major key. Super excited for the season, will be critical to get some momentum in year 1 and Red knows it. Go orange!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

My sister and I refer to Justin as Fuddy, short for Faux Buddy. I'm not sure if this qualifies for an OttoinGrotto nickname submission or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

That's pretty good, but "Taylor Swish" will be tough to beat.

I am retreating to my chambers to consider the evidence before me.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

hard to judge from d2 exhibition, esp with key players out-
- Maliq is our most important big (but thought both McLeod and Carey played well last night, and without much fouling)
- Defense, esp switching/communicating needs to get better
- yeah 3pt shooting is a big concern
- Growth, cohesiveness, toughness gonna be key

enjoy the ride!

I believe McLeod last night only left his feet once and rightfully got whistled for a foul as he should of. Last game, I remarked on a few plays he guarded with his hand straight out instead of up. Didn't notice it as much this time, but St Rose scored high off the backboard two or three times that there wasn't too much more he could have done.

I think McLeod has good defensive fundamentals and the only thing I see is that he is able to be taken out of the play so he cannot grab rebounds or at least keep the ball alive. But, so far I think he is better than I expected.

 

[SWC75]

Have you watched the exhibition games? This kid was a deadeye as a sophomore in HS in the town I live in. That shot is gone. Mechanics and all.

What was once possessed can be found again.