I have to give St. John's a lot of credit

[RF2044]

They weren't intimidated playing against a highly ranked opponent, and they could have folded up tent when we built a double digit lead heading into halftime. Instead, they fought hard.

Very impressive passing from them early--lots of extra passes to cutters for layups, and they got out in transition in the first half, often beating the zone down the floor. Impressive strategy, but they got away from it.

I was very disappointed by our offensive execution in the second half. Again, hats off to them--they really took us out of our game for about a 7 minute stretch where they came all the way back. Ennis was rendered a non-factor during that stretch; when he got aggressive again, that's when we reasserted control of the game.

Now, for some negative.

Disappointed to see Cooney get blanked. He had a poor game, but some good looks. Harrison worked him over a bit defensively. Hopefully a learning experience for the still relatively inexperienced Cooney.

Was also disappointed by some uneven officiating. But St. John's was defenitely the aggressor in the second half. I felt like the refs fell into the predictable pattern of blowing the whistle since St. John's was initiating the action. But about a half dozen whistles against us defensively were total BS--guys would drive in and throw the ball up without a prayer of it going in, only to be bailed out by the refs.

Also thought that the FT shooting stunk today. Could have really put these guys away, but missed some front ends of one-and-ones that could have been costly if the circumstances were just a little bit different.

Encouraged by what we saw offensively from Rak / Coleman. That helped to offset getting zero from Cooney.

Grant continues to impress, but he really is inconsistent at times. Looking forward to when he settles in and really gets comfortable offensively, because he has the potential to be a difference maker.

Hats off to Ennis for making plays down the stretch, and to CJ for stepping up when it was anybody's game and making several clutch shots. Also, Gbinije deserves kudos for some solid defensive play over the last several minutes of the game. His contributions won't show up in the box score, but were very important.

Lastly, this ended up being a tough test for out team. Games like this help you execute better in tough situations later in the season. Glad our kids responded and rose to the challenge.

10-0... and best of all the coaches have some fodder to ride the team hard in practice this week.

 

[orange79]

I wonder if Cooney was sick. St. John's did a great job of keeping someone on him (and that obviously had something to do with it), but he just didn't look like himself out there. Half a step slow today.

 

[Toga]

Good athletes. Decent size. Played hard. No shooters.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I wonder if Cooney was sick. St. John's did a great job of keeping someone on him (and that obviously had something to do with it), but he just didn't look like himself out there. Half a step slow today.

You may be onto something here. He looked much more energetic in the first half, but really slowed in the second half.

 

[orangefan13]

I wonder if Cooney was sick. St. John's did a great job of keeping someone on him (and that obviously had something to do with it), but he just didn't look like himself out there. Half a step slow today.

Man I hope so
Hes the kind of shooter that you would have even ennis fair or grant to give a screen to so he can pullup or pass inside off of. Even if its a different shot then his setshot he needs to learn it. This could create a frustration stretch for cooney, because he knows a game like this will come again.

 

[tee1222]

Good athletes. Decent size. Played hard. No shooters.

That sums it up very well. If they hit some of those open looks they has in the first half, I'm not sure we win this.

 

[hoopsupstate]

If teams want to play Cooney this way, Ennis will score 20 every time. He will put constant pressure on teams bigs if they allow him into the paint. Cooney is going to have to put the ball on the floor and create for his teammates. This is a great learning game for him. We lacked some energy in the second half, but that happens when your offense goes to sleep. I though silent G's defense in the last five minutes played a big part in this win. You watch us and you watch Kentucky yesterday and the difference is Ennis. They play with no purpose and the twins are just looking for their own. Ennis knows when to attack and when to get it to the right people. He is becoming the smartest point guard in the country. It's tough to name someone with a better knowledge of how to play the game.

 

[Jack Hall]

I wonder if Cooney was sick. St. John's did a great job of keeping someone on him (and that obviously had something to do with it), but he just didn't look like himself out there. Half a step slow today.

I thought same thing. He didn't spend much time running off screens.at the end he was just stagnant

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I thought Jord

They weren't intimidated playing against a highly ranked opponent, and they could have folded up tent when we built a double digit lead heading into halftime. Instead, they fought hard.

Very impressive passing from them early--lots of extra passes to cutters for layups, and they got out in transition in the first half, often beating the zone down the floor. Impressive strategy, but they got away from it.

I was very disappointed by our offensive execution in the second half. Again, hats off to them--they really took us out of our game for about a 7 minute stretch where they came all the way back. Ennis was rendered a non-factor during that stretch; when he got aggressive again, that's when we reasserted control of the game.

Now, for some negative.

Disappointed to see Cooney get blanked. He had a poor game, but some good looks. Harrison worked him over a bit defensively. Hopefully a learning experience for the still relatively inexperienced Cooney.

Was also disappointed by some uneven officiating. But St. John's was defenitely the aggressor in the second half. I felt like the refs fell into the predictable pattern of blowing the whistle since St. John's was initiating the action. But about a half dozen whistles against us defensively were total BS--guys would drive in and throw the ball up without a prayer of it going in, only to be bailed out by the refs.

Also thought that the FT shooting stunk today. Could have really put these guys away, but missed some front ends of one-and-ones that could have been costly if the circumstances were just a little bit different.

Encouraged by what we saw offensively from Rak / Coleman. That helped to offset getting zero from Cooney.

Grant continues to impress, but he really is inconsistent at times. Looking forward to when he settles in and really gets comfortable offensively, because he has the potential to be a difference maker.

Hats off to Ennis for making plays down ruggling during that stretchthe stretch, and to CJ for stepping up when it was anybody's game and making several clutch shots. Also, Gbinije deserves kudos for some solid defensive play over the last several minutes of the game. His contributions won't show up in the box score, but were very important.

Lastly, this ended up being a tough test for out team. Games like this help you execute better in tough situations later in the season. Glad our kids responded and rose to the challenge.

10-0... and best of all the coaches have some fodder to ride the team hard in practice this week.

I thought Jordan had a lot to do with Ennis struggling during that stretch. He really played some great D and gave Ennis more issues than anyone else has this year.

 

[orangefan13]

If teams want to play Cooney this way, Ennis will score 20 every time.

Of course because they won't be able to double ennis with their off guard you can't leave him wide open Ever. And you can't leave fair and grant to double him that leaves opponents centers.

Had Ennis not had to play 40 minutes today I think we could have seen more driving from him in the second half but he still stepped up during the stretch. Ennis driving was the difference from us being a exsposed team and a young team thats growing. We needed him to do more in the second half but the guy played 40 minutes today as a freshmen early in the season, and still put up 19 points.

 

[IthacaMatt]

If teams want to play Cooney this way, Ennis will score 20 every time. He will put constant pressure on teams bigs if they allow him into the paint. Cooney is going to have to put the ball on the floor and create for his teammates. This is a great learning game for him. We lacked some energy in the second half, but that happens when your offense goes to sleep. I though silent G's defense in the last five minutes played a big part in this win. You watch us and you watch Kentucky yesterday and the difference is Ennis. They play with no purpose and the twins are just looking for their own. Ennis knows when to attack and when to get it to the right people. He is becoming the smartest point guard in the country. It's tough to name someone with a better knowledge of how to play the game.

Well, Smart for Oklahoma State is outstanding. But Tyler is playing at a very high level for being only 10 games into his college career.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

They weren't intimidated playing against a highly ranked opponent, and they could have folded up tent when we built a double digit lead heading into halftime. Instead, they fought hard.

I'd like to hear from someone at the game but on TV it looked as if the St Johns fan base did a good job showing up also. Lavin definitely has them going in the right direction. Of all the former BE schools, they could end up being our main competition for recruits (sorry Yukon fans).

 

[PeteCalvin]

That sums it up very well. If they hit some of those open looks they has in the first half, I'm not sure we win this.

At the same time, if Cooney drops two of those threes he missed in the first half, chances are high we go up 20 and the game is over by halftime. It was one of those games.

 

[2-3zone]

St.John's put a ton PR into this game- the battle of New York thing and I fully expected it to be a tight game and come down to the end and that's how it played out

 

[jordoo]

I thought we didn't play great defense but had a very workman like first half to finish with a good lead against a team that played well and we did that getting nothing from Cooney and missing FT's. It felt like even when St John's was really coming back in the second half that our guys thought the game was over at the half. Then when we had to we ran good offense and won the game. Also the D with a fresh Baye and MikeG was very good. Still we missed too many FT's (CJ and Jeremi who will shoot them a lot) and didn't take good care of the ball in the second half. The refs did seem to reward St Johns way too much for basically out of control drives crashing into people Jordan especially seemed to get these call and his drives often started at the 3pt line and ourbigs were set up standing in front of him. Rak's 4th was horrible Jordan jumpstoped into a standing there Rak then jumped up into his arm pit and got the call. LOL.

Anyways there was plenty of good with the bad credit general20 for saying it would be a very contested ugly win more than likely and that's what it was. I thought Christmas played great for the most part. Ennis is awesome and CJ made the big shots to ice it.

 

[PeteCalvin]

I'd like to hear from someone at the game but on TV it looked as if the St Johns fan base did a good job showing up also. Lavin definitely has them going in the right direction. Of all the former BE schools, they could end up being our main competition for recruits (sorry Yukon fans).

I think SJU put a TON of publicity into today's game. This was THE marquee game on their schedule, without question. Old rival. Playing for NYC bragging rights. SJU can't call themselves New York's Team with a straight face if they lose the game. Give the school credit. They marketed this thing and made sure prime seats were filled with their people.

We took their absolute best shot today and came out with a win. They wanted this game. Bad. Our guys were fighting for survival out there. They had the momentum, the whistles, and all the bounces. It did not look good at all for us for a small window there late in the second half. But we made the plays when we needed to. CJ showed why he was voted ACC pre-season POY hitting two crucial jumpers without hesitation. Those were huge shots.

In the chatroom I equated this game to our game at MSU in 2003. We played a team that was solid, had experience, athleticism, but didn't have the same level of talent we have. We went into their place and took their best shot. It was a battle the entire game, just like today. Somehow, we found a way to win. That win showed the character of the 2003 team. They could hang with anyone, and in a hostile environment to boot.

Today's win showed the character of this team. I saw us do things today that we don't normally do, things that ended up winning this thing for us. High-low? Where the heck has that been, and who the heck would have thought we could run it so well? ROC going to the hole, taking what the defense gave him? This win was enormous for us in so many ways. We will be pointing back to this game later in the season when they ultimately realized just how good they could be.

 

[Alsacs]

St. John's is a plucky team that will compete in a decent conference for an NCAA tournament berth. D'Angelo Harrison is still a punk and one of my top 5 least liked players currently in college basketball. Its good to always win a game on our 2nd homecourt.

 

[OttoMets]

St. John's is a plucky team that will compete in a decent conference for an NCAA tournament berth. D'Angelo Harrison is still a punk and one of my top 5 least liked players currently in college basketball. Its good to always win a game on our 2nd homecourt.

I'm with you - thought Harrison was a cancer last year and he's one of the people I'd least like on my team. Kind of like Khalif Wyatt from Temple.

I give the team credit too, though. Lavin's done an excellent job. I couldn't understand the bold confidence on this board this week; it was reminiscent of the week leading up to the Butler game (better end result, of course). Sampson's a darn good player, they've got some other good pieces, I'm pretty impressed by Jordan, and Harrison could be expected to play well against us (though he shot them out of it today as we ended their scoring run).

Gotta expect the Redmen to challenge for the Big East title.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I think SJU put a TON of publicity into today's game. This was THE marquee game on their schedule, without question. Old rival. Playing for NYC bragging rights. SJU can't call themselves New York's Team with a straight face if they lose the game. Give the school credit. They marketed this thing and made sure prime seats were filled with their people.

We took their absolute best shot today and came out with a win. They wanted this game. Bad. Our guys were fighting for survival out there. They had the momentum, the whistles, and all the bounces. It did not look good at all for us for a small window there late in the second half. But we made the plays when we needed to. CJ showed why he was voted ACC pre-season POY hitting two crucial jumpers without hesitation. Those were huge shots.

In the chatroom I equated this game to our game at MSU in 2003. We played a team that was solid, had experience, athleticism, but didn't have the same level of talent we have. We went into their place and took their best shot. It was a battle the entire game, just like today. Somehow, we found a way to win. That win showed the character of the 2003 team. They could hang with anyone, and in a hostile environment to boot.

Today's win showed the character of this team. I saw us do things today that we don't normally do, things that ended up winning this thing for us. High-low? Where the heck has that been, and who the heck would have thought we could run it so well? ROC going to the hole, taking what the defense gave him? This win was enormous for us in so many ways. We will be pointing back to this game later in the season when they ultimately realized just how good they could be.

I love the sentiment, Pete, but I don't think you can equate this win to the win at Michigan State in 2003. That team had been to 3 straight Final Fours from 1998 to 2000 and were a ranked team with more talent than this St. John's team. This St. John's team is better than they used to be, but they don't have the culture of winning that Mich State had (and continues to have).

Lavin is a good coach and has them going in the right direction, but our game with Nova next week will likely be tougher than this one. I don't feel like we played our "A" game this afternoon and we were sloppy with the ball, especially in the second half, but it was a really good gut check, I'll agree with that.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

We took their absolute best shot today and came out with a win. They wanted this game. Bad. Our guys were fighting for survival out there. They had the momentum, the whistles, and all the bounces. It did not look good at all for us for a small window there late in the second half. But we made the plays when we needed to. CJ showed why he was voted ACC pre-season POY hitting two crucial jumpers without hesitation. Those were huge shots.

In a small way we are turning into one of those teams that teams are circling on their schedule. You are absolutely right about today. Even though today was on the road, we have a bunch coming up at the dome that teams have highlited on their schedules. I'm sure Villanova is looking forward to coming to the dome. I'm sure Miami, UNC and Pitt in back to back to back weeks are looking forward to coming to the dome. Then our next two home games after that are Duke and Notre Dame. Whether we beat or lose to Duke, playing ND two days later is not going to be easy.

We have a lot of games that we could talking about for a very long time.

 

[PeteCalvin]

I love the sentiment, Pete, but I don't think you can equate this win to the win at Michigan State in 2003. That team had been to 3 straight Final Fours from 1998 to 2000 and were a ranked team with more talent than this St. John's team. This St. John's team is better than they used to be, but they don't have the culture of winning that Mich State had (and continues to have).

Lavin is a good coach and has them going in the right direction, but our game with Nova next week will likely be tougher than this one. I don't feel like we played our "A" game this afternoon and we were sloppy with the ball, especially in the second half, but it was a really good gut check, I'll agree with that.

No, they don't have the same culture of winning, but that MSU team was not as talented as we were in 2003. They had some solid (and big) players, but were no where near as athletic as we were. However, they played like a cornered coyote when we came to the Breslin Center. They were not a great 3-point shooting team, but they shot lights out that day. All I'm saying is that was a game we had to fight through to pull out the W. Not everyone played well, but everyone contributed when it mattered.

Similarly, not everyone played great today. We had zero offense beyond the arc. They took away CJ's drive. They put a triple threat player at the high post and turned our zone into a pseudo M2M defense, which they did well penetrating into. We had to adjust in the middle of chaos. And adjust we did. When they took away our perimeter game, Ennis adjusted by going to the hole. When they bottled up CJ with double and triple teams, Grant and **gulp** ROC took the ball to the rim. Grant had some great high-low play with ROC and Coleman. We took advantage of what they gave us. Not many teams can do that. And just when they thought they had figured out CJ, he calmly drained two 18 footers to essentially ice the game.

Lavin coached a heck of a game. He had them ready for the zone, that's for sure. I can guarantee you that Coach K watched this game and will camp Jabari Parker in the same high post spot.

What is good scary is that SJU totally took us out of what we do best, put our backs against the wall, and we responded by doing different things to win the game. We have more weapons and options than we think.

 

[Ghost]

I'm with you - thought Harrison was a cancer last year and he's one of the people I'd least like on my team. Kind of like Khalif Wyatt from Temple.

How funny - during the game I was making that comparison as well. Seems like a guy that gains an advantage offensively by constantly using the forearm for room (which all guards do - but it seems like for those two their games revolve around it on drives), but gets a lot of touch fouls called in their favor on drives.

 

[RF2044]

How funny - during the game I was making that comparison as well. Seems like a guy that gains an advantage offensively by constantly using the forearm for room (which all guards do - but it seems like for those two their games revolve around it on drives), but gets a lot of touch fouls called in their favor on drives.

This game reminded me a LOT more of the uconn game from last year, more so than Temple. In the sense that this was like their superbowl, they were sky high to play us, and they played over their heads. To say nothing of playing in front of a group of rabid fans who took the matchup personally and were frenzied to see us get knocked off.

Unlike that uconn game, we made plays down the stretch and got stops when we needed them. Today was a good test for a team with still some inexperience at key positions. Glad we passed the test.

 

[Cowtown]

I'd like to hear from someone at the game but on TV it looked as if the St Johns fan base did a good job showing up also. Lavin definitely has them going in the right direction. Of all the former BE schools, they could end up being our main competition for recruits (sorry Yukon fans).

I'd bet most SU fans want to see St John's get back to the being the power they once were. Most - or at least many - of us remember the mid 80's when they had Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Bill Wennington, et al, and the BE was the best conference in college hoops. Those were heady days, indeed. I recall JB saying Mullin was the best shooter he ever saw, and that's certainly saying something. C'mon back, Johnnies, we've missed you.

 

[Cowtown]

St. John's is a plucky team that will compete in a decent conference for an NCAA tournament berth. D'Angelo Harrison is still a punk and one of my top 5 least liked players currently in college basketball. Its good to always win a game on our 2nd homecourt.

I gave that a *like* just because the first .gif in your sig still has me chuckling