My two cents

[kcsu]

There is no sugar coating tonight's effort. It was terrible.
Last week the starters looked disjointed. Tonight they looked disgusting. Those 5 just dont fit well together. There is absolutely no rhythm, no flow. They look like a collection of kids that haven't played together. Mintz at the point was a disaster. Not sure what he was playing but it certainly wasn't point guard. ISO ball with your head down and back to the rim isnt a pg. So far he looks like a miss placed 2. Hopefully the staff can coach him up as he is the key. If we cant get him and Joe on the same page its going to be a long year.
Bell, i dont see it. He looks to be an spot up shooter that cant create. Benny plays with energy but he isn't a shooter. His game is going to have to be rebound, defend , hit the offensive boards. Jesse looks like he has regressed. JBs comments about him not getting much out of his summer play unfortunately looks to be spot on.
Joe played well. Hes a liability when we play man. Again i dont sense any chemistry between Mintz and Joe. They dont compliment each other yet.
Guys i was impressed with. Hima. He is going to contribute. I like his effort and his physicality. Brown. Smooth, physical. Knows his role. Taylor. I like his upside better than Bell. Id also like to see Joe at the 1 with this kid playing the 2.
Cope. Not sure why we didnt see him with Joe and Mintz as much as last game. Felt those three worked.
Symir. Decent game and made a couple of threes.
Maybe this was just one of those nights.
This year is going to be a rough ride. We have talent and i think Jim should continue to experiment with different combinations.
We've got a long way to go.

 

[UpstateSM]

I just want to see JT get significant burn with the starters at the 3 next week

 

[Madbiker]

I see Symir playing a lot of minutes at the point in our future.

 

[kcsu]

We dont see practice but the starting 5 doesn't looked like they have played together much. They look so disjointed.

 

[OrangeDW]

I just want to see JT get significant burn with the starters at the 3 next week

Same. I didn’t like the 5 subs at a time for that reason.

I know Torrence and Taylor subbed in first….but everybody else subbed in shortly after.

Would like to see Torrence and Taylor with the first group more.

 

[bballbeadle]

I don’t know what to say. I have a strong urge to cluck like a chicken. Deep down, don’t you think the coaches are all thinking, “Oh, fuuuuuuuuuuuudge!”

Thank you for your coherent thoughts.

 

[NineOneSeven]

We dont see practice but the starting 5 doesn't looked like they have played together much. They look so disjointed.

Well they…. Havent

 

[UpstateSM]

Same. I didn’t like the 5 subs at a time for that reason.

I know Torrence and Taylor subbed in first….but everybody else subbed in shortly after.

Would like to see Torrence and Taylor with the first group more.

For my sanity I’m just going to assume the rotations from Monday on will be nothing like what we saw tonight or last Tuesday. Lol

 

[upperdeck]

for all we know JB is sending a message by playing these groupings to show people they need to listen to him. But we lack so much shooting how do we score againt anyone.. We dont get to the rim, we dont get in good shooting spots and when we get shots nothing looks like its going in.. At least we have some size and a group of somewhat athletic kids for once..

 

[Newhouser]

Mintz, JG, Taylor, Brown, Jesse. Copeland, the transfer, and Symir off the bench. Benny and Bell as/if needed

 

[realorange]

It's really early to put too much judgement on the freshmen. But right now, I'd like to see Copeland starting over Bell.

Cope just seems to have a feel for the game and isn't afraid to be aggressive. With him in the lineup, I could see better ball movement assuming JB can get the team organized enough to move the ball while caring for it as well.

 

[stlorange]

Based on what I've seen to date, the starters should be Joe and Sy in the backcourt, Jesse in the middle, and Taylor and Brown at the forward spots. Bell is a poor man's James Sutherland. Juddah, gotta earn it, should spell Joe and Sy. Benny, 5 minutes a half to replace bigs that have 2 fouls in first half. Himma, spell for Jesse, then Carey. Q should come in at the 12 minute mark at forward or guard.

Don't see this team being able to score, rebound, or defend well. 3 strikes and we're out...

 

[SWC75]

St. John's beat these guys 82-41. We seemed on our way to do that when it was 36-14 with 7:45 left in the first half. The rest of the game was 36-44. To a mediocre division II team. I'll give SNHU some credit: they played a very aggressive man-to-man and kept in our guys faces and collapsed on any drivers in the paint to choke off their drive. But if they can do that, anybody we play can do that to us.

Jesse Edwards dunked with 3:26 left in the first half. Symir Torrence hit a trey with 13:50 left in the second half. During the 9 minutes and 36 seconds in between those shots we were in full 0-31 mode, not scoring a basket and getting outscored by 9-16, including an 0-9 run from 2:38 left in the first half to 17:18 left in the second, a scoreless streak of 5 minutes and 20 seconds against SFNHU! (you can figure it out).

Our offense seems to consist of jacked up treys by non-shooters and one-on-5 drives to the basket. We got out-hustled for rebounds and loose balls. The 'Penmen' were hitting TJ Sorrentine shots. Our players had no sense of urgency. We scraped together enough late baskets to avoid disaster but, really that just plastered over this disaster of a performance. ('The Plaster of Disaster')

The only good thought I can come up with is that it can't really be that bad - can it?

 

[CardiacCuse]

the only way this team is going to work is if JB throws out all of his assumptions about who should be on the floor based on reps and seniority etc...

judah is not a PG and the team needs a PG

 

[cuseguy]

St. John's beat these guys 82-41. We seemed on our way to do that when it was 36-14 with 7:45 left in the first half. The rest of the game was 36-44. To a mediocre division II team. I'll give SNHU some credit: they played a very aggressive man-to-man and kept in our guys faces and collapsed on any drivers in the paint to choke off their drive. But if they can do that, anybody we play can do that to us.

Jesse Edwards dunked with 3:26 left in the first half. Symir Torrence hit a trey with 13:50 left in the second half. During the 9 minutes and 36 seconds in between those shots we were in full 0-31 mode, not scoring a basket and getting outscored by 9-16, including an 0-9 run from 2:38 left in the first half to 17:18 left in the second, a scoreless streak of 5 minutes and 20 seconds against SFNHU! (you can figure it out).

Our offense seems to consist of jacked up treys by non-shooters and one-on-5 drives to the basket. We got out-hustled for rebounds and loose balls. The 'Penmen' were hitting TJ Sorrentine shots. Our players had no sense of urgency. We scraped together enough late baskets to avoid disaster but, really that just plastered over this disaster of a performance. ('The Plaster of Disaster')

The only good thought I can come up with is that it can't really be that bad - can it?

I think we might possibly be that bad and I can’t say I’m surprised. This freshman clsss was way overhyped. Benny is still freshmen Benny. Can’t shoot or create his own shot. Scoring from the 3 and 4 is going to be an adventure. This may be the most difficult coaching job JB has had in 47 years. A lot of questions. Not many answers.

 

[Sherman20]

Same. I didn’t like the 5 subs at a time for that reason.

I know Torrence and Taylor subbed in first….but everybody else subbed in shortly after.

Would like to see Torrence and Taylor with the first group more.

People shouldn’t take too much away from this game. I think JB is just experimenting. He did a whole lineup change in both the first and second halves. That won’t happen at all in the regular season. We played lots and lots of man to man. We’ll probably only see it used in games here and there this season as a change up, to knock the opponent off balance, or if the opponent is knocking down tons of 3s.

 

[Sherman20]

Mintz, JG, Taylor, Brown, Jesse. Copeland, the transfer, and Symir off the bench. Benny and Bell as/if needed

Did you watch the IUP game last week? They’re a far better team than SNHU, and Benny played very well against them. He didn’t have a good game tonight. No one did. You, along with everyone else here, is extrapolating far too much from an exhibition game. Let’s not jump to dire conclusions yet.

 

[Sherman20]

It's really early to put too much judgement on the freshmen. But right now, I'd like to see Copeland starting over Bell.

Cope just seems to have a feel for the game and isn't afraid to be aggressive. With him in the lineup, I could see better ball movement assuming JB can get the team organized enough to move the ball while caring for it as well.

I love Copeland and I think he’ll play a good amount. But I think JB wants Bell in the game to start to give us another shooter on the floor. He hasn’t hit many 3s yet. But I’m assuming JB thinks he’ll heat up once his nerves calm down. And he knows Taylor can knock down 3s too. Of the two, Bell has better length and athleticism but is fairly one dimensional right now. Taylor seems like the more versatile, multi-tool player who can contribute in a number of different areas. We def need rebounding from the small forward spot.

 

[Melancer46]

I love Copeland and I think he’ll play a good amount. But I think JB wants Bell in the game to start to give us another shooter on the floor. He hasn’t hit many 3s yet. But I’m assuming JB thinks he’ll heat up once his nerves calm down. And he knows Taylor can knock down 3s too. Of the two, Bell has better length and athleticism but is fairly one dimensional right now. Taylor seems like the more versatile, multi-tool player who can contribute in a number of different areas. We def need rebounding from the small forward spot.

The issue is Bell shot like crap last year too. I definitely see the prototype for him to be a productive player and a good fit with our team but he hasn’t shown many flashes of it actually coming together. Hopefully he’s a pleasant surprise.

 

[SUGIANT]

Yeah I’ll wait until it counts to be worried. To me it looked like they knew who they were playing.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I need to understand something. Did anyone happen to notice in recruiting Benny , that he is physically unable to get the ball above the level of the rim ? How could he hide this glaring weakness through his entire high school and AAU career? How !!!

 

[bballbeadle]

There are a lot of young egos on this team. I also think Symir should start over Judah but it must be handled delicately, because young egos are also fragile egos. JB always defers to his more senior players and is loyal to them. Was it Coach who said that Judah would be our PG? Or was this an assumption we all had?

 

[STEVEHOLT]

There are a lot of young egos on this team. I also think Symir should start over Judah but it must be handled delicately, because young egos are also fragile egos. JB always defers to his more senior players and is loyal to them. Was it Coach who said that Judah would be our PG? Or was this an assumption we all had?

I’m not sure what Mintz is at this point. I don’t think he has a specific position that jumps out at me. Maybe it doesn’t matter

 

[Cstate]

I’m not sure what Mintz is at this point. I don’t think he has a specific position that jumps out at me. Maybe it doesn’t matter

Agreed. IF Sy or Copeland eventually runs the point, and Mitz goes to the 2G over JG3…..we will have exactly ZERO three point threats on the court. Yikes

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

So the team has played two exhibition games. In that very limited time our fans have decided our highest rated recruit guard in years is trash and can’t play point. Benny had a good game and a bad game so all the progress he made is gone. Ok. Have fun this year guys. Honestly a lot of people on here might want to take the year off for their own mental health.