Other Big East Action

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Thriller in Providence tonight as St. John's won 72-70 on an offensive rebound putback at the buzzer by Ejiofor, who had a severe mismatch with a smaller guard trying ineffectively to block him out. Ejiofor easily high-pointed the rebound over him.

Providence led by 15-18 points for stretches of this game, but they are prone to offensive droughts, partly because of no Bryce Hopkins (out with left knee tendinitis and has missed 9 games), and partly because PC's big men suck. PC was playing a 7'2" guy named Anton Bonke, who doesn't look like a total dork and runs the floor well but looks like he is a complete stranger to the college game. He is from the country of Vanuatu which I honestly have never heard of. During the game he showed his inexperience and only scored 4 points and 1 board which, combined with the 7'1" Christ Essandoko (who UConn briefly kicked tires on) gave PC 4 points and 2 boards at the 5 position. PC's best player was Miami transfer Bensley Joseph, who looked like a poor man's Kemba Walker but did not have a ton of help.

St. John's looked good on D but kept PC in the game by shooting 11-26 on FTs and 3-18 on 3s. This is not a good shooting team at all.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Watching St. John's - Xavier which is turning into a blowout of Xavier. Watching this game, I think St. John's is the best defensive team in the Big East, at least of the teams I have seen so far. They are not allowing Xavier any open looks and also are all over the boards. SJU looks like a dangerous team to me. Rickie P has them playing some serious ball like you knew he eventually would.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Watching Georgetown up 35-21 at Marquette. This is not the Georgetown of a couple years ago. This Hoya team is playing Cooleyball and are rolling. They have shown a zone defense which seemingly threw Marquette off. Will be very interesting to see what happens as you always need to play 40 minutes against Marquette especially on their Court.

 

[the Blades]

They have shown a zone defense which seemingly threw Marquette off.

I pray that DH is watching. It's a shame he's to stubborn to try the obvious and get out of his beloved man to man. At least for a different look to slow down the endless drives to the hoop by anyone with a pulse, even vs. some of the cupcakes B4 Maui. It's been a season long problem that he seems to ignore... Gotta be his worst group ever, yet no change, #ZONE....SMH!

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Zone defense is something UConn absolutely should be doing in stretches against teams that are killing them off the dribble which Providence was the first half this past weekend. I think Hurley believes in his head he can fix what is broken but sometimes you have to fix slowly over time and in the interim apply temporary treatments including zone defenses. Otherwise they will lose games because of not doing that.

BTW Marquette has tightened this game up and it's turned into an excellent game of Cooleyball vs Marquette's pressure.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Ben Gold of Marquette is having all kinds of problems finishing in this game. He isn't the player that Oso Ighadoro was.

 

[the Blades]

I think Hurley believes in his head he can fix what is broken but sometimes you have to fix slowly over time and in the interim apply temporary treatments including zone defenses. Otherwise they will lose games because of not doing that.

Yep, already have.....the whole Maui trip was teams beating his guys 1 on 1 ....But it seems time after time when they score it's like they can't stop the ball or don't have the will to get in front of their man. Slowing Providence down with full court pressure in the 2nd half helped some. But they need some Pitino match-up zone for a wrinkle or even a Cuse version with a rangy guy like Ross at the top...It can't hurt !

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Especially disappointing to me in the Providence game was Karaban's man to man defense. Although he did have 4 blocked shots and is good at help defense at the rim, his man was getting by him with ease repeatedly. The first half against PC was the worst defense they played since Maui. What we have to keep in mind is UConn needed to shoot 72% in the second half to barely win the game.

What we saw last night is a preview of what's coming. Marquette, Georgetown, St. John's all have athletic teams that are likely to have success driving the ball on UConn. St. John's is a weak 3 point shooting team (although they defend the perimeter well) and UConn will be in a position where it would be a no brainer to use zone defense against them if the relentless rim attacks are not stopped. St. John's won last night at Xavier with relentless rim attacks and relentless offensive rebounding which did not get stopped. They are the one team where a lot of zone defense may be called for.

 

[the Blades]

St. John's is a weak 3 point shooting team (although they defend the perimeter well) and UConn will be in a position where it would be a no brainer to use zone defense against them if the relentless rim attacks are not stopped. St. John's won last night at Xavier with relentless rim attacks and relentless offensive rebounding which did not get stopped. They are the one team where a lot of zone defense may be called for.

Good call....Different St. John's team but I recall watching em' blow by Uconn @ the XL Center 3 years ago.... over and over. And it shows DH's disdain and stubbornness of changing to a zone. Posh, Curbelo, etc., most of St. John's....couldn't hit a 3 all night, yet despite the their " lay-up line offense", DH refused to change to zone. ......And this team has no Clingan to make up for as Dan says our "embarrassing 1-on-1 defense".... so you'd think zone is 100% a no-brainer.

But it's like DH has a blindspot that refuses to adjust at times. Like he refused with Andre Jackson until FEB the same year and finally told AJ "stop shooting you're team out of games by taking 3's" then moved him to the dunkers spot, SMH !

St. John's (NY) vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), January 15, 2023 | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

St. John's (NY) vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), January 15, 2023

www.sports-reference.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Rickie P: St John is Where It Needs To Be

Pitino proud of 'fight' in first-place St. John's

Riding the program's best start in 39 years, No. 20 St. John's regained sole possession of first place in the Big East by rallying past Xavier 79-71 in overtime.

www.espn.com

Best start in 39 years- a long time and I remember that team 39 years ago, which was an awesome team.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Excellent first half between Marquette and St. John's ends with Marquette up by 1. Very interesting matchup because Marquette doesn't take transfer portal guys and develops their own recruits, whereas St. John's is a team of transfer portal acquisitions, although partly out of necessity because of what Pitino inherited.

Marquette showed zone a few times in the first half, but teams that don't play a lot of zone don't do it well, and St. John's found gaps in their zone. They are not really using it as a main line strategy as opposed to showing it.

Marquette getting a lot out of their young players Lowery and Parham.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

A win against St. John's now looms much larger because SJ is threatening to run away with the regular season title, although their remaining schedule is very very tough. In 1st place for the first time since 1984-1985 team with the legendary starting 5 of Mark Jackson, Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Willie Glass and Bill Wennington. What a great team that was. However they still have 2 games with UConn, 1 in Storrs, the other in Storrs South.

 

[the Blades]

Rickie P: St John is Where It Needs To Be

Pitino proud of 'fight' in first-place St. John's

Riding the program's best start in 39 years, No. 20 St. John's regained sole possession of first place in the Big East by rallying past Xavier 79-71 in overtime.

www.espn.com

Well, he's never boring on or off the court, slimy yes, ask Uconn fans. But off, his wife has only one rule, just keep him away from empty restaurants.. LOL !

P.S. Dan Hurley......Use a FRICKIN' ZONE against this spaghetti bender, his team can't shoot to save their lives, that's what a zone strategy is for, keeping "off the drilble teams" on the outside......Remember what the Big East teams and Pitino did to Kemba half way through the season in 2010-11... and stopped his mid range and dribble penetration...... Capiche !

Slick Rick Pitino

"Slick" Rick has that slick moniker for a reason. It has been interesting watching his transformation since the return of his banning. Through Iona and then accelerated by the move to the Johnnies, he has been masterful about curating his media prescence and presenting as the contrite, elder...

the-boneyard.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

We will see what happens. I do think that it's pretty remarkable what Ricky P has done with that team in 2 years. Let's not forget they only lost to UConn by 5 in the Big East Tourney last year. That was the last game of the season any opponent was within sniffing distance of UConn. Also think it's amazing he is in 1st place with the worst 3 point shooting team in the Big East. It's older school basketball, and all of their defensive and rebounding stats are on point. In the games I have watched them in this year, they have looked very tough and resilient to me. I am expecting a great game, way better ballhandling is needed by UConn than the last game at Marquette.

 

[the Blades]

they have looked very tough and resilient to me....... way better ballhandling is needed by UConn

They foul alot and these garbage Big East refs let them get away with it. Not a fan at all, wait until the NCAA's and refs don't let you grab and foul all over the court, first week-end exit !

Speaking of....not good for the ball handling dept.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Plus UConn has to deal with this UConn-Killer who has gotten hot lately:

Kadary Richmond has ‘found himself’ heading into UConn game: ‘He knows nobody could guard him’

UConn killer Kadary Richmond has found himself heading into monster game for St. John's

www.nj.com

 

[the Blades]

Plus UConn has to deal with this UConn-Killer who has gotten hot lately:

Kadary Richmond has ‘found himself’ heading into UConn game: ‘He knows nobody could guard him’

UConn killer Kadary Richmond has found himself heading into monster game for St. John's

www.nj.com

Yeah, I remember him backing down RJ Cole into the lane vs. Seton Hall and other small Uconn guards for 3 years. What is he like 25 years old now, LOL! I remember he played a year at Cuse too. Just one more reason Hurley has to stop with his stubbornness and give into the zone D. It's the most basic strategy in coaching and a no-brainer..... yet to DH it's like an alien concept, SMH !

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Speaking of....not good for the ball handling dept.

View embedded media

In the last 8 minutes of the Marquette game there were heavy doses of Ball and Ross as primary ball-handlers. Which is not what you want. But you can't always get what you want.