Post by reindeerfan on Feb 1, 2014 18:50:06 GMT -5
We had a rather lengthy discussion during the ride home today as to whether the issue is we have don't have the talent level of other teams or if we don't have the coaching of other MAAC teams. It is an interesting discussion, but either way, Sydney is responsible as it is his players and his coaching.
On the one hand, I think if a player like Smith was playing for Manhatten he would have had more success this year. If you look at the way Manhatten used Richards last year, I think smith offers a similar profile. This year Richards has become a more complete player developing a step away and pull up jumper. I think Smith is a D1 level talent, who will improve his passing ballhandling and shooting much like richards has. I believe he is a good recruit(ie coaching issue). With regards to Grennan, its tough to say he is as good a recruit as players we've seen on other teams. He has been given opportunities all year to make plays and simply hasn't gotten it done(talent level issue). Rose has been in my mind unduly criticized, because he hasn't completely demonstrated the skills we need at point.(talent level issue) Its true and people can criticize Rose for his shortcomings, he's still the best point guard we have. I think in Rose's case, he is a Division 1 level talent but is not ready to be a starter and he is starting because we need him to. Given more time I think he will be viewed as a solid player certainly by his junior and senior years. I have seen signs that both Chappell and Davis are division 1 level talents but they aren't seeing much action laterly which suggests that they too are works in progress and aren't ready to play. The fact that a walk on played ahead of them today tells you all you know about their readiness. And frankly, we got a better performance from Stevie today than we have gotten from just about any other guard all season. Yes, Rose had a strong game against Hartford (14 pts), Chappell(16) against Loyola, Grennan(14) vs Marist, Davis(12) vs Quinnipiac, but each has also had multiple games where they played poorly and Steve Johnston has played in only one game and done well. At this moment he seems as ready or even more ready to contribute than some of the freshman guards. As one of my friends said after the game, we have 6 guards with walk-on level talent. He argues that the talent level isn't there.
I think the truth is the issues are a little of both coaching and talent. This coach doesn't always seem to get the most out of the talent he has. And even if all the recruits prove to be D1 level talents, many of them are just not ready at this moment to give us what we need. On the one hand we have had few losses like today where we got completely blown out, we have generally been in most games and are usually only a handful of made plays away from getting a win. This gives us a reason at least to have some small level of optimism. On the other hand we do lose our top offensive rebounder and one of our main scorers in barrow and certainly there is reason to think his minutes will be missed.
I remain not sure of what to make of this group. I thought today Sidibe and Johnson played like guys that wanted a win, I hope we at least see that level of intensity from the rest of the players through the end of the season.
Last Edit: Feb 1, 2014 18:54:43 GMT -5 by reindeerfan
Whether the talent is there,(it's not) or not the offensive plays that are run are horrible. Jacking up threes all game is not a formula for success. Then once every 15 possessions Rose drives to the hoop and scores when the defense is soft. Sydney doesn't recognize when to attack on offense. That, coupled with his awful eye for talent, or how to use it, has his clock ticking...
Agree with Tmacc----its people like JStag that keep hoping for miracles that keep this nutty Coach around--bulletin: there is no miracles with this Coach--only continual losses
The stags missed plenty of open looks today, many missed layups and perimeter shots. The players have to knock down these open looks.
Bob, you were clamoring for JJ to be out there and SJ gave it to you- Sidney started him. You saw what you got- zero assists, six turnovers and five fouls (fouled out).
At some point, the players have to perform and execute. Cant blame the coach for everything.
The 2nd half vs Canisius looked like a complete mis-match..... it was a combo of effort, talent, poor guard play, and a young team. But we are not going to win with any type of consistency until we get good guard play. The only difference between this years 4-win team and last years 19-win team is that Needham/Wade/Nickerson were replaced with inexperienced guards where their Talent is either not there or needs more time to develop. With each passing loss, it looks like the talent might not be there.
I was really hoping that Jenkins had turned the corner, but his game vs Canisius was a microcosm of his career and this years team....... spectacular for the first 6 minutes, and then looked like he never dribbled a basketball. I still feel he be that spectacuar player, but he has got to improve that handle.
This season still depends on the improvement of the guards. We have got 5 weeks for them to improve. Rose has made some nice progress, but still has to continue to get better. 2G is a frutrating Merry-go-round. And if our guard play can come around, we can still win the MAAC this year.
Dial 1-800- rose-glass and JS will gladly sell u pair of his extra dark rose color glasses for $9.99. Additionally, for this week and only this week, you can get two free additional pairs of glasses for only S&H. Give those glasses to sidney and gene doris.
Dial 1-800- rose-glass and JS will gladly sell u pair of his extra dark rose color glasses for $9.99. Additionally, for this week and only this week, you can get two free additional pairs of glasses for only S&H. Give those glasses to sidney and gene doris.
I still think we can win the MAAC Tourney this year. We did it twice before from last place ..."
Joe, I applaud your eternal optimism, but those Stag teams that accomplished those miraculous tourney runs were quite different from this team. The 1996-97 team had injuries during the season but had some very competitive games against big name opponents during the season that showed they had talent. Shannon Bowman willed the team to victory in the tourney. This year's team has no Shannon Bowman. In addition to Bowman that team had several quality players. Greg Francis was good. John Tice was tough as nails. Darren Phillip (who eventually led the nation in rebounding) was also on that team. No comparison to this year's team in my opinion.
Ditto for the 1986-87 team that won the tourney. That team had four guys scoring in double figures and had been to the NCAA's the year before. They had Jeff Gromos, AJ Wynder, Troy Bradford, Tim O'Toole and Ed Golden. Simply no comparison between this year's team and that team.
Does it mean we can't win the tourney this year? Of course not. But I can't share your optimism. I'd be happy if they won one game and ecstatic if they somehow found a way to win two. I simply can't see them winning four games no matter how hard I try.
Last Edit: Feb 2, 2014 9:58:06 GMT -5 by vastagman
VAStagman, I am not saying that "We Will" win the Tourney, I am saying the same as you.... "Does it mean we can't win the tourney this year? Of course not". I say that for 2 reasons: (1) The MAAC is not very good this year, (2) Our Guard play has been poor this year. If we can turn that around, and get good guard play out of the 2 and 3 positions..... that will make the entire team better. Its a snowball, compounding effect.
But we need to see that good guard play in February, Right now. If we cannot get good guard play we will have No Chance. I am a firm believer in that Guards win in the MAAC and for other in Mid Majors.
IMO, the major problem this season is that this is not the right group to run a "Princeton style" offense. The "parts" that I believe can are Chappell, Grennan, Smith, both Gilberts, and Sidibe. Rose, Jenkins, Johnson, and Davis, while Division 1 talents, are not players you recruit for that type of system. If there's a criticism to be leveled against the Coaching staff, its that they needed to recruit "for the system" and missed.
IMO, the major problem this season is that this is not the right group to run a "Princeton style" offense. The "parts" that I believe can are Chappell, Grennan, Smith, both Gilberts, and Sidibe. Rose, Jenkins, Johnson, and Davis, while Division 1 talents, are not players you recruit for that type of system. If there's a criticism to be leveled against the Coaching staff, its that they needed to recruit "for the system" and missed.
While I agree that the Roster is not built for the Princeton Offense, the roster was not a Princton Roster the last 2 years when we won 22 and 19 games and advanced to the Finals and Semis. IMO, the Major Issues besides being young are:
- Ballhandling - Passing - Quickness
Amazingly, the specialty of the 3 guards we lost Needham\Wade\Nickerson.... were the above 3 skills\talents. And those skills are basic to any System/Roster.
Post by sunshinestag on Feb 2, 2014 11:11:13 GMT -5
I find the posters taking shots at tuition somewhat amusing. Some may remember the school's initiative a few years back that promised free tuition to inner city students from B'port. The school also had a pipeline to Puerto Rico to increase its diversity population as well. But we all know Fr. JVA is a Princeton guy. So I thought what is tuition there, at an Ivy school, compared to the 'ND of the East.' Current tuition at Fairfield is $42,320.00.
This information comes from a recent NJ newspaper article:
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY WILL RAISE TUITION 4.1 PERCENT TO $41,820, SCHOOL OFFICIALS SAID TODAY.
UNDERGRADUATE TUITION WILL BE $41,820 FOR THE 2014-15 SCHOOL YEAR, BUT OFFICIALS SAID THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY THE INCREASE BECAUSE PRINCETON’S FINANCIAL AID POLICY ADJUSTS AWARDS FOR STUDENTS WHO RECEIVE AID TO OFFSET THE INCREASES IN FEES.
MOST PRINCETON STUDENTS WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY THE TUITION INCREASE BECAUSE THEIR FINANCIAL AID PACKAGES WILL INCREASE TO COVER THE HIKE, CAMPUS OFFICIALS SAID. PRINCETON HAS ONE OF THE MOST GENEROUS FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION, INCLUDING A PLEDGE THAT UNDERGRADUATES WILL NOT GRADUATE WITH LOANS.
I was shocked to see it costs more to attend FU than Princeton. I knew their financial aid department was legendary for making sure almost no one paid to go there.
So, perhaps Fr. VA sees the dilemma and realizes he can't sell a Chevy as the same price as a Benz.
The point is tuition has little to do with the win/loss record of this team. I observed very early in the season this was a team of little talent. Most said just wait. Now there is a feeding frenzy about the program. I suggest everyone just take a breath, realize this not like any team from the past (ergo, no comparisons needed) and let the coach and his staff right the problem. Life happens - see the problem, fix it and try to move on.
Post by 01041949bob on Feb 2, 2014 11:26:48 GMT -5
Here is the my opinion---First, seems to be a majority of people on this board who agree that SJ is a poor coach, and should go--- Will the administration fire him? OF COURSE NOT BECAUSE THEY DO NOT CARE--secondly, Rose from my perspective is SJ's new Wade--will play him no matter what--because of this, just like when he stubbornly played Wade all the time, we lost Crawford and Fields--hence we are going to lose Davis and Chappell if he does not wise up--Play Rose and Grennan less and stick with JJ , Davis and Chappell--Rose and Grennan are not the answer they have more than had their oppurtunity---we have played over 20 games with 4 wins---play who I said and play Malcolm too as we know we won't lose SJ we will lose the players!!!!!