.PNG&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Throwback Thursday: Cincinnati vs East Tennessee State March 19, 2004")
Talking St John's with Rumble in the Garden
Cincinnati is set to face St John's tomorrow afternoon, so that means another sit down with my good friend Pico aka ECoastBias aka the guy who runs the great St John's blog Rumble in the Garden. Read the blog. Follow him on twitter. We talk about some good stuff. We also talked about some very good stuff over there yesterday. If you didn't see the link on twitter, here it is now. There, I talked about what I watch on tv, movies I've seen, weird conversations I've had on twitter. Oh and basketball. A little hoops.
Here I asked Pico lots of important questions. Like how good the OC was and what actress he dug the most. His answer will seriously surprise you. It surprised me. Oh and we talked about the Johnnies. Questions in bold.
Why yes! Yes I have! Context is of some importance here. St. John's came into the game with Louisville with 6 newcomers and Malik Stith, who barely played last year. Louisville put their game on them and St. John's responded just like Pitino's staff wanted them too - hurried, too quick, anxious. St. John's wasn't an accurate shooting team before. Under pressure, it was grisly.
But worse has to be either John Starks Game 7 against the Houston Rockets in 1994, where he went 2-18 from the field and 0-11 from the outside - and kept firing. It was a game 7, and New York thought there was a chance of an NBA championship. New York really likes basketball.
Then there were Elijah Ingram's games against Syracuse before he got kicked off the team.
Well, those are individual performances. That Notre Dame/ California game last year made me want to claw my eyes out. As did the 2011 St. John's class' games against ranked opponents in 2008.
But there's not much worse than this... wait. There is:
St. John's 43 at Cincy 60, 2/13/08: http://www.
St. John's 42 vs. Villanova 60, 2/16/08: http://www.
St. John's 45, Marquette 74, 3/11/09: Scoring 10 points in a half against Marquette in the Big East Tournament.
Every game against Syracuse.
St. John's 55, Marquette 57, 3/10/10: scoring 17 points the NEXT year in the Big East Tournament.
What I'm saying: the previous coaching staff prepared me (at least) for offensive ineptitude, serious beatings, and futility. Luckily, the young players aren't used to this kind of mediocrity, so there's hope that next year, this kind of game will be a complete aberration.
Well, they beat St. Francis!
The decline is about their youth, but also centers around Nurideen Lindsey. There were some personality conflicts, and Nuri wanted more freedom to do his thing. Which at that time involved driving into the lane at breakneck speeds and turning the ball over. He started playing much more sloppily, found himself yanked from games, sulked, and eventually left the team.
The remaining squad lacks a player who can get shots up as easily and draw fouls. Yes, Nuri was inaccurate from the field, hit his first jumper from more than about 8 feet in the Northeastern game - two before he left the program. But boy, he was quick enough to draw fouls. It added a scoring dimension that helped cover up the fact that the Red Storm don't have a lot of consistent shooters or shot creators.
But new players are learning on the fly, like Phil Greene at the point guard. The chemistry is better.
Yes. On Saturday.
In all seriousness, I think so. DePaul is still on the schedule. Moreover, I expect this team to become deadlier on offense as the season goes along (and when they're not facing top-10 teams).
Moe Harkless is all about versatility. Indeed, he may be too versatile; he doesn't yet have a go-to offensive move that's money in the bank. He can glide in transition and finish hard. He can drive the lane and serve up a floater. (I hope no 6-yr olds read "serve up a floater", they'll giggle. (ED: So will people in their 20s)) He can drive from the free throw line in. He can pick and pop and shoot from the mid range or from beyond the arc.
He rebounds better than you would think for a lanky player. Moves better than you'd think for a player of that size. Handles himself in the paint well. he looks like a player who will grow into an NBA level skill set. Right now, he can make the moves, but can't complete them consistently under pressure/ in traffic. Providence was short and caught enough of a beatdown defensively that they were a step slow. And Harkless abused them.
Harrison came in as a scorer used to finding his own shot from his high school team - where he often scored half or more of their points. D`Angelo has enough handle to create his own shot and enough balance to hit the jumper in transition. He's strong enough to get to the rim, and has a solid touch from outside that has improved recently. He can come off of screens and spot up, he can drive to the rim for his points...
He's going to be a 4-year star in the Big East.
No real point guard is one factor. Missing a lot of shots in the half court is another; the team doesn't always have the best offensive flow.
Considering that he has practiced AND played for two weeks, not bad. He is a lot of what one should expect of him - great athlete, not necessarily a skill guy, great effort, defensive acumen in the one-on-one situations. He's got a lot of growth ahead of him, needs to learn when to attack and when to hold back, needs to throw his passes with a little more touch. But he could be a very good glue guy, and maybe more.
Man, it's annoying. The SB Nation autotagger only recognizes his name if you type the apostrophe as `, not as '. And I never know if I should capitalize the Gift or not. (ED: BLASHPEMY)
He's doing solidly, meeting a reasonable expectation of him coming out of Junior College. He struggles at time with height, like many big men, and the team's inability to shoot from outside means it's east to double team him. In the post, he doesn't have the best hands. Sometimes that results in a turnover, and sometimes it means he fumbles a pass and has to take a harder shot.
In the past four games, he has unveiled a face-up game. He's taken threes. He's driving from the perimeter.
Should he get more looks? Likely not, unless they can find safe ways of entering the ball to him in the post. This would also require him getting better deep position on his man.
It's the food. The guys have been living on real pizza and knishes and you can't get that outside of NYC.
Or maybe it's just the normal road woes. Those are three tough road games (at Kentucky, at Connecticut, and at Detroit) and the Detroit game was the look of a team with some internal strife. It's not easy to win on the road.
I think I expect a brick fest. But Cincy has been scoring a bit, right?
Oh, we know the truth. The game will end as a four-point win either way, and the winner will just crack 60. KenPom's numbers have Cincy getting over 70. If I were coming to Cincy, I'd bet you a beer that the Bearcats don't touch that number.
Damn, it was great. All the way through, too.
I'm a Julie Cooper kind of guy. You didn't include her because you, sir, are a haaaater. I loved Melinda Clarke's turns in Entourage, so maybe it's the actress more than the character... in terms of characters, it'd probably Taylor. And Autumn Reeser is easily a close second to Julie Cooper. Rachel Bilson is a fairly close third. Kelly Rowan is pretty cool.
I hate Mischa Barton. I hated her as the warmed-over Dominique Swain (who was lame), I hated her in Once and Again (which I watched), I hated her in Lost & Delirious, I wish she'd just permanently go to rehab or make movies with Kirk Cameron, because hardly anyone sees those. (I just pissed off your very religious Christian readers there, I think.)
I think Pico pissed off more people by saying Julie Cooper. Bold choice my friend. How can you deny this?
For this?
The man has no taste. He does have an excellent taste for writing, because Rumble in the Garden is great. He compared Russ Smith to the cookie monster. He's been very nice the whole time I've had a blog. Before that he would drive his car through puddles while I walked on the sidewalk, completely soaking me, and drive away laughing. Good thing I have this site. Seriously, Pico is a great guy. Follow him, read him, love him.
Here I asked Pico lots of important questions. Like how good the OC was and what actress he dug the most. His answer will seriously surprise you. It surprised me. Oh and we talked about the Johnnies. Questions in bold.
Have you seen anything worse in your life than the 1-27 or whatever, against Louisville? It hurt me watching it.
Why yes! Yes I have! Context is of some importance here. St. John's came into the game with Louisville with 6 newcomers and Malik Stith, who barely played last year. Louisville put their game on them and St. John's responded just like Pitino's staff wanted them too - hurried, too quick, anxious. St. John's wasn't an accurate shooting team before. Under pressure, it was grisly.
But worse has to be either John Starks Game 7 against the Houston Rockets in 1994, where he went 2-18 from the field and 0-11 from the outside - and kept firing. It was a game 7, and New York thought there was a chance of an NBA championship. New York really likes basketball.
Then there were Elijah Ingram's games against Syracuse before he got kicked off the team.
Well, those are individual performances. That Notre Dame/ California game last year made me want to claw my eyes out. As did the 2011 St. John's class' games against ranked opponents in 2008.
But there's not much worse than this... wait. There is:
St. John's 43 at Cincy 60, 2/13/08: http://www.
St. John's 42 vs. Villanova 60, 2/16/08: http://www.
St. John's 45, Marquette 74, 3/11/09: Scoring 10 points in a half against Marquette in the Big East Tournament.
Every game against Syracuse.
St. John's 55, Marquette 57, 3/10/10: scoring 17 points the NEXT year in the Big East Tournament.
What I'm saying: the previous coaching staff prepared me (at least) for offensive ineptitude, serious beatings, and futility. Luckily, the young players aren't used to this kind of mediocrity, so there's hope that next year, this kind of game will be a complete aberration.
St John's played pretty good ball the first 5 games, nearly beating Arizona and Texas A&M. Since then, they have been awful. Wha happened?
Well, they beat St. Francis!
The decline is about their youth, but also centers around Nurideen Lindsey. There were some personality conflicts, and Nuri wanted more freedom to do his thing. Which at that time involved driving into the lane at breakneck speeds and turning the ball over. He started playing much more sloppily, found himself yanked from games, sulked, and eventually left the team.
The remaining squad lacks a player who can get shots up as easily and draw fouls. Yes, Nuri was inaccurate from the field, hit his first jumper from more than about 8 feet in the Northeastern game - two before he left the program. But boy, he was quick enough to draw fouls. It added a scoring dimension that helped cover up the fact that the Red Storm don't have a lot of consistent shooters or shot creators.
But new players are learning on the fly, like Phil Greene at the point guard. The chemistry is better.
St John's only great performance in that time was a waxing of Providence. Does St John's have any more of those games in them?
Yes. On Saturday.
In all seriousness, I think so. DePaul is still on the schedule. Moreover, I expect this team to become deadlier on offense as the season goes along (and when they're not facing top-10 teams).
Mo Harkless has been taking a huge role for this club, especially with his monster 14-17, 32 point game against the Friars. Can you talk about his game a little bit?
Moe Harkless is all about versatility. Indeed, he may be too versatile; he doesn't yet have a go-to offensive move that's money in the bank. He can glide in transition and finish hard. He can drive the lane and serve up a floater. (I hope no 6-yr olds read "serve up a floater", they'll giggle. (ED: So will people in their 20s)) He can drive from the free throw line in. He can pick and pop and shoot from the mid range or from beyond the arc.
He rebounds better than you would think for a lanky player. Moves better than you'd think for a player of that size. Handles himself in the paint well. he looks like a player who will grow into an NBA level skill set. Right now, he can make the moves, but can't complete them consistently under pressure/ in traffic. Providence was short and caught enough of a beatdown defensively that they were a step slow. And Harkless abused them.
D'Angelo Harrison is the leading scorer with 16 points a game. What does he do to get his looks?
Harrison came in as a scorer used to finding his own shot from his high school team - where he often scored half or more of their points. D`Angelo has enough handle to create his own shot and enough balance to hit the jumper in transition. He's strong enough to get to the rim, and has a solid touch from outside that has improved recently. He can come off of screens and spot up, he can drive to the rim for his points...
He's going to be a 4-year star in the Big East.
Why doesn't St John's get assists? 10 a game is surprisingly low.
No real point guard is one factor. Missing a lot of shots in the half court is another; the team doesn't always have the best offensive flow.
Amir Garrett has the Reds paying for his college. That's kind of neat. He just got eligible, which is more neat. How has he been?
Considering that he has practiced AND played for two weeks, not bad. He is a lot of what one should expect of him - great athlete, not necessarily a skill guy, great effort, defensive acumen in the one-on-one situations. He's got a lot of growth ahead of him, needs to learn when to attack and when to hold back, needs to throw his passes with a little more touch. But he could be a very good glue guy, and maybe more.
St John's stole God'sGift away from UC. How much fun has it been writing God'sGift every week?
Man, it's annoying. The SB Nation autotagger only recognizes his name if you type the apostrophe as `, not as '. And I never know if I should capitalize the Gift or not. (ED: BLASHPEMY)
How is his game progressing? Should he get more looks?
He's doing solidly, meeting a reasonable expectation of him coming out of Junior College. He struggles at time with height, like many big men, and the team's inability to shoot from outside means it's east to double team him. In the post, he doesn't have the best hands. Sometimes that results in a turnover, and sometimes it means he fumbles a pass and has to take a harder shot.
In the past four games, he has unveiled a face-up game. He's taken threes. He's driving from the perimeter.
Should he get more looks? Likely not, unless they can find safe ways of entering the ball to him in the post. This would also require him getting better deep position on his man.
St John's hasn't won away from home. What have been the struggles out of NYC?
It's the food. The guys have been living on real pizza and knishes and you can't get that outside of NYC.
Or maybe it's just the normal road woes. Those are three tough road games (at Kentucky, at Connecticut, and at Detroit) and the Detroit game was the look of a team with some internal strife. It's not easy to win on the road.
Last season we saw some brick fests. Should we expect something similar? If so, do you need a pool house? If so, could I live in it like Ryan did on the OC?
I think I expect a brick fest. But Cincy has been scoring a bit, right?
Oh, we know the truth. The game will end as a four-point win either way, and the winner will just crack 60. KenPom's numbers have Cincy getting over 70. If I were coming to Cincy, I'd bet you a beer that the Bearcats don't touch that number.
Speaking of the OC, wasn't it great? Rachel Bilson, Marissa Cooper or Autumn Reeser? Or Mrs Cohen? Your answer will be judged.
Damn, it was great. All the way through, too.
I'm a Julie Cooper kind of guy. You didn't include her because you, sir, are a haaaater. I loved Melinda Clarke's turns in Entourage, so maybe it's the actress more than the character... in terms of characters, it'd probably Taylor. And Autumn Reeser is easily a close second to Julie Cooper. Rachel Bilson is a fairly close third. Kelly Rowan is pretty cool.
I hate Mischa Barton. I hated her as the warmed-over Dominique Swain (who was lame), I hated her in Once and Again (which I watched), I hated her in Lost & Delirious, I wish she'd just permanently go to rehab or make movies with Kirk Cameron, because hardly anyone sees those. (I just pissed off your very religious Christian readers there, I think.)
I think Pico pissed off more people by saying Julie Cooper. Bold choice my friend. How can you deny this?
For this?
The man has no taste. He does have an excellent taste for writing, because Rumble in the Garden is great. He compared Russ Smith to the cookie monster. He's been very nice the whole time I've had a blog. Before that he would drive his car through puddles while I walked on the sidewalk, completely soaking me, and drive away laughing. Good thing I have this site. Seriously, Pico is a great guy. Follow him, read him, love him.
