Lost at Princeton by 14...kept it close 1st half.

Watching a two hour practice and then projecting what's to be expected is difficult. I'll now post what I expected after walking out of the gym that day to what I have seen to date.

0 Dylan Addae-Wusu
Exactly what I expected

1 Kadary Richmond
Slightly below what I expected

2 Al-Amir Dawes
Below what I expected

4 Elijah Hutchins-Everett
TBD - Only played 2 games due to a concussion

6 David Tubek
TBD

7 Sadraque NgaNga
As I expected as he didn't show me much

9 Arda Ozdogan
Exactly what I expected

13 Jaquan Sanders
Was injured and did not practice

14 Dre Davis
Slightly better than expected

15 Jaden Bediako
Exactly as I expected

21 Isaiah Coleman
Slightly better than expected

22 Malachi Brown
Slightly better than expected

23 JaQuan Harris
Was injured and did not practice

Team to date
Slightly below what I expected as I thought we would be 5-1 at this point.

Struggled to beat St Peter's. Then 3 blow outs before playing poorly out west.

Lots of losses again last night.

….so the remaining 70% better be pretty darned good because the offensive performance in San Diego was absolutely abysmal. And Al Amir Dawes is in serious need of adult supervision because his helter skelter game is really hurting this team.

The season is still very young and there’s plenty of time for injuries to heal and adjustments to be made. But if we continue this gang-that-can’t-shoot-straight business we are headed for some major headaches.

DePaul will have a new head coach. It will be Rashon Burno.

I got a good taste of the ornery, obnoxious Gregg Popovich in 2019, about a year before his impressive consecutive playoff streak was snapped, when I asked him about a defense that gave up 130 points to a terrible Knicks team.

Popovich, less than a month removed from his 70th birthday, slapped himself.

Really.

“Didn’t I just say it was pathetic? What would you like me to do? Slit my throat,” Popovich said as he planted a right hand on both cheeks.

OK, I responded, then what was specifically pathetic about the defense?

“No, I’m not going to give you a coaching clinic.”

Got it. Popovich doesn’t have time for no-nothing peons such as myself, or the sideline reporters tasked with gleaning information between quarters. He’s done about as much for that profession as Charissa Thompson. He’d prefer to slap himself than answer reasonable queries.

Which brings us to the subject of “class.” Popovich, ignoring multi-layered hypocrisy, brought it up Wednesday night in San Antonio, where he decided, audaciously, to grab a microphone and tell his home crowd to stop booing Kawhi Leonard.

“Have a little class. That’s not who we are. Knock off the booing,” Popovich said before walking away and waving his hands in the air, becoming almost a satirical version of an old man yelling about the integrity of his lawn.

The action, on its own, was silly and falls in line with Popovich’s holier-than-thou attitude. He’s insulated in his small-market bubble and believed that scolding fans about their (rightful) feelings was a good idea and would change minds because he’s friggin’ Gregg Popovich. Keep in mind that he wasn’t protecting a player on his own team, but rather an opponent who once sat out extended time for the Spurs and demanded a trade.

For decades these fans were sold that the Spurs culture, fostered by Popovich, is the best culture. So why wouldn’t they blame a player for bolting?

If Papa Bear Popovich were so concerned about San Antonio’s sentiment toward Leonard, he would’ve taken accountability for the circumstances surrounding the All-Star’s desire to leave. Or, maybe, he would have provided fans a proper explanation for that quadriceps injury that was either milked by Leonard or mishandled by the Spurs, depending on which side of the anonymously sourced stories are correct. Or, maybe, Popovich would’ve given fans insight into that 2019 meeting in Los Angeles between coach and star that apparently failed and couldn’t change Leonard’s trade demand.

Instead, we got nothing substantial from Popovich during or after the rift. To this day, there isn’t a clear understanding of why the forward desperately wanted to abandon the franchise that drafted him. But the fans who once loved Leonard — whose money helped make Popovich the highest-paid NBA coach in history — should stop booing because he said so.

To Popovich’s credit, he has stated in previous interviews that the booing of Leonard made him uncomfortable. And I would’ve ignored Wednesday’s microphone grab if it weren’t for Popovich’s insulting explanation after his scolding didn’t work.

“You don’t poke the bear,” he claimed in the postgame presser, after the fans ignored his words and kept booing.

Excuse me?

“Anybody that knows anything about sports knows you don’t poke the bear.”

Riiiiiiight.

So according to him, Popovich, who has for many years witnessed booing rain down on Leonard in San Antonio, decided Wednesday to grab the arena microphone and chastise his fanbase to mask a genius coaching tactic. How wonderfully self-serving after a bold move doesn’t go according to plan.

We’re not buying it. Popovich looked bad, and he decided not to own it. His “I’m smarter than everybody in the world” act worked for a long time because he had Tim Duncan and won a lot. In the past four playoff-less years, however, Popovich’s greatest coaching accomplishment was losing games for Victor Wembanyama.

As of Friday, the Spurs had the worst record in the West, a 10-game losing streak, and a tired act from their coach.

By Zack Cziryak

Seton Hall’s men’s basketball team proved that they still have a long way to go.

The Pirates dropped game two of a two-game tournament that represented the first real test of the season in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego in the consolation bracket game by the score of 85-72 to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday night.

The Pirates clawed back from an 18-point first half deficit to within five in the second half but couldn’t get over the hump. Dre Davis led the Pirates with 18 points and three rebounds while Jaden Bediako tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

A Tony Perkins and-1 staked the Hawkeyes to a 15-4 lead with 15 minutes to play, while a tepid first half saw the Pirates fall behind by as many as 18 points before cutting it to an 11-point deficit heading into the half at 44-33.

Payton Sandfort led four Hawkeyes in double-figures with 22 points and nine rebounds while Perkins, who took it to the Pirates a year ago at the Prudential Center, finished with 14 points five rebounds and five assists in the Hawkeye victory.

Seton Hall posted an abysmal 36% from the floor, shooting, 27-75 overall, including 29.6% from beyond the arc, while the Hawkeye offense generated 20 assists on 31 made baskets that helped contribute to Iowa’s 56.4% shooting rate.

The Pirates did hold a 38-36 rebounding advantage, including 16-3 on the offensive side of the boards and turned the ball over only six times.

After a 4-0 start to the season without any quality tests, the Pirates fall to 4-2 after their first two matches against high-major opponents dropped them to 4-2.

The Hall flies home to South Orange and returns to the Prudential Center court on Wednesday to face Northeastern University at 6:30 p.m. ET before successive high major tests at Baylor on Dec. 5 and home against in-state rival Rutgers on Dec. 9.

NJIT at Wagner 1pm et.

San Diego, Calif. — Senior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 18 points with seven rebounds and three assists and graduate student Jaden Bediako (Brampton, Ontario) posted his second double-double of the season in the Seton Hall Men's basketball team's 85-72 loss to Iowa in the consolation game of the Rady Children's Invitational on Friday evening.

The Pirates (4-2) nearly erased a large deficit for the second consecutive night before ultimately coming up short. Davis was named to the Rady Children's Invitational All-Tournament team after averaging 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games.

How It Happened

Iowa had its way offensively in the first half where it shot 60 percent from the field. The Hawkeyes went up 44-27 on a fast break dunk with 1:08 before halftime but back-to-back threes by senior Dylan Addae-Wusu (Brooklyn, N.Y.), including a buzzer-beating trey from the half court logo, made it an 11-point game, 44-33, and gave the Pirates momentum going into the locker room.

Despite consecutive buckets by senior Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to start the second half, Iowa was able to answer on their end each time and still led 53-39 before the Pirates went on a run. Senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) got it started with a three-pointer off a feed from Bediako. A hook shot in the lane from Richmond led to another Dawes triple that forced Iowa to call a timeout. After a steal by freshman Isaiah Coleman (Fredericksburg, Va.), another bucket by Richmond in the paint made it a four-point game, 53-49, with 15:58 to play.

Both sides traded baskets down the stretch as the Pirates trimmed its deficit to five on three separate occasions. Davis converted field goals on consecutive trips that cut Iowa's lead to six, 71-65, with 5:23 to go but a Seton Hall turnover on its next time down the floor led to a dunk that and later a layup that pushed the Hawkeyes' lead back to 10, 75-65.

With 2:40 left in the game, Addae-Wusu found Dawes open on a corner three that made it a five-point contest again, 75-70, but it would be the closest the Pirates would get the rest of the way as a couple of empty trips offensively sunk the Pirates' hopes of a comeback.

Inside The Box Score

• Seton Hall finished plus-two on the backboards for the second consecutive game, 38-36.
• Iowa ended up shooting 56 percent from the field (31-of-55) while Pirates shot 36 percent.
• Seton Hall forced 11 Iowa turnovers and turned it into 14 points.
• The Pirates finished with 14 assists and six turnovers.
• Seton Hall shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

News & Notes

• Bediako now has six career double-doubles.
• Davis has scored in double-figures in five of six games this season.
• Coleman stuffed the staff sheet with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals in 22 minutes.
• Richmond now has 350 career assists and 258 in his career at Seton Hall.
• Richmond now has 120 steals in his three-year Seton Hall career.

Up Next

Seton Hall returns to the friendly confines of the Prudential Center on Wednesday, Nov. 29 against Northeastern at 6:30 p.m. It'll be Greek Night at The Rock.

We lack any guys that can flat out shoot. Our snipers are mostly miss. You can't win with just defense. There are no knock down guys. Too much up and down - mostly down against good competition. So hard to watch clang after clang from deep. I'm sure we'll go bombs away against Northeastern. Sha needs to find some shooters. Otherwise we are destined to be 500 for the foreseeable future. This season is a continuation of last years gang that couldn't shoot straight. Have to score to win.

Legit center. Game completely changed when he got his 2nd foul.

Also, has great wind capacity. Seemingly, does not get tired despite playing with a great motor.

I think this warrants it’s on thread… What is going on… Sprained ankle or not?

Kid is supposed to be the best 3 point shooter on our team. He’s a catch and shoot guy. Not going to create his own shot at this point and I can count the number of plays we’ve run for him on one hand this year.

Instead we have Dawes and Wusu hoisting up 13 threes. Can you really sit there and say this is defense related when we have Dawes missing assignments and getting cooked all night?

Nazis and Communists hate Jews.

The new normal Left has aligned with both hate groups. .

IOWA

LOCATION Iowa City, IA
CONFERENCE Big Ten
LAST SEASON 19-14 (.576)
CONFERENCE RECORD 11-9 (t-5th)
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 2/3
NICKNAME Hawkeyes
COLORS Black & Gold
HOMECOURT Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,400)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE Hawkeyesports.com
COACH Fran McCaffery (Penn ’82)
RECORD AT SCHOOL 261-176 (13 years)
CAREER RECORD 512-343 (27 years)
ASSISTANTS Sherman Dillard (James Madison ’78)
Matt Gatens (Iowa ’12)
Courtney Eldridge (UNC Greensboro ’15)
WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 23-20-22-26-19
KENPOM RATING (LAST 5 YRS.) 37-23-7-13-41
2022-23 FINISH Lost in NCAA first round.

Historically this week not kind to them...Sanchez Fumble, Marino Fake Spike TD and now the Hail Mary Int TD...tough

Expect lots of points and a nailbiter

SHU 77
Iowa 75

Letha go!!!🦃

By Colin Rajala

Seton Hall’s trio of veteran captains led the Pirates to a perfect 4-0 start to the season, but it was a trio of Trojans that proved to be the difference makers in Thursday’s opening round matchup in the Rady
Children’s Invitational as Southern California emerged victorious 71-63 in front of 3,588 fans

USC’s triumvirate of Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson and Isaiah Collier gave Seton Hall all they could handle in the first half, registering 25 of their team’s 32 points before ultimately ending the contest scoring more
than two-thirds of their team’s total points -- 22, 14 and 13, respectively.

The Pirates trekked more than 2750 miles westward for their first test of the season against the nation’s #23 ranked team and kept the game close in the opening ten minutes before a nearly seven-minute
scoring drought allowed USC to take a 13-point lead, 27-14, with just three minutes remaining in the first half.

Despite their lack of offensive execution and poor shooting on top of being manhandled on the boards (27-15 including 6-3 on the offensive end) thanks to two fouls from graduate center Jaden Bediako with
junior forward Elijah Hutchins-Everett still unavailable due to a concussion, The Hall would enter the half down just 10, 32-22.

The double-digit deficit was not terrible at surface level when you consider the fact that they received a combined four points from two key cogs – graduate guard Al Amir Dawes, who was held scoreless on 0-10 shooting from the field and 0-4 from three, and senior guard Kadary Richmond, who shot 1-7 from the field.

All told, Seton Hall shot 9-32 (28.1%) from the field and 0-6 from long distance in the opening stanza.

Seton Hall did themselves no favors to start the second half as they allowed USC to connect on two shots from long range to go along with a dunk and two free throws to extend their lead to 20, 42-22, less than three minutes in.

The Pirates responded with a quick 7-0 run of their own over the ensuing two minutes, including a three pointer and two free throws from captain and senior wing Dre Davis, who had a large gathering of family on hand at UC San Diego's LionTree Arena, to cut the lead down to 42-29.

USC would push their lead to 49-31 with 13 minutes to play before Seton Hall dug themselves out of another hole, this time with a 12-0 run capped by a layup from Bediako off the dish downlow from Davis
to cut the score to 49-43 with just over eight minutes remaining.

With both teams battling back and forth over the ensuing minutes, Seton Hall cut the lead to three, 56-53, on a fast break layup from Richmond off the steal from Bediako with just over four minutes to go.

USC was reeling from Seton Hall’s physicality and ferocious comeback and a foul by Richmond sent freshman phenom Collier to the line, where he proceeded to miss both freebies, breathing new life into
the Pirates with just over two minutes on the clock.

With a chance to cut the lead to two on the next possession, The Pirates would have two great looks from Davis and senior guard Dylan Addae-Wusu in the paint, but they were thwarted as USC senior
forward Joshua Morgan rejected both attempts to give him a program record 10 blocks in the contest. The Trojans would seal the victory in the final minute and change on six free throws from Ellis and two
from Collier, who proved to be as good of a backcourt as Seton Hall will see all season.

Pacing the Pirates was Richmond with 18 points, while Davis and Bediako contributed 15 and 12 apiece. The Hall bolstered their chances at a comeback by cleaning the glass in the second half (24-10 to give
them a 39-37 edge for game), but the lack of offensive potency was too much to overcome as they finished the game just 25-71 (35.2%) from the field and 3-16 (18.8%) from the field.

Seton Hall returns to feast week action in Friday’s consolation game against Iowa at 6 p.m.