Carino: Five questions for Seton Hall basketball

[Halldan1]

The first official practice is Friday.

(Photo: File photo)

Coming off a 16-15 record in Kevin Willard’s fifth season, the Seton Hall men’s basketball team opens practice Friday. Here are five questions for the Pirates as they prepare for the Nov. 13 opener.

1.............

http://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2015/09/30/five-questions-seton-hall-basketball/73072176/

 

[Halldan1]

Jerry projects this starting lineup.

Isaiah Whitehead (PG), Khadeen Carrington (G), Desi Rodriguez (SF), Michael Nzei (PF), Angel Delgado (F/C).

I would offer that two positions are up for grabs right now.

SF: Desi/Veer

PF: Nzei/Ish

My take, Ish might have a slight lead because of his experience. The SF battle is neck and neck.

Look for Anderson to backup Delgado at the 5. And Gordon to be the first guard off the bench giving Whitehead and Carrington a blow.

 

[jcalz88]

Nzei to start!!! Is Brooklyn in the house?

 

[hallgrad80]

"Can everybody just get along. " Jerry certainly got that right .

 

[400SOAVE]

I'm very much looking forward to seeing Whitehead at the point. As Carino said, Whitehead "displayed superior court vision and passing touch as a freshman."

I'm glad somebody noticed. And Whitehead did it while struggling through a serious injury. I will say again, as long as Whitehead avoids the forced attempts at highlight reel plays, he's going to be awesome.

The difference is that this year Whitehead knows he's the PG from the summer and through the pre-season, rather than doing it as a late-season relief pitcher.

I also like the idea of a 6-4 PG and a 6-3 2G.

The Pirates have great overall depth at the guard position and SF. The big question mark, and the key to making the NCAA is that they have to rebound, rebound, rebound.

We all know what Delgado can do. The other bigs all need to contribute.

Two questions:

1) Does anybody know how Carter and Anderson are doing? How good are they?

2) Besides Delgado, who are the top rebounders?

 

[Halldan1]

Two questions:

1) Does anybody know how Carter and Anderson are doing? How good are they?

2) Besides Delgado, who are the top rebounders?

I'll bow out here as the info you request is on the Trove.

Just a reminder. You can get a partial answer for yourself this Saturday when the team will scrimmage at noontime at Walsh followed by a chance to talk to the players.

 

[mjs428]

Jerry having Nezi as a starter is more about how ineffective Anderson has been to date than Nezi has been impressive or am I wrong? Dan you stated all summer that Anderson would have first shot at starting...

 

[Halldan1]

Jerry having Nezi as a starter is more about how ineffective Anderson has been to date than Nezi has been impressive or am I wrong? Dan you stated all summer that Anderson would have first shot at starting...

You got your answer on the Trove. If you want continue the conversation there.

 

[knowknow456]

We have been told repeatedly that Nzei is not a power forward. What changed?

 

[Halldan1]

We have been told repeatedly that Nzei is not a power forward. What changed?

Who said that? Nzei is absolutely a PF. He has the body of a SF but not the skill level.

Maybe down the road his skill level will improve allowing him to play a position his body size is best suited for. But he is far from that point now.

 

[Seton75]

We have been told repeatedly that Nzei is not a power forward. What changed?

I say he can play PF and actually PF is his better position. He is thin but can jump and work his ass off, and his skills are not SF ready yet if you need the shooting, scoring typical of a college 3.

I am not concerned about his rebounding, but will be curious to see how he can defend and stay out of foul trouble, which seems to have plagued us since Mike Davis.

 

[HALL85]

If I recall, Louis Orr was a PF and a damn good one. Sure, muscle, bulk matter but a PF is all about outworking and using position.

 

[HallB]

Re: Whitehead, I still contend that losing Gibbs was addition by subtraction. Not a knock on Gibbs' abilities, just that a team can have too many mouths to feed.

 

[lokiSHU]

I like Carinos line up. We need to keep the core rotation to 8 players. Also we need to play uptempo; not necessarily press, but push the ball and attack in transition; otherwise this team will be jacking 3 in a half court set with little post offense.

 

[NYC Pirate]

I believe you'll see the IW that starred a Lincoln High School this year. We tend to forget that this
is a bigtime recruit. His game against Rutgers last season was exceptional. IW has the ball in his
hands this year. It will be also interesting to see how he handles the last possession of a game. That
certainly was Gibbs's role in the past.

IW, Delgado and Carrington have to steer the ship this year at a high level . Any coach including
Pat Riley did not win without talent.

I want to see some explosion to the tin from IW and Carrington this season. We really have a very
good nucleus ad we can't forget it. Obviously the depth and inexperience in the frontcourt is the biggest
concern.

 

[Bobbie Solo]

Re: Whitehead, I still contend that losing Gibbs was addition by subtraction. Not a knock on Gibbs' abilities, just that a team can have too many mouths to feed.

copout excuse. This doesn't seem to be a problem for bigger programs with plenty of 4 & 5 star players in their starting 5 & on their bench. It simply comes back to Willard being an absolutely terrible coach, esp. in the area of managing egos. We lost our best player & senior leader that had the balls to take huge shots & nail them. We are going to suffer mightily without him.

 

[shugrads]

Gibbs was the guy to take the big shot at the end of the game. Is that IW? It better be. I think Carrington has the abitlity to do that as well.

 

[Seton75]

My five

How good is IW
Who is helping Angel in the defensive side
Can someone make threes
Will the offense open up to feature the natural talent or be like water torture again
CHEMISTRY AND STAFF LEADERSHIP

 

[statenman]

If Braeden were an NBA player and had the same injury and subsequent surgery, his playing days would be over. Not because he cou;dnt play or playing would be dangerous to him , but because his ability to play at an elite level would be diminished. If he shows senior leadership, plays in the right spots on D, doesn't have to sit out for injuries, and scores 5 Pts/game. I would be ecstatic.

 

[hallgrad80]

My Five

Will we win any games , especially in Conference, because KW out coached the opposing coach
Will we hit our free throws
Can we play defense
Will we run an offense that's suited to the strengths of our players
Will we beat the teams we should

 

[HALL85]

My five

How good is IW
Who is helping Angel in the defensive side
Can someone make threes
Will the offense open up to feature the natural talent or be like water torture again
CHEMISTRY AND STAFF LEADERSHIP

#5 is most critical. This team has enough talent to carry itself when things are going well, but does it have the fortitude and resiliency when it faces adversity. Case in point: Winning in St. Thomas was pretty easy, but once they hit a bad spell against Wichita St. and Georgia, they folded like a cheap envelope. That's on the coach and team leaders.

 

[hallgrad80]

#5 is most critical. This team has enough talent to carry itself when things are going well, but does it have the fortitude and resiliency when it faces adversity. Case in point: Winning in St. Thomas was pretty easy, but once they hit a bad spell against Wichita St. and Georgia, they folded like a cheap envelope. That's on the coach and team leaders.

75 and 85
I can think of one important question that needs to be answered and that is there anyone on this team that can fill the role of team leader ?

 

[HALL85]

75 and 85
I can think of one important question that needs to be answered and that is there anyone on this team that can fill the role of team leader ?

That one person is going to have to be Isaiah, since he will have the ball in his hands and he will dictate the game.

If I was Willard, I would direct Sha to be IW's mentor, counsel, in-game-coach, etc.. IMO Whitehead will respect Sha and listen to him more than he would to Willard anyway. It also frees Willard up to focus more on the team defense, substitution patterns, inbounds plays (I had to get that in...lol). Sha is Willard's most important coaching asset and he needs to trust him with IW.

 

[cernjSHU]

I like Carinos line up. We need to keep the core rotation to 8 players. Also we need to play uptempo; not necessarily press, but push the ball and attack in transition; otherwise this team will be jacking 3 in a half court set with little post offense.

I believe you start your five best players if you can. That means Singh at the SF and Desi at PF. You have two good rebounders with Delgado and Desi, Outside shooting threats with Whitehead and Singh. I like the balance of this five against most teams. I hope Willard is flexible enough to use this lineup.

 

[hallgrad80]

That one person is going to have to be Isaiah, since he will have the ball in his hands and he will dictate the game.

If I was Willard, I would direct Sha to be IW's mentor, counsel, in-game-coach, etc.. IMO Whitehead will respect Sha and listen to him more than he would to Willard anyway. It also frees Willard up to focus more on the team defense, substitution patterns, inbounds plays (I had to get that in...lol). Sha is Willard's most important coaching asset and he needs to trust him with IW.

Couldn't agree more 85 but will it happen?

 

[knowknow456]

I believe you start your five best players if you can. That means Singh at the SF and Desi at PF. You have two good rebounders with Delgado and Desi, Outside shooting threats with Whitehead and Singh. I like the balance of this five against most teams. I hope Willard is flexible enough to use this lineup.

There are some people who believe that last year Desi was miscast as a PF and his future lies at SF.

 

[HALL85]

Couldn't agree more 85 but will it happen?

On the first, I'll be optimistic and say 75/25 IW steps up.
On the second, I'm pessimistic that Willard would do that 10/90...control freak and doesn't trust his staff.

 

[wpc75]

A question in my mind is if Desi asked to compete at the 3 spot and shy away from the 4 maybe losing playing time there. Also the staff may think we have to play bigger than last year.

 

[cernjSHU]

There are some people who believe that last year Desi was miscast as a PF and his future lies at SF.

Last year when we were getting killed on the boards many of us wanted To stop going with three guards and have Desi, Mobley and Delgado in the front court. This would have been last year's best lineup. But Willard never implemented it.

This year's best lineup would have Singh and Desi playing at the same time.

 

[Seton75]

75 and 85
I can think of one important question that needs to be answered and that is there anyone on this team that can fill the role of team leader ?

Yeah, I get you. But I am more concerned with the staff keeping control than in a player rising to leadership. And like 85 says, IW is logical, but I can see he, Khadeen and Angel being a triple headed leader.

 

[knowknow456]

Yeah, I get you. But I am more concerned with the staff keeping control than in a player rising to leadership. And like 85 says, IW is logical, but I can see he, Khadeen and Angel being a triple headed leader.

In my opinion if we wind up with three leaders we will have none. Whitehead is the logical choice.

 

[knowknow456]

Last year when we were getting killed on the boards many of us wanted To stop going with three guards and have Desi, Mobley and Delgado in the front court. This would have been last year's best lineup. But Willard never implemented it.

This year's best lineup would have Singh and Desi playing at the same time.

In that case, tor this year

Delgado = Delgado + a year older and better
Desi = Desi + a year older and better
Singh = Mobley

Not sure but I believe height wise, that will be one of the shorter front courts in the Big East.

 

[Seton75]

In my opinion if we wind up with three leaders we will have none. Whitehead is the logical choice.

I don't know who the leader of the 89 team was. Or the 91 either. Was there one leader?
Was jerry the leader of 93? I assume yes. But I don't know.

 

[HALL85]

I don't know who the leader of the 89 team was. Or the 91 either. Was there one leader?
Was jerry the leader of 93? I assume yes. But I don't know.

The leader was the head coach. There was no doubt who was in charge. Having one leader on the floor was not critical as those teams believed in the coach....hence, why we are having the discussion now. KW carries the title and little else.

 

[knowknow456]

I couldn't tell you who the team leader was in 1989 either. But the players knew. Perhaps this will be a team with multiple leaders but my opinion is that kind of set up is the exception, not the rule. Whitehead is the logical choice.

 

[Vegas pj]

The leader was the head coach. There was no doubt who was in charge. Having one leader on the floor was not critical as those teams believed in the coach....hence, why we are having the discussion now. KW carries the title and little else.

BINGO!

 

[Pirate64]

The 89 team was bunch of grown-ups for the most part. They didn't need one guy to be the leader. 93 it was Jerry Walker- by example if not by rhetoric. But PJ set the tone- my way or the highway.

Our team today? Who the hell knows. The better players think they're going to be in the NBA- and based on last year- except for Delgado- they are in it for themselves. So forget on floor leadership.

I see nothing and no one who's going to change that. Certainly not the head coach-an administrator who has no leadership skills himself..
Not his fault- it's just not in there.

 

[Seton75]

Willard is clearly the leader. He is just a shitty one. I thought the point was made that three leaders on a team mean no leaders. That to me is just a carryover of hearing two QBs equal no QBs. Lots of teams have multiple leaders, and they can even clash, like Kobe and Shaq or the 77-78 NYY. I think if the sophs are seen as the leaders, that is the best thing. I know we hate saying anything good about our program, but these five sophs (I include Nzei) are real good and way better than anything we have had lately. Willard has to let them play and get the F out of the way.

 

[Burnsly]

Hopefully we can control the boards much better than last year, especially in conference. With Desi at the 3, we should get a lot of second chance looks on offense. He's an excellent offensive rebounder.

 

[Halldan1]

Hopefully we can control the boards much better than last year, especially in conference. With Desi at the 3, we should get a lot of second chance looks on offense. He's an excellent offensive rebounder.

As is Gordon when he plays the 2.