by JP Pelzman
NEW YORK – Kevin Willard diagrammed a play, of sorts, late Saturday night and moments later, Myles Powell disregarded it.
But Seton Hall’s star shooting wasn’t going rogue, or being disrespectful of his coach. He merely was being honest.
Willard was asked after The Hall’s damaging 78-70 loss to St. John’s if his team possessed the necessary effort and intensity in the first 11 minutes of the game, when the revenge-minded Red Storm bolted to a 28-5 lead.
Willard denied it, saying, “I’ve never questioned this team’s effort or intensity. … It’s not from a lack of effort. It’s just that you’ve got to give St. John’s credit.”
But shortly thereafter in the post-game, Powell called an audible to Willard’s play, one that needs to be heard loud and clear by his teammates.
“Coach is going to say the effort was there because he always has our back, but as a captain and a leader, I don't think it was there,” Powell said.
Willard won’t ever be confused with Knute Rockne as a motivator, but this one was not on him. No player should have needed reminding that a St. John’s team still angry from a bogus Michael Stephens call that cost it a win over Seton Hall on Dec. 29 would come out supercharged in front of a very partisan crowd of 18,529 at Madison Square Garden.
“It was definitely payback,” said St. John’s star Shamorie Ponds, who scored 27 points and broke out of a recent slump. “We always kept in the back of our mind what they did at the end of that game to us. We wanted to put our foot on their neck early.”
Although the Pirates eventually rallied and got to within five points with 1:46 to go, they never threatened to win. And at 16-11, 7-8 in the Big East, they are facing a major crisis in terms of reaching their season-long goal of making the NCAA tournament.
“The biggest thing I'm learning about them,” Willard said of his team, “is they don't understand this time of year, I think, what it takes to win on a nightly basis.”
He noted that only Powell and Mike Nzei have been in this kind of situation before, and added that they were in different roles the previous seasons.
The coach added, “I’m going to make some changes to the starting lineup moving forward, just because you can't have your starting backcourt 6 - 13 on assists and turnovers, so I am going to make some changes to maybe help that out.”
That last statement by Willard understandably has led to a flurry of speculation over what personnel adjustments he might make before The Hall closes the regular season with a three-game stretch that begins Saturday against Georgetown, which was routed by the Pirates on Feb. 13. After that, Seton Hall finishes up at home against ascending Marquette, now in first place, and descending Villanova, which has , surprisingly lost three consecutive games.
But keep in mind this team was picked eighth in the league in the preseason by the coaches, and as much as Willard can be critiqued for the team’s customary January swoon and this inconveniently-timed two-game skid, he must be lauded for directing the upset victories over Kentucky and Maryland that currently are keeping the team’s flagging NCAA hopes barely afloat. (CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm has Seton Hall in a play-in game in Dayton.)
Still, it’s a flawed roster, which doesn’t leave Willard all that many options for lineup tweaking. Yes, there is one very talented player on the bench, but Taurean Thompson played all of one minutes and 37 seconds Saturday night and it is clear the coaching staff doesn’t trust the mercurial forward, who sat out a game for violating team rules earlier this month. His defense also has been a problem.
Yes, Quincy McKnight (seven) and Powell totaled 13 turnovers against the Red Storm, and McKnight has had two consecutive poor games after being very steady and quietly effective through most of the season. But freshman point guard Anthony Nelson hasn’t progressed as fast as the coaching staff had hoped and isn’t ready to be a difference-maker.
Former walk-on Shavar Reynolds possibly could start in place of Myles Cale or McKnight. His defensive intensity helped steady the Pirates after St. John’s opening blitz, but his 1-for-6 shooting in the first half also helped prevent the Pirates from drawing closer than an 18-point halftime deficit. Still, he currently is playing better defense than Cale, who is a more adept scorer, and Willard might opt for more D earlier in games.
That said, he also must be careful about making too many tweaks, considering the Pirates’ 90-75 win over the Hoyas was their most comfortable Big East win of the season.
Another major issue, and it was addressed by Willard in his comments, is what can be done to lighten Powell’s burden. Although he is averaging 23.7 points in the last seven games, he also is shooting 39.6 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from long distance over that span. And he leads the team with 83 turnovers.
“I'm really worried about how much I've put on Myles,” Willard said. "He plays with so much heart and he plays so hard, and he does so many good things. The only negative I'll say about him is he's such a good kid, I just think he's being a little bit too passive. He's not playing with that selfishness early in games, and I think he realizes as the game goes on.
“And that's not a knock on him,” Willard added, “that's probably a compliment, but I think some of these other guys need to help him out just a little bit more early in games instead of just sitting there watching Myles, and I need to make some changes to facilitate that a little bit.”
He’s right. Seton Hall needs other players to knock down open shots, and could stand to set better screens for Powell, although it’s hard to expect both of those things to suddenly improve this deep into the season. As for Powell, as Willard said, sometimes he needs to not defer, especially late in games. Twice in the final minutes against St. John’s, he tried to make the perfect pass, and it became a turnover. Those miscues helped to end the belated comeback.
Powell said that good teams “go back and watch film, see what you did wrong, and you correct it. … That’s what we’re going to do.”
Their season depends on it.
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
NEW YORK – Kevin Willard diagrammed a play, of sorts, late Saturday night and moments later, Myles Powell disregarded it.
But Seton Hall’s star shooting wasn’t going rogue, or being disrespectful of his coach. He merely was being honest.
Willard was asked after The Hall’s damaging 78-70 loss to St. John’s if his team possessed the necessary effort and intensity in the first 11 minutes of the game, when the revenge-minded Red Storm bolted to a 28-5 lead.
Willard denied it, saying, “I’ve never questioned this team’s effort or intensity. … It’s not from a lack of effort. It’s just that you’ve got to give St. John’s credit.”
But shortly thereafter in the post-game, Powell called an audible to Willard’s play, one that needs to be heard loud and clear by his teammates.
“Coach is going to say the effort was there because he always has our back, but as a captain and a leader, I don't think it was there,” Powell said.
Willard won’t ever be confused with Knute Rockne as a motivator, but this one was not on him. No player should have needed reminding that a St. John’s team still angry from a bogus Michael Stephens call that cost it a win over Seton Hall on Dec. 29 would come out supercharged in front of a very partisan crowd of 18,529 at Madison Square Garden.
“It was definitely payback,” said St. John’s star Shamorie Ponds, who scored 27 points and broke out of a recent slump. “We always kept in the back of our mind what they did at the end of that game to us. We wanted to put our foot on their neck early.”
Although the Pirates eventually rallied and got to within five points with 1:46 to go, they never threatened to win. And at 16-11, 7-8 in the Big East, they are facing a major crisis in terms of reaching their season-long goal of making the NCAA tournament.
“The biggest thing I'm learning about them,” Willard said of his team, “is they don't understand this time of year, I think, what it takes to win on a nightly basis.”
He noted that only Powell and Mike Nzei have been in this kind of situation before, and added that they were in different roles the previous seasons.
The coach added, “I’m going to make some changes to the starting lineup moving forward, just because you can't have your starting backcourt 6 - 13 on assists and turnovers, so I am going to make some changes to maybe help that out.”
That last statement by Willard understandably has led to a flurry of speculation over what personnel adjustments he might make before The Hall closes the regular season with a three-game stretch that begins Saturday against Georgetown, which was routed by the Pirates on Feb. 13. After that, Seton Hall finishes up at home against ascending Marquette, now in first place, and descending Villanova, which has , surprisingly lost three consecutive games.
But keep in mind this team was picked eighth in the league in the preseason by the coaches, and as much as Willard can be critiqued for the team’s customary January swoon and this inconveniently-timed two-game skid, he must be lauded for directing the upset victories over Kentucky and Maryland that currently are keeping the team’s flagging NCAA hopes barely afloat. (CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm has Seton Hall in a play-in game in Dayton.)
Still, it’s a flawed roster, which doesn’t leave Willard all that many options for lineup tweaking. Yes, there is one very talented player on the bench, but Taurean Thompson played all of one minutes and 37 seconds Saturday night and it is clear the coaching staff doesn’t trust the mercurial forward, who sat out a game for violating team rules earlier this month. His defense also has been a problem.
Yes, Quincy McKnight (seven) and Powell totaled 13 turnovers against the Red Storm, and McKnight has had two consecutive poor games after being very steady and quietly effective through most of the season. But freshman point guard Anthony Nelson hasn’t progressed as fast as the coaching staff had hoped and isn’t ready to be a difference-maker.
Former walk-on Shavar Reynolds possibly could start in place of Myles Cale or McKnight. His defensive intensity helped steady the Pirates after St. John’s opening blitz, but his 1-for-6 shooting in the first half also helped prevent the Pirates from drawing closer than an 18-point halftime deficit. Still, he currently is playing better defense than Cale, who is a more adept scorer, and Willard might opt for more D earlier in games.
That said, he also must be careful about making too many tweaks, considering the Pirates’ 90-75 win over the Hoyas was their most comfortable Big East win of the season.
Another major issue, and it was addressed by Willard in his comments, is what can be done to lighten Powell’s burden. Although he is averaging 23.7 points in the last seven games, he also is shooting 39.6 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from long distance over that span. And he leads the team with 83 turnovers.
“I'm really worried about how much I've put on Myles,” Willard said. "He plays with so much heart and he plays so hard, and he does so many good things. The only negative I'll say about him is he's such a good kid, I just think he's being a little bit too passive. He's not playing with that selfishness early in games, and I think he realizes as the game goes on.
“And that's not a knock on him,” Willard added, “that's probably a compliment, but I think some of these other guys need to help him out just a little bit more early in games instead of just sitting there watching Myles, and I need to make some changes to facilitate that a little bit.”
He’s right. Seton Hall needs other players to knock down open shots, and could stand to set better screens for Powell, although it’s hard to expect both of those things to suddenly improve this deep into the season. As for Powell, as Willard said, sometimes he needs to not defer, especially late in games. Twice in the final minutes against St. John’s, he tried to make the perfect pass, and it became a turnover. Those miscues helped to end the belated comeback.
Powell said that good teams “go back and watch film, see what you did wrong, and you correct it. … That’s what we’re going to do.”
Their season depends on it.
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
