Expectations

[NYC Pirate]

We can't sugarcoat the loss. It was bad and unexpected. The season is off to a shaky start. I thought the defense was very good against St. Peter's and decent vs Fordham, but not good enough. No real defensive bull in the paint nor on the boards as of yet. The young guys have been OK so far.

The offense is bad and the free throw shooting very disappointing. It will be a long season if guys can't make free throws at crunch time. At this point it's hard to say who the floor general will be. Several candidates on the roster and time will tell. Sha has to give the keys to someone, or we may see more of the same. Personally, I'd use Jenkins until he proves he can't. I believe Dual might be better suited for the 2 at least in the short term. So, Coleman starts and Dual the backup 2G. Harmon would be the backup PG. Wusu's strength is off the ball and not an initiator in my opinion. Middleton should be a focal point off the bench. Right now, he's a catch and shoot weapon. We need to see what Okorafor can add to the equation. Prince/Toumi at the 4 along side Okorafor would lend balance and give the team much needed length on the court. Also, Sha needs to have some confidence in Gus down the stretch.

Finally, Sha loves a team that is peaking at the end of the season. That's a good thing. However, I think he gets caught up at times in winning the phycological battles with his players early in the season. Losing these OOC games or experimenting too much can cost big. Now there is a true sense of urgency. Can't slip up again in the non-conference. He has an extremely tough job of getting the team to mesh with all the new players. The season is not over. Today lowered our expectations without question. Long way to go.

 

[TheHall87]

This is not a good team at this point. It doesn't mean it doesn't become one but that seems a long way off.

I've said I believe we have the potential to be very good and I still feel that way despite two poor performances so far. Lots of good things need to happen to get that point. So far none are really showing themselves.

Middleton and Dual are a combined 3-16 in two games with seven total points. Between them and Coleman, at least two will need to take a huge stride for us to be successful. Jenkins, Toumi and Aligbe are showing they have the ability to pull their weight (albeit against weaker comp) and Addae-Wusu has to be solid as well.

At least one of the three centers is going to have to step up and be productive on a regular basis -- or the three of them are going to have to cobble together 40 minutes.

So far we've been decent defensively and look as if we haven't worked on offense at all. No shooters and no post players are a bad combination.

We're also already showing that our depth may be a fallacy. Aligbe and Addae-Wusu logged over 30 minutes today with Jenkins and Coleman at 28 and 27 respectively. Sha can't play his desired style if those last few players in the rotation can't hang with the opponent.

We need to start coming together quickly. Hofstra will be a test and Charleston looms (VCU rolled over BC on a neutral floor last night).

 

[Piratz]

I don’t know how you have a 10-man rotation when everyone is so new. Maybe go conventional and build out.

The offense is a disaster. They have no idea what they’re doing. How many possessions are we passing around the perimeter with 1 cutter in the lane? We took 9 3PA. Fordham wasn’t even defending the arc.

**We are 331st in 2PT shooting against St. Peter’s and Fordham.

**The PG play is killing us. There’s no creation or scoring.

**Coleman is our best player. You can see it even yesterday just on talent. Needs to get back in rhythm after being out.

**The young centers are showing a little. Least of our worries.

**Toumi is a strange player. Good offensive skills with the ball but a fouling machine bc he’s not strong enough to hold ground even against MAAC or A10 centers. My God the FT shooting with him, yikes.

**We cannot run offense through Addae-Wusu, he’s always been far too undisciplined and turnover prone. The HR passes, lol.

**Dual has no plan offensively. Start there. He looks like a wild horse.

**Middleton looks terrible, Harmon a total non factor.

**Aligbe and Jenkins are at least reliable.

 

[CaptBob]

next up, powerhouse Hofstra--what are the odds that Sanders drops 20+ on us?

 

[Piratz]

next up, powerhouse Hofstra--what are the odds that Sanders drops 20+ on us?

Slim to none.

 

[JTSHU]

I don’t know how you have a 10-man rotation when everyone is so new. Maybe go conventional and build out.

The offense is a disaster. They have no idea what they’re doing. How many possessions are we passing around the perimeter with 1 cutter in the lane? We took 9 3PA. Fordham wasn’t even defending the arc.

**We are 331st in 2PT shooting against St. Peter’s and Fordham.

**The PG play is killing us. There’s no creation or scoring.

**Coleman is our best player. You can see it even yesterday just on talent. Needs to get back in rhythm after being out.

**The young centers are showing a little. Least of our worries.

**Toumi is a strange player. Good offensive skills with the ball but a fouling machine bc he’s not strong enough to hold ground even against MAAC or A10 centers. My God the FT shooting with him, yikes.

**We cannot run offense through Addae-Wusu, he’s always been far too undisciplined and turnover prone. The HR passes, lol.

**Dual has no plan offensively. Start there. He looks like a wild horse.

**Middleton looks terrible, Harmon a total non factor.

**Aligbe and Jenkins are at least reliable.

Id say jenkins is morr than reliable. Hes going to be a big piece. Toume is doing well offensively. However when BE play starts can he hang in the paint. We are in big trouble in the paint against real BE bigs. Everybody else is a toss up. Whoever starts to shine has to play. Prince is gonna be what he is. Hardworker on both sides but undersized in the BE if he plays the 4. Idk the obession with dual. If he showed glimpses of talent i can deal with it. But really showing nothing on offense. If your pg is terrible ur in trouble. This pg by committee thing is not working. Pick a pg and let them work and get better every game. Zion was a big prospect out of hs. What happened? Same as dual. Can u drop that hard this fast?

 

[Piratz]

I also don’t like the committee ball handling so early when you’re trying to create a team identity and rolls.

I would try to commit more to Dual and Harmon at the 1 exclusively. I wouldn’t play Toumi at the 5 until I absolutely had to. And I’d run more for Jenkins and Coleman, less Addae-Wusu.

 

[NYC Pirate]

We need to see more. I believe Jenkins would lend the most stability to offensive sets. He plays at the right tempo and can create his own shot. Perhaps those who went to both games can offer a better opinion. Maybe in the long run it will be someone else.

 

[ivyhillparkk1963]

One thing I noticed with Holloway coached pirates it seems every time we go on a mini run where it looks like we can open things up we let the other team back in it immediately.
Yesterday pirates go up 8 and wallah give up 2 straight threes and let them right back in it..
Frustrating for sure.

 

[The Crows Nest]

I don’t know how you have a 10-man rotation when everyone is so new. Maybe go conventional and build out.

The offense is a disaster. They have no idea what they’re doing. How many possessions are we passing around the perimeter with 1 cutter in the lane? We took 9 3PA. Fordham wasn’t even defending the arc.

**We are 331st in 2PT shooting against St. Peter’s and Fordham.

**The PG play is killing us. There’s no creation or scoring.

**Coleman is our best player. You can see it even yesterday just on talent. Needs to get back in rhythm after being out.

**The young centers are showing a little. Least of our worries.

**Toumi is a strange player. Good offensive skills with the ball but a fouling machine bc he’s not strong enough to hold ground even against MAAC or A10 centers. My God the FT shooting with him, yikes.

**We cannot run offense through Addae-Wusu, he’s always been far too undisciplined and turnover prone. The HR passes, lol.

**Dual has no plan offensively. Start there. He looks like a wild horse.

**Middleton looks terrible, Harmon a total non factor.

**Aligbe and Jenkins are at least reliable.

Why, unlike on football, do teams not copy what successful teams do?

I get that we don’t have the same talent level as these teams, but why not study tape of UConn, Creighton, the Jay Wright Villanova, etc., to copy what they run on offense. It works!!! They get open looks constantly.

Again, I’m not saying we’d make shots at the same rate as those teams…but at least we’d get good opportunities.

Instead we kill 2/3 of the shot clock out at the logo…that’s…beyond absurd

 

[chickenbox]

Why, unlike on football, do teams not copy what successful teams do?

I get that we don’t have the same talent level as these teams, but why not study tape of UConn, Creighton, the Jay Wright Villanova, etc., to copy what they run on offense. It works!!! They get open looks constantly.

Again, I’m not saying we’d make shots at the same rate as those teams…but at least we’d get good opportunities.

Instead we kill 2/3 of the shot clock out at the logo…that’s…beyond absurd

I've also never understood this. Stand around and weave.

 

[Seton75]

Why, unlike on football, do teams not copy what successful teams do?

I get that we don’t have the same talent level as these teams, but why not study tape of UConn, Creighton, the Jay Wright Villanova, etc., to copy what they run on offense. It works!!! They get open looks constantly.

Again, I’m not saying we’d make shots at the same rate as those teams…but at least we’d get good opportunities.

Instead we kill 2/3 of the shot clock out at the logo…that’s…beyond absurd

We watched jay wright use basic things to get shooters open shots and never copied him. Willard didnt. Now sha. Like real basic. Yesterday, how about ball reversal. Not in our vocabulary. Instead those passes at the top of the key that waste 8 seconds and then...

 

[IronKaz1]

Dual and Middleton do not play like former top 50 players, what gets me most is they had Dual as an NBA Draft pick, he cant hit any shots and looks lost, Middletown started off slow at OSU last season then did much better in the end ..... either way I think they both are as confused as I was during a chemistry experiment and need to "get it" once they do just maybe they will get it going...

 

[ivyhillparkk1963]

FDU looks pretty good against creighton as so far. Maybe we can take notes

 

[PJVegas]

Team can only go up. They only finished 2nd on ESPN Top 10 for the day. Oh wait, that was the winning FG against SH. 😰

 

[TheHall87]

next up, powerhouse Hofstra--what are the odds that Sanders drops 20+ on us?

Slim to none.

Have you seen the way we defend the three? I could easily see him hanging 20 on us.

 

[IronKaz1]

and WHY is Coleman coming off the bench? I recall one of our prominent posters on here stating " Holloway is building this team around Coleman.......""""""""" sooooooo

 

[TheHall87]

and WHY is Coleman coming off the bench? I recall one of our prominent posters on here stating " Holloway is building this team around Coleman.......""""""""" sooooooo

He has been hurt. Maybe Sha didn't want to start Coleman in his first back. It's not as if he was sharp after missing time.

As it is, he played 27 minutes on Saturday -- more than Dual (24) and almost as many as Dual and Middleton combined (32).

Realistically, how many more minutes was he going to play?