It was more than 14 years ago when Andre Barrett was frustrated by powerful Duke in his final game as a Pirate. The outstanding point guard was hounded and harassed by the Blue Devils’ defense all day in a 90-62 loss in the second round of the 2004 NCAA tournament, and finished with a mere 11 points. He was 0-for-4 from three in a year in which he shot 38.4 percent from long distance.
“They put the zoom in on me,” said Barrett, who was a spectator Saturday when Louiville did much the same to current Pirate shooting star Myles Powell, forcing him into a 2-for-12 day from three-point land in a 70-65 Cardinals’ victory.
That’s where we begin the five takeaways:
1—The blueprint for beating the Pirates is obvious. Only seven games into the season, it’s clear that opponents’ main goal on defense is this--Stop Myles Powell. The athletic and long Cardinals made clean looks at the basket difficult for Powell to find, and it has to be said again--the Pirates need to run even more screens to get him open.
Powell also has to understand that sometimes he needs to get rid of the ball and not put up a highly contested three. He might have been better off Saturday in the waning seconds by dumping the ball to an open Quincy McKnight, who is 3-for-7 from long range this year and was open behind the three-point line.
Teams are putting the zoom in on Powell, and that lens is distorting Seton Hall’s offensive vision.
2--McKnight is a huge piece for The Hall. The transfer from Sacred Heart is beginning to find his footing as a Pirate, but foul trouble limited him to 18 minutes in the loss Saturday. It’s not a coincidence that an early 12-point Hall lead quickly dissipated with McKnight on the bench. The Pirates need him to stay away from ticky-tack fouls because freshman Anthony Nelson still isn’t ready to run this team for long stretches of time, although he did have four assists and no turnovers versus Louisville. Still, he was minus-10.
3--The Thompson mystery continues. Speaking of Division I transfers, Taurean Thompson played only six minutes Saturday. Although he was 2-for-4 for four points, the Pirates were minus-12 when he was on the court, and he spent the entire second half on the bench.
“To be perfectly honest with you,” coach Kevin Willard said, “Mike Nzei and Sandro (Mamukelashvili) were just playing really well.”
That may be true, but it cannot be stressed enough that if Willard and the Pirates don’t figure out this riddle, they have almost no chance of reaching their full potential. Thompson averaged 9.3 points for Syracuse in 2016-17, and The Hall needs his complementary scoring. They have to figure this out quickly, with three more Power 5 opponents on tap on the next three Saturdays.
4--Mike Nzei has become a legit scoring option. He is averaging 11.3 points, second-most behind Powell, and is shooting 76.7 percent from the floor. Still, Nzei, a senior, scores by making nifty flashes to the basket on give-and-goes and pick-and-rolls, as opposed to just parking himself in the lane a la Angel Delgado. But opposing teams already have gone to school on Nzei’s crafty moves. The Cardinals doubled him one time off a pick-and-roll Saturday in the second half, leading to an empty possession.
5--There’s still plenty of time to build an NCAA resume. As mentioned before, The Hall will play Kentucky at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Rutgers (which is much improved) on Dec. 15 at home, and Maryland on the road the Saturday before Christmas. Not to mention 18 Big East games. It is not time to panic yet, but the offense needs to be fixed.
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“They put the zoom in on me,” said Barrett, who was a spectator Saturday when Louiville did much the same to current Pirate shooting star Myles Powell, forcing him into a 2-for-12 day from three-point land in a 70-65 Cardinals’ victory.
That’s where we begin the five takeaways:
1—The blueprint for beating the Pirates is obvious. Only seven games into the season, it’s clear that opponents’ main goal on defense is this--Stop Myles Powell. The athletic and long Cardinals made clean looks at the basket difficult for Powell to find, and it has to be said again--the Pirates need to run even more screens to get him open.
Powell also has to understand that sometimes he needs to get rid of the ball and not put up a highly contested three. He might have been better off Saturday in the waning seconds by dumping the ball to an open Quincy McKnight, who is 3-for-7 from long range this year and was open behind the three-point line.
Teams are putting the zoom in on Powell, and that lens is distorting Seton Hall’s offensive vision.
2--McKnight is a huge piece for The Hall. The transfer from Sacred Heart is beginning to find his footing as a Pirate, but foul trouble limited him to 18 minutes in the loss Saturday. It’s not a coincidence that an early 12-point Hall lead quickly dissipated with McKnight on the bench. The Pirates need him to stay away from ticky-tack fouls because freshman Anthony Nelson still isn’t ready to run this team for long stretches of time, although he did have four assists and no turnovers versus Louisville. Still, he was minus-10.
3--The Thompson mystery continues. Speaking of Division I transfers, Taurean Thompson played only six minutes Saturday. Although he was 2-for-4 for four points, the Pirates were minus-12 when he was on the court, and he spent the entire second half on the bench.
“To be perfectly honest with you,” coach Kevin Willard said, “Mike Nzei and Sandro (Mamukelashvili) were just playing really well.”
That may be true, but it cannot be stressed enough that if Willard and the Pirates don’t figure out this riddle, they have almost no chance of reaching their full potential. Thompson averaged 9.3 points for Syracuse in 2016-17, and The Hall needs his complementary scoring. They have to figure this out quickly, with three more Power 5 opponents on tap on the next three Saturdays.
4--Mike Nzei has become a legit scoring option. He is averaging 11.3 points, second-most behind Powell, and is shooting 76.7 percent from the floor. Still, Nzei, a senior, scores by making nifty flashes to the basket on give-and-goes and pick-and-rolls, as opposed to just parking himself in the lane a la Angel Delgado. But opposing teams already have gone to school on Nzei’s crafty moves. The Cardinals doubled him one time off a pick-and-roll Saturday in the second half, leading to an empty possession.
5--There’s still plenty of time to build an NCAA resume. As mentioned before, The Hall will play Kentucky at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Rutgers (which is much improved) on Dec. 15 at home, and Maryland on the road the Saturday before Christmas. Not to mention 18 Big East games. It is not time to panic yet, but the offense needs to be fixed.
Comments
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
