1. Tough game coming off the emotional high 3 days prior against Maryland. SHU came out ready to play but lost some intensity after the initial 10 minutes. That and poor shooting resulted in the 5 point halftime deficit.
2. Spoke to Nelson and he credited Willard for getting on the players at halftime. Wanted them to attack the basket and not settle for jump shots.
3. Staying with Nelson....he noted two things.
A. He feels more comfortable now playing major minutes in the last two games crediting Willard and his teammates for believing in him.
B. Said with a smile you don't play for coach if you don't play defense noting that in a recent practice Willard told the team it doesn't do any good if 4 guys are defending and the 5th isn't, adding that he looked right at him when he made that comment.
Message received as Nelson has really amped up his play on that side of the court recently.
4. Major kudos to Prairie View. They just finished their 11th consecutive game away from home, playing Thursday, 2 time zones away in Colorado and then yesterday. Yet Sunday at the Rock they competed with incredible intensity for 30 minutes before running out of gas. In those first 30 minutes they seemed to have gotten every single 50/50 ball.
Talent poor but with the hearts of lions.
5. Just as important as the W was watching Powell on the bench. Active and now ditching the dark glasses for lighter ones.
Before the game Powell passed the media area and with a broad grin gave the thumbs up sign to the press.
Willard, always cautious said the likely target date for his return is the Georgetown game Jan 3.
6. Again Myles Cale struggled on offense as he is in a prolonged shooting slump. But unlike Thursday when his defense was superb Cale did not bring it on the other side of the court and he sat during the Hall's late run that broke a close game wide open.
7. The turning point of the game was when SHU faced its biggest deficit, down 7. The Hall quickly came up court and delivered the ball in the deep corner in front of the SHU bench. There Tyrese Samuel buried a long jumper beyond the arc, the Pirates first 3 of the game, starting a 7 point run that eventually led to the Pirates taking control of the game.
8. Willard made an excellent point stating that the injuries to Mamu and Powell hurt the team but added that losing each player early in their respective games was even more difficult as it strongly affected the team and resulted in quick deficits.
9. Another game another offensive slam dunk off a missed shot by Samuel. Ho hum.
10. Very bad match-up for SHU's twin towers. Prairie View is small, quick and aggressive. Both Obiagu and Gill struggle against those kind of opponents.
Clearly Willard with Mamu out wanted to go to the more athletic Samuel in the middle. but two fouls in the first half stymied that strategy.
In the second half playing basically foul free Samuel got the majority of the PT at the 5 spot.
11. Staying with Samuel...clearly he gave the team an offensive boost as well as more than holding his own on the boards. But the freshmen, as do so many rookies, struggled on the other side of the court. That will improve as he matures.
12. Sometimes stats lie. Especially game by game when looking at the +/--. Reynolds, who like Cale is in a shooting slump also had issues guarding Darius Williams. PV's speedy might mite. Yet he finished the game +18. Not indicative of his play yesterday.
13. Conversely, Nelson finished a team leading +26 and that most accurately framed his contribution in his second career start.
14. When Mamu and Powell return Willard is going to have a tough decision finding minutes for the Hall's most talented PG. Match-ups will go a long way dictating PT. Options are good, but they can also be problematic.
15. First poor student showing of the season for Seton Hall. School's out, the game was on a football Sunday at 4:30 and the opponent was not enticing. Lots of no shows throughout the arena, especially in the student section.
16. Disappointed that Brodie and Thompson did not get off the bench in a 20 point blowout. Happy to see Avent, but puzzled that the two scholarship players never got a chance to stretch their legs.
17. You'll rarely see a team shoot 2-19 from the arc and win by 20 points. In fact the Hall scored 67 of it's 75 points either in the paint or at the foul line, hitting just 3 jump shots in the entire game. 2 by Samuel from the arc and 1 by Nelson on a 14 footer in the first half.
That's got to improve and improve dramatically now that conference play is about to begin.
18. Hearing that Mamu is on schedule to return around the Providence or DePaul game is mid/late January.
19. Haven't mentioned Q yet because if we don't know by now how valuable he is well then I'm just spitting in the wind.
He said in the post game the transition to playing the 2 was hard, but his play the last two games paints a different picture.
20. Now on to conference play where just about any result will not be surprising. Just like the national scene where anything can happen, the same can be said in the Big East.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
2. Spoke to Nelson and he credited Willard for getting on the players at halftime. Wanted them to attack the basket and not settle for jump shots.
3. Staying with Nelson....he noted two things.
A. He feels more comfortable now playing major minutes in the last two games crediting Willard and his teammates for believing in him.
B. Said with a smile you don't play for coach if you don't play defense noting that in a recent practice Willard told the team it doesn't do any good if 4 guys are defending and the 5th isn't, adding that he looked right at him when he made that comment.
Message received as Nelson has really amped up his play on that side of the court recently.
4. Major kudos to Prairie View. They just finished their 11th consecutive game away from home, playing Thursday, 2 time zones away in Colorado and then yesterday. Yet Sunday at the Rock they competed with incredible intensity for 30 minutes before running out of gas. In those first 30 minutes they seemed to have gotten every single 50/50 ball.
Talent poor but with the hearts of lions.
5. Just as important as the W was watching Powell on the bench. Active and now ditching the dark glasses for lighter ones.
Before the game Powell passed the media area and with a broad grin gave the thumbs up sign to the press.
Willard, always cautious said the likely target date for his return is the Georgetown game Jan 3.
6. Again Myles Cale struggled on offense as he is in a prolonged shooting slump. But unlike Thursday when his defense was superb Cale did not bring it on the other side of the court and he sat during the Hall's late run that broke a close game wide open.
7. The turning point of the game was when SHU faced its biggest deficit, down 7. The Hall quickly came up court and delivered the ball in the deep corner in front of the SHU bench. There Tyrese Samuel buried a long jumper beyond the arc, the Pirates first 3 of the game, starting a 7 point run that eventually led to the Pirates taking control of the game.
8. Willard made an excellent point stating that the injuries to Mamu and Powell hurt the team but added that losing each player early in their respective games was even more difficult as it strongly affected the team and resulted in quick deficits.
9. Another game another offensive slam dunk off a missed shot by Samuel. Ho hum.
10. Very bad match-up for SHU's twin towers. Prairie View is small, quick and aggressive. Both Obiagu and Gill struggle against those kind of opponents.
Clearly Willard with Mamu out wanted to go to the more athletic Samuel in the middle. but two fouls in the first half stymied that strategy.
In the second half playing basically foul free Samuel got the majority of the PT at the 5 spot.
11. Staying with Samuel...clearly he gave the team an offensive boost as well as more than holding his own on the boards. But the freshmen, as do so many rookies, struggled on the other side of the court. That will improve as he matures.
12. Sometimes stats lie. Especially game by game when looking at the +/--. Reynolds, who like Cale is in a shooting slump also had issues guarding Darius Williams. PV's speedy might mite. Yet he finished the game +18. Not indicative of his play yesterday.
13. Conversely, Nelson finished a team leading +26 and that most accurately framed his contribution in his second career start.
14. When Mamu and Powell return Willard is going to have a tough decision finding minutes for the Hall's most talented PG. Match-ups will go a long way dictating PT. Options are good, but they can also be problematic.
15. First poor student showing of the season for Seton Hall. School's out, the game was on a football Sunday at 4:30 and the opponent was not enticing. Lots of no shows throughout the arena, especially in the student section.
16. Disappointed that Brodie and Thompson did not get off the bench in a 20 point blowout. Happy to see Avent, but puzzled that the two scholarship players never got a chance to stretch their legs.
17. You'll rarely see a team shoot 2-19 from the arc and win by 20 points. In fact the Hall scored 67 of it's 75 points either in the paint or at the foul line, hitting just 3 jump shots in the entire game. 2 by Samuel from the arc and 1 by Nelson on a 14 footer in the first half.
That's got to improve and improve dramatically now that conference play is about to begin.
18. Hearing that Mamu is on schedule to return around the Providence or DePaul game is mid/late January.
19. Haven't mentioned Q yet because if we don't know by now how valuable he is well then I'm just spitting in the wind.
He said in the post game the transition to playing the 2 was hard, but his play the last two games paints a different picture.
20. Now on to conference play where just about any result will not be surprising. Just like the national scene where anything can happen, the same can be said in the Big East.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
