Seton Hall 82 DePaul 77
Tip of the cap to the SHU faithful. Near sellout crowd of 10,110 on a dreary Sunday afternoon.
Spoke to Jerry Carino after the game and he said nice turnout but the fans didn't seem that into the game. Told him they were but with the Pirates recent poor play there was a lot of apprehension in the stands as opposed to a loud confidence.
Want to acknowledge the career of Khadeen Carrington here. Deeno is not having a stellar final campaign but yesterday's first basket, a breakaway layup put him 10th on the all time Seton Hall scoring list.
Congrats to a great kid and representative of our school.
This reporter has harped on the recent theatrics that the player have shown before and during the games, pointing specifically to the pre-game warm ups and introductions. Yesterday, for the first time in years the team at the behest of Angel Delgado came through the tunnel sans the dancing routine with a sense of urgency.
That carried over into the game and even though the effort did not match the hoped for increased level of play the team started something yesterday that hopefully they can build on moving forward.
Don't believe me regarding the effort? Look no further than Angel Delgado diving not once but twice to the floor to retrieve loose balls.
When the players were asked about that in the post game word got out that it was Desi Rodriquez who with a friendly nod told his senior teammate that he had never seen him go down on the court once to capture possession of an errant ball. Angel responded and plays like that help get the fans into the game and rev up his teammates.
Staying with Angel, he now has back to back 19 rebound games against the Blue Demons this season. And because that no longer seems special when Delgado accomplishes the feat it seems to be getting lost in importance.
Once again most all game yesterday the opponent had little trouble dribble penetrating the Pirates porous defense. If the Hall is going to make any post season noise that's a leak that's going to have to be plugged.
Usually the foul line is the Hall's Achilles Heel but yesterday despite missing 3 front ends of one and ones, along with shooting 19-27 from the charity stripe. the Hall actually outdid their opponent who shot a ghastly 12-22 from the free throw line.
7:07 in the first half.
Why is that important?
It's the time that Desi Rodriquez scored his first points in the opening stanza. 26 plus minutes later he finished with a career high 33 points hitting 12 -21 from the field. That after bricking his first 5 attempts in the game.
13:47 in the second half.
And why is that important?
Well that was the time Myles Powell hit a SHU bank is open 3 from near the SHU bench (yeah, we can do that too). After that bucket the only Pirate other than Desi to hit from the field was Angel and even that was off a pass from Rodriquez ending in an uncontested layup.
In seniors he trusts.
Clearly Kevin Willard is going to live or die on the shoulders of his 4 seniors. He said as much with his actions during the game and with his words after. He feels those 4 players got him to this point and his trust in them is unwavering.
Even when their on court struggles are apparent.
Tip of the cap to Myles Cale. He played a great first half but because of the aforementioned trust in the Core Four, Cale spent most of the final 20 minutes in his warm ups.
Turning point?
Well I choose a crucial 4 point swing late in the game when Max Sruss, a plus 80% foul shooter going into the game missed two and then on the rebound Myles Powell was fouled eventually converting his 2 shots from the stripe and turning a potential 4 point lead into a 8 point one.
Another tough shooting day at the office for SHU point guard Khadeen Carrington who connected on 4-14 from the field, two being layups off of drives to the tin.
The as goes Khadeen so goes the Pirates mantra adopted here is looking worse and worse as the season dwindles to its conclusion.
Kevin Willard sat on one side of the bench most of the game while his top assistant Shaheen Holloway say on the other side.
Why? Well Willard explained it in the post game noting that he injured his meniscus last spring on a treadmill and it never healed so he is facing surgery after the school year.
And as for Sha? Well Willard noted he's so negative on the bench that he can't sit next to him. I guess it's true. Opposite do attract.
Another game another win on the tip off by a man who cannot jump over a nickel. Clearly Delgado's timing is unquestionable. Reminds me of another Pirate center who was also vertically challenged, Eugene Teague, who like Angel captured his fair share of opening tips as well.
Where's the coach?
Well he sure as hell wasn't in the post game as Dave Leitao made it known he did not want to participate as he blew off the media.
From listening to Leitao in the past trust me, it's no great loss.
More mass substitutions early yesterday and the result as it most always is was 4 minutes of eye aching ugly basketball.
It's no wonder why the bench is considered weak by most. The youngsters never got weened properly and now they have little positive impact on any close game.
Need proof. Jordan Walker who is by all accounts a very good foul shooter bricked three of four free throws in the end game that could have cost the Pirates the win.
Very bad job by our head coach.
Sock update?
Not anymore. Back to back poor efforts have regulated the Pirate holiday socks to the drawer where they'll have one whole season to work on their game. For now Gold Toes have been brought up from the minors.
Looking back to the victory yesterday the question becomes did the Hall stop the bleeding?
The answer is yes and no. Yes the 4 game losing streak is over. And yes the team played hard if not high quality basketball, but no the bleeding wasn't stopped, it just had a band aid applied.
Struggling to beat a last place team on your home court with the Blue Demons having a final possession shot to tie the game with a three isn't much reason to think the funk is completely over.
Hall fans can only hope that this tiny spark is just the beginning of an explosive turnaround.
More will be known in two days when the 7-7 Kevin Wiillards travel up north to Providence to tangle with the 8-6 Ed Cooleys.
Hall fans keep your fingers crossed.
Tip of the cap to the SHU faithful. Near sellout crowd of 10,110 on a dreary Sunday afternoon.
Spoke to Jerry Carino after the game and he said nice turnout but the fans didn't seem that into the game. Told him they were but with the Pirates recent poor play there was a lot of apprehension in the stands as opposed to a loud confidence.
Want to acknowledge the career of Khadeen Carrington here. Deeno is not having a stellar final campaign but yesterday's first basket, a breakaway layup put him 10th on the all time Seton Hall scoring list.
Congrats to a great kid and representative of our school.
This reporter has harped on the recent theatrics that the player have shown before and during the games, pointing specifically to the pre-game warm ups and introductions. Yesterday, for the first time in years the team at the behest of Angel Delgado came through the tunnel sans the dancing routine with a sense of urgency.
That carried over into the game and even though the effort did not match the hoped for increased level of play the team started something yesterday that hopefully they can build on moving forward.
Don't believe me regarding the effort? Look no further than Angel Delgado diving not once but twice to the floor to retrieve loose balls.
When the players were asked about that in the post game word got out that it was Desi Rodriquez who with a friendly nod told his senior teammate that he had never seen him go down on the court once to capture possession of an errant ball. Angel responded and plays like that help get the fans into the game and rev up his teammates.
Staying with Angel, he now has back to back 19 rebound games against the Blue Demons this season. And because that no longer seems special when Delgado accomplishes the feat it seems to be getting lost in importance.
Once again most all game yesterday the opponent had little trouble dribble penetrating the Pirates porous defense. If the Hall is going to make any post season noise that's a leak that's going to have to be plugged.
Usually the foul line is the Hall's Achilles Heel but yesterday despite missing 3 front ends of one and ones, along with shooting 19-27 from the charity stripe. the Hall actually outdid their opponent who shot a ghastly 12-22 from the free throw line.
7:07 in the first half.
Why is that important?
It's the time that Desi Rodriquez scored his first points in the opening stanza. 26 plus minutes later he finished with a career high 33 points hitting 12 -21 from the field. That after bricking his first 5 attempts in the game.
13:47 in the second half.
And why is that important?
Well that was the time Myles Powell hit a SHU bank is open 3 from near the SHU bench (yeah, we can do that too). After that bucket the only Pirate other than Desi to hit from the field was Angel and even that was off a pass from Rodriquez ending in an uncontested layup.
In seniors he trusts.
Clearly Kevin Willard is going to live or die on the shoulders of his 4 seniors. He said as much with his actions during the game and with his words after. He feels those 4 players got him to this point and his trust in them is unwavering.
Even when their on court struggles are apparent.
Tip of the cap to Myles Cale. He played a great first half but because of the aforementioned trust in the Core Four, Cale spent most of the final 20 minutes in his warm ups.
Turning point?
Well I choose a crucial 4 point swing late in the game when Max Sruss, a plus 80% foul shooter going into the game missed two and then on the rebound Myles Powell was fouled eventually converting his 2 shots from the stripe and turning a potential 4 point lead into a 8 point one.
Another tough shooting day at the office for SHU point guard Khadeen Carrington who connected on 4-14 from the field, two being layups off of drives to the tin.
The as goes Khadeen so goes the Pirates mantra adopted here is looking worse and worse as the season dwindles to its conclusion.
Kevin Willard sat on one side of the bench most of the game while his top assistant Shaheen Holloway say on the other side.
Why? Well Willard explained it in the post game noting that he injured his meniscus last spring on a treadmill and it never healed so he is facing surgery after the school year.
And as for Sha? Well Willard noted he's so negative on the bench that he can't sit next to him. I guess it's true. Opposite do attract.
Another game another win on the tip off by a man who cannot jump over a nickel. Clearly Delgado's timing is unquestionable. Reminds me of another Pirate center who was also vertically challenged, Eugene Teague, who like Angel captured his fair share of opening tips as well.
Where's the coach?
Well he sure as hell wasn't in the post game as Dave Leitao made it known he did not want to participate as he blew off the media.
From listening to Leitao in the past trust me, it's no great loss.
More mass substitutions early yesterday and the result as it most always is was 4 minutes of eye aching ugly basketball.
It's no wonder why the bench is considered weak by most. The youngsters never got weened properly and now they have little positive impact on any close game.
Need proof. Jordan Walker who is by all accounts a very good foul shooter bricked three of four free throws in the end game that could have cost the Pirates the win.
Very bad job by our head coach.
Sock update?
Not anymore. Back to back poor efforts have regulated the Pirate holiday socks to the drawer where they'll have one whole season to work on their game. For now Gold Toes have been brought up from the minors.
Looking back to the victory yesterday the question becomes did the Hall stop the bleeding?
The answer is yes and no. Yes the 4 game losing streak is over. And yes the team played hard if not high quality basketball, but no the bleeding wasn't stopped, it just had a band aid applied.
Struggling to beat a last place team on your home court with the Blue Demons having a final possession shot to tie the game with a three isn't much reason to think the funk is completely over.
Hall fans can only hope that this tiny spark is just the beginning of an explosive turnaround.
More will be known in two days when the 7-7 Kevin Wiillards travel up north to Providence to tangle with the 8-6 Ed Cooleys.
Hall fans keep your fingers crossed.
