PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By Tyler Calvaruso
First halves have not been friendly to the Seton Hall Pirates so far in 2020.
Seton Hall got off to a sluggish start in its season opener against Louisville before kicking it into gear late.
The same occurred against Iona, as the Pirates turned a two-point halftime deficit into a dominant 22-
point victory. Against Rhode Island, Seton Hall trailed by 14 points early, putting itself in a hole.
The Pirates cut Rhode Island’s lead to one at halftime, but could not fully get over the hump in the
second half and went cold down the stretch in a 76-63 loss. Seton Hall led 57-54 with 8:27 left to play,
but did not score over the final 3:08 and missed its final nine field goal attempts. Rhode Island closed on
a 10-0 run over the final 2:45 to put the Pirates away.
Sandro Mamukelashvili had his way with Rhode Island’s defense, totaling 25 points on 4-8 shooting from
three to go along with 10 rebounds. However, Seton Hall lacked a No. 2 scorer, as Jared Rhoden and
Myles Cale combined to shoot 7-18 from the field and totaled a combined 18 points. Seton Hall also
struggled mightily at the free throw line, posting a 13-23 (57%) mark from the charity stripe.
Takeaways
-Slow starts are not going to fly against a team that can score at the clip Rhode Island does. Seton Hall
has come out flat in its first three games. If it happens a fourth time against Oregon, the Pirates risk
getting blown out early.
-Seton Hall needs to run its offense through Sandro Mamukelashvili every time down the floor. That is a
no-brainer observation, but the importance of doing so cannot be understated. The more touches
Mamukelashvili gets, the better he performs. He is a rhythm player and feeds off getting into a groove.
Shavar Reynolds was wise to look his way almost every possession when he was on fire at the end of the
first half. The high screen and roll works.
-With that being said, Seton Hall desperately needs a consistent No. 2 scorer. Myles Cale was essentially
invisible, while Jared Rhoden never got going. Rhoden has the tools to be the second option the Pirates
are currently lacking, but consistency tends to evade him. As good as Mamukelashvili is, he cannot do
everything himself. He is going to need a little bit of help moving forward, especially once Big East play
rolls around. Bryce Aiken is likely to take on that role once he returns to the floor, but someone is going
to have to step up in the meantime.
-One of the few bright spots: Takal Molson brings it every single night. He might not light up the box
score, but he provides the kind of juice and edge Seton Hall fans came to know and love Quincy
McKnight for. Again, an ideal fit for the Pirates’ culture – even though things did not go their way on
Wednesday night.
-Having Ike Obiagu and Tyrese Samuel on the floor at the same time kills Seton Hall defensively. Lateral
quickness defensively is not exactly either player’s strong suit. Kevin Willard did not have much of a
choice to run those two out there together in order to spell Mamukelashvili, but he’s going to have to
find a way to get Obiagu and Samuel on the same page defensively. If not, teams will take advantage of
that frontcourt rotation and thrash the Pirates on the interior.
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