By JP Pelzman
Seton Hall’s thrilling 74-72 win over Butler is in the rearview mirror as the Pirates get ready to face visiting St. John’s today, but the fact is that SHU never should have needed Sandro Mamukelashvili’s buzzer-beater. Let's look at some teachable moments from that game and how those lessons must be applied in the weeks to come.
Defensive breakdowns must be fixed
Seton Hall is second in the Big East in field-goal percentage defense, and third in three-point percentage defense, but late-game breakdowns have been a problem in each of the last two home games. Against Creighton, a gallant rally was negated by a Ty-Shon Alexander trey via a defensive miscommunication after the Pirates had cut their deficit to one, and a four-point lead against Butler melted away when Sean McDermott sandwiched two threes around a successful one-and-one free-throw opportunity by Quincy McKnight.
On the first trey, Romaro Gill likely would’ve been better off not challenging driver Aaron Thompson, who was looking to dish anyway. Meanwhile, Myles Cale got caught up in what looked like a moving screen that was not called and was late getting to McDermott.
McDermott's next three-ball tied it at 72. Coach Kevin Willard took the blame, saying, “I told them to foul and I think they were shocked that I told them to foul.”
Confusion reigned as McKnight (who already had four fouls) and Myles Powell doubled Thompson, whom Willard wanted to be fouled, which left McDermott wide open from the left wing.
These mistakes must be cleaned up because just one at the wrong time can send a team home a month from now.
Powell talks Xs and Os
While talking about Seton Hall’s offense after the game, superstar Powell acknowledged that he was in a “little slump,” but indicated that part of the reason was the amount of double-teams he faces, no matter if he is coming off screens, pick-and-rolls or isolation.
He’s right. Powell sees a lot of doubling and junk defenses, as teams are doing whatever they can to negate both his quick release and his incredible range. There are no easy solutions. His teammates must make open shots when they are presented to them and they also must set better screens for Powell. As for Willard, he needs to continue to draw up plays the caliber of the one he came up with against Butler with .6 seconds left.
Scouting St. John’s
St. John’s (14-12, 3-10) is 1-5 on the Big East road this season, with three of the losses by double figures. Included among those is a 94-82 loss on Feb. 8 at Creighton, its most recent away game and the final contest for Mustapha Heron, who had 12 points in 19 minutes that night before reinjuring his ankle. That injury is expected to sideline him for the rest of the season, thus ending his college career.
Although the Red Storm blew out suddenly red-hot Providence without him, Heron’s absence was felt in SJU’s most recent game, a 77-74 loss to visiting Xavier on Monday night. St. John’s coughed up a six-point lead by only scoring four points in the final 6:30. Poor execution in the halfcourt offense has cost the Red Storm repeatedly, especially in late-game losses to Xavier, Georgetown and Seton Hall, all at home.
"We just haven't been able to finish games," coach Mike Anderson said.
The race to Albany
The players cannot afford to look beyond today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. The Pirates enter today’s game at 11-3 in the Big East, one game ahead of both Creighton and Villanova, each at 10-4. Powell indicated after the Butler game that winning the regular-season title is a major goal.
No doubt it is, because almost certainly it would net The Hall a top-4 protected seed and at least a first weekend at the closest 2020 NCAA site for those rounds, Albany. After St. John’s, the Pirates have a difficult finish. After a mid-week bye, they will visit Marquette on Saturday for Markus Howard’s Senior Day, host Villanova in their own home finale on March 4, and then go to Creighton on March 7.
The Bluejays host Butler today and also have a bye during the week before visiting St. John’s (on campus) next Sunday, hosting depleted Georgetown on March 4, and then playing The Hall to close the regular season. Jay Wright’s team has home games against St. John’s and Providence on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, before closing at The Hall and Georgetown on March 7.
So Seton Hall certainly has the toughest schedule of the three, but the Pirates do control their destiny. And today is a must-win.
More NCAA musings
Will San Diego State being knocked from the unbeaten ranks by UNLV on Saturday night take it off the top-seed line? It's possible. And that eventually could elevate Duke to No. 1. Yeah, I know Duke lost this week, too, but as we all know, they’re Duke. And Duke will have many more opportunities for committee-impressing victories going forward than will San Diego State.
This all could be significant for Seton Hall because, as you may recall, SDSU was placed in the East as the 1 seed in the committee’s preliminary bracket reveal on Feb. 8. If the Aztecs no longer are there, and perhaps Duke is, maybe that opens things up for the Pirates to be placed in the East. We shall see.
Did you know?
Today will mark the first time since the Georgetown game on Jan. 3 that Seton Hall did not play on a Wednesday or Saturday, a span of 51 days.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
Seton Hall’s thrilling 74-72 win over Butler is in the rearview mirror as the Pirates get ready to face visiting St. John’s today, but the fact is that SHU never should have needed Sandro Mamukelashvili’s buzzer-beater. Let's look at some teachable moments from that game and how those lessons must be applied in the weeks to come.
Defensive breakdowns must be fixed
Seton Hall is second in the Big East in field-goal percentage defense, and third in three-point percentage defense, but late-game breakdowns have been a problem in each of the last two home games. Against Creighton, a gallant rally was negated by a Ty-Shon Alexander trey via a defensive miscommunication after the Pirates had cut their deficit to one, and a four-point lead against Butler melted away when Sean McDermott sandwiched two threes around a successful one-and-one free-throw opportunity by Quincy McKnight.
On the first trey, Romaro Gill likely would’ve been better off not challenging driver Aaron Thompson, who was looking to dish anyway. Meanwhile, Myles Cale got caught up in what looked like a moving screen that was not called and was late getting to McDermott.
McDermott's next three-ball tied it at 72. Coach Kevin Willard took the blame, saying, “I told them to foul and I think they were shocked that I told them to foul.”
Confusion reigned as McKnight (who already had four fouls) and Myles Powell doubled Thompson, whom Willard wanted to be fouled, which left McDermott wide open from the left wing.
These mistakes must be cleaned up because just one at the wrong time can send a team home a month from now.
Powell talks Xs and Os
While talking about Seton Hall’s offense after the game, superstar Powell acknowledged that he was in a “little slump,” but indicated that part of the reason was the amount of double-teams he faces, no matter if he is coming off screens, pick-and-rolls or isolation.
He’s right. Powell sees a lot of doubling and junk defenses, as teams are doing whatever they can to negate both his quick release and his incredible range. There are no easy solutions. His teammates must make open shots when they are presented to them and they also must set better screens for Powell. As for Willard, he needs to continue to draw up plays the caliber of the one he came up with against Butler with .6 seconds left.
Scouting St. John’s
St. John’s (14-12, 3-10) is 1-5 on the Big East road this season, with three of the losses by double figures. Included among those is a 94-82 loss on Feb. 8 at Creighton, its most recent away game and the final contest for Mustapha Heron, who had 12 points in 19 minutes that night before reinjuring his ankle. That injury is expected to sideline him for the rest of the season, thus ending his college career.
Although the Red Storm blew out suddenly red-hot Providence without him, Heron’s absence was felt in SJU’s most recent game, a 77-74 loss to visiting Xavier on Monday night. St. John’s coughed up a six-point lead by only scoring four points in the final 6:30. Poor execution in the halfcourt offense has cost the Red Storm repeatedly, especially in late-game losses to Xavier, Georgetown and Seton Hall, all at home.
"We just haven't been able to finish games," coach Mike Anderson said.
The race to Albany
The players cannot afford to look beyond today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. The Pirates enter today’s game at 11-3 in the Big East, one game ahead of both Creighton and Villanova, each at 10-4. Powell indicated after the Butler game that winning the regular-season title is a major goal.
No doubt it is, because almost certainly it would net The Hall a top-4 protected seed and at least a first weekend at the closest 2020 NCAA site for those rounds, Albany. After St. John’s, the Pirates have a difficult finish. After a mid-week bye, they will visit Marquette on Saturday for Markus Howard’s Senior Day, host Villanova in their own home finale on March 4, and then go to Creighton on March 7.
The Bluejays host Butler today and also have a bye during the week before visiting St. John’s (on campus) next Sunday, hosting depleted Georgetown on March 4, and then playing The Hall to close the regular season. Jay Wright’s team has home games against St. John’s and Providence on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, before closing at The Hall and Georgetown on March 7.
So Seton Hall certainly has the toughest schedule of the three, but the Pirates do control their destiny. And today is a must-win.
More NCAA musings
Will San Diego State being knocked from the unbeaten ranks by UNLV on Saturday night take it off the top-seed line? It's possible. And that eventually could elevate Duke to No. 1. Yeah, I know Duke lost this week, too, but as we all know, they’re Duke. And Duke will have many more opportunities for committee-impressing victories going forward than will San Diego State.
This all could be significant for Seton Hall because, as you may recall, SDSU was placed in the East as the 1 seed in the committee’s preliminary bracket reveal on Feb. 8. If the Aztecs no longer are there, and perhaps Duke is, maybe that opens things up for the Pirates to be placed in the East. We shall see.
Did you know?
Today will mark the first time since the Georgetown game on Jan. 3 that Seton Hall did not play on a Wednesday or Saturday, a span of 51 days.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
