PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By JP Pelzman
Looking back at Seton Hall’s controversial 73-72 loss at Marquette and looking ahead to the home-and-home with St. John’s:
There were other problems Saturday.
Tops among them were the 20 turnovers, five by Bryce Aiken, and Marquette’s 9-for-14 three-point shooting in the first half. That comes out to 64.3%. That was a slippage to the way the Pirates defended the three a year ago.
“We’re in a little bit of a hole,” coach Kevin Willard said on the postgame radio interview with Dave Popkin and Matt Loughlin, “but when you play your first two (Big East) games with seven guys, unfortunately that was predictable. We’ve played a lot of games and we need a little bit of a break, getting them mentally and physically back into a good spot. We’re going to tweak some things defensively.”
Seton Hall did better in the second half, limiting Marquette to 25%, 2-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Not enough assists.
Not only were the 20 turnovers a problem, the lack of assists also hindered the Pirates again. Out of 25 made baskets, there were a paltry six assists. That low total is a byproduct of having two primary ballhandlers in Kadary Richmond and Bryce Aiken, who, quite simply, are better at creating for themselves than for others.
There isn’t all that much that can be done about it. That is the way this team and this offense have been structured. It's too late to change it now.
Shaka's take.
Marquette coach Shaka Smart said in the postgame that the final play originally was run for Darryl Morsell, who had 26 points, and that Seton Hall did a good job shutting off that play.
He added that “Greg (Elliott) did a good job creating and did a good job getting fouled.”
I can’t blame Smart. I would’ve said the same thing. When you get handed a gift, you don’t ask questions, especially because you could be on the other end next time.
More on the call.
I may have erred on Twitter when I said Paul Szelc first signaled the foul. It may have been lead referee Matt Potter, as Szelc may have been motioning for a three-point shot. Whatever the case, the call was obviously egregious, and so was the replay review at the monitor.
I've looked at it at least 20 times at one-quarter speed, and it appears to me that Elliott had re-established his right foot beyond the arc before the contact. In any event, it is difficult to tell. I always thought you were supposed to stick with the initial ruling if the video evidence is inconclusive.
My point is, putting aside the absurdity of the judgment call itself, it realistically should’ve been a three-shot foul, in my opinion. I fail to see conclusive replay evidence otherwise. Perhaps they had a different angle or a closeup. I don’t know.
Also, Aiken did briefly grab Elliott, but it didn’t impede his progress significantly. Thus, that shouldn’t have been a foul, either. There were other bad calls that went against both sides, including Jared Rhoden taking a 1970s Oakland Raiders-style clothesline on a moving screen on a crucial Marquette trey.
Scouting St. John’s.
The Red Storm play Georgetown on Sunday and at Creighton on Wednesday, so Willard and his staff will have a lot more film to watch. The Red Storm have been a disappointment thus far, although Julian Champagnie has lived up to expectations.
St. John’s also likes to play two ballhandlers at the same time in Posh Alexander and Dylan Addae-Wusu.
