Per Jerry Carino: Tickets are selling fast and he expects crowd to exceed 7,000. We need a raucous crowd and a full student section as I can't wait for the goose bumps when the crowd goes nuts and after any one of our guys hits a big 3. One problem I foresee are refs will be Big East Refs (who love blowing whistles especially against us) and I dread that we will have Wally Rutecki (the ref with the grease black slick hair) who is one ref who thinks the game revolves around him. Wouldn't shock me if O'Donnell (originally from Bayonne - with salty gray hair) is a ref as well - though he's fair. Psyched for the game on Friday!!!!! It's going to be a rough physical one.......as both squads will be pumped and both will remember the "Charity" game played last year which was damn rough and physical including several skirmishes.
St Johns Game (Attendance; Refs and expect Physical game)
- Thread starter BigEastPhil
- Start date
Where did you hear this? I thought it was a secret scrimmage, closed to media and the public? Did this somehow leak out?
Edited: Oh wait, charity game, not secret scrimmage. I forgot. ;)
Awesome game. It was not played like an exhibition at all. It was a real game if you watched it, and we beat them. Our team is much much better this season and they just lost their one real big man. We should get this W at the RAC and get the hype train rolling.
Really trying to make it to this game, but this Friday is tough logistically for me. May need to watch it on a DVR delay.
One huge advantage we have over them is depth. We should try to tire them out.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
idk if we should get this one. Ponds has progressive gotten better and better and we don't really have an answer for him on D, we don't have great ball handlers right now, and they added an All-SEC player as well. Make no mistake, this is an upset if we win
wildcard is students..they were okay first game, didnt show 2nd game..is there a concerted effort to get them to go...PSU is noon the next day but with that horror show I dont expect students to go to that...if RU made a push for students, attendance gets over 7K, if not then its going to be in the 6800 range.
Football has been so bad and students usually show up for big basketball games.
Hopefully they let them up to the 300s if the student section is filled bc usually 1/3 of the student section, when filled, isn’t even students.
Website has 8 sections of the 300s as "none available". That can't be right. Right? Why are they holding tickets?
They barely beat Bowling Green. Enough said. Ponds got better? Cool. So did EO Thiam Geo Shaq and we added Kiss Myles Harper Mathis. We have improved more as a team than they have. I have no doubt. They are going to be running guys out as bigs who are 6'7 like a mid major team. They can't handle our size length depth ball movement and shooting. We have 4 coaches on our bench better than Mullen. We are at home. No reason we can't get this win.
I may be overestimating it, but it feels like a BIG game to me.
When was the last time we had a bigger game at the RAC ?
When was the last time we had a bigger game at the RAC ?
Out of conference, it would be last year with SHU... I cannot remember ever having a bigger game as the 3rd game of the season
Basketball is about match ups and we don't match up well with their quick and talented back court where they generate most of their scoring. We do have a size advantage, but we are underdogs for a reason. If SJU gets Geo into foul trouble trying to guard their dribble penetration, RU is in deep doo doo.
If we can make this a battle of attrition, though, I like our chances...ESPECIALLY if Eugene continues drawing charges....
On the flip side, they don't match up well with our bigs/length, either.
Agreed. They key will be consistently getting the ball down low against relentless ball pressure. SJU limited BGU's top-scoring 6-10 Sr. to 1-4 shooting, although he made 10 fouls shots. Also, I love our young players, but we have no depth at PG and we are playing a future-NBA back court with a lot of experience complemented by a talented Sr. at the the wing. Can we win? Sure. Will we win? Not so sure, but hoping.
Prior to SHU, Florida State was a big one early last year. Both teams were 6-0 I believe.
Lol spell trouble for the season if we lose against SJU?
I know you’re just teeing up to dump on Pike but this is a ridiculous statement.
Its a bad matchup for their D too. We are underdogs based on last season and histroy of the program. It will take a while for Vegas to catch up. We can shoot threes and dominate inside. They are more one dimensional. We should be able to control the boards on both ends and those extra possessions will matter. They have no bigs and its going to show.
Foul trouble can go both ways. What if Geo gets Ponds an early foul and then EO draws a charge on him? I expect to see some Thiam on Heron to shut him down too.
The loss of Keita is big for them, and helps us even the odds a bit. If they're intending to only go 7 deep with smaller players, those interior fouls will start to hurt them as the game wears on, and they'll have to start playing guys Mullin isn't as confident in (e.g. Earlington, Roberts).
High passes into the post to take advantage of our size, then kickouts to shooters when the inevitable double team comes. If they don't double, we'll have 4+ inches and 40+ pounds on the defender. If we can get an inside-out game going on offense, we could be in good shape.
Exactlyyyyy. Inside outside game should be impossible for them to stop. They don't have anyone who can handle Myles on the block. He's gonna score draw a foul or find an open man for a 3.
They have no inside presence. They are no better than low to mid tier big ten teams. It’s a home game. Of the remaining games against high major teams there aren’t many much easier no?
@kyk1827
They still have one of the top backcourts we're going to face this year, and will put stress on our guards to defend. This really seems to be the lowest hanging fruit of the 3 high major OOC teams, though we'd play SHU tough no matter where they're ranked.
Okay so say that they’re akin to a mid-level BIG10 team which is reasonable.
For a team picked to finish near the bottom of the conference (Rutgers), I would never say that 1 loss to a mid-level BIG10 team would spell trouble for the season.
Now do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?
I think mid level was being generous but I know people would push back there. With an injury that limits them to the degree that St. John’s will be undermanned, losing this game, at home, is not a good sign.
Again I don’t think they will. They should win all things considered.
St. John's is predicted by many to go to the NCAA tournament this year. Keita is a loss for them that makes them a poor matchup against us, but every single site and commentator still has us as underdogs even at home.
Pretty clear this wouldn't be a "bad" loss, and it does seem like you're setting it up that way to frame the outcome as either bad in the event of a loss, or not that big a deal if we win.
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