Tri State Basketball Thread

[jman3134]

I don't know if this is a good idea or not. But, as a community, I figured that some may be invested in Tri state college and high school teams. I know they have not faired well recently, but Rutgers and St. Johns basketball seem to be on the rise. Seton Hall needs a big man.

[vincecarter4pres]

Seton hall has looked good lately, until the last 10 to 6 minutes of the game, which is the point they decide to completely implode and lose a game by 15-25 that one minute earlier they trailed by 4.
Very frustrating.

Syracuse is the real news, they look stupid fresh(ah snap!).

Rutgers I haven't followed since Douby left.

St. John's I haven't followed since Malik Sealy, lol.

[jman3134]

St. Johns just pulled a big upset against ND. Rutgers nearly beat Pitt at home.

All three of these teams really are disappointing considering the rich history of tri state basketball. (especially with St. Johns and Seton Hall)

Rutgers is young and pretty promising. They have probably the best freshman in the Big East this year in Mike Rosario. Add a 6'11 junior with great shot blocking instincts and a 6'9 compliment big man in Echenique and you have a solid team.

As for St. Johns: they are also extremely young, but do have some talent at pretty much all positions. Burrell is a nice small forward option and with Anthony Mason Jr. back next year they could be pretty dynamic. Throw in allstar recruit Lance Stephenson and you are a contender.

In regards to Seton Hall, they are extremely small. Bobby Gonzalez has done a poor job recruiting bigs. Garcia is their only real big man option and he is coming off of knee surgeries. It's quite a shame though because they have some experienced perimeter talent. Harvey and Hazell are one of the best perimeter duos in the league.

[superLuigi21]

rutgers picked up 2 great recruits in last yrs class, both freshman this year (mike rosario & echenique). we had a pretty good class the yr before too w/corey chandler and are looking good in next yrs recruiting class. all that being said, thats a young team w/an unproven x's & o's coach, but clearly he can get talent to come in. big east is the toughest conference so itll likely take 3 more years of top level players to come in before they can compete w/cuse, uconn, gtown, etc.

*side note, RU is the first team in history to play the top 3 ranked teams in one week (UNC, UConn, Pitt). they went 0-3 of course, but good experience for the young guys

[Preludepunk27]

The majority of my family went to St. John's so I've been big into them my whole life basically.

The majority of my friends went to RU and a few of them have season tickets to football/basketball so I'm constantly watching them too now.

And St. John's has not been disappointing. After the incident at Pitt a few years ago, they had to fire their coach, throw half their team off their roster basically and start from scratch. It takes time. If you call them disappointing them Indiana this year has to be categorized in the exact same category too. They have some solid young talent. During the Notre Dame game yesterday they said they have like the youngest team in the Big East and one of the youngest in all of basketball. That takes time. Unless you are a top program (which St. John's hasn't been since the 80's) it's difficult. We have the ability to pull in some solid recruits every few years, but I really don't think we've had a coach with the ability to put it all together. Felipe Lopez and Zendon underachieved, Artest carried us but left to early to hell recruit some other guys, Barkley had to bounce cause of legal stuff. Yes we are a storied program, but look back at the teams that were considered "powerhouses" in the 50's each year. How many of them would you still consider a powerhouse today? Storied programs doesn't necessarily translate into victories or have the ability to recruit strictly on their name. There are tons of other factors involved.

Ok I'm rambling. St. John's owns and Rutgers is solid. Both have good young players. Lets hope they stay a few years and help build both of those programs.

[Da big3]

dont forget about NJIT...

[vincecarter4pres]

dont forget about NJIT...

[jman3134]

Disappointing is drawing 2,000 fans to a St. Johns game at the Garden.....so it's not necessarily the end result of losing, (which is somewhat disappointing), but rather the fact that there has been very little buzz surrounding this program. Sure, they did have to start from scratch, but that was how many years ago now? I certainly don't expect them to make the tournament....I don't necessarily have a bar set just yet. But, as time progresses, there has to be some accountability for the coaching staff if they are not drawing any top recruits for the most storied program in the best city in the country. Given, Burrell is a decent recruit. But, Stephenson would go a long way to bringing this program to where it used to be.

And, I disagree that St. John's wasn't a top program in the 90's. While the Felipe Lopez's may have underachieved, they are still eons from where they are now. Again, you're point is valid about having to rebuild from scratch.

If you are examining 50's teams, there were significant differences which sort of negate your example. First and foremost, it was an entirely different game. There was no three point line and dribble drive stopping strategy was key. The tallest (obviously skilled big men) recruits were the most valued as an extension of this. Today, the point guard spot is the most important in college basketball. Secondly, it was an entirely different era. Prior to the 50's, college basketball teams were BASKETBALL. The NBA had not captured the majority of the viewership. The NCAA of today was in its infancy is my point really.

As for its application: Kentucky, the predominant basketball power of the 1950s is still a storied program today.

While it doesn't necessarily translate to victories, it goes a long way for grabbing recruits. Madison Square Garden is arguably the most prized basketball venue. A recruit plays there regularly. If the recruit plays well, he will capture the attention of a NYC audience, one of the largest viewerships one could ask for. If you're a star coming out of high school, wouldn't you want to put yourself in a marketable place? These are all selling points for St Johns basketball.
But, then again, it's not necessarily about the results because this program has had some serious injuries. Mason Jr. is out for the year. The truth is that over the past few years, there hasn't been much continuity in the offensive and defensive sets. And again, there is not much promise/buzz surrounding the program. The coach cannot take full responsibility for a lack of execution amongst youngsters, but the latter point is still roberts' fault.

[jman3134]

All you can do is feel bad for NJIT.....word is that they schedule the games at night, when many students take night classes. You can't build a solid D1 program when you do not have the general support of the student body. And why would you with that 0-cazillion record. But, it's sort of a reciprocal thing. If they had more fans, maybe they would be more motivated to win.

[NjNeTs1029]

i was at the Rutgers game against Pitt. I actually thought they had a decent shot of winning until JR Inman decided to attempt some rediculous turnaround layup sorta shot thing. Once Pitt switched to zone RU had no answer. Rutgers has a shot to be a good team in a couple years with Rosario and Ech. A solid point guard and they can become a good team.

[jman3134]

I liked the way Mike Coburn progressed last year. He seems to have a great feel for the game despite not being a significant offensive threat. I liked the Chandler, Pettis, and Coburn combo of last year. My issue after watching the UConn game would have to be with putting the ball in Rosario's hands 90 percent of the time. It makes it very easy for top teams to clamp down on him. When he wasn't making shots off the dribble against UConn, I felt that Rutgers should have ran some screen plays for him. All and all, I thought that Fred Hill did a solid job with his team in their defensive sets. It's just a matter of coming together as a unit on the offensive end of the floor.

As for Inman, the guy has not showed up for most of the year. He can hit big shots, but he also makes some headscratching mistakes as you pointed out. I like the way RU is feeding the post and I hope that Inman can work himself into the offense and not look so out of sync with the team dynamic.