The Good,The Bad, And The Ugly.

[cindycrawford]

The Good...Blaise,after two early turnovers had another fine game,14 pts,7 boards,and 9 assists.
Darius,still unable to elevate,1 board shot well 7-11 in 24 minutes for 14 pts.
Patterson demonstrated that he will be a shooter once he gets past some frosh jitters going 3-4 on treys in the second half.
Desport showed improvement hitting a three ,had a few boards and a nice move to the hoop. Will definitely help down the road.

The Bad... Conley goes down hard with another injury to that ankle...limped badly at end of game. This looks chronic.
Tucker DNP...knee injury ...we could have used his bulk inside.

The Ugly...after hanging tough for a half,ref allowed Hall to play and they brutalized us inside and when we collapsed it was lights out from downtown. Hall shot 68% in second half.

Desi ,scoreless in first half ,2-10 in the game.
Prescott played just 6 minutes,some will argue he played 0 minutes.
Jackson is just going to have to give us more.Many times with good inside position he failed to come away with the ball.


Where was cub reporter Loyal ?

[oldtimer1]

Just read Cindy's report. Agree with almost everything posted. Amazing that when one sees the game in person how much more of the entire floor they see. No knock on those who can't make it in person but you see so much more pof thbe entire game when present.

Regarding Jackson, Cindy is correct. He plays great face to face defense but he was overmatched height wise ( as was Darius ) inside. Thought both did a decent job of keeping the ball alive by tapping it when they couldn't get it outright. Don't think he'll have that problem in MAAC play.

[peacockblue]

Wasn't at the game today so I appreciate the in-person observations from cindy and OT.

One thing that stands out looking at the last two losses is Washington is 3-16 from "3' (4-20 in the last three games) and has taken no free throws. No doubt teams are starting to adjust to him after his strong start, now he needs to find other ways to stay involved when his shot isn't falling. While I didn't see him play at Delaware State, I would imagine that his role was more of a spot up shooter than the focal point of the offense.

cindy's quote of "This looks chronic" in regards to Conley's injury makes every Peacock fan cringe. Any word on the severity of Tucker's injury?

Regardless of Jackson's reputation coming out of high school, it's clear why he didn't see minutes at Rutgers or Kent State. Now we can only hope that the consensus of "he'll be able to contribute once we get to MAAC play" is on point.

[oldtimer1]

peacockblue...both you and johngalt raise some interesting questions/concerns about Desi. Here is my take.

First of all peacockblue was on target when he posted after Desi's first two games that he wanted to see how Desi performed as teams, especially in the MAAC, adjusted to him. Think johngalt posted similar reservations.

First, I think most of us understandably want a player who will be a game changer for us. That's a high bar for Desi, especially for a Sophomore.

When I first saw Desi, in pickup, I was pleasantly surprised by his overall game. He has all the credentials...can pass, rebound, and defend. Posted that he had a very good jump shot but not great. What was impressive was his range...still is. Posted that he seemed to be a quiet leader who let the game come to him. Sometimes that is a good thing (being a team player), sometimes no,t as fans might want a more pro-active player. My take is that it's too early to tell but, as posted earlier today, I'd like to see Desi attempt to take charge more. However, I'm in no way upset with his performance to date.

As far as today's game was concerned, this was the situation. Seton Hall often played a 2/3 zone with their best player overloading Desi's side of the zone. That player (Fuqua?) was 3 inches taller with a wide wing span. Add to that our historical problem of no inside scoring. Sooo, just like Wes and Nick our shooters are forced to play further away from the basket.

Excuses, excuses...sorry but I'm also realistic. For me, Desi is the real deal but like most other talented players is not capable, as of yet, of carrying a team on his back. Still see him as an ALL-MAAC player (or close) and he's only a Sophomore!

PS... Jackson will contribute, there is no doubt in my mind BUT that contribution, given his size and lack of inside scoring will have a limit. Would like to see a rotation of Jackson, Desport and Tucker depending on matchups.

[cindycrawford]

There has been no mention of why Ferguson did not play today. Interesting. Conley in foul trouble,Tucker out,Jackson and Burke limited,yet no Ferguson. Does he have a role ? What about Prescott ,with Desi stone cold where was our other outside shooter ?
Re Jackson,Peacockblue makes a good point. Did not see time at Rutgers,ok ,maybe a higher level, but Kent St is not. I want to trust in Oldtimers keen eye...see FFrench...but Patrick will need to make some noise vs FDU and BU to calm the fears of the faithful.

[oldtimer1]

Cindy, thanks for the compliment but I'll take the 5th on Jackson (only kidding). Said from day1 in preseason that he was a question mark in my mind. I saw what we all are seeing now. However, I do love his face up defense and his intensity. Today was not a good indication as both he and Darius were up against giants. As you posted, we definitely need him to step in up in MAAC play. I'm not as sure of that as I was about Blaise or Chazz but mark me as hopeful. PS... as I previously observed, Elias needs to develop an inside game.

Regarding your other questions (excellent points)....saw Ferguson up close in the huddles and he looked quite a bit disinterested as opposed to Fields who, even as a sitting transfer, was quite animated.

Chris Prescott seemed very tentative. Like Desi, he needs to assert himself and not play laid back. Excellent questions for you to raise...guess the jury is still out on much of the above. See you Wednesday

[figgyprez]

Not having Tucker hurt SPU today. At the end of the day SHU had too many weapons and too much bulk even w/out Auda. Ffrnch had some nice blow lys and Conley was good on offfense. Need 3rd scorer from somewhere consistently and not getting it at this moment. Contrary to some opinions here I think SHU could be an NCAA team this year if frosh PG is up to it. Loss of Auda will hurt that goal though. Peacocks are far better than lst year but need overall consistency to be a real threat. Energy is very good, shooting not so much Does Desi get a rust honeymoon? Still need much more interest from Prescott. Questions about Ferguson today are really valid. If he gets no time without Tucker when does he play? Like the futures of DESPORT and Chazz

[spcfan]

Agree on Tucker foggy. We really could have used another body inside and frankly he's one of our best shooters from mid range. Also agree on the Hall. They should be vastly improved this year. Edwin is the real deal.

[peacockblue]

I would much rather see Desport get minutes than Ferguson, who has shown no ability to be a Division 1 caliber player before his injury last year and has no future with the team after this year. I posted before the season that I had very little confidence and didn't understand those who expected to him to contribute. JD has shown no indication that he believes he can play the "3" and when this team is healthy he is 5th on the frontcourt depth chart (6th if you consider Burke capable of playing minutes at the "4").

Ultimately, I think how far this team goes will be determined by how much consistency JD can get out of a combination of Prescott, Burke, Patterson, and Raymond.

[loyal]

Conley's recovery is a must. He is immobile on "D" and cannot rebound.
If he regains last years form, SPU can make some MAAC noise.....maybe .500 or so?
If DC is to be limited like this all season, our ceiling is much lower.
Agree on Desport/Fergie prioritization, given Fergie cannot play the three spot.