Sunday, November 26, 2017

November 25th, 2017: Rider at Seton Hall (Seton Hall Thanksgiving Classic)

Just the Facts, Ma’am: Seton Hall controlled the game from start to finish in a 85-49 blitzing of Rider. Donnaizha Fountain had 20 points in 19 minutes to lead the Pirates’ attack. Jaiden Morris had 17 points to lead Rider, but she was the only Bronc in double figures.

For hard bleachers, snazzy passing, learning the hard way, playing all the players, and passing the mojo ball around, join your intrepid and time-pressed blogger after the jump.

Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen, and well-mannered non-binary folk! We’re coming to you live and in surround sound from historic Walsh Gymnasium on the campus of Seton Hall University, where the Pirates are playing host to their Thanksgiving tournament. First up, the home team takes on the Broncs of Rider.

Of course. Of course the day I wear the “We’ve got a cure for red and white” shirt is the day Sky Lindsay is working the game with John Fanta. Granted, the red and white the shirt references is supposed to be Rutgers, not St. John’s, but it’s still awkward. Maybe if I stay quiet she won’t notice... gentle readers, I see you’ve already spotted the flaw in that plan.

Spoon is in the house! Our guess is that she’s scouting Donnaizha Fountain, but she might just be chilling. Wherever Spoon is, the crowd will automatically be. She just has a way of attracting people to her. (Postgame hugs reminded us that JaQuan Jackson transferred from Louisiana Tech and thus probably either played for or was recruited by Spoon.)

At halftime, Seton Hall is up 42-24. If Tony were playing a more competitive rotation, it would probably be more, but he seems to be using this game to experiment with lineups- we’ve already gone 12 deep, with Donnaizha playing every position from 2 to 5. (Which might be deliberate, come to think of it. If you have a pro scout in the audience, you want to show off your top notch player’s versatility, right?) And she’s got 18, so unlike some Pirates I can name she doesn’t crack under pressure.

I think one of my favorite plays of the game is Deja Winters chasing a loose ball on the sideline, vaulting the courtside seats, and landing in the second row of the bleachers without managing to hit anyone. Love that hustle (even if we didn’t get the ball out of it).

I’m really worried about the officiating, though. It’s getting rough out there, and the refs aren’t picking up all of it. They’re calling ticky-tack hand-check fouls and enough travels that Bonita Spence is smiling down from heaven, but the elbows and forearms are flying and we’ve already seen a mild exchange of hostilities, albeit one within the constraints of the game.

Is that woman wearing a Juventus jersey dress? I think I want one. (I don’t always follow men’s soccer, but when I do, I go with my dad’s teams of choice and back Juve and the Azzurri.)

That fourth quarter wasn’t exactly what one would call a thing of beauty for the Pirates, but when the team’s up 30 or 40 most of the way, the let-up is understandable, if not necessarily forgiveable. I worry about communication problems, but you know me, I always find something to worry about, even in a win.

The Broncs didn’t go very deep into their bench until the fourth quarter. Watching the paint battle between Asyana’e Muwwakkil and Jayla Jones-Pack was sort of akin to watching a small and not terribly serious slap fight, at least at Rider’s end. Seems like a senior should be playing with a little more confidence; she was very tentative. Tracey Goodman fancied herself a three-point shooter. Either her shot was not falling or the belief that she should be taking three-pointers is a mistaken one. Daija Moses brought physical defense down low in her minutes; she was the one banging bodies while Muwwakkil engaged in the gentle art of keepaway. I think she might have potential.

Jaiden Morris was a spark off the bench for the Broncs, and a bright one at that, with a flaming orange ponytail that made her instantly visible whenever she was on the floor. By the end of the game, it looked like she was calling her own number a lot, but I don’t know if that was a freshman getting greedy, or if Milligan wanted to see what she had in the kid. She actually got the second half start because she was getting buckets in the first. She’s aggressive and quick. She had a nice block on Kaela Hilaire as well, though duty- if not not self-preservation- compels me to point out that KK is best-described as fun-size. Taylour Jones ran a pretty decent point, though it seems like the ballhandling should be better for a junior.

If the Swiss are supposed to be non-combatants, how come Lea Favre was hitting people so hard? She was a physical rebounder and an even harder screen-setter. I think Rider was expecting her to be a better counter for the Hall’s interior play. Our size is weird and definitely more of a mean than a median. She was benched in the second half in favor of Morris, both to ride the hot hand and because she was a better match-up. Aubre Johnson got in foul trouble early and never seemed to find her footing after getting pulled early in both halves.

Lexi Posset hit the floor a lot. A good deal of it appeared to be of her own volition. She was not afraid to make the officials aware that she had suffered contact and would very much appreciate a whistle in response to such audacious behavior by the offense. I can barely put up with floppers when they play for my team; you can imagine how I feel when they’re playing against my team. I liked Stella Johnson’s hair (and yes, when she went to the line, I did my best Marlon Brando impression to try and disconcert her, but it didn’t work). She had trouble wrangling the ball on the baseline (and I think she was the one who stepped carelessly out of bounds on the sideline as well). Kamila Hoskova... Seton Hall’s box score doesn’t track blocked attempts, but I counted at least four blocks on her by various and sundry Pirates. I mean, you can’t fault the aggression, and heaven knows it’s sometimes difficult to get people to go into the painted area, but eventually, after the third or fourth block, perhaps driving pell-mell into the teeth of a prepared defense eventually stops being a good plan.

Rider played rough. Tripping is not cool, people. There are certain physical differences between men and women that making tripping a lot more dangerous in the women’s game than the men’s game. I’ve seen too many knee and ankle injuries in my career as a fan. Do not want.

Everyone got to play! Yay! Everyone got pretty good minutes. Oh, God.

It looked like the team was looking to feed Tyeisha Smith at the end of the game. Makes sense; she plays the least of any Pirate except maybe Jayla Jones-Pack, and Jayla’s usually too banged up to get extended minutes. Kaity Healy is a good breather guard- she plays god defense and she’s not going to screw things up. She won’t extend a lead, but you won’t lose it with her, either. Inja Butina looked more for her shot than I saw in the last game, which I think is a good sign, and decided to throw some fancy passes when the lead ballooned in the third quarter. She had an especially nice one through the legs to Deja Winters. I think Coach might still be questioning her clock management, though. Kaela Hilaire also got in on the fancy passing, and played her usual “personal space is for suckers” defense. I’d have liked to see some of her shots go down, but if she’s prioritizing passing over scoring, that’s a change I can believe in.

Jayla Jones-Pack was dropping blocks all over the place. She had a nice one on a Goodman three attempt, but the general gist was that shooting in front of her was a bad idea. Her rebounding was also very solid. Kimi Evans needs to get the schemes down, but she’s a little quicker on her feet and quicker to react than I thought. She’s got a lot of promise. I love Selena Philoxy’s rebounding. She’s really tough inside. I can see her and Kimi as a very imposing front line a couple of years down the road, with Jayla as a change-of-pace player. Deja Winters picked up the mojo ball from JaQuan Jackson in the third quarter and hit back-to-back threes to help really break the game open.

I love watching Shadeen Samuels rebound. If there were a way to run a rebounding contest, I’d want to see her, Fordham’s G’mrice Davis, and Maya Singleton from St. John’s go at it, because they all have the same terrifying tenacity. She’s got to finish a little better at the rim, but she’s improving that on a regular basis. I think she’s my favorite Pirate right now. Donnaizha Fountain had herself a day, scoring efficiently from beyond the arc, in the paint, and at the line. She rebounded well and played solid defense. If she was looking to show herself off, she did a fantastic job of it. Taylor Brown was solid inside, but turnovers were a problem- she couldn’t hang on to the ball.

I’m a little worried about the communication breakdown between Nicole Jimenez and Selena Philoxy in the second half- it was so bad that Tony had to call timeout to have a Teaching Moment with them... whereupon Nicole promptly threw the ball out of bounds in the general direction of Selena. Her shots were consistently short, and that’s a problem. I like how she can control the tempo, and if Tony wants her to be more of a facilitating point, that’s fine; while I like a point guard that can score in a pinch, I’d rather have a distributing point than one who calls her own number. That being said, that means you have to take care of the ball and pass wisely. JaQuan Jackson was quiet in the first half, almost too quiet. Then the third quarter hit and we found out where Quanny’s mojo had been hiding- I’d have to look at the play-by-play, but I think she actually went 3-6-9 on them. I didn’t think she had it in her to not insist on being first fiddle, but she seems to have adjusted to having another scoring option next to her. She’s got to keep her head in the game on defense; that always seems to get her offense going.

The lack of focus in the fourth quarter was a problem, and one that I know Tony would have let them have it about. It’s understandable with the reserves in, but inexcusable. In general, it seemed like Seton Hall was experimenting with lineups, playing a lot of players at odd positions, and making sure that everyone was well rested. That’s a refreshing change from a lot of the teams I watch. (Joe. Billi. You can assume this disapproving look has been sent in your direction.)

Do I have to downgrade my already low expectations for NCAA officiating from “at least be consistent with your incompetence” to “at least let’s make sure the game doesn’t turn into a rugby scrum”? Because while I have nothing against rugby scrums, they don’t belong in basketball. I’m tired of Kaela getting hit with no call. I’m tired of wondering what’s going to happen when a player goes to the bench after an injury. Player safety should be the primary concern on the floor.

I expected Rider to bring more people, and the fans they did bring were pretty quiet. I guess that happens in blowouts. Their bench stayed pretty involved, even through the worst of the deficit.

Good win for Seton Hall- good minutes for everyone, and both strengths and weaknesses showcased to work on.

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