November 6th, 2018: Wagner at Seton Hall

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Victoria Cardaci stroked seven threes in the first half for a game-high 21 points, and Seton Hall was never threatened in a 95-40 pounding of Wagner. Shadeen Samuels added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Pirates. Emilija Krista Grava had 15 points and nine rebounds (seven offensive) to pace Wagner.

For exercising one's civic duty, terrible weather, terrible t-shirt aim, shooting touch, suaveness, and time concerns, join your intrepid and hyped blogger after the jump.

Good afternoon, fellow travelers! It's the most wonderful day of the year! Election Day! (If you didn't vote, we aren't friends.)

Okay, it's also the most wonderful day of the year because the season is upon us! Your intrepid blogger is currently wringing herself out at Seton Hall, as the Pirates open the season against the Seahawks of Wagner.

After further review, I've decided that I don't, in fact, want to know why Harrison station stinks horribly of dead fish.

It's raining very heavily today, and South Orange has dubious drainage. I've never seen my sneakers this shade of black before.

There is a dude who was very enthusiastic about the gates opening. Dude. You are here for the doubleheader. If you're going to be here for five and a half hours, you can wait two minutes. (I am not going to be here for five and a half hours. It's Election Day. There are returns to watch.)

Welcomed Seton Hall's new DOBO, Danaejah Grant, to the Awkward Bowl. As long as she doesn't end up with anyone trying to sic security on her at the Big East tournament, she'll be ahead of the game.

It looks like we're not playing Kimi Evans, which is a shame because I was looking forward to seeing her- I hear she's made huge strides in the offseason. But I doubt we're going to need her against Wagner, and if she has any nagging issues it's better to rest her.

This zone defense drill is really intense. I love it.

Unsurprisingly, forty minutes before tip of an early afternoon game on a rainy day where people might have other obligations, there aren't a lot of people here. If the bathroom has a hand dryer, I might actually be able to get away with trying to blow dry my sneakers. The population of the arena has not appreciably increased since that point.

We appear to be getting a Michael Jackson medley for our halftime entertainment, and I am perfectly okay with this.

At halftime, SHU is up 52-27 on Wagner, which I wasn't necessarily expecting after we gave up a 6-point hole shot. Victoria Cardaci has decided to make a sterling first impression with seven three-pointers to lead the way with 21 points. I don't know if Coach is happy with the rotation on defense, though.

There are players I expect to commit stupid fouls that put the other team over the limit with twenty-three seconds left in the half. Kaity Healy is literally the last person on Seton Hall's roster I expect this of, and I am disappointed in this.

Cheer squad might want to work on their t-shirt tosses. One of them attempted to reach the upper deck and failed so miserably she managed to drop it on someone's head. Which is bad enough when the aforementioned head is not that of a Pirate alumna. (Hi, Chiz!)

We've managed to slow count Wagner into a shot clock violation and fast count them into a rushed shot. This pleases me.

It took six seconds to have our first clock malfunction of the season. I'd say "never change", but please, please change.

There was also some foofarol a the beginning of the game having to do with Alayshia Dailey's hair. I think she had some metal decorations in it or something. Coach DiPillo seemed to be bringing it to the refs' attention during the clock reset, thus giving us delayception.

Well, that certainly didn't prove anything, but it was fun to watch. Wagner was not ready for this level of defense, or for the length we were able to bring in the post, or for Nicole Jimenez in general. Coach Jacobs has a long way to go with this team, in terms of clock awareness/management, and in terms of chemistry. (Since two of my teams are in the NEC, I'm rubbing my hands together in glee.)

Enas Ngatu gave the Seahawks some height, but she also got them in trouble with two offensive fouls (though I'll be honest and say I'm not sure about that second one). I see now that she's a freshman, and that she is one of many freshmen on Wagner's roster, so I can see why the going might be rough. Jordan Hobson didn't play in the second half until the fourth quarter, which didn't stop the PA announcer from announcing Amanda Pollard's second and third fouls as being hers. By the second one, she had a spectacularly WTF face going. I wasn't expecting her to be a three-point shooter.

Amanda Pollard has very big hair (which is another reason I was surprised the PA guy mixed up her and Hobson- other than a similarity of numbers, they look nothing alike). Neither she nor Addie Masonius, the other guard off the bench, left enough of an impression to write anything about.

There's a lot more promise with the starters (which is probably why they're starters). Nakylia Carter made a couple of great defensive plays in the first quarter, including a disruption that broke up a fast break for the Pirates. Khaleah Edwards made herself a target inside- I recall more than one possession where she was defended by Nicole Jimenez, which is just not fair in terms of height. Emilija Krista Grava made a very good first impression with eight points in the first quarter. She was another big target inside for the Seahawks, and one who could finish both inside and out. I think she's going to be big for them.

Overall, Wagner has a long way to go. But I was impressed with their offensive rebounding. They anticipated well, at least early on.

Danielle Robinson is going to spend quite a long time confusing me, isn't she? Especially if she turns into a three-point shooter. She's still a work in progress- a couple of steps slow, not sure where she's supposed to be either offensively or defensively. But she's a freshman. I've been told this is a thing with freshmen. Kaity Healy was off her game- yes, she was hitting threes and getting a big pop from the miniscule crowd for them, but she made a couple of boneheaded plays that were really out of character for her. When you're team captain, you're going to get judged more harshly for things like that. Diandra DaRosa got nto the game much later than I was expecting in both halves. I don't know if she fits in this system yet, but it's early to tell. Kaela Hilaire had only one speed, and that was full throttle. She got a lot of assists on fullcourt passes and fast breaks. I don't think Coach was happy with her going for a quick basket up 40 with less than a minute to go, though.

Selena Philoxy didn't play in the first half, but in the second half, she did work. What I like about Selena is this sense of inevitability she carries with her when she's driving into the lane. It's like she's decided that what she's going to do is what's going to happen and reality is just going to have to accept it. She finished with style and power. Desiree Elmore is well-rounded, and I think she's going to be an important piece for us- I can see why Coach was so determined to get her immediately eligible. She's still a touch slow on the defensive help, but that's a chemistry thing. Femi Funeus made a really good first impression, Tina Thompson-esque lipstick and all. While I recognize that SHU wasn't playing against Big East-caliber competition, she seemed to settle right in on the floor. She had a lot of dropped passes, but those may have been as much on the guards as they were the posts, because the problem wasn't limited to her.

Speaking of freshman posts making a really good first impression, wow, did Whitney Howell look ready for primetime. Again, I realize that Wagner was not much of a challenge, and she'll probably have more problems against higher-level opponents, but she was strong on the inside. I wouldn't have guessed that she was a freshman if I didn't know Seton Hall's roster. Oh, man, a Big East team with a real frontcourt... that would be unstoppable in conference. And Shadeen Samuels is just so fun to watch. She has this ineffable air of smooth and cool around her, whether it's during shootaround or when she flicks away the ball and bounds down the court for the layup. Foul trouble might be her biggest Achilles heel, so if she can stay on the floor she's going to be terrifying in a wonderful way.

For the record, I'm not a big fan of this three-guard set, especially with our small guards. It worked in this game, and for all I know, it's only going to last until Kimi Evans is once more available. But I don't think that's the most effective way to use Victoria Cardaci, and I don't think it's the most effective way to use Inja Butina. Not that Victoria's shooting didn't create an instant positive first impression- she got the ball and the ball went up, just as simple as that. Wagner was able to get hands up in her face in the second half, which led to her not adding more threes to that mind-boggling seven from the first half. But that seems like the kind of weapon that would be more effective situationally, off the bench, instead of in the starting lineup. Inja Butina got going in the third quarter after a slow start where she looked a little hesitant. I'd like her to speed up her decision-making on the floor, but I don't know if that's going to happen at this point in her career. Nicole Jimenez continues to do things that it doesn't look like a person her height should be able to do. She gets up so high it's crazy. Maybe a little less mustard on the passes, because it looked like the posts weren't able to handle them.

I think we need to realize that there's more than one speed possible in a game. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy watching the Pirates zip up and down the floor on the break, but there are times when slowing down is the better approach, and it seems like we have a surfeit of guards who just aren't into that kind of thing. I can see this being a problem with a smaller lead- the last thing we need is to run ourselves into letting teams back into the game because we give them time to come back.

Band sounds sharp. Cheer's a little shaky.

Officiating was nothing to write home about. That's usually a good sign.

I'd say I'm looking forward to the Tip-Off Classic, but I'm not looking forward to getting out of the house that early.