Just the Facts, Ma’am: In a tightly contested game, it was East Carolina that came out on top, 66-63. Dominique Claytor and Thais Oliveira each had 14 points to lead the Pirates. Kamila Hoskova had 18 points in the loss.
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Sleep is of the weak. Basketball is of the strong.
Turnarounds don’t get much tighter than this; finished the notes on Seton Hall from yesterday and I’m already on my way out there again for the concluding games of the Seton Hall Thanksgiving Classic.
What is it about religion that makes people overshare in ways that would otherwise be considered socially unacceptable? There’s a woman singing hymns on this train and she’s been singing the same song for something like three stops. At least she’s singing along to her headphones instead of talking to people who seriously don’t exist, but if I wanted to listen to music on the train, I would have brought my headphones and my iPod.
It’s half an hour before the consolation game, which will feature Rider and East Carolina, and there are eight people in the stands. And I’m pretty sure two of them are school employees of some school or another. I don’t think anyone knows who’s got which bench, though we got to see East Carolina warming up, so we know they’re using the visiting bench, while Rider is using the home bench. Sometimes I wonder how those things are decided. Sometimes I’m too tired to care.
Someone here has a taste for country music, and I’m not sure if it’s one of the facilities guys or someone on East Carolina. I’m not saying I mind, I’m just surprised by the selection.
East Carolina’s warm-up shirts are even worse up close. Like, what are you supposed to do with that diagonal zipper? And why is the purple not quite right?
At halftime it’s 30-26 ECU. East Carolina has controlled most of the way, but Rider’s hanging tough. Foul differential is not helping the other Pirates.
There are a few of our Pirates in the stands. I am digging Shadeen Samuels’s jacket. She carries herself like she knows she’s got swag.
It’s nice to get external validation of my sense that the officiating is getting worse, not better.
Guys. Y’all really have to review whether a ball went out of bounds before the end of the half when the result is 0.2 going back on the clock? You can barely even do anything with that much time. It took longer to review it than it did to play it out (though not by much, since the initial inbounds pass actually hit the rim).
Well, that was an adventure. It was a close game, and it was certainly closely contested all the way through. I admire the guts of both teams, but there were a lot of times it bore more resemblance to amateur wrestling than basketball out there, and I have a problem with the officials letting that happen. We’re lucky none of the injuries in this game were serious.
Once again, Desiree Corbin: if you’re going to foul the shooter, make sure she doesn’t hit the shot. Cheap stupid fouls after the shot has been released don’t help anyone. She had to play some extra minutes with the injury to Dominique Claytor, and I don’t think that was the plan ECU’s coach wanted to go with. Tania Pierre-Emile got a couple of minutes and a nice backdoor lay-up with them. I’d have to check the box Score, but I think Destiny Campbell’s minutes tracked pretty closely with Desiree Corbin’s, though they were more effective (at least I will take a basket over a dumb foul). Mickayla Sanders was less physical than she was yesterday; she seemed to be backing off more plays and letting her teammates handle the rebounding. (And no, it wasn’t boxing out. I like boxing out.)
Raven Johnson was first off the bench in this one, sometimes very early. She had to sub that early in one half because of injury, but I’m not sure which one it was. Justice Gee did not have a good day- too many bad fouls, nto enough ball security. I can understand why she was benched from yesterday. Lashonda Monk is kind of tiny- for some reason, it didn’t seem so obvious yesterday. She was tenacious on defense, which sometimes worked out for her and usually ended in her getting called for a foul. There were a lot of fouls. SO many fouls. All the fouls on everyone.
I’m surprised Necole Hope’s mother (or other female relative who was on the floor yesterday when she was injured) didn’t get herself thrown out yelling at the refs. I know, I am the world’s biggest hypocrite in this regard, but I don’t stand up and yell at specific officials. The foul trouble really cut into her minutes, as did her inability to hit a basket. Yesterday’s game earned Ariyana Williams the start, and she definitely had the green light to shoot. She got off to a very strong start, with eight points in the first quarter, but outside shooters can be streaky, and there were times when her shots didn’t fall. There’s definitely something I like about Alex Frazier- she came up with big plays when her team needed them in the second half, whether it was the basket or the pass. She’s a strong leader for them.
Dominique Claytor bounced back from her injury in a hurry. She went down hard and spent a good chunk of time away from the bench (unfortunately, in double-headers like this, locker room facilities are not always fully available, so you get teams having to do medical stuff in the lobby). She really stepped her game up in this one, hitting the glass hard and intercepting passes. Her fourth quarter was huge in the win, and is probably what got her on the all-tournament team. Thais Oliveira had a good defensive game, blocking shots and getting perimeter steals. I didn’t think she had a jumper, but surprise, there it was from just past the three-point line. She occasionally needs to be yelled at to move into position, but that happens to a lot of players.
The Pirates really cranked up the defense when they needed to. They like to press, and they like to scramble, so they were able to force steals. Their style did come with disadvantages, like being over the foul limit in every quarter.
Rider tightened up their rotation somewhat in this one. I don’t think they subbed beyond Jaiden Morris in the second half at all. So let’s see if we can squeeze everyone into one paragraph. Taylour Jones showed some nice ballhandling moves on the crossover. Tracey Goodman had a nice steal and a block on Oliveira in the first quarter, though I can understand Rider going smaller in order to counter East Carolina’s all-guard sets. Daija Moses sneaked into the game sometime in the first half (the PA guy wasn’t as on the ball with sub announcements as he was yesterday, and I am also immensely more tired than I was four games ago) and did some work on the block. Bright-haired Jaiden Morris was an offensive spark off the bench for the Broncs, but more of her shots were contested than they were yesterday, and she couldn’t adjust her game plan. I think she’s got a lot of potential, though she’s got to learn shot selection.
Once Stella Johnson managed to keep out of foul trouble, she was pretty dang good. She threw up pretty shots in the lane and was able to draw contact. She had a nice steal and fast-break lay-up in the third quarter. I can see her value to Rider now that she’s not sitting on the bench with early fouls. Kamila Hoskova was able to consistently draw fouls and get to the line- her ability to penetrate and hit both shots and free throws fueled the Rider run in the third quarter that gave them the lead at the quarter break. She hit the floor a lot on those drives and going after loose balls on defense. Lexi Posset spent enough time falling dramatically on minimal contact that I think she actually got a formal warning from the official. She got enough of those calls that the East Carolina fans were up in arms.
Lea Favre did a good job of making the baseline cut and score. Rider was able to use her size more effectively than they did yesterday, using her (or at least the threat of her) to make space in the lane. Aubre Johnson started racking up the fouls early on, and ended up fouling out of the game, so Rider wasn’t really able to use her effectively.
Enough with the tripping, guys. Both teams were physical, but Rider was more dangerous. I’m not looking forward to them playing Iona.
And the officials let a lot of it happen. Again. We are so lucky that no one was seriously injured. I don’t know how long we’re going to be this lucky.
Surprisingly fun game. I thought Rider might pull it out at one point, but East Carolina did just enough to win.
Monday, November 27, 2017
November 26th, 2017: East Carolina at Rider (Seton Hall Thanksgiving Classic)
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.
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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.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
December 18th, 2016: Rider at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Seton Hall built up an 11-point halftime lead, watched it all dissipate in the third quarter, and recovered in the fourth to claim an 89-81 win over Rider. JaQuan Jackson and Kaela Hilaire each had 19 points to pace the Pirates. Kamila Hoskova had 14 to lead the Broncs.
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Good morning, South Orange! It is too early for this, but here we are anyway, despite the best efforts of the Port Authority's Trans-Hudson train service.
Seriously, I am not joking, we waited 20 minutes at Journal Square for the Newark train and then the conductor took the train out of the station in the wrong direction for a good thousand feet. Much WTF was had by all. We ended up dodging wildcatting freelancers to catch a cab at Newark-Penn Station.
Shoutout to the Rider player with the ferociously magenta hair that almost matches her team colors. (Yeliz Dogan, for the record.)
The ROTC team presenting colors today is working very diligently, but they need a bit of work on their synchronization.
Is it a bad sign that the strength coach is injured?
Wonderful anthem. I approve this message. Rider did what seemed to be a hybrid of the linked arms for solidarity and the raised fist, which is very cool.
At halftime, Seton Hall is up 51-40, but Rider kep it tight for the first sixteen minutes or so. The polar vortex must have been the harbinger of the Minnesota kids' shots' arrival. Claire Lundberg has 14 points, including four threes, in the first half, and would have had a fifth if Jordan Molyneaux hadn't committed an unnecessary offensive foul. Rider has a couple of really good freshmen that I'm impressed with.
Rider also has a large contingent of fans, which makes sense- it's not that far, even by train.
The band gauntlet has been thrown down. Seton Hall's band did "The Pretender"- one of the Mighty Sound of the Red Storm's signature pieces.
As Seton Hall comes out of rthe second half, they're doing their stretches all over again. This is unusual. I don't think Tony was happy with them, and their response coming out of the half was... less than promising.
We shouldn't have to scrap and fight and come back multiple times against a team like Rider. Rider is a very good MAAC team, and this might even be their year to be MAAC mommas, but we have the talent. What we don't seem to have is the offensive execution, and that worries me. It's the middle of December; people should be at least somewhat familiar with the plays by now, and yet there are too many possessions where it looks like either the play broke down or players are falling into the habit of calling their own number.
I was really surprised that Tracey Goodman and Johnnah Johnson didn't see time in the second half. I thought they both did well in their roles. Johnson was solid on the glass and efficient in the paint. Goodman had a sweet outside jumper that we couldn't defend, and got very physical with Lubirdia Gordon. Yeliz Dogan cut well to the basket, and she'll be even more effective for the Broncs when she stops giving in to the temptation to help on defense and thus leave her man open.
Lexi Posset got the second half start over Taylor Wentzel, and in a reversal of the usual way these things go, set a nice pick for the center Duggan for a midrange jumper. She took a lot of shots, but they weren't necessarily the best shots for the situation. Safie Tolusso mostly came in as a situational shooter, especially near the end of the game; her subbing became less situational when the foul trouble started to hit the Broncs.
Kamila Hoskova had a knack for hitting shots near the end of the shot clock. She drove aggressively. Taylor Wentzel was good defensively- her defensive stance with her hands out wide was almost textbook. Robin Perkins was unafraid to shoot- she was their primary distance threat. There was a foul she disagreed with rather strenuously.
I was very impressed with Stella Johnson. Somehow I managed to resist the urge to belt out "STELLAAAAAA!" while she was at the free throw line, so take a moment to applaud my newfound maturity. She moves really well both with and without the ball, and she pounced on sloppy Pirate passes. I can't believe she's only a freshman- she's great. (And ooooh, I want to see her against Alexis Lewis from Iona. Dis gun be gud.) (The perils of following all the conferences.) Julia Duggan was solid for the Broncs, finishing inside and making space for her teammates.
Rider is a lot better than I was expecting. They've brought in good talent that works well together. If they gel even a little bit more, they'll be very dangerous. The coach just has to trust in her freshmen a little bit more.
In her brief appearances, Skyler Snider did some serious work on the glass. Her offense still needs some refinement, but I love the work she does rebounding and on defense. I'd like to see her get some more minutes, and there were opportunities (Shadeen Samuels and Jayla Jones-Pack were both unavailable due to injuries). Jordan Molyneaux was surprisingly effective at the line; she needs to work on her angle of approach to the basket to stop hitting the bottom of the backboard, and gain more confidence in her off hand, though. But a really good game for her overall. Lubirdia Gordon was big inside- driving into her is not a good life decision if you're an offensive player- and hit baskets when we needed them.
Kaity Healy stabilized the team on both ends of the floor- I can't put my finger on it, but it seemed like things were calmer when she was running point than when Kaela or TT were. Deja Winters was quiet- looked for her shot and had one nice defensive play- but we could have used more out of her.
Kaela Hilaire drove hard, but the free throw numbers aren't related to that- she was the person with the ball at the end of the game when Rider was fouling to extend the game. I feel like she made the choice to call her own number more than was perhaps called for by the flow of the offense- she was forcing a lot of her shots. So was JaQuan Jackson. Maybe I'm bad luck for Quanny- every time I've seen her, she's had a game of questionable shot selection. She was hitting late, which fueled her rebounding and her willingness to hit the passing lanes. I find it fascinating how she comes together as a complete player when her shot starts falling, and is otherwise an offensive disaster. LaTecia Smith was really forcing her offense. Do not shoot into three players. This is a bad plan. I do love her rebounding, though. Somehow she has the length and the ups to do things on the glass no guard of her size should be able to do.
Claire Lundberg spent the first half on fire and the second half playing scared. Seton Hall started in a small lineup and went bigger in the second half; strangely enough, that didn't benefit her. She was exploiting mismatches and defensive switches that she wasn't getting in the second half. Martha Kuderer had a couple of nice plays, including a nifty basket off a sweet pass from Kaela, but she seemed to be playing back a little. She took what she was given, but she didn't seem to want to do more.
LOL of the day: TT throws a pass. It is not an accurate pass. It goes out of bounds and smacks Kat Egan right in the head. Cue up, "Oh, come on, TT, hasn't Kat suffered enough?"
Tony, I understand your passion, and I understand the urge to yell at everyone for being in a dogfight with Rider. I'm just saying, yelling at the person actively shooting free throws is maybe not the best game plan.
I don't know what happened, or who said what to whom, but there was a kid next to the passageway to/from the locker rooms, on the Seton Hall side, booing every Pirate free throw. He and his mother were not getting along with the Seton Hall fans there, and near the end of the game they were escorted out of the gym by security.
Today was an autograph day, so since we were waiting for our ride anyway, we said hi to the ladies. I have to play nice. Next game is Awkward Bowl I of the year. I don't think either team wanted Seton Hall to go into it on a low note. We'll see how STJ goes into it.
Survive. Advance. That's how we roll.