Wednesday, March 4, 2009

St. Johns, Seton Hall, and Rutgers

St. Johns

What more can I say except they seem to be really on the right track even if they lose remaining games this season and in BE Tournament. They seem to be competing well and gaining alot of confidence.

With that said I say again to Lance Stephenson, STAY HOME and be part of something very special. Help SJU return to the glory years and sell out crowds at Madison Square Garden. I can hear them chanting your name already from the rafters. All your friends from Brooklyn, your Parents and family, HS teammates, and your fans who have watched and defended you for years will be there to provide the positive vibes necessary to take you to the next level. St. Johns needs you but more important you need St. Johns because they will provide you with a showcase and showplace no one else can. Plus, everyone wants to play NYC and Broadway. Why play in a B Market when you can stay home and play in an A market! Blair stayed home to attend Pitt! The Syracuse kids stayed home! And so did players like Mullins, Berry, Jackson, and others and the last time I looked all have done extremely well financially even after basketball.

Seton Hall

Was across the street from the SHU campus yesterday at a recording studio with some very well known recording artists working on a project. Could not help from driving on the campus when I left to re-acquaint myself to what the school has to offer facility wise. Honestly this is the perfect school for a great player not seeking to be caught up in large numbers like they have at mega universities. The campus was very nice and it looks larger than the last time I was there and took time to really look around. That was when PJ was there and I had a nice meeting with him concerning a player named Sally or Salley. Could someone please post the HS he attended. I know his dad lived in NE Pa. but the son played for the late great Doc Necelli and the Madison Square Bronco's.

Again I say that campus will be alive next season. Just hope folks are ready for alot of attention and publicity!

Rutgers

Rutgers loses to a very good Syracuse team. Now all I will say is the following:
Mike Rosario took 21 shots and made 6
Next highest shot total was 7 by Farmer
Chandler played 5 Minutes (Is a message being sent here?)
Enchenique scores 2 points and gets 4 boards (nice kid but why so many accolades?)
Rebounding totals were close to even
Turn Overs even
Assists were far apart. 8 for RU and 19 for Syracuse

I am sure the coaching staff at RU has looked at film all night after this loss. Not really interested in knocking the RU staff but I will again say this team was loss when the keys to the ship were turned over to two nice kids at the start of the season as the upperclassmen watched as hey were handled with kid gloves and they were forced to play a certain way or sit down. Those kids never recovered. I do think the RU Players have shown no heart or pride. But that to me is something I expect when kids are just not hungry. If folks really understood the backgrounds of Harris and Flynn, they would understand why they are so tough and dedicated to competing every game.

Next year at Rutgers could be similar at best! If folks think the new players will provide what is needed to get out of the cellar of the BE they are incorrect. What will do this is a GREAT IMPROVEMENT from Rosario, Enchenique (He needs much more than folks realize), a free to play Chandler, and other team members. They need a chemistry that I last saw at Providence under Rick Pitino when Billy Donovan went from a dough boy to a basketball player. But most of all they need FHJ and his coaches to really step it up with the players development wise, mentally, and during games. This can happen and if it does we will see a better RU. But trust me it is far from being about who will come in next season. Everyone in the BE will get new talent and alot of them are getting better players than Rutgers.

Well March Madness is here and it is my favorite time of the year. I still feel UConn will win the Big East but North Carolina will win the National Championship.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

From Halldan over at Piratecrew.com

'To answer Ball's question Salley played at Truman High School in Levittown PA. He was the Player of the Year as a senior as selected by the Bucks County Times. He led Truman to a 25-7 record while averaging 25.6 PPG and 15.4 rebounds.

He finished his HS career by playing in the Dapper Dan Classic. And was then named a Converse All American. Sally wound up with 2,086 points before committing to the Pirates.'

shelmaxi said...

Whats happening at FDU.Do you see any changes in the future?

LFBall said...

Thanks for the Salley information. I remember him and his Dad who I believed commuted into NYC to work from Pa. before it was a popular thing to do.

FDU? I do not feel FDU is committed to sports of any type. They put what seems like zero effort into making the athletic programs successful.

Changes? I doubt if the President of FDU even attends games. They have a potentially nice place to play that is in real need of a face lift. They have a potential fan base of thousands yet they do very little to get folks out to games. It seems like they get no more than 3-600 to a game.

Tom Green is an exceptional coach who I thought Fred Hill Jr. should have hired as an associate head coach at Rutgers. He would have made a world of difference! But at FDU he is just there and seems like he has a life-time contract with little help from the administration. This should be a great mid major program at least on the level of Siena or Marist!

But as usual Tom, who deserves better, will get to the NCAA every few years and get a contract extent ion. I love Tom as a coach, just feel the university could do MUCH MORE to help him sell what FDU has to offer to recruits.